Newsletter Updates for the Week of April 30th

DATES TO REMEMBER: -Wed., May 9—Mobile Dentist -Monday, May 14—Delayed Start -Friday, May 18—Summer Bridge Activities Order is Due -Tuesday, May 22—Fieldtrip to Kettunen Center -Monday, May 28—No School/Memorial Day -Tues., May 29—Kindergarten Program @ 1:30 -Friday, June 1—Fun to Be Fit Run -Tuesday, June 5—Track & Field Day -Wed., June 6—Last Day for Kindergartners STUDENT OF THE WEEK: Our student of the week is Clara Cook. Clara enjoys dressing up and being fancy. She likes to draw & color and she recently won the library’s bookmark contest, taking first place for the entire Kindergarten grade. Clara’s favorite place to go is the beach and she is still debating on whether she wants to be ‘a princess’ or a ‘fairy god mother’ when she grows up. Congratulations to Clara on being Student of the Week! READING: This week we will be working on the letter Vv and the sightwords said & was. We will also be reviewing the l blends and begin working on reading and writing words with the r blends: br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, tr. Our two focus books this week are Listen Buddy & The Wolf’s Chicken Stew which we will use to practice vocabulary, comprehension, drawing conclusions, and identifying character profiles. We will continue building our stamina for ‘partner reading’ and ‘read to self.’ This week I will begin reading a chapter book to the students which will allow us to practice and extend some of our reading comprehension strategies that we have learned. WRITING: This week we will finish writing and editing our April journals. We will spend a couple of days on Writer’s Workshop and a couple of days on Journals. We will be writing about what we like best about school. We have some exciting mini-lessons this week focused around conventions and expanding our vocabulary! The students will be introduced to the character Fancy Nancy who likes to use ‘fancy words.’ We will be looking for ‘fancy’ words in the stories that we read and begin compiling a list of these words so that we can use some of them in our own writing—this will be ongoing throughout the month of May. We will also be learning about “quotation marks” and look for them in the books that we are reading. MATH: This week we will be working on identifying left and right, reading and writing numbers 0-30, and building numbers 0-30 using base 10 blocks. We will also practice identifying & comparing numbers using a number line. We will begin learning Touchpoints for the numbers, which will help us with addition and subtraction. SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES: I am certain that you heard the news—The eggs arrived last week and we are counting down the days until the chicks emerge (probably early next week). This week we will continue our study of lifecycles, first reviewing the lifecycle of a butterfly and then spending some time learning about frogs and their unique lifecycles. Spring is such an exciting time; so many things are happening in nature that cause the scientist in all of us to awe and wonder. SPRING PROGRAM: The kindergarten classes would like to invite you to join us for our spring program as we sing a few songs we have learned. This musical event will be held in the High School gym on Tuesday, May 29th beginning at 1:30. We are asking each child to bring a baseball cap to use as a prop during our program. If you child doesn't have one of their own, they can use a dad's, mom's or anyone who would let them borrow one for the afternoon. They can start bringing in the caps anytime. We will collect them and put their names on the inside if they aren't already marked. We would like ALL of the children to have someone special here to watch them. If you are unable to attend, please feel free to invite grandparents or someone special to join us. We are looking forward to having you as our guests.

