Christmas 2

We have been busy making holiday decorations and practicing our songs. We will be having our programs beginning at 9:30 on Monday and Tuesday of next week in the gym. My class will be the furthest on the right if you are looking at the risers the students will be standing on (furthest side from the gym doors that you will enter). After the concert, we ask that you come up to the risers to find your student rather than us send all of the students toward the bleachers. There will be refreshments following the concert. Please be sure to stop by the classroom to collect their decorations and gifts. 

I sent home your child's bedding for rest time as well as their change of clothes (to see that they have winter appropriate clothes to change into if needed as well as to see if they have outgrown what is here) this week. You do not need to send these items back until after the holiday break. 

Christmas

This past week and the upcoming week our theme is Christmas. We have been busy making lots of Christmas presents for family and friends. We have also started making decorations for our classroom to celebrate the season and our Christmas program. This past week we also focused on the letter Ii. 

Our Christmas program will be held in the gym at 9:30 on December 21st and 22nd. Refreshments will follow in the lunchroom. Your student will have some goodies for you waiting in the classroom, so please stop down before you leave. 

Today we had our FBI event of cookie decorating. Thank you to those families who joined us! 

Reminders:
--Please be sure to send back the form from the Christmas program invitation to let us know if your child will be staying for the remainder of the day on the 21st/22nd or if they will be going home with someone. Most students go home afterward but are not required to, there will not be academics planned for this day. 
--If you have not sent back a picture of your child, please do so as soon as you can! These will be used as part of a Christmas present. 
--We will be having a $5 gift exchange in our room prior to our Christmas program. Girls buy for girls, boys buy for boys. Please address the present "To a girl, From: __" or "To a boy, From: ___" In order for your child to get a present, they must bring one. If this is a hardship for your family, please let me know so I can make arrangements. Gifts should be brought in by December 16th/17th. 

Cookies and Christmas Trees

This week our theme was cookies and Christmas trees. We made fun and gingerbread decorations, pretended to decorate cookies for our shape cookie books, and painted special Christmas trees. We also focused on the letter Cc and the number 5. 

For the next three weeks we will be having the theme of Christmas! Our days will be filled with making festive decorations and special gifts for your families. We will be having our Christmas party prior to our program on Dec. 21st and 22nd. Our class will be doing a $5 gift exchange-girls buy for girls, and boys buy for boys. In order to receive a gift your child needs to bring a gift by Dec. 16th or Dec. 17th. If this will be a hardship for your family this year, please let me know. 

Our program will Monday, Dec. 21st and Tuesday, Dec. 22nd beginning at 9:30. Refreshments will follow. Please send back the bottom portion of the program invite that was sent home this week so we can make plans for who is being picked up after the program and to have an idea of how many students will be staying afterward. Most students go home after the program, but are not required to do so. There will not be academics planned for the afternoon for those staying at school. 

Please continue to send your child with snow pants and boots. These are a requirement to go outside for recess until further notice. Be sure to label all of your child's winter gear. 

A reminder to those who signed up for the cookie decorating FBI event. This will begin at 9:00 on Friday, Dec. 11th. Be sure to bring a container to take your cookies home in, unless you plan on eating them while you are here. :-) 

We have a collection taking place to help out Huey's Hideaway Children's Museum being built here in Medford! During this coming week, students can bring in coins to help support their grade level in earning a pizza party for their classroom. Pennies will count as positive points in their own coin jar. Silver coins will count as negative points-so be sure to put those in a different grade level's coin jar!!! The fourth grade students who developed this idea will be in the lunch room each morning and afternoon this week to collect the coins. If you send coins with your student, we will take the students with coins down to the commons to distribute them into the jars. Thank you for helping support this great addition to our community!

Thanksgiving

This past week and next week our theme is Thanksgiving. We also focused on the number 4 and the letter Tt. We have already made a few cute turkeys for you to have as Thanksgiving decorations and this coming week we will be making pilgrims.

Thank you to those families who attended our bowling event this morning. The kids seemed to have a great time! Our next Families Being Involved event will be on Friday, Dec. 11th starting at 9:00 in the MAES commons/lunch room. The sign up slips are due back this coming Mon. and Tues. It is very important that you send this slip back on time if you want to be involved with the cookie decorating so we can be sure to have enough cookies ordered. 

