Tag Archives: opinion writing

News of the Week—Feb. 22-26

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). The kinders made a lion or lamb based on how they think March will begin. Check out our results….

POPCORN WORDS: AND. GET

MATH: Number bonds were introduced to the kinders this week. This is just another way to see number partners. The kinders did an amazing job working with this new skill. They were also 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 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) Here is a YouTube video that explains how we use the tiny tumbler concept in math that you might like to watch. We also practiced identifying 3D shapes, positional words such as under, above, behind, between, in front of, etc, compared numbers using the terms GREATER THAN and LESS THAN and writing numbers.

READING: We started learning about reading playdates! We learned that avid readers don’t only share books, they are always inventing fun things to do with books and friends. We used the chart below to guide us with our reading play dates! Students were able to pick if they wanted to play school, play games or play pretend! The students had fun working with their partners and taking part in the reading playdates! We also learned that really good readers act out the story in their mind, every time they read. We are learning that reading is a lot like going to the movies because of all the pretending we are doing! The kinders practiced reading non-fiction texts and talking like an expert about the books we read. They read books as groups and found things they thought were WOW about the books or moments when we want to ask questions, to learn more!

WRITING: We finished opinion writing by writing about the topics of: 1. Our favorite breakfast. 2. Our favorite color. 3. Our favorite snack. 4. What we like about Georgetown. We finished our learning by taking an assessment to show what we know about writing an opinion paper all by ourselves! That is called an “on demand” writing. The kinders had to decide on their own opinion, give reasons why to support their opinion and remember to write sentences that start with an uppercase letter and end with punctuation. That’s a lot to do all by themselves. I am so proud of them! I am excited to share these writings with you at our conferences.

LITERACY/PHONICS: The kinders identified sight words, blended and segmented sounds in words, identified final sounds in words and created new words by adding different letter sounds at the beginning of sight words (and, get).

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER This week we learned that George W. Carver was a scientist and inventor. He invented many uses for his favorite snack…peanuts. Thanks to him, we learned that we can be curious about many things.

We also learned about Mae Jamsion by reading a Scholastic newspaper. She was the first black female astronaut.

KOOL KINDERS SPREADING KINDNESS AND A BEING BOOK LOVER

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.

CALENDARS: Here is the MARCH calendar You can read about upcoming events, birthdays and more. It is also posted under CALENDARS at the top of our blog. Here is the March lunch menu

UPCOMING DATES

*Monday, March 1—MUSIC

*Tuesday, March 2—GYM. Dr. Seuss’ Birthday…Dress in your Seuss-ish attire (black, white, red colors or your favorite Dr. Seuss character?)

*Wednesday, March 3—ART; TAKE HOME BOOKS & LIBRARY Don’t forget your books! Homework packet due

*Thursday, March 4—STEAM; If your kinder would like a sack lunch from the lunch service, please email me or write a note by Thursday, 3/4

*Friday, March 5—GYM; Fast Friday (Early Release) 12:15 p.m. Dismissal. HATS OFF FOR READING! Wear a cowboy hat or bandana

*Monday, March 8 and Wednesday, March 10…Parent/Teacher Zoom style conferences

***Have a fabulous weekend! Mrs. Bohl

News of the Week—Feb 15-19

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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 some books 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?

READING: We learned that we can use more precise words to tell how a character is feeling besides just happy or sad. When the character was happy, we tried to think of a word that would describe happy in more detail – like excited or thrilled. When the character was mad, we tried to think of a word that would describe mad in more detail – like angry or frustrated. We learned that avid readers make goals to help them be better readers – something that we are each going to work on during reading time.

WRITING: Our opinion writing topics this week were: 1. Eating ice cream in a bowl or in a cone. 2. Favorite holiday…Halloween, Christmas or Valentine Day. 3. Favorite special…Art, Steam, Music, Gym. The kinders are really working hard during this time. They are enjoying using my microphone to read their reasons to their friends. I am proud of them!

POPCORN WORDS: HAD BAD MAP

MATH: We practiced adding “food” from the “grocery store”. We used some of our play food and added different food items together. Then we pretended we ate some of the food and practiced subtraction. We also continued practicing teen numbers. We wrote the equation and then showed the group of ten and extra ones. We compared 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.

