Newsletter Updates for the Week of October 28th

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Tues., Oct. 29th—Volleyball Dig Pink @ 6:00

-Thurs. Oct. 31st—Halloween Party @ 12:15

-Fri., Nov.1st—No School – Professional Development

-Wed., Nov. 6th—Picture Retakes

-Fri., Nov. 8th—Report Cards Home

-Thurs., Nov. 14th—No School—Parent Teacher Conferences & Book Fair

-Fri., Nov. 15th—No School—Deer Day

STUDENT OF THE WEEK: 

Our student of the week is Anna Schantz.  Anna enjoys swimming in the pool and her favorite place to go is to the playground.  Her favorite color is purple and she enjoys eating fruit.  When she grows up, Anna aspires to be  a star!  Congratulations to Anna on being Student of the Week!

HALLOWEEN PARTY: 

**Please send your child’s costume to school in a bag (labeled with their name).  Students will change into their costumes after lunch.

**Please do not send any make up or toy weapons (swords, guns, knives, etc.) to school.

**Parent volunteers—please plan to arrive by 12:15 to help students get into their costumes.

**Schedule:

-12:15-12:45—Change into Costumes

-12:45-1:00—Photos

-1:00-1:40—Parade Downtown (K-4)

   *K will not be visiting the 4th grade wax museum this year.

-1:40-2:20—Halloween Activities & Change

-2:20-2:40—Halloween Snack

2:40-2:50—Pack up

READING:   

This week we will be reading Officer Buckle & Gloria and several seasonal books related to Halloween.  Our focus letter for this week is Ff and our new sightword is blue.  At literacy stations, students will continue to work on rhyming, retelling, syllables, sightwords, letters & sounds.  Students will also begin using Successmaker on the computer this week.  Last week they enjoyed reenacting The Little Old Lady Who Wasn’t Afraid of Anything; we will practice retelling the story a few more times this week, so that the students will have chance to play all of the roles.

WRITING: 

This week we will finish up our October Journals with an entry about what we will be for Halloween.  I will save their October Journals to share with you at conferences.  We will also practice storytelling using characters and voice with the app—Sock Puppets.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES: 

This week we will read several stories related to Halloween and Pumpkins.  Today we carved our jack-o-lantern.  With elections just around the corner, we exercised our ‘democratic right to vote’ as we voted on what kind of mouth to give our jack-o-lantern.

MATH: 

This week we will incorporate several Halloween activities into our math stations as we focus on sequencing by size, ordering numbers, and counting.  We will work on identifying the Tricky Teen numbers and play several games related to the teens.  We will also work on describing and comparing pumpkins and gourds.

 Halloween Party-Snack Sign-Up                

1 dozen plain doughnuts—Angie, Ayla, & Coleman

1 can of white frosting—Carlee, Madelyn, Akira

1 bottle of Halloween Sprinkles—Lauren & Wesley

1 large bottle of apple juice—Dylan & Avery

1 large bag of cheese popcorn—Miley

2 dozen plastic knives—Drew

Halloween Plates (24) - Lily

Halloween Cups (24) - Wesley

Halloween Napkins (24) - Grayson

Parent Volunteers—October 31st (12:15-3:00)

Becky Brandal, Katy Hill, Ivy Cross, Tiara Valle, Genna Nelson, Aaryn Gilde, Christin Carpenter, & Brandi Shepardson

Just a Couple of Things:

We will have gym this Monday, instead of Tuesday.  Mrs. Kelley had to rearrange our gym due to a scheduled Blood Drive in the Gym on Tuesday.  Please send your child with gym shoes on Monday. :)

I have updated the Snack Calendar for November - I will send home paper copies later this week.  You can access it anytime by scrolling down to the bottom of my Blog. :)  I've included the regular parent volunteers on the schedule - please let me know if you'd like to come in a spend a day or half of a day with us.  You are always welcome!  I will have sign-ups for our Thanksgiving Activities, Christmas Party, and Valentine's Party at Parent Teacher Conferences on November 14th.

