Tag Archives: Kool Kinder

News of the Week—April 26-30

POPCORN WORDS: COME. SOME

WRITING: We read books and watched some videos about COWS before we wrote facts onto our “have, can, are” charts. The kinders decided which facts they wanted to include in their own All About Cows books. They worked independently to put their facts into sentences, remembering to use capital letters, spaces between words and sentence stoppers, before drawing detailed pictures. This was their “on-demand/test” of our All About ___ writing genre. This informational book will be graded and used for our final report card grade on informational writing. The kinders did a fabulous job! I can’t wait to share how well they did with you.

We made a cute cow craft on Friday. It was ‘moo’arvlous fun! 🙂

READING: We began a new unit called Character Round-Up. In this unit, we will dive deeper into learning about characters. We started by learning that a character can be an animal, person or thing, characters can talk and characters can change, plus more. Then we took time to look closely at what characters look like. We learned more about characters by studying what they say or do and asking ourselves “Are they nice? Are they mean?”. We can also learn about characters through what other characters do and comparing them to the main character.

MATH: We worked on finding partners of number 7 by using 2 colors of unifix cubes. What fun! We also worked in our math books making groups of objects equal by drawing more objects, comparing objects that are Greater than or Less than, solving addition and subtraction problems and found totals of number partners. We had fun playing FLOWER POWER to practice writing addition and subtraction equations.

LITERACY/PHONICS: We learned that every word has at least one vowel. Mabel told us we can use a new super power…VOWEL POWER when we look at words. She gave each of us our own vowel shields to help us accomplish this. We searched through big books to find as many vowels as we could. We also worked on…

reading a short story and answering comprehension questions
making words in the -IT family
listening for and writing vowels
sentence dictation – writing all the sounds we hear in the words

KOOL KINDER AND THE SURPRISE BAG AND THE GUESSING BAG: The items this week were legos, popcorn, chocolate chips and mint candies

STUFFED ANIMAL DAY FUN

REMINDERS

Bring 2 snacks each day to school and a water bottle with a spill proof lid please.
Return take home books and library books on Wednesday
Watch the weather. Please keep in mind that even though the season is spring, some days will be cold, wet and rainy. Please continue to send a coat, with your kinder. Boots are not needed unless it rains. Thanks!
*MAY/JUNE CALENDAR: The MAY calendar and JUNE calendar can be found at the top of our blog under CALENDARS. You can also refer to the paper copy that was sent home this week.

UPCOMING DATES

*Monday, May 3—GYM

*Tuesday, May 4—ART

*Wednesday, May 5—STEAM; TAKE HOME BOOKS & LIBRARY Don’t forget your books! Thank you for taking the time to write comments about your kinder’s reading of their TAKE HOME books. That is so helpful 🙂

*Thursday, May 6—MUSIC

*Friday, May 7–GYM. Bring a joke to school today!

***Have a fabulous weekend. Mrs. Bohl

News of the Week–March 1-5

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POPCORN WORDS: HOME. WENT. ABOUT. The popcorn words are becoming a bit harder to recognize so I can not stress it enough that practice at home is so crucial to your kinder’s growth. We practice identifying our words many times and in many different ways throughout the day but your kinder needs to practice them at home too. Thanks for taking on this important role. Your February flash cards were sent home this week.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DR. SEUSS: We celebrated his birthday on Tuesday wearing Dr. Seuss attire. We learned that Theodore Seuss Giesel was Dr. Seuss’s official name and he wrote books under two names….Dr. Seuss and Theo. LeSeig. This is what we did:

Read Green Eggs and Ham, The Tooth Book, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, In a People’s House
Read a couple newspapers that were filled with fun facts different genre of books.
Made a craft of Cat in the Hat
Solved addition and subtraction problems and wrote the equations using red and blue fish (based on One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish).

LITERACY/PHONICS: We did Dr. Seuss themed activities this week. We worked on reading popcorn words, creating rhyming words and reading & writing -am real and nonsense words. TIC TAC TOE, GREEN EGGS IN A ROW was so fun playing at school that you can play it at home with your board games and green eggs and ham.

MATH: We completed dot to dot pictures, wrote numbers 1-20, solved addition and subtraction problems, drew “tiny tumblers” that are tumbling down each side of the mountains and more. We finished the week by learning more about cubes and other shapes.

READING: We looked closely at non-fiction books. We started learning about how Avid Readers talk like an expert – they use fancy words. Using a book called Honey Bees, we found the fancy words pollen and nectar. We looked at non-fiction books and found WOW things and shared them with our reading partners. It was fun having reading playdates with our reading partners using non-fiction books. We spent time playing school and playing games with non-fiction books too! We finished the week with each table studying a topic of non-fiction books. It was fun learning all about certain topics!

WRITING: We started a new type of writing— PERSUASIVE WRITING this week. First we thought of problems we have at school and decided to write about walking in the hallway. Next we gave reasons why this is a problem and gave a solution to the problem. At the end of the week we made a poster to persuade others to walk in the hallway at Georgetown. Celebrate with your kinder as they show you their writing & sign this weekend. This was hard work but everyone persevered.

KOOL KINDERS ARE BOOK LOVERS:

We have started another round of being the Kool Kinder. This time the kinders will be taking home the SURPRISE BAG. They will need to fill the bag with an object, write down 3 clues so that their friends can guess what is inside. So far the items have been a band-aid, stuffed animal named Dude and a Barbie doll.