LITERACY/PHONICS: We worked on listening for beginning, medial and final sounds in words and identifying sight words. We activated our word-part power to add a letter in front of a snap (sight) word to make a new word. (f-in=fin, p-in=pin, m-an=man, r-an=ran). We sang a fun song to help us practice this power. We also sang “Down by the Bay” to practice rhyming words. We used this week’s sight words to create new words by substituting letters in the beginning, middle and end. For example: mad-map-mat-hat-hot-pot OR bad-bed-red-ted-ten.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: RUBY BRIDGES This week we learned that Ruby Bridges showed courage and bravery when she never gave up and became the first black girl to go to a white school. Thanks to her, anyone is welcome to attend a school of their choice.

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 are starting to come home. 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 our March virtual conferences.

BEHAVIOR: As we move into the last of February and hopefully the beginning of spring as well as our curriculum grows it is essential for our kinders to be ready to learn. Following classroom rules class rules (in the classroom, in the hallway, on the playground) is a must. Our rules are simple: 1.FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS QUICKLY. 2. RAISE YOUR HAND TO SPEAK. 3. MAKE SMART CHOICES 4.BE KIND. 5. MAKE EVERYONE HAPPY. Being in a class filled with friends can be a challenge for a 5 and 6-year-old. We always strive to help the kinders to remember “how is my behavior helping or hurting my team (class)?” We also let them know that mistakes are important because it helps us to learn red choices (bad) and green (good) choices. Please encourage your kinder to try to be and do the best that they can. Thanks for your continued support!

KOOL KINDERS SPREADING KINDNESS AND A BEING BOOK LOVER. The kinders are showing kindness by playing with their pets, giving their mom and dad hugs, reading a book to Grandma and more. It is fun reading books at school that the kinders like reading at home.

NEW KINDER: We are so excited to welcome another new kinder to our class family. This week Junseo (pronounced ChoonSaw) Choi from South Korea joined our class. This is Junseo’s first experience in American school so this is a big adjustment for him…especially since he is learning how to speak and understand English too! I am so proud of the way the kinders are modeling how to do things, showing Junseo where things are located and just being kind kinders. We LOVE how our class family continues to grow!

REMINDERS

WINTER GEAR: Please remember to send your kinder with snow pants, boots, a hat, gloves/mittens and coat every day! Unless the wind chill is below -0, we go outside for some fresh air and exercise.

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

UPCOMING DATES

*Monday, February 22—STEAM

*Tuesday, February 23—MUSIC

*Wednesday, February 24—GYM; TAKE HOME BOOKS & LIBRARY Don’t forget your books! Homework packet due

*Thursday, February 25—ART

*Friday, February 26—STEAM

*Tuesday, March 2 Dr. Seuss’ Birthday…Dress in your Seuss-ish attire (black, white, red colors or your favorite Dr. Seuss character?)

*Friday, March 5– Fast Friday (Early Release) 12:15 p.m. Dismissal

*Monday, March 8 and Wednesday, March 10…Parent/Teacher Zoom style conferences

Enjoy the weekend! Be safe and stay warm! Mrs. Bohl

News of the Week—Feb 8-12

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POPCORN WORDS: NOT WHO

MATH: We started Unit #4 by telling math stories using our fruit from our ‘fruit & vegetable market’ and looking for groups of items 1-10 in a market scene. We practiced finding partners of 10 by looking at ladybugs that were sleeping and awake. We made teen numbers 11-20 using a 10 group and extra ones using ten sticks and mini cubes. We learned 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)

READING: This week the kinders learned that an AVID READER reads a lot, finds places everywhere to read, keeps a stack of book nearby, can’t stop reading and really pays attention to the book but a BLAH READER is disinterested. The kinders sorted pictures to decide if it showed an avid reader or not an avid (blah) reader. They also learned that AVID READERS try to feel what the characters are feeling. Are the characters feeling happy, sad, excited, scared? This makes the story enjoyable to read. We re-visited an old favorite The Carrot Seed to notice feelings along with the poems Mary Had a Little Lamb and The Itsy Bitsy Spider. The kinders found important parts in their books and put a sticky note on that page.

