Avoid the Summer Slump

Summer is just around the corner, so I wanted to warn you about the "Summer Slump" a.k.a "Summer Slide."  Research shows that students who do not maintain their reading skills over summer have a difficult time in the fall.  Your student has made tremendous progress this year, and we want them to retain their skills so they can have a great start to first grade.

Of course, summer is and should be a fun and exciting time for children.  However, reading and fun goes hand in hand.  Here are some tips for making reading a fun activity for your child over the summer:

1.  Treat your child to their own library card and make weekly trips to the library.  Maybe couple the trip with a visit to the ice cream parlor for a fun routine.  Getting a library card is free and easy.  Click here to sign up for a card at the Santa Clara Library.

2. Set up a tent in your backyard for a fun reading place.  One of my fondest childhood memories was hanging out in our backyard tent with a flashlight on summer evenings, while my parents read to my sister and me.

3. Visit a story hour or meet an author at your local library or bookstore.  Independently owned Hicklebee's Bookstore in Willow Glenn regularly has famous authors come to visit.

4. Sign your child up for a summer reading incentive program.  Just ask your Santa Clara librarian about the Summer Reading Club.

5. Encourage your child to read the books that went home in homework over the year.

6. Help your child find books that interest him/her.  Click here for a group of book lists.

7. Treat books as a portal for discovery.  Next time your child asks a question like, "Why is the sky blue?"  Respond with, "Let's go find out more by reading a book!"


See the research of "Summer Slump" and more great tips at Read To Me International.

THANK YOU!

Dear Room 36 Families,

Thank you for the best Teacher Appreciation Week ever!  I was so touched to receive so many flowers, thoughtful cards, and gifts.  The most fun part was seeing how excited the kids were to give me little treasures that they made.  Also,  a BIG THANK YOU for the lovely surprise baby shower at Maywood Park.  I was so honored!  No class has ever done anything like that for me before.  I am so lucky to have such a sweet, thoughtful, and kind class.  Finally, thank you for the Babies R Us and American Express gift cards.  Teaching kindergarten this year has been a wonderful experience.  The kids make me laugh everyday and I love to see them grow as learners.

3D Shapes

We recently finished our unit on 3D shapes.  Students learned to identify spheres, pyramids, cones, cylinders, and more!  They made their own 3D shapes with Straws and Connectors and toothpicks and marshmallows.  They also made their own book to show 3D shapes in real life.  Please help support your child's learning by encouraging them to share their books with you.

Diary of a Silkworm: Part 3

Dear Diary,
All of my friends and I are now in cocoons!  Don't be fooled...I am not sleeping!  My body is going through many changes right now.  It is a good thing that my cocoon is keeping me nice and safe in my pupa stage.  I cannot wait to see what I will turn into!

Diary of a Silkworm: Part 2

Dear Diary,
Well, I am stuffed!  I am ready to make a cocoon and never eat again!  Today, one single strand of silk began to come out of my mouth.  In a figure eight pattern, I began spinning the cocoon with the silk from my mouth.  It will take me a whole day to finish the cocoon!  The students have been very respectful and have not disturbed me as I am working.

Diary of a Frog: Part 4

Dear Diary,

I have almost completely lost my tail! I look like an adult frog.  I am eating like an adult frog, too!  I like to eat little flies.  I must be a tree frog, because I sure love to climb!  Mrs. Riccomini says I am almost ready to be taken back to my natural home in the Santa Cruz mountains.

Diary of a Froglet: Part 3

Dear Diary,
I now have front legs, too!  Now, I have a tail AND four legs to help me swim.  Since I have four legs now, I can start walking on land.  I guess that is why Mrs. Riccomini built me a new habitat with a shelf.  Check it out!  It is so much bigger!  You may also notice that I have a stripe down my body.  I am looking more and more like an adult!

I still eat algae, but I am starting to get tired of eating just algae all the time.

Look at me climb!  I have special pads on my toes that help me stick to the walls!  That must mean I am a frog!  Frogs have sticky pads on their feet.  I also think I am a frog, because I have smooth skin, not bumpy skin like a toad.

Diary of a Silkworm: Part 1

Dear Diary,
Today was a very interesting day!  My friend, Audrey, put me in a box at her house, and when the box opened again, I was in Mrs. Riccomini's kindergarten class!  The kindergarteners have been very nice to me.  They are very gentle and compassionate toward me.

I am so glad that there are three mulberry trees in the Eisenhower kindergarten yard!  I LOVE to eat mulberry leaves.  In fact, my only job right now is to eat as many mulberry leaves as possible!  I am a very hungry caterpillar!

Diary of a Tadpole: Part 2

Dear Diary,
I am growing so quickly!  I now have two back legs!  

Just a little while ago, my legs were only little numbs...now they look like frog legs?  Or maybe toad legs?  What do you think?

My back legs do not move much yet, but soon they will be very useful and will help me swim through the water.  I still eat algae everyday so I can keep growing!

Hidden Villa Trip

Thank you to all the chaperones who came with us to Hidden Villa!  It was a very memorable and exciting trip.  Our kindergarteners did great as they toughed out the drizzles, mud, and clouds.  Below are some pictures taken from the trip.  Thanks, Richelle for sharing the pictures you took!  Seeing the animals we have been studying in a real farm setting has deepened their understanding.

Students got to see a worm compost bin.  Some were even brave enough to hold a worm!

As students fed the chickens, they discovered that chickens like to peck to get their food.

Students saw how chickens lay eggs and how chicks are raised in farms.

Students saw that pigs come in many different colors!  Not just pink!

Cows are not just white and black.  They can be brown, too!

Some sheep have all their wool, some sheep have been sheared.