Newsletter Updates for the Week of April 15th

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Tuesday, April 16th—3rd Grade Bookstore

-Saturday, April 27th—Mom to Mom Sale

-Friday, May 24th—Fun to Be Fit (1:00)

3RD GRADE BOOKSTORE: 

Each year the third grade classes set up a book sale for the K-2 graders as part of their Economics Unit.  They have used books for sale ranging from 25¢ - $1.00.  We will go and shop TOMORROW, Tuesday, April 16th and purchase books.  Sorry for the short notice—notes were supposed to go home last Friday :)  If you’d like to send your child with $1 in change, that would be plenty to purchase a book or two.

FALL SOCCER REGISTRATION INFO:

Fall Youth Soccer Registration Dates. The Missuakee-Osceola Youth Soccer Association (MOYSA), formally the AYSO/MASA, will be registering soccer players ages 6-11 (before August 1, 2013) at Northern Michigan Christian School on May 2nd from 4-6 and May 9th at Lake City Schools from 6-8 pm. Cost is $30.00 per player.  Teams will be divided into ages 6/7 , 8/9, and 10/11. Please call Dave Skinner at 231-920 1278    (dskinner@nmcs.us) or Diane Eisenga at 231-779-3702 if you have any questions. You can also visit our MOYSA Facebook page to download registration forms and see important announcements and schedules for the upcoming season. If you are interested in coaching or refereeing, please contact Dave Skinner. All coaches and referees will receive training and referees will be paid.  If you cannot attend the registration nights, please send forms to MOYSA, 128 S. Martin, McBain, MI 49657 by May 17^th. 

READING: 

Our focus letter for this week is the vowel Ee and our focus text is Five Little Ducks.  We will introduce the sight words  you & that and we will use Chunky Monkey to work the word families—et, ell, en, ed.   We will also practice applying Flippy the Dolphin as we read and write words with the short e and long e sounds.  Students will be shopping for new books for their book boxes so that they can bring some more home to read; I’ve bumped each group up to the next level of books to keep them challenged :)

WRITING: 

This week we will begin planning our next informational book using a graphic organizer.  We will use this organizer to create a table of contents and then begin writing.  We’ve spent the last couple of weeks really studying the components of informational texts, planning, and organizing; I’m excited to see them apply some of the things we have learned. :)

MATH:

This week we will practice identifying numbers and making good estimates.  We will spend some time dividing as we work on identifying equal halves.  We will also look at some different tools that we use to measure time. Our iPads are here and ready!  So we WILL be using them during math time to reinforce concepts and skills.  The students are really excited and so am I.  We have a lot to learn together!

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES: 

We are trying to read some books about Spring and discuss what new things happen in the springtime, but it is VERY confusing when there is little evidence of Spring outside :)  We will begin our unit on Life cycles this week,

beginning with chicks & ducks.

FUN TO BE FIT:  

Mrs. Kelly is still collecting T-shirt orders for Fun to Be Fit; if you’d like to purchase a shirt, please send your order form and payment in ASAP. :)

Newsletter Updates for the Week of April 8th

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Friday, April 12th—Next visit to the Library

-Monday, April 15th—Delayed Start

WELCOME BACK:

I hope you had an enjoyable Easter & Spring Break—Let’s hope Spring is on it’s way!  It’s hard to believe that we have only a couple months of school left! It really is amazing to look back to September and see how much the students have grown. :)

REMINDERS: 

-Please be sure to return your child’s Book-It Calendar for March—this is the last month for Book-It.

-Please be sure to return your child’s Report Card envelope—you may keep everything

inside :)

-Mrs. Kelley needs parent helpers for the recess Mileage Club that will begin on Monday, April 15th.  You would be needed ONE day a week, from 1:40 - 2:55.  Please contact her a.s.a.p. if you can help out.  Her e-mail is ckelly@mcbain.org, or 825-2021.

*I will be out of the classroom this Wednesday to attend a training with the Kindergarten Team and Friday afternoon as well.

READING: 

Our focus letter for this week is the Kk and our focus texts are King Bidgood’s in the Bathtub & Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash.  We will introduce the sight words  up & where.  We will use Chunky Monkey to work on rhyming words—word families.  We will also practice applying Flippy the Dolphin as we read and write words with the Magic e.  At the end of the week, students will be shopping for new ’good-fit’ books to add to their book boxes. 

WRITING: 

This week we will begin our April Journals—writing about what we did over Spring Break.  We will also do some further investigating with Informational Texts—look at their features, try on some different topics, add to our idea sheets, and sort our ideas into categories.