WRITING: We continued with Opinion writing. 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! They are encouraged to include popcorn words, spaces between words, sentence stoppers as well as giving awesome reasons. Our topics this week were: 1. Favorite season…winter or summer. 2. Choosing hot lunch or home lunch. 3. Going to the beach or playing in a pool. This is difficult writing but they are working hard and making progress.

LITERACY/PHONICS: We worked on sorting pictures by /ow/ like in snow or /ow/ like in cow, hearing syllables in words, using our word-part power by putting a new letter at the beginning of a snap word. (b-at=bat, h-ot=hot, f-in=fin) and matching CVC words to the picture.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: JACKIE ROBINSON This week we learned that Jackie Robinson showed determination when he never gave up and became the first black man to play in the major league. Thanks to him, anyone is welcome to play baseball.

VALENTINE FUN!: After listening to a valentine story of The Day it Rained Hearts, the kinders retold the story by recalling the characters, setting (where did it take place) and the order of events. Enjoy hearing your kinder retell you The Day it Rained Hearts using the picture cards at home.

I introduced the kinders to one of my favorite book characters, Love Monster. We read Love Monster and learned about making friends. We read another Love Monster story called Love Monster and the Last Chocolate before creating our own math story of dark and milk chocolate candy. The kinders had fun making their own Love Monsters!

After reading Big Hugs, Little Hugs we tasted candy hugs and candy kisses. Yum! 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.

We created a mini book about Things I Love..

We used candy hearts for some math activities

We played Valentine Bingo

We enjoyed eating a Valentine party snack

KOOL KINDERS SPREADING KINDNESS AND A BEING BOOK LOVER

REMINDERS

WINTER GEAR: Please remember to send your kinder with snow pants, boots, a hat, gloves/mittens and coat every day!

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

UPCOMING DATES

*Monday, February 15—ART

*Tuesday, February 16—STEAM

*Wednesday, February 17—MUSIC; TAKE HOME BOOKS & LIBRARY Don’t forget your books!

*Thursday, February 18—GYM

*Friday, February 19—ART

Enjoy the weekend! Be safe and stay warm! Mrs. Bohl

News of the Week–Feb 1-5

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GROUNDHOG DAY: We learned a few fun facts about groundhogs, we made a groundhog craft and predicted if the groundhog would see his shadow and go hiding for 6 more weeks of winter OR would he not see his shadow and stay outside for an early spring. According to our classroom graph, many of the kinders were predicting a cloudy day. How about you? What did you predict?

POPCORN WORDS: HOW NOW The kinders noticed right away that these two words rhyme and that we wrote “how” A LOT of times during our How to….writing.

READING: They learned that snap words (popcorn words you can identify in a snap) can be disguised with endings of -ed, -ing, -s. The kinders activated their extra strength book talk power by remembering what we read by retelling who was in the story, where it took place, and predicting what might happen. The kinders are developing this skill as their reading level grows.

MATH: We reviewed math skills in preparation for our unit #3 test on Wednesday. The kinders worked hard as “office workers”. I will share their math test results with you next week. We enjoyed reading Ten Grouchy Groundhogs a few times before we read and completed the emergent reader Ten Little Groundhogs. We looked at the ten frame to determine how many groundhogs there were. Then, we reread the text and crossed off the last groundhog. Last, we completed the number sentence at the bottom of the page. See the earlier posting for our Day 100 activities. We will begin Unit #4 next week.

WRITING: 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 working towards 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 the swings or the slide. Have I said lately, how proud I am of them! 🙂 . This is difficult writing but they are off to a GREAT start!

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: ROSA PARKS This week we learned that Rosa Parks showed courage when she refused to give up her seat on a bus. Thanks to her bravery, anyone can sit where they choose on a bus.

WE HAVE MAIL: Yes, we have mail inside of our valentine mail bags. How exciting! The kinders were able to begin mailing the valentines this week. They were a bit disappointed that the mail bags were not coming home right away but they became excited when they found out more valentines are coming their way. Memory kind of moments. 🙂 I also wish that I could include the conversations that took place during these first mailings. So many kinders filling each others’ buckets by offering to help and squealing with excitement when they saw similar valentines. Oh my…I love this time of the year! Please bring the rest of the valentines to be mailed on Tuesday and Wednesday.

