Tag Archives: handwriting

News of the Week—Jan 4-8

 

Oh, it is good to be back with my kinders.  I missed seeing them:)  We jumped right into learning this week by talking about setting goals for what we might want to learn or do this coming year.  We thought of goals that we can accomplish at school. For example: to add numbers, to be kind, to learn more popcorn words, to read books, to share. We made a fun Happy New Year craft. Our ‘party people’ will come home soon but for now they are decorating our room for the first part of January.  Welcome 2021

 

POPCORN WORDS: WAS    AT    THAT    We added three more words to our growing list of popcorn words that we are working on identifying in a snap. Many of the kinders noticed right away that “at” is hiding in “that” and that they rhyme. We also talked about how some letters make different sounds like in “was”. We read 2 books using these words and added the books to our blue book bins.  The kinders are doing an amazing job identifying “new” and “old” popcorn words.  We even noticed that -at words were inside our shared reading poem My Cat has a Hat.

MATH:  The kinders used common shapes to make new shapes. The kinders practiced sorting and classifying objects while giving reasons why they classified the items that way by using pictures of shapes and animals/people. We also practiced our teen numbers. We learned about how there is a “hidden” 10 behind teen numbers. For example, in the number 13 – there is a 10 and 3 extra ones. 

 

HANDWRITING:  We focused on learning the proper formation of the CLOCKWISE upper letters P,B,R,D,J in their booklets. The kinders are doing a super job writing letters in isolation but transferring the proper formation during ‘regular’ writing time is not consistent.  Extra encouragement as they write at home is always helpful. 🙂  The kinders were excited to see that I exchanged their names on their pencil boxes to include their last name. They will now begin adding their last name to their papers, working towards writing their full name by memory.  

READING: We began a new unit called Bigger Books, Bigger Reading Muscles. The kinders learned that some books are considered challenging because they have more words and more lines, longer words, new words and surprise endings.  That is when persistent power needs to be activated!  Books that contain patterns makes reading fun so PATTERN POWER is needed! We learned that when readers figure out the pattern it makes reading easier. We also found out that sometimes the pattern changes at the end giving us a surprise! The kinders were encouraged to use a new tool…a reading mat to organize their books as they read.  They begin by stacking their books from easier to hardest and then placing their books on the side with the green arrow because it tells them where to start reading. The kinders move their books to the other side when they are finished reading them. Once all of the books have been moved to the finished side, the kinders can move the books back to the green arrow which will allow them to go back and re-read their books again. I am so proud of how hard the kinders are working during reading.

LITERACY:  The kinders worked on identifying ending sounds in words, putting words in correct sentence order, reading CVC words and identifying and writing popcorn words. The kinders practiced making more words by taking away “th” from “that” and adding different beginning letters to “at”. (cat, fat, sat, mat, etc).  Have fun at home using your Cat slider to practice this skill. 

WRITING:  I am so proud of the kinders and their writing. This week we began writing HOW TO…. stories.  We shared what we thought we could teach others to do with our partners.  Some examples were: how to ride a bike, how to read a book, how to play football and more. We learned that writers write about what they know, use mentor books to help them write, ask themselves “Does this make sense?” when putting pictures in order and have partners ask questions while deciding the steps. Our writing topics were How to Get Ready for School, How to Make Cookies, How to Build a Snowman and How to make a Root Beer Float. We did some cutting and pasting (instead of drawing) to put the pictures in order of First, Next, Then, Last and then wrote words to tell the steps. The kinders did a marvelous job! We will write more HOW TO… stories next week.

PHONICS:  We will be looking closely at how parts of words work together for awhile.  We used our pointer power to remind ourselves that each word in a sentence gets one tap as we read. The kinders practiced this by writing sentences for Mabel on their whiteboards, using snap words, before re-reading the sentence and tapping each word. (Ex: I can write sentences. I can do it.) We had fun pretending to be a sentence by having some kinders stand in a line and then saying each word by pointing to each kinder.  They were reminded that it is easier to read a sentence when there are spaces between words instead of having words squeezed together.

*TAKE HOME BOOK PROGRAM:  I am so excited for this program to begin. Books and a detailed informational note came home this week. The kinders will keep and read the books at home before returning them each Wednesday.  We will exchange books and the kinders will take home new books each Thursday.  It is so exciting to see and help our kinders become readers. 

REMINDERS:

*WINTER GEAR: Please send appropriate winter gear with your kinder 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.  Please take time to label your ALL of your kinder’s winter attire if you have not done so. Often these winter clothes are easier to be transported in an extra bag (If you go this route PLEASE be sure to label the bag with your kinder’s name).  If you are in need of winter clothes, PLEASE reach out. We have many helpful resources at Georgetown.

*BACKPACK SNACKS & WATER BOTTLE:  Don’t forget we take a snack break 2 times each day…morning & afternoon.  Please include your kinder in choosing their snacks.  Some kinders are commenting that they don’t like the snacks that are packed.  Thank you!

*EXTRA CLOTHES:  Please check to see that these clothes, stored in their backpacks, are weather appropriate now that our season has changed.  

UPCOMING DATES:

*Monday, January 11—MUSIC

*Tuesday, January 12—GYM

*Wednesday, January 13—ART;  LIBRARY and TAKE HOME books due!  Don’t forget your books! Homework packet due! 

