Week of June 24th

Dear Parents,

  We have a very busy week with a lot of extra activities going. So please read the entire post. 

Showcase: The school wide showcase will be on Monday, June 24^th at 6:00 pm at the Community Reformed Church. We will be going there on Monday afternoon to practice.  Pick up that afternoon will be at Community Reformed Church at 3:30pm.  Please refer to the email from Leisa Lobbezoo for more details. 

Swimming: Also, as in years past we will again be heading to Cityside Pool for an afternoon of swimming on WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26TH. Please have students bring swimsuits and towels to school that day. Lifejackets will be available to our friends who need one. Please simply let me know if your child will need one. Our parent volunteers will be driving our students from the field trip to Cityside.  The cost for the swim will be $2 because we will not be taking the bus.  Pick up that afternoon will be at Cityside Middle School in downtown Zeeland at 3:30pm.

Field Trip: Just a reminder that we will be going on a field trip to the Outdoor Discovery Learning Center on Wednesday, June 26 from 1:00-2:30pm.  Rather than being dropped off back at Innocademy, we will arrive at Cityside in order to participate in Innocademy's swim day!  Pick up that afternoon will be at Cityside Middle School in downtown Zeeland at 3:30pm.

This field trip will support what we are currently learning about in Science: animal habitats and characteristics.  The cost will be $5 per student.  Please let us know if you need assistance in providing the $5.  Also, we wanted to thank those parents who have signed up to help drive!  We really appreciate it! We ask that if you are driving could you please arrive to school by 12:25. 

In writing we began talking about how we hear the music when we are reading and writing poems.

 In math we finished up talking about length, weight and capacity and some of us began to take the final math test while others will finish it up this week.

 In reading we continued learning strategies that we use when we come to a word we don’t know.  Your children have been introduced to strategies such as Eagle Eye, Stretchy Snake, Lips The Fish and some learned about Chunk Monkey.  Ask your children what these beanie babies help them to remember to do. 

 Reminders/ Notes

-Refer to above notes but Monday and Wednesday pickup will not be at Innocademy.

-Showcase Monday night.

-Fieldtrip and Swimming will be on Wednesday.

-Thursday is the last day of school.

Please contact me with any questions.

Thanks,

Ms. Karen :)

Week of June 17

Dear Parents,

We finished our ELA MAPS testing and this week we will be working on our Math MAPS testing.  

This week we had the opportunity to work with our older friends in acting out short plays.  Ask your child what play they acted out. 

In science we were working on animal characteristics.  Your child had the opportunity to create his or her own animal using playdough and then tell what the animals special characteristic was and what it does. 

In writing we began talking about poetry and what it means to be a poet and to see the world through a poets eye (fresh and exciting new way).  The students also began to listen to how different poets used line breaks and created their own line breaks using a poem.  

 In Math we began talking about comparing lengths and weight and had the opportunity to compare objects around the room.

In reading we are continuing to work in small groups and learn about new reading strategies.   

Having fun playing outside.

 Notes/Reminder

-Just a reminder that we are no longer doing sightwords.

-We have a field trip scheduled for Wednesday the 26th.  
-Please remember to send in water bottles with your child. 

Have a great week,
Ms. Karen

Week of June 10-13th

 Dear Parents,

 I have had a fabulous time getting to know your children this past week.

We have another very busy week ahead.  In reading we finished Fairy Tales.  This week we will be working in small literacy groups working on reading strategies.  The students will also have the opportunity to be working with our centers that we introduced this past week.  

In math we will be continuing to work with teen numbers as well as working with comparing things by weight and length. 

Working on their teen numbers.

In science we finished up our experiment with worms and was able to see a real compost pile that was full of worms busy at work.

In writing this week the students went through their folders and organized them.  The side with the red sticker was full of pieces that were all finished.  The side with the yellow sticker had pieces that needed a bit more work.  By the end of the week they  fixed up one piece and we sent the rest home.  They also were able to choose one piece to read to a friend. 

Reading with  a friend. 

Organizing her writing folder..

Organizing her writing folder.

Reading with a friend.

Notes/Reminders:

-Please remember to send in a water bottle for your child.
-If anyone has extra hangers the "Foundation Friday( or Thursday)" group is looking for hangers for use in the Innocloset.
-Thank you to all of you who signed up to help out with centers in the classroom.  We still have available spots if anyone is interested just click on the following link. www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C0F4AAEA629A02-parent/9775282 

Have a great week,

Ms. Karen :) 

Week of June 3rd-7th

Hello Parents!