KOOL KINDERS SPREADING KINDNESS AND A BEING BOOK LOVER: We heard about kinders showing love to their cats and giving their parents and grandparents hugs this week. What kind hearted kinders! 🙂 We also read some fun books.

PE NEWS: Kids Heart Challenge through Feb 15. Please see the PE Blog for more information. Below is the sign up link. http://www2.heart.org/goto/georgetown

TAKE HOME BOOKS: I want to take a moment and thank you…kinder families…for writing comments about your kinder’s reading. Those comments are very helpful. I am working on having the kinders read for me to determine their best independent reading level. Your kinder may be taking home new level books.

REMINDERS

WINTER GEAR: Please remember to send your kinder with snow pants, boots, a hat, gloves/mittens and coat every day!

SNACK & WATER BOTTLE: Please remember to send 2 healthy snacks AND a water bottle with your kinder each day. If possible, enlist your kinder in choosing their snacks. Many are commenting that they don’t like the snack that is packed.

HEADPHONES: Please send in a pair of headphones for your kinder to use in STEAM If you have not already done so. Thank you!

UPCOMING DATES

*Monday, February 8—Winter Break–NO SCHOOL

*Tuesday, February 9—ART Mail Valentines. STUFFED ANIMAL DAY Bring a small stuffed animal that fits inside the backpack.

*Wednesday, February 10—STEAM; TAKE HOME BOOKS & LIBRARY Don’t forget your books! Homework packets due Mail Valentines

*Thursday, February 11—MUSIC

*Friday, February 12—GYM Valentine Party

Enjoy the 4 day weekend! Be safe and stay warm! Mrs. Bohl

NEWS—Feb 17-21

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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). The kinders counted, matched compared numbers by telling which number was greater and which number was less. We also practiced finding partners of ten and showing them with a break apart stick. We finished up the week by learning more about the attributes of 3 dimensional shapes.

READING: This week the kinders learned that an AVID READER reads a lot, finds places everywhere to read, keeps a stack of book nearby, can’t stop reading and really pays attention to the book but a BLAH READER is disinterested. The kinders sorted pictures to decide if it showed an avid reader or not an avid (blah) reader. They also learned that AVID READERS try to feel what the characters are feeling. Are the characters feeling happy, sad, excited, scared? This makes the story enjoyable to read. We re-visited an old favorite The Carrot Seed to notice feelings along with the poems Mary Had a Little Lamb and The Itsy Bitsy Spider. The kinders worked in small “book clubs” to find important parts in books and by themselves by putting a sticky note on that page. All of the kinders worked so well together, taking turns, sharing and talking. I was very impressed!

WRITING WORKSHOP: We finished opinion writing by writing about the topics of: 1. Playing on swings or slides. 2. Swimming at the beach or pool. 3. Eating ice cream in a bowl or cone. 4. Favorite holiday…Halloween, Christmas or Valentine Day. We finished our learning by taking an assessment to show what we know about writing an opinion paper all by ourselves! The kinders had to decide on their own opinion, give reasons why to support their opinion and remember to write sentences that start with an uppercase letter and end with punctuation. That’s a lot to do all by themselves. I am so proud of them!

POPCORN WORDS: HAD BAD MAP

SPLIT LIT: We practiced reading & writing CVC words, rhyming words and popcorn words.

BEHAVIOR: As we move into the last of February and hopefully the beginning of spring as well as our curriculum grows it is essential for our kinders to be ready to learn. Following classroom rules class rules (in the classroom, in the hallway, on the playground) is a must. Our rules are simple: 1.FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS QUICKLY. 2. RAISE YOUR HAND TO SPEAK. 3. MAKE SMART CHOICES 4.BE KIND. 5. MAKE EVERYONE HAPPY. Being in a large class can be a challenge for a 5 and 6-year-old. We always strive to help the kinders to remember “how is my behavior helping or hurting my team (class)?” We also let them know that mistakes are important because it helps us to learn red choices (bad) and green (good) choices. Please encourage your kinder to try to be their best. Thanks for your continued support!

