Tag: reading

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Walk Away from the Screen…

and grab a book!

Our Reading Teacher, Mrs. Bast, asked that we all use some of our holiday blog time to encourage parents and their children to remember to READ over the vacation.  She shared an article with us that emphasizes the luxury of reading during vacation time.

As you talk about the remaining week of vacation time, plan out how many minutes each day can be devoted to reading a book timetoreador a magazine.  If at all possible, build this time so that you and your child can read together — either the same book or each read your own.

My family and I will travel abroad to visit my daughter who is on her study abroad year.  In preparation for this trip (20+ hours of flying and 8+ hours of train travel), I have selected some great books to help the travel time seem more pleasurable.  When I am home over a wintery vacation, I wait until the snow if falling and mix up some hot chocolate, grab my favorite blanket and curl up on the couch with my book and the dogs.

Do all you can to carve out time for your child to read — and make it an enjoyable time together.  Remember, turn off the screens…put them away so that these are a distraction.  Make the time and sit down and read together for just a few minutes every single day.  This focused time will help your child in reading in school and in life.

 

 

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Read Read Read….

over the holidays!  One great way to read (especially if you were the recipient of an e-reader over the holidays) is to download open libraryfree books from the library (local) or this great online resource:  OPEN LIBRARY.

And, if you or your child prefer to listen to books on your tech device, PLEASE….go ahead and get started.  When your child listens to books on their device, they are building their comprehension skills through listening.  This also exposes them to more vocabulary words which then makes it easier to read the words when encountered in texts.

So….make reading time a priority during your break — either through traditional paper books, e-readers or through audio tech devices.

Happy reading!

Mrs. Reagan

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Easing into a Snow Day…Bell Style

A Perfect Start to a Snow Day: Time to Read

Allie and Carson Bell eased into their snow day with reading, legos and stuffed animal time.

Here is Carson watching instructional videos on you tube to design his own Lego clone troopers.

Carson: A Focused Builder

Allie was quite disappointed to have a snow day. Her class was having stuffed animal day, BUT we decided the animals could enjoy a snow day too! So they are all dressed in their PJ’s.    (And…don’t worry Allie–I think Miss Taber will re-schedule your stuffed animal day!)

Allie and her Stuffed Animal Friends
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Georgetown School Library OPEN this summer!

Reading ClaytonIn order to keep reading going strong throughout the summer, we will be opening our Georgetown School Library once a week!

On Wednesdays,10:00-12:00 pm, we will have our library open for Georgetown students to Readerscheck out books. This is a great time to try out some new books, re-read some old favorites, re-connect with friends, and see some of your favorite teachers.

Our first date for Wednesday check-out will be June 16. Mark your calendars and hope to see you there!

Readers TroyI will remind you of this each Tuesday with a blog post.  Many thanks to Mrs. Bast (reading teacher) and Mrs. VandenBerg (librarian) for making this possible.

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A Surprise Guest Teacher

TOOTHACHEMrs. Veldman came to school today and did not look like she felt very good.  When I asked her what was wrong, she said, “I’ll tell you the truth…I have a terrible ache in my tooth.”  First I made a connection–I told her that this reminded me of one of my favorite Shel Silverstein poems, Crocodile’s Toothache. Next, I did what any reasonable principal would do:  Sent her straight to the dentist.

This meant that I got the best job of all:  Taking over as the guest teacher in her first grade classroom!  We were very busy reading, and writing,  spelling and so much more.   The first graders did an excellent job helping me to know the routines…and also assisting me with finding all the items I misplaced throughout the day.

I must tell you that these children are absolutely brilliant in every single way.  Their READ TO SELF time was so quiet and focused that I lost track of time and accidentally let them read one more minute than was allowed for–a whopping 21 minutes! (There was only room to mark 20 minutes on the bar chart…so we had to problem solve to add the extra minute.)

We used fourth grade math (double digit subtraction) to figure out our minutes read throughout the day.subtraction They were quite good at figuring out how to do this…and even shared their math strategies aloud.  (Although I did tell them to not try double digit subtraction on their own!)

Enjoy a few great photos from the day.   It was perfect and fun in every way.  And…Mrs. Veldman…we do hope your tooth is feeling better!

Thank you first graders for being such great teachers for your guest teacher.

Hugs from Mrs. Reagan


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Bustin’ Through Books

bean bagOn February 2, we begin to devote a portion of every day to focused time for reading.  This will be called BUST THROUGH BOOKS BOOT CAMP.

We need your help to get this up and running!  You can help in three different ways:

1.  If you are a DAD, volunteer to spend a day running our boot camp.  It’s easy…and fun.  Requirements:  Sign Up by clicking on this form; Wear Comfy Clothes; Bring your reading material (work and just for fun); SHOW UP WITH A SMILE, sense of humor and your books.  Jeff Wressell, Lily’s Dad, will be heading up the volunteer list.

2.  Donate $1.00 to your child’s classroom.  The money will go toward buying timers and bean bags.  Write:  BUST THROUGH BOOKS on your envelope, along with your child’s name and classroom.  (We will also take used vinyl bean bags and timers)

3.  Donate any well loved books from your home.  We have students who love to learn about non-fiction topics.  If you have any books on the topics listed below, please donate them to our program.  Books can be dropped off in the library with the incredible, wonderful Mrs. VandenBerg!

Science Topics of Study

* Solar System
* Matter
* Animals
* Plants
* Weather
* Rocks/Fossils
* Force and Motion
* Water
* Light/Sound

Social Studies Topics of Study
* Maps/Globes/Flags
* Hudsonville History
* Michigan History
* Early American History: American Indians, Africans, Europeans, Colonization and Settlement, Slavery, French American War
* Bill of Rights, U.S. Constitution
* Geography/Regions (Hudsonville, MI, U.S.)
* Government (local, state, federal)
* Economics
* Civics: citizenship/rules/trade/rights/responsibilities