This Week in Kindergarten…

We’ve been “spotted” working hard in kindergarten…

POPCORN WORDS: him, jump

READING: This week during reading, we thought about all of the new words we are learning in our non-fiction books and wrote them down in our journals. We became detectives and looked closely at the new words that we found and used all the clues on the page to figure out the meaning of the words. We also were reminded that it’s important to look carefully at the words and the pictures to really understand what the book is about – don’t read to speedy fast. We finished the week by learning about bringing the books we are reading to life. Even if we are reading non-fiction books, we can still act them out and have fun! We pretended to be goats grazing and jumping!

WRITING: During writing this week, we continued writing all about books. The topic we studied was goats. We started by listing everything we already knew about goats. We learned a lot of information about goats by reading a lot of books, watching goat videos and then wrote about…

  • things goats can do
  • things goats have
  • things goats are

We finished learning about bears by putting all of the information we learned about goats into a book. We wrote complete sentences and drew and labeled pictures to go along with our writing.

MATH: This week during math, we worked hard to finish filling in 100 charts – both horizontally and vertically. We learned a new game called The Hiding Zero Game. This is a game practicing teen numbers, each teen number is made by replacing the zero in the ten with a number that tells how many ones there are. For example, 14=10+4. We practiced story problems on white boards as well as finding the missing partners. We finished the week by finding partners of 5,  adding numbers and completing math mountains.

 

LITERACY/PHONICS: During our literacy/phonics time this week we worked on…

  • letters that work together to make a single sound – we looked at the sound s makes, the sound h makes and then the sound they make when they are together (sh)
  • sorting pictures that start with s, h and sh
  • rolling the dice and reading short a words
  • listening for and writing the ending word sound
  • reading and retelling The Three Billy Goats Gruff using books and props we made

OUR SUPER STARS AND LUCKY…had fun getting to hang out together on their Super Star Day!

iPads: This week in our class we started using iPads! The Kinders were super excited to try them out. They did such a great job following the rules of the iPads and had fun exploring on Clever. Way to go Kinders!

Will was super excited to see his mom and dad on our screen to be MYSTERY READERS! The kindergarteners had fun listening to the story! 

UPCOMING DATES:

Monday, April 19: Gym

Tuesday, April 20: Art; Return Take Home Book Bags and Library books today

Wednesday, April 21: STEAM

Thursday, April 22: Music

Friday, April 23: Early Release – dismissal at 12:15; special – recess

Headphones Needed

If possible, could you please send your child’s headphones back to school with them (in a labeled bag) for the remainder of the school year? I would really appreciate it! We now have the opportunity to use iPads in our classroom and it would be helpful for the class to use headphones during that time. Thank you so much!

This Week in Kindergarten…

POPCORN WORDS: review week

READING: This week during reading, we learned about how non-fiction books end…some books just end and some invite readers to do something else – read other books, give websites to look at information, etc. We also learned about different features of non-fiction texts – bold words, colored words, photographs, labels, headings, etc. We used a dragonfly book to practice reading non-fiction texts. We read and reread the dragonfly book to learn more and more. 

 

WRITING: During writing this week, we continued writing all about books. The topic we studied was bears. We started by listing everything we already knew about bears. We learned a lot of information about bears by reading a lot of books, watching bear videos and then wrote about…

  • things bears can do
  • things bears have
  • things bears are

We finished learning about bears by putting all of the information we learned about bears into a book. We wrote complete sentences and drew and labeled pictures to go along with our writing. 

MATH: This week during math, we practiced counting groups of stars and animals – we counted groups of ten, circled it and then counted the extra ones. We continued practicing finding partners of ten. We even helped Puzzled Penguin write his teen numbers the correct way! We finished the week in math by coloring blocks to show the correct teen number. 

