School Closed for 3 Weeks!

We are closing school for 3 weeks due to a memorandum from the Governor of Michigan.  Spring Break is still scheduled for April 3-10.  So that means I will see your child back in the classroom on Monday, April 13.  If they are any changes to these dates, you will be notified by the district.  Please keep checking the Hudsonville Public Schools district website for updates.  Thank you for your understanding during this time.

READING

We finished up Unit 4 on Being Avid Readers!  We are now avid readers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.  Today the kids celebrated with “Reading Playdates” with their book club.  I discovered that poetry is their favorite genre to read today, as they spend most of their time with it.

WRITING

We also wrapped up our Opinion Writing Unit.  We wrote our “on-demand” story on, revised it, and published it this week.  Some students were unable to complete this due to illness.  We will do our best to try to finish it after our time off.  No worries!

MATH

We have been doing a lot of classifying and sorting.  We are looking for attributes on objects and then sorting by those attributes (how many sides on a shape, how many legs on a creature, how big is it, what color is it).

BAGGIE BOOKS AND LIBRARY BOOKS
ARE DUE EVERY WEDNESDAY!

IMPORTANT DATES/INFO

will be added at a later date when routines get back to normal

It is hard to believe March is right around the corner.  I don’t know how this school year feels to you, but for me it is flying by.  We have lots of fun things planned for March is Reading Month so keep your eyes open for lots of notes/info on blogs and in folders.

MARCH IS READING MONTH

Every Friday we do something fun to celebrate March is Reading Month.  Here is a list of our fun Fridays.

Friday, March 6 – Wear Your SOAR shirt and tape Mrs. McClure to the Wall

Friday, March 13 – Wear your favorite sports team shirt

Friday, March 20 – Wear black and white for the BIG book reveal

Friday, March 27 – Bring sunglasses and a beach towel for beach party reading

We will also begin our ONE SCHOOL, ONE BOOK program on March 20th.  I can’t wait to see what this year’s book will be!

PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES

Thanks you to all the parents who have already signed up!  A can’t wait to show you how much your child has grown as a learner.  If you haven’t signed up yet and need help, please email me and let me know.  I would be more than happy to help!

READING

We have are now becoming avid NONFICTION readers by returning to All About the World books.  Kids are noticing Wow! things in the story (wow, that’s cool because or wow, that’s gross because).  They are also thinking of great questions about the pictures or the words (Why does a bee need 5 eyes?).  And they are looking for “fancy” words that teach about the subject (pollen, nectar, antennae).

WRITING

We continue on making the world a better place.  We are now focusing on writing letters only and are writing to people all over the world.  We are focusing on real world problems (spreading germs, being rude, killing animals, people fighting, not recycling, destroying habitats).  Yes, we can change the world and make it better by using our words!

MATH

We continue to work through Unit 3.  We are working with teen numbers and remember that every teen number is made of a ten group and some extra ones. (10 and 2 make 12, 10 and 6 make 16).  We have learned to do a “fast-finger flash” to show the numbers.  Ask your child if he/she can show it to you.  We are also focusing on solving addition and subtraction problems without picture clues.  We continue to work on tricks for +0/-0 and +1/-1.  We are working on using our fingers when we get stuck to solve the problem.

BAGGIE BOOKS AND LIBRARY BOOKS
are due EVERY Wednesday!

IMPORTANT DATES/INFO

Monday, March 2 – Tarry Hall Skating Party 6-8pm

Friday, March 6 – Early Release Friday (dismiss at 12:15pm)

Friday, March 6 – Chucky Cheese Fundraiser 12-9pm

3108 Alpine Avenue Northwest

Walker, MI

Monday, March 9 – Parent Teacher Conferences 5-8pm

Wednesday, March 11 – Parent Teacher Conferences 5-8pm

April 24 – Save the Date:  Alward Spring Carnival

May 16 – Save the Date:  Daddy/Daughter Dance

Winter Wear

Winter…is it staying?  Is it leaving?  We are not really sure.  PLEASE make sure to send BOOTS and SNOWPANTS DAILY!  The playground is a disaster right now.  Thanks for your help and understanding!