MYSTERY READER: It was Sutton’s turn to welcome her mom as the mystery reader. We listened to her mom read Froggy gets a Doggy. We LOVE Froggy books!

KOOL KINDERS ARE BOOK LOVERS:

Reese likes to read The Christmas Story.

Nora’s favorite book is a Shimmer & Shine book called Friendship Divine.

Elliott thinks Dog Breath is a funny book.

Rowan reads The Very Hungry Caterpillar every night before bedtime.

Piggy & Elephant I Will Take a Nap! is Skyler’s favorite book.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION:

We celebrated Isla’s birthday this week. Thank you for the fun birthday treats!

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 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: You can make donations online until Feb 28. Check out the PE blog for more information.

*LUNCH CALENDAR: 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 9 and 11. These dates and times were sent home on Monday. Did you check your kinder’s blue folder? Your time will be the same as it was in the fall. Please let me know asap if you need to make a change. I want to ensure I accommodate everyone!

UPCOMING DATES

*MON. FEB. 24—GYM; reading TAKE HOME BOOKS

*TUES. FEB 25–ART

*WED.FEB. 26––STEAM; LIBRARY Please remember to return your kinder’s book.

*THURS. FEB 27––MUSIC; reading TAKE HOME BOOKS

*FRI. FEB 28—GYM

*FRI, MARCH 6–FAST FRIDAY (Early Release Dismissal at 2:15pm)

*MON. MARCH 9—Spring Conferences 4:00-8:00pm

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

Enjoy your weekend and the sunshine! 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—May 20-24

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POPCORN WORDS: A week of review!

OUR AMERICAN SYMBOLS: The symbols that were studied this week were: The Bald Eagle, The Liberty Bell and the American Flag. We learned that Bald Eagles have sharp talons, they build their nests high in trees near water and they eat fish.

The Liberty Bell cracked the first time it was rung, it is made from copper and tin and it hangs from a wooden yoke.

The American Flag has 50 stars and 13 stripes, it has many names like “Old Glory” and it is red, white and blue.

We talked about what it means to be patriotic and what we do to show patriotism. Examples were wear red, white and blue, hang a flag, say thank you to veterans, say the pledge. At the start of each day, the kinders are learning to recite the Pledge of Allegiance by standing tall, still and straight. They have learned what those very special words really mean and what sacrifices the men and women of our country made for our freedom. We THANK them so much!!! We practiced identifying ending sounds by sorting pictures, We made & read books and made patriotic hats. It was fun to learn how to do a crossword puzzle and word search too. Be sure to have your kinders teach you some cool and interesting facts about ALL of the American symbols we have studied.

It was fun to see the kinders dressed in red, white and blue clothing, Thank you for participating! The kinders were EXCITED (to say the least) to learn that I brought “dessert” for them to eat after lunch…..RED, WHITE and BLUE POPSICLES!

MATH: The kinders took their LAST unit #5 math test. They did an AWESOME, FABULOUS, WONDERFUL job! They worked hard showing what math skills they learned. These tests arrived home this week. I know that you are as proud of your kinder as I am! We spent the other days “dipping our toes” into first grade math. The kinders were very excited to use their own mini clocks to show the time by the hour.

WRITING WORKSHOP: Each day the kinders met with a group that had the same opinion on a topic, talked about the reasons for their opinion and then wrote about it. These topics were saying why we like Georgetown school, what holiday we like best and which sport we enjoy playing. Our opinion writing ended by having the kinders write their ON DEMAND piece about their favorite restaurant. This is when they do all of their writing independently, without teacher assistance. The kinders did an AMAZING JOB! I am so very proud of them. I am in the process of grading them and will send home the writings home soon.

COUNTDOWN TO SUMMER: Can you believe it? Ten more days of kindergarten! Oh my! 🙂 The countdown to summer has officially begun in our classroom. Each day we will open an envelope to see what fun activity is scheduled. Today the first activity was…..EXTRA RECESS!!

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS: We enjoyed giving the kinders who have “summer birthdays” (June, July, August) an early celebration. Thank you for all of the birthday treats.