The JV/Varsity Volleyball Teams would like to invite our McBain Families to our Dig Pink Volleyball Match on October 29th at 6:00 p.m. against Pine River. All proceeds from the game go toward our fundraising efforts for breast cancer screening at Mercy Hospital. There will also be a bake sale and Dig Pink T-Shirts for sale that evening. T-Shirts are also available in the athletic office

Pictures are in

Parents,
Just wanted to let you know that school pictures are in.  If your child has prints, I prefer NOT to send them home in their backpacks.  Please stop in and pick them up. :)

Also, retakes are November 6th. :)

Newsletter Updates for the Week of October 21st

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Thurs. October 31st—Halloween Party (pm)

-Fri., Nov.1st—No School –Professional Dev.

-Fri., Nov. 8th—Report Cards Home

-Thurs., Nov. 14th—No School—Parent Teacher Conferences & Book Fair

-Fri., Nov. 15th—No School—Deer Day

READING:  

This week we will be reading Mouse Mess as we work on comprehension, vocabulary and recalling & retelling.  Our focus letter for this week is the letter Mm and we will introduce the sightword red.  We will learn 50 sightwords this year in Kindergarten!!  The students are  excited about our new literacy stations and are doing a great job with learning the new routines and expectations.  We continue to practice our ‘accuracy’ strategies each day during ‘Read to Self’ time and this week we will introduce ‘Partner Reading.’

WRITING: 

This week we will continue to learn the Writing Workshop format as we work on our ‘small moment’ stories.  We will learn the importance of editing our writing, and practice sharing our stories with a partner.  As we edit, we will be focusing on ‘details’ and making sure our pictures match our words.  We will also introduce ‘Author’s Chair’ this week as students will have the opportunity to share their stories with the class.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES: 

This week we will read several narrative texts related to Monsters, as we work on the letter M and get ready for Halloween.  We will be reading and reenacting The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything and begin reading some books related to pumpkins and Halloween.  We will also have a couple of fire drills this week to practice all of the things we’ve been learning about Fire Safety & Prevention.

MATH: 

This week we will play several counting games, continue to practice identifying and writing our numbers 0-10, and introduce the term—digits.  We will also learn a new App on our ipads for Math—iLearn with Boing—Savannah Adventures, work with ten frames, create a Monster graph, and practice sorting and counting M & M’s.

**Keep reading and marking your Book-It Calendar!

Happy Hump Day

Caleb the Camel came to visit our classroom today in celebration of Hump Day!

Here are a few photos of our adventures with him today :)

Newsletter Updates for the Week of October 14th

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Thurs., October 17th—Family Night (5:30-7:00)

-Mon., October 21st—Delayed Start

STUDENT OF THE WEEK: 

Our student of the week is Ayla Fredin.  Ayla enjoys many outdoor activities which include—playing at the park, skiing, sledding, horseback riding, 4-H, fairs, and parades. Her favorite place to go is to the beach and she aspires to become a cook when she grows up.  Congratulations to Ayla on being Student of the Week!

MATH HOMELINKS: 

Periodically, the students will bring home a HOMELINKS page for math; these are activities that you can do at home to reinforce the math concepts that your child is learning at school.  Some of you have wondered if these need to be returned to school?   MOST of them do not need to be returned and I will ‘stamp’ the HOMELINKS that should be returned so that you know which ones to return.  When students return their ‘stamped’ HOMELINKS, I reward them with a sticker. :)  I hope this helps to clarify a little bit.  Nothing to stress about; but completing the HOMELINKS is a great habit to get into because it is part of our elementary EVERYDAY MATH Curriculum and they will be required to complete and return their HOMELINKS in later grades.:)

MATH: 

This week we will focus on identifying patterns in our environment, oral counting, ordering numbers, and spatial relationships (above,  beside, between, under, etc.)