READING

This week we were introduced to reading playdates with our partner.  We are creating a menu of fun activities we can do with our partner.  We can play school do a read-aloud or shared reading.  We can play a game…Guess what’s next?….Alphabet Pop-It….Guess the feeling?….these are just a few choices from the menu.

WRITING

We continue to work on opinion writing.  We are working really hard to add reasons WHY people should help make the world a better place.  We also worked on making our writing easy to read…use the word wall, every word needs a vowel, stretch to hear all the sounds.

MATH

We are working hard on learning the symbols for addition and subtraction and what they mean.  Addition means “put together”.  Subtraction means “take away.”  We are learning tricks with zero and one that make addition and subtraction easy.  We are using our fingers to solve trickier problems.

IMPORTANT DATES/INFO

Monday, March 2 – Skating Party (Tarry Hall 6-8pm)

Happy Valentine’s Day

Thank you to all the parents who organized our AMAZING party and to all of the visitors who popped-in and helped out.  We made bookmarks and Valentine decor out of pipe cleaners, we played a fun game with dice and candy, and had a great snack.  But MOST importantly, we gave “love” to Kid’s Food Basket by decorating bags for the organization.  We are certainly working hard to make the world a better place!  Here are some pictures.

READING

We are working hard on being AVID readers.  We are keeping our eyes in our books the whole time and spending a lot of time reading.  Our reading stamina is up to 10 minutes independently.  We have learned that avid readers connect with characters and feel like the character.  We are trying to avoid the words happy/sad and use better “feeling words”….upset, scared, loved, joyful, etc.

WRITING

Kids are catching on to opinion writing quickly and working hard to make Alward school a better place.  They need to see a problem, think about WHY? it is a problem, give 3 reasons for it being a problem (because, and, also) and name a solution.

Dear Kids,  (this is an example)

Running in the hallway is a problem because kids can get hurt.  And they could knock other kids down.  Also everyone might get bruises when they fall.  I think everyone should use walking feet at Alward School.

MATH

This week we working on making partners of 6 by using our tiles and a break-apart stick.  We also continue to work on our +1 and -1 patterns using bigger numbers.  And we are trying to remember that every teen number has a ten group (10+1=11, 10+2=12, 10+3=13, etc.) We have learned how to do a “fast finger flash” for teen numbers….see if your child can show you.

RAINBOW WORDS

We will be working on list 8 next week in our room (teal list).  This is the list that meets the March 31st goal.  Keeping working at home too!

BAGGIE BOOKS

are due EVERY WEDNESDAY!  Please make sure your child is reading these books as often as they can.  They should be reading aloud to an adult.  The more your child reads, the more their brain grows and the better reader he/she becomes.  So please, spend some time reading at home.  It doesn’t have to be every night…but as often as you can.  LIBRARY BOOKS are due on WEDNESDAYS as well.  Trying to make it easy for you by returning both on the same day;)

IMPORTANT DATES/INFO

Ends Friday, February 21 – Box Top Collection (send them in until this date)

Friday, February 21 – Early Release Friday – dismiss at 12:15pm

Monday, March 2 – Skating Party (Tarry Hall 6-8pm)

Happy 100th Day of School!

We had many grandmas and grandpas show up for the 100th day of school today!  They even brought some of their youngins’ with them.   We had a fantastic time spending the day together and doing activities with the number 100.  We tried to write 100 words.  Some kids did it in the 35 minutes we wrote for.  We read a story with 100 pancakes, 100 donuts, 1oo cookies, and a 100 lb. cake.  We wrote about what we would like to have 100 of.  And we “Raced to 100” with our 3rd grade buddies by playing a counting/addition game.  The kids loved being great at the door by some old teachers today.  The teachers were moving really slow and spoke with really silly voices and giggles to begin the day.

Thank you for helping make our 100th day of school a memorable one!

SOCIAL SKILLS

We continue to work on using empathy, honesty, and integrity in our classroom.  We love playing the game where we stand back-to-back, make a face to show how we feel, and then turn around and face a friend.  We guess how the friend is feeling and ways we can help them feel better.  We continue to work on making smart choices, even when the adult isn’t watching.  We are getting to the time of year where the students are feeling a bit “too comfortable” and begin to do what they want, when they want.  We are working on owning it, and fixing it often.