Newsletter Updates for the Week of April 23rd

DATES TO REMEMBER: -Wednesday, April 25—Aerokhaha Gymnastics Assembly @ 9:00 in H.S. Gym -Friday, April 27—Next visit to the Library -Wednesday, May 9—Mobile Dentist -Monday, May 14—Delayed Start -Friday, May 18—Summer Bridge Activities Order is Due -Tuesday, May 22—Fieldtrip to Kettunen Center -Monday, May 28—No School/Memorial Day -Friday, June 1—Fun to Be Fit Run -Tuesday, June 5—Track & Field Day -Wed., June 6—Last Day for Kindergartners SUMMER BRIDGE ACTIVITY BOOKS: A flyer went home last Friday regarding Summer Bridge Activity Books. These are a great way to keep working on skills over the summer. The deadline to order is Friday, May 18th. SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES: Last week the students thoroughly enjoyed our study of the Seasons & Weather. It is so neat to see the ‘scientist’ come out in each student as we wonder and make connections together. This week we will take some time to ponder ways that we can be ‘responsible’ for taking care of our planet Earth, in conjunction with Earth Day. We will also begin our Science Unit on Lifecycles, starting this week with the lifecycle of chicks, ducks, and birds. The Bell family has generously offered to bring in their incubator and eggs so that we can watch this lifecycle first hand. It should be set up this week and it will be a very exciting couple of weeks as we await the arrival of newly hatched chicks. READING: This week we will be working on the letter Qq and the sightwords go, he, & she. We will learn that q always has a buddy and that qu together make the /kw/ sound. We will be reading the book Five Little Ducks as we work on predicting, comprehension, vocabulary, sequencing and retelling story events. We will continue to work on short u word families and all of the short vowels at literacy stations this week. We will continue to practice using Dot the Giraffe while reading and writing to increase our fluency and expression. This week we will learn a new way to read with a partner—check for understanding. Students will practice stopping while reading to ask themselves key questions to make sure they are understanding and comprehending what they are reading. WRITING: This week we will take a couple of days for writer’s workshop and spend a couple of days working on our journals. This week we will be writing about ‘responsibility’ and how we can take good care of our Earth. We will also be reading the classic story Make Way for Ducklings and use it to discuss several important writing traits—Ideas, Voice, Word Choice, & Conventions. We will be writing in our journals about our favorite baby animals as well as what birds do in the springtime. MATH: This week we will introduce a new math manipulative—Tangrams and we will be using these smaller shapes to construct larger shapes. We will also continue to work on graphing, measuring, counting, ordering and writing our numbers 1-30. **Thanks for taking the time to practice counting with your child at home—several have told me they are using their counting charts! I will be sending the May/June Snack Calendar home later in the week, once I get a few more dates finalized! FYI—I will be out of the classroom this Friday, April 27, in order to attend a training.

Newsletter Updates for the Week of April 16th

DATES TO REMEMBER:
-Monday, April 23—Earth Day
-Friday, April 27—Next visit to the Library
-Monday, May 14—Delayed Start
-Tuesday, May 22—Fieldtrip to Kettunen Center
-Monday, May 28—No School/Memorial Day
-Friday, June 1—Fun to Be Fit Run
-Tuesday, June 5—Track & Field Day
-Wed., June 6—Last Day for Kindergartners

BOX TOPS/LABELS:
According to the most recent tally, our class is currently in 3rd place for the labels/box tops collection. There will be another drawing for prizes before the end of the school year. Keep sending those labels in!

FALL SOCCER REGISTRATION INFO:
The Missuakee Area Soccer Association will be registering soccer players ages 6-11 (before August 1, 2012) at Northern Michigan Christian School on May 3rd, from 3-6pm and May 10th at Lake City Schools from 6-8 pm. Cost is $30.00 per player. No registration forms will be mailed in so please register during one of those evenings. Please call Dave Skinner at 231-920-1278 or Diane Eisenga at 231-779-3702 if you cannot make it to either of those dates. If you are interested in coaching or refereeing please contact Dave Skinner. All coaches and referees will receive training and referees will be paid.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES:
This week we will take our Motion assessment and shift our focus to learning about Weather and the Seasons. We will learn about the different types of weather and the cycle of the seasons. We will also discover how the sun and moon impact the seasons and weather.

READING:
This week we will be working on the letter Uu and the sightwords you & that. We will be reading the book Hush! A Thai Lullaby as we work on predicting, comprehension, vocabulary, sequencing story events, and opposites. Since u is a vowel, we will be using Chunky Monkey as we work on the word families: ug, un, ub, & uck, and practice reading and writing words with these ‘chunks.’ We will also review Flippy the Dolphin as we practice reading words with the long and short u sounds. Our focus Fluency Strategy for this week is Dot the GIraffe; who reminds us to look at the punctuation as we read, to help us read with expression and fluency. We need to shop for new books this week, so there might be a couple of days that you child doesn’t bring their Reading Folder home—it takes a couple of days to get everyone through the ‘shopping process.’ This week I will be meeting with reading groups to work on identifying the ending sounds in words.