SADDLE UP AND READ! is the school wide theme to celebrate March is Reading Month. Each Friday will be various “dress up” days. Please refer to our kindergarten March calendar that was sent home to see the themes listed.

Each kinder that brings back their TAKE HOME books on Wednesdays will be entered in the school-wide March reading month giveaways. Kinders will not be participating in keeping track of reading minutes on a weekly calendar. Lasso a good book and have fun reading at home!

We had fun decorating our classroom door with Gingerbread Cowboys after reading the book with the same title. Our hallway board is decorated with some cute cows.

REMINDERS

WINTER GEAR: Hooray for a bit of warmer weather and the snow starting to melt. Unfortunately, the melting snow is causing a LOT of water puddles on our playground. Please continue to send your kinder with snow pants, boots, a hat, gloves/mittens and coat every day! We are planning to continue to wear it outside to help keep us warm and protect our clothes from the mud.

SNACK & WATER BOTTLE: Please remember to send 2 healthy snacks AND a water bottle with your kinder each day.

VACATION: If you have a vacation coming up and your kinder will be missing school, please contact the office for a vacation request form.

UPCOMING DATES

*Monday, March 8—MUSIC; Parent/Teacher Zoom style conferences

*Tuesday, March 9—GYM

*Wednesday, March 10—ART; TAKE HOME BOOKS & LIBRARY Don’t forget your books! Homework packet due Parent/Teacher Zoom style conferences

*Thursday, March 11—STEAM; Book Fair Purchase Day

*Friday, March 12—MUSIC; March is Reading Month: Dress like a cowboy or cowgirl–wear flannel or plaid!

***Have a fabulous weekend! Enjoy the touch of spring weather. Mrs. Bohl

News of the Week—Dec 7-11

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What a week! A few days of at home learning and a few days of in person learning at school. It feels good to be back with friends! I just need to say it one more time…THANK YOU, THANK YOU for supporting your kinder in so MANY ways while we were at home learning! 🙂

POPCORN WORDS: WHAT. IT

MATH: The kinders worked on solving addition and subtraction math stories, writing out equations, building teen numbers, writing teen numbers and seeing 5 groups within 6-10.

WRITING: The kinders wrote a small moment story of their choice. They did a fabulous job including capital letters, finger spaces, sentence stoppers, sight words and detail drawings.

LITERACY: The kinders did activities that focused on parts of a sentence (putting the sentence in order to make sense), word families (rhymes), syllables, beginning sounds and identifying and writing popcorn words.

READING: The kinders celebrated being readers! They learned what it means to retell a book after reading. It is important to understand what we are reading and we can practice this by retelling our books. The kinders read stories to family members, stuffed animals and friends. They reviewed using their super powers to help them be the best reader they can be! 🙂

HOLIDAY FUN: We enjoyed reading some different versions of The Gingerbread Man. We found out that 14 kinders like gingerbread cookies and 5 do not. The kinders were excited to make stockings for Santa and super excited to use glitter to write their names. 🙂

KOOL KINDER: A new round of being the Kool Kinder has begun. This time the kinders will need to use their writing skills (draw a picture and write a sentence) to show what they like to do as a family. We found out that families like to ride bikes, go camping, go hiking and go to Great Wolf Lodge. We can’t wait to see and hear what fun activity you do, as a family, to create memories!

REMINDERS

In preparation for snow session, please remember. When snow is on the ground, please have the following in your kinder’s backpack and don’t forgot to label!!

Snow pants
Boots-designed for the snow (consider velcro closing if purchasing new)
A Warm Coat
Mittens/Gloves
A Hat

SNACKS – Please remember to send your kinder with 2 snacks and a water bottle each day. We have a morning and an afternoon snack. Due to COVID restrictions, we can not use our drinking fountain.

HOT LUNCH–It is FREE to ALL students through June 2021:) If your kinder orders milk with their home lunch that is a charge.

UPCOMING DATES

*Monday, Dec 14—ART. Wear Red, Green and White

*Tuesday, Dec 15—STEAM Wear a Holiday Hat (Santa, antlers, etc)

*Wednesday, Dec 16—MUSIC; Library–Please help your kinder remember their library book. Homework packet is due Wear a Holiday shirt, sweatshirt, etc

*Thursday, Dec 17–-GYM Grinch Day..Dress in Grinch style

*Friday, Dec 18—ART Polar Express Day. Wear pj’s. (no stuffed animals or blankets please)

*Dec 19-Jan 3–Holiday Vacation

*Monday, Jan 4–Return to school

News for the Week–Sept 8-11

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Here is a peek at what your kinder did at school this week:

POPCORN WORDS: I SEE

COLOR WORD: YELLOW We learned another song to sing to help us spell yellow. We read many books with yellow characters such as Pete the Cat…The Wheels on the Bus and Curious George books. We learned about different things that are yellow, practiced writing the word, made a yellow flip book and made a yellow bus craft, adding a fun message using our popcorn words, I see a yellow bus. I was able to get a safe social distance unmasked picture of all of our friends when they finished. Mrs. Bohl LOVED getting to see our faces!!

SHARED READING: We have been practicing our reading skills by doing shared reading each day. Shared reading is a time when the kinders and I all read a poem or story together at the same time. This helps build fluency and some important concepts of reading for our little ones! We read a poem called I See. There were familiar words in the poem (I, see, a). We highlighted the words we know and then put them in our 3 ring binder to practice at school. We also added a paper book to our book boxes, the book included our popcorn words.

