June (seriously?!) 1-5 2026: Field Day and THE ZOO!

 

I am so glad to be back in the classroom- I missed my kiddos! A huge thank you to Mrs. DiNoia for taking the reins and leading room 103❤. Because of the shorter week and being at K screening, I do not have many pictures from last week...but just wait until the end of this week!

We will be wrapping up our Ocean theme. To conclude our Ocean theme, we may watch a Magic School Bus in the ocean episode with popcorn one afternoon. Then, we will be focusing on a zoo animal theme for the next week and a half...that will take us to the last few days of school! The children will be designing maps for their own zoo, solving zoo animal number stories and writing a fiction "story" about what the animals do at night in the zoo in the upcoming week/next week!

Speaking of the last few days of school...this time of year can be quite confusing for 5 and 6 year olds. Everyone is suggesting that the end of school will be exciting because of summer vacations, etc. For many children, they will miss the structure and routines of what has become very familiar to them and this can cause some sadness. Do not be surprised if your child acts out or has had bigger than average feelings as the school year comes closer to the end. I definitely see it in the classroom! It can be difficult for the little ones to express how they are really feeling, especially if they are "supposed" to be excited for summer vacation. This may really hit them when they come to school Monday and see the June calendar and the "last day" marked- it makes it more real to them.

One thing I tell all my kindergarteners is that I will always be their teacher...even when they go to high school and beyond! I have an open door to all my students and I remind them about how many former students come to room 103 for a quick hug or chat (they see the older kids come in frequently). I even have LMS and LHS students visit! In fact, I am working with a former student (she is in high school now) on her "Girl Scout Gold Award"!  Room 103 will always be THEIR classroom and I will always be THEIR kindergarten teacher and I am here for them no matter how old they are💖. I also tell them it is ok to feel sadness as well as excitement. They may see a few tears from me, too!

Sometimes, once they hear this message, they feel a little more secure about moving on...

We have a busy week ahead:

Monday- FIELD DAY! Here is a note from Mr. Bentley:

Please make sure:

- Kids have a full water bottle 

- Kids wear a hat (if they bring one)

- Kids are wearing sunscreen or have some sort of sun protection    before coming to school

- kids are wearing sneakers

Thursday- Book Swap 

FRIDAY- we are going to the ZOO!! The long range forecast looks like it will be warm! We will be wearing our Shaker Lane Fun Run t shirts to the zoo! 

VERY IMPORTANT INFO REGARDING OUR FIELD TRIP:

• Chaperones must be in the classroom by 8:30 to go over the itinerary for the day, etc. This is much easier to do before the children arrive (they start to come in by 8:40). If you need to bring your child with you, that is fine. Please bring a backpack to hold your group's water bottles, snacks etc..
• 🥪 Lunch
  -If packing a lunch please pack it in a labeled DISPOSABLE bag with your child’s name printed on it with a DISPOSABLE water bottle, no larger than 20 oz.
  -All students should pack additional snack
  -School lunch will be offered as a bag lunch (these have already been ordered-if you did not order, send a lunch from home!)
  💧Water bottle - DISPOSABLE no larger than 20 oz.
  ⚫ NO extra money please (children are not allowed to purchase any food/rides on field trips)
  ⚫ Students DO NOT bring backpacks to school or will leave them at school if needed.
  👟 Sneakers or rubber-soled shoes with socks to comfortably walk in all day
  🌞- please apply sunscreen on at home before school if needed
  😴 A good night’s sleep!
• wear your Shaker Lane Fun Run t-shirt to the zoo!

  
  
• IF you plan to change your child's dismissal plan from the one you gave me (long time ago now!), PLEASE do so in writing that morning. I will not have time to check emails during the day to check pick up patrol, etc...

Here are some pictures from last week:

Lots of math games, measuring and comparing the length of a sea turtle, great white shark and a blue whale, making a rainbow fish and sequencing the story The Rainbow Fish

May 26-29th 2026

Hello Families,

I hope you are enjoying the long weekend, despite this nasty weather. I can't wait to see my students tomorrow- it seems like it has been a long time because I was so sick and taking Friday off for my daughter's wedding! Fortunately, I was well (enough) to enjoy every minute and dance the night away😄💖.

This week...will be one with mixed emotions for me! It seems like yesterday that the kindergarten teachers met your children at kindergarten screening. This week, I will be conducting screenings on the upcoming kindergarteners on Thurs and will not be in the classroom. I do not like to be out of the classroom! Mrs. DiNoia will be in charge and there will (hopefully) be a sub to help her. Please note that I will check emails before and after school, but will not get the chance during the day as we have a full schedule. IF you need to contact the classroom, please call the office and they will get the message to room 103. Mrs. DiNoia will be giving me an update at the end of the day:).

*IMPORTANT:PLEASE fill out this google form for our field trip if you haven't! I will need to give the kitchen all our lunch orders on Tuesday 5/26. 

HERE is our K Important Events Schedule

This week, we will continue our ocean animal theme. The students will be sequencing fiction and non-fiction stories, writing their own story and reading sentences with trick words.  They will be practicing math facts, writing numbers and solving number stories this week as well. In science, the students will be learning a little bit about seahorses and then they will pick an ocean animal that we have learned about and begin their big "research reports"! 

Because I was not in the classroom for so much of last week, I do not have many pictures - but here are a few!

May 18-22 2026

 

Your children did a GREAT job at the K concert! There were some butterflies beforehand, but they were able to overcome and felt so proud of themselves after. 

We will continue our Ocean theme next week and learn about more ocean animals, comparing and contrasting the ones we have learned.

The students will also be participating in the spring mCLASS assessment (phonics) as well as the Into Math Growth Measure, which will be administered throughout the next few weeks. 

We have officially completed our Into Math curriculum! For the rest of the school year, we will continue to review all the math skills learned to date as well as do some enrichment activities with algebraic concepts, multiplication concepts and fractions. We will be doing this with games and project based learning. The students will also practice some coding skills!

We have also officially completed Wit and Wisdom for the school year! We will be able to dive into theme writing and will be reading some amazing books to complete the school year. Students will continue to practice the skills learned throughout the year in W&W as well as Fundations skills (they are writing sentences with digraphs!). They will also practice all the sight words when writing and in different games. We have learned all the K sight words and will be reviewing for the rest of the school year.  

The Kona Ice Truck will be coming to Shaker Lane on Wednesday! Each student can get a frozen treat (if you do not want your child to have one, please let me know in advance:).

Friday is a 1/2 day of school.

HERE is the Important End of Year Events document!

Here are some pictures from last week's fun!

Thank you to Willow's Mom for being our Mystery Reader!💖

The Imagatorium!