 I am very excited to get started working in the classroom.  Ms. Monica had her baby on May 27th.  A beautiful little girl weighing 8lbs 10oz and 21 inches long, her name is Kyla.

We have a very busy week planned ahead. In reading we will be continuing to explore Fairy Tales.  Reading Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty.  

In writing the students will be getting their own copy of the word wall to use in their writing, that they can add to as needed.  Then we will be cleaning out folders this week and sending the writing home so we can start fresh with poetry next week.

In science we will be finishing the experimentation with the worms.  We will be investigating whether or not the worms will eat the watermelon or the cookie.  Ask your child what happened in the experiment.

In math we will be working with our teen numbers (15 is 10+5 or 10 and five ones).  We will also be working with less than, greater than and equal.  

Notes/Reminders:

-Just a reminder that spelling is done for the year

 Looking forward to working with all of you!!!

Have a great day!!
Ms. Karen :)

Week of May 13-17

Hello Parents!

We had such a fun week in the light blue room! Bike day was a bug success and we had so much fun out and about around our school!

We loved the bike presentation!

In reading this week we finished our unit on Fables. We read The Tortoise and the Hare, The Ant and the Grasshopper, The Lion and the Mouse and The Hen and the Apple Tree. W learned that fables teach us a lesson and we really enjoyed hearing these short stories!  We also learned some new reading strategies and comprehension strategies to use while we are reading. At this point in the year it is so fun to see how far the kiddos have come as readers!

In writing this week we worked on using spaces between words, stretching our words out and also sticking to our tiny moment stories. When focusing so much on spacing and sounding out words, students can sometimes forget to stick to writing about a small moment. They did awesome this week! We will have a Writer's Celebration this Wednesday and Thursday. In June we will move into Poetry.

The blue room friends helped us with our surveys about what we want to be when we grow up.

In math this week we continued to work on math partners, specifically partners of 7 and 10. We have been working on this skill for quite some time and students are doing wonderful with this! These little mathematicians are flying and I am so proud of them!

In science this week we made a worm habitat together! We designed a home for our worms and provided them with food and water. As a class, we talked about what worms need to survive, how they move and why. We came up of a list of questions we want to investigate with the worms and made predictions about what is going to happen. (This marks the beginning of thinking with the Scientific Process.) The question the students decided on is "What will the worms do if we give them watermelon, a cookie, dirt and water?" We will be investigating this on Monday in small groups.

We had so much fun making the worm habitat!

Notes/Reminders:

-this is the last week for Spelling Tests. Spelling will take place this Thursday and will not continue through June

-Synergy Day this Friday!

Have a great week!

Ms. Monica

Week of May 6-10

We had a wonderful week in the Youngest Friend's Room! We were so excited to meet Governor Snyder and loved having him in our classroom!

Governor Snyder came in during writing time!

In reading this week we continued to work on rhyming words and nursery rhymes. We practiced different rhyming techniques and did a cut and paste activity where we had to match rhyming words. This week, we learned Pop! Goes the Weasel and Jack and Jill! We had so much fun reading and reciting our nursery rhymes as they help us learn to rhyme words as well. Next week we will study Fables.

We practiced sequencing the parts of the nursery rhyme in the correct order.

In writing this week we focused on a few different foundational skills including spacing words and stretching words out. We learned that when you are done stretching a word out and you don't hear any more sounds it is time for a rest or a space. We went through our writing folders and sorted pieces that were easy to read and hard to read and discussed the reasons why. Many times when a piece is hard to read it is because we forgot to use spaces. I am so proud of how far these writers have come!

Practicing our rhyming words.

In math this week we continued to focus on math partners and equations. Students are focusing on partners of 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. They are coming along so well with equations! As the year comes to a close we will be moving into Geometry and continue to practice equations and math partners while applying them to real life situations.

In science this week we began studying earthworms. We studied what they look like, how they feel and how they move. We then journaled about our findings. This week we will continue to study earthworms and study the growth of our bean plants. So proud of these scientists!

We had so much fun observing the earthworms!

Notes/Reminders:

-please send a water bottle and snack to school with your child

-when baby arrives, you can email Ms. Karen at karen.weiss@innocademy.com with any questions

Have a great week!

Ms. Monica

Week of April 29-May 3

We had a wonderful week in the Youngest Friend's room! We were able to meet Ms. Karen and are so excited to see her again! Ms. Karen will be subbing for me as the Youngest Friend teacher while I am on maternity leave. This will be for the month of June and perhaps some of May, depending on when the baby gets here!