COOL TOOLS: We finished learning about the last two cool tools and then read two more books to help us know how we can further use our cool tools.

Being Friends was a great book that showed us that it is okay that we are not all the same…we are different and special, just like a KALEIDOSCOPE. It was fun to look through a real kaleidoscope and then color our own.

We read Mine-a-saurs and learned that we can tell a friend to STOP in a kind way by saying “It bugs me when ______, I wish that you would stop.” A ladybug and a wishing wand helps us remember this.

We read Howard B. Wigglebotttoms learns about bullies and learned about what bullying is. The kinders were reminded about how important and useful it is to use our cool tools. We talked about how we need to care of our friends and stand up for them when someone teases them. We are a class family….inside our room and on the playground. We have very caring kinders.

We also read A Monster who lost his mean. Monster lost his M and was now called “Onster”. We were reminded that being kind and doing kind actions is much more fun that doing monster actions. The kinders did an amazing job figuring out which actions a FRIEND would do OR a BULLY would do.

WRITER’S WORKSHOP: We practiced drawing a picture and adding a label to go with it. We listened for the first sound in the word and labeled the picture with the first sound. For example, we drew a picture of us lining up at the door. We drew ourselves and the door and then added other people to the picture. We labeled the door with a D for door and the floor with an F for floor. We also labeled ourselves. We finished our writing this week by doing a shared writing – we added pictures of our playground and labeled the pictures with the first letter sound. It was a fun way to do writing!

ABC BOOTCAMP: We learned about the letters Ff, Gg, Hh and Ii this week. We will continue to review letters and learn new ones.

READER’S WORKSHOP: The kinders learned what jobs the teacher and kinders do during Reader’s Workshop time.

This week in readers workshop we focused on what it means to private read and partner read. They practiced reading real world books (non-fiction) using a level 1 voice (a whisper voice). We learned that we can read the pictures in the book and we need to start reading at the cover. We then read page by page until we get to the end. We also worked on partner reading with our table buddies. They did a great job and had fun reading together!

LIBRARY: We visited the library for the first time on Wednesday! Mrs. VandenBerg, our school librarian, read the book, Mr. Wiggle’s Book. This book is about how to take care of books and to be a book lover! We learned that we must treat them very gently and be kind to them, otherwise they may break. We also took a tour of the library and learned where we can find books to check out! Next week we are planning to check out books.

MATH: We read Anno’s Counting again to help us better understand “number scenes,” which are pictures that have a specific number of objects (3 buildings, 3 people, 3 birds, 3 bridges, etc.) before we drew our own scenes of 2,3,4 & 5 on paper. We also practiced ordering, counting and visualizing the numbers 1-5 by using our white boards. The kinders enjoyed working on counting by placing play dough balls on a bus mat. We did this all together and discussed the concept of adding one more to get the next number.

Mask Free Work Spots: In our classroom, I have set up 2 mask free work spots for the kinders. These spots are 6 feet from peers. If at any point they would like a mask break, they may move to one of these spots with their work and unmask. They have done a great job learning our sign for this and letting their friends have a turn. I will add more mask free spots as necessary.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

*OUTDOOR CLOTHING….Please continue to send a coat or sweatshirt with your child. The weather can quickly change so it is good to be prepared.

*BACKPACK SNACK…THANK YOU SO MUCH for being conscientious about sending TWO healthy, NUT FREE snacks…one for the morning, one for the afternoon. Many kinders are bringing multiple snacks. Our snack time is short but enough time to become refueled.

*GYM DAYS..Please consider having your kinder keep a pair of socks either in their cubby or backpack to wear during gym days. On these warm days, many kinders do not like to wear their gym shoes without socks when they come to school wear sandals or flip flops.

*TOWELS..Please send your kinder’s towel back to school on Monday. The towels went home on today so they could be washed over the weekend.

*LUNCH MONEY..Hot lunch is now FREE for ALL students until Dec. 31st. Therefore, if your kinder would like hot lunch you do not need to send in money until after the holiday break. If your kinder currently has money in their account it will be held until they take hot lunch after December 31st.

IMPORTANT DATES:

*Monday, Sept. 14–MUSIC; Kool Kinder: Avery. Bring back washed towels

*Tuesday, Sept 15—GYM; Kool Kinder: Cora

*Wednesday, Sept 16—ART; Homework due; Library….we will be taking home a book Kool Kinder: Sawyer Birthday celebration for Mrs. Bohl

*Thursday Sept 17—STEAM; Kool Kinder: Marissa EMAIL ME OR SEND A NOTE BY THURSDAY (9/17) IF YOUR KINDER WOULD LIKE A SACK LUNCH.

