Tag Archives: buddies

We had a fall filled week! October 7-11th

Posted on by
Reply

~Color of the week:  Purple

~Popcorn Words:  Our popcorn words this week were this, is and his.  The kindergarteners found popcorn words in every morning message we read.  They are getting so good at recognizing these words! Be sure to practice these words with the flashcards that were sent home.  It really helps the kiddos master these words when they see them in more than one place.

~Reader’s Workshop:  This week we continued to read back to back with our reading partners.  After we read our books to ourselves we then turned and sat with our partners EEKK (elbow to elbow and knee to knee) style.  Your kindergartener learned how to share their favorite parts of the books with their partner.  They also learned how to share something they learned or something cool and exciting!  We are working on increasing our reading stamina and made it up to 11 minutes!! Way to go!

~Writer’s Workshop:  During writer’s workshop we learned how an alphabet chart can help us with labeling and trying to make words.  We continued writing small moment stories from our lives and adding labels and a sentence to our stories. We also worked on writing a field trip reflection  of our favorite part this week.  It is so fun to watch the students create their stories and be so eager to share!

~Handwriting: This week we started practicing our capital letters.  We began with our “jump frog” letters.  F, E, D and P.  These letters start with a big line and then “jump frog” back up to the top to form our capital letters.  The kindergarteners did a wonderful job!! We even got to practice in shaving cream on Friday! It was messy, but super fun and exciting! 🙂

IMG_2174 IMG_2175 IMG_2176 IMG_2177 IMG_2180

 

~Math:  In Math this week we continued to work on comparing numbers 1-10.  We practiced counting numbers, aloud, on our fingers and even with our math tools.  We also compared numbers and figured out which number was bigger or smaller.  We also started practicing drawing straight lines by connecting dot to dot.  We continued to identify shapes too.   This week we will finish up our first unit in Math with a test on Wednesday. Please help you child prepare by completing their homework by Wednesday. They will be assessed on number writing 1-5, identifying and drawing groups of numbers 1-5, identifying shapes and completing dot to dot pictures.

~Split Lit. Groups:  We started our Split Lit. groups this week.  We broke up into small groups based on our individual levels to work on various literacy skills. The kindergarteners did a wonderful job with this new part of our day!!  Please continue to read together at home every night, filling in your October reading calendar that came home the beginning of the month!

~New Students: On Monday twins, Grant and Addison joined our classroom team. We welcomed them in with kindness and excitement! They signed and promised to follow our classroom promise/contract and adjusted well to new routines and procedures. We now have an AWESOME kindergarten team of 25!!

~Buddies: This was our second visit with our 5th grade buddies this Friday! They read a story to us in their classroom! We LOVE our buddies!

~Explorer of the Jungle:  We will finish up our final explorer of the jungle first time activity on Monday with Grant! We have had so much fun celebrating their posters and learning more about each other. We will continue to get more chances to be the explorers of the day with more activities to come! The next activity will be a traveling stuffed animal! We will pick a new child at random each day to lead the class the following school day. Look for this to come home for your child sometime in the next month! The directions for the activity will be included!

~Mystery Reader!:  We had two mystery readers this week! Mrs. Dykstra, Mitchell’s mom came on Wednesday to read a special book called, Little Critter Visits the Hospital. This helped us understand Mitchell’s trip to the hospital better. We were so happy to have him back to the classroom! Many of us got to sign his cast this week too! What a brave, tough kiddo Mitchell is!!!

IMG_2173

 

We also had a surprise visit from Mrs. Bottrell, Carter’s mom this Friday. She read one of their families favorites, Mike Mulligan’s Steam Shovel. Thank you so much for visiting us!!! We LOVE hearing a special story!

IMG_2204

 

~Super Fans!: In celebration of our Hudsonville Homecoming we had a fun filled visit to Georgetown Elementary from our high school Super Fans!  We got to gather in the hallways to watch and listen to them get us excited for the festivities of the game and HEF night that took place on Friday. And brave Sydney from our class took center stage as a volunteer dancer with the cheer team! Way to dance Sydney! So fun!

IMG_2195 IMG_2198 IMG_2200 IMG_2201 IMG_2202

~Important Dates and Upcoming Events:   

****Library CHANGE just for this week only!!! Because of the MEAP we will be switching out our books on MONDAY, not Wednesday. Please return your child’s library book tomorrow, Monday!!!

* Please be sure to fill out the parent/teacher conference questionnaire on the Georgetown Elementary school website.  This will enable us to prepare for upcoming parent/teacher conferences in November.