As the weather turns more wintery, it is important to send warm clothes for recess. Snow pants are required for all students when there is snow on the ground in order to go outside to play. Please send these to school with your student in case it snows throughout the day. Please be sure to label your child's snow pants, boots, gloves/mittens, hats, and jackets. Just a reminder that stretchy gloves are ok when it is chilly but they are not warm enough for children when they are playing in the snow.

Reminders:
--early release on Tuesday, Nov. 24th-dismissal is at 1:52. Please send a note with your child if they are going to be going home differently than usual
--No school Nov. 25th-27th
--Christmas programs for Pre-K are scheduled for Dec. 21st and Dec. 22nd at 9:30. 
--No school for all grades Dec. 23rd - Jan. 1st

Scarecrows

This week we talked about scarecrows. We learned what their job is, who usually has them around, what they are made of, and the seasons we see them. We also focused on the letter Hh and the number 3. Report cards also went home this week, if you have any questions about them please contact me. 

I have had a few families ask about the giving tree and what might still be needed in our classrooms. The Pre-K staff use the giving tree as an alternative for obtaining supplies for projects and other helpful classroom items rather than asking for school supplies from each student at the start of the year. Things that we could still use are: non-coated 9 inch white paper plates, cotton balls, coarse sand paper, assorted stickers either theme related or just fun ones for the writing center, play dough, sidewalk chalk, bubbles (and bubble wands), Pre-k age board games, zip lock bags (gallon and sandwich), plain white cupcake liners, Clorox Anywhere spray. If any of these items seem like something you would like to donate, please send them with your student to school. Thank you!!!

Our theme for the next two weeks will be Thanksgiving. We will also focus on the letter Tt and number 4. 

Reminders: 
--For those who have signed up, our next Families Being Involved event is Friday, Nov. 20th at the Sports Page. 8:00 for Mon./Wed. and 9:30 for Tues./Thurs.
--Early Release for all students on Tuesday, Nov. 24th. Dismissal is at 1:52-if your student will be going home a different way than usual please let the school know. 
--No school Wednesday, Nov. 25th through Friday, Nov. 27th
--December's Families Being Involved event will be Friday, Dec. 11th. Cookie decorating! Information will be coming home this coming week. 
--Pre-K Christmas programs are Monday, Dec. 21st and Tuesday, Dec. 22nd at 9:30 in the gym. 
--No school for all students Wednesday, Dec. 23rd through Friday, Jan. 1st. 

Night Time

Last week we covered the theme night time and talked about different animals that come out when it is dark. We made owls and raccoon too! We focused on the letter Kk and the number 2. We also had a fun pajama day.

This week we will be talking about scarecrows, focusing on the letter Hh and the number 3. Report cards go home Wed. and Thurs. if you have any questions about them please contact me. The Scholastic books from the October order have arrived and will go home today and tomorrow for those that placed an order. Thank you!

Reminders:
--please be sure to label your child's jacket, hat, and gloves (boots and snowpants too when it gets snowy)
--If you still have not sent back the turkey feather family project, please do so we can add it to our hallway display
--The Families Being Involved event of bowling will be on the 20th for those that signed up. Monday's group at 8:00 and Tuesday's group at 9:30
--early release on Tuesday, November 24th-dismissal at 1:52
--no school Wed. the 25th through Fri. the 27th

Halloween 2

This week we continued with the Halloween theme. We focused on the letter Jj and the number 1. We had a visit from Mrs. Eloranta, our counselor, who talked with us about staying safe around guns, water, dogs, and sharp objects like knives. She will continue to visit a few times throughout the year to focus on other safety topics-a letter was sent home this past week. We had a lot of fun having our Halloween parade, trick-or-treating in our classroom, playing a bingo game and watching a fun Halloween video while we ate our "witch's brew" snack. MAES also had their Fall Festival last night! It was great to see so many families attend this fun event. 

Next week we will be talking about night time. Wednesday and Thursday will be Pajama Day! Be sure to have your child in warm pajamas (or send a change of clothes) as we will still be going out to recess twice. Your child can also have a stuffed animal on this day too. 