Happy early Birthday Brooks!

Happy early Birthday Aria!

Happy early Birthday Breslyn!

Happy early Birthday Elliot!

Happy early Birthday Alesha!

MYSTERY READER: Brooks was so surprised and happy to see his dad step into the room. He read another new story…one that Brooks’ grandpa gave him. It was called The Wolf, The Duck and The Mouse. Thank you so much for coming in….again!

REMINDERS

*LIBRARY BOOKS: Almost all of the kinders have returned their library books. Please return your book this week.

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

*KINDERGARTEN OLYMPICS: A fun morning of games with all of the kindergarteners! Kinders will need to wear TENNIS SHOES…NO FLIP FLOPS, SANDALS OR CROCS PLEASE! They will also need a WATER BOTTLE, LABELED WITH THEIR NAME! Don’t forget the SUNSCREEN…if we have sun :)! Volunteers should arrive at 8:45am for instructions. PARENTS & YOUNGER SIBLINGS, YOU ARE WELCOME TO JOIN US FOR A PICNIC LUNCH ON THE PLAYGROUND IF IT FITS INTO YOUR SCHEDULE. WE WILL BE EATING AROUND 12:00PM

UPCOMING DATES

*MONDAY, MAY 27: MEMORIAL DAY, No School

*TUESDAY, MAY 28: MUSIC; Birthday celebration for Colton and Jase; Countdown to Summer Day 9

