Popcorn Words:  This short week we reviewed our words that have already popped into our classroom.

Math:  We did some fun adding and subtracting activities this week.  Exploring different ways to figure out these addition and subtraction sentences by using manipulatives and our fingers.

Writers Workshop:  This week we worked on how to make the Grinch happy. This week we wrapped up our work with writing patterns.  We picked one of our pattern books and “fixed and fancied” it before sharing it with our friends from Mrs. Stutz’s Class.  We celebrated our work with writing patterns by having some yummy grinch green punch! I am so proud of the Kindergarteners, they are growing so much as writers!!We will start with small moment writing after we return from the holiday break.

Readers Workshop:  We explored many different holiday and winter books this week.  We finished up finding patterns in books.  We will begin a new unit when we resume school after break, “revving up” to be readers.  We will explore all of our reading strategies and dig deeper into building our reading skills.

Grinch Fun.… this day was a blast… check out our pictures…

 

Book Exchange: Our book exchange together was so much fun!!! We had fun playing Christmas music and passing around a book until the music stopped on us and then we got to open our present!! Thanks to everyone for bringing a book, everyone went home with a new one in return! Hopefully these books are a special keepsake in the years to come and it was fun to read them over the holidays!

Holiday Party: We had so much fun at our Holiday Party!!  We had fun playing several games.  The Kindergarteners went fishing for candy canes, pinned the nose on the rudolph, threw bells into cups and tossed rings over santa hats!  Each Kindergartener also made an adorable beaded candy cane ornament! We also enjoyed a yummy grinch grape snack and frosted our own snowman cookie!  Thank you so much to all of our parents and donations who helped make it so special for us!!

Polar Express Day:  We had so much fun first surveying our friends if they had ever ridden on a real train before! Many of us have! We then each received our own Polar Express ticket and “boarded the train” to all of the Kindergarten classrooms to watch the movie.  We had a lot of fun!!  Enjoying some yummy cocoa as we finished our movie!  Thank you to Tom from Bigby who donated hot cocoa, whipped topping, cups and lids to our classroom and Ms. Yankee’s classroom….an unexpected Random Act of Kindness!!

Caroling Fun:  We were treated by Mr. Bowen’s 4th grade class with singing some holiday songs together.  Thanks for spreading the holiday cheer!!

Here is a video of our Christmas celebration fun…

I hope that all of my kinders have had very Merry Christmas! I spent my Christmas vacation in Florida with lots of family! I loved taking beach walks, bike rides, swimming in the ocean and laying in the sunshine! Brrr!!! It feels super cold to be back in Michigan! I can’t wait to see you all in 2017 and hear about all your fun memories! Happy New Year Everyone!! See you in a few more days!

Upcoming Dates:

• Tuesday, Jan. 3…Back to school!  LIBRARY…Return your books! MUSIC
• Wednesday, Jan. 4…ART
• Thursday, Jan. 5…STEAM
• Friday, Jan. 6……Popcorn Friday…..GYM
• Friday, Jan. 13…Early Dismissal…STEAM 
• Monday, January 16.. Take home book program begins… more info. coming soon to all that volunteered!! 

Take Home Book Volunteers Still Needed: I sent home a green sheet this week looking for Take home book volunteers on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday’s from 2-3pm! If you can volunteer please return the sheet by this Wednesday so I can create the sign-up over break! I would like to begin this program on Monday, Jan. 16! I was hoping to get 2 volunteers each day! So far I only have a few volunteers and no one currently available on Wednesday’s! If your child’s grandparent could volunteer please let me know! Everyone must have a background check on file!! You’re welcome to bring younger siblings along to listen to the students read in the hallway! As long as the younger sibling can come with things to be entertained in the hallway it works well! Please let me know if you can help!?? E-mail me with any questions!! This is an amazing program that really helps your child become a reader/stronger reader! It will not be possible without your help! Thank you!

Sight Word/ Rainbow List Volunteer: After break I will begin sending a list of 7-8 sight words home with each child in a page protector to read and practice throughout the week! These will be the same set of words your child will be working with in the classroom. Our goal will be to read the rainbow, aka master all our sight words! They will start on red list and work their way through the different colors as they master reading the words on each list in a snap! These lists will be returned once a week for a parent/grand parent  to check in with them in the hallway and see if they still have more to practice or are ready for the next list of words!   I am in need of a parent or two once a week to read sight word lists with students in the hallway!  This can be around your schedule, you let me know a day and time that works! It would be pretty quick, maybe 30 minutes tops! Please e-mail myankee@hpseagles.net if you can be this parent/grandparent! I would like to begin this around the week of January 16th as well! Start looking for the first rainbow list and info. sheet to come home after break for all students to practice at home! Thank you!