*Friday, Sept 18—EXTRA RECESS; COLOR DAY…Wear BLUE! Fast Friday (early release) Dismiss at 12:15

*Thursday, Sept. 24—Walk-a-Thon: Please note the date change from our September calendar

~~~Have a great weekend. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at kbohl@hpseagles.net YOUR KINDER IS SPECIAL TO ME! 🙂 Mrs. Bohl

NEWS–Feb. 10-14

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POPCORN WORDS: NOT WHO

READING: The kinders practiced using their retelling skills all week long. After listening to a valentine story, the kinders retold the story by recalling the characters, setting (where did it take place) and the order of events. While they were reading with their partners, the kinders were able to put their retelling skills to work using the books inside of the blue book boxes. Enjoy hearing your kinder retell you The Day it Rained Hearts using the picture cards at home.

MATH: It was all about showing teen numbers using tens and extra ones, comparing numbers using the terms GREATER THAN and LESS THAN and solving addition and subtraction math stories. The kinders completed pages in their math workbooks, used 11-20 mats and manipulatives. We read another Love Monster story called Love Monster and the Last Chocolate before creating our own math story.

After reading and talking about this week’s newspaper, we decided to combine math and our opinion. First we tasted candy hugs and candy kisses. Next we colored our paper kiss to reflect our choice. Then we created a graph of Hugs or Kisses on the board. Last we gave a reason why we liked a candy hug or a candy kiss.

SPLIT LIT: The kinders worked on skills such as syllables, writing and reading CVC words, reading popcorn words, identifying ending sounds and identifying “h brothers” (th & sh sounds).

WRITING WORKSHOP: The kinders began learning how to write a new style of writing…..Opinion writing. We started with learning the difference between fact and opinion. Then we sorted statements into an opinion or fact column. After hearing a story that relates to the day’s writing, the kinders give their opinion, write two reasons to support why they feel that way and write a closing sentence such as “_____ is my favorite.” or “I really like _______.” WOW! WOW! The kinders are writing like almost first graders! Do I dare say that? 🙂 They are including popcorn words, spaces between words, sentence stoppers as well as giving awesome reasons. Our topics this week were: 1. What animal would you take home from the zoo? 2. Liking winter or summer. 3. Choosing hot lunch or home lunch. Have I said lately, how proud I am of them! 🙂 . This is difficult writing but they are off to a GREAT start!

HANDWRITING: We learned the proper formation of the SLANT TO STRAIGHT upper case letters, A, Y, V, W, X. We will continue to work on writing our letters (upper and lower case) for the remaining school year. Any extra practice at home would be helpful. Some fun practice might consist of shaving cream, salt trays, watercolors, markers, bath crayons, etc.

WHERE IS MRS. BOHL?: I want to let you know that I will be out of the classroom Monday morning. I will be screening next year possible kinders. Mrs. Voss is coming back and will be the teacher. Hooray! 🙂 Mrs. Bynum will still be in the classroom. I will be back in the afternoon. Please take a few minutes this weekend to talk with your kinder about showing Mrs. Voss kindness and respectfulness by following our class rules and making green choices.

KOOL KINDERS ARE BOOK LOVERS:

Ellery likes to read Unicorn Day because she likes unicorns.

Katelyn thinks this little bear is cute in Make a Wish Bear.

Adrian likes the repeating pattern in Sneezy the Snowman.

Jude likes bugs in the book Bugs in my Hair.

Evelyn thinks Press Here is a funny book.

MYSTERY READER: Sabrina was so happy to see her dad come into the room. He read The Day the Crayons Quit. A fun story about using ALL of the crayons when drawing pictures.

REMINDERS

*WINTER GEAR: Please send your kinder with all that they need to stay warm on the bus ride and while playing outside….snow pants, hats, mittens, boots. Just a reminder, we will be outside for recess if the temperature is above 0 degrees. We play out in the fields, and our playground does not get plowed, thank you for your help.

UPCOMING DATES

*MONDAY, FEB 17—GYM; TAKE HOME books; Mrs. Bohl out of the classroom in the morning. Mrs. Voss is here.

*TUESDAY, FEB 18—ART

*WEDNESDAY. FEB. 19—STEAM; LIBRARY Return library book! Homework due

*THURSDAY. FEB. 20—MUSIC; If your kinder would like a sack lunch on Friday, please email me or put a note in their folder by 2/20

*FRIDAY. FEB. 21—-GYM; Fast Friday…dismissal at 12:15pm

~~~~Have a fantastic weekend. Stay safe and warm . Mrs. Bohl

NEWS OF THE WEEK—April 22-26

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Can you believe it? It is the end of April and next week we are moving into our last full month of school. Take a look at what was accomplished this week.

SCIENCE: What is Alive? Living and Non-Living and Grow, Flower, Grow! were books that assisted us as we began learning about things that are alive and not alive. The kinders learned that living things need *air, *water, *food, *soil (plants), *space (habitat) and can *move, *grow. Sorting living and non-living pictures was a fun activity to do.

We planted bean seeds and are patiently watering and waiting for them to sprout. Hopefully the warmer, sunny spring weather helps. We will keep you updated!

WRITING: I am so proud of the kinders and their writing. This week we began writing HOW TO…. stories. We created a list of what we thought we could teach others to do. Some examples were: how to ride a bike, how to read a book, how to play football and more. We practiced telling the steps across our fingers using transitional words like First, Next, Then, Last. Our writing topics were How to Wash Your Hands, How to Make a Pizza and How to Make a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich. We will write more HOW TO… stories next week.

MATH: The kinders practiced determining and writing number partners, writing numbers to 100! and drawing tens and extra ones for teen numbers this week.

The Friday math game was called FLOWER POWER. The kinders took turns tossing a fly and bumble bee bean bag onto a large flower, using the numbers that the insects landed on to create addition and subtraction number equations. For example: 1+3=4 or 7-3=4.