LITERACY/PHONICS: During our phonics and literacy time this week, we worked on…

  • long a and short a sound
  • reading the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and retelling it using the props we made
  • making words in the word family -op and -un
  • sentence dictation – Mrs. Baker gave us a sentence and we stretched out all the sounds we heard in the words

MYSTERY READERS: We had A GREAT TIME having mystery readers each day this week! It was an exciting part of our day and it made March is Reading Month so much fun!

OUR SUPER STARS AND LUCKY…had fun getting to hang out together on their Super Star Day!

UPCOMING DATES…

Friday, April 2 – Sunday, April 11: Spring Break…enjoy!

Monday, April 12: Music

Tuesday, April 13: Gym; Return Take Home Book Bags & Library Books today!

Wednesday, April 14: Art

Thursday, April 15: STEAM

Friday, April 16: Music

Have a wonderful Spring break! 

This Week in Kindergarten…

POPCORN WORDS: as, has

READING: This week during reading, we learned more information from non-fiction books. We learned that readers look closely at their books and ask questions, they point and talk so that they become experts on topics. We also learned that readers use the whole page and their whole brain to learn as much as possible about their books, looking closely at the entire page and point and talk about what they see. We finished the week in reading by being reporters! It was so fun! The class got to use a “microphone” and report all about their non-fiction books! 

WRITING: During writing this week, we began writing all about books! Our topic we studied this week was all about pigs. We started by listing everything we already knew about pigs. We learned a lot of information about pigs by reading a lot of books and then wrote about…

  • things pigs can do
  • things pigs have
  • things pigs are

We finished learning about pigs by putting all of the information we learned about pigs into a book. We wrote complete sentences and drew and labeled pictures to go along with our writing. 

MATH: This week during math, we reviewed for our unit 4 math test and then took our math test. I am so proud of how much the Kinders have learned this year with numbers! We began unit 5 and learning more about teen numbers and partners of 10 – using the stars in the night sky!

LITERACY/PHONICS: During our phonics and literacy time this week, we worked on…

  • unscrambling popcorn words
  • reading the story of the Three Little Pigs and retelling the story
  • coloring popcorn words
  • practicing reading words in word families

MYSTERY READERS: We had A GREAT TIME having mystery readers each day this week! It was an exciting part of our day! We can’t wait to see who surprises us next week!

OUR SUPER STARS AND LUCKY…had fun getting to hang out together on their Super Star Day!

JET’S PIZZA PARTY!! On Friday, we had a yummy lunch of Jet’s Pizza, carrots, apple slices and Oreos (thank you Mrs. McCormick)! Thank you Jet’s Pizza for a delicious lunch! 

On a personal note…the kinders have been so sweet about cheering on my son, Zac (a senior), who just finished playing basketball for the Hudsonville Eagles! It has been fun to share basketball stories with our class and watch their excitement. Zac has appreciated all of the cute notes the kids have written him. I even got to show them a few clips of him on the news! Go Eagles! Thanks for letting me be a proud mom and share with you!

UPCOMING DATES…

Monday, March 29: Music

Tuesday, March 30: Gym; Return Take Home Book Bags and Library Books today!

Wednesday, March 31: Art

Thursday, April 1: STEAM; Wear your pajamas for comfy reading time today!

April 2 – April 11 is Spring Break!

Enjoy these cute playground pictures from this week…

This Week in Kindergarten…

POPCORN WORDS: could, would, should

READING: This week during our reading time, we became copycat poets! We listened to the poem Are You Sleeping? and then made up poems that sound like that one…they had the same tune. We made up songs about reading, writing, math, playtime and recess. Each kinder got their own poetry book and practiced reading familiar poems in the book. We also used the poetry book to search for popcorn words – using our magnifying glasses of course! 

WRITING: During writing this week, we wrote another persuasive paper. Our topic this week was cleaning up when playtime is finished. We gave reasons why this is a problem and then gave a solution to the problem. We finished the week by making a poster to show that we will clean up when playtime is done!

