How Tall is Jack?

Jack and the Beanstalk  is a fairy tale that was quite funny.  The story was about  a boy named Jack, who climbed a giant beanstalk into the magical clouds. He met a hen who could lay golden eggs, a  harp that sang by itself, and the funny ogre with his wife. Like all fairy tales, there was a happy ending. Jack married a princess, became even wealthier, and together they lived happily ever after.
Working in teams, we collaborated and produced our own life-size Jack.  We measured and labelled different parts of Jack. Our creations are hanging in our classroom.  Drop by to check it out!

Another picture collage by Smilebox

A note from Mrs. Lee:

The students are currently engaged in a unit on Junie B., First Grader (at Last). Many giggles have been heard as Junie B. was the world funniest kindergartener, but is now in first grade.  A chapter is read,  followed by a group discussion.  The students individually  compose sentences about key events  and add  an illustration in their 'booklet' daily. The culminating activity will be to retell the story to a peer, using their 'booklet'.
Everyone is given the opportunity to respond to the text before, during, and after the reading.  Eventually the students will develop the capability to focus on the text and increase their comprehension.

Shapely Jungle

Learning about solid and plane shapes has been a whole lot of fun.  One of our activities was listening to Color Zoo by Lois Ehlert.  We saw how animals in the zoo were  created using shapes and colors. So we made new animals for our zoo using flat shapes.


A note from Mrs. Lee:

Mahalo for sending in the wrapped empty cereal boxes.  They will be used  for a literature based activity later this week.
This Fourth of July, America will celebrate its 236th birthday. Celebrate it with firework displays, festivities, and parades.  Happy Birthday, America!

Our Favorite Stories by Ezra Jack Keats

We just completed our unit on children's books written by Ezra Jack Keats.  Mr. Keats wrote and illustrated many books and we enjoyed just a few of them these past two weeks. We wished to share our reasons for choosing our favorite story with you. Please click  below on the box ('Word it Out') to enlarge.

Learning Through Practice

This week we continued listening and discussing stories written by Ezra Jack Keats. Did you know he  wrote many children's books?  One of our favorites from his collection was Whistle for Willie.
In this story, Peter wishes he could whistle.  He tries and tries but nothing happens.  Finally it happens, he learns to whistle and his dog Willie, comes running to him.

Now, it was our time to share about something we learned to to do, but only after much practicing. After tearing pieces of construction paper to create a picture, we wrote about our experience in doing something difficult and talked about it in this video.



PT wanted to share her experience afterwards since she was camera shy.
"I had a hard time ice skating but my mom helped me at Ice Palace.  At first I used a walker, then I stopped using it.  I skated a little with my mom.  Later I was able to ice skate all alone!"

Besides working hard on literacy, we focused on our Math skills.   We learned about place value of numbers, as well as comparing them.  Some activities we played to help us learn these lessons were, Place Value Lotto, Bean Bag Toss, and Spin Off.  All the games were fun, especially  Spin Off. Each partner used the spinner to create a 3 digit number.The partners compared their numbers and the one with the larger number won a point. 

A note from Mrs. Lee:

Why is reading important? One reason is because it develops the imagination.  With reading, a person can travel anywhere in or out of the world. They can be a Prince, Princess, astronaut...the possibilities are endless .Reading requires thinking so continue to encourage your children to read, read, and read! 

A Time to Learn, A Time to Grow

It's been fun this week in Summer School.  Each day we listened to a story by the famous Ezra Jack Keats.  His stories are all about children, like us, who have a problem and solves it. We compared the different stories, characters, problems, and solutions using a story mapping organizer.  After discussing the story, everyone worked on an art and writing activity.

In Math, we practiced our addition and subtraction through games with a partner or with the entire class. The best Math game was 'Scrambled Eggs'. To play this game, we moved to different desks, looked at a card with a math problem, wrote the answer on our paper, and checked on our own answer by looking on the back of the card that had the math problem.

All our us loved to take photos, so here they are to show you some of the things we worked on this week.


A Time to Learn, A Time to Grow on PhotoPeach


A note from Mrs. Lee:

The week has been busy and fun for the students.  They've adjusted to the routine  and are extremely cooperative!
The myON online personalized literacy program  is engaging and is available to students in K-1. Please encourage your child to access the library of digital books so they can take charge of their reading growth!
Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Aloha,
Mrs. Lee

A Closing Note

Aloha Parents,

Several students  worked diligently on creating a new picture book online and wish to share it with everyone.  Please click on the student's name to view their own book!

• Mari
• Jacob
• Jacob
• Drew
• David

Their work was excellent! Congratulations to all of them.

On a personal note......
It was wonderful for you to think of me at this bittersweet time of the school year.  The gift card for Pure Joy Day Spa was just the type of relaxing treatment in a serene atmosphere I was dreaming of and I'd like to thank you for your thoughfulness.  The beautiful orchid lei was absolutely exquisite. I've received many compliments while wearing it after school. I also appreciate all the kind words and thoughts in the card. 
It was a pleasure teaching all the students this year.  They are so special and each child is a gift in his/her own way. I hope this last day of school and the beckoning sun, brings forth a vacation full of fun.

I've worked with your flower,

And helped it to grow.

I'm returning it now,

But I want you to know...

This flower is precious

As dear as can be.

Love it, take care of it

And you will see

a bright new bloom

with everyday...

It grows in such a special way.

In August, a bud,

Midterm, a bloom, so they say,

Now, a lovely blossom

Comes home to you in May.

Remember this flower

As dear as can be,

Though rightfully yours...

Part belongs to me.

-Author Unknown-

Best of luck to all of my K-1 parents and students. Once again, wishing everyone a wonderful and safe summer!!!

A hui hou,
Mrs. Lee

Reminders

Aloha Parents,

This Kindergarten school year has gone by quickly, but we aren't finished yet.  All the keiki are excited and speak frequently about attending first grade. 

A collection of  writing samples were sent home on Friday.  The children would love to share a giggle or two as you read them together. They will also be bringing home their clipboards, aprons, watercolors, etc, on Monday. You might consider keeping some of the items as they could be recycled and used in 1st grade.

Additional important items:

•  Monday, May 21st -Time is running out so please return any Library books.
• Tuesday, May 22nd - P.E. class in the gym.  A water bottle is essential.
• Tuesday, May 22nd - If you wish to share end of the year goodie bags kindly bring them in by next Tuesday. 
• Wednesday, May 23rd - Stories at Sunrise, a collection of skits by the Kindergarten classes in the Dojo, beginning at 10:00am. Your child may come to school in the attire worn for the skit. Ms. Kanayama, Mrs. Kina, and Mrs. Christian has volunteered to help with costuming prior to the performance.