Reading - Units of Study

Over the past month the students have been learning all about how to read nonfiction texts.  They have been learning that as readers we can look, think, and read the pictures within a nonfiction text to learn about the world around us.  Students have been engaged in independent as well as partner reading to practice skills such as sharing books, taking turns talking about the pictures, sharing information that they found interesting/fascinating, rereading books to learn more about interesting topics, connecting what is in the book to information they already know, and how to use the pictures to look for words in the text that match the pictures.  As you are reading with your child at home, these are all great reading strategies that set a strong foundation for teaching your child to be a successful reader.  Challenge your little reader to share with you interesting facts while reading nonfiction texts and to build connections to his/her books of interest.  Happy Reading!

School Counselor

Last week your child had the opportunity to meet our school counselor, Mrs. Sarah Boyd.   The children learned that a school counselor can help children talk about things that are bothering them or things that are on their minds.  Mrs. Boyd shared with the children that there are a variety of ways in which she can assist students, such as:

• working one-on-one with a child.
• working with a group of other children who are experiencing the same feelings, situations, etc. 
• coming into the classroom to teach lessons.
• meeting with teachers and/or parents to discuss the best ways in which we can all help our students.

When Mrs. Boyd meets with her students she discusses a variety of topics including the following:

• how to talk about feelings.
• how to get along with others.
• the loss of a loved one.
• changing families.
• how to be the best students they can be.

Mrs. Boyd is available at Hutchings on Monday - Friday all school year.  If you believe your child could benefit from meeting with our school counselor, please feel free to contact her through our main office at 517-548-1127 or boyds@howellschools.com.  

Working With FIVE

Last week, the students practiced working with the number 5!  They learned what a five frame is and how to quickly look at a full five frame and recognize that number as five rather than having to count each object in the frame.  Throughout the year we will continue working with this concept and practice "quick counts" using five frames and number cards, which represent numbers using quantities.  Ask your kiddo to sing along with Raffi at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruKEwcoQGCc.

Life Choices

This month we have spent a great deal of time establishing school and classroom routines and expectations.  The children have come up with an encouraging list of "Life Choices" by which they would like to see followed by all students and staff in our learning environment.  See the picture below to see what the children came up with all on their own! :)

Among many different activities, the children sorted a variety of actions into behaviors that would be above and beyond what is expected, society's expectations of model citizens, and behaviors that are undesirable and/or hurtful to others.  Quiz your child with different behaviors and ask him/her to explain why those behaviors would be acceptable or unacceptable.

Measuring

Throughout this month, the students have been learning how to measure two or more objects to determine which object is longer, shorter, or equal in length.  Check out the pictures below to see a few examples of the students measuring.

Shapes

This month the students have been learning to identify shapes and combine simple shapes to create bigger shapes.  As an introduction to my lesson, I showed the children a Stop Motion Video to demonstrate using small shapes (pattern blocks) to create bigger shapes.  Check out the video titled "All Things Pointed" on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSkZcYDx8E4.  The children worked with hexagons, diamonds, rhombus's, squares, triangles, and trapezoids to make their abstract creations.  Check out some of the creations your children came up with!

A my name is Alice by Jane Bayer

Last week, we read the story A my name is Alice written by Jane Bayer.  The children are learning to identify beginning sounds in words and they loved to hear all of the alliteration throughout this adorable story.  Ask your child to tell you the first sound in his/her name and something s/he likes that starts with that same letter.  You and your child can enjoy this story from home by visiting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyv0IDzMtf0.

Bus Safety

Last week, the children participated in our annual Bus Safety assembly with some of our amazing Howell Public Schools bus drivers.  Through an educational movie, the students were taught how to enter and exit a bus safely and during an emergency as well as how to ride the bus and how to cross the street safely in front of a bus.  After the movie, students had the opportunity to meet Buster the Bus, Howell's very own character bus that moves and "talks" to the kids.  Our amazing bus drivers reviewed the safety rules before sending the kids outside to load the bus.  Once we were on the bus, the kids were taught how to exit the bus in an emergency situation through the back door and then learned all about the Danger Zone around a bus.  Below you will see a list of safety rules that the children learned.  Please review these with your child frequently and annually, even if they do not ride a bus to/from school as your child will ride buses during field trips or maybe even as athletes as they get into middle and high school.