Holiday Program: The kinders all did an amazing job on Tuesday night performing at the Christmas Program! I was so proud of each of them! The show really got me in the Christmas spirit! I hope you enjoyed the show!

Mystery Reader: We had our second special Grandma make a surprise debut in our classroom Friday as our mystery reader! This time, Lila’s Grandma came to read.. she read a cute book, The Grandma Book and Katie and the Candy Cane Fairy! Thanks so much for coming! If you haven’t been the mystery reader yet.. please consider signing up for the New Year! If you can’t do it, please consider encouraging a grandparent,aunt/uncle, special babysitter to sign up! Dates are posted under the “Volunteers” tab on my blog for mystery reader dates in Jan. and Feb. I selected a 11:10 am time slot on Friday, but if this doesn’t work for you, e-mail me available dates and times!

We’re using SignUp.com (the leading online SignUp and reminder tool) to organize our upcoming SignUps.

Here’s how it works in 3 easy steps:

1) Click this link to see our SignUp on SignUp.com: http://signup.com/go/RiEjGy
2) Review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like.
3) Sign up! It’s Easy – you will NOT need to register an account or keep a password on SignUp.com.

Note: SignUp.com does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact me and I can sign you up manually.

5th Grade Buddies: On Friday we helped spread Christmas cheer with our 5th grade buddies in Mr. Gort’s class! We created Christmas cards for those who help around our school, Mr. Rob, our custodian, Mrs. Reagan, secretaries, other teachers, etc.! Oh what fun!

Popcorn Words:  This week the words “what” and “it” popped into our classroom.  We found these words in our books, morning messages and practiced writing them in our journals.

Writer’s Workshop:  This week we wrapped up our work with writing patterns. We wrote a question pattern book titled, What is it? I have been so impressed by their hard work!  Hooray for the kinders!!  Be on the lookout for these books coming home next week.

Reader’s Workshop:  During Reader’s Workshop this week we practiced making predictions during our reading times.  The patterns that we see in books often helped us predict what would happen.  Making predictions is also an excellent way to get your Kindergartener to stop and think about what has happened in the book so far.  Getting them to do a retell and then predict helps them practice comprehension.  They are really coming along as readers!!

Handwriting:  We have started to practice writing our lower case letters!!  The Kindergarteners have practiced writing these letters during our journal time and in their handwriting books. They are pro’s at telling me if the letter is uppercase or lowercase.  Way to go Kindergarteners!!

Math:  This week in Math we practiced making numbers using 10 strips and some more to make our teen numbers.  We also are continuing to practice counting everyday.  We count our number of days we have been in school, practice counting to 100 by 10′s and 1′s.  We have even been practicing our fluency of adding and subtracting numbers by completing number equations.  We will continue working in Unit 3 after the holiday break. On Friday, we loved playing math games!! Teen number memory, race to the reindeer, and adding for santa with marshmello’s- we had fun learning!

In November during conferences I gave some of you  information about Raz-Kids, an online reading program.  This subscription has been paid for by our wonderful Parent Club and offers leveled ebooks for your child to read at home. The best benefit of this website is that the books are at your child’s independent reading level. Raz-Kids provides options for listening to books, reading books and also taking quizzes to check comprehension. For busy families, this is a great place to access books for your child. I now have signed the entire class up for access to this program!!! I encourage you to log-in and get your kindergartner started! An information sheet/log-in information will be coming home in your child’s folder on Monday. Please let me know if questions come up! I think the kids will be excited about it! This will be great to do over Christmas break! 

WINTER GEAR: Please send appropriate winter gear with your child each day.  It keeps them warm when playing outside.  An extra pair of socks, mittens or gloves might be a good idea to keep inside their backpacks if their original pair gets wet.

Just a reminder that books appropriate for a boy or girl around $5 each are due into school tomorrow! Please wrap the book and label it,  to: a friend, from: your child’s name. We will be dong the exchange as a class on Tuesday morning! I want to be sure every child has a book to participate! Please e-mail me if the book cannot be in tomorrow!  Please let me know if you need help purchasing a book and I will take care of it. This is such a fun activity that I do every year! Each child goes home with a great keepsake 🙂 Looking forward to giving the gift of reading! 

Tomorrow, Friday, December 16 is the last day for ski club passes!  If you want to ski at Bittersweet for only $16 a lift ticket, you need to turn in your forms and money by tomorrow.  Contact 3rd grade teacher,  Karman VanderStel (kvander@hpseagles.net) with any questions!

 

Parents PLEASE be sure to send your child to school in their winter gear (snow pants, boots, gloves, hats and coats).  And please, please label all their gear!!! We continue to get all the gear mixed up in the classroom!

If the weather is above freezing the students are outside for 15 minutes in the weather before coming into the building.  It will also help with them being able to play in the snow to have these items on.  Usually the students have enough time in the morning to play before our first bell rings at 8:45 a.m.