Ms. Karen and her family

Hello my name is Karen Weiss and I have the privilege of working with you and your child for the remainder of the year while Ms. Monica is on Maternity leave.  I have two boys of my own, ages 5 and 1 and half.  I have taught in Hudsonville for four years in a kindergarten and Pre-Kindergarten classroom and loved it.  I left my position in Hudsonville to stay home with my boys but then was excited to learn of a short-term position here at Innocademy.  I have a Master’s in Reading and Literacy and my undergraduate is in Elementary Education with a Major in Child Development and a Minor in Language Arts. I look forward to working with all of you.

In Reading this week we have been studying rhyming words and nursery rhymes. We are having fun discovering the art of rhyming through classic nursery rhymes and activities. This week, we learned Humpty Dumpty, Jack and Jill and Hickory Dickory Dock. You can practice rhyming and reciting these classic rhymes with your child at home! We are also continuing to review nouns, adjectives and verbs. We will continue with these topics through next week as well. Kiddos are doing fantastic with spelling and their sight words! Thank you for supporting them at home with these. 

We worked in partners and practiced reciting our Nursery Rhymes together!

In Writing this week we wrapped up our How-To unit and had our Writer's celebration! Students had so much fun teaching others how to do things they are experts on through writing. We had so much fun learning that writers can also use their talents to show others how to do things through writing. During our Writer's celebration, we each had a chance to teach the class how to do something. Way to go writers!

Adeline taught us how to make a glitter bottle!

In Math this week we practiced writing equations with ten groups and five groups. We also continued to practice math partners. Students were able to come up with their own equations using math pictures. They were given pictures with ten groups and extra ones. Next, they wrote equations for these pictures. We also told math stories as a warm up this week. It is amazing to see these kiddos recognizing equations and connecting them to real life situations. On Friday, we had fun exploring math through some math games on iPads and centers!

Fun Friday Centers with iPads!

In Science this week we learned about seeds, planting seeds and growing plants. On Wednesday we were able to plant seeds that will grow into our very own bean plants! In our journals, we drew a picture of our bean seeds and also a picture of what we think our bean seeds will grow into. We love being scientists and predicting what will happen. We are so excited to watch our plants grow!

Having fun with Ms. Brenda and her obstacle course!

A note from Ms. Natalia:

Dear Parents,

This week we began the unit "La Casa." (The House.) We have been learning about things that are in the house. Also, we have been practicing directions and some other words that I have listed for you and your child to practice together.

La ventana: the window

La puerta: the door

La mesa: the table

La silla: the chair

La taza: the cup

El vaso: the glass

La cama: the bed

Debajo de: under

Al lado de: next to

Detras: behind

Notes/Reminders:

-Please continue to send a daily snack to school with your child

-As the weather is getting warmer, drinking water is very important at school so students stay hydrated. Please send your child to school with a water bottle. We do not have a drinking fountain in the classroom so it is important that students are able to drink water without missing learning time.

Thank you and have a great week!

Ms. Monica

Week of April 22-26

We had another wonderful week in the light blue room! On Thursday we had a beautiful fundraiser, thank you to everyone who came and donated to our movie themed basket! The Youngest Friend's had so much fun making flowers to display at this event. We were also able to learn about Uganda on Friday as a school. Thank you to Gabe and Anna Kalmbacher for coming in to teach us all about Uganda!

We loved learning about the parts of a plant!

In Reading this week we continued to learn about the long vowels, nouns, adjectives, verbs and question words. Students made posters when learning about nouns. They drew a picture of a person, place, thing and animal and labeled each picture. When learning about question words we reviewed each habit we have learned so far. It is wonderful to see the kids using 7 habits language in the classroom and outside the classroom. They truly are applying these habits to their daily routine!

In Writing this week we continued to learn and write How-To stories. Students are doing a phenomenal job with this! We will soon be having a Writer's Celebration to celebrate their learning about how to writing. It is so fun to see the kiddos not only as writers but as teachers as well. They are learning that there are many uses for writing and are beginning to apply these uses to their daily lives.

In Math this week we have been studying equations, writing equations, and using pictures to see teen numbers and write equations with the number 10. Students have been given pictures of math partners and are learning how to write equations just based on the picture. We are also using 10 groups along with extra ones to see teen numbers and write equations to go along with those. For example, I may show the students the number 17 using a ten stick and seven extra ones. They should then be able to write 10+7=17.

We learned about bike turn signals with Mr. Matt in Mosaic!