• While waiting for the bus to arrive, stand at least 10 big steps back from where the bus will stop. 
• Enter the bus using the hand rail.
• Sit "back to back, bottom to bottom" - your back to the back of the seat, your bottom to the bottom of the seat. 
• If you drop something in the Danger Zone, tell the bus driver and s/he will get your item for you.
• NEVER
• run up the steps as you are entering a bus.
• push while waiting to enter the bus.
• hold your school work in your hands as it could blow away and go under the bus.
• go in front of the bus, under the bus, or behind the bus without the bus driver's permission.
• turn around in the seat.
• kneel on the seat.
• sit with your feet in the aisle.
• eat and/or drink on the bus.
• put your body parts out the window.
• scream and shout.
• throw things on a bus.
• kick the seat in front of you.
• ALWAYS
• enter the bus safely, holding the hand rail and slowly coming up the steps.
• keep your personal items in your backpack rather than in your hands so they do not blow away as you enter the bus.  
• sit quietly.
• sit safely, facing forward.
• keep your body to yourself.
• be kind to the other people on the bus.
• be helpful to the driver by not distracting him/her.
• wait quietly at railroad tracks.
• exit the bus safely and only at your bus stop (not your friends bus stop).  :)
• wait for the bus driver to give you permission to cross the street if you must cross the road to get home.  The bus driver holds up a red stop sign when you need to wait and a green smiley face when if is safe to cross.  Students will need to wait for permission to step in front of the bus, stop to look both ways once they are in front of the bus, then wait for permission to cross the other side of the street.
• have an adult waiting for you at your bus stop.
• tell the bus driver if you are experiencing a problem on the bus.
• Stay out of the Danger Zone, which is the 10 foot area surrounding all sides of the bus.
• Stay in the Safety Zone (10 feet away from all sides of the bus) while waiting for the bus or after exiting the bus, even if you have to cross the street.  
• After exiting the bus, take at least 10 large steps away from the bus.  If you have to cross in front of the bus, take 10 large steps toward the front of the bus so the bus driver can see you while you wait for permission to cross.
• As a general rule, if you can't see the bus driver, s/he can't see you.
• All kindergarten students must have an adult waiting for them at the bus stop.  If no one is at the bus stop to pick up the kindergartner, the child will be taken back to school and parents will be notified.

In an effort to reduce boredom on the bus, potentially causing a troubling situation, I encourage your child to bring something small to keep in his/her backpack and to hold on the bus to keep your little kinder occupied if they have a long bus ride.  Of course crayons and such items could fall on the floor so maybe reduce the number of crayons to 3 or maybe just throw in a pencil.  Scissors should not be used on a bus.  I have heard feedback from parents that providing such activities help the bus ride go more smoothly and kids are better behaved because they are occupied.  Items such as iPads, iPods, etc. should remain at home as they would be quiet expensive to replace if they are lost, stolen, or broken.

All of these guidelines are for the safety of all of our children here in Howell Public Schools.  Thank you for reviewing these expectations with your child and for taking time to explain the potential dangers to breaking any of these safety rules while riding the bus.

Fire Drill Procedures

Your child experienced practicing the proper procedure for exiting our classroom in the event of a fire.  During a fire drill, or in the event of a fire, we would exit our classroom using the exterior door in our classroom, walk in a single-file line around the playground to the basketball court, and wait quietly for further instruction.  As we exit our classroom I hold the door for all the children to exit and I am the last person out of the room.  The children were quite proud of themselves for successfully practicing the correct procedure for our fire drill as they truly did a great job!  :)

Bathroom Etiquette

Just a friendly reminder to chat with your kiddo about appropriate bathroom behavior.  We have the bathroom in the classroom and I think some of the kiddo's are used to using the restroom at home with the door open so they are comfortable doing that here at school.  Please remind your child to do the following when using public restrooms:

*close the door

*go quietly (there is quite an echo when they sing in the bathroom)  :)

*flush the toilet

*wash hands

*dry hands with an appropriate amount of paper towel

If your child chooses to use baby wipes to assist with cleanliness, please remind him/her to only flush 1-2 wipes down the toilet at a time as more than this could become problematic and many of the wipes we have available are non-flushable so those should be disposed of properly.

We use the larger bathrooms in the hallways daily after lunch and before specials.  During this time the children are to use the bathroom (or at least try) and always wash their hands.  Please review with your child your expectations while using these public bathrooms.  Our expectations here at school are to:

*use the bathroom quietly

*provide privacy for all children who might be using the bathroom

*only have one person in a stall at a time
*do not crawl on the floor

*flush and wash
*never splash others with water as this is a safety hazard on our tile floors

*dry their hands only - not their hair, not under their shirts or down their pants, and definitely not their friends faces

Oh, those hand dryers are just too much fun! :)

Thank you so much for talking with your little one about all of these important bathroom expectations.  We have been doing pretty good so far using them and with your conversations at home I know the children will only become experts at using our bathrooms here at school.