POPCORN WORDS: COME SOME

READING: The kinders were introduced to poetry and what it looks like to be Avid Readers of Poetry. We talked about how poetry is a lot like a song. We hear songs and they get stuck in our heads and we sing them over and over. So many of the poems we know are often sung like a song. Making it easy for us to remember, allowing us to be Avid Readers/Listeners of Poetry. The kinders were able to practice “How To Read a Poem” by….. 1.We read the words. 2. We think about the poem.3. We make our voices match the beat of the poem. It was fun to practice this by using three familiar poems…It’s Raining It’s Pouring, Ring Around the Rosie and Baby Shark. It is fun to get to keep these poems in our book boxes!

MYSTERY READERS: Colton and Jase were so surprised to see their mom walk through the door…again. She choose to read Hello, Paws because the boys like baseball and the Detroit Tigers! A timely story with baseball season in full swing.

Jacob jumped up excitedly when his mom and younger brother, Austin stepped into the room. She read a favorite book from when she was a little girl called Mrs. Plug the Plumber. What a funny, silly story.

KOOL KINDER: We have begun our last round of being the Kool Kinder. Be on the lookout for the GUESSING JAR! You will need to fill the jar with some items…but keep the number a secret!

REMINDERS

*BACKPACK SNACK: Please remember to send TWO daily healthy snacks for your kinder, as we take a moment to refuel each day. Thank you.

*TAKE HOME Books: Please help your child to remember to return their book baggie EACH Monday, Tuesday and Thursday so that they are consistent with their read aloud practice and are able to check out a new book each time to build their reading experiences. Don’t forget to sign the parent sheet and include comments or observations you feel may be helpful. We only have a few weeks left…keep reading!!!

*REDUCE TRASH: I posed a challenge to the kinders to see if we could reduce the wrappers thrown away during snack and lunch time. A few of the kinders choose to take their snacks in containers this week instead of inside baggies. Hooray! Any more kinders want to join in the challenge?

UPCOMING DATES

*MONDAY, April 29: GYM; reading TAKE HOME BOOKS

*TUESDAY, April 30: ART; reading TAKE HOME BOOKS

*WEDNESDAY, May 1: STEAM; LIBRARY: Please return your kinder’s book.

*THURSDAY, May 2: MUSIC; reading TAKE HOME BOOKS

*FRIDAY, May 3: GYM

*WEDNESDAY, MAY 8: Field Trip to Hemlock Crossing Nature Center & Hager Park. Please feel free to join us for our picnic lunch. We will be at the park around 12:00pm. Your kinder will need a paper sack lunch LABELED WITH THEIR NAME and water bottle to enjoy during our picnic lunch. NO SANDALS, FLIP FLOPS OR CROCS. TENNIS SHOES NEED TO BE WORN!! We will be walking through woods and trails and playing on a big playground. Please dress your child according to the weather. We will be OUTSIDE for most of the day!

*THURSDAY, MAY 9: EMAIL ME OR SEND A NOTE BY THURSDAY (5/9) IF YOUR KINDER WOULD LIKE A SACK LUNCH ON FRIDAY.

*FRIDAY, MAY 10: FAST FRIDAY (Early Release Dismiss at 12:15pm) Birthday celebration for Lilly (May 11)

*THURSDAY, May 16— Birthday celebration for Alivia (June 22)

*FRIDAY, May 17–Birthday celebration for Sidney (July 8)

*FRIDAY, MAY 24…..Red, White and Blue Day! Wear your Red, White and Blue to school!!

