Newsletter: October 27

Next Week's Specials:

Monday - PE

Tuesday - STEAM

Wednesday - Music, Library

Thursday - Art

Friday - Music

Coming Up...

• Classroom Halloween Party: Tuesday, October 31 @ 1:30pm
• Early Release Day: Friday, November 3 - 12:15pm dismissal (School Families - wear Bauer T-shirt)
• Breakfast with Books: November 7 from 8:15-8:45am
• Parent Teacher Conferences: November 8 and 10
• Book Fair: November 10, 13, & 14
• Bauer Parent Club Meeting: Tuesday, November 14 @ 7pm
• Jet's Pizza Night: Tuesday, November 14 (Don't forget to mention Bauer and my name when ordering.)
• Hat Day/Popcorn Day: Friday, November 17
• Thanksgiving Break: November 22-24
• Bauer Holiday Program: Tuesday, November 28 (Students will be shuttled by school bus in the morning to and from Fair Haven for rehearsal.)

Halloween Party:

Our Halloween Party will take place next week Tuesday, October 31.  Students will begin putting costumes on at 1:30pm.  Our party will be from 1:40-2:40.  Parents are welcome to attend!  It's always nice to have extra sets of helping hands! :)    

Math:

In math, we continue to look for groups of five in numbers 6-10.  We also worked on writing numbers 6 and 7. 

The kids were SO excited for our pumpkin math activity on Friday!  We first took some measurements of the pumpkin (such as height, weight, circumference), and then opened up the pumpkin and counted the seeds by making piles of ten.  One pumpkin had 610 seeds!  Finally, we carved our pumpkins.  Thanks so much to Mrs. Brong, Mrs. Spoolstra, Mrs. Slocum, and Mrs. Nolte for their help!  It was messy, but the kids loved it!!

Writing: 

We continue to draw and write sentences together on whiteboards.  We are learning to "say as we write" and use capital letters, finger spaces, and punctuation at the end.  

We will begin writing like scientists in November!  Students will be studying objects, drawing those objects, and using descriptive words to label.  

To help us prepare for this unit, please send in ONE leaf in a baggie labeled with your child's name (due Monday, November 6.)

Also, I need your help collecting an assortment of fall items for this writing unit (such as pumpkins, gourds, leaves, acorns, feathers, etc...)  I would like each table to have their own basket of fall items to write about.  Fall items are needed by Friday, November 10.  Thanks so much! 

Reading:

October Book-It forms are due Friday, November 3.  If you would like your child to participate, please sign the calendar and return it to school.  I will then send the calendar back home with a Pizza Hut certificate for a free personal pan pizza for your child.  The coupon is good for pick up only and the child must be present, as well as one coupon per child a day.  

We are learning to segment words and blend sounds together to read words.  Here is an example of a sentence we practiced reading this week.  

Newsletter: October 20

Next Week's Specials:

Monday - Art

Tuesday - PE

Wednesday - STEAM, Library

Thursday - Music

Friday - Art

Coming Up...

• Turkey Trot: Tuesday, October 24
• All For Books Coin War: October 24-26
• Picture Retake Day/BPC Skating Party: Thursday, October 26
• Classroom Halloween Party: Tuesday, October 31 @ 1:30pm
• Early Release Day: Friday, November 3 - 12:15pm dismissal (School Families - wear Bauer T-shirt)
• Breakfast with Books: November 7 from 8:15-8:45am
• Parent Teacher Conferences: November 8 and 10
• Book Fair: November 10, 13, & 14
• Bauer Parent Club Meeting: Tuesday, November 14 @ 7pm
• Jet's Pizza Night: Tuesday, November 14 (Don't forget to mention Bauer and my name when ordering.)
• Hat Day/Popcorn Day: Friday, November 17
• Thanksgiving Break: November 22-24
• Bauer Holiday Program: Tuesday, November 28

Writing Workshop:

In Writing Workshop, we continue to draw and write stories together on whiteboards. On Tuesday, after Art class, we wrote the sentence "We painted pumpkins."

Literacy Centers:

We work with partners on various literacy activities during literacy centers.

Shared Reading:

This week we read the book Pumpkin, Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington.  We read it several times throughout the week.  We also learned some motions to go along with the story.  Here is a video of us telling the story with the motions!   

We also learned a poem about pumpkins!

Math: 

We began Unit 2 in math this week.  Unit 2 is all about numbers 6-10.  We focused on writing the number 6.  We also focused on looking for groups of five in the numbers 6-10.  For example, we can see 6 as 5 + 1.   

Newsletter: October 13

Next Week is Color Week in Kindergarten:

All three Bauer Kindergarten classes will be participating in a color themed week for the week of October 16-20.  Please have your child dress according to the schedule below...

Monday, October 16 - Red

Tuesday, October 17 - Yellow

Wednesday, October 18 - Green

Thursday, October 19 - Orange

Friday, October 20 - Blue

Next Week's Specials:

Monday - Music

Tuesday - Art

Wednesday - PE, Library

Thursday - STEAM

Friday - Music

Coming Up...