Reminders:

--Families Being Involved event slips are due back Nov. 2nd and 3rd-the event will be bowling on Friday Nov. 20th

--PJ day Wed. the 4th and Thurs. the 5th

--report cards will come home Nov. 11th and 12th

--early release on Nov. 24th

--no school Nov. 25th-27th  

Halloween 1

This has been our first week of Halloween fun. We made jack-o-lanterns with our hand prints, glittery bats, talked about the inside of pumpkins, made collages using cookie cutters, and focused on the letter Mm. Next week we will be focusing on the letter Jj and starting our number of the week series with the number 1.

Halloween parties will be Wed. and Thurs. afternoon. Please do not send your child already wearing their costume we will be changing into them after rest time and switching out of them prior to coming home. If you choose to send a treat for our classroom trick-or-treating please be aware we have allergies including: red dye #40, honey, cherries, strawberries, apples, and tomatoes. Please send prepackaged goodies that would be fine being placed in a bag (sorry no cupcakes!) as their treats will be sent home in their backpacks and we do not want a squishy mess.

Next week is also Red Ribbon Week. Pre-K students will have the chance to wear red on Mon/Tues and green on Wed/Thurs to show their support.

Thank you to everyone who purchased books at the Scholastic book fair during conference night. Your purchases helped make it possible to have books donated to our classroom. Also, thank you to those who have individually donated books to our room. Parent-Teacher conferences was a success and I am happy that so many families were able to meet. If you were unable to attend your scheduled time and would like to still meet please contact me to set up a day and time.

Our first families being involved event was this morning and was a lot of fun! There were so many great looking jack-o-lanterns heading home today.

Reminders:
-picture retake days are Tuesday the 27th and Wednesday the 28th in the morning. If you are having your student retake their photo, please send back the original packet of pictures.
-the next Families being involved event will be Friday, November 20th in the morning. More information is being sent home next week.
-Pajama day is Wednesday, Nov. 4th and Thursday, Nov. 5th. Please send additional clothes to wear for recess if needed. You may also send a stuffed animal to school on these days.

Hibernation and Migration

This week we talked about animals that migrate like birds and butterflies as well as those that hibernate like bear, squirrels, ladybugs, skunks, bees, and more!. We found out that there are some animals that are very hard to wake up and some that might wake up and eat a little during winter. This was a short week for the students so we did not have a letter to focus on but reviewed the ones that we have done so far. 

For the next two weeks we will be talking about Halloween and the letters Mm and Jj. 

With the colder weather, please be sure to send your child with a warm jacket, and possibly hat and gloves on those colder days. We are starting to work on zipping our coats by ourselves now too!

We have started working on the Reading Eggs and Math Seeds programs during our computer times. The login information I sent previously will work for both programs if you choose to utilize these at home. They are great game style programs that allow for the repetition of letters and numbers to help reinforce the sounds and appearance of them.

Reminders:
--Our first families being involved event will be Friday, Oct. 23rd at 9:00 for those families who have signed up.
--Picture retakes are Tuesday, Oct. 27th and Wednesday, Oct. 28th. If you want your child to have retakes done, please send in the original photo packet with them. Pictures will be taken right away in the morning. 
--Our Halloween parties will be on Wednesday, Oct. 28th and Thursday, Oct. 29th. Please do not have your child wear their costumes to school. We will be having our dress up and party time in the afternoon. If you choose to send a costume for your child to change into for the afternoon, please be sure it fits comfortably over their clothes. They will change out of the costume before going home. 
--There will be a pajama day on Wednesday, Nov. 4th and Thursday, Nov. 5th when we have our theme of "night time". They will be able to bring a stuffed animal this day if they choose to as well. 

Fire Safety

This week was all about fire safety. Our Monday/Wednesday group was able to see a Medford fire truck and meet two fire fighters who told them about the gear they wear, the equipment they use, and the importance of smoke detectors. Our Tuesday/Thursday group will be rescheduled due to work conflicts. I will post photos of the fire department visit after both groups have had a chance to experience it. We made some fun dalmatians and a scene of a fire truck putting out the flames. We also learned about what we need to do in case there is a fire in a building, as well as stop,drop, and roll. We focused on the letter Ff and the sounds it makes. 

Next week is a short week for preK as we only see our groups on Monday and Tuesday due to Child Development Day and Parent/Teacher conferences. Our theme will be Hibernation and Migration. 