*Thursday, January 14—STEAM; If your kinder would like a sack lunch from the lunch service, please email me or write a note by Thursday, 1/14

*Friday, January 15—MUSIC; Fast Friday (Early Release) @ 12:15pm

*Winter Break: February 6-8

Have a wonderful weekend!  Mrs. Bohl

News of the Week—Nov 2-6

POPCORN WORDS:  ARE    LITTLE     AM    We met a new reading strategy buddy “Chunky Monkey”.  It reminds us to  look for chunks in words that we know to help us figure out a word.  We did this by adding a letter to the beginning of “am” to make jam, ham, Sam, clam, ram.  We enjoyed reading the shared reading poem You Are and the book Biscuit. . Each day we read this poem and book, noticing popcorn words, rhyming words, making new endings to the poem and more.  It is one of our favorite times of the day.

READING: We started a new reading unit called “We are SUPER READERS!” The kinders learned they have POINTER POWER! The kinders started by looking around the room pointing at words they could read. We learned that we can use our finger to track under the words as we read, so we read the exact words, giving each word one tap, even long words. We did all of this with fun pointy fingers. We also learned about REREAD POWER! When we see words we are not sure of, we can go back and try again. We practiced using both of these new powers while reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Who Do You See?

MATH:  We practiced showing numbers using using blue dots. We added one blue dot each time to make the number bigger. Then we practiced showing the equations. For example, 2 + 1 = 3.  They noticed the pattern that occurs when you add these numbers, seeing that each number sentence has a + 1, each answer increased by 1.  One kinder said, “Hey it looks like stairs!”  We also focused on shapes and discussed the attributes of a triangle told addition and subtraction math stories by drawing and writing matching equations.  It was fun on Friday to play a Spin and Cover game focusing on shapes.

LITERACY:  The kinders worked as a whole group with Mrs. Bynum and Mrs. DeGroot on syllables, popcorn words (sight words) and vowels (which are super tricky) while Mrs. Bohl continued with assessments in preparation for the upcoming parent/teacher conferences.

WRITING:  We started writing PERSONAL NARRATIVE stories or as the kinders like to call them small moment or true life stories. These are stories about themselves, something that’s happened to them or something they’ve done. Together we wrote about when we were “BOOed” last week. We told what happened over our fingers using transitional words like “First, Next, Last”.  As writers we also told the story across our writing pages.  Then we drew detailed pictures, added labels, stretched out sounds in words before adding colored details.  This was hard work.  I am so proud of the kinders!

PHONICS:  The lessons this week were about listening for sounds in words and for identifying snap words (sight words). The kinders looked at pictures, listened for the ending sounds and wrote the letter on their whiteboards.  Together we helped finish a letter that Mabel wrote to her friend Blue Bear.  We also listened for all the sounds in words by stretching out the word and writing those sounds down.  Finally we practiced identifying snap words even when the font is different.  It was a good week of learning!

HANDWRITING: We practiced writing the lower case letters h,r,n,m,b. Thank you for working on this at home too.  We are continuing to work on writing our names too.

LEARNING ABOUT ELECTIONS:  On Tuesday, we read a newspaper explaining the voting process.  We had fun practicing this process by tasting an Oreo cookie and a chocolate chip cookie. Yum! 🙂 Then, we secretly made our choice on our ballot.  Finally, we tallied and graphed our votes to find the winner.  And the winner was (by a slim margin)……an OREO COOKIE!!!

REMINDERS

WINTER GEAR – Our Michigan weather is changing quickly. Please be sure to gather up those warmer coats, mittens, boots, hats and snow pants. When it snows, this gear is mandatory to play outside. When the snow arrives we do go outside and play! However, if the temperature or wind chill get below freezing we do opt to stay inside. If anyone needs any help with getting these winter items PLEASE let me know. Keep in mind that the goal for all kinders to get their winter gear on and off independently. Please LABEL your Kinder’s winter gear.  It will make it easier for me to help each child keep track of their own belongings.

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.

Our annual P.E. C.A.R.E.S food drive started this week. We are asking for your help in bringing in non-perishable food items for Love Inc. in Hudsonville.  Food items to consider are canned vegetables and fruits, pasta, rice, baked beans, black beans, kidney beans, peanut butter, tuna fish, etc. (please no ramen noodles) The class with the most items at noon on Nov. 18 will win a bowling trip to Hudsonville Lanes (if allowed later in the year) and a P.E. C.A.R.E.S t-shirt.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS – Happy Birthday to both Isabelle and Jack!  Pictures to come next week.

UPCOMING DATES

*Monday, Nov 9—GYM;  Cade’s birthday celebration

*Tuesday, Nov 10—ART 

*Wednesday, Nov 11—STEAM; Library–Please help your kinder remember their library book.  Homework packet is due    

*Thursday, Nov 12–-MUSIC   If your kinder would like a sack lunch from the lunch service, please email me or write a note by Thursday, 11/12.   