In Science this week we studied the life cycle of a plant and the life cycle of a butterfly. We learned that a butterfly begins as an egg, then becomes a caterpillar, then a chrysalis and finally a butterfly. We also talked about how seeds grow into flowers and how seeds are released from the flower to start over the life cycle. Next week students will learn more about seeds.

Learning some healthy stretching techniques with Ms. Brenda!

Notes/Reminders:

-Please continue to send a snack in with your child every day

Have a great week!

Ms. Monica

Week of April 15-19

Greetings from the Youngest Friend's room! We had such a wonderful week. On Thursday we had some special visitors come in to check out our awesome school. We loved showing them what Innocademy is all about. 

Silent reading time on our reading bench.

In Reading this week we studied the long vowels and question words. Students did several activities when learning about the long vowels. We learned that the vowels are the "hardest workers" because they can make different sounds depending on what words they are forming. When learning about question words, students learned that it is important to ask questions before, during and after reading. We learned about the 5W's: Who, What, When, Where and Why. We read several stories this week and practiced asking questions. This improves comprehension skills when reading. Students are also doing really well with learning their sight words. During small group reading time this week I was very impressed to see how far along these kiddos have come since the beginning. Way to go readers!

Making dirt cups!

In Writing this week we began a new unit: How To Writing. In this aspect of writing, students use their writing to teach someone to do something. We are having so much fun with this! To kick off this unit, we made Oreo dirt cups. I did a demonstration first, explaining each step when creating a dirt cup. After the demonstration, students were able to create their own dirt cups! During the rest of the week, students came up with their own how-to writing topics and did a wonderful job! Some of their topics included how to make cookies, how to make a shake, how to make a fish tank and many more! So proud of these writers!

In Math this week we completed our Unit 4 tests and began Unit 5. We are continuing to work on identifying 3D shapes and their characteristics. We are also continuing to work on identifying 10 groups in teen numbers, writing equations using pictures and using equations to draw math pictures. We began Unit 5 by reviewing Anno's Counting Book and identifying scenes with teen numbers. Please practice counting with your child at home. We count by ones, fives and tens each day. Also, practice writing numbers 1-30. This is something we are going to continue to work on throughout the end of the year.

Making flowers and labeling the parts of the flower.

In Science this week we learned about plants and the parts of a plant. Some new vocabulary we learned are the words stem, leaf, roots, petal and seeds. To go along with this lesson, we created large flowers and labeled all of the parts of a plant. Students did a great job with this! If you are coming to the fundraiser this coming Thursday you will see our flowers on display as you make your way upstairs! Hope to see everyone there!

Yoga in Brain Blast with Ms. Brenda!

Notes/Reminders:

-Please continue to pack a snack every day with your child.

-Thank you to everyone that donated items to our auction baskets!

Have a great week!

Ms. Monica

Week of April 9-12

We had a great week back in the Youngest Friend's room! As spring unfolds we are learning about some new, exciting things!

In Reading this week during our ELA time we learned about opposites, adjectives and verbs. Students were able to use the interactive Smartboard when learning about these and had fun using this bit of technology! When learning about opposites we played a memory game and connected opposites with their partner. This is something you can practice verbally at home, on trips, or anywhere when you have some time!

Students learned that an adjective is a describing word that describes a person, place or thing. On Friday we made self-portraits of ourselves and wrote three adjectives describing ourselves. Students had so much fun practicing adjectives when writing about themselves!

When learning about verbs, students practiced acting out verbs with one another. We played charades and learned that a verb is an action word. What a fun week in reading!

In Writing this week we continued to write about small moments. This week, we learned how to practice ending our stories in a more interesting, creative way. Instead of ending our stories in ways such as "then we went home," we talked about ending our stories with the last detail of what happened or how we were feeling during that time. Students did a great job with this! We are really practicing tying emotion/feeling into our writing. It is so exciting to see how far these kiddos have come since the beginning of the year!

In Math this week we finished Unit 4 instruction. We reviewed for our test Thursday and Friday. I have pushed the test back until Monday as it is a more challenging test and I thought two days of review would be best. The test will cover math partners, ten groups and teen numbers, writing and solving equations, and recognizing shapes such as a cone, cylinder, sphere and cube. We have some hard working mathematicians in this group!

In Science this week we began a new unit on living things. We completed out pre-assessment to see and show what we already know about living things. We then learned about the difference between a living thing and a non-living thing. Students completed the first page in their journal where they had to draw and label a living and non-living thing.

Playing "Memoria" in Spanish!