 

* Thursday, October 31…10:00-11:00…our Fall Party.  We will have a parade at 9:45 a.m. through our hallway down to our 5th grade bus buddies classrooms.  I can’t wait to enjoy this special event! The planning is in the works! Thanks for those who are planning and helping!

*Turkey Trot: Monday, October 28 at Eagle Stadium (next to Baldwin Street Middle School).

Hope everyone is having a fun, fall filled weekend!

Love,

Ms. Yankee

 

 

News from the Jungle: Dec. 3-7th

Posted on by
Reply

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1. We’ve filled our “Rockstar Jar” once again for hallway compliments and overall good behavior! We took a vote an ice cream party was the overall class favorite to celebrate with! We will be celebrating on Monday, December 10!!! 

2. Please send in any empty toilet paper or paper towel rolls that you have on MONDAY!  We will be completing an activity with these and I need extras!  Thank YOU!!!

WEEKLY UPDATE:

WRITING WORKSHOP:  Writing workshop was really fun this week.  The children are learning a lot of new skills in writing.  We began the week learning about ending punctuation.  We read The Monster Sandwich to learn about telling statements and created our own “monster sandwich” in order to practice using a period.  Hopefully, they shared their sandwiches with you at home! The students were also introduced to a new type of writing: the “How To…”, and wrote their own piece called, “How to Trim a Tree”.  This provided them with a great opportunity to practice writing more telling statements and including periods in their writing, along with spaces and practice stretching their words. We finished the week reviewing the skills we’ve been learning as the kindergarteners wrote a list to Santa.  These were really fun to read :)   I hope you enjoyed reading these lists as well as the other writing pieces that were sent home this week.

READING WORKSHOP:  The kindergarteners learned all about characters in fiction books this week.  The Gingerbread Man has been a great book to refer to as we begin learning about characters.  The children learned that characters are who the story is mostly about and that characters can be people, animals or things.  They also learned that characters can talk.  We practiced being really good readers by changing our voices for different characters.  This was a fun lesson :) .  We also learned that characters can change, just like people change.   Students were able to practice describing characters by thinking about how characters act and what they say.  We created comparison charts to compare characters from the same book and discussed how we can make connections to characters in the books that we read.  We had a great week of learning and growing as readers. The students also brought 3 new sight word books home to read with you and keep safe in their shoe boxes! 

MATH:  We began Unit #3 which focuses on looking for partners in numbers 1-10, telling addition and subtraction story problems and learning to make 10 groups.  These are some tricky concepts that the students are doing very well with. 

HANDWRITING:  We began learning the proper formation of lower case letters called PARTNERS by writing letters c, o, s.  These are partner letters because they are formed exactly the same way as their upper case letter partner, just smaller.  The students are doing very well with their handwriting.

5TH GRADE BUDDIES: We had fun seeing them on Friday to play games together! 🙂 

ADDITIONAL REMINDERS AND INFORMATION:

*This week popcorn words were “an”  words “and”  “can”  “man”

*There will be no library next week due to the Holiday Gift Shop.  We are scheduled to shop on Wednesday, Dec. 12 from 1:00-1:30pm.  If participating, please send your child’s money inside a sealed, labeled envelope with family names and dollar amount written on outside.  Parent volunteers will be available to assist your child as they shop for gifts.  Participation is optional but this a great way for your child to purchase a gift for family members while supporting our school.

*The 5th grade classes are once again selling candy canes for $1.00. The proceeds will go towards 5th grade camp.  If your child wishes to participate in purchasing a candy cane, please send a $1.00 inside a labeled envelope. 

*Take into consideration the change in weather.  Please dress your child in warm outside clothes.  Winter parent volunteers will be assisting with bundling the children when the snow comes!  

*Please remember that the books ($4 or less for a boy or girl) we will be exchanging before our Christmas party are due at school by Friday, Dec. 14.  Please attached a gift tag labeled To: A Friend, From/Love: (your child’s name).

* Our Christmas Party will take place on Thursday, December 20th from 1:30-2:30 pm! If you were interested in helping or planning you have already been contacted. Thanks so much to everyone who is able to help out and donate! If you would still like to join us its not too late! Just let me know and your welcome to stop in! 

Enjoy those snowflakes this weekend!!! Christmas is right around the corner! 

