Happy Thanksgiving Break!  Even though we had a short week this week, it was a busy week!  We had a fire drill, celebrated our November Champions of the Month, and did some turkey bowling with Mrs. McClure on the playground!

GERMS

Tis the season for germ spreading.  We have had lots of kids out with fevers, coughs, and even pneumonia.  Oh My!  We are washing tables every day, and making sure to wash our hands at every bathroom break.  We take 2 daily as a whole group, and kids use the bathroom when needed.  We are reminding each other to not pick noses, but grab a tissue…and to cover that cough with an elbow.  School policy states that students need to be fever free (with medication) for 24 hours before returning to school.  Thank you for your help and support in our germ prevention!

CONFERENCES

Thank you for attending and chatting with me.  I wish we had more than 15 minutes to chat.  I am so proud of all the growth each and every child has made over this first trimester.  Please feel free to CONTACT ME at anytime you have a question or concern regarding your child.  Our next formal conferences will be held in March, but as always happy to meet with you before if you feel the need.

READER’S WORKSHOP

Last week we focused on using all of our super reading powers to read books and made fun capes to take home to help us remember to use our super reading powers at home.  This week, we added “pattern power” and learned how the pattern in the book helps us to read with fluency to sound like a reader.  We also learned about “punctuation power” and how our voice changes when we see different types of punctuation in a story.

WRITER’S WORKSHOP

We are working hard on making our stories easy to read.  Last week the student’s gained “partner power” in writing.  We now have a friend that we sit by and when we get stuck, we can ask them for help.  They are not allowed to take over our story and do the writing for us.  But they may remind us what to do to make our stories easy to read….add finger spaces between the words and stretch slowly to hear all the sounds.

We are getting ready for our Writer’s Museum, and tried revising two of our stories today to make them easier to read.

MATH

We have begun Unit 2 and are working on the numbers 6-10.  We are learning to subitize these numbers using addition (I see 2 and 4, that makes 6) instead of counting each object one by one.  We also began working on number stories using addition and subtraction.  We look at the pictures and see what happened first, then, and last. (First there were 2 horses, then 2 more horse came to the barn, how many horse are in the barn in all?  OR  First there were 5 birds in the tree, then 3 flew away, how many birds are left in the tree?)

RAINBOW WORDS

Our goal was to master lists 1-3 by Dec. 1….if your child has completed this goal, he/she will be given a prize on Monday.  If they haven’t YET, I will save their prize for them, and when they complete all 3 lists successfully, they will be given the prize.

Thanks for working on these lists at home.  They are certainly helping your child with his/her reading skills.

PE CARES

We collect over 4,000 cans/points!  Thank you for all of the donations.  Team 18 and 26 will get to go bowling with Ms. Stoke, Mrs. McClure, and their team at a later date…still to be determined.

BOOK ORDER

I will be placing the Scholastic Book Order on December 2nd, so books arrive on time before the next holiday break.

Please turn in a wrapped book by December 13th.  Remember boys buy for a boy, girls buy for a girl.  Please don’t spend more the $5.00.

IMPORTANT DATES/INFO

Wednesday, Nov. 27 thru Friday, Nov. 29 – Thanksgiving Break

Tuesday, December 3 – Alward Holiday Program at 6:30pm

The Program will be held at Fellowship Reformed Church on Dec. 3. Kindergarten through 2nd grade will perform at 6:30pm and 3rd grade through 5th grade perform at 7:30pm. Please note that our Pre-K students do not participate in this program

Tuesday, December 10 – Santa’s Secret Shop – info sent home soon from PTC

Friday, December 13 – Early Release Friday…dismiss at 12:15pm

Thursday, December 19 – Classroom Party

Monday, December 23 – Friday, January 3 – Christmas Vacation

We had a busy and fun filled week at school.  Kids are enjoying playing in the snow!  Please keep practicing dressing in snow gear independently at home.  Zippers and mittens/gloves are the trickiest.  And turning snow pants and sleeves right side out.