READING

With it being a short week, we did not begin our new unit.  On Wednesday, we have World Read-Aloud Day and spent a lot of the day listening to books that were read aloud.  On Thursday, we gave the gift of reading to a friend in our class, by reading aloud to them.  And on Friday, we celebrated the 100th day of school and listened to two stories about the number 100.

WRITING

We began our new unit on opinion writing.  This week we learned that an opinion is how we think or what we feel about a topic.  This week we talked about insects:  bees and ants.  Students shared their opinion (like/don’t like, my favorite/not my favorite, cool/not cool) and then gave a reason for that opinion.  For example, I don’t like bees because they sting and it hurts.  I then read them stories about bees and ants.  Some students changed their opinions, others did not.  Then we made posters showing our feeling/thinking.

MATH

This week we practiced subitizing pictures using addition.  I see 3 flowers and 4 flowers, that makes seven flowers.  We also practiced counting by 10’s to 100 and we played “Race to 100” with our third grades buddies (rolling dice, subitize the numbers, count that many squares….until you get to 100).

RAINBOW WORDS

We will be working on list 8 next week in our room (teal list).  This is the list that meets the March 31st goal.  Keeping working at home too!

LIBRARY/BAGGIE BOOKS

are due EVERY WEDNESDAY!  Please make sure your child is reading these books as often as they can.  They should be reading aloud to an adult.  The more your child reads, the more their brain grows and the better reader he/she becomes.  So please, spend some time reading at home.  It doesn’t have to be every night…but as often as you can.

IMPORTANT DATES/INFO

Friday, February 14 – Valentine’s Day 

Please send in Valentine Cards by Wednesday, February 12.

Ends Friday, February 21 – Box Top Collection (send them in until this date)

Friday, February 21 – Early Release Friday – dismiss at 12:15pm

We are still working hard to get back into the swing of things.  This crazy winter weather isn’t helping.  Is it rain?  Is it snow?  Are we in?  Are we out?  Yikes!  Thanks for sending appropriate gear for the crazy weather each and every day.  BOOTS are always a must!  Playground is a mess!

SOCIAL SKILLS

We have been working on having empathy for others feelings this week…meaning how would that make you feel, well that person probably feels the same way.  We have chatted about having integrity and doing the right thing, even when the adult isn’t watching.  And we learned about how doing something wrong once is okay, as it is a mistake…but when we do it over, and over, and over, and over again…it becomes an “on purpose” and we need to own it and fix it right away.

READING

This week we have worked on learning to read the tricky words in books.  We look at the first sound.  Then decide is there a blend, two letters working together, like st…or bl…or fr.  We are also learning about diagraphs, two letters that make a new sound, like th…sh…ch…wh…ph.  We are practicing making these sounds as we read books.  Please practice at home too.

WRITING

We continue to work on how to stories.  This week we focused on not missing any steps and using the exact words to give directions.  Here is an example from class….

First you get a bottle of coke.  Then you put the coke up to your open mouth.  Next you drink it.

We are practicing acting out our stories to find the missing step….Now twist off the cap and open the bottle

And we are trying to use exact words….twist….cap….instead of take…top

MATH

We are almost finished with Unit 2.  We have focused on shapes this week and using attributes to describe them.  Ask your child to tell you everything they know about a circle, square, triangle, rectangle, and hexagon.

Hopefully they can tell you the number of sides, the number of corners, 2-D, and flat as a pancake. With squares it is important to add all the side are the same size, and rectangles have 2 long sides and 2 short sides.

RAINBOW WORDS

We have a new goal for rainbow words!  Our goal is to be finished with list 8 (teal) by March 31.  We are working on the light blue list (7) right now in our classroom, and I always tell the kids that they need to try to keep up with me at home, so most students should be able to reach this goal.  Keeping working on the lists at home and remember there is a link at the top of the page for all the lists.

100TH DAY OF SCHOOL

Homework is due MONDAY, JANUARY 27!   Please have your child take the time to do his/her BEST work.  Use lots of fun things….construction paper, fancy paper, glue, cotton balls, fabric, beads, lace, ribbon, fake hair to create your child at 100 years old.  Have your child fill out the bottom of the paper NEATLY!  We have been working on being a “Neat Pete”….not a “Messy Bessy” on our school work, so please do this at home as well.