Reminders:
--If the time scheduled for your child's conference time does not work, please let me know so it can be rescheduled. 
--Our first Families Being Involved event will be Friday, Oct. 23rd. If you did not sign up but want to attend please let me know as soon as possible so we can be sure there are enough pumpkins for everyone. 
--More information is coming home next week about our Halloween parties. 
--School pictures are in and will be sent home Monday and Tuesday, if you want to have retakes done, please send back the packet of photos so we can turn them in when the new photo is taken. Retakes are on Tuesday, Oct. 27th and Wednesday, Oct. 28th

Leaves and Fall

This week was all about leaves and fall. We made painted leaves and acorns, reviewed our colors with a leaf color book, made a keepsake thumbprint tree, and created a class book of our favorite fall activities. We also focused on the letter Ll and the sound it makes in words. 

Next week we will be focusing on fire safety and the letter Ff. 

Reminders:
--Parent/Teacher conferences are coming up. A note with a reminder of the time for your student's conference slot will be coming home at the start of next week. If this time does not work for you, please contact me so we can make other arrangements. 
--There is no school for pre-K on Wednesday, Oct. 14th.
--There is no school for all students Thursday, Oct. 15th and Friday, Oct. 16th
--Our first Families Being Involved event will be Friday, Oct. 23rd-more information will be sent home this coming week.

5 senses

Hi everyone,

This week was all about our 5 senses. We were able to take a nice nature walk on Mon./Tues. We were able to hear birds, twigs snapping, kids playing soccer on the field, crickets, and the lawn tractors mowing. We saw deer tracks, flowers, bugs, birds, deer trails, a bird house, and a field. We felt the wind, hard rocks and squishy dirt under our feet. We also learned about the letter Yy and the different sounds it can make in words. Picture day was this week and as those come in I will be sending home the photo packets. 

Next week our theme is leaves and fall with a focus on the letter Ll. Monday is Packer day so wear your favorite jersey or green and gold. Wednesday is Rock and Roll day with fun music at lunch time. We will also have a Pep assembly in the afternoon as the high school band gears up for Friday. 

Fluoride varnish letters and forms went home this week. I ended up sending Monday's letter to the Tuesday group and vise versa. But, varnish will be given to those students who's forms are returned stating that you want it administered here at school. Please send the forms back as soon as possible. Our first varnish date will be November 9th and 10th. 

Reminders:

--No school for PreK Wed. Oct. 14th due to Child Development Day

--No school for all students Thurs. Oct. 15th and Fri. Oct. 16th

--Parent/Teacher conferences are Thurs. Oct. 15th(all students) and Fri. Oct. 23rd(for preK) reminder slips about the time you chose at open house will be coming soon. If you did not sign up for a time please contact me so I can give you the available time slots to choose from.

nature walk, pictures, book orders

Just a quick reminder: We have pictures scheduled right away in the morning at 8:30 on Tuesday and Wednesday. Even if you do not plan on ordering pictures, their pictures will be taken so your child will be included in our class photo for the year. Please send the picture envelope back with your photo selections completed and payment included if you intend on ordering pictures. Today we took our nature hike and will tomorrow as well-weather permitting around 10:20. If you want to send play tennis shoes or rain books for your child to wear on the walk we will have them switch prior to us walking. Also, for Tuesday because it is picture day as well, if you want to send a change of clothes we will have the students switch from picture outfit to regular school outfit. Book orders are due this coming Wed. or Thurs. so I can submit the order on Friday. If you choose to order, please send the form and a check made out to Scholastic by Wed./Thurs. You can also order online at scholastic.com/readingclub and use code MDBF8 so I can submit it with our class. 

Apples

This week we learned all about apples. We talked about the life cycle of an apple, what is inside an apple, who or what might eat apples, the different colors, shapes, and sizes they come in, and made a special applesauce treat. We also started our first letter of the week. This week's focus was the letter Aa.

I hope you are enjoying seeing the projects that we do here at school. It is important to encourage your student to try their best and take their time on their work. We will be doing a lot of coloring, cutting, gluing, and writing this year so their skills will improve by the end of this school year. Please continue to take time to have your student practice writing their name as we do this several times each day. If you feel that you would like some pre-writing practice sheets that focus on making straight, curved, and pointed lines I can send them home with your child. These pre-writing skills are essential for being able to form letters. 

Next week we will be learning about our 5 senses. Our letter of the week will be Yy. 