Here is what we learned this week:

READERS WORKSHOP

We learned that superheroes do not quit when something is tough, the use their super reading powers all together.  We have pointer power, picture power, sound power, and partner power to help us learn to read the actual words in books.  We know this is a big job, but we are up for the challenge!

WRITERS WORKSHOP

We are learning about the tools that writer’s use to help make their writing easy to read.  We learned how to use a checklist and a vowel chart to help use get all the things we need into our stories.

MATH

We reviewed Unit 1 and took our first math test.  I will share them with you at conferences.

CLASSROOM RULES

We are working hard at setting goals for ourselves on which rule we are going to work on for the day.

Get Focused

Follow Directions Quickly

Raise Your Hand to Talk

Nice Hands, Nice Mouth, Nice Heart

Make Smart Choices

RAINBOW WORDS

Continue to practice these words and return the list when your child can read these words out of order, in a snap 🙂

Our first Rainbow Word goal is to have mastered lists #1-3 by December 1st.

If you have mastered these word lists you will receive your December surprise!

Conferences are this

Monday & Wednesday! 

Kindergarteners will get their report card AT CONFERENCES, it will NOT be sent home.

Parent-Teacher conferences are Nov. 18th & 20.  If possible, please find a sitter. I do not personally encourage students to attend conferences and sometimes it is difficult keeping siblings entertained.

Conferences are only 15 minutes long and are back to back. Please be on time to help our conference times stay on track.  Thank You!

PE CARES

Here are the details:
* Begins Monday, Nov. 11
* Ends Monday, Nov. 25
* We will collect items as teams.
* Students can take their cans/boxes in the morning to their bin in the hallway.

*Points are scored for each canned or boxed food.
* The 2 teams with the highest number of points will go bowling.
* PEANUT BUTTER jars are worth 3 points.
*All other food is worth 1 point for each item.
*Granola Bars, fruit snacks, and other items that come in boxes with multiple items in the box will be counted as 1 item per box and are not counted individually.
*Ramen Noodles can count individually.

BOOK ORDER

Will be coming home this week.  It is the only one I will be doing before our Holiday Break.  For our party we do a book exchange.  Each student may take part in the exchange. Each girl will bring in a wrapped book to exchange with another girl in our class.  Each boy will also bring in a wrapped book to exchange with another boy in our class.  Teacher gets to pick who it is for, please just write

To:  A Girl          To:  A Boy                           From:  your child’s name

Please spend $5 or less.  Wrapped books should be brought to school by December 13th.  Book orders are a great place to find books for the exchange.

IMPORTANT DATES/INFO

Monday, Nov. 18 – Parent Teacher Conferences

Wednesday, Nov. 20 – Parent Teacher Conferences

Wednesday, Nov. 20 – WE HAVE LIBRARY!  Please send library books!

Wednesday, Nov. 27 thru Friday, Nov. 29 – Thanksgiving Break

Tuesday, December 3 – Alward Holiday Program at 6:30pm

Tuesday, December 10 – Santa’s Secret Shop – info sent home soon from PTC

Friday, December 13 – Early Release Friday…dismiss at 12:15pm

Mark your calendars for the annual Alward Holiday Program! The Program will be held at Fellowship Reformed Church on Dec. 3. Kindergarten through 2nd grade will perform at 6:30pm and 3rd grade through 5th grade perform at 7:30pm. Please note that our Pre-K students do not participate in this program. More details to come!

November is here and the weather is not looking or feeling like fall.  So sad that we have already had snow and winter gear.  Here is the order that we get dressed at school to help kids be independent

1)We teach the kids to put their mittens in their hats, hats in their sleeves to help prevent lice and to help us from losing items.

2) Please label EVERYTHING!

3) Please wash all gear EVERY Friday as it gets yucky and wet.  We have also discovered this helps prevent lice.

READERS WORKSHOP

This week we began a new unit on being a SUPER READER.  We are learning to use our super reading powers to help us become better readers.  This week we worked on “pointer power” and “reread power”.  We are now trying to read the correct words in the book instead of telling the story we know.  We are noticing that our pointer power doesn’t match up unless we read the correct words.  Yes, a huge leap in reading skills!  Reader Man visited our classroom and left a power pointer to help us during reading time.  Make sure to ask your child about it.

