Newsletter: September 15

Next Week's Specials:

Monday - Art

Tuesday - PE

Wednesday - STEAM

Thursday - Music

Friday - Art

Coming Up...

• Walk-a-thon: It is next week Friday, September 22.  We will be walking at 9am.  Please have your child wear comfortable shoes to walk/run in that day.  We will spending roughly 45 minutes outside and our goal is to stay moving the whole time!!  Also, you can have your child turn in his/her pledge envelope anytime this week.  All pledges should be turned in no later than Friday, September 29.  Pledges submitted by this date will be eligible for our raffle drawing as well as classroom and individual prizes. We would love it if you could join us at the Walk-a-Thon to cheer us on.  We could even put you to good use and have you help mark the lap tracking cards as students race past the finish line.  We hope to see you there!

• Picture Day: Picture Day is September 20th.  Feel free to return forms anytime.  

• Maize and Blue Day: Friday, September 29.  Please have your child wear his/her Hudsonville gear, or maize and blue!

• Book Orders Due: Friday, September 29

News from Parent Club...

Bauer Elementary has a new Facebook group! We look forward to using this group to create community and connections and to keep parents informed about all the happenings at Bauer Elementary. This group is intended for parents/guardians of current Bauer students and is maintained by the Bauer Parent Club. If you are not already a member, please go to www.facebook.com/groups/bauerelementary and click "Join Group" and an admin will approve your request. If you are not on Facebook, please email Katie Terpstra at katie.terpstra@gmail.com, and she'll add you to an email list. We're looking forward to a great year!

This week in Kindergarten...

School Families: 

• We started our Bauer School Families. Each Early Release Day we will be moving around into groups PK-5 to learn more about one another and the 7 Habits. These groups will remain the same all year long. Today we got to know the members of our family and played a name game. Ask your child if they can tell you who their School Family teacher is and some of the other students in their group.

Bus Safety: 

• We had a bus safety lesson.  We learned about how to safely cross the street and ride the bus.  We also took a quick bus ride so that we could practice what we learned!  

Handwriting: 

• We began working in our handwriting books.  So far we have done the capital letters F, E, D, P, and B. All of these are "frog jump" letters.  You make a big line down, and then frog jump back up to the top!

Writing Workshop: 

• We have been working on oral storytelling.  We learned how to sit eye-to-eye and knee-to-knee with a partner and share personal stories.  We practiced using our fingers to tell what happened first, next, then, etc...  Our oral storytelling unit lays the groundwork for writing workshop.  Through talk, writers can think about what to write and how to write.  

Math: 

• We began our first math unit.  Each student has their own container of math manipulatives.  We learned how to use our number tiles to make a number parade across the top of our math trays.  We also learned how to use red and blue squares to show quantities of a number in different ways.  These are called "partners."  

Reading Workshop: 

• We continued to practice being respectful readers during our reading workshop time.  We learned how to be book lovers, not book bullies!  We are "reading" the pictures in books right now.