I feel so fortunate to have worked with Team Awesome this past year. It has been an amazing privilege to witness the tremendous progress and growth they have made since September. They are now all on their way to being readers and writers and a lot taller than they were 10 months ago! They are confident in their abilities and excited to learn more!
Each child has brought joy and happiness to our classroom. I was so blessed to have had such a wonderful group of children this past year. My friends and family often laugh at me as I refer to them as “my kids”. They have all touched my life in very positive and rewarding ways and their teacher next year will be lucky to have them.
Thank you for all of your support. It has been a pleasure getting to know not only your child, but you as well. Having parental support and open lines of communication is an essential part of any successful school year and I can’t thank you all enough. Thank you for all you have done to make our year so fulfilling and memorable.
As the students move from Kindergarten to 1st grade, there is a lot you can do to encourage growth over the summer. Make sure to take time to engage in meaningful conversations with your child daily. Take time to read to and listen to your child read. Ask questions, make predictions, and make life to text connections as you read. Practice simple addition and subtraction problems and working with numbers to ten. Encourage your child to write often! Writing stories, letters, journal entries, etc. are great ways to get thoughts organized and put onto paper. These little things will lead to big successes next year.
Again, thank you for a wonderful year. I wish all of Team Awesome and their families the best of luck as you continue this wonderful journey.
Have an awesome summer and I look forward to seeing you in the fall.
Love,
Mrs. Bowden

After Dads & Donuts, Grayson and Andon were sitting at the picnic table with a number of plastic juice cups in front of them. They asked if they could wash them out and play with them later. "Play with them?" I asked. "You know, like the Cup Song." So they rounded up as many cups as they could and rinsed them out at the sink. While the children were eating their snacks I asked if any of them knew the Cup Song. A few of them did but most of them did not, which led to us watching a number of videos repeatedly as they couldn't get enough. Of course, then everyone was trying to learn how to use the cups, tables and their hands to make the catchy beat. So we found a tutorial and learned a bit of it. It was a fun and unexpected music lesson using unconventional materials that Team Awesome loved so much that they are still asking to watch the videos. If you are unfamiliar with the Cup Song, check it out here and here but be warned- it is very catchy and you'll be singing it for the rest of the day, just like we have been.

For Fun Day on Friday Team Awesome was put into mixed groups of K-3 students and a teacher led each group. Because I was responsible for a group, I was unable to get many pictures of all of the children, other than those with me and some in the groups before and after us, so this video is light on pictures of all of team Awesome.

This is it- the very last Friday Housekeeping for this school year. Some of you are relieved, I know, and some are sad, because it means Team Awesome is ready to move on to grade one and they aren't very little any more. Remember how small and vulnerable they seemed in September and how hard it was to let them go at the door? Now they hardly look back when they say their goodbyes in the morning. The new kindergarteners in the fall always seem so young and dependent in comparison with the ones that leave me for the summer at the end of June and I know this year won't be any different.

• Sintse showed us his 3D movie glasses, Colby told us about his giant alligator, Kiera had a stuffed unicorn and Jacob loves his big stegosaurus.
• Take Home books did not go out this week because I am trying to collect them back for the end of the year. If your child has one at home, please return it.
• There are still 3 library books not returned from our class. You will have received a bill for it if your child has not returned their book yet.
• Dads & Donuts will be Monday, June 22, from 8:20-8:50ish. We will follow the same format as with Moms & Muffins. If dad can't make it, please send another adult for your child.
• We will watch Mrs. Sauka's class experiment with Coke and Mentos outside on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 23.
• Our school items will be coming home Wednesday, June 24, so expect a bag/folder.
• Thursday, June 25, is our very last day of classes. We will have an assembly with the BEST Jump team at 9:00 and a second, end-of-year, awards assembly at 11:00ish. You are welcome to join us. Dismissal is at 12:00. If you are leaving for holidays early, please let me know so I can get your child's things together as soon as possible.
• THANK YOU for all the parent help these last weeks with supervising field trips. The children had a great time and we really couldn't have done it without you- I mean it.

Go forth and Be Awesome!