~Mackenzie  

Jungle News, Week of Nov. 12-16th

Posted on by
Reply

Special Happenings this week:

Our Class Turkey- 🙂 

2 MINDFUL ACTS OF GIVING:  Thank you so much for supporting our 2 school service projects… the food drive and solar lights.  The children were so excited to bring ALL of the canned foods to gym class and to watch our progress as we tallied up our donations for the solar lights.  We raised enough money as a class to purchase TWO lanterns.  Thank you again for all of your support and donations!

SCIENCE ASSEMBLY:  On Thursday morning we had the privilege of attending our first PTC sponsored assembly.  The children loved watching Professor Gizmo’s Science show.  It was a fun and entertaining way to spend a part of our morning.

BOOK DONATIONS:  A HUGE “Thank You” to Anna and Chloe’s families along with the Georgetown PTC for donating so many WONDERFUL books to our classroom library.  They provided our class with ALL of the books from my wish list!!!  There are now some great new books for the students to read and love.  Thank you!

 

5th GRADE BUDDIES: We got to visit with our buddies in Mr. Gort’s room Friday! We came with our writing stories to share with them! We were super proud and excited to share our pieces with our buddies! Then our buddies had a special book to read to us when we were finished! We had a fun visit! 

 

BIRTHDAY’S: We celebrated Xavier’s 6th birthday on Wednesday and Brendan’s 6th Birthday on Friday this week! Thanks boys for their very exciting birthday treats!!! Hope you both had a special day! 

 

NEW SEATS: We switched seats again on Monday! This gives the students a chance to work with new classmates! Its always an exciting day! Ask them about their new animal group table 🙂 

 

Handwriting: We began our last booklet of capital letters called CENTER STARTER letters.  All of these letters begin their formation the middle spot. We worked on C, O, Q and G. Your support at home helps the children become more consistent in their handwriting skills.  Thank you!

Writing Workshop: We will be having our first writers celebration Monday!  To prepare for this, the students were able to choose one piece from their writing folders that they will share with their classmates.  They were introduced to the concept of editing and had the opportunity to “fix and fancy” their chosen story by adding more labels and details to the picture, coloring their picture and by writing words to tell the story. They also all added a cover to their story with a title, picture and their names as the author! The children also had the opportunity to write their first piece of non-fiction writing after they learned about the chores the pilgrim boys and girls needed to do each day.  They used the writing prompt, “If I were a pilgrim I would…” to guide them as they wrote. We ended the week by reviewing our needs and wants and thinking about what the pilgrims would have packed in their suitcases to voyage on the Mayflower! We stretched out of words to create a packing list! How fun! 

Math: The children build numbers 1-10, practicing adding 1 each time (5+1=6) and subtracting 1 each time (5-1=4) to make new numbers.  We had fun telling addition and subtraction math stories using a Native American Indian canoe and goldfish crackers.  Tasting the fish we caught were good too. :)

Mystery Reader: Mrs Davidson, Ivy’s mom, was our mystery reader this week.  She came on Thursday to surprise us with a favorite book of Ivy. The children enjoyed listening to her read Skippy Jon Jone’s, complete with a clapping song that we joined in on!  Thank you, Mrs. Davidson for coming to share this great story with us!

 

Popcorn Words for this week were:

 “in”  and  “all”.  (We had some fun creating more words we could read when we added letters in front of “in”  and “all”.)

Important Information and Reminders:

* We will be having a Thanksgiving Feast on Tuesday afternoon with Mrs. Iwema and Mrs. Werts class. Our class will be dressed up as the Indian’s joining their class as the Pilgrims. We will be combining all of our “feast” items together to make a big snack mix to share. We will also be teaching one another something! Can’t wait for this fun afternoon! Please send in the requested food item your child was asked to bring (half sheet orange note in folder last week) by Tuesday morning. Thank you!!!

* Library day is Tuesday! Be sure to bring those books back, so they can check out a new on for Thanksgiving break! 

*Book orders were submitted this Friday! Thanks to all that ordered! Remember our Holiday Book Exchange! A non-gender book is appreciated, as the book could be received by either a boy or a girl. Please send in your child’s wrapped book gift, tagged “To a friend,” by Dec. 14.

* Math Homework this week, try to get it in by Tuesday because of the holiday break!

*Thanksgiving Break: November 21-23 ~ No School!

*Our school Holiday Music Program will be held on Tues. Nov. 27 at Fair Haven Church at 6:30pm.  The children will need to be at the church no later than 6:15pm.  Information and details about drop off location/student meeting area, etc. will be sent home soon.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Get ready for a super, short week! 

~Ms. Yankee