Updates and Reminders:
--Please have your child remain in the lunch room at our class table until 8:00. My assistant Ms. Jenn is there to help get the students situated and in a group to come down the hall together. 
--This coming Monday and Tuesday (weather permitting) we will be taking a nature walk to practice using our senses. Please be sure your child is dressed for the outdoors, rain boots are welcome!
--There will be no school for Pre-K students Wed., Oct. 14th due to Child Development Day.
--There will be no school for all grades Thurs., Oct. 15th and Fri., Oct. 16th.
--Parent Teacher Conferences will be Thurs., Oct. 15th and Fri.. Oct. 23rd. If you did not sign up for a time to meet with me, please contact me for available time slots. I will be sending a reminder notice of your time as the day gets closer. 

First Week!

Our first family project was sent home with your child this week. Please have everyone in your family help complete the Family Tree and please return it to school!

Our theme this week was " Welcome & Bus Safety." We learned about the rules for our school, classroom, and bus. We read the book The Kissing Hand and created a special project just for you. We also began working on our cutting skills, and started making new friends!

Next week our theme will be "Shapes." We will be working on shapes throughout the year but this coming week will be our big kick-off to the world of shapes! The children will be matching shapes, sorting and coloring shapes, making a shape train, creating a noodle shape, and singing/dancing to the shape hokey pokey. 

REMINDERS

*Remember to place some money in your child's lunch account if you have not done so yet. 
*Family Tree project due Sept. 9th or 10th
*When your child has a birthday or we celebrate a holiday it is fine to send a treat if you choose to. We currently have 15 children in the Mon./Wed. class and 16 in the Tues./Thurs. class. 

Mother's Day and Transportation

This past week we focused on Mother's Day and transportation. Some FFA students came by on Mon/Tues to help us make our special gift for the moms, aunts, and grandmas in our lives. On Wed/Thurs we had a field trip to the county highway shop and were able to see a few of the vehicles used to keep the roads in great shape. Some of these were: a ditch mower, salt truck with plow, a blacktop roller, grader, front end loader, and a dump truck.

Next week we will be focused on the farm. We will be making several animal projects on Mon/Tues and then Wed/Thurs we will be going to a working farm. Please be sure to dress your student in appropriate clothes for the weather. Rain/rubber boots are great for this trip!!!

Our next Families Being Involved event will be on May 22nd. The sign up slip went home this past Wed/Thurs. 

Reminders

This Wednesday, May 13th is an early release day. Students are dismissed at 1:52. Be sure to send a note if they will be going home differently than usual. 

There is no school Monday, May 25th due to Memorial Day.  

Oceans

This has been our first week of oceans and the kids have had a lot of fun making jellyfish, crabs, starfish, and fish. I also wanted to share a photo of the pretty flowers we made last week and of the wonderful name projects that are on display-so much creativity!

I also wanted to take a moment to say THANK YOU to the families in our school. The PreK students were able to raise $181.52 for the Taylor County Humane Society. This week we had a plastic bag collection by County Market in support of Earth Day. Our class was able to collect 257 plastic bags. The school as a whole collected 21,501 bags!!! Thank you for being so generous and supportive to the community. 

This week I will be doing our PALS testing on Wed. and Thurs. This is the test that checks their progress in naming letters and sounds, rhyming, concepts of print, and name writing. Please try to ensure that your student is here those days. 

Pets and Seeds/Flowers

This past week was Pets week. We focused on the letter Xx and number 9. We had a field trip to the Medford Veterinary Clinic and had the chance to see their exam rooms, surgery room, X-ray machine and sample X-ray pictures, a few cats and dogs that were getting better, and some interesting worms and critters in jars. 

Report cards went home last week, if you had any questions about them please contact me to discuss them. The neat names family project also went home last week, they are due back this week. If you need to take some extra time to make it special, send it in when you get the chance. We love seeing how creative our families can be. 

This week is flowers and seeds and we are focusing on how things grow. We are also reviewing the number 10 and the letter Uu. This is the last week of a direct focus on letters and numbers, we will continue to review them through the end of the year.

This week is Week of the Young child. So far we have had a special Tombstone pizza snack donated by Nestle and we had a book donated to each child in our PreK classes by the Taylor County Literacy council. Over the next few days there will be special presentations by Hairy and Co. as well as Skip Jones. Broadway Theatre will also be hosting a special family movie "Home" on Saturday with discounts on popcorn and soda. Be sure to celebrate your special young child at home too! They can do amazing things!!!

