I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Here is some important information on upcoming holiday festivities.
Holiday Party
If you are interested in volunteering at our Holiday Party on
Thursday, Dec 19 @ 12:30-1:45 pm please sign up on
this spreadsheet. There’s a tab at the bottom of the sheet that has game/craft ideas if you’re looking for inspiration. Make sure you have filled out the
background check form if you are planning to volunteer!
Gingerbread Houses
We are teaming up with our fourth grade buddies to make gingerbread houses as part of our “Holidays Around the World” learning!
Shhhh….this is a surprise for the first graders. If you would like to donate something for our gingerbread houses, please
sign-up on this sheet. Donations will be due by
Friday, December 6th.
Holiday Program
The 2019 Holiday Program will be December 12, 6:30 pm at Fair Haven!
Candy Cane Sales
Fifth grade students are selling candy canes to help fund 5th grade camp!
- Starts: Wednesday, December 4
- Ends: Wednesday, December 18
- Cost: $1 per candy cane
NOTES FOR PARENTS:
- THANK YOU to all of our amazing parents for coming to parent teacher conferences! It was such a gift to talk about your child’s progress with you.
- The Scholastic Book Club order forms were sent home on Friday! You can order online here.
- Turkeys in Disguise are due November 26th. It has been SO fun seeing all of the creative ideas.
- If you would like to volunteer in our classroom this week, please sign up here!
CELEBRATIONS:
Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to EMMETT for always being himself!
Lost Tooth Club – Elise got an award for joining the lost tooth club!
Mystery Reader – Dominic’s mom surprised us on Friday as a mystery reader! She read Turkey Trouble. We loved hearing the story.
OUR LEARNING:
Reading– This week we began our non-fiction unit. Students practiced taking a sneak peak, chatting about what they learned, and rereading to help them comprehend what they read in their non-fiction books.
Writing – Students worked on teaching with their illustrations in their books and using mentor texts to help them research topics they were interested in learning more about.
Math – We worked on solving subtraction story problems. Students practiced finding which number was the total and which numbers were the partners. From there, they made a math mountain to solve.
Word Study – This week students learned about these word endings:
UPCOMING DATES:
- Monday, November 25
- ART
- Star of the Day: Aaron
- Tuesday, November 26
- STEAM
- Star of the Day: Kinsman
- Wednesday, November 27
- Thursday, November 28
- Happy Thanksgiving!
- No School
- Friday, November 29
- Monday, December 2
- MUSIC
- Star of the Day: Will
- Mrs. Kuiper will be at professional development in the morning. There will be a guest teacher in our class from 8:45 am – 12:00 pm.
NOTES FOR PARENTS:
CELEBRATIONS:
Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to MIYAH for always doing the right thing!
Lost Tooth Club – Emmett got an award for joining the lost tooth club!
Mystery Reader – Evelynne’s mom surprised us on Thursday as a mystery reader! She read The Giving Tree and Madeline. We loved hearing the stories.
OUR LEARNING:
Reading– This week wrapped up our Word Detective unit! We learned about vowel teams and contractions. Next week we will begin our non-fiction unit.
Writing – We began our non-fiction chapter book unit! Students began writing about topics that they are experts on. Some students wrote about animals, sports, or TV shows they know know lots about.
Math – We worked on solving subtraction equations. Students solved subtraction equations by making math mountains and by clapping and counting on to the total, looking at their fingers for the answer.
Word Study – This week we solved our last three case files from the SSDA:
- The Case of Words In Disguise, we can read contractions.
- The Case of Compound Words, we can read compound words.
- The Case of Look Alike Words, we can read tricky words that look like words we already know.
UPCOMING DATES:
- Monday, November 18
- PE
- Star of the Day: Emmett
- Parent Teacher Conferences
- Tuesday, November 19
- ART
- Star of the Day: Alesha
- Wednesday, November 20
- STEAM
- Library
- Star of the Day: Kennedy
- Parent Teacher Conferences
- Thursday, November 21
- MUSIC
- Star of the Day: Evelynne
- Friday, November 22
NOTES FOR PARENTS:
-
The annual P.E. C.A.R.E.S food drive started on Nov. 6. We are asking for your help by 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 food drive will continue until Nov. 21. We will be keeping track of how many items each class brings in for the food drive. The class with the most items at the end of the day on Nov. 21 will win a bowling trip to Hudsonville Lanes and a P.E. C.A.R.E.S t-shirt. This is a great opportunity for our students to care for their community, thanks for sharing in this service project with us at Georgetown.
