Ms. Kirkpatrick’s Newsletter
April 26-29, 2010
Classroom News
Our class spends time every week in the nature study room. The class loves going to visit and pet all the animals. If you would like to make a donation to help with the maintenance of the nature room it would be greatly appreciated. Max, one of the guinea pigs, is a class favorite. He could use some kibble.
We are working on planning a field trip to the Botanical Gardens in Fort Worth. I will send out more information once the date and time is finalized.
Please keep in mind the field day is Tuesday, May 25th and our end of the year party is Wednesday, May 26th. Please let me know if you are interested in helping with these events.
Our Studies
In science, we began studying animals. The class cut out pictures of animals from different animal magazines. The class learned the characteristics of mammals. As a class, they sorted their pictures and glued them on posters. We have a “mammals” poster and a “non-mammals” poster. They will be hanging in the hallway. When we went to the nature room on Thursday, we went around to each animal and decided if it was a mammal or not.
The students made a list of action verbs. One of our students brought a book full of verbs. We read it together.
The class finished their last handwriting lesson. We have gone through the entire alphabet. Last week, the class practiced making the letter x.
To help the students practice their individualized spelling words, they practiced writing them using smelly markers. They also wrote their words on different textured surfaces such as sandpaper, foamy shelf liner, and plastic cross-stitch canvas.
Last week, we began a study on tall tales. The students learned that tall tales are based on real people and their lives but that some aspects of the story are exaggerated. We had a mini lesson on what the word exaggerated means. We are reading Johnny Appleseed. Several students have heard of him and are eager to learn more about him.
We did a picture study on Monet’s The Beach at Ste. Andresse. They had to spend time studying the painting and then turn it over and tell me everything they remember. We made a list and then looked at it again and added more to our list.
The class began copying Psalm 100. They are quickly learning the psalm.