Chocolate Bunnies

Just a reminder that the Elementary Fundraiser - Chocolate Bunnies - is winding down.  If your child sold any bunnies, please send their form & payments into school by tomorrow, Friday, February 27th:)

Overflowing Lost & Found

A Note from Mrs. Hill,

Please note that the Lost & Found is overflowing with clothing items! It is currently on display by the elementary office, but only for a few more days.  If you have an opportunity to look through it to see if anything belongs to your child, that would be very helpful!  (Unclaimed items will be donated to a local charity.)

Snack/Helper Changes

Okay . . . this is getting a little crazy!  I've updated the Snack/Helper Calendar. So that no one missing their day, I've doubled up some students.  Feel free to send in a snack and we will have 1 in the am and 1 in the pm:)

Newsletter Updates for the Week of February 23rd

Due to our numerous 'Cold Days' I don't have a lot of new curriculum information to share, as next week we will be doing last weeks lesson plans:)  I am not sending home a paper newsletter t his week, BUT here are a couple of things I wanted you to know:

Snack/Helpers for Monday - Brooklyn & Avallina

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Monday, February 23rd—NWEA Testing—ELA-am

-Thurs., February 26th—NWEA Testing—Math–am

-Monday, March 2nd—Reading Month Kick Off

-Tuesday, March 3rd—Dome Theater

READING MONTH: 

March is Reading Month!  Our Theme this year is Sports—and our class is focusing on Baseball!  The Reading Month Committee has several fun dress up days planned, which will be shared with you in a letter coming home next week.  We will be competing against the other Kindergarten classes to try to win a trip to The Wex for ice skating and broom-ball.  Attached to the letter will be another sheet for you to keep track of minutes read at home each week.  The class with the most minutes of reading will win the Grand Prize trip to The Wex.  Please send in a baseball cap that your child can keep in their locker for the month.  We will read in our baseball caps during read-to-self time each day AND have a photo opp. where each child will be photographed as a ‘Star Reader’ for their own baseball cards, which we will display on our lockers.  You can send in baseball caps beginning next week:)

Later in the week, I'll be sending home the March Snack Calendar, March Book-It Calendar, March Breakfast/Lunch Menu, & Reading Month info.

Don't forget about Raz-Kids, abcya.com, & starfall.com - great resources to keep your child busy and learning on these cold days:)

Chocolate Bunny Fundraiser

Dear Parents:

Today your child should have brought home a flyer for the Elementary fundraiser, selling chocolate bunnies and candy eggs.  Funds that are raised will go into our Elementary Activities Account, which is used for many things, including classroom supplies, books for student use, books for staff use, and other activities.  We encourage students to get an order for at least one thing.  Every student that turns in an order, no matter how big or small the order, will get their name in a drawing for a $25 gift certificate to Meijer!  (2 names will be drawn).  The student that sells the most will also get a $25 gift certificate to Meijer. 

All orders must be turned in by Friday, February 27th, so there isn’t a lot of time to get this done!  Money must be turned in with the orders, and any checks/money orders should be made payable to McBain Elementary.  Items will be delivered by March 27^th.  Please call the Elementary office if you have any questions (231) 825-2021.

Thanks for your support!

Mrs. Kim VanderVlucht

K-8 Principal

Newsletter Updates for the Week of February 17th

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Tuesday, February 17th—Valentine’s Party

-Wednesday, February 18th—Library

-Thursday, February 19th—NWEA Testing—ELA– am

-Thurs., February 19th—PT Conferences 4:00-7:00

-Monday, February 23rd—NWEA Testing—Math-am

STUDENT OF THE WEEK: 

Our student of the week is Olivia Gilde. Olivia is a true ‘animal lover,’ she enjoys playing with her cat and riding horses.  Her favorite place to go is to the pool and if she could have one wish it would be for . . . a horse of course! Congratulations to Olivia on being Student of the Week!

NWEA TESTING: 

This week and next week we will go to the computer lab to take our Winter NWEA Assessment for Math and Reading.  The challenges for Kindergartners are many— learning how to take a computer-based test, putting forth our best effort & stamina, and of course demonstrating what we know:)  Please help your child do their very best by making sure they are well-rested and in attendance on those days:)

READING: 

*This week our class will continue to read stories about the kinds of fresh foods grown on a farm. Your child will be identifying different kinds of fruits and vegetables.

*Vocabulary: fresh, delicious Talk about the fresh fruits and vegetables you buy at the grocery store or farmers’ market.

*Category Words: fruits and vegetables Write the names of fruits and vegetables on index cards. Have your child draw a picture of the word on each card. Then invite your child to sort the cards into fruit and vegetable piles.

*Letter of the Week—Rr

*Sightword—with

*Beanie Babies—We will use Digger the Dog to identify the Main Idea and dig for Details.  The students are doing a fabulous job of using their accuracy strategies and building their stamina during Read to Self time.  They continue to shop for ‘good-fit’ books and hopefully this week they will have a couple of opportunities to bring their Reading Folders home, if the weather cooperates! :)

WRITING: 

This week we will conduct some research on fruits & vegetables and how they grow and then write an informational piece on a fruit or vegetable of our choice.  We will draw a pencil sketch of our 16th President—Abraham Lincoln—and complete an informational writing about some facts we’ve learned about his life.

