September 28, 2020
September 27
Upcoming Events
*September 30- Late Start
*October 7- Late Start
*October 7 - Student Count Day
Last we welcomed two new friends to our class. Claudia Engeln and Kinsley Flynn have joined us and fit right in! We now have 19 wonderful students!
It has been great having our whole class together this past week! The children have been doing a great job of getting to know routines and procedures better each day in our room and school. They are fast learners and are doing well. I am incredibly proud of them!
We have had a great start with the Read to Self portion of Daily 5. Students have been building their stamina by reading silently for up to 15 minutes. We have also introduced Work on Writing as a choice as well. This is a time for students to write words or phrases they know or even copy words from around the room. Spending time doing these things is helping us become better readers and writers. This week will introduce a third choice for Daily 5! You can help your child increase his or her stamina at home by having them read quietly each day. Remember there are three ways to read a book: read the pictures, read the words, or retell a familiar story. Make sure your child stays in one spot and reads quietly for this practice.
We have participated in each special now and are comfortable with the process and teachers. On Monday we met Mr. Pfhaler for gym. We met Mrs. Warsow on Tuesday for art. Mrs. Richards is our music teacher we see on Wednesday. Thursday is Media Center with Mrs. Bacolor and this week Mrs. Gruchot visited our classroom and students were able to check out books. This first time we have kept the books in our classroom (they have them in their book boxes). We have read them during the week and discussed good book care. Next Thursday the children will bring them home for the week. We have a wonderful assortment of books in our library that I’m sure your family will enjoy ☺. On Friday we spent time with Mrs. VanHekken learning about our feelings and appropriate ways to interact with our friends.
We took the reading and math NWEA tests in the computer lab last week. The children learned to follow the directions and manipulate the mouse. This is solely to get a baseline for the children.
We had our first fire drill last week. The students were wonderful at listening and following directions!
If your student is going to have school lunch, please remember to order in advance. The link to order is on below. By ordering lunch in advance, our morning routine will go much smoother. Thank you!
Please make sure you are checking your child’s folder each day!
What we are doing
In our writing program we will continue working on telling stories. Writers always begin with a story to share. We will be verbally telling our stories now to a buddy as we practice being a good speaker and a good audience.
This next cycle we will be starting our first week of our Benchmark Literacy Program. We will be talking about identifying the main idea of what we read. We are also going to learn how to ask questions while we read to make sure we understand what we are reading!
In social studies we will be learning about ourselves, and how we are special and unique. We are learning that we each have “roles” (like daughter or son) and that we can name something we like about ourselves.
In Science we will be learning how to be “weather watchers”. We will learn that 4 things tell us about the weather: the sky, the temperature, the wind, and if it’s raining or snowing.
When writing in our journals, we are listening for letter sounds in our words and putting spaces between our words. Our newest focus is starting a sentence with a capital letter and ending it with a period.
Homework
October calendars will come home and September calendars are due by the end of this next week. Your child will receive a prize from our treasure chest when his/her form is returned to school with your signature. This homework is not mandatory and can be used to reinforce what we learn in class.
The Math About Me form that came home last week can be done and turned in by the end of this week. We will be sharing these with the class and comparing some of the numbers. We will also put them into a class book that we can enjoy as the year goes on. This assignment was to help your child see important reasons for using numbers. Thank you!
September 20, 2020
September 20
This Week in Kindergarten
Monday- 1st full day of school for ALL of us!
Tuesday- Book Orders Due!!!! NWEA reading test.
Wednesday- Mrs. Bartz will be out for the day. Mrs. Caplea will be the guest teacher.
Thursday- Picture Day! NWEA math test.
Friday- We made it a whole week!!!
Kindergarten News
Weeks 1 & 2
We have had great weather for these two weeks of school!
Please continue to send a filled water bottle everyday!
We really need it to keep us going on these long days now!
Thank you so much for getting your child into Google Classroom
and practicing remote learning this past Friday.
If you still need help with Google Classroom please
send me an email right away.
ALL REMOTE LEARNING WILL SOURCE THROUGH GOOGLE
CLASSROOM.
I will be posting all classroom information on Google
Classroom or the BLOG.
Weeks 3 & 4
We now are starting our full week of learning. This includes
Reading, Journal, Centers, math, Daily 5, Phonics, writing workshop,
Morning Meeting, Calendar, Social Studies, Science and Handwriting.
Center time will run through a two week cycle. We will do Math
Centers for the second week and are starting Table Centers this week.
Math Centers will focus on numbers to 10, patterns and creating
with shapes. Your child will trace numbers, make numbers with
play dough and match numbers to corresponding dots. Your child will
also focus on how to play a game with 1-3 friends. Table centers
focus on playing cooperative games, practicing letters, and
doing art projects.