MATH: This week during math, we practiced finding number partners for numbers 1-10. We also practiced more equations and tried solving many of them on our own. We even solved some St. Patrick’s Day equations! We finished our teen number books – practicing showing the given number using a ten stick and extra ones. We finished the week learning more about cones and cylinders. 

LITERACY/PHONICS: During our literacy and phonics time this week, we practiced many different skills. We focused on listening for the middle sound in CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words. We changed the vowel in the word to make new words on whiteboards. We also practiced words in different word families. 

KINDNESS SUPER STARS…These are our Super Stars from the week spreading some kindness to others!

MYSTERY READERS…We had A GREAT TIME having mystery readers each day this week! It was an exciting part of our day! We can’t wait to see who surprises us next week!

ST. PATRICK’S DAY FUN…We had a fun St. Patrick’s Day! While we were at music, a leprechaun visited our room and turned some things upside down! He even left his footprints, some green coins, green jell-o and a green bracelet. Wow…we were surprised! We finished the week finding partners of ten using a “pot ‘o gold and some coins” and made fun leprechaun hats! 

DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES AWARENESS: This month is not only March is Reading Month in Kindergarten.  It is also March is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. Today, our class was gifted a book about disabilities from the Fountain Family called Just Ask. One of the kindergarteners at Georgetown, Nora, has a big brother (a first grader here at Georgetown) who was born with Down Syndrome. My son, Corey, feels lucky to get to be a helper with Joshua at school. As we continue to celebrate Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month we thank the Fountain Family for helping us all become more aware and celebrate all of our differences.  

FORT DAY FUN…On Friday we had fun celebrating earning our 5 stars for making good choices and SOARing! We had fun learning in our forts! Enjoy the fun pictures…

UPCOMING DATES:

Monday, March 22: STEAM

Tuesday, March 23: Music; Return Take Home Book Bags and Library books today!

Wednesday, March 24: Gym

Thursday, March 25: Art

Friday, March 26: STEAM; March is Reading Month funWear jeans today! You can even add a belt or boots if you’d like!

Spring Break is: April 2 – April 11

This Week in Kindergarten…

POPCORN WORDS: were, where, there

READING: This week during reading, kindergarten readers practiced looking for similarities and differences in books about the same topic. They worked with the other kinders at their tables to find things alike and different. We had fun using magnifying glasses to look for popcorn words in books! The kinders enjoyed writing them in their journals. We finished the week by listening to and reading some poems. We noticed the rhythm of the poems. We practiced finding the rhythm in the poems by reading some familiar poems.  

WRITING: During writing this week, we wrote another persuasive paper. Our topic this week was lining up when the whistle blows. We gave reasons why this is a problem and then gave a solution to the problem. We finished the week by signing a poster that we will line up when the whistle blows.

MATH: This week during our math time, we practiced addition and subtraction equations. The kinders are getting better and better at doing these problems on their own. We also worked on drawing teen numbers…showing the ten stick and the extra ones. We practiced dot-to-dots as well as looking for number partners. We are sure working hard during math time!

LITERACY/PHONICS: During our literacy and phonics time this week, we practiced reading words that belonged to certain word families. I am so proud of how hard the kinders are working on this skill. We also read a new popcorn word book about shamrocks and searched for our new words – there and were. 

MYSTERY READERS…We had SO MUCH FUN having mystery readers each day this week! It was an exciting part of our day! We can’t wait to see who surprises us next week!

KINDNESS SUPER STARS…These are our Super Stars from the week spreading some kindness to others!

As a school, each classroom decorated their door with the western theme for March is reading month. Look at these cute cowboys and cowgirls posing with a book they like…

THANK YOU so much for meeting with me this week at your child’s conference! It was wonderful to get to talk with all of you about the progress your Kinder is making in kindergarten! I am very thankful for all of your support!

UPCOMING DATES…

Monday, March 15: Art

Tuesday, March 16: STEAM; Return Take Home Book Bags and Library books today!