- Continue practicing shoe tying at home! Students can join our shoe tying club once they show Mrs. Kuiper that they can tie their shoes independently.
- If you would like to volunteer in our classroom, please sign up here!
CELEBRATIONS:
Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to COLTON for always helping others!
Mystery Reader – Olivia’s mom surprised us on Friday as a mystery reader! She read Home Sweet Home. We loved hearing the story.
OUR LEARNING:
Reading– This week we practiced scooping up words in phrases and worked on taking a closer look at the beginning of tricky words.
Writing – We wrapped up our how-to writing unit this week. Students watched this video of a dad following his children’s EXACT directions on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Some of the students wanted to bring extra paper home to try it with their parents!
Math – We began solving equations with unknown partners. Students solved for the missing addend by making math mountains and by clapping and counting on, looking at their fingers for the answer.
Word Study – This week we received a HUGE package from the SSDA! It contained case files with evidence bags. So far, we have solved two cases:
- The Case of the Letter Twins, we can pull double consonants in the middle of words apart to break the word into two syllables. Then, we can put the parts back together to read the whole word.
- The Case of the Sticky Letters, we can blend the sounds of THREE letters stuck together before a vowel to help us read lots of words.
UPCOMING DATES:
- Monday, November 11
- PE
- Star of the Day: Kinsman
- Tuesday, November 12
- ART
- Star of the Day: Olivia
- Wednesday, November 13
- STEAM
- Library
- Star of the Day: Alyssa
- Thursday, November 14
- MUSIC
- Star of the Day: Tinley
- Friday, November 15
- ART
- Star of the Day: Lila
- Early Release
The annual P.E. C.A.R.E.S food drive will be starting on November 6. We are asking for your help by 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 food drive will continue until Nov. 21. We will be keeping track of how many items each class brings in for the food drive. The class with the most items at the end of the day on Nov. 21 will win a bowling trip to Hudsonville Lanes and a P.E. C.A.R.E.S t-shirt.
This is a great opportunity for our students to care for their community, thanks for sharing in this service project with us at Georgetown.
NOTES FOR PARENTS:
- Conference time forms were sent home this week. Please return the bottom portion of the form to school by Friday, November 8th to confirm your conference time or request a different time.
- Continue practicing shoe tying at home! Students can join our shoe tying club once they show Mrs. Kuiper that they can tie their shoes independently.
- Reading calendars for November were sent home this week. Return these at the end of the month to receive a free pizza from Pizza Hut!
- If you would like to volunteer in our classroom, please sign up here!
CELEBRATIONS:
Mrs. Kuiper was out sick on Friday, so this week’s awards will be handed out on Monday. I will post photos on the blog then!
We had so much fun at our Fall Party! Thank you to everyone who gave their time and resources to help make this party a success. Here are some photos from our party!
OUR LEARNING:
Reading– This week we learned more about snap words! Snap words help our reading become easier and also help us solve more tricky words.
Writing – We continued working on our very one how-to writing pieces. Students also practiced fixing sentences that had errors in them.
Math – We reviewed addition and subtraction at the beginning of the week and had our unit 2 test on Wednesday! Tests will be shared with parents at conferences later this month.
Word Study – This week we learned that the silent e makes vowels e, i, o, and u say their names! We also learned about the vowel teams ee and ea, which both say the long e sound in words.
Social Studies – This week students began sharing out their rules and hanging up their rule posters around our classroom. They had some amazing new rules to share with us!
UPCOMING DATES:
- Monday, November 4
- MUSIC
- Star of the Day: Dominic
- Tuesday, November 5
- PE
- Star of the Day: Kashen
- Wednesday, November 6
- ART
- Library
- Star of the Day: Carter
- Thursday, November 7
- STEAM
- Star of the Day: Miyah
- Friday, November 8
- MUSIC
- Star of the Day: Jacob
Notes for Parents:
- Conference time forms will be sent home in your child’s blue folder tomorrow. Please return the bottom portion of the form to school by Friday, November 8th to confirm your conference time or request a different time.
- Our fall party will be on Thursday, October 31 from 12:30-1:30 pm. Your child is welcome to wear their costume to school.