*MONDAY, MAY 27…Memorial Day, No School

*FRIDAY, MAY 31: Kindergarten Olympics Volunteer note (coming home this week) is due Friday, May 17

~~~Have a great weekend. Mrs. Bohl

NEWS OF THE WEEK—-Feb 25-March 1

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Welcome to March and the anticipation of spring. We learned this week that the weather during March can be like a lion (wintery, cold) or a lamb (spring-like,warm breeze). We are not sure when the ‘lambs’ will arrive but we all think that they should come soon to Georgetown. 🙂

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DR. SEUSS: We had fun on Friday with rhymes that made sense and some that were just silly. We learned that Theodore Seuss Giesel was Dr. Seuss’s official name and he wrote books under two names….Dr. Seuss and Theo. LeSeig. We read so many of his stories like Green Eggs and Ham, The Tooth Book, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, The ABC’s book and The Cat in the Hat Comes Back. We learned that his birthday is on March 2. We read a newspaper that was filled with fun facts about Dr. Seuss and the books that he wrote.

We had fun practicing reading our popcorn words by playing TIC TAC TOE, GREEN EGGS IN A ROW! Enjoy playing at home with your board games and green eggs and ham. The kinders practiced their rhyming skills by playing games like, GREEN EGGS AND HAM ANYONE?….flipping eggs to make real or not real (silly) rhyming words. It was also fun to make and record rhyming words inside our Cat in the Hat books. We practiced telling addition & subtraction problems using fish crackers based on One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish Making a Cat in the Hat craft finished our day of learning. Maybe you can celebrate at home by reading your favorite Dr. Seuss book. Oh, what a great day it was!!

MATH: The kinders observed the differences between 2D shapes (circles, triangles, etc) and 3D shapes (cone, sphere, cube). We learned that 2D shapes are flat but 3D shapes take up space.

They were introduced to Tiny Tumblers who live on Math Mountains. The Tiny Tumblers practice their tumbling all day long. Some Math Mountains have a lot of Tiny Tumblers on one side of the mountain and not so many on the other side, but when you count all of the Tiny Tumblers they equal the Math Mountain number. These math mountains will help the kinders learn and practice number partners. For example, on math mountain 6 there are 4 tiny tumblers living on one side and 2 tiny tumblers living on the other side. (4+2=6) We also compared numbers to decide which number is greater or less and explored partners of 10.

WRITING: The kinders wrote small moment stories about going to bed and lunch time at school after we told the steps over our fingers. Choices was the perfect topic for the kinders’ “On Demand” writing piece because they are experts about what happens during this time each day. This is when they needed to do their own writing without help from their teacher. They practiced telling their small moment story across their fingers, sketching their pictures, adding labels to their pictures, adding words (and stretching out the sounds all on their own), using capital letters and sentence stoppers (punctuation). Wow…that is a lot of work!! They worked so hard!! I am so impressed and proud of their writing. All of their small moment stories will be coming home next week for you to enjoy.

READING: We used a book this week called Can you see our eggs? to help us learn that readers notice blends, like “gr” in “ground” or “fl” in “flower” to solve unknown words. It also helped us to practice reading all the way to end of a word to figure it out and to look for familiar popcorn words before reading. It is so exciting to see the kinders making a connection to these reading skills when we are reading or writing together. Our quiet reading time is up to 12-14 minutes. Yippee!!

MYSTERY READERS: We had 3 of them this week! Wednesday, Breslyn’s dad had time off from teaching his 5th graders and he read us Memoirs of a Goldfish. A lovely, cute story about friendship.

Thursday, I had a surprise visit from my oldest daughter, Hannah, Madeline and baby Abigail. (She goes back to teaching herself in a week or so) Hannah read Goodnight, Mr. Panda because getting ready for bedtime is a fun part of their day. The kinders were excited and so kind to Madeline and Abigail.

Friday, Lily’s mom read Step This Way by Dr. Seuss. We learned about how different animals use their feet. A perfect book for our Dr Seuss celebration day.

POPCORN WORDS: AND GET Our popcorn words were fun this week because we could make so many rhyming words from them. The popcorn words are becoming a bit harder to recognize so I can not stress it enough that practice at home is so crucial to your child’s growth. We practice identifying our words many times and in many different ways throughout the day but your child needs to practice them at home too. Thanks for taking on this important role.

KOOL KINDERS ARE BOOK LOVERS:

Colton likes the story How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Aria enjoys reading Are you my Mother?

Addison’s favorite book is Little Bea and the Snowy Day.

Olivia likes the funny story of The Cat in the Hat.

REMINDERS

*WINTER GEAR: The cold weather is still here. THANK YOU for sending your kinder with all that they need to stay warm outside. Just a reminder, we will be outside for recess if the temperature is above O degrees. Keep watching the weather forecast each day.

*BACKPACK SNACK: Please, please remember to send 2 quick, healthy snacks for your kinder, as we take a moment to refuel each day. Thank you.

*TAKE HOME books: Your kinder is doing an awesome job reading books. You may have noticed that many of the kinders have moved up a level and there are different colored stickers on their books. Continue to assist and encourage them as needed. Please help your kinder to remember to return their book baggie EACH Monday, Tuesday and Thursday so that they are consistent with their read aloud practice and are able to check out a new book each time to build their reading experiences. Don’t forget to sign the parent sheet and include comments or observations you feel may be helpful. The kinders are doing a fabulous job…thanks to your work at home and the reading volunteers.

UPCOMING DATES:

*MONDAY, MARCH 4––GYM; reading TAKE HOME books

*TUESDAY, MARCH 5––ART; reading TAKE HOME books

*WEDNESDAY. MARCH 6––STEAM; LIBRARY Please remember to return your kinder’s book.