Wednesday, March 17: Music; St. Patrick’s Day…wear something green.

Thursday, March 18: Gym

Friday, March 19: Art; March is Reading Month fun…Wear a shirt with words on it!

This Week in Kindergarten…

POPCORN WORDS: about, home, went

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

WRITING: During writing this week, we started a new type of writing – Persuasive Writing. We thought of  problems that we have at school and decided to write about walking in the hallway. We gave reasons why this is a problem and then gave a solution to the problem. We finished the week by making a poster to persuade students to walk in the hallway at Georgetown. 

MATH: This week during math, we practiced adding and subtracting equations. We also practiced partners of ten using 5 groups. We worked on some math mountains and drawing the partners “tiny tumblers” that are tumbling down each side of the mountain. We finished the week in math by learning more about cubes and other shapes. We made shape books to practice our shapes! 

LITERACY/PHONICS: During our literacy/phonics time this week, we practiced our popcorn words, word families and h brothers. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DR. SEUSS!! We had fun celebrating Dr. Seuss’ birthday on Tuesday, March 2. We did all things Dr. Seuss…reading, writing, literacy, math and a lot of rhyming! We even made a Cat in the Hat to hang in our classroom. It was a fun-filled day!! 

KINDNESS SUPER STARS…These are our Super Stars from the week spreading some kindness to others!

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

Each kinder that brings back their TAKE HOME books on Tuesdays will be entered in the school-wide March reading month giveaways.  Kinders will not be participating in keeping track of reading minutes on a weekly calendar.  

 Lasso a good book and have fun reading at home!

REMINDERS:

  • Bring 2 snacks each day to school and a water bottle with a spill proof lid please.
  • Return take home books and library books on Tuesday.
  • Parent-Teacher conferences are Monday and Wednesday next week.

UPCOMING DATES:

Monday, March 8: Gym; Parent-Teacher virtual conferences

Tuesday, March 9: Art; Return Take Home Book Bags and Library books today!

Wednesday, March 10: STEAM; Parent-Teacher virtual conferences

Thursday, March 11: Music

Friday, March 12: Gym; March is Reading Month Fun…Dress like a cowboy or cowgirl – wear flannel or plaid!

This Week in Kindergarten…

POPCORN WORDS: and, get

READING: This week during reading, we learned about having Reading Playdates. We learned that Avid Readers have reading playdates to make them better readers. With our reading partners we practiced having reading playdates. This is what we played:

  • played games – search our books for popcorn words to see how many we could find
  • played school – pretended to be the teacher using our books
  • played pretend – acted out our books while reading with our partners

WRITING: During writing this week, we finished up learning about writing opinion papers. The kindergarteners practiced stating their opinion on a given topic and then gave 2 reasons to support their opinion. We ended the week with our first On Demand writing (a writing assessment that the kinders did all by themselves). These are the things we wrote about this week:

  • What is your favorite pet?
  • What is your favorite snack?
  • What do you like to eat for breakfast?
  • What do you like about Georgetown?
  • What is your favorite restaurant?

MATH: This week during math, we practiced finding partners of 10 using break apart sticks. Then we wrote equations to match the partners. We also learned about 3D shapes. We talked about the difference between 2D and 3D shapes and then sorted shape pictures. We also practiced math mountains – “mountains” that have the total on the top and the partners “rolling down the mountain”. We looked for groups of things that were GREATER and groups of things that were LESS. We also practiced our number writing.

LITERACY/PHONICS: During our literacy time this week, we practiced words families. We talked about how word families are words that rhyme and we came up with some words. We sorted short e and short u words. We listened to the word, decided which vowel sound we heard in the word and then wrote the word. We will continue to practice listening for the vowel sounds we hear in words. We practiced our popcorns words and words in the “in” word family.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH LEARNING: This week in Kindergarten, we learned about George Washington Carver. We learned that he was a scientist, and invented many things using peanuts. He believed in determination! Thank you George Washington Carver for your curiosity! We made a jar of peanut butter to remind us of George Washington Carver. 