If your child is dropped off at the bell and then are lining up to walk in with the class no snow pants is fine. Please let me know if you have any questions by emailing me at myankee@hpseagles.net.  Thanks for your help!!

 

Don’t forget that tomorrow night, Tuesday, December 13 is our Christmas Music Program at Harbor Ministries, (formerly known as Fair Haven Church) 2900 Baldwin Street, Hudsonville.  Kinders should arrive by 6:15pm.  They are the first class to preform so they will be walking on stage by 6:28pm. There have been some questions regarding the night so I thought I would address them. 1.  Tickets are not required, but it does get very crowed so I would arrive early  2. Grandparents and younger siblings are welcome to attend the program.   3. There is not a dress code but many kinders choose to dress in holiday or “Sunday best” attire but this is optional. 

I cannot wait to see them preform!! This is one of my favorite nights! See everyone tomorrow evening!

December 5 – December 9

Popcorn Words:  This week the words look, from and run popped into our classroom.  We found these words on our word wall, in our morning messages and even practiced writing them during our split lit. center time.

Math:  We are continuing to work on Unit 3.  Finding groups of 10, making partners up to 6 and telling math stories.The Kindergarteners loved telling our math stories pretending to be in a park.   We told addition and subtraction stories.  We even worked with pennies to make groups of 10.  We can group pennies into two piles or even lines to find 20 pennies in all.  They are doing a great job! Then math games Friday, gingerbread themed were a big hit!!! 

Writing:  This week we continued being authors of pattern books.  We worked on writing a pattern book with a growing pattern. It went from small to big things that we could look at. We called them, “My Look Book“. 

Readers Workshop:  We continued to find patterns in reading this week as well.  We learned that there are more kinds of patterns in books.  There are patterns that the words repeat over and over on each page.  Also, there are patterns in books that are question and answer patters.  This pattern asks a question and then answers it repeatedly in the book, often with a surprise ending.  Another kind of pattern is a pattern that grows and shrinks.  For example, we saw that in the book the Little Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell the patterns of words got longer and longer that was repeated and even the objects got bigger.  We will continue to look at patterns next week.

Split Lit.: We have done such a great job working in our split lit. centers.  As the Kindergarteners have moved through these centers they have been practicing writing their sight words, working with a teacher and also enjoying reading to themselves book center. Please continue to read every night and practice those popcorn flashcards.  It has been so amazing to see their growth!!

Mystery Readers/Happy Birthday’s: This week I was spoiled to spend by birthday with my awesome class of kindergarteners! They were extra sweet to me, lots of cards and hugs! Thank you!!  Then on Friday we were so lucky , we got to have Mrs. Hoffman, Rich’s mom surprise us as the  mystery reader!!! She read a sweet holiday book, Mooseltoe. We LOVE having Mystery Readers!!

*** I am in need of a mystery reader sometime this week! No one has signed up yet! If you would like to volunteer please e-mail me asap! I can be flexible with a day and time!! The kids love! Please consider volunteering if you haven’t come yet!

Christmas Party Info.:  Our party is next Tuesday! If you signed up to volunteer for a station please arrive at 1:40 for instructions and help with the set up. I am asking that if you didn’t sign up for this party in advance that you wait to visit our classroom until another volunteer opportunity presents.  Please find care for your younger children that day in order to reduce number of people in room and help keep the party flowing for the our students. Thanks! If you signed up to bring donations, please send those items in ahead of time. I would love to have donations in by Monday, December 19.  Please consider donating the items we still need for the party… click the link…

http://signup.com/go/vg84fw

Let me know if anymore questions come up! Looking forward to a fabulous party!

5th Grade Candy Canes:  Mon. Dec 5 thru Fri Dec 16. The cost for each candy cane is $1.00 and they will be delivered the same day they are ordered.  Please enclose the money inside a labeled envelope, listing the number of candy canes needed.

TAKE HOME BOOK PROGRAM:   This exciting program will begin in January.  If you are interested in listening to the kinders read, this volunteer opportunity is for you!  A note explaining this program will be sent home this week and due back next week. 

5th Grade Buddies: We had a special visit from our buddies on Friday! They came to read with us! We love buddy time!

New Class Addition: We now have a new special holiday tradition, a classroom Elf on the Shelf. The class decided to name her, Ginger. She has been all around our room this week looking out for positive behavior choices! The class loves rushing in each morning to see where Ginger is hiding next! She brings lots of smiles!