*WEDNESDAY, MAY 29: GYM; Countdown to Summer Day 8

*THURSDAY, MAY 30: ART; Countdown to Summer Day 7

*FRIDAY, May 31: STEAM; KINDERGARTEN OLYMPICS Countdown to Summer Day 6

*FRIDAY, JUNE 7: Last Day of School. Dismissal at 12:15p.m.

~~~Have a great long weekend. Enjoy the wonderful weather while you celebrate Memorial Day! Mrs. Bohl

NEWS OF THE WEEK—May 13-17

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OUR AMERICAN SYMBOLS: Hooray for the U.S.A! This week the kinders began to learn about some of our most popular American symbols.

First, we learned what a symbol is (it is a picture that stands for something). Next, we practiced identifying some common symbols for popular spots such as Dairy Queen, Target, Jet’s Pizza, etc. Then we looked at some American symbols like The White House, The Capital, President Trump, Air Force One, etc.

The Statue of Liberty and The White House were the first two symbols we studied. After reading non-fiction books and watching an informational video about each symbol, the kinders labeled parts of each symbol and choose 1 interesting fact to write on their paper. It was fun to make a craft relating to the symbols too.

Some fun facts we learned about the Statue of Liberty were it was a gift from France, it is made from copper, she is called “The Lady of Liberty”, she holds a torch in one hand and a table in the other.

It was fun to learn that The White House is big and white! You need 570 gallons of paint to paint the outside. It has 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms 3 elevators, a swimming pool, movie theatre, a bowling alley and some rooms are named after colors like The Red Room, The Blue Room.

WRITING: More topics were introduced, more opinions were given, more reasons were written and more writings were shared with friends this week. These topics included preferring to eat home lunch or hot lunch, playing at the beach or at the pool; eating ice cream in a bowl or a cone; deciding which special class (art, STEAM, gym or music) they like best. I am very proud of them. We will write a few more opinion writings as a whole group before ending the week with the kinders writing their ON DEMAND Opinion writing next week. This is when the kinders use all of the strategies they have learned and write without teacher assistance. I know that they will do awesome job!

MATH: The kinders showed tens and extra ones for teen and twenty numbers and compared numbers using terms Greater than, Less than and Equal. They compared objects using math terms such as longer than, shorter, heavier than, lighter than. Friday math games had an American symbols theme and consisted of adding tens and extra ones for teen numbers, putting numbers in correct order, solving subtraction problems, counting by 10’s to 100 and sorting 3D shapes.

The kinders will be reviewing various math skills the first part of the week and taking their LAST math test…Unit #5 towards the end of the week. Please encourage your kinder to do their best. The test will cover addition & subtraction problems; comparing numbers using terms shorter, longer, heavier, lighter; showing tens & extra ones for teen numbers; and more.

READING: We are AVID Readers and we LOVE to read. We are working on staying focused on reading for 115-18 minutes. What an accomplishment as the kinders move into first grade. It was SO much fun reading each other’s clothing of places in Michigan such as Mackinac, Central Michigan, Michigan State, John Ball Zoo and of course…Hudsonville. We also read some books written by Michigan authors. Thank you for helping your kinder participate. Next week we will celebrate AMERICA! by coming to school wearing red, white and blue clothes.

MYSTERY READER: Wednesday Sidney was glad to see her mom in the doorway. She read Dream I’ll Be. A sweet story reminding the kinders that they can be whatever they want to be when they grow up.

Friday it was Jacob’s turn to jump up and welcome his mom and younger brother, Austin into the room. She read Bunny Cakes, a Max and Ruby story by Rosemary Wells. We like Max and Ruby stories! Thank you so much for stopping by. We love your visits.

TAKE HOME BOOKS: Thursday was our last day of reading our TAKE HOME books. I can’t believe it that we are finished. Thank you so much to everyone for reading each night at home with your kinders! They have become such good readers! Thank you so much to all of the parents and grandparents who came to listen to our readers! I couldn’t have done it without you!!!

SPLIT LIT: During our time this week, the kinders wrote popcorn words, read sentences and matched them with pictures, identified vowel sounds, worked with rhyming words, read books and sorted H brother (ch, sh, th) pictures.

OUR 5TH GRADE BUDDIES: In preparation for our buddies going on their “sleep over field trip” (actual term is 5th grade camp) on Thursday and Friday, the kinders made them a card. They also gave them a fun bag filled with a mini game booklet, a marker, starbursts, fruit snacks and a rice krispy treat because “we hope they had “bursts” of fun at camp.” Another way to spread random acts of kindness. Our buddies were surprised! Yeah!

POPCORN WORDS: TODAY PLAY AWAY UP Thank you so much for working with your kinder to learn their sight words. They know soooo many words! Oh my goodness! I am so proud of them!

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS:

Alivia will celebrate her ” real” birthday on June 22.

Sidney will celebrate her “real” birthday on July 8.

REMINDERS

*PLEASE RETURN….LIBRARY books Please return your library book if you still have it at home. Inventory has began. Please consider checking out library books from the public library throughout the summer.

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

UPCOMING DATES

*MONDAY, MAY 20: STEAM; Celebrate Brooks’ (July 18) birthday

*TUESDAY, MAY 21: MUSIC; Celebrate Aria’s (July 19) birthday

*WEDNESDAY, MAY 22: GYM; LIBRARY…we are finished checking out books for this year. Please return any library books you have at home to school. Thank you! Celebrate Breslyn’s Aug 8) birthday