IMPORTANT DATES/INFO

Tuesday, January 28 – Kindergarten Round-up for 2020-21 School Year

Tell EVERYONE you know with kids who may be ready to save the date!

Friday, January 31 – Early Release Friday – dismiss at 12:15pm

Friday, January 31 –

ALWARD STUDENTS CRUSH ANOTHER READING GOAL!! To celebrate this huge success, we’re “getting cheezey” and having an orange spirit day on Friday, Jan. 31. Let’s dress head to toe in orange. Each student will receive a special treat that day.

Monday, February 3 and Tuesday, February 4 – Winter Break – No School

Friday, February 7 – 100th Day of School – dress like your are 100 years old!

Friday, February 14 – Valentine’s Day 

Friday, February 21 – Early Release Friday – dismiss at 12:15pm

Second week back under our belts, and it was a tricky week.  We are working on getting our focus turned back on and keeping it on during lessons.  We have been doing LOTS of social skills lessons on feelings too, as we are relearning how to interact with each other again.

SOCIAL SKILLS

We have been doing lessons on feelings to help students understand how they feel and how their classmates feel when different scenarios happen in our classroom.  We have discussed the following feelings:  happy, sad, nervous/scared, interested.  We discuss what our face looks like and how our body feels (comfortable/uncomfortable) when we have these feelings.  We have been sharing short stories about when we had these different feelings and things we can do when our body feels uncomfortable to help ourselves or our friends.

READER’S WORKSHOP

We continue to build our reading muscles with bigger and bigger books.  This week we spent most of our time reading ABC books with our partners.  We are using our letter/sound power along with our picture power to figure out and find tricky words.  For example, the A page had a picture of a fish…but the word fish doesn’t fit, so we had to think about what type of fish it could be?  Angelfish…now find the word.

We have been also trying to think about the story and add more words to the page that begin with that letter.  For example, if the ABC is about construction….the B page might have “Build a box out of boards.”  But is wouldn’t have “Big bears bounce on balls.”  This helps us understand what the story is all about.

WRITER’S WORKSHOP

We continue to write HOW-TO books full of directions.  We are trying to write all of the steps, add detailed pictures that teach, and write really long labels in the picture that teacher (gooey grape jelly).

This is still a bit tricky for the kids, so PLEASE keep talking it up at home about the things that you do.  For example, when making mac and cheese say….Step one…Get out the pot.  Step two….Fill it halfway full with water.  Step three…Put the pot on the stove and turn the stove on.  Step four….Wait for the water to boil….etc.  This works for pretty much anything we do or make.  The more your child talks about it, the easier it will be to write the words.

MATH

We have been working on learning the +1 addition pattern.  We make a chart that counts forward with pennies and then notice things about the chart…the numbers count forward, it make a diagonal, we use 5-finders on the big numbers but not the small numbers.  We then practice writing the number sentences…1+1=2, 2+1=3, 3+1=4, etc…all the way to 9+1=10.  We then look for math patterns.  The number in the front count forward.  The numbers in the back count forward.  They all have a +1.

RAINBOW WORDS

We have a new goal for rainbow words!  Our goal is to be finished with list 8 (teal) by March 31.  We are working on the light blue list (7) right now in our classroom, and I always tell the kids that they need to try to keep up with me at home, so most students should be able to reach this goal.  Keeping working on the lists at home and remember there is a link at the top of the page for all the lists.

100th DAY OF SCHOOL

Homework was sent home this week.  Please have your child take the time to do his/her BEST work.  Use lots of fun things….construction paper, fancy paper, glue, cotton balls, fabric, beads, lace, ribbon, fake hair to create your child at 100 years old.  Have your child fill out the bottom of the paper NEATLY!  We have been working on being a “Neat Pete”….not a “Messy Bessy” on our school work, so please do this at home as well.

IMPORTANT DATES/INFO

Tuesday, January 21 – Culver’s Night  5-8pm

Tuesday, January 28 – Kindergarten Round-up for 2020-21 School Year

Tell EVERYONE you know with kids who may be ready to save the date!