*Friday, Nov 13—EXTRA RECESS  Fast Friday (early release) Dismissal at 12:15;  

*Nov. 16 & 18—Virtual Parent-Teacher Conferences   Here is the signup link https://calendly.com/kbohl/bohl 

*Nov. 25—Nov. 27—NO SCHOOL, Thanksgiving Vacation       

Have a great weekend.  Mrs. Bohl

News of the Week—Oct. 19-23

POPCORN WORDS:     They were ‘popping’ up all the time this week in our daily messages and in books. We learned that sometimes “E” is quiet and tells other hard worker letters (vowels) to do a flip and say their letter name. We saw this happening in “like” and “here”.  Our shared reading poem “I like to play.” and book The Balloon included our popcorn words this week.

COLOR WORD:     BROWN    The kinders had fun reading many Bear books…a character who is becoming a favorite.  We also read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? .  We continued to practice our storytelling skills as we retold (and sang) the story many times this week.  Enjoy having your kinder practice their skills at home when they retell the story for you using their storytelling strip.  We made a brown bear hat while wearing brown. Thank you for helping your kinder participate in our color days by wearing particular colors.  The kinders (and I) looked forward to these fun days. 

 

 READING:  We learned that readers read patterned sentences.  We read a poem about the zoo and noticed the pattern of “______ are in the zoo.” With our reading partners, we worked hard to find places in our storybooks that were “Wow!, “Huh?”, “That’s cool!”  Storybooks are filled with these parts to make the story exciting!  We also reviewed looking for character feelings. Little Critter in I was so mad! by M. Mayer displayed a lot of feelings. We are all learning!  Just like when we were little we didn’t walk right away, we had to crawl, scoot, hold onto things and then we could walk, jog and then run!  Reading is like that too.  We have to learn some sounds, put those sounds together and then use all of our reading tools to practice being a reader. Reading by ourselves or with our partners help us grow as readers!

WRITING:  The kinders learned that writers also write books with a pattern.  After investigating a real pumpkin that Mrs. Bohl brought in, we wrote a book about the parts of the pumpkin using the pattern “I see the _______.” (stem, ribs, rind,  orange pumpkin) . We also wrote a book about ourselves after listening to the song Mat Man.  This song reminds us to include details in drawing a person. This book used the pattern of “Here is my ______.” (head, body, hair, friend).

SPLIT LIT/LITERACY: The kinders did activities to strengthen their skills in letter ID, letter sounds, hearing syllables in words, rhyming, blending sounds.  I am SO excited about the progress I am noticing.  Thank you for working and supporting your kinder at home.  It is making a BIG difference!

MATH:   We did a little bit of everything in math this week as we continued to work on Unit #2.  We worked on telling math stories (both + -), writing numbers in correct order, noticing 5 groups and extra ones in numbers 6-10, writing numbers 0-7, noticing partners of 5 and comparing numbers by using equal (= )and not equal (= with / through) symbols.  It was a busy week of learning!

HANDWRITING: We learned about the three different handwriting lines and how some letters are small, some are tall, and some fall below the lines.  We practiced writing “counterclockwise” letters (f,c,a,d) as well as our names. They did great but some upcoming letters are more difficult than others to form properly, so extra practice is always beneficial.  Writing with markers, chalk, bathroom crayons and even in shaving cream are some fun different ways to inspire your kinder.  

 

 

PHONICS: We spent most of the week studying alphabet charts.  The kinders worked in table groups to match pictures to the letters.  They learned that we can add new pictures to an alphabet chart to improve them and make them better. (ex: covering a picture of a rat with a picture of a rabbit). We practiced finding the beginning and ending letter quickly on a chart when shown a picture.  It was so fun to teach our stuffed animals everything we learned about alphabet charts at ABC School and to take an alphabet chart home.

SOME REMINDERS

KOOL KINDERS:   What fun to see and hear about this week Kool Kinders’ show and tell items of a Barbie, a stuffed dragon, a zoo keeper doll and white stuffed dog.

TURKEY TROT:  The Turkey Trot is going to be a virtual race this year. Check out the PE blog for the Turkey Trot information.   http://mvankoev.edublogs.org

LUNCH:  Hot lunch is free for all students through the entire school year.  If your kinder orders milk with their home lunch that is a charge.

BACKPACK SNACKS: THANK YOU SO MUCH for being conscientious about sending ONLY TWO healthy, NUT FREE snacks…one for the morning, one for the afternoon.  Our snack time is short but enough time to become refueled.  Don’t forget those water bottles! 🙂

Please remember to send your kinder in a coat each day to school. With this changing weather, it is important for the kinders to be warm at recess. Thank you!

UPCOMING DATES

*Monday, Oct 26—NO SCHOOL

*Tuesday, Oct 27—MUSIC

*Wednesday, Oct 28—GYM; Library…Bring back your library book, Homework packet due.   Fall Celebration donations due

*Thursday, Oct 29–ART  COLOR DAY: wear RAINBOW colors

 *Friday, Oct 30—STEAM;   Fall Celebration day. If you kinder chooses to wear a costume to school PLEASE make sure they can move freely, use the bathroom independently and quickly and wear it all day.  Keep all extra props, weapons, etc at home. Thank you! 🙂

*Friday, Nov 13–Fast Friday (early release) Dismiss at 12:15pm

*Nov 16 & 18–Virtual Parent/Teacher Conferences and Book Fair.  More information on conferences will be sent out soon!