WRITERS WORKSHOP

We also began a new unit in writer’s workshop.  We continue to write true stories about us, but now we are writing them for other people to read.  We talked about what makes our stories easy to read and hard to read.  And then we sorted our stories.  We have been working hard on fixing up the stories that were not easy to read, and are trying to make all of the new stories we write easy to read as well.

Easy to Read Stories Have:

1.  well drawn pictures with lots of details…the read should be able to tell what we drew without asking us
2.  labels in the pictures…using as many sounds as we can to make the word easy to read
3.  sentences that tell the story…words should match the picture
4.  sentences with a capital at the beginning, finger spaces between words, and punctuation at the end
5.  sentences that have words written with as many sounds as possible and snap words spelled correctly as we can copy them off the word wall

MATH

We are working on finishing up Unit 1 in our math book.  We will take our first math test on Wednesday.  I will share these tests with you at conferences next week.

RAINBOW WORDS

Continue to practice these words and return the list when your child can read these words out of order, in a snap 🙂

Wow!  It is hard to believe that it is already November.  We have experienced lots of rain and even some snow this past.  Snowing on Halloween…not my favorite!

HALLOWEEN FUN!

A BIG thank you goes out to all the parents who organized the Halloween party for our classroom.  THANK YOU to all the parents who attended and helped at the different activities.  I certainly couldn’t make this work without you.  I really appreciate you donating your personal time to my classroom.

We played Halloween Bingo and toss the eyeballs into the pumpkins.  We made yummy ghosts and monster clips.  We also enjoyed a delicious snack of fruit brain bowls, cheesestick mummies, and ghouly oranges.  Here are some photos (probably too many) for you to enjoy!

READERS WORKSHOP

We have been working on reviewing all of the things good readers do to read books.  We look at the pictures and remember the story.  We make the words we say match the picture we see.  We talk like the characters and use fun voices.  We find, point to, and read the words we know.  We read more and more exact words every time we read the story.  We have been given our own book bag.  We are learning to use it respectfully and responsibly because it needs to last the whole school year.

WRITERS WORKSHOP

We are learning to write true stories about us.  We need to include who, where, and what was happening in our stories.  The need to be things that have already happened to us, so we can tell the story correctly.  We are drawing pictures with lots of long labels, and writing sentences while trying to use capitals, finger spaces, and punctuation.  We are using our picture power and sound power to make our stories easy to read.

MATH

We are working with small numbers right now (0-5).  We are working on making scenes (pictures that represent the number) and using comparing mats to compare the numbers.  We are also learning about 2-D shapes.  We know most of their names and can identify the shape right away.  Our shapes include circles, squares, triangles, rectangles, hexagons, and diamonds/rhombus.  We are also learning the attributes of the shapes (what makes that shape a shape).  Does it have curves or straight lines?  Does it have corners?  How many?  Does it have sides?  How many?  Are the sides long or short?  Are the sides all the same?  We have learned that 2-D means flat as a pancake.  Ask your child to name and describe shapes to you at home or in the car as you are driving along.

RAINBOW WORDS

Your child’s goal is to turn in 3 lists by December 1st.  That means red, orange, and light yellow lists have been turned in.  We are already working on list 4 (dark yellow) in our classroom during super switch.  Super switch are reading intervention groups that practice skills that are appropriate for your child’s reading ability.  We also work with our snap/rainbow words too.  If your child has already turned in 3 lists, congratulate him/her.  Keep working at a pace that is appropriate for your child.  Please don’t rush them with a list if they are not reading each word in a snap/quickly/3 second rule.

IMPORTANT DATES/INFO

Monday, Nov. 4 – teacher is in a meeting all day (guest teacher, kids know)

Friday, Nov. 15 – Early Release Friday 12:15 dismissal

If your child needs a sack lunch or has a change in transportation that day, please email me.