Friday, January 31 – Early Release Friday – dismiss at 12:15pm

Friday, January 31 –

ALWARD STUDENTS CRUSH ANOTHER READING GOAL!! To celebrate this huge success, we’re “getting cheezey” and having an orange spirit day on Friday, Jan. 31. Let’s dress head to toe in orange. Each student will receive a special treat that day.

Monday, February 3 and Tuesday, February 4 – Winter Break – No School

Friday, February 7 – 100th Day of School – dress like your are 100 years old!

Friday, February 14 – Valentine’s Day – party info coming soon!

Friday, February 21 – Early Release Friday – dismiss at 12:15pm

Alward Culvers Fundraiser Night

When

Where

More information

Welcome Back!  I am so happy to be back as well.  We are reviewing rules and routines, and trying to get back into the “groove” of just being at school.  To be honest, this week has been a bit tricky.  I have high hopes for next week!

READER’S WORKSHOP

This week we began Unit 3…Building Muscles to Read Even Trickier Books.  The super readers in the class have been relying on pattern power to help them read books.  They are very good at noticing when the words stay the same from page to page.  Now, students are beginning to read books where the pattern changes.  This usually happens at the beginning and the end of the book.  We are working on reviewing what super reading powers we use to help us figure out the tricky words where the pattern changes.

WRITER’S WORKSHOP

This week we began Unit 3…Writing How-To Books.  These books include directions for how-to do something, like how to brush your teeth or how to pack for vacation.  Kids are picking topics that they know how to do well and are now trying to remember all the steps to do it.  They are writing these steps in their books and drawing pictures to match the words.

How can you help??????    LOTS of kids are often missing steps…soooooo as they or you are doing things at home discuss the steps out loud using transition words (first, then, next, now, also, last).  We always write the words we say out loud, so just talking about it will help them tremendously!

MATH

We are still working on Unit 2…Numbers 1-10.  We are reviewing how to write the numbers the “school way” without reversals.  We are working on subitizing the numbers (6-10) quickly by seeing smaller numbers then adding those numbers.  We are working on telling addition and subtraction stories using pictures in our math books.  We also continue to work on describing shapes using attributes (sides, corners, flat, 2-D, etc.)

RAINBOW WORDS

Thank you for practicing over break!  I received so many lists, I was overwhelmed (in a good way!).  I finally had time to assess kids today and am sending home new lists.  We are on the light blue list in our classroom.  This is where you child should be working or they might be ahead of me.  Remember you can find a sight word page list at the top of the blog for lists as well.

100th Day of School

Will be on Friday, February 7.  We will be planning LOTS of fun activities for that day.  Be on the lookout for notes, information, and homework coming home soon.

IMPORTANT DATES/INFO

Tuesday, January 28 – Kindergarten Round-up for 2020-21 School Year

Tell EVERYONE you know with kids who may be ready to save the date!

Friday, January 31 – Early Release Friday – dismiss at 12:15pm

Monday, February 3 and Tuesday, February 4 – Winter Break – No School

Friday, February 7 – 100th Day of School

Friday, February 14 – Valentine’s Day – party info coming soon!

Friday, February 21 – Early Release Friday – dismiss at 12:15pm

Hey there!  Sorry for the tardiness in this newsletter.  I am feeling a bit overwhelmed right now with teaching, planning for a sub for a whole week, completing my grad class, and getting ready for surgery.  So I apologize.

Here are some quick things you will want to know…..

1.  Santa’s Shop is Tomorrow.  Please send the shopping list and the money in a baggie or envelope with your child’s name.  Please remember this is for shopping for family members in a “Secret” way.  We don’t get a lot of time to shop.
2. Writer’s Museum is on Wednesday at 2:30pm.  We will be done by 3:15pm.  Thanks for all the RSVPs!
3. Thursday will be my last day before break.  If you need anything after that, please contact the office and they will let the Mrs. Erhardt know.
4. Please send in the book for the book exchange.  Make sure it is all wrapped up and ready to be given.
5. There will be a spirit week for dressing up the last week before our holiday break.  Here is the schedule
   
6. Classroom party will be on Thursday, Dec. 19 at 2:00pm.  Make sure you have completed a background check if you plan to attend. 

I think that is all the important stuff.  Yes, we are still learning.  I will let you ask your child about that.

We have library on Wednesday too….please send library books.

Have a blessed holiday season….Mrs. LePard