*Nov 25-Nov 27–NO SCHOOL. Thanksgiving Vacation

Have a fabulous long fall weekend.  I will see my sweet kinders on Tuesday ~~Mrs. Bohl

News of the Week—Oct 12-16

COLOR WORD:    ORANGE     We read some pumpkin books to celebrate the color orange.  We made a cute orange tiger and so much more.

POPCORN WORDS:   YES   NO  STOP  GO   We wrote these words in our journals, found/wrote them in our popcorn paper books, used magnets to create new words by changing the beginning sound (go, no, so, OR stop, mop, top, hop) and in our shared reading poem.  

READING: We were introduced to some new strategies to use when we get stuck on unknown words. We learned about Tryin’ Lion, Stretchy Snake, Eagle Eye and Lips the Fish. Tryin’ Lion taught us that if what you’re reading doesn’t make sense, go back and try it again. Stretchy Snake taught us to s-t-r-e-t-c-h out the sounds and then blend them together. Eagle Eye taught us to use the picture on the page to figure out the word. Lips the Fish taught us to get our mouth ready to say the sounds in words. We practiced those skills in our books. We also looked at our popcorn word books and labeled some pictures to help us read them better. In our books we looked for what characters are feeling and labeled that feeling with a sticky note that tells the feeling . 

MATH: This week the kinders found out that they can tell math stories and solve the answers to their math stories. For example:  3 teddy bears came and sat at a table.  2 more teddy bears joined them.  How many teddy bears are at the table?”  3+2=5. They used their math toolboxes to show groups of 5 within numbers (5+1=6) and to compare numbers by using a 5 strip and extra one tiles.  They drew groups of 5 and extra ones and counted groups of objects inside their workbooks.  Friday math games were APPLE ORCHARD I SPY and PUMPKIN RACE.  What fun! 

WRITING:  This week we wrote about our Homes. We learned about how writers think about their important topic, draw it, label the pictures, write words and then write more words. We ended the week by making them colorful and sharing them with our table partner! They are doing a fabulous job drawing detailed pictures, labeling parts of their drawings and trying their best to write a matching sentence such as “I eat at the table. I sleep in my bed. I play in the playroom.”

PHONICS:  We are Word Scientists!  We began to look closely at an alphabet charts to notice which letters have straight or curvy lines, how it can help us match a picture to a letter and noticing things that are the same and different about the ABC charts. We also practiced learning a letter – naming it, sounding it, writing it and using it. We did the same thing practicing our popcorn words.

SPLIT LIT/LITERACY:  The kinders worked on rhyming, identifying letters, producing the sounds, identifying beginning and ending sounds by playing games.  

PBIS Outstanding Mission:  On Monday we departed on a mission brought to us by the PBIS team at Georgetown.  Our mission at our first stop was to determine the best way to SOAR at school which was by Detective Stauffer.  Our second and last stop was led by Mr. Waldie where we discussed who the secret agents are at Georgetown that give Outstandings to students.  This was fun little hunt to introduce Outstandings and remind our students of how we SOAR at school.  Ask your kinder about how they can SOAR daily at Georgetown. 

 

SOME REMINDERS FOR YOU 

KOOL KINDERS:   What fun to see and hear about this week Kool Kinders’ show and tell items of Ryan’s World, Fancy Nancy doll, mini car that fit inside a small container, a Leap Frog game and a cuddle buddy mouse.

TURKEY TROT:  The Turkey Trot is going to be a virtual race this year. Check out the PE blog for the Turkey Trot information.   http://mvankoev.edublogs.org

LUNCH:  On October 9, the USDA announced that they would be extending the Summer Food Service Program’s free meals for all students at all schools through June 30, 2021. The SFSP is a continuation of the operating rules in place during the spring/summer school closure from March-August 2020.  If your kinder orders milk with their home lunch that is a charge.

BACKPACK SNACKS: THANK YOU SO MUCH for being conscientious about sending ONLY TWO healthy, NUT FREE snacks…one for the morning, one for the afternoon.  Our snack time is short but enough time to become refueled.  Don’t forget those water bottles! 🙂

Please remember to send your kinder in a coat each day to school. With this changing weather, it is important for the kinders to be warm at recess. Thank you!

UPCOMING DATES

*Monday, Oct 19—MUSIC

*Tuesday, Oct 20—GYM 

*Wednesday, Oct 21—ART; Library…Bring back your library book, Homework packet due.   

*Thursday, Oct 22–STEAM EMAIL ME OR SEND A NOTE BY THURSDAY (10/22) IF YOUR KINDER WOULD LIKE A SACK LUNCH. 

 *Friday, Oct 23—STEAM;   Fast Friday (early release) Dismissal 12:15 COLOR DAY: Wear BROWN

*Wednesday, Oct 28–Fall Party Donations due at school

*Friday, Oct 30–Fall Party day

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

NEWS—Jan 6-10

 

WELCOME BACK!

Oh, it is good to be back with my kinders (at least for 2 days).  I missed seeing them:)  As stated in my letter, Mrs. Voss has been the teacher for the past 3 days and will be also be in the classroom through next Wednesday.  I hope to be back later in the week.

We jumped right into learning this week. We talked about setting goals for what we might want to learn or do this coming year.  We thought of goals that we can accomplish at school. For example: to add numbers, to be kind, to learn more popcorn words, to read books, to share. We made a fun Happy New Year craft. Our ‘party people’ will come home soon but for now they are decorating our room for the first part of January.  Welcome 2020!!