Monday, Nov. 18 – Parent Teacher Conferences

Wednesday, Nov. 20 – Parent Teacher Conferences

Wednesday, Nov. 27 thru Friday, Nov. 29 – Thanksgiving Break

Information about signing up for Parent Teacher Conferences will be coming home via email from Mrs. McClure and the office staff.  Keep your eyes on your email.  Sign up is first come, first serve.  You will need to sign up for one slot for each child in my classroom.  Thanks and have a great weekend!

Happy Monday!  I waited to post the newsletter until today because we are wrapping up a unit in Writer’s Workshop, and today we turned our classroom into a bookstore.  Pictures will appear below under Writer’s Workshop!

READERS WORKSHOP

In reader’s workshop we continue to work on studying the pictures to help us remember the story and we are writing important words on sticky notes (by stretching out sounds) that we need to say when we retell the story.  This label could be something we see, how the character feels, or about what the character is doing.  The kids LOVE using sticky notes to add labels to their books.  And it is something that you can try at home!   We use sound spelling to help kids understand letter/sound relationship, which in turn helps them learn to read.

We are trying to point to as many words as we can while reading.  That varies from child to child.  Some kids are able to point to all the words, others can find a word or two.  We celebrate them wherever they are at.

WRITERS WORKSHOP

We just finished up our SHOW AND TELL unit for writer’s workshop.  We celebrated all of our hard work, by making our classroom into a bookstore.  Today we fixed and fancied up our stories by adding more and revising.  Those stories became books that we could “purchase” at the store today.  The kids added price tags to the books, set up a children’s section and an adult section to the bookstore.  We had an information center and a cashier to visit.  Coffee, tea, cookies were served at the coffee shop in the store.  A great time was had by all!

Shopping in the children’s section!

Shopping in lots of sections!

Welcome to the coffee shop!

Cashier and Information Center

At the checkout!

Setting up the bookstore

Setting up the Children’s Section

Enjoying some coffee while reading a good book!

adding labels to the bookstore

label for the information table

MATH

We are working on making “scenes”.  Scenes are pictures that represent a number and have a theme.  Today we made a scene of three for the zoo.  So kids could draw 3 giraffes, 3 monkeys, 3 zookeepers….etc.

RAINBOW WORDS

Thank you for continuing to practice.  With Parent Teacher Conferences fast approaching, please realize that I have LOTS of individualized testing to do, so I might not be able to get to rainbow words as quickly.  Your child should still be able to read them in a snap if they truly know them whether it is a 1 day, 2 day, or 3 day turnaround.  If they don’t or have forgotten them, I will write “Practice a little longer” on it.  Practice again and send it back!  Thanks for your understanding.

SUPER SWITCH

We are in full swing working with paraprofessionals for super switch.  Each child meets with a teacher for 15 minutes and then works independently for 15 minutes.  Students are completing reading skills with teachers that meet their needs.  The independent work is something they should be able to do without help.  We are working on beginning sound papers independently.  I do not have time to check these papers, but you can when your child brings it home.  When emptying your child’s folder, see if they wrote their name with one capital followed by a lower case train.  See if they are printing the letters tall and small when there are penmanship lines.   See if they circled the correct answer.  See if they are taking their time to think about real colors when coloring.  Are they using short strokes and staying in the lines?  Are they using different colors to represent different things/parts of the picture?  If not, then you can have them fix at home to continue practicing.

IMPORTANT DATES/INFO

OCTOBER 22 – BOOK LOOK DAY:  WE MAKE A WISH LIST

OCTOBER 23 – LITERACY NIGHT 6:00-7:30 PM

OCTOBER 24 – BOOK BUY:  WE CAN BUY BOOKS

IF YOU ALREADY BOUGHT SOME AT LITERACY NIGHT, NO WORRIES

YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO BUY ANY!

OCTOBER 29 – TURKEY TROT (sign-up already finished)

OCTOBER 31 – COSTUME PARADE 2:00PM (outside)

OCTOBER 31 – PARTY AT 2:30-3:15 PM (classroom)

Please remember to attend the costume parade or the party you need to have completed a background check.  Go the the Hudsonville Public Schools website.  Scroll down the page to Volunteer Background Check (was on left side/orange box when I visited the site).

What a beautiful week of weather…until today…a bit rainy and cold!