*THURSDAY, MARCH 7–—MUSIC; reading TAKE HOME BOOKS; EMAIL ME OR SEND A NOTE BY THURSDAY (3/7) IF YOUR KINDER WOULD LIKE A SACK LUNCH.

*FRIDAY, MARCH 8—GYM; FAST FRIDAY Dismissal at 12:15pm WEAR WORDS! and ALL SCHOOL PJ DAY wear jamies/comfy clothes with words

*MARCH 10: Daylight Savings…spring forward!

*MARCH 11 & 13–—Parent-Teacher Conferences: Parent slips stating your specific date and time were sent home. I am looking forward to sharing your kinder’s awesome progress with you.

*MARCH 11-14–SPRING BOOK FAIR: We are scheduled to purchase books on Wednesday, March 13. If you would like to have your kinder purchase books, please send the money inside an envelope labeled with their name. Parent volunteers will be available to help your kinder shop. The Book Fair will be open during the conference evenings.

*MARCH 28-—Kindergarten PJ Day! Wear jamies (or comfy) clothes.

*MARCH 29-APRIL 7––SPRING BREAK: NO SCHOOL

~~Have a great weekend. Mrs. Bohl

NEWS OF THE WEEK—Feb 18-22

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Look what we learned in kindergarten this week

ALL ABOUT PRESIDENTS: In honor of Presidents’ Day this past Monday, the kinders learned some interesting facts about 2 famous presidents. We learned that George Washington was our very first president, he owned 5 farms, he wore white powder in his hair (Ewww…many thought this was strange), his picture is on the quarter and the one dollar bill. Abraham Lincoln was an honest man who lived in a log cabin. He was the 16th president, he wore a stove pipe hat and kept important papers inside of it and his picture is on the penny and the five dollar bill. We read a newspaper to learn facts and placed facts on posters. The kinders enjoyed making a fun President flip craftivity to complete their learning. Did you ask them what they learned?

SOCIAL STUDIES: The kinders began learning about and seeing various kinds of maps. We read Me on the Map to help us broaden our understanding of the world around us.

So far, we have learned that we live in NORTH AMERICA, which is part of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and our state is MICHIGAN. We are making a booklet to assist us in our learning. We will continue our study of maps next week. Thank you for completing and sending back the picture map of your kinder’s bedroom. You can return it on Monday if you need to finish it this weekend.

MATH: We told math stories using our fruit from our ‘fruit & vegetable market’ adding written equations. Remembering what each symbol (+ – = ) means and using them correctly is challenging but the kinders are doing a great job. We continued to learn how to show teen numbers as tens and extra ones as well as learning that you can write a teen number equation two different ways but they mean the same thing. One way is to write the partners first and then the total (10+4=14) or write the total first and then the partners (14=10+4). Finally the kinders compared numbers, deciding if the number was greater than or less than the other number. They were surprised to use this math skill when completing the back page of this week’s newspaper.

Friday math games were….

SUBTRACTION SMASH (subtraction problems

TWEET, TWEET (number partners 1-10) and ONE PAIR, TWO PAIR (matching numbers to ten frames)

MITTEN MATCH (teen numbers)

READING: This week we learned that careful readers check their reading. They ask themselves “Does it make sense? Did it sound right?” If not, they don’t just keep going. Readers try to fix it. They also learned that PATTERN POWER doesn’t only help you read the words in books but patterns can also help you think about your whole book. Does the ending go with the pattern? What is this book really saying? It is so exciting to see the kinders becoming readers!

ASSESSMENTS: Assessing your kinder in their literacy and math skills are underway. I am so proud of the progress I am noticing. Notes stating your kinder’s independent reading levels were sent home this week. Notice that their TAKE HOME books have reflected the change in levels. Please continue to work with your kinder at home by writing upper and lower case letters with proper formation, reviewing their popcorn words, reading books with them and listening to them read to you. Don’t forget the math skills of counting by 1’s and 10’s to 100, writing numbers 1-20 with proper formation, telling, drawing and solving addition/subtraction stories and looking for number partners (2+4=6 & 10+4=14). As you can see, we are very busy learning and reviewing many skills in kindergarten. I am excited to share your kinder’s personal progress with you at conferences.

WRITING: Small moment story writing continued this week. The kinders wrote stories about the valentine party, Mystery Reader visits and going out for recess. They are doing a fabulous job! Each day the kinders are drawing and writing more on their own, while I support and encourage and guide them. They will write more stories next week, working towards drawing and writing entirely on their own. This genre is VERY, VERY hard. I am very impressed with their perseverance.

BEHAVIOR: As we move into the last of February and hopefully the beginning of spring, please encourage your kinder to remember to make good, green choices. Remembering to follow our class rules (in the classroom, in the hallway, on the playground) is a must. The rules are simple: 1.FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS QUICKLY. 2. RAISE YOUR HAND TO SPEAK. 3. MAKE SMART CHOICES 4.BE KIND. 5. MAKE EVERYONE HAPPY . We have a lot of learning and listening left to do in our school year. Thank you for your continued support!!

POPCORN WORDS: HAD BAD MAP

MYSTERY READERS: Brooks was totally surprised to see his mom on Wednesday and his dad on Friday. His mom read Honey, Honey….Lion! by Jan Brett. She is one of their favorite authors.

His dad read The Antlered Ship . A great story about having adventures with your friends…old and new ones.

KOOL KINDERS ARE BOOK LOVERS:

Tinley likes to read Daisy the Donut Fairy.

Parker likes Sneezy the Snowman because his grandpa gave it to him.

Kinsman likes to read fun facts about dinosaurs.

Zander likes legos and the book I’m Fun too!

Lillian likes The way I Love You because she purchased this book with her snowy day gift card.

REMINDERS

