Papa Niu May!09 Newsletter Sparkle Bottles Mrs. Wong and Mrs. Chun came to help us make sparkle bottles. Each of us used a smoothsided bottle for this project. We wrote a special message about how to take care of the earth on a piece of plastic and put it in the bottle. Then we added water, corn syrup and food coloring to the bottle. Next we put glitter in the bottle. We sealed our bottle closed with hot glue. An adult did that part for us so we didn t get burned. Finally, we added the ribbon to the bottle if wanted one. We shook our bottles at the end to blend everything together. to make Samurai Hats. The samurai hats represent strength. We also had a special snack. Nanea s mom brought popcorn and golden koi arare, even though Nanea was absent. She also brought banana cookies that we saved for later. Kana i brought manapua. The girls pulled out the chairs for the boys and let them get their food first at snack and lunch. Sea Life Park On May 8 all of the kindergarten classes went to Sea Life Park. We walked around the aquarium on the way to the turtles. The whitetipped reef sharks were resting. We saw stingrays, puffer fish, spotted eagle rays, moi, and trigger fish. A leatherback turtle was resting at the bottom of the aquarium. When we walked out of the aquarium we saw marine debris and a picture of dead animals. We saw turtles in a little pond of crystal clear water. The boy turtles had longer tails than the girl turtles. One group got to go to the touching pool. They touched a sea cucumber, a sea star and a baby turtle. Father s Day We decorated a frame to go around a recent picture of us for a Father s Day gift. We used our handmade paper to make a tag for the gift. Boys Day Mr. Trujillo and Mrs. Nascimento came to celebrate Boys Day. Mrs. Knutson taught us how 1
We all went to a dolphin show. We learned that the fin on the back of the dolphin is called the dorsal fin. We also learned that it is a mammal because it has hair. It has more hair as a baby. We did the motions to the hula so the dolphin would do the dolphin hula. It kept spinning around in the water and going around the tank. The dolphin jumped up toward a ball. At the end, it made a big splash. Those in the wet zone got wet. We ate lunch in the same place as we watched the dolphin show. jar. Then we poured water up to a line on the jar. We closed the lid and shook the jar really hard. Then we poured the pulp over a screen which was sitting on a dish. We put another screen on top of the pulp and moved the pulp to a pad of newspaper. Then we pressed the pulp with a sponge to soak up water. After that, we removed the top screen and set the bottom screen on the newspaper so we could roll out the water with a rolling pin. It was a fun activity. Most of us liked the shaking part the best. Recycle Art As a part of our recycle unit, the children brought in trash to reuse in an art project. It s amazing the variety of things we created. Some of the creations included a shark, a Pokemon, a puppet and many different structures. It was a lot of fun! The extra cardboard, plastic bottles and cans were recycled. The next show was the sea lions. They had a contest between Miss California and Miss Baja. Miss California painted a picture of a waterfall. She also did break-dancing and sang to Who Let the Dogs Out. Miss Baja did a ballet dance and talked to us about her favorite things. Miss California won the contest. Some of the children got to play on the play set. Then it was time to get on the bus. Progressfolio There were LOTS of things to do for our progressfolio at the end of the school year. First, we did a math reflection, reading reflection, writing reflection and kindergarten reflection. We drew a picture for This is Me. We did our writing sample for the end of the year and chose a book we could read at the end of the year. We wrote about the hardest and best things from kindergarten and about our friends. We put lots of pictures in the back of Making Paper We have been studying how glass, paper and cans can be recycled. To simulate the recycling of paper, we recycled clean toilet paper and made it into new paper which was used in the making of a gift tag. First we put 8 squares of toilet paper in a 2
our progressfolio. Finally, we did a kindergarten web and a math web. What a lot of work! Swimming Our class has been swimming in P.E. on days 3 and 6. At first we learned to do bobs and blow bubbles. Then we used kick boards. We also used life jackets. Math Lately we ve been doing story problems. Each of us wrote our own story problems to be put into a book. It was fun acting out some of the problems! Hi ilei Media Center We took all of our books back to the Hi ilei Media Center on the last day. No books were missing from our class! Computer Lab We made cards for Teacher s Appreciation Day in the last computer lab using The Print Shop. The first step was to go to cards. Then we chose Start from Scratch. We chose a header, a border and a graphic and typed a message. When it was printed, we folded it in half and then in half again. Finally, we gave our card to the teacher. Art We finished our Mother s Day gifts and wrote reflections in our art journals. After our last class we brought home books showing our work from the year. 3
Science We ve been learning about water in science. We discovered things about water at pools outside. We put pipes together so water could go from one tank to another. There were gutters and pipes to make a long slide for the water. We tried to make the water move to different places. We scooped up water and poured it in the gutter. Later we worked with pipes at fish tanks. We had cups and funnels and lots of connectors to hook the pipes together. We poured water into the pipes and watched the water go through the pipes. Music We ve been playing rhythm sticks in music and marching to The March of the Toreador. During the month of May, we ve been singing Imua Kamehameha, Sons of Hawai i, Ua Mau and a good-bye song for Teachers who are retiring. William Classroom Science In the classroom we studied water drops. First we looked at water drops on trays. Then we dropped water on different kinds of paper. Some paper soaked up the water. On other paper, the water ran off or stayed in one place. The water drops were a hemisphere shape. The last day we worked with water on nature. When we put water on eggplants, the water rolled right off. On one plant the water bounced off. Hawaiian Language and Culture We finished our Hawaiian word cards in class and cut them out. After we cut them out, we sorted them by the letters in the Hawaiian alphabet. Birthdays May was a BUSY month of birthdays! We celebrated the birthdays of those born in May. The May birthday children were Ka ano i, Sophia, 4
Rebel, Kanoe and Trevor. Birthday Blue was very busy! We enjoyed the delicious snacks and goodies. Happy Birthday to all! End of the Year Picnic All of the kindergarten children will be going on a picnic on the last day of school. Each child should bring a backpack with a plastic bag (for a wet suit) and a towel. Each child may wear play clothes with a bathing suit underneath. Slippers are best to wear on their feet. Don t forget to send underwear for your child to put on when the children change out of their swimsuits. Your child may also bring one sand toy with his/her name on it and goggles. As this is the last time the children will be together as kindergartners, we limit the number of parents who will attend. Those with life-saving skills were asked first, with others added as needed. All parents who attend will be in the water with the children. Those who will be helping out have already been notified. Good Night Moon We are looking forward to seeing the play Good Night Moon. It will be interesting to see a play made out of a book we already know. Help in the Classroom Parents are welcome to help clean up in the classroom at their convenience on May 26 or May 27. Those who have clearance may also come on May 20 or May 21 to help the children clean. Mahalo for any help you may give! Last Day for Homework The last day to turn in homework (including reading and writing) will be on May 20. No work will be checked after that date. 5