MATH: 

We still have some 100s Day and Valentines activities to wrap up this week.  We will also continue to work on patterning, identifying 3D solid shapes (cone, sphere, rectangular prism, cube, cylinder), and sequencing events in time.  In addition, students will identify various attributes of items while playing ‘I Spy.’

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES: 

In observation of Presidents Day, this week we will be learning about Presidents past and present.  We will read several informational texts about Abraham Lincoln & George Washington and discuss some of the America Values that we continue to embrace today—Common Good, Equality, Justice, & Truth.  We will learn a little about the history of Presidents Day, as well as what it takes to become the President of the United States!

Please be sure to return your child’s library book

on or before Wednesday!

Valentine's Day Party Plan B & Parent Teacher Conferences

Happy Snow Day!
No worries, we WILL be having our Valentine's Party on Tuesday; however, I will have to make some adjustments.  I had 4 parent volunteers for today to help with the festivities, and I understand that many of you have jobs and commitments and won't be able to help out on Tuesday.  In addition, we have gym on Tuesday afternoon, which will cut into our party time.  So . . . I'm looking for 1 or 2 parents/grandparents that might be available Tuesday morning for an 1 1/2-2 hours to help the students deliver their valentines.  It is quite a process to help each student read their classmates names and then find the corresponding pocket to put it in:)  Then in the afternoon we will play a couple of games before gym and open our valentines.  We will have our Ice Cream Sundaes after gym.  I could also use a parent/grandparent helper around 1:45 to help scoop and serve.  Please email me if you are available and willing to help out:)

Parent Teacher Conferences have been rescheduled for next Thursday, February 19th from 4:00-7:00. and I have tickets to a concert that evening.  I should be able to still do conferences until 6:00.  So, if I have a conference with you from 4:00-5:45, please plan on the same time.  If we have a conference scheduled for later, I'll be in contact with you about setting up an earlier time, as I do have some earlier slots available. :)  Thanks for your understanding!

Enjoy your extended weekend AND don't forget that your child has access to many great 'good-fit' books on Raz Kids:)

Newsletter Updates for the Week of February 9th

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Wed., February 11th—Student Count Day

-Wed., Feb. 11th—The 100th Day of School!!

-Thursday, February 12th—Valentine’s Party (pm)

-Thurs., February 12th—PT Conferences 4:00-7:00

-Friday, February 13th—No School

-Friday, February 13th—Homecoming

-Mon., Feb. 16th—No School—Presidents Day

Please note—we will have gym on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, due to our Valentine’s Party.

READING FOLDERS:  

We are off and reading!!!  Thank you for taking the time to read with your child at home!  This is a new routine for us, but the students are doing a fantastic job!  I will try to send reading folders home M, W, & F.  Several of the students have been telling me they have been reading on Raz Kids at home, which is wonderful!  To ensure that students are reading and comprehending, we have a ‘5 finger rule’ for reading books on Raz-Kids—Listen, Listen, Read, Read, Quiz (for those on levels with quizzes).  They may also use their stars at home to upgrade their rocket ship. :)

PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES:  

You should have received your child’s Dibels & Aimsweb reports for the Winter Bench marking period.  IF you received a Parent Teacher Conference note, please be sure to return the confirmation slip at the bottom, so I know if you are planning on attending.  I will have activities for you to take home, which will help your child continue to progress in Kindergarten.  IF you did NOT receive a conference and would like to meet, please let me know.  Although the district has set aside a small time slot for Winter conferences, I will continue to keep EVERYONE updated on their child’s progress in Kindergarten and let you know of any concerns should they arise. :)

READING:  

*This week our class will be reading stories about the kinds of fresh foods grown on a farm. Your child will be identifying different kinds of fruits and vegetables.

*Vocabulary: fresh, delicious Talk about the fresh fruits and vegetables you buy at the grocery store or farmers’ market.

*Category Words: fruits and vegetables Write the names of fruits and vegetables on index cards. Have your child draw a picture of the word on each card. Then invite your child to sort the cards into fruit and vegetable piles.

*Letter of the Week—Ff

*Sightword—he

*Beanie Babies—We will use Digger the Dog to identify the Main Idea and dig for Details.  The students are doing a fabulous job of using their accuracy strategies and building their stamina during Read to Self time.

WRITING:  

This week we will wrap up our pattern books that follow a question & answer structure, conference with a peer, edit & revise, and then create our Wow covers.  The students will also complete a couple of fun journals related to 100’s Day—what it would be like to be 100 years old, have 100 legs, etc.

MATH:  

Wednesday is the 100th Day of School!! This week we will engage in several FUN math activities and games related to Valentine’s Day AND the 100th Day of School.  We will also practice reading, writing, and building 2 digit numbers using base 10 blocks and work on determining probability using attribute blocks. 

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES:  

This week we will read several books related to friendship and kindness, in preparation for Valentine’s Day.  We will also learn about the important role that our heart plays and have the opportunity to listen to our heartbeats.

Smokey the Bear Photos