Fall is finally here and the kids are enjoying spending recess time outside.  Please be aware that means WINTER is not too far away.  As you begin to purchase winter gear, PLEASE take your child with you.  Have them put on/take off the gear.  Have them zip it up and down.  Have them put on hats and mittens/gloves.  It is important to purchase winter gear your child can do independently for school, as it is impossible for me to dress 21 littles.  Thanks for your help and understanding!

ABC BOOTCAMP

We wrapped up ABC bootcamp this week!  We have learned how to name all of the letters (capital and lower case).  We have learned how to make the sounds of each letters.  We have learned that vowels (A,E,I,O,U,Y) can be tricky, as vowels make many different sounds.  We learned how to write each letter (capital and lower case) starting at the top, top, top of the line or curve.  We finished up with a “fashion flight” while doning our super letter capes.  Pictures can be seen in an earlier post.

READERS WORKSHOP

This week in reader’s workshop we have been focusing on characters and their feelings.  We have been noticing feelings in the stories we read and marking them with post-it notes.  Then while we are reading we try to think about how the character sounds and what motions they might do.  We have becoming AMAZING storybook actors and are really beginning to connect with characters.

WRITERS WORKSHOP

We continue to write SHOW AND TELL stories that teach others.  We are now writing really long labels (ex. chair = blue plastic chair) and sentences on every page.  We have started using patterns to help us write our stories faster.  Our classroom is turning into a book factory!  We are using our snap words to help us write these pattern books.

MATH

This week we finished our number writing book.  We have learned how to write the numbers 0-20 the “school way”.  We learned that once you know how to write 0-9, that helps you write the “teen” numbers.  We also talked about how the “teen” number always starts with one tens-group and that is why there is always the one in the front.  We also talked about why 20 has a two in the front, and is not considered a “teen” number.

RAINBOW WORDS

Thank you for taking the time to practice the rainbow word lists that are being sent home.  These are the “snap” words we use during reader’s and writer’s workshop.  We call them “snap” words because we can read and write them quickly (in a snap).

We have completed the red and orange list in the classroom.  We will begin the yellow list next week.  If your child has already completed/sent in those 2 lists, you are ahead!  No worries.  Please keep working at the pace that best meets your child’s needs.  Kids who are ahead at home, still enjoy reviewing in the classroom with hands-on activities.

IMPORTANT DATES/INFO

OCTOBER 16 – PICTURE RETAKES

OCTOBER 18 – EARLY RELEASE FRIDAY:  DISMISS AT 12:15

OCTOBER 22 – BOOK LOOK DAY:  WE MAKE A WISH LIST

OCTOBER 23 – LITERACY NIGHT 6:00-7:30 PM

OCTOBER 24 – BOOK BUY:  WE CAN BUY BOOKS

IF YOU ALREADY BOUGHT SOME AT LITERACY NIGHT, NO WORRIES

YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO BUY ANY!

OCTOBER 29 – TURKEY TROT (sign-up already finished)

OCTOBER 31 – COSTUME PARADE 2:00PM (outside)

OCTOBER 31 – PARTY AT 2:30-3:15 PM (classroom)

*A communication regarding the party will be sent home this week to parents who signed up at open house. A note regarding costume policies will go home the following week. Please keep in mind if you are planning on coming to the party, you must have a cleared background check (see next post item) in order to attend.

To complete a background check:

https://docs.google.com/a/hpseagles.net/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeWs9tkN7FMo1QTgLxIjKZmMycvqP7tf3AovvplU8KCwX8B_A/viewform

Hope that link works.  If it doesn’t go the the Hudsonville Public Schools website.  Scroll down the page to Volunteer Background Check (was on left side/orange box when I visited the site)

Hope you had a great weekend!

Students have been working hard to earn token for SOARING at school.  And, guess what?  We have filled up our SOAR chart!   So we get to celebrate tomorrow (October 11, 2019).  Please send a blanket and flashlight to school with your child so he/she can join in the celebration!  We will be building forts to read in/under in our classroom.  Pictures will be added later!

