May 1, 2010 Dear Parents: It is amazing to think that we are nearing the end of our school year.  It has been such a wonderful year; we have enjoyed the class so much and will miss each and every one of the children.  We are impressed with the growth we have seen in all of the class.  They are a fine group of children (but you already knew that!) Last month we enjoyed our Gardening and Insects unit.  We learned about life cycles and how things grow and change.   We also participated in Earth Day.  Not only was it fun, but also the children have gained a better appreciation for our world and can see that we have a responsibility to take care of our beautiful planet.  We learned more about recycling and made a project using recycled materials.  It is never too early to start caring for our earth. We also read books about pollution and garbage and talked about ideas on how we can help our planet. The children already feel that they contribute to the ACS recycling program as we encourage recycling in class. The children put their scraps of paper and plastic into the recycling bin as second nature. Our service project this year is a pet food drive for homeless animals in Abu Dhabi.  Our KG classes are visiting the British Vet and we will make posters asking for food donations and will see to it that organizations taking care of these animals get the food to help feed these animals without homes.   In May we are studying space and oceans!  When we learn about Oceans, please take your child to the beach and reinforce what we learned about the sea and the creatures in our oceans.  Crabs and small fish are everywhere.  It is so much fun to spend time at the beach, and your child will gain much information about the ocean and beach environment during our ocean unit.  We will be needing shells for our craft activities, so if you collect some with your child and can share with us, we would appreciate it. In math we are connecting mathematical concepts to tie in with the themes we are studying.  We are also using math to tie in with the science curriculum we are following.  For instance, during our gardening activities, we sorted seeds and measured the plants.  We compared plants, and learned about sequencing and cycles. Using real life activities to support mathematical and scientific skills makes the concepts more meaningful to your child. We will be finishing up our zoo phonics unit as well in May with Yancy Yak and Zeke Zebra.   The children have enjoyed being zoophonics kids!  We will end the alphabet by playing review games and continuing to encourage the children to write more. Please note in the music news below that Ms. Brooks is inviting the parents to music class during your child’s music day.  For Ms. Bobbi’s class that is May 18th from 10:30-11:00.  The Elementary School will be celebrating Spirit Day every Thursday this month.  Your child may like to come to school dressed reflecting these themes.  They are: May 6 – Pajama Day May 13th – Punk Day May 20th – Opposite Day May 27th – Hollywood Day If you are leaving us before the end of the year, please let us know so we can prepare your child’s records and other administrative work and be able to give your child a book of memories to share with relatives during the summer. I hope that your child has been enjoying kinder “garden”.  Springing out of April and into May The KG1 Team Music news In May we will review all the songs we have learned this year and prepare a small in-class presentation for parents to show you some of the things we have been learning this year in music. Our presentation will be Tuesday, May 18 from 10:30-11:00 am in the ES Music Room. We hope you can join us! Student Recitals: Do you have a child who takes music lessons and is looking for a performance venue? If so, we will be having 2 student music recitals in May for children who are taking private lessons. They will be held on Wednesday, May 19 and on Wednesday, May 26 from 3:30-4:30 pm in the ES Multipurpose Room. A sign-up sheet will be available outside the music room starting Sunday, May 02. Students may sign up to perform on 1 recital. There will not be auditions but students and parents will need to fill out a form letting us know what piece will be performed, the composer and the performance length. There are a lot of ARTS events happening in school and in Abu Dhabi before the end of the year with some great opportunities for your children to attend. A few of note are: May 05-May 08    Disney's Beauty and the Beast     May 14        Dame Evelyn Glennie - Percussionist Beauty and the Beast will feature a lot of people from the ACS community from students to parents as well as ACS staff members. Our very own Katie Pritz (Joy's mom KG1W) will be performing the lead as Belle. Mr. Pavlos (HS Drama) is Gaston, Ms. Banu (Ms. Mary's assistant), Ms. Salminen (ES Librarian) and myself will be playing cello, oboe and flute in the orchestra. There are 6 performances including 2 afternoon matinees and ACS receives a discount on tickets! Tickets will be on sale every day after school in the middle school courtyard until next Monday. Evelyn Glennie is a musician we have studied in class this year and she will be coming to Abu Dhabi. In music we read the story "Moses Goes to a Concert." Moses is a deaf student who goes to see a deaf percussionist. Evelyn Glennie is not only the first female percussionist to make a solo playing career for herself but she herself is also 90% deaf. Tickets are available for children and adults ages 3 and up. Child tickets are only Dhs. 30.00. Visit www.abudhabiclassics.com for more details.   Ms. Brooks