Jars Needed

We will be doing a project this week that entails glass jars. We need one for each child, so if you have any from used food items or the like please send them in!!

Upcoming Dates

Sunday, May 31:  KG Talent Show - 11:00 - 12:15
This date was changed from Monday due to the overwhelming number of students interested in performing. If you have time, please consider coming to watch! We will be in the theater.

Wednesday, June 3: Senior Walkthrough

Kindergarten students will be singing for the Senior Walkthrough, which is an AISD tradition. Space will be very limited, but I will be sure to take a video to share. Please have your child dress in either traditional clothes or Sunday best on Wednesday morning.

Sunday, June 7:  KG End of the Year Party
Students will be going to the AEEA for a celebration with all of kindergarten. Expect to see a permission slip with more details early this week. *This celebration is for students only.

Tuesday, June 9:  Writers Celebration - 7:50 am
We are excited to welcome all parents to our end of the year writers celebration at 7:50 in our classroom. Please stop in on your way to work and enjoy coffee and treats as your child shares his/her learning. This is not one to be missed!!

More UOI Action

Shin, Kai, and Zumar have taken action on our personal histories unit as well! Kai brought in a photo album from his summer, Zumar was inspired by others and purchased a journal/diary, and Shin shared a diary he has been written in each day since last July. Shin writes in his diary in Japanese, which was wonderful to see!

Documenting Action

Liam and Leo brought in forms of documentation from their own lives.  Leo's parents have saved all sorts of mementos from Leo's life, and Liam has begun his own diary!

Personal Histories Unit of Inquiry

We have been exploring our own personal histories the past couple weeks and will continue to do so until the end of the year. Until now we have mostly been hearing from guests about the different ways they document their personal histories.

Mr. Pateman is an avid scrapbooker

5th graders share their personal narratives

Mrs. Birdwell has documented her life through journal writing, and her daughter's life through a scrapbook

Many students in our class were inspired by our guest speakers and have brought in their own forms of documentation. Many others have started making things at home to document their lives. Thank you to all the support at home in helping your child take action!

We will now be looking at our lives even deeper in class, and your child will begin thinking of artifacts that tell his life story. He will begin making a list of artifacts that he would like to bring in to class. These might include such things as photos, cultural items, tickets or mementos. We would like to keep these artifacts in our room for a couple weeks, but please rest assured that they will make their way home before the year is out!! We would so appreciate your help in this area. Your child will be the one in charge of determining what he feels is important in telling his life story; he may just need your assistance in collecting particular items. As this project progresses, please email me with any questions you might have.

Note from Ms. Chang

Please see this note from Ms. Chang regarding practicing for upcoming performances:

Below are youtubes for KG kids to practice at home for PA for our upcoming concerts: 

Practice 3 times: 

• Dancing Cha Cha Slide
• Singing Big, Big Dreams & Actions for Big Dreams (3 June)

Twin Day

Dear Students,

Please remember that Wednesday is the Spirit Day you requested:

Twin/Triplet Day! Have fun collaborating on creative outfits  with a partner or two.

ES Stu Co

IXL & Raz-kids

A few people have asked for reminders on IXL and Raz-kids passwords. Please see the information below and encourage your child to use the sites regularly (particularly throughout the summer):

• Raz-kids
  Teacher Username: kmolloyb
  Password: appropriate picture (your child knows this)
• IXL
  Username: your child's first initial followed by his/her last name @aisdhaka
  (i.e. kmolloy@aisdhaka)
  Password: your child's first name (all lowercase letters)

Upcoming Events

The end of the year is a busy time at AISD. Here are a few important upcoming dates:

• May 20: Talent Show forms due
  Forms will be sent home tomorrow with interested students. If your child is interested in participating, please encourage him/her to consider performing with a group! Preparation will need to happen outside school.
• May 21: Assembly Hosted by KG
  All three kindergarten classes will be hosting this Thursday's assembly. Please join us in the theater at 7:55!
  
• May 22 & 23: Elementary Musical
  This year's show is Aladdin! You can purchase tickets at the reception desk. Please see the Shamachar for more information.
• June 1: KG-Grade 2 Talent Show - 1:30 - 2:30
  
• June 7: Bump-Up Day and Kindergarten End of the Year Party
  More information about both of these events will be sent home at a later date.
  
• June 9: Writers Celebration
  All parents are invited to listen to the amazing authors of KG-M! This will happen from 7:50 am to roughly 8:30 am. Please mark this celebration in your calendars.

Recap of Matter Unit

Although we have finished our matter unit and moved onto a new one, this past week we had the wonderful experience of visiting the middle school science room to do a lab and continue our exploration of matter. Middle school students acted as teachers and showed us the many interesting sides to dry ice. Check out the pictures below to see how much fun we had!

Several students have asked me to share a video from one of our experiments during our matter unit. Take a moment to watch the video below to see what happens when Mentos candy is dropped into a bottle of Coca-Cola. What an incredible reaction!:

 

MentosAndCoke from AIS Dhaka on Vimeo.

And one more video to see the reaction between baking soda and vinegar:

BakingSodaAndVinegar from AIS Dhaka on Vimeo.

Here are a few pictures from some of our other favorite experiments throughout the unit:

Oobleck

Flubber

Making Crayons

Bake Sale Wednesday

Dear parents,

On Thursday May 14th, 8th grade students will be holding their annual fundraiser to raise money for a local anti-slavery organization. Elementary students will have an opportunity to buy drinks and snacks and participate in various activities. We ask that you send money with your child on this day if you'd like him/her to participate. Please send small bills (100s and 50s would be perfect).

KG Websites

Several students have been asking recently for the website we use in class that contains links to different learning websites, so here it is! Please bookmark it for easy access:

KG Websites

Developing Thinking Skills in Kindergarten

We have really focused throughout the year on the development of thinking skills and also in our ability to make our thinking more visible to others. Through engagement in Thinking Routines in class and in questioning that encourage us to think deeply, we have grown so much as learners. We have used rubrics to self and partner assess,

 

and apps such as Explain Everything and Sonic Pics have helped to capture our thinking. Some of these will be shared in a later post.

A bit over a week ago school was canceled unexpectedly and AISD implemented a virtual school day. Students engaged in a variety of learning activities, one of these targeting our unit of inquiry on matter. We had made Flubber in class from glue and borax, and students took this home and were challenged to experiment and hypothesize to determine what state of matter it was. The thinking shared with me via video and writing was impressive and students' understanding of the central idea and lines of inquir was evident through their explanations. We went further to of course explore what Flubber really is, but please take a moment to watch/read some of the thinking sent in.