Reading lessons will include rhyming, Listening for sounds, letter name
recognition, listening for letter sounds, and learning how
to “Read to Self” and “Work on Writing” (Daily 5). I have
already taught the lesson “How to Read a book”...your child is
learning to read a book 3 ways:
Read the pictures, Read the words, Retell.
Journal writing started with writing a simple sentence and will
be done daily.
Stories- We have read many stories these two weeks, including
Big Green Monster, Chrysanthemum and Big Orange Splot.
Morning Meeting is when we will practice greeting each other by
making eye contact and being polite. We will all get to share about a
topic each morning.(ex. Favorite color). Our goal is to be a good
listener to whomever is speaking. We are going to be reading books
in morning meeting that help us understand our thoughts and feelings
and help us better get along with each other at school.
Writing Workshop will start with “I can tell a story”.
Your child will learn to tell a story about themselves, telling what
happened first, next and last. We will practice this for several
weeks before we write/draw our stories on paper.
Math will first focus on identifying numbers to 10, shapes,
counting to 20, patterns, and sharing and playing math
games with 1-3 friends.
Calendar time includes the date and other math concepts that
are repeated daily.
The first Social Studies unit is learning about “Who am I?” and
the first Science unit is “Weather”.
Bathroom Breaks/Lunch/Recess
Talk to your child about how bathroom breaks, lunch and recess
are going at school. Let me know if there is anything
that I can help with. :)
Have a good week!
September 14, 2020
September 13, 2020
September 13, 2020
Kindergarten News- September 13, 2020
Important Dates:
Monday, September 14- 1/2 day of school letters A-K
Tuesday, September 15- 1/2 day of school letters L-Z
Wednesday, September 16- Full day of school letters A-K, please send a lunch or order one on the app.
Thursday, September 17- Full day of school letters L-Z, please send a lunch or order one on the app.
Friday, September 18- Class Google Meet 9:00- 9:23am
Tuesday, September 22- Book Orders Due
Wednesday, September 23- Late Start
Thursday, September 24- Picture Day
Wednesday, September 30- Late Start
We had a great first day of school on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday! It was great to meet everyone! I appreciate all of your help in teaching your child how to wear a mask and keep it on! On our first day, we read a couple of stories, talked about what Kindergarten would be like, learned where our cubbies and lockers are, practiced being safe, played, ate snack, and even did a little work! We also learned that our name is the first present our parents gave us and each one is absolutely perfect! A note came home asking for more information about your child's name. Sending this back will help us get to know each other better!
Our September leader/snack calendar came home last week (and is posted below). The leaders bringing snack will begin when we are all together in class as listed on the calendar. Last week and this week I will supply the snack. **Your child does NOT need to bring in his/her own snack.** We do have a child with a peanut and sesame allergy in our class so please try to choose a snack that does not contain these things. If your child brings something for lunch containing those ingredients, that is still okay.
I hope everyone was able to view the informational slide show I sent via email on Thursday. There are two forms at the end of the show that I do need you to fill out and submit as soon as possible. Because we cannot have a typical Back to School night, next Monday at 7:00pm I plan to have a virtual parent meeting to explain a few things and answer any questions you may have. We will connect via the meeting link in Google Classroom that we will use on Friday morning for our class meet.
Coming home on Monday and Tuesday will be your child's login information for the sites we will be using this year. Your child's student ID number will be included so you can join my Google Classroom before Friday and connect to our virtual meet. Our first book order of the year will be coming home on Monday and Tuesday also. Scholastic offers great books at great prices and our class earns free books with every order! You can send in your order or order online.
Orientation Slide Show
Virtual Kindergarten Orientation
The link for this slideshow was emailed on Thursday but I wanted to include it here also in case you would like to refer back to it. Please remember to view it in "Present" mode to be able to click on the links.
September 02, 2020
My name is Heather Bartz and I am so happy to welcome you to kindergarten at Lincoln School! This year will be one of many changes for you and your child. As their academic career begins, they will have a lot of fun and meet many challenges. I am looking forward to a busy, productive, and exciting year for your child!
I am a graduate of Western Michigan University, with a major in Elementary Education and a minor in Early Childhood. I graduated in 2002 with a Masters in Education through Marygrove College in Detroit. I have taught both kindergarten and 1st grade. This is my 22nd year as a teacher in St. Joseph Public Schools.
My husband, Danny, and I have a home here in St. Joe. We have a 15 year old daughter, Sarah, and a 13 year old daughter, Jillian! We also have a crazy dog named Lucky AND two puppies we got during quarantine in the spring, Lola and Milo. I love being with my girls and husband, taking walks, reading, watching movies, spending time with my family and friends, and teaching your children!
I believe that our partnership in your child’s education is key to their educational success. We both have your child’s best interests in mind and we want them to be successful and develop a love of school that will last forever. No one knows your child better than you. As your child’s teacher, it is important for me to get to know him/her as well.
I look forward to working with you to make this school year fun and successful for your child. We are going to have a wonderful year!
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