Hi There,

I just realized that I forgot to post a weekly newsletter.  Since it is getting closer to Friday, I will wait on posting what we have learned.  But here are a couple of things that we have done that were LOTS of FUN!

FIRE SAFETY

On Friday, October 4, the Georgetown Firefighters came to our school to teach us all about fire safety.  Hopefully your child came home and chatted with you about smoke detectors, batteries, fire safety plans, drills at home, and all the other things they could remember.  Here are some pictures of the event….

SUPER LETTER POWER

We wore our SUPER LETTER CAPES today and showed them off to all of our kindergarten friends!  We had a great time SOARING!  Thanks for taking the time to make the cape with your child.  We sent them home today for them to keep!  Here are what they looked like and some videos of them flying!

IMG_0380

If you click the blue link you will see a video…they put their capes on their bellies as the wind kept wanting to blow them away!

We made it through another busy week in kindergarten.  We had a lockdown drill, and evacuation drill, spirit week and Walk-a-thon all in the same week!

Lockdown Drill

I tell the kids this is just like a game of hide and seek.  We sit in a corner of the room all together as quiet as can be.  The drill takes 5-7 minutes, so that is a looooong time for little people to sit,  but our class was AMAZING and rocked this drill.

Evacuation Drill

We took a looooong walk down the sidewalk to the church on the corner of 36th and Port Sheldon.  We walked with 4th graders who were good leaders and helped keep us safe on the sidewalk.  Once again, our class did an amazing job!

Walk-a-thon

The weather cooperated with most of the groups today and kindergarten was able to make it outside to walk.  We had a fun time watching the chicken dance competition between teachers as well.

THANK YOU for helping us raise over $25,000 for our school!  It will be put to good use to purchase things for classrooms for your children to use.  Every child will be bringing home a SOAR shirt.  Others will be bringing home tickets, awards, or prizes for being top fundraisers in the class.  Tickets , awards, and prizes were put into folders for kids to take home.

ABC BOOTCAMP

This week we focused on the letters Oo-Ss.  We practiced reading them, writing them, and making their sound.  We were sound detectives in lots of different ways.  We have been working on pinch grip and fine motor skills during this time as well.  Please keep practicing writing “THE SCHOOL WAY” by starting letters at the top when writing at home with your child.

READER’S WORKSHOP

This week we continue to read Old Storybook Favorites, as well as, All About the World Books.  We are learning to read some words quickly.  We call these word “snap words” because we can read them in a snap.  They include the words that are coming home on the colored lists (Rainbow Words), please MAKE SURE TO PRACTICE at home too.  We are learning to point to the exact words in the book and read them correctly.  We may not be pointing to all the words yet, but we are pointing to the words in stories that have patterns or the words repeat often (ex.  The Hungry Caterpillar…..But he was still hungry!)

WRITER’S WORKSHOP

This week we began a new unit called Show and Tell.  It is helping us learn how to draw things correctly with lots of details and lots of words (labels).  We use sound spelling to write our words.   So we stretch the word slowly like a rubber band and then write down the letters that match the sounds we make.  For example, we wrote the word fuzzy this week, it sounds like fuze.  This is celebrated in kindergarten as we are learning to play with letters and sounds.  The more letters and sounds your child knows, the easier it is for them write.

MATH

Poor math has been getting left out this week.  We have learned about circles, squares, and triangles.  We have learned that they are 2 dimensional shapes because they are flat as a pancake.  We have also talked about their attributes.  For example, circles are round, roll a little (not well), are made of 2 curves, have no straight lines, and no pointy corners.  (yes, we do geometry in kindergarten)

RAINBOW WORDS

Thank you for taking the time to practice these lists of words on a daily basis.  The more words kids can learn to read in a “snap” the better readers they become.  We will be setting some goals soon for how many lists have been returned to school….so keep practicing!

We call them rainbow words because the lists are all different colors.  As soon as you send it in, I try to have your child read it to me.  It may take a couple of days, as some days are busier than others.  I will send a new list home if your child can read them in a snap or may write “practice some more”.

