A big recap and a lot of important info!

Hi everyone! It has been great seeing everyone since our much-needed Easter break!  We noticed a few kids with some missing teeth and some who grew a little taller!  I definitely missed the kiddos! We came back to school in full force- yesterday we celebrated our Kindergarten mass!  They did a marvelous job, from the cheerful greeters at the doors, to the loud and clear readers, to the reverend students who brought the banner, gifts, and altar cloth up to the altar. I couldn't have been a prouder teacher!  Unfortunately, I was so busy smiling away at the kiddos that I didn't take too many photos.  I know we will see many photos up on the Shutterfly account, but here are just a few to get you by until then:

Here are some kiddos practicing for the big Mass.

And here they are in action!

Here is one of our wonderful readers, accompanied by her study buddies (for moral support!)

 

Here is our beautiful Mass banner, prepared by one of our wonderful moms!

I can't wait to see the other photos that some of you have taken! Feel free to email me a few, especially of our group photos (please!)

So, prior to our awesome Mass, we had a fun week leading up to our Easter Break.  During centers, we had some fun Easter-themed learning activities.  Here are some photos from those centers:

At this center, the students would crack open an egg, read the sight word on the paper inside the egg, then either copy it down three times or use it in a sentence.

This was a similar center, but inside each of these eggs was a set of letter tiles. The students had to arrange the tiles in the correct order to spell a real word, then write that word down.

Sometimes we need to squeeze in some assessments during centers... gotta love Kindergarten- they actually enjoy our assessments!

At this center, students had to cut and paste words into the correct order to form a sentence. Then they draw a picture about the sentence.

Besides participating in centers, some kiddos participated in our annual Student Council Peeps Easter Diorama contest.  Here is one student with her adorable rendition of "The Addams Family" using Peeps!

The kids also enjoyed another directed-draw activity.  Directed-draw activities help kindergartners become great direction-followers, increases their fine motor skills, as well as their sense of spatial reasoning.

We also had time to practice our sight words in Mr. Colvin's computer class.  The kiddos had to read the sight words on the computer (correlated to our own list of sight words, of course!), then they had to type the sight words in the box below each sight word.  The kiddos have really come a long way with their typing skills. Most of them have become very comfortable with knowing where most of the letters are on the keyboard.  Then, the early finishers changed the color and font of the words they typed! 

Now, onto our Easter Kinder Club!  A HUGE thank you to the parents who helped prepare for this very successful Kinder Club, particularly our rosary project!  It was a little challenging for them, but in a good way!  We had plenty of parents (and aunts!) on board to help them string their beads correctly.  What a great project! 

They seemed to really enjoy making these beautiful rosaries! Did we mention the cross glows in the dark?!?! 

They also made some beautiful crosses of their own using egg cartons and decorations. Great idea!

Kinder Club wouldn't be complete without some Kinder Yoga!  The kids really get into their Yoga poses!

They also participated in an Easter Egg hunt, but unfortunately I didn't snap any photos of that fun activity.  Finally, here are some kiddos playing a little Easter Bingo!

Now that gets us caught up to this week!  Besides spending a lot of time preparing for our Mass, we also had a special treat on Thursday when one of our Kinder Kiddos got to be Mrs. Frawley's assistant for the day. This was something his parents purchased at the school Auction. Next week, another student will get to be my special assistant for the day! 

Sitting all day at Mrs. Frawley's desk definitely attracts some attention!

Leading the class in our morning prayers...

Well, that's going to be it for the picture portion of our blog this week!  

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I've got LOTS to do this month, much of which is preparing for our...graduation (among other things)!  Yikes! Can it be? Can it only be a little over a month away??? Didn't I just get these little kiddos??? I had to choke back tears at our Mass, so I can only imagine what I'm going to be like at our graduation! But, before we get to that milestone, we've got some other important events coming up! 

• This Tuesday- after school- another book fair at Barnes and Noble! Please come support our school and purchase a few books! I'll be reading a story at 3:40! This is a big fundraiser for our school, especially for our library!
• This Friday our Drama Club will be performing "Teen Beach Musical" in the hall at 7pm! A few kinder kiddos will be performing, so come support them!
• Friday, May 16th, we have another wonderful Kinder Club! If you haven't joined us for Kinder Club yet, this is one of your last chances!
• Thursday, May 22nd, we have a special field trip to the Fire Station!  More information will go home soon, including entering your name into our chaperone "lottery"... five lucky parents will be joining us on this walk across the street! 
• Friday, May 23rd, please join us for a special Catholic School tradition, The May Crowning! It is a St. Jude tradition to pick one lucky Kindergarten girl to assist in crowning Mary- we will pull a name out of a hat to choose this lucky girl sometime this week!
• Friday, May 30th, is another great St. Jude tradition- Olympic Day! We will all meet at Triunfo Park (not at school), and we will participate in a morning of various olympic-like activities with the whole school! You don't want to miss this great day (and it's a half day!)
• That same Friday, join us at the annual 8th Grade Lip Sync in the Hall at 7pm.  Rumor has it that the teachers may be doing their own little performance at the beginning of the show... = )
• Sometime in the first week of June, our Kindergartners will have their annual "Ice Cream Sundae" party!  They have to earn the parts of their ice cream sundae by saying their prayers correctly, tying their shoes, telling us their phone number and address, along with telling us their birthdate (including the year).  Please spend this month making sure they are ready for all of the parts of their sundae! 
• Not that this is in May, but don't forget to plan for our Graduation on Tuesday, June 10th at 10am! 

Ok, I'm exhausted just typing all of the events for May! 

One last note- share this week will be things that include the letter Z ANYWHERE in the word!  Can you believe we have finally reached the last letter in the alphabet??? Some kiddos have been asking what we will learn next- just tell them not to worry... Ms. Hudson always has something new for them to learn! 

Have a beautiful weekend, and take care!