KINDNESS SUPER STARS…These are our Super Stars from the week spreading some kindness to others!

We finished the week by making kindness bracelets for our 5th grade buddies! We made them each a bracelet along with a note. We are kind Kinders!

REMINDERS…

  • Send 2 snacks each day to school
  • Wear your winter gear – the playground is messy
  • Return take home book bags and library books on Tuesday
  • Dress “Seuss-ish” on Tuesday to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday
  • March is Reading Month Friday dress-up day: wear a cowboy hat, handkerchief or bandana

 

UPCOMING DATES…

Monday, March 1: Gym

Tuesday, March 2: Art; Library; Return take home book bags and library books; Dress “Seuss-ish” to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday!

Wednesday, March 3: STEAM

Thursday, March 4: Music

Friday, March 5: Art; Early Release Day-dismissed at 12:15; March is Reading Month: Wear a cowboy hat, handkerchief or bandana

This Week in Kindergarten…

POPCORN WORDS: bad, had, map

READING: This week during reading we learned about noticing and identifying more precise character feelings. 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 also learned about having reading goals – something that we are each going to work on during reading time. We looked at the Super Reader powers and decided which of the goals we are already doing all the time and colored them green. We colored the goals yellow that we need to work on. The goals will help us to focus on something that we want to get better at and keep working hard on it during reading time. 

WRITING: During writing this week, we learned more about opinion writing. The Kinders practiced giving their opinion on the topic we were writing about, choosing between the choices given. They wrote an opening sentence, then had to come up with two reasons to support their opinion. They finished their opinion papers by writing a closing sentence. Some of the topics the Kinders gave their opinion on this week were:

  • How do you like your ice cream – in a cone or in a bowl?
  • What is your favorite holiday?
  • What is your favorite special at school?

MATH: This week during 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 ended the week by counting, matching and comparing groups of objects. 

LITERACY/PHONICS: This week during our literacy time, we learned about word families. Word families are words that have the same ending. We practiced writing word families in our journals. For example, for the word family at we wrote – hat, cat, rat, sat, etc. We used fun paper plates and clips to make word families. 

BLACK HISTORY MONTH LEARNING: This week in kindergarten we learned about Ruby Bridges. Ruby Bridges showed us how to be brave when she helped make it possible for all kids to go to school together. 

PRESIDENT’S DAY: On Monday, February 15, we learned about and celebrated President’s Day! We focused on George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. We read books about them, colored a book about them, read a Scholastic News about Abraham Lincoln and made a flip craft – George Washington on one side and Abraham Lincoln on the other side. It was a fun day! 

KINDNESS BINGO: This week in Kindergarten we began our new SUPER STAR activity. We are doing a Kindness Bingo activity. Each super star will choose an act of kindness to do, draw a picture of it and share it with our class each day. It has been fun to see all of the kind things the Kinders are doing for others!

STAR REWARD DAY…STUFFED ANIMAL DAY! We had fun teaching and snuggling our stuffed animals on Thursday!

On Friday, we got a new play center in our classroom to play in during play time. It is a Veterinary Center. The first table group got to play in there today and had so much fun! The rest of the table groups will get a chance to play in it next week. Here are a few cute pictures for you to enjoy from the Vet Center…

REMINDERS:

  • Send 2 snacks each day
  • Bring warm Winter gear for recess – snow pants, boots, mittens/gloves, hat, coat
  • Homework is due on Wednesday
  • Return Take Home Book bags and Library books on Tuesday

UPCOMING DATES:

Monday, February 22: Music

Tuesday, February 23: Gym; Return Take Home Book Bags and Library books today!

Wednesday, February 24: Art; Homework due today!

Thursday, February 25: STEAM

Friday, February 26: Music