MATH:

This week we continue to work on identifying coins—pennies, nickels, & dimes.  We will practice making fair exchanges as we count by 1’s, 5’s, & 10’s.  We will also continue to work on number recognition and identifying the biggest number.  Students will practice acting out number stories by adding and subtracting using a number line.  I am hoping that we will get our iPads this week so that students can begin using them during math time to reinforce these concepts and skills.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES: 

This week we will wrap up our Science Unit on Motion.  Thursday students are welcome to bring in a toy from home that moves—spins, rolls, pushes, pulls, flies, twirls, etc.  We will use them for our lesson on Thursday and then send them back home.  

Newsletter Updates for the Week of March 25th

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Thurs., March 28th—Jammies in the Jungle & Report Cards Sent Home

-Fri., March 29th—Spring Break Begins

-Mon., April 8th—School Resumes

STUDENT OF THE WEEK: 

Our student of the week is Maisie Eling.  Maisie enjoys baking with her mom, riding her horse, swimming, and being a big sister.  Her favorite places to visit are the water parks @ Wisconsin Dells and Boyne Mt.  When she grows up, Maisie aspires to be a horse rider, a farmer, & a babysitter.  Congratulations to Maisie on being Student of the Week!

 ODDS & ENDS: 

-The students are doing a fabulous job with returning their Reading Folders!  Thank you for taking the time to read with your child at home!!

-Please be sure to return your child’s Book-It Calendar for March—this is the last month for Book-It.

-Welcome to Aiden R.—the newest addition to our classroom.

-I will send blankets home to be washed over break.

-We are gearing up to roll out iPads after break. :)

REPORT CARDS: 

Report cards will be sent home this Friday.  As indicated on the report card, any areas that your child receives a  —  or  √—  are areas that they need to work on.  As the year progresses, the expectations continue to increase.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me; I am always happy to discuss your child’s progress.  Special thanks to all of the parent volunteers who helped complete some of the assessments with the students—it is a time-consuming task.  Assessing the students’ growth was difficult this marking period, since we lost 9 days of instruction, due to the snow days!

READING: 

Our focus letter for this week is the Bb and our focus text is Corduroy; which will use to draw conclusions using Iggy the Inferring Iguana.  We will introduce the sight words  to & get.  Students have been earning reading prizes each week for their time on-task reading.  This week we will learn and practice a new Comprehension strategy - Check for Understanding - while partner reading.

WRITING: 

This week we will continue our unit on Informational Text—students will be editing their second book.  I will be sending their 1st book on Monkeys home with their report cards—I hope you find them very informative! :)  This week we will complete a couple of journals—one on motion and the other about our favorite book.  Students will be bringing their March journals home at the end of the week.  Again, they will not have many entries since we have been working on our Informational Books.

MATH:

This week we continue to work on identifying 3D/Solid Shapes.  Wednesday we will be sorting and graphing the shapes that the students have brought from home.  We will also practice identifying and counting Pennies & Nickels.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES: 

This week we will continue our Science Unit on Motion.  We’ve been learning about different forces—pushes, pulls, gravity, wind/air, and their effect on objects.  We will have many hands-on experiments to conduct again this week!  We will also be reading some informational and narrative books related to Bunnies/Easter.

Have a safe and restful Spring Break!  Let's hope for some Spring-like Weather!!!

Newsletter Updates for the Week of March 11th

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Wed., March 13th—Celebrity Reading Day

-Fri., March 15th—Animal Print Day + Popcorn

-Fri., March 22nd—Dress as Favorite Storybook Character + Popcorn

-Mon., March 25th—First trip to the Book Fair To Shop

-Wed., March 27th—2nd trip to the Book Fair To Purchase Materials

-Thurs., March 28th—Jammies in the Jungle & Report Cards Sent Home

-Fri., March 29—Spring Break Begins

READING FOLDERS: 

The students were excited to bring their Reading Folders home over the weekend.  Just a reminder that I will be sending Reading Folders home 2-3 times a week.  Kindergarten is a great time to develop good reading habits; please spend a few minutes listening to them read, sign their Reading Log, and pack it safely in their backpack for a quick return to school.  Students must return their Reading Folders and books in order to check out a new book. :)  This reading time counts towards their Book-It Reading time as well, so don’t forget to mark their Book-It Calendars. :)

MATH:

This week we will be working on measuring length using feet, rulers, and measuring tapes.  We will also introduce the 3-D solid shape—cylinder and practice identifying flat (2-D) and solid (3-D) shapes by their different attributes.  We will practice skip counting by 2’s this week and we will complete a Pet Bar Graph and analyze the data.  On Friday, we will incorporate some St. Patrick’s Day activities into our math lesson—reviewing symmetry and also completing a graph using Lucky Charms

cereal. 