Please make sure your child can read each word in a “snap”…not stretching.  You can have them practice printing them on paper, writing them in a tray of salt, making letters out of playdoh/clay….sometimes tactile learning first will get them interested in reading them quickly.

IMPORTANT INFO/REMINDERS

Oct. 3 – Count Day for the State of Michigan

Oct. 4 – Popcorn Friday

Oct. 16 – Picture Retake Day

Oct. 29 – Turkey Trot  5pm

If anything else comes up, I will let you know.  Have a great weekend!

I can’t believe we are already finished with our 4th week of school!  The kids are well into using class rules and starting to remind classmates of them too!  We have learned a lot academically  and socially too.  We have learned you need to think before you speak or do something, so as to not crinkle someone’s else’s heart.  We have learned that you should share with others, because when we make someone else happy, it makes us happy too.

Next week will be a busy week for us at school.  We are having a “SPIRIT WEEK”  to rev up for Walk-a-thon.  Every day the kids may dress in attire that is listed below.

Monday – comfy clothes day

Tuesday – Tropical day (Hawaiian shirts)

Wednesday – neon day

Thursday – Tourist day (wear a shirt with a destination or dress as a tourist

Friday – wear Hudsonville gear and good walking shoes as we will be walking!

We continue to collect donations for Walk-a-thon as well.  You may return donations in the envelope.  Just put it in your child’s take home folder.  Or you may continue to donate online!  Here’s the link…

https://www.getmovinfundhub.com/register?school_uuid=5d2e05bfcd92b

We are at 50% of our classroom goal.  Let’s see if we can make it to 100% by Wednesday’s deadline!

ABC BOOTCAMP

We focused on the letter Jj-Nn this week.  Kids are doing a great job sharing their show and tell item, and they are doing a great job telling other things that begin with that sound.    We continue to work on printing these letters “THE SCHOOL WAY”….STARTING AT THE TOP.  And we are trying to make the letters correctly when we write our names.  You can practice this at home at well.  We are only focusing on first names right now.  Here is they way we print them….

READER’S WORKSHOP

We are reading “Old Storybook Favorites.”  These are stories that we have heard a “zillion” times and know can look at the pictures, remember the story, and tell it.  We are working hard on using some exact words from the story and sounding like the characters.  For example in a Pete the Cat book…we sing the words when it says Pete sings his song.  We sound grumpy when we are the grumpy, mean troll that lives under the bridge in the Three Billy Goats Gruff.  Kids are having lots of fun learning the process of how to be a reader!

WRITER’S WORKSHOP

We just finished Unit 1!  We have learned the process of being a writer and what “good” writer’s do.  We have learned that good writer’s have an “I think I can” attitude.  Good writer’s write the whole time.  Good writer’s picture what they want to draw before draw so it looks real.  Good writer’s stretch out sounds to write words on every page.  Good writer’s know that “When you think you’re done, you’ve just begun…add more details (to the pictures, to the words, or start a new piece).  Good writer’s revise their writing by using a checklist.  And good writer’s publish for readers, and share their stories.  We shared our revised/edited stories with everyone in our class this week and with our Third Grade Buddy!

MATH

We continue to work on writing our numbers “THE SCHOOL WAY’ as well.  You can refer to the above posters for how we write them.

IMPORTANT INFO/REMINDERS

Next week is spirit week to rev up for walk-a-thon.    Here is the info again..

Monday – comfy clothes day

Tuesday – Tropical day (Hawaiian shirts)

Wednesday – neon day

Thursday – Tourist day (wear a shirt with a destination or dress as a tourist

Friday – wear Hudsonville gear and good walking shoes as we will be walking!

Walk-a-thon is on Friday!  I do not know the exact time our class walks yet, but will let you know as soon as I know.  Please make sure your child is dressed in layers.  It may be chilly if we walk in the AM, or warm if we walk in the PM.  TENNIS SHOES are a must.  We walk for quite a while.  Kids are allowed to take breaks and stop at our “table” to rest.  Please send a water bottle LABELED with your child’s name.  We keep them on the table that rest by.  Thanks for your help in making this the best experience it can be for your child.

Have a great weekend!  If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!