POPCORN WORDS: WAS    AT      THAT               

We added three more words to our growing list of popcorn words that we are working on identifying in a snap. Many of the kinders noticed right away that “at” is hiding in “that” and that they rhyme. We also talked about how some letters make different sounds like in “was”. We read 2 books using these words and added the books to our blue book bins.  The kinders are doing an amazing job identifying “new” and “old” popcorn words.  We even noticed that -at words were inside our shared reading poem My Cat has a Hat.

WONDERFUL WINTER:  The snow outside was the perfect backdrop for learning inside.  We read another book by Jan Brett (she wrote The Gingerbread Baby) called The Mitten.  This is a great story about animals climbing into a mitten to stay warm.  We used our retelling skills to sequence the order of animals crawling into the mitten. We made a connection that this book was similar to our popcorn book, The Mitten.

MATH:  The kinders are working on telling and solving addition and subtraction stories by using objects or their fingers.  As the kinders are beginning to learn this math skill, manipulatives are helpful in solving these problems. They also are working to see 5-groups for numbers 6-10 (ie: 5 and 2 more = 7) and to tell why that is useful when counting.

 The kinders practiced sorting and classifying objects while giving reasons why they classified the items that way by using pictures of shapes and animals/people. 

During Friday math games, the kinders played a game using paper snowballs, because real snowballs would melt in our room.  The game focused on writing and the identifying = and not = symbols. I am sorry about not being able to show you a picture but here are the directions.  Scatter paper snowballs on the floor.  While counting up to 3, have 2 people pick up as many of the snowballs as they can hold in their hands.  Lay and count the number of snowballs each person picked up.  Write each number and write = or not = between the numbers to compare the numbers.  Ask your kinder….they can show you how to play.  They also played Hot Chocolate Math again to practice seeing tens and extra ones within teen numbers.

HANDWRITING:  We focused on learning the proper formation of the COUNTER CLOCKWISE letters C,G,S,O,Q,U in their booklets. hey also had fun using play dough to form all of the letter learned so far. The kinders are doing a super job writing letters in isolation but transferring the proper formation during ‘regular’ writing time is not consistent.  Extra encouragement as they write at home is always helpful. 🙂  I will be exchanging their names on their pencil boxes soon to include their last name. They will begin adding their last name to their papers, working towards writing their full name by memory.  

READING: We began a new unit called Bigger Books, Bigger Reading Muscles. The kinders learned that some books are considered challenging because they have more words and more lines, longer words, new words and surprise endings.  That is when persistent power needs to be activated!  Books that contain patterns makes reading fun so PATTERN POWER is needed! We learned that when readers figure out the pattern it makes reading easier. The kinders were encouraged to use their reading mat to organize their books as they read.  Placing their books on the green dot side to start reading and moving the book to the red dot side when they are finished will allow them to go back and re-read their books again.

SPLIT LIT:  The kinders worked identifying the ending sounds in words, putting words in correct sentence order and identifying and writing popcorn words during their independent centers.  It is challenging for some kinders to stay focused during this work time so if papers like these come home incomplete, it is likely because they are not using their time wisely.  In the time alloted for each center, the kinders should be able to complete most if not all of of the task.  With Mrs. Bynum, the kinders practiced making more words by taking away “th” from “that” and adding different beginning letters to “at”. (cat, fat, sat, mat, etc).  Have fun at home using your Cat slider to practice this skill.  The kinders read books using whisper phones while I reassessed them on some literacy skills.  With Ms. Voss they worked on making -at words and reading CVC words.

WRITER’S WORKSHOP:  I am so proud of the kinders and their writing. This week we began writing HOW TO…. stories.  We shared what we thought we could teach others to do with our partners.  Some examples were: how to ride a bike, how to read a book, how to play football and more.We learned that writers write about what they know, use mentor books to help them write, ask themselves “Does this make sense?” when putting pictures in order and have partners ask questions while deciding the steps. Our writing topics were How to Brush your Teeth, How to Make Cookies, How to Wash your Hands and How to make Spaghetti. We did some cutting and pasting (instead of drawing) to put the pictures in correct order and then wrote words to tell the steps. The kinders did a marvelous job! We will write more HOW TO… stories next week.

MYSTERY READERS: On Wednesday, Evelyn was surprised to see her mom be the mystery reader.  On Friday it was Landon’s turn to see his dad come in the room.  Pictures were taken by Ms. Voss.  I will share those pictures next week.  Thank you for coming in.

REMINDERS:

*WINTER GEAR: Please send appropriate winter gear with your kinder 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.  Please take time to label your kinder’s snow pants and boots if you have not done this.

*BACKPACK SNACKS:  Don’t forget we take a snack break 2 times each day…morning & afternoon.  Please include your kinder in choosing their snacks.  Some kinders are commenting that they don’t like the snacks that are packed.  Thank you!

*TAKE HOME BOOK PROGRAM:  I schedule has been sent home to all of the parents/grandparents who have volunteered.  Books will come home late next week.  Reading will begin on Monday, January 20.  It is so exciting to see and help our kinders become readers.

