March 25, 2011

News from Mrs. Christiansen’s Classroom

(From Ms. Lucas: Student Teacher, University of Michigan)

Dear Families,

**Our field trip to the Health Exploration station is this upcoming

Wednesday, March 30th! All kindergartners are attending this morning
field trip. We will leave Haisley promptly at 9:00 in order to
arrive at 9:30. **

We managed to have a fun St. Patrick’s Day last Thursday, even

though the leprechauns snuck in our classroom and made a huge
MESS! They came in the morning and then AGAIN when the teachers
went out for lunch in the afternoon. The classroom chaos included lots
of little green footprints and green toilet water!

As you know, I am continuing my exciting experience as a

student teacher in your child’s classroom. During my time “lead
teaching”, I am in close and constant collaboration with Angie. Even
though I am doing the planning and teaching, Mrs. Christiansen is in
the classroom all day- interacting with students, helping out, and
observing my teaching. I am learning so much under her expert
guidance and am enjoying your children more every day.

Classroom Donations: white paper plates, glue sticks, and extra

classroom snacks.

Our focus throughout the week has been in the following

areas:
Poem/Song: “The World is Full of People” (Focusing on the sight word
they)

Handwriting: “Ms. Picky” is always in the classroom these days-

making sure students are using both uppercase and lowercase letters,
proper spacing, and writing that is readable.

Reading: Each kindergartner was able to pick out at least one book
from the Haisley Used Book Sale last Tuesday! When reading,
students should always be practicing their strategies to solve for
unknown words. Kindergarteners know to look at the illustration, “get
your mouth ready” (make the beginning letter sound), and skip the
word to re-read the sentence.
Phonics: Simple plural nouns, Word Wall Words, beginning and ending
sounds, short vowel sounds, number words, and color words.

Math: Can your child write the numbers 1-50? This is an important skill
for kindergartners.

Telling time to the hour, counting by 10’s and 5’s to 100, counting by
2’s to 20, counting to 100 by 1’s, graphing addition facts, number
stories, 3D objects (sphere, cylinder, pyramid, cone, rectangular prism,
and cube), coins (dimes and coin exchanges), writing number stories
using an addition or subtraction sign and an equal sign, making tally
marks, dividing groups in half, and comparison number stories (how
many more/how many less).

Writing: Students are finishing up their “How-To” books.

Kindergartners have learned how to write in order to teach their
readers how to do something.

Social Studies: Kindergartners learned about the different sizes of

communities that make them part of the world. Please check out their
I Am Part of the World books that came home this week. We have
started a new unit on multi-culturalism, learning how people around
the world are alike and different. We are learning about different
languages, games, foods, etc. Let me know if you have anything you
would like to share with the class from your life experiences or cultural
backgrounds!

Dates to remember:
April 4th- April 8th- Spring Break
April 21st- My last day in the classroom
April 22nd- No School
April 26th- Seussical Musical Perfomance. All students attend this
morning field trip.
April 28th- Multicultural Night 6-8 PM
May 13th- Haisley Walk-a-thon

Mrs. Christiansen will be conducting kindergarten interviews in

order to meet next year’s kindergartners. These interviews will take
place in the morning on April 19th, all day April 20th, May 4th,, and May
6th.

Thank you,
Alison Lucas
Happy Spring!