Reminders:
--This Thursday is the Beach Party and Potluck dinner 5-6. We look forward to seeing all of the families that RSVP'd and can't wait to see what yummy dish to share with us. We will be providing the hot dogs and burgers!
--This Thursday is also PreK registration for those entering PreK next year. This will be from 3:30-5:00. 

Easter

This week we started the first of our two week theme of Easter. We focused on the letter Bb and the number 7. We made colorful eggs and chicks as well as a fun duck and bunny project. We have started getting some collections of coins in for our Pennies for Pets fundraiser that we are doing to help the humane society, we hope to raise a lot by the time we go on our Vet field trip in two weeks! Next week we will continue with Easter and focus on the letter Ee and the number 9. 

Reminders:

---There will be no school for students Thursday, April 2nd through Monday, April 6th due to inservice and Easter break. Classes will resume on Tuesday, April 7th. 

---Our Vet field trip will be April 8th and 9th

---Week of the Young Child is April 13th-17th. There will be special dress up days and fun events in our school and the community this week

---The RSVP was sent home for the Potluck Beach Party dinner and dance that will be held on Thursday, April 16th from 5:00-6:00. Please fill out and return the slip to school as soon as possible.

St. Patrick's Day

This week was all about St. Patrick's Day! We made leprechauns, rainbows, and pots of gold. We even had a visit from a very quick and sneaky leprechaun. He moved around our toys, chairs, and cots trying to find gold. :-) We were focused on the letter Qq and the number 6. 

The next two weeks will be the Easter and spring theme. We will be focusing on the letters Ee and Bb and the numbers 7 and 8. 

Reminders:

---There will be no school Thursday, April 2nd through Monday,  April 6th due to teacher inservice and Easter break.

---Classes will resume Tuesday, April 7th

---Our Vet field trip is scheduled for April 8th and 9th

---Week of the Young Child is coming up April 13th-17th: There are dress up days for school, fun events both in school and the community-more information will be coming home soon

Zoo

This week we talked all about zoo animals. We made giraffes, zebras, tigers, and monkeys. We also talked about the letter Zz and the number 5. We loved seeing all of the rhyming posters come back to school. You guys came up with great rhyming pairs! We were able to go on a "warm weather walk" this week and took in some sun and stretched out our legs with a walk around the school property. We even saw deer tracks in the mud!

Next week we will be talking about St. Patrick's Day while making leprechauns, rainbows, and pots of gold. We will be reviewing the letter Qq and number 6. 

REMINDERS:

--There will be an early release on Tuesday, March 17th. If your child will be going home differently than their usual schedule, please send a note. 

--The next Families Being Involved event will be Friday, March 20th. Those families that signed up will be receiving additional information in their child's folder this week. 

--There will be no school Thursday, April 2nd-Monday, April 6th due to teacher inservice and Easter break. Classes will resume Tuesday, April 7th.

Dr. Seuss

This week we talked about Dr. Seuss and Rhyming, the letter Rr and the number 4. We made Things 1 and 2 out of hand prints, wearable hats like Cat's, a fish scene from "One Fish, Two Fish", and Cat in the Hat faces. 

Next week we will be talking about "zoo", the number 5, and letter Zz.

Reminders:

--There will be an early release on Tuesday, March 17th.

--Our next Families Being Involved event will be on Friday, March 20th for those that have already signed up. 

--There will be no school on Thursday, April 2nd. due to teacher inservice

--There will be no school on Friday, April 3rd through Monday, April 6th due to Easter Break

--School will resume on Tuesday, April 7th

Nursery Rhymes and Rhyming

This week we talked all about nursery rhymes and rhyming words. We have been trying hard to listen to the ends of words to see if they sound the same, please continue to focus on this at home too. We also reviewed the number 3 and the letter Nn. We were also given a special gift of additional Magna-tiles for our classroom by Ms. Barb's high school buddies class. Thank you so much! The students have been having such a great time with them and they are now able to make much more elaborate creations.