UPCOMING DATES:

*Monday, January 13— STEAM

*Tuesday, January 14—MUSIC

*Wednesday, January 15—GYM;  LIBRARY Don’t forget your book!  Homework packets due

*Thursday, January 16—ART

*Friday, January 17—STEAM TAKE HOME books come home

*Monday, Jan. 20 return TAKE HOME books for reading

*Friday, Jan 31…Fast Friday (Early Release) @ 12:15pm

*Winter Break: February 1-4

NEWS—Oct. 28-Nov 1

POPCORN WORDS:   IN   ALL   It was fun to see that we could make some new words by adding different letters to ALL and IN.   Our daily message does not just contain our weekly words but also includes popcorn words we have already learned. That makes reading the daily message so fun!  Our shared reading poem and book allowed us to read familiar popcorn words.  

COLOR WORD:     BROWN    The kinders had fun reading brown bear books like Bear feels scared, Bear Can’t Sleep and Very Hairy Bear 

We also read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? .  We continued to practice our storytelling skills as we retold (and sang) the story many times this week.  Enjoy having your kinder practice their skills at home when they retell the story for you using their storytelling strip.  We made a brown bear hat while wearing brown. Thank you for helping your kinder participate in our color days by wearing particular colors.  The kinders (and I) looked forward to these fun days. The kinders enjoyed eating teddy grahams for the surprise brown snack.

 

MATH: We continued to tell math stories (even using real candy corn pieces) to solve the answers to the math stories. For example:  3 teddy bears came and sat at a table.  2 more teddy bears joined them.  How many teddy bears are at the table?”  3+2=5   We practiced writing tricky numbers 8 & 9 too. Friday math games were FALLING LEAVES (matching the group of dots to the number) and MISSING PUMPKINS (writing numbers & ID numbers in 1-10 order). 

SCIENCE:  Our weekly newspaper helped us learn about the seasons of a tree.

WRITING: We continued with our Show and Tell Unit.  At the beginning of the week the kinders wrote a pattern book about a leaf. We closely observed our individual leaves, noticing the shape and color.   We used the pattern, “This is a…”.  to write our pages about the stem, vein, color. I am so proud of how far the kinders have come in writing!  We start a new unit next week of writing personal narratives! 

READING WORKSHOP:  It was all about learning how to increase and  our stamina.  We started the week by reading quietly, staying in our own spot, staying on task for 5 minutes.  We increased to 7 min 20 seconds.  Way to go kinders!  Next week we start learning about Super Powers and how they can help us become better readers.

CHOICES: Our favorite time of the day to learn and put into practice important social skills such as sharing, taking turns, being creative and working together.

HANDWRITING:  We learned how “clockwise letters” (h,r,n,m,b) are written. It was so fun using gelboards to write them too. Keep up practicing at home….it is helping!

MYSTERY READERS:  Wednesday afternoon Jude and Kieran were so happy to see their aunt (and mom) walk in our room.  Their aunt was visiting their family all the way from Ireland.  What a special treat.  She read the boys favorite story…A Book With No Pictures.  What a funny, silly story!

Friday morning Kylie was the one to jump up and hug her mom.  She read us Desert Night, Desert Day because Kylie has relatives who live by the desert.  What a sweet story introducing us to animals who live in the desert.  She even brought their squishy catus to go along with the story.

REMINDERS

SNACKS:  Please remember to send in 2 snacks for your Kindergartner each day.  I do have graham crackers if it is forgotten.  Donations of graham crackers are ALWAYS welcome!!  Our supply is going fast! 🙂

WINTER GEAR:   Brrrr….our Michigan weather is changing quickly.   Please be sure to gather up those warmer coats, mittens, boots, hats and snow pants.  When it snows, this gear is mandatory to play outside.  When the snow arrives we do go outside and play!   However, if the temperature or wind chill get below freezing we do opt to stay inside. If anyone needs any help with getting these winter items PLEASE let me know.  Also, if your kinder needs new boots this season, please, please purchase boots with velcro closings NOT with tie up laces.  Keep in mind that the goal for all kinders to get their winter gear on and off independently. Label, Label, Label your kinder’s winter gear.  It will make it easier for me to know which black snow pants belong to your kinder.

HEADPHONES:   Send in headphones for STEAM if not already done so.  Thank you to all who have already sent them into school.

CALENDARS:  Please refer to the November calendar that was sent home for events, birthdays, etc or view it at the top of the blog under CALENDARS AND SCHEDULES.  The November lunch menu is also available on the Food Service website.

 

UPCOMING DATES

*Monday, Nov 4—MUSIC

*Tuesday, Nov 5—GYM  

*Wednesday, Oct 30—ART; Library–Please help your kinder remember their library book.  Homework packet is due    

*Thursday, Oct 31–-STEAM    

*Friday, Nov 1—MUSIC  Wear  RAINBOW COLORS  

*Nov. 15—Fast Friday (early release) Dismissal at 12:15

*Nov. 18—Parent-Teacher Conferences

*Nov. 20—Parent-Teacher Conferences

*Nov. 27—Nov. 29—NO SCHOOL, Thanksgiving Vacation

*Dec. 12—Holiday Program… 6:30 p.m. at Fair Haven Church in Jenison.  More details coming as date approaches.