- Please send in one bottle of hand sanitizer with your child this week!
- Continue practicing shoe tying at home! Students can join our shoe tying club once they show Mrs. Kuiper that they can tie their shoes independently.
- New Scholastic Book Club order forms were sent home this week. This is a great idea for holiday gifts!
CELEBRATIONS:
Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to WILL for always believing in himself!
Lost Tooth Club – Evelynne, Alesha, and Kashen all lost teeth AT SCHOOL this week! They joined our Lost Tooth Club.
Mystery Reader – Kennedy’s dad surprised us on Friday as our first mystery reader! He read Pete the Cat: Trick or Pete. We loved hearing the story.
Class Tickets – Students earn tickets for following our class rules. On the last Friday of each month, they can choose to spend them or save them for a bigger prize. We had so much fun counting our tickets on Friday! Some students purchased coupons to write with a pen for the day, go barefoot for the day, or even chew bubble gum for the day. Other students are saving up for free time on Clever or lunch with Mrs. Kuiper!
OUR LEARNING:
Reading– This week we completed our first bend in our Word Detective unit. During our Reader’s Workshop on Friday, the Super Secret Detective Agency knocked on our door and delivered a top secret envelope. The envelope contained word detective badges and certificates for our first grade readers.
Writing – We finished up our shared writing on how to make a jelly sandwich! Then, everyone chose their very own how-to topic and began writing step by step directions to teach a reader how to do something.
Math – We began comparing addition and subtraction problems by labeling the total (T) and partners (P) in the addition equation and seeing which one is missing in the subtraction equation to find the answer.
We also started doing vertical addition and subtraction problems.
Word Study – This week we learned that the silent e makes vowels other than ‘a’ say their long vowel sound, too!
Social Studies – This week we started our first social studies unit on rules, rights, and responsibilities. Students worked in small groups to make new rules for different parts of our school.
Upcoming Dates:
- Monday, October 28
- STEAM
- Star of the Day: Colton
- Tuesday, October 29
- MUSIC
- Star of the Day: Bryson
- Picture Retake Day
- Turkey Trot
- Wednesday, October 30
- PE
- Library
- Star of the Day: Elise
- Thursday, October 31
- ART
- Star of the Day: Charles
- Fall Party
- Friday, November 1
- STEAM
- Star of the Day: RJ
Notes for Parents:
- Interested in volunteering in our classroom? We would love your help as a morning baggie book volunteer or an afternoon sight word volunteer! Follow this link to see available slots and to sign up. Make sure to fill out the background check form.
- Interested in being a mystery reader in our classroom? Follow this link to see available slots and to sign up. Again, please make sure to fill out the background check form.
- Please complete conference time preference form. The form will close at 11:59 pm on October 24th!
- Our fall party will be on Thursday, October 31 from 12:30-1:30 pm. Your child is welcome to wear their costume to school.
- Please take a moment to give your child permission to participate in our school’s Art Prize 2020 entry! Follow this link to fill out the permission form.
CELEBRATIONS:
Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to KENNEDY for using kind words!
OUR LEARNING:
Reading– This week we began our second unit of reading which is all about being word detectives. The Super Secret Detective Agency delivered us a top secret envelope with 5 missions for our class to complete. This week we completed two missions! On Friday, our 4th grade buddies came to read with us again!
Writing – We celebrated our short story unit with a candy corn party this week! We also began our second writing unit, “How-To Writing.” Mrs. Kuiper taught the class how to make a jelly sandwich this week with jelly, bread, and a knife. We began working together to write a how-to piece on how to make a jelly sandwich so that other people can learn how, too!
Math – We began solving subtraction equations this week using circle drawings. The number of circles represent the total, a line crosses out the number being taken away (followed by a break apart stick), and the number of circles not crossed out tells us our answer! See the example below for a visual.
Word Study – This week we began our second word study unit, all about the mystery of the silent e. We worked on sorting words with the vowel ‘a’ that did and did not have an e at the end of the word. In words without an ‘e’ at the end, the ‘a’ said its short vowel sound. In words with an ‘e’ at the end, the ‘a’ said its long vowel sound.
