News for Sept.10, 2012

September 10, 2012

We’re off to a great start in our 5K/1 combination classroom.  During the Daily 5, students will work on building stamina during Read to Self and practice Reading with a Buddy.  We also begin our mini lessons using the Reading Wall.  We will do a mini-inquiry unit on hot air balloons. We certainly will have to investigate the big hot air balloon rally in New Mexico which is coming up in October.  In Math, we will begin our study of Geometric shapes as the students move to various stations focusing on shapes and numbers.  Last week, we enjoyed reading books about pirates and their “stinky fish” behavior. We compared it to “good fish” behavior. The children made pirate hats and telescopes to spy for “good fish behavior”.

Our Specials Schedule

Phy. Ed.           Monday and Wednesday          Teacher:   Mrs. Cardwell

Art                   Tuesday                                    Teacher:   Mrs. Landowski

Guidance          Wednesday and Friday            Teachers:  Mr. Taube and Ms. Tupy

Music               Tuesday and Friday                 Teacher:    Mr. Buck

Library             Thursday

*  Please consider participating in our school fundraiser that came home on Friday!

Starting the Week of September 17. please check the Mitchell website for my newsletter in the classroom blog for Mrs. Richards.  Send me a note if you don’t have the internet!

Welcome Back Newsletter

It was so nice to meet all of the parents and children at the “Meet and Greet” last Thursday. Everyone is so excited for school to begin!  It will be an exciting year filled with a lot of learning and fun activities to engage all students.

          This week we will spend time getting to know each other and making friends. The children will learn about the Fish Program, and a letter explaining it will also come home to parents. We will have an all school “Fish” kickoff   assembly on Friday morning at 8:45. We will have a Fish assembly every week at the same time.

          For our Literacy during Daily 5, we will be working on building stamina when Reading to Self. The children will learn to pick ‘just fit’ books and how they can read the pictures, read the words, or retell the story when reading.

          In Math, the children will explore math manipulatives and learn some independent math games using dice, dominoes, and playing cards. We will be working on writing numbers, counting, and number operations.

Reminders for this week:

PIN night is Thurs. Sept. 6   

                                5:30 – 8:00pm.  Parents only!

Show and Tell on Friday Sept. 7   This is a one time only!

          Each child can bring one item for Show and Tell.  Help your child pick something that is important to them and that they can talk about.   It must fit in the gallon size ziplock bag that is being sent home.

Physical  Education Days:  Mondays and Wednesdays

·       Be sure to either wear or have gym shoes on those days!

Mrs. Richards     phone number:  604-4500  ext.1513

                              e-mail: richb@wawm.k12.wi.us

Junior Achievement

The kindergarteners in Room 137 learned a lot about themselves and their community from junior achievement volunteer, Mrs. Marcia Gabriel. They especially enjoyed learning about money and getting a bank to save their coins. The children made some connections when hearing the story about earning money for a new playground.  Here is a picture with Mrs. Gabriel and their junior achievement certificates.

Thank you Mrs. Gabriel for your 5 weeks with us and donating $50 to our playground fund.

Our Inquiry Unit on the Olympics

 For our Inquiry Unit on the Olympics, we have been getting together with two second grade classrooms, Mrs. Francour and Miss Rostermundt. The children have enjoyed making new friends, especially with these older kids. The second graders have been very helpful at working with and guiding the kindergarteners with our projects. We are getting some background knowledge about the olympics.  So far we have colored the olympic rings, made torches, and started painting huge boxes to make the big red bus used as transportation in London. Our focus will be on the host city of "London". We are learning about five of the important landmarks in London, such as Big Ben, a huge clock. Here are some pictures with our olympic buddies!

It's Xavier at the wheel!



Katrina and Jackson at the pizza parlor.



It's time to fix the cars for Tyler and Jackson!




Under construction for Dominic, Kaitlyn, Alex, and Mrs. Richards



We had a marvelous time at betty Brinn at the end of March. Here are some pictures of the children exploring in the grocery store, car fix it shop, and climbing structures.

Important Dates to Remember

Monday May 21              Brae's Special Week

                                        Band, Orchestra, and Chorus Concert 1:30pm

Wedn. May 23                NxGL  Meeting 6pm
Thursday May 24            Yell and Tell Program  1pm
Friday May 25                High Interest Day
Monday May 28             Memorial Day    NO SCHOOL
Tuesday May 29            Alyssa's Special Week
                                     ALL DAY ZOO FIELD TRIP
Friday June 1                PTA Carnival
Monday June 4             Tyler's Special Week
Tuesday June 5             Floral Presentation
Wedn June 6                Field Day
                                  Spring Fling Playground Fundraiser  3:30pm -7pm
             

In March, we also had the wonderful all school field trip to the Pettit Center for ice skating. It may have been warm outside that day, but it sure was cool inside. Some of the children had never skated before, but they sure gave it a great try.  It was fun to watch!  Here are some cool pictures!



Audrey, Xavier, and Dominic



Mariah, Eli, and Jacob

Kira, Alex, and Kaitlyn

Hannah and Jackson

Tyler and Katrina

Addisen with Mom



Bailey taking a rest