Have a great weekend. Don’t forget to change your clocks to FALL BACK this weekend.  Mrs. Bohl

 

NEWS—Oct. 14-18

Our busy week of learning in kindergarten…..

COLOR WORDSBLACK    WHITE       We read Harry the Dirty Dog, Harry and the Neighbor, Harry goes to the sea, Please, Mr. Panda and I’ll wait Mr. Panda as our color theme books.  We also watched a non-fiction video about panda bears. We all agreed they are cute black and white bears so it was obvious that we needed to make panda bears.  It was fun to use a fork as our paint brush. Thanks for participating by wearing black and white! 🙂 We also made our weekly color flip book, went on a I Spy hunt for black & white pictures and drew a picture of Harry the Dirty Dog.  Our surprise black & white snack this week was OREO cookies.  Not very healthy, I know, but very tasty. 

  

HANDWRITING:  We learned about the three different handwriting lines and how some letters are small, some are tall, and some fall below the lines.  Remembering to always start at the top is tricky so extra reminders at home is helpful. We started practicing the proper formation of Counter Clockwise letters (f,c,a,d).  We will finish the rest of these letters next week.

POPCORN WORDS:   YES   NO  STOP  GO We wrote these words in our journals, found/wrote them in our popcorn paper books, used magnets to create new words by changing the beginning sound (go, no, so, OR stop, mop, top, hop) and in our shared reading poem.  

READING:  As readers, we learned another strategy to use when we get stuck on unknown words.  Tryin’ Lion is a cute beanie baby that tells us to “reread and never give up.”  He joins Eagle Eye ( look closely at the words and picture) and Stretchy Snake (stretch out sounds in words) as useful reading strategies.   Readers also notice that important words have labels to make reading them easier.  We practiced this by labeling important words in two emergent books. The kinders were given a sticky note to use when they located a character showing a feelings.  A good review from last week’s lessons.

MATH: This week the kinders found out that they can tell math stories and solve the answers to their math stories. For example:  3 teddy bears came and sat at a table.  2 more teddy bears joined them.  How many teddy bears are at the table?”  3+2=5  In addition, they practiced drawing pictures of math stories on whiteboards. They used their math toolboxes to show groups of 5 within numbers (5+1=6) and to compare numbers by using a 5 strip and extra one tiles.  They drew groups of 5 and extra ones, wrote number 6 and counted groups of objects inside their workbooks.

WRITING WORKSHOP: During our writing time we learned that writers stretch out sounds in words, the words match the pictures, they talk and share with their partners. We worked together to create another Show and Tell book.  This time it was about our Homes.  The kinders shared information about where they eat, where they sleep and where they like to play with their writing partners before actual drawing and writing each day.  They are doing a fabulous job drawing detailed pictures, labeling parts of their drawings and trying their best to write a matching sentence such as “I eat at the table. I sleep in my bed. I play in the playroom.” (We try to use as many popcorn words as possible when we write together!)  On Friday, we met with Mrs. Tindall’s class to read our books together and celebrate being awesome writers!

LITERACY:  This week the kinders worked as a whole group with Mrs. Bynum while I reassessed the kinders are their letters/sounds and rhyming words.  We have been working hard in mastering these skills during Split Lit and in small groups.  Their activities focused on sight words, rhyming words, distinguishing between letter b and letter d and listening for sounds in the beginning, middle and end of words.  Look for a note in your kinder’s folder informing you of your kinder’s progress in the coming weeks.  Our shared reading book was filled with rhyming words.

MYSTERY READER: On Wednesday afternoon, Kennedy was surprised…again.  This time it was her grandma who came to read a story to us.  She brought The Day the Crayons Talked because Kennedy LOVES to color. A fun story to hear especially since we are learning our colors words!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

BACKPACK SNACKS…THANK YOU SO MUCH for being conscientious about sending ONLY TWO healthy, NUT FREE snacks…one for the morning, one for the afternoon.  Our snack time is short but enough time to become refueled.

BLUE FOLDERS and BACKPACKS:  Please get in the habit of taking out your kinder’s blue folder each night and removing the papers, art work, etc.  Please place any notes back inside the folder.  That is the best place for me to find them.  Cleaning out your kinder’s backpack of extra things will make it less heavy and allow more room for their folder and lunch box.  Thank you!

UPCOMING DATES

*Monday, Oct 21—ART

*Tuesday, Oct 22—STEAM 

*Wednesday, Oct 23—MUSIC; Library–Please help your kinder remember their library book.  Homework packet is due 

*Thursday, Oct 24–GYM    

 *Friday, Oct 25—ART; Wear ORANGE

*Tuesday, Oct 29—Picture Re-Take Day AND Turkey Trot 

*Tuesday, Oct 29—Fall Party games and craft items should be sent into school

*Thursday, Oct. 31—Fall Class Party, 2:00-3:00 p.m.  Food items should be sent into school in the morning 

*Nov. 15—Fast Friday (early release) Dismissal at 12:15

*Nov. 18—Parent-Teacher Conferences

*Nov. 20—Parent-Teacher Conferences

*Nov. 27—Nov. 29—NO SCHOOL, Thanksgiving Vacation

*Dec. 12—Holiday Program…Details coming

Have a fabulous weekend with your kinder.  They are very special little people who I am so thrilled to be spending my days with.  Mrs. Bohl

 

NEWS OF THE WEEK—Dec. 10-14

What a merry and bright week we had at school.  We had so much fun doing some last minute gingerbread man activities, playing games, singing songs and just learning! 