Upcoming Dates:
- Monday, October 21
- ART
- Star of the Day: Aaron
- Tuesday, October 22
- STEAM
- Star of the Day: Kinsman
- Wednesday, October 23
- MUSIC
- Library
- Star of the Day: Will
- Thursday, October 24
- Friday, October 25
- ART
- Star of the Day: Emma
Notes for Parents:
- Please incorporate sight words into your child’s 20 minutes of reading each night. Read the sight word parent letter to learn about fun ways for your child to practice these words. Once your child moves onto the next level, a new packet of words will come home in his/her blue folder.
- Interested in volunteering in our classroom? We would love your help as a morning baggie book volunteer or an afternoon sight word volunteer! Follow this link to see available slots and to sign-up. Make sure to fill out the background check form.
- Sign up to volunteer at our fall party here! Make sure to fill out the background check form.
- Thank you for your generous donations! Our class loved using the new puzzles during soft start this week.
CELEBRATIONS:
Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to CARTER for always being true to himself!
Lost Tooth Club – Tinley got an award for joining the lost tooth club!
OUR LEARNING:
Reading– We worked on our reading comprehension this week. While reading as a class and independently, we practiced “reading with a pencil” to show our thinking.
Writing – We revised and edited our favorite stories this week! We are putting finishing touches on them to share them with the whole class this week.
Math – We continued practicing the counting on strategy. We began underlining the larger number and starting there to be more efficient when solving addition equations. On Friday, we played a fun fall addition game with dice!
Word Study – This week we graduated from our first word study unit! Pomp and Circumstance was playing in the background and each student got a diploma.
Upcoming Dates:
- Monday, October 14
- ART
- Star of the Day: Emmett
- Tuesday, October 15
- STEAM
- Star of the Day: Alesha
- Wednesday, October 16
- MUSIC
- Library
- Star of the Day: Kennedy
- Thursday, October 17
- PE
- Star of the Day: Evelynne
- Friday, October 18
- PE
- Early Release at 12:15 pm
- Popcorn Day
Notes for Parents:
- Culver’s Night is Monday, October 6th from 5:00-8:00 pm! Mrs. Kuiper will be at Culver’s from 5:00-6:00 pm!
- Our next Star of the Day sheet went home in your child’s blue folder on Friday. On their assigned day, your child may bring in one show and tell item. Please see the salmon colored sheet for more guidelines on what is and is not allowed at school.
- Please incorporate sight words into your child’s 20 minutes of reading each night. Read the sight word parent letter to learn about fun ways for your child to practice these words. Once your child moves onto the next level, a new packet of words will come home in his/her blue folder.
- Interested in volunteering in our classroom? We would love your help as a morning baggie book volunteer or an afternoon sight word volunteer! Follow this link to see available slots and to sign-up. Feel free to bring in younger siblings. Mrs. Kuiper has toys that siblings can play with while parents are reading with students.
- The deadline to register for the Hudsonville Turkey Trot is October 9! Click here to register! Mrs. Kuiper will be there to cheer you on.
CELEBRATIONS:
Quote of the Week – This week’s quote went to KASHEN for always spreading his smile to others!
Lost Tooth Club – Carter, Dominic, and Lila got an award for joining the lost tooth club!
Shoe Tying Club – Tinley, Emma, and Emmett got an award for joining the shoe tying club!
OUR LEARNING:
Reading– We are learning how to be great reading partners! Great reading partners introduce their books to one another, cheer on one another, and do something at the end of a book (reread, think of a favorite part, or ask questions).
Writing – We tried out craft moves from our mentor text, Night of the Veggie Monster by George McClements. We learned how to use ellipses, pop out words, and exact actions.
Math – We learned about adding two numbers by using circles and equations and began using a method called counting on. Counting on is a math skill where, when adding two numbers, you begin counting at the larger number and then COUNT ON to add the second number to it.
Word Study – This week Rasheed delivered some new words to us. We made this words snap words by reading them, spelling them, studying them, writing them, and using them in a sentence. On Friday we got to play snap word bingo!
Upcoming Dates:
- Monday, October 6
- PE
- Star of the Day: Mrs. Kuiper
- Culver’s Night
- Tuesday, October 7
- ART
- Star of the Day: Olivia
- Wednesday, October 8
- STEAM
- Library
- Star of the Day: Alyssa
- Thursday, October 9
- Friday, October 10
- PE
- Star of the Day: Lila
- Jet’s Pizza Night