Dental Health and Arctic Animals

Last week we talked about dental health and arctic animals. We had a visit from a local dentist, Dr. Sally. She talked about the importance of clean and healthy teeth and what we can do to help them stay strong. She even gave each student a little goody bag! With arctic animals we pretended we were penguins and learned about some fun animals that live in cold climates. We focused on the number 2 and letter Pp.

Valentine's

This past week we focused on Valentine's Day, letter Vv and review of the number 1. We had fun at our Valentine's "party". Treats were passed out, a Charlie Brown Valentine video was viewed, and we played games. 

Next week we will be talking about dental health and arctic animals. We will have a special visit from a local dentist to talk to us about her job. We will be focusing on the letter Pp and review of the number 2. Next Monday and Tuesday I will be sending home a note about spring conferences, these are not mandatory for families to attend. I have put requests to meet with some of my student's families, if you feel you want to be added to the list for conferences please send back the bottom portion of the note that will be in your child's folder. 

We have started a really fun activity in the past two weeks. It is something we do to give the students a mini break in the day. The activities are used to promote movement, mild exercise, music and dance expression, and fun! We do a variety of silly songs, children's yoga, and children's zumba. To check out what we do please visit www.gonoodle.com and click on demo class. This will allow you to try it out at home, if you would like you can click sign up and create accounts for your children. They get to choose a character and the more you play the more this character changes. You can click on "tags" scroll to the bottom and click "more tags" to have it display categories such as grade levels, type of activity, or length of activity.  Some of the videos we really like in class are from the group KooKooKangaRoo (roller coaster and Pop See Ko) and zumba kids (party rock and happy)

Reminders 

---attendance policy: all absences must be excused in writing or email. A phone call is appreciated but it does not meet the requirements to count as an excused absence.

---Early Release: Thursday the 19th students will be dismissed at 1:52.

---No School: Friday the 20th

---FBI event: Friday the 27th at 1:15 in the Stetsonville gym. Notes will be sent home this coming week

---Book orders: Due Wed. 18th/Thurs. 19th

January has come to an end

January is now behind us. Second semester has started and your students are excited to be in the last half of the school year! Report cards have gone home and if you have any questions about them, please do not hesitate to contact me. Keep in mind that the grades on them represent what they have shown us that they can do at school. If they can count to 20+ at home, but they haven't displayed that here at school they will still have a B on their report card rather than an E. With the changing of the semesters we have had to say goodbye to our high school mentor-ship buddy, Ms. Kendra and we now have Ms. Kaitlin joining us for the remainder of the school year.

We have just finished up our two weeks of the dinosaurs theme. We also just had our first field trip of the year!  The Broadway Theatre opened up for us to watch Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. The kids had a great time, THANK YOU!

We will be having a Valentines celebration on the 11th and 12th. If you choose to send treats or valentines please address them to "my friend". It makes it easier to pass them out for your student.

REMINDERS:
There will be an early release on the 19th.
There will be no school on the 20th.
Our next Families Being Involved event will be on the 27th at 1:15 in the Stetsonville gym to watch a movie projected on the wall. Popcorn included, bring your towels, chairs, pillows, etc. to sit on.

 

January

January is off to a good but cold start for us. We have had a few inside recess days due to the wind chill but please remember to send your child with snowpants, boots, winter jacket, hat, gloves/mittens as we will go out if the temperature and windchill are not too cold and it makes for a better ride home if they are all bundled up as well. 

Our first week back was a short one with a snow day tossed in. We discussed winter clothes, made mitten projects, sorted and graphed mittens. We focused on the letter Ww and the number 6. 

This past week we talked all about snow and snowmen. We made several different versions of snowmen in our projects. We cut out and painted large snowflakes. The letter of the week was Ss and our number was 7. 

We had our Families Being Involved event today at the Simek Center. The kids had a great time ice skating with family and friends! Thank you to those who signed up to join us. 

Next week we will be focusing on games, letter Gg, and number 8. We will be practicing taking turns, working cooperatively, and following directions. We will get a chance to play games with our high school buddies and a 4th grade class too! 

Reminders:
There will be no school for all students on Friday the 23rd.

Our first field trip will be Feb. 4th and 5th to the Broadway Theatre. More information will be coming home this Wed. and Thurs. 

Our Valentine's Party will be Feb. 11th and 12th--more information to come.

We will have an early release on Thursday, Feb. 19th and no school on Friday, Feb. 20th.