WRITING:
This week we will complete a couple of Type 3’s related to weather and the seasons. Students will also complete a painting based on the book It Looked Like Spilt Milk, and write about what their painting reminds them of.

MATH:
This week we will practice adding using dice, work on graphing using a bar and circle graph, and practice making and reading ABBC patterns. We will also work on identifying Right and Left and practice following directions using Right and Left. On Friday, we will be play a subtraction game
together and practice writing subtraction number sentences. **This week I will be adding a counting chart to your child’s Take Home Reading Folder. It is double-sided and color coded so that you can practice counting by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s at home.

Fall Soccer Sign Up

Fall Youth Soccer Registration Dates. The Missuakee Area Soccer Association will be registering soccer players ages 6-11 (before August 1, 2012) at Northern Michigan Christian School on May 3rd, from 3-6pm and May 10th at Lake City Schools from 6-8 pm. Cost is $30.00 per player. No registration forms will be mailed in so please register during one of those evenings. Please call Dave Skinner at 231-920-1278 or Diane Eisenga at 231-779-3702 if you cannot make it to either of those dates. If you are interested in coaching or refereeing please contact Dave Skinner. All coaches and referees will receive training and referees will be paid.

Newsletter Updates for the Week of April 9th

DATES TO REMEMBER:
-Friday, April 13th—Next visit to the Library
-Monday, April 23rd—Earth Day

WELCOME BACK:
I hope you had a restful Spring Break with you family. It was a much needed break after a very busy March! I am looking forward to settling back into our normal routines for April. I cannot believe we only have 2 months of school left! Overall, I am very pleased with the progress we have been making in writing, reading, and math. We still have much to learn and do together these next couple of months. As you probably noticed from looking at our report card, the expectations for 4th Quarter continue to grow. We will continue to polish our skills and challenge ourselves, as we build a solid ‘Kindergarten foundation’ and look ahead to first grade!

MILEAGE CLUB:
The Mileage Club will be starting Monday, April 16th. Mrs. Kelley is looking for parent volunteers to help run this program again. If you can help, you would be needed one day a week for six weeks. You would be helping outside from 1:35-2:05 and then again from 2:25-2:50. Please contact Mrs. Kelley if you can help out. She can be reached at 825-2021 or ckelly@mcbain.org.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES:
This week we will wrap up our Science Unit on Motion as we discuss the different ways that things can move and the impact that speed plays on the motion of objects. I will be sending a note home on Wednesday, inviting students to bring in a toy from home that moves for our lesson on Thursday. Next week we will take our unit assessment on motion.

READING:
This week we will be working on the letter Jj and the sightword where. We will play several games to review ALL of the sightwords we have learned thus far. Our focus book for this week is Jump Into the Jungle. We will also read several other Jungle books, as we work on predicting, comprehension, vocabulary, and classifying animals. Our focus Comprehension Strategy for this week is Repair Bear; he reminds us to stop periodically while reading and ‘check for understanding’ and if we cannot remember ‘who’ and ‘what,’ we look-back through the pictures or go back and reread for meaning. Right before break students ‘shopped’ for new ‘good-fit’ books, so they are ready to bring books home to read again this week. They will bring home their reading folders 3-4 times each week, with a couple days break when we have to ‘shop’ for new books. I have increased the level of difficulty for many of the students, since I know they are receiving support at home while reading. Thank you for taking the time to read together!

WRITING:
This week we will jump right back into Writer’s Workshop. We will also complete a couple of journals: what we did over Spring Break & where we would hide an Easter egg. Students will also be writing about Silly Mrs. Wishy Washy at the Writing Station to compile into a class book.

MATH:
This week we will practice ordering numbers 1-30 and writing our numbers 1-20 (several students are still working on mastering these skills). We will also be playing the card game War to practice determining the larger and smaller numbers. Students will also sort, count, & graph jelly beans and practice sharing/dividing quantities evenly later in the week. Please continue to practice counting by 1s, 2s, 5s, & 10s at home—those 2s are really tricky!!

Please be sure to return your March Book-it Calendar!