READING:   

This week we will be reading Big & Little as we work on comprehension, vocabulary, and identifying opposites.  This week we will begin a more in-depth study of letters and sounds as we focus on 1 letter per week, starting with the  letter Bb.  Our literacy stations also look a little different; I have several stations set up around the classroom: writing, library, listening, computers, abc/word study, retelling, puzzles & games, rhyming, and sightwords.  Students will work in small groups, rotating through all of the stations by the end of the week.  This will also allow me to begin pulling students to work on targeted skills. Our new sightword this week is big and we will introduce another beanie baby strategy: Questioning Owl.  He helps us monitor our comprehension as we read by stopping along the way to ask ourselves questions.

WRITING: 

This week we will begin sketching and labeling our own ‘small moment’ stories.  We will learn several strategies that writers use to spell and stretch out words.  We will complete a journal about what we like to do in the fall and another journal about a fire truck.  We continue to work on handwriting and correct letter formation each day at school using our ipads.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES: 

This week we will focus on Fire Safety and Prevention.  We will read several informational texts related to fire safety and watch several video segments to spark our discussions.  October is Fire Prevention Month; please be sure to check the batteries in your smoke detectors at home & discuss and practice an escape plan for your family.

**Keep sending in those coins for World Hunger!

Newsletter Updates for the Week of October 7

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Thurs., October 17th—Family Night (5:30-7:00)

-Mon., October 21st—Delayed Start

TITLE 1 FAMILY NIGHT: 

Our annual Title 1 Family Night will be Thursday, October 17th from 5:30-7:00.  We are asking families to RSVP, so that we can plan for food—pasta!  In addition to dinner being served, each teacher will have specific learning activities set up in their classrooms, as well as handouts and materials for you to take with you to practice important skills at home. There will also be an opportunity to enter into a drawing for some great prizes!  Please get your RSVP’s in by this Friday.  Hope to see you there!

COINS FOR WORLD HUNGER: 

During the month of October, we are partnering with Pizza Hut and collecting coins to help feed hungry children.  If you have spare change, please send it to school with your child to drop in our classroom’s bucket.  Thanks for sending in those pennies!

AMERIGAS COLORING CONTEST: 

AmeriGas is sponsoring a local coloring contest.  I am attaching an entry form to the newsletter; if you’d like your child to participate, just send their coloring page back to school, on or before October 28th, so I can get them delivered in time. :)

DENTISTRY FROM THE HEART: 

What:  Free Dental Services

Where:  LifeSMILES Dentistry—300 Paluster, Cadillac

When:  Friday, November 1, 2013 from 9:00-4:00

Why:  Local dentists want to give back

How:  Sign up at LifeSMILES Dentistry September 17, October 1, or October 8 between 9:00 and 4:00.

ITEMS NEEDED—PLEASE SEND IN:

-Gallon Milk Jugs (empty and rinsed out) for us to use for an art project next week. 

READING:  

This week we will be reading Mice Squeak, We Speak as we work on comprehension, vocabulary, recalling, and retelling.  We will finish up our first round of introducing all of the letters of the alphabet and we will introduce the sightwords a & I.  We will  work on rhyming and retelling using The Itsy Bitsy Spider and Baa Baa Black Sheep Nursery Rhymes. We will also introduce another new beanie baby strategy for Comprehension: Picturing Penguin, who reminds us to picture the story in our head (visualize) as we read.

WRITING: 

This week we will practice labeling our pictures in our first attempts at ‘small moment’ stories.  We will also be practicing our rhyming and teamwork skills as students work together to create rhyming spiders.  Students will also let their imaginations run wild as they write about what’s hiding in their closets and under their beds.

MATH: 

This week we will be working with shapes—matching shapes, identifying shapes in our world, and combining shapes to create new shapes.  Students will also be introduced to the ten frame and practice building numbers on the ten frame.  In addition, we will be going on a Number Hunt to search for numbers around our school.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES: 

This week we will wrap up our Science Unit on Living and Non-Living Things.  Last week we learned that living things grow, change, and move on their own.  This week we will learn about what living things ‘need’ in order to live and grow.