Upcoming Dates:

• Monday, Dec. 12…MUSIC- special rehearsal!! 
• Tuesday, Dec. 13…ART, LIBRARY…Bring your library book!  We will be having a rehearsal at the church during our school day in the a.m., the children will be transported by bus to the church to practice with staff and the other Kindergarten classrooms.  Holiday Program at Harbor Ministries (formerly known as Fair Haven Church) 2900 Baldwin Street, Hudsonville.  Students please arrive at 6:15 p.m. Program starts for K-2 at 6:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, Dec. 14…STEAM
• Thursday, Dec. 15…PE
• Friday, Dec 16…MUSIC, BOOK EXCHANGE BOOKS DUE!!!
• Monday, Dec. 19…ART
• Tuesday, Dec. 20…STEAM, LIBRARY…Bring your library book!  Classroom Holiday Party @ 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Volunteers arrive at 1:40pm. Wear Red and Green day!!!! 
• Wednesday, Dec. 21…MUSIC, Polar Express Day…Come in P.J.’s we will have a fun day before we have our break for the holiday!  Be sure to bring outdoor gear for this day…..we will be going outside for recess if it is above freezing.
• Thursday, Dec. 22 – Jan. 2…HOLIDAY BREAK…NO SCHOOL!
• 

November 28-December 2 

Popcorn Words:  This week we learned the words an, can, ran and man. With the use of our new reading strategy buddy “chunky monkey” that teaches us to find chunks in words, the Kindergarteners quickly found that the chunk an is in the words can, man and ran.

 

Math:  We started Unit 3 in Math this week.  Taking a closer look at teen numbers and finding groups of ten.  We met our classroom “10 bug” that flew around our room listening to us count our teen numbers and find groups of 10 in those numbers.  We are also diving into adding numbers together and breaking apart numbers. I also hope you took a look over there math test that came home this week! They all did amazing!! Review these skills together at home! 

Writer’s Workshop:  This week we have continued working on writing patterns.  We have written books that have patterns in them on every page.  We focused on the pattern changing at the end and in the middle when we wrote a books titled, “Thing’s I Can Do” and ” Decorating the Christmas Tree”. We will work next week on pattern writing.  The Kindergarteners really seem to enjoy this writing unit.  It is a clear formula of writing for them to follow and gives them a lot of instant success as a writer.

Reader’s Workshop:  We have continued working on discovering patterns in books this week as well.  We discovered patterns that went along with our writing patterns that we worked on this week.  Finding patterns that changed in the beginning, middle and end.  We even got to add a pattern book to our blue book boxes for our slit lit. reading time.

Split Lit.:  This week we continued working in our small groups to increase our rhyming, sight word recognition and building our pre-reading and reading skills.  The Kindergarteners have done a great job learning the different tasks that they complete daily in these centers.  I am very proud of them. Holiday in the room:  We have added Holiday cheer to our classroom!  A Christmas tree and elf on the shelf.  Every day our elf on the shelf, Tinkerball (as she was named Monday), has made an appearance in our room.  She has topped our Christmas tree, potato sack raced beanie babies, went fishing in our sink, and hung on our clothesline with a Merry Christmas sign! Oh how exciting!!!

Gingerbread Man: We had had fun reading several different versions of this classic tale this week. We continue to talk about the similarities and differences between the different books. Was it a different ending? Different/same characters? Etc.   I hope that you had fun decorating your gingerbread man at home, they’re due tomorrow if you haven’t sent them in yet!!  They are fantastic and special.  Hopefully, these gingerbread men won’t run away!!   

Secret Santa Shop:  The Kindergarteners will be able to shop at our secret santa shop on Tuesday afternoon.  If you would like your child to participate in this please send in the envelope with the appropriate information.  In the past I have not let the Kindergarteners spend the change they receive unless I have a note telling me that they may do so.   

Holiday Cheer in the Room: We put up our class Christmas tree this week and some lights!! Our room is looking festive! Then on Friday we met our classroom elf! We read our Elf on the Shelf book and voted on our elf’s name, Ginger it is!!  I can’t wait to see the fun places Ginger will be hiding each day!! 

Mystery Reader:  This week we got a special visit from Mrs. Morrow, Finn M’s mom and his little brother, River. She surprised us with reading Finn’s favorite, Dinosaur’s Love Underpants!! We laughed all the way thru!! Thank you for visiting with us!!!

 Pictures from our week….

I have planned the Christmas party with a craft, games and a fun snack to eat and make! Here is what I would love to have donated below… I am also looking for volunteers to help me run it! Please sign up at the link! E-mail me with questions! Thanks so much!!!

We’re using SignUp.com (the leading online SignUp and reminder tool) to organize our upcoming SignUps.

Here’s how it works in 3 easy steps:

1) Click this link to see our SignUp on SignUp.com: http://signup.com/go/vg84fw
2) Review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like.
3) Sign up! It’s Easy – you will NOT need to register an account or keep a password on SignUp.com.

Note: SignUp.com does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact me and I can sign you up manually.