READING: 

Our focus sounds for this week are the digraphs Sh & Ch.  Our focus text is On the Go; which will tie in nicely to our new sight words for the week: on & go.    For comprehension, we will work on text structure—organizing and classifying things according to groups/categories, which goes nicely with our writing unit on Informational Text.  We will continue to practice all of our accuracy strategies during Read-to-Self time, as well as work on building our stamina for reading.  This week I will begin assessing the students on many of their Math and Reading skills in preparation for the end of the marking period.

WRITING: 

This week we will continue our unit on Informational Text.  I will guide the students through writing their first informational booklet using our compiled list of facts on Monkeys.  We will go through the process together and on Friday, students will begin brainstorming their own list of topics that they are experts on and could write an informational piece about.  Our Post Office is ready to open this week!  Students will be writing letters at the writing station, addressing their letters, and then taking them to the class ‘Post Office’ to purchase stamps and mail during free choice time.

 SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES: 

This week we will wrap up our ‘Me on the Map’ Unit and our study of maps and globes.  We will also be reading several books related to Jungle animals.  Towards the end of the week we will read some narrative and informational texts related to St. Patrick’s Day.

Photos from Safari Day

Check out these Jungle Explorers . . . 

The Rarest of all Jungle Creatures . . . a principalopolis (I think)

Newsletter Updates for the Week of March 4th

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Thursday, March 7th—Whispering Pines Mobile Zoo

-Friday, March 8th—Wear Crazy Colors + Popcorn & Cup Stacking Assembly—12:45-1:30

-Wednesday, March 13th—Celebrity Reading Day

-Friday, March 15th—Animal Print Day + Popcorn

-Friday, March 22nd—Dress as Favorite Storybook Character + Popcorn

-Thursday, March 28th—Jammies in the Jungle

STUDENT OF THE WEEK: 

Our student of the week is Karly Mattison.  Karly enjoys coloring, drawing, being creative and playing with her Barbies.  Her favorite place to go is to her Aunt Julie’s house.  When Karly grows up she aspires to become a dancer. Congratulations to Karly on being Student of the Week!

CONFERENCES: 

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend parent teacher conferences.  I enjoyed meeting with you and having the opportunity to discuss your child’s progress.  I have just a handful left to complete :)  Believe it or not, it’s time, once again, to begin assessing for report cards—this year is flying by!

MATH:

This week we will be working on skip counting by 5’s.  We will also compile survey results using tally marks, and practice estimating.  We will play some games that reinforce making a ‘fair trade’ in preparation for making ‘fair trades/exchanges’ for coins (in the future).  We will also learn about the 3-D solids—cones & cubes—and look for things in our world that share their characteristics.

READING: 

Our focus letter this week is Ss and our focus text is Honk, Honk A Story of Migration.  We will be using our Comprehension Strategy—Digger the Dog—to work on identifying Main Idea & Details.  We will introduce the sightwords said & and, as well as a new Beanie Baby for Fluency—Dot the Giraffe.  She reminds us to look at the punctuation as we read and to always read with expression.  I hope to help all of the students shop for their ‘Good-Fit’ books this week so that they can begin bringing home their Reading Folders either this Friday or next Monday.

WRITING: 

Last week we wrapped up our unit on Pattern Books.  I will be conferencing with students this week and letting them select one of their pattern books to bring home to share.  The other two books will go into their portfolios, which you will receive at the end of the year. :)  This week they will be bringing home their February Journal—which is very small since we had such a short month and most of our writing time was spent working on our pattern books.  This week we will be reading several Informational Texts related to Monkeys and compiling some interesting facts in preparation for our next unit of study—Writing Informational Texts.  We will also create a class book from the Leveled Reader—The Tree House and work on writing sentences with the sightword said, which will include the use of quotation marks.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES: 

This week we will begin our Social Studies Unit—Me on the Map.  We will be learning about maps & globes and our place in the world—Country, State, & City.  Later in the week we will be opening up a Post Office in our dramatic play area for students to practice writing and address letters and sorting the mail.

**Please be sure to return your child’s library book by Friday, so that they can check out a new book :)

**Don't forget to send in a stuffed animal for your child to read with during Reading in the Jungle time.