Tap and Blend!

Dear Families!

Guess what?! We are getting the hang of this reading thing! Now that we know letter names and sounds, we are learning to tap and blend short consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words like hat, man, tap, and ham. First, you tap each letter and say the sound for each letter. Then, you sweep your finger from left to right under the word to blend the sounds you just made together. In Mrs. Dupuis' day, this was called "sounding out words." We are cool, so we call it "tap and blend." Learning to tap sounds is also helping us to spell. We say the word and tap out the sounds we hear to help us write the word. You should all be super proud of us because we are practicing and working hard to develop the skills that will help us read and write. Every couple of weeks, Mrs. Dupuis will send us home with a little photocopied, pocket-sized book for us to read to you, siblings, stuffed animals, pets...anyone who wants to listen. Store these books in a safe place so we can create a library and practice! When we are reading these books, you will see us use pictures, beginning sounds, and tap and blend to figure out words. Please cheer us on!

Love,
Mrs. Dupuis' K Team

Chill City: How Can We Warm Up a Frozen Playground?

Dear Families,

Did you know that there is a town in Norway (Rjukan) that gets very little sunlight because it sits at the bottom of a mountain range? The mountains block the sun, so the town has very little warmth and light during the winter. Our class conducted a scientific experiment. We wanted to find out if it is possible to bring light and warmth to the frozen playground and town square. We used a lamp to represent the sun and had a model of the mountains and the town. Mrs. Dupuis asked us to use pieces of construction paper, tin foil, index cards, and clear plastic to see if we could come up with a solution for "Chill City." There was a lot of excellent kindergarten problem solving and many meaningful discussions surrounding a possible solution.  After some time, a few teams realized that if they positioned the tin foil correctly, the sun's light would bounce off of the reflective material back onto the town. Many of the teams found a solution to the problem and were quite proud of themselves. Teams shared their solutions with teammates! Just like inventors/scientists, we too came up with innovative solutions to warm up Chill City!

Love,
Mrs. Dupuis' K Team

Weather Watchers!

Dear Families,

We have been learning how to be weather watchers! Weather watchers notice what is in the sky, how people are dressed, and if it is dry or wet outside. We observed the weather closely and recorded what we saw for four days. The class also learned about different types of clouds, different types of weather, and the four seasons. Ask us to tell you which month we were born in and what the weather will likely be on our birthday based on seasons.

Today, we learned about snowflakes! Did you know that each snowflake is unique?! Snowflakes usually have six sides or points. A man named "Snowflake Bentley" studied snowflakes closely because he was so fascinated by snow that he wanted to learn more about it. We created our own six-sided, cool-colored snowflakes today! Take a peek below.

Speaking of snow....It started to snow out on Friday. We dropped everything, put our snow gear on (by ourselves with no help!), and had some fun! We even climbed Snow Mountain.  Mrs. Dupuis wants us to remind you to send in snow pants, boots, warm coats, hats, and mittens/gloves so we can play in the snow. Also, send in a sturdy bag with handles to carry all that snow gear to school. A separate bag for all of the snow stuff (especially after it gets wet) makes it easier for us and Mrs. Dupuis.

Love,

Mrs. Dupuis' K Team

Project Based Learning: Designing Cool Playgrounds!

Hi Families!  

We have been very busy in Kindergarten designing playgrounds that stay cool in the sun! First, we noticed that there was a problem...sometimes, the sun warms our playground and makes it too hot. Ouch! Next, we did some research and took a look at some ways that different playgrounds are built and protected from the sun's heat. Next, we drew individual plans for how we would like to design a playground that stays cool in the sun. Finally, Mrs. Dupuis paired us up with a buddy and we worked together to build 3-D playgrounds that stay cool in the sun. Boy, did we work hard as structural engineers! So glad it's a long weekend! ; )

Love, Mrs. Dupuis' K Team

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!
Love, Your Little Pumpkins 🎃

Pony Bead Pumpkins and Scary Black Cats!

Dear Families!

We were super creative today and had so much FUN! First, we created pony bead pumpkins! To create our pumpkins, we counted beads, used our finger muscles, and had to follow multi-step directions. The results are super cute! The pumpkins will be heading home with us today! Second, we used tracers and our cutting skills to make a wicked scary black cat. Make sure you find a special place to hang him because we worked so hard to create him before Halloween. Mrs. Peckham also made us tissue paper pumpkins filled with yummy goodies. It was one of the best days ever! Thank you to Mrs. Peckham, Mrs. Giuffre, and all of the parents who volunteered time and goods to make this creative morning possible!

Love, Mrs. Dupuis' K Team