*THURSDAY, MAY 23: ART; Celebrate Elliot’s (Aug 13) birthday

*FRIDAY, MAY 24: STEAM; Celebrate being READERS: CELEBRATE AMERICA! Wear Red, White and Blue to school!! Celebrate Alesha’s (Aug 15) birthday; Popcorn Friday

*MONDAY, MAY 27: Memorial Day, No School

*FRIDAY,MAY 31: Kindergarten Olympics If you’d like to help, we are still looking for volunteers! Please email me or return the sheet that was sent home. Looking forward to a fun day! Thanks!

NEWS OF THE WEEK—May 6-10

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Another week of learning…check it out!

MATH: The kinders compared numbers and identified if they were Greater than or Less than by adding to the less number or crossing off the extra number to make the groups equal. They also practiced showing teen numbers using ten and extra ones as well as writing partner equations for numbers 7-10. We worked on telling story problems and then writing addition number sentences. We are getting to the end of our last unit in math learning. The kinders have learned so much.

POPCORN WORDS: ONE MY BY Many of the kinders already were able to read this week’s words. How fabulous…they are doing so well!!! We talked again that sometimes letters say other sounds just like “y” says “i” in my & by.

WRITING: The kinders began learning how to write their last 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. Reading a fun book called Duck! Rabbit! helped us verbally practice giving our reasons to why we felt that way.

Each day the kinders need to give their opinion about a topic, 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 first graders! They are including popcorn words, spaces between words, sentence stoppers as well as giving awesome reasons. Our topics this week were 1. Playing on the swings or slide 2. Liking winter or summer. Have I said lately, how proud I am of them! 🙂

SCIENCE: “Can you eat parts of a plant?” The kinders were not sure when I asked them this question. So we read a few books to learn how vegetables grow…above or below the ground and to review parts of a plant.

We learned that carrots, potatoes, radishes are roots. Celery is like a stem. Lettuce, spinach, cabbage are leaves. Broccoli and cauliflower are considered flowers and corn, peas, beans are the seeds of a plant. We had a taste testing party after building our plant using carrots, celery, spinach, broccoli and corn. I was proud of ALL of the kinders for tasting some vegetables they don’t typically like to eat. We all agreed….We like to eat plants!! I hope that you were able to find the perfect spot outside or in a larger pot to replant your kinder’s lima bean plant. They were so excited to take them home.

READING: The kinders are working to remember all of their superpowers as readers. They learned how to report on a topic or book that they read by sharing the information they learned. We had a lot of fun with “just in” breaking news reports after we read a Let’s Find Out newspaper on Cool Seeds. The kinders were able to talk into a microphone while I played the news reporter asking them breaking news questions!! It was so much fun! We also worked on increasing our reading stamina. Amazing work!

We are constantly celebrating being READERS! We had SO MUCH FUN today coming to school wearing CRAZY HAIR styles. Thank you so much for helping your kinder participate. Next week we will celebrate OUR STATE IS GREAT! by coming to school wearing clothes with places of Michigan on them.

TAKE HOME BOOKS: Thank you so much for encouraging and supporting your kinder this year as they participated in our TAKE HOME book program. We have one more week of reading. Then we will begin to collect all of the books for summer inventory. Thank you so much to all of the volunteers who came into school each Monday, Tuesday and Thursday to listen to the kinders read. It would not have been possible without your assistance. I am so grateful for your help!

MYSTERY READER: Lily was super excited to notice her mom walk through the door. She read us a fun book entitled The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Of course, at the end of the story we had to play a few rounds of the game. What fun!

JET’S PIZZA LUNCH: Thank you for ordering pizza for supper so we could eat pizza for lunch.

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.

*PLAYGROUND: Our playground is very wet and muddy and then it is dry and dirty. Please keep this in mind as you send your kinder to school. Rain boots or outside play shoes might be a good idea until the spring weather clears. Thank you for being considerate of helping to keep our inside floors and rugs clean.

UPCOMING DATES

*MONDAY, MAY 13: ART; reading TAKE HOME books

*TUESDAY, MAY 14: STEAM; reading TAKE HOME books

*WEDNESDAY, MAY 15: MUSIC LIBRARY…Return you library books. This is the last day to check out a book.

*THURSDAY, MAY 16: GYM; reading TAKE HOME books–LAST DAY! Celebrate Alivia’s (June 22) birthday

*FRIDAY, MAY 17: ART; Celebrate being READERS: OUR STATE IS GREAT! wear clothing with places from Michigan on it . Celebrate Sidney’s (July 8) birthday

*FRIDAY, MAY 24: Celebrate being READERS: CELEBRATE AMERICA! Wear Red, White and Blue to school!!

*MONDAY, MAY 27: Memorial Day, No School

*FRIDAY,MAY 31: Kindergarten Olympics A note asking for parent volunteers came home. If you would like to be part of the fun day, please return the pink paper or email me your willingness. We could use a few more volunteers. This special day would not be possible without your help. Thank you so much.

~~~I would like to wish all MOMS a Happy Mother’s Day! Your kinders love you very much. You are an important person in their life. Thank you for all that you do. They were very excited to make you a small gift….especially since they love reading books with you! 🙂

~~~Thank you so much for all of the sweet notes and gifts that you and your kinder bestowed on me this week. I feel truly blessed to be able to spend my days with your kinder. I love them very much. I appreciate your support and encouragement at home. It means a great deal to me. Have a great weekend. Mrs. Bohl