Fun in Brain Blast with rubber bands!

Notes/Reminders:

-Please pack a snack for your child every day

-Please send growth portfolios back this week

Have a great week!

Ms. Monica

Week of March 25-29

Greetings from the light blue room!

I hope everyone had a wonderful, relaxing break! We had a great week in the Youngest Friend's room! Our Synergy Day on Thursday was so much fun! We were able to make cards for the Reach Out and Read program and we enjoyed some cozy reading time as a school. We also voted for our school mascot which ended up being the Eagles!

Making cards for Reach out and Read.

Cozy reading time!

Voting for our mascot!

In reading this week we finished our unit on The Hungry Caterpillar. We made books about The Hungry Caterpillar and buttered our sight words. After we made the books, we practiced reading in partners. We continued to practice retelling the story, syllables, discussing characters and words that describe characters. We also focused on the 5 W's: who, what, when, where and why. You can practice the 5W questions at home with your child after reading. Be sure to talk about the story during and after you read with your child to strengthen comprehension skills.

Making our books!

Reading our books in partners.

In writing this week we wrote a few stories that went along with The Hungry Caterpillar. We wrote about our snacks and why we liked them or didn't like them. We also finished the story that began with the sentence "If I were a caterpillar..." We had so much fun! We worked on important writing skills such as punctuation, spacing, details, stretching words out and writing words in a snap. I am so proud of these creative writers!

Practicing retelling skills and labeling.

In math this week we reviewed ten groups, teen numbers, and equations with numerals 1-10. We will be doing 1-2 more days of review upon returning and students will be taking there Unit 4 math test. We also did a fun caterpillar math lesson with patterns along with math pattern centers. So fun!

In science this week we wrapped up our unit on Motion. Students took their post assessment test and did great! They have shown much growth since the pre-assessment and show genuine understanding of the concepts of motion. Upon returning from break, we will begin our Living Things unit.

Notes/Reminders:

-Please send your child to school with a snack daily

-Please send the growth portfolio in with your child

-Sight words are tested every Tuesday, spelling tests are every Friday

I am excited to see the kiddos on Tuesday! I hope you enjoyed some well deserved family time!

Ms. Monica

Week of March 18-22

Hello parents!

We had another great week in the Youngest Friend's room! This week we began our two-week unit on The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We loved learning about this story written by Eric Carle!

Our daily fix-it!

In reading this week we continued to focus on syllables. We practice clapping out the syllables in different words. We practice this in many ways, including verbally and on paper. When practicing syllables, remind your child to clap as this really helps their brain connect this information. 

We also did a retelling of the story The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Students cut out and pasted the events that happened in the story in the correct order. This is a very important skill in reading and also something that must be mastered as a student progresses in reading.

Working on our retelling posters.

In writing this week we focused on writing about the most important part of our small moments. We talked about how writers are often like photographers in the sense that they "zoom in" and focus on the part they want to capture. They did a great job with this! This is something we will continue to work on throughout the year. 

We also did a fun writing piece to go with out Hungry Caterpillar theme. It was called "If I were a caterpillar..." Students had so much fun writing about what they would do if they were a caterpillar!

Working on our caterpillar books.

In math this week we continued to work on math equations and especially focused on math partners. Students are working on being able to identify partners of all numbers 2-10 while also beginning to identify partners of teen numbers. They are doing so well with this concept! We even did a fun math game to work on math partners. Students rolled 2 dice, added the numbers and colored in the correct number on their worksheet. Each number was a different food that the hungry caterpillar ate.

In science this week we talked about what happens to an object when it is thrown in the air and why different forces affect certain objects differently. We had fun experimenting and finding the answers to our questions while also writing in our journals!

Balance boards in Brain Blast!

A notes from Ms. Natalia

In Spanish this week we will be finishing La Familia

This week we began counting up to 20 as well as began doing calendar. We learned the following concepts: in, out, long, short and the letter Hh.

Vocabulary Words to practice at home:

-tio (uncle)

-tia (aunt)

-hermano (brother)

-hermana (sister)

-calendario (calendar)

-day (dia)

-today (hoy)

-Marzo (March)

-adentro (in)

-afuera (out)

-largo (long)

-corto (short)

Notes/Reminders:

-conferences are this Monday and Tuesday

-please stop by our lost and found during conferences. We will be sending everything home before Spring Break. Anything that is not claimed will be brought to Goodwill this Friday

Youngest Friend's lost and found

Have a great week, can't wait to see you all for conferences!

Ms. Monica