Child-Led Conferences
As we are wrapping up the school year, we have given our students the chance to shine in “Child-Led Conferences.” Throughout the school year, children have been having individual meetings with me to select items for their ongoing portfolio. As each writing unit has concluded, students have self-selected the piece of work they are the most proud of. Thus, as the year has progressed, students have become very proud of the success they have made. Last week, we held individual meetings to determine which pieces of work they wanted to showcase. Then they took the time to answer several interview questions, to which I recorded their responses. This enabled us to measure the individual strengths and weaknesses on an individual basis. Having the child host the meeting has made the children accountable for their own learning and education.

5 Baby Chicks
I cannot believe that our chicks are almost one week old! I think that the children are enjoying them more than any other aspect of school right now. During various times during the day, the students are observing the chicks and making observational drawings. Many children have even written fictional stories about what might happen if the chicks could talk or fly around the classroom.

Venn Diagram
Students used a Venn Diagram this week to compare and contrast two of our favorite big books: “Hattie and the Fox” and “Rosie’s Walk.” Both of these stories are about a hen who is chased by fox. They were able to use their comprehension skills to recall events of the stories, as well as ways that the story elements were the same and different. I think students were very relieved to know that the hen remains safe at the end of the story, while the fox is chased away by other animals.

Math
As we develop our understanding of math facts, the children are learning more strategies when doing addition and subtraction. We have introduced “counting on”, using the number line. For those students ready for this new strategy, they determine the larger number and either count forwards or backwards on the number line.

End of the Year Announcements
As the school year is wrapping up, we have many exciting events coming up. As you have already read, we will be creating time capsules with our students and we will need your help. Miss Nicole has already sent home some information about this. We will also be having a field day within the last week of school. Most importantly, please remember that our last day of school is Thursday, June 3. We will have a celebration in the morning from 11:00-11:30. Families are welcome as students will sing a few songs and receive a certificate. Then all families are invited for a pizza lunch afterward. (Preschool graduation will be Thursday afternoon, for those of you with siblings.) We will continue to provide more information as we move closer to the end of the year.