WRITING:  We wrote a few more books this week too.  We thought of a topic, came up with a patterned sentence, wrote our words and drew detailed pictures.  We learned how to add specific details so that readers can infer more about the story.  Some of the patterns were “____ can fly.”  “It is a ____(color) gift.” I have been so impressed by their hard work!  Hooray for the kinders!! 🙂 Be on the lookout for these books…they will come home next week.  The kinders are very observant as they read books too…they are on the lookout for these fun patterns. 🙂

HANDWRITING:  This week COUNTER CLOCKWISE letters of C,G,S,O,Q,U were spotlighted.  Thank you for practicing at home too.  

MATH:  The kinders explored seeing 5 groups and extra ones to make larger numbers….6-10. by playing a fun game using holiday erasers for practice.  We also told some subtraction stories using the erasers too.  We completed a worksheet to practice teem number building as well as looking for number partners in number sentences.

    

POPCORN WORDS:            WHAT      IT                                                                                  December flash cards will come home next week so you can add them to your collection.  You might want to play Scramble Them Up.   (Use your letter cards to scramble up the letters in popcorn words…and then put the letters in correct order. Example:  okol  is  look)

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS THE GINGERBREAD MAN?:  Gingy (our mini gingerbread man) sent us a big envelope filled with post cards from his latest destination…..SPAIN.  We learned that they like to play futball (soccer), they speak Spanish, they like to eat churros, snails, olives and more. We had fun trying to count to 10 in Spanish too.  Where will Gingy go next?

READING:  We learned about more superpowers that Super Readers use when reading….SNAP WORD POWER, PARTNER POWER and PICTURE POWER.  Snap word power is when a reader can find words they know, like sight words, and read those words in a snap.  The kinders explored the classroom for words they knew in a snap.  Partner power is when readers help each other when they are reading.  The kinders worked with their reading partner to read a book together, taking turns to point and read to each other while helping each other with words that might be tricky. Picture power is when readers really look at the picture to see if it matches the words written.

SPLIT LIT:  I am reassessing the kinders on the skills that they are working on in small groups. They made great progress. I am so proud of their hard work in learning. We will begin working on new literacy skills in small groups after vacation along with new independent literacy work. We worked as a whole group to practice hearing syllables in Christmas words. If you have time during our break, please continue to use your flash cards to practice identifying sight words.

MYSTERY READER:  Parker literally jumped up and screamed when his mom stepped into the room.  She read Mooseltoe because she loves Christmas.  What a fun story!

REMINDERS

*WINTER GEAR: Please send appropriate winter gear with your child each day even if there is not any snow.  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.  Please take time this weekend to label your kinder’s snow pants and boots if you have not done this.

*BACKPACK SNACK:  Please remember each day to pack TWO quick, healthy snacks for your kinder.

*BOOK EXCHANGE:  Thank you so much for sending in your holiday book exchange wrapped gift. If you would like your kinder to participate, please send a book in next Monday. Please let me know if you have any questions, kbohl@hpseagles.net.

*TAKE HOME BOOK PROGRAM:  I am planning to create a schedule over vacation.  Thank you for volunteering and choosing to be part of this learning. If you still would like to be part of this fun volunteer activity, please email me and I will be happy to include you in the schedule. We will begin this program in January.  It is so exciting to see our kinders become readers.

*HOLIDAY PARTY:  Thank you so much for your donations.  Please send in ALL non-editable donations to school by Monday, Dec 17. Food items can be dropped off in the morning.  Party volunteers can arrive at 1:30pm to set up.  Please be respectful of Mrs. Reagan’s request……Due to the large number of parent volunteers attending class parties with in the school, Mrs. Reagan has limited the parent attendees to ONLY those volunteering. You MUST have completed a background check if you wish to volunteer. Thank you for understanding.  Click on this link to see who is scheduled to volunteer.  

UPCOMING DATES

*Monday, Dec. 17–-MUSIC;  ALL non-food party donations are due

*Tuesday, Dec. 18—GYM; Celebrate Jacob’s birthday  

*Wednesday, December 19–-ART; LIBRARYDon’t forget to return your kinder’s book! Grinch Day—-wear Green, or dress like Grinch characters. We will learn how to make our heart grow!

*Thursday, Dec 20–-STEAM;  Holiday Party  It will be held from 2:00-3:00pm.  Thank you for being part of our second class party. Parent volunteers can arrive at 1:30 for set up.  Food donations should arrive in the morning.  Celebrate Carter’s birthday

*Friday, December 21–MUSIC; Polar Express Day…wear pj’s!  Come to school wearing your cozy pajamas.  Wear boots and snow pants for outside play but slipper shoes are welcome inside of school.  NO STOCKING FEET ARE ALLOWED. NO STUFFED ANIMALS OR BLANKETS.  Thank you! Be prepared for a fun day of learning.  

*Monday, December 23 – Friday, January 5:  NO SCHOOL, Holiday Break.  School resumes on Monday, January 7!  

~~Have a great weekend!   Mrs. Bohl