*WINTER GEAR: Thank you for sending your child with all that they need to stay warm outside….snow pants, hats, mittens, boots. Just a reminder, we will be outside for recess if the temperature is above 0 degrees. The playground is VERY WET, VERY ICY. Please continue to send all of their snow gear.

*TAKE HOME BOOKS: Please notice that your kinder is taking home 2 books inside of their baggie. The lower letter (ex: level B) is their independent reading level. This is the book that your kinder will read at school. The higher letter (ex: level C) is to be read together at home, exposing them to what is to come. Your kinder will need help to read this book. If you have questions, please contact me. Thank you for returning BOTH books each MONDAY, TUESDAY and THURSDAY.

*BACKPACK SNACK: Please continue to send 2 healthy, quick snacks with your kinder each day. Your kinder needs to be refueled so that they be ready to learn.

*KIDS HEART CHALLENGE: A form was sent home with your kinder. You can make donations online. Check out the PE blog for more information.

*LUNCH CALENDAR:t. The March lunch menu has also been posted under the side tab Hudsonville Food Service.

*SPRING CONFERENCES: We will be meeting in March to discuss your kinders progress. Our Spring Conferences will be on March 11 and 13. These dates and times have been sent home on Friday. Please check your kinder’s blue daily folder.

UPCOMING DATES

*MON. FEB. 25—GYM; reading TAKE HOME BOOKS

*TUES. FEB 26–ART; reading TAKE HOME BOOKS

*WED.FEB. 27––STEAM; LIBRARY Please remember to return your kinder’s book.

*THURS. FEB 28––MUSIC; reading TAKE HOME BOOKS

*FRI. MARCH 1—GYM; Come to school wearing red/black/white (in honor of Cat in the Hat) or dress Seuss style to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday on March 2

*FRI, MARCH 8–FAST FRIDAY (Early Release Dismissal at 2:15pm)

*SAT. MARCH 9–Boys event 1:00-4:00pm @ BAM Entertainment

*MON. MARCH 11—Spring Conferences 4:00-8:00pm

*WED. MARCH 13—Spring Conferences 4:00-8:00pm

*MARCH 11 & 13–Parent-Teacher Conferences: Parent slips stating your specific date and time (same as in Nov) were sent home.

Enjoy your weekend! Mrs. Bohl

NEWS OF THE WEEK—Feb 6-8

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It was a very short week of school but we still did learning when we were at school.

LEARNING ABOUT GROUNDHOG DAY: We read a newspaper to learn some true facts about groundhogs. We found out that groundhogs CAN eat leaves, berries, bugs, live in burrows, gnaw on wood, whistle and hibernate all winter. They HAVE fur, sharp claws and teeth. Groundhogs ARE rodents, can be a big as large cat and can be called woodchucks. We also made a fun groundhog puppet to use when retelling a poem. A fun day of learning!

DAY 100: Wow! Can you believe it? Friday (a day late) we celebrated 100 days of learning in kindergarten.

All day long we did activities revolving around the number 100! We read books, we made a special Day 100 hat and badge, we counted to 100, we played math games identifying 100 numbers, we showed our 100 collections, we did 100 exercises and so much more.

100 COLLECTIONS: Thank you for helping your kinder collect and count 100 items! They brought in fantastic, creative collections!

RACE TO 100

The kinders practiced counting to 100 and “counting on” from a given number by playing the Race to 100 game with a friend. They each took home a game board so you can play at home for math review, too!

PENNY FLIPS

The kinders learned how to flip a penny, recognize heads or tails, and record the results of the penny toss. They had lots of practice with this skill because they flipped a penny 100 times!!!

100 MINUTES OF PLAY

Throughout the day, our class was able to enjoy 100 minutes of play time (recess, break times, and play centers). Here are some of the play centers the kinders enjoyed.

GUMBALL MACHINE CRAFT: Kinders used do-a-dots to make 100 gum balls.
100 BLOCKS: Kindes built structures out of 100 wooden blocks and legos
100 CUPS: Kinders made towers & castles using 100 red plastic cups.
100 PIECE PUZZLES: Kinders worked to put together puzzles.
100 DAY COLORING PAGE: Kinders colored a picture.

We are excited to have more days of learning in kindergarten ahead of us.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION:

We finally were able to celebrate Tinley’s birthday (1/26). Thank you for the fun birthday treat bags.

POPCORN WORDS: BIG WITH NOW HOW The kinders were introduced to these words this week. They noticed that WITH has “th” (h brother) at the end while NOW and HOW rhyme. We will continue to work with these words next week.

MYSTERY READERS: Rocco was not expecting to see his mom step into the room on Wednesday. He could not stop smiling! She brought the perfect book to read….The night before Day 100 because we were celebrating Day 100 this week.

Olivia was the kinder who was surprised on Friday when her mom, along with Marcus and Sophia, was the mystery reader. She read Aqualicious because on a snowy day it is fun to read a book about sunny days at the beach. (Sorry I am having difficulty uploading the pictures)

*KOOL KINDERS ARE BOOK LOVERS:

Breslyn enjoys reading Clifford the Big Red Dog.

Emma likes to read There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Bell because it is funny.

REMINDERS

*TAKE HOME BOOKS: We will begin reading and choosing books again on Monday. Thank you for helping your kinder be responsible in returning their books. Remember reading books happen on MONDAY, TUESDAY AND THURSDAY.

*WINTER GEAR: Thank you for sending your kinder with all that they need to stay warm on the bus ride and while playing outside….snow pants, hats, mittens, boots. Just a reminder, when it warms up, we will be outside for recess if the temperature is above 0 degrees. We play out in the fields, and our playground does not get plowed, thank you for your help.

*VALENTINE PARTY: We will celebrate as a class Thursday, Feb 14 from 1:50-3:00pm. Party center volunteers please arrive by 1:40pm for instructions and set up. PLEASE HAVE NON FOOD DONATIONS BROUGHT INTO SCHOOL BY MONDAY, FEB. 11. FOOD DONATIONS DUE ON THURSDAY, FEB 14. Thank you to all the parents who are donating and preparing our activities. Here is the link to the sign up document

UPCOMING DATES

*MONDAY, FEB 11—ART; TAKE HOME books; Mail Valentines

*TUESDAY, FEB 12—STEAM: TAKE HOME books; Mail Valentines

*WEDNESDAY. FEB. 13—MUSIC; LIBRARY Return library book!

*THURSDAY. FEB. 14—GYM; Valentine’s Day Party 1:50-3:00pm *NO TAKE HOME books this day.

*FRIDAY. FEB. 15—- ART

~~~~Have a fantastic weekend. Stay safe and warm . Mrs. Bohl