• Marco's Pizza Night and Parent Connection Night: Tuesday, October 17 (Don't forget to mention Bauer and my name when ordering.)
• Turkey Trot: Tuesday, October 24
• All For Books Coin War: October 24-26
• Picture Retake Day/BPC Skating Party: Thursday, October 26
• Classroom Halloween Party: Tuesday, October 31 @ 1:30pm
• Early Release Day: Friday, November 3 - 12:15pm dismissal (School Families - wear Bauer T-shirt)
• Breakfast with Books: November 7 from 8:15-8:45am
• Parent Teacher Conferences: November 8 and 10
• Book Fair: November 10, 13, & 14
• Bauer Parent Club Meeting: Tuesday, November 14 @ 7pm
• Jet's Pizza Night: Tuesday, November 14 (Don't forget to mention Bauer and my name when ordering.)
• Hat Day/Popcorn Day: Friday, November 17
• Thanksgiving Break: November 22-24
• Bauer Holiday Program: Tuesday, November 28

Parent/Teacher Conferences:

We will be setting our conference schedules next week Thursday.  If you have not returned your conference request form, please do so before Thursday!  I will send home appointment slips next week Friday.

School Families:
We had another School Families session on Friday. In our groups we focused on Habit #1- Be Proactive. We learned what it means to be proactive and discussed examples of how we might use this in our daily lives! We also learned the difference between proactive and reactive. Be sure to ask your child one way they are planning to be proactive at home. 

Walk-a-thon Assembly:

LOTS of prizes were given out today at the Walk-a-thon assembly.  Thank you again for all of your support of our great school!

This Week in Kindergarten...

Writing Workshop:

In Writing Workshop, we continue to draw and write stories together on whiteboards. We use whiteboards because it allows for easy error correction.  Plus, it's fun!!  We have been focusing on using a capital letter at the beginning, a 2-finger space between words, and a period at the end of our sentences.  On Wednesday after PE, we wrote the sentence "We played a pin game."

Shared Writing:

We are also writing sentences together on chart paper.  It is called Shared Writing because the kids share the pen with me and take turns adding a letter or two.  Here is a photo of a message that we wrote together this week. 

Morning Message:

Each morning we "dot and dash" the morning message.  If the sound is represented by one letter, it gets a dot underneath.  If the sound is represented by two or more letters, it gets a dash underneath.  This helps us listen for all the sounds in the words.  The swooping lines show the syllables in the word. 

Reading Workshop:

We are reading short, predictable booklets and taking turns reading them to a partner.  

Math: 

We wrapped up Unit 1 this week!  We spent the beginning of the week reviewing counting objects, writing numbers 1-5, and 2-D shapes.  We took the Unit 1 test on Thursday.  They did great!  

Newsletter: October 6

Next Week's Specials:

Monday - Music

Tuesday - Art

Wednesday - PE, Library

Thursday - STEAM

Friday - STEAM

Coming Up...

• Early Release/Walk-a-thon Assembly/School Families/Wear Bauer T-shirts: Friday, October 13
• Marco's Pizza Night and Parent Connection Night: Tuesday, October 17 (Don't forget to mention Bauer and my name when ordering.)
• Turkey Trot: Tuesday, October 24
• Picture Retake Day/BPC Skating Party: Thursday, October 26
• Classroom Halloween Party: Tuesday, October 31 @ 1:30pm

Party Money:

Thank you to everyone for sending in your $3 donation to our class parties for the year.  If you have not sent your money in yet, please do so next week.

Conference Time Request Forms: 

These went home in folders today.  Please return it by next week Friday, October 13.

Parent Connection Night:

Attention parents!

Please join us for our first Hudsonville Public Schools Parent Connection Night! This event will take place on Tuesday, October 17 from 6:30-8:00 at Baldwin Street Middle School. You will be able to choose 2 different sessions from the following options:

- Screen Time: Impact, Safety and Setting Limits

- Teaching Kids to Get Along: Navigating the Roads of Friendships and Siblings

- Home Organization: Simple Systems to Help Your Entire Family be Successful

- Positive Behavioral Strategies for Younger Kids: Less Words and More Visuals

These sessions will all be run by Hudsonville staff members Lisa Keskitalo, Kate Randall, Carrie Ysseldyke, and Melissa DeGroot.  Child care will be provided for children ages 5 and up.  We will also have desserts and giveaways!

Please sign up using the following link: 

HPS Elementary Parent Connection Night

This Week in Kindergarten...

Fire Safety:

We had a visit from the Georgetown Fire Department this week.  They taught us so many things about fire safety!  Some things that we learned include how to stop/drop/roll, how to call 911, and the importance of having a fire escape plan.  We even had a fire drill at school this week!  

Writing Workshop: 

In Writing Workshop, we continue to draw and write stories together on whiteboards. The pictures below show us drawing and writing about fire safety.

Reading Workshop: 

In Reading Workshop, we continue to spend time "reading" the picture books from our book bins in our own quiet reading spots.  This week we also made booklets that we can color and read.  Here are some photos of students taking turns reading our "A Fireman" booklet to a partner.

Math: 

In Math this week, we focused on writing numbers 1-5 in our math workbooks.  We also worked on counting and drawing objects for numbers 1-5.