June Is Here!

STAR OF THE WEEK
We were delighted by the visit of C's iguanas to our class, and the opportunity to learn "There Was an Old Lady" in sign language from C's Mom.
Thank you W, for sharing your adventures with Wazo and Zazo with us! This concludes our Star of the Week presentations, and I am very appreciative of the time and effort required by your families in order to bring in the many items and have special visitors in our class. Your children were so delighted and have continued to talk about having family visitors in the classroom.
PAPER SCIENCE
Our last science unit on paper will be culminating in making our own paper from recycled office scraps later this month. We will be waiting for a sunny day, since it is fun to do it as a messy outdoor activity. Laundry alert: They may be dirty, but all the materials will be washable!
LIBRARY BOOKS
This week will be our last borrowing of books from the school library. We will return them next week and a reminder note will be sent if there are any other outstanding books on your child’s list. Thank you for being so conscientious in your return of the library books. It has made a tremendous difference in reducing the number of lost books this year. Your child has the next three weeks to bring home any outstanding library books. If you do not receive a reminder notice from me in your child’s bookworm bag, and you are uncertain as to your child’s latest borrowing history, please jot me an e-mail and I can let you know if your child has any books outstanding.
READING BUDDIES
Regular one-on-one reading with the Grade 5 & 6 students has been a big highlight time of the week for the Kindergarten students. They have read to us, and they were an excellent support in preparing the K students to share a book with their “Reader’s Theatre “ groups earlier this year. We will be preparing a little secret gift for each of our reading buddies to present to them during the last week of school.
HOME READING
While I know the spring sports schedule gets very busy, families have been working to make time to snuggle up and read books that the children are beginning to decode on their own, as well as your own bedtime story routines. This is excellent! We will continue to do so until the last Thursday of school (June 24th). The little books provide a fun and quick read with your child (rather than expecting a particular level of accomplishment in reading). If your child is eager to read to you, then that is excellent. If they are willing to make “educated guesses” about what comes next (even silly ones), then this is an important skill for strong readers. Or, if he/she is excited to talk about rhyming, letters, words, sounds, or the story that the pictures tell, then that, too is encouraged as a part of the fun of sharing reading.