March 13: A Week in Review

Hello Families,
I hope that you enjoyed a fun filled weekend together!  It sure was an exciting weekend for sports.  This week we have our annual charity volleyball game.  The game will be held at Geisler Middle School (Pontiac Trail) at 6:30pm on TUESDAY.  The WLE Staff will be playing the Hickory Woods Staff!  All proceeds will go to Team Joseph (raising money for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.  I will be there playing for WLE and would love to have some cheerleaders.

This week we have been learning about non-standard measurement in class.  Non-standard means that we are using objects like cubes and sticky notes as our unit of measure.  In 1st grade, you child will learn about standard measurement for length (ruler).  Earlier in the week, each child had a piece of cut string that was exactly their height.  They went around the room to see what things in our classroom were as long as they were.  On Thursday, they used sticky notes to measure how long they were to determine if they were tall enough to ride a carnival ride.  The kids have so much fun thinking about measurement!

In Reading we have been learning about strategies that readers use to figure out unknown words.  One strategy that they have been working with is to point to the words as they read, look at the cover and pictures to think about what the story might be about, and looking at the first letter and the picture.  In writing, we have been working on saying words slowly to listen for the beginning, middle and ending sound.

 Your child will continue to bring home a book bag at least 3 times each week.  Sometimes they will be bringing a book that they have read in a reading group with me and other times they will be bringing a self selected book.

Report Cards will be available in FamilyAccess on Wednesday at 4:00 pm.   

A Week In Review: February 28th

February flew by so fast!  We have been busy in room 17 with reading and writing.  We have been learning like engineers and mathematicians as well!

Mrs. Fergusen came to visit and shared a story about going to a market in Mexico.  We learned about some Spanish words that you might find in Mexico.

To Kick off MARCH IS READING MONTH - we had visiting authors come to talk to us about how to get ideas for a story.  They also showed us how you can take a word like tree, and turn it into a picture of a tree. Additionally, Mrs. Hinterman, our media specialist sent home a note/reading log with your child last week.  Each child at WLE is challenged to read (or be read to) for 12 hours during the month of March.  As your child completes the challenge, they can send in their reading logs to school.

We had some visitors last week!  They were the Crayfish that the 3rd graders were studying.  We borrowed them for a morning and learned about the habitat that they crayfish live in!

We have been all around investigators this past week.  During morning work, one group of kids built a long tower with interlocking cubes. They laid down on the floor next to it and learned that it was 5 kindergartners long.  We also thought like an engineer and created toys that could be moved with a PUSH or a PULL.  We presented our creations to the class.  We also learned about gravity and how things that are heavier fall harder.

Finally, we finished our Pattern Book unit of study in reading.  We were able to celebrate our learning with 4th grade buddies. They love being about to talk about all the things that they have learned.  

March WLE TV

March 2nd:  https://safeshare.tv/x/uRhGox8stgI

March 7th: https://safeshare.tv/x/uoMadq42zJY
March 9th: https://safeshare.tv/x/UA-tZFME8WA

March 14th:  https://safeshare.tv/x/c3C2c8j5Z80
March 16th:  https://safeshare.tv/x/n7EAZlrzHXw

March 21st:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvC4Mh6nPBk
March 23rd:  https://safeshare.tv/x/ss58d3ca7242c85

March 28th:  https://safeshare.tv/x/18rJtl9qKqI
March 30th:  https://safeshare.tv/x/wGJj78zfHKE

The Hundredth Day of School - Valentine's Too!

We had so much fun celebrating the 100th Day of School!  The children were engaged in activities to help them think about the number 100 all day long!  I think they had a great time.

 We met with our 3rd grade buddies to make 100 piece mosaic out of square tiles!  The art work is posted outside our classroom.

 We worked on a 100 piece puzzle!

 We looked for 100 googly eyes buried in rice.

 We built a tower with 100 cups!

 Mrs. Kazmierski helped us read our valentines!

 We painted 100 gumballs on the gumball machine.

 We sorted and graphed candy conversation hearts!

                                     Some of us had time to make a necklace out of 100 beads!

It was such an exciting and fun filled day in Kindergarten!

A few reminders:
-Family Movie night is tomorrow night in the gym at 6pm.  It is a free PTA event.  Popcorn and water will be available for purchase.
-Spring picture day is on Friday (2/24).

A Week in Review: February 6th

This coming week has a lot of activities happening.  I wanted to just list some reminders to start:

• 100s Day/Valentine's Day is on TUESDAY.  Thank you to all of the volunteers.  I will be bringing fruit and donuts for the children on that morning.
• Thursday is a 1/2 Day of school.  Dismissal is at 12:09 pm.
• No School from Friday 2/17-Tuesday 2/21.
• School resumes on Wednesday 2/22.
• Spring Picture Day is on 2/24
• Family Movie Night is on 2/23 at 6:00 pm in the GYM.

This week was very busy.  We worked really hard to be good reading partners to each other.  We focused on putting the book in the middle, pointing to the words, and keeping our eyes focused on the book.  They were really quite sweet to each other.  

We decorated Valentine's Bags in preparation for Valentine's Day!  Thank you so much for the donations of stickers and Valentine items.  The children had so much fun decorating with each other.

In math we learned how to draw a picture to represent a number story.  I told them this story, "I set my table for a party.  I had enough seats for 4 people.  Then I heard my doorbell - DING DONG.  When I opened the door, 7 friends were there.  Do I have enough room for all of my friends to sit."  I then asked the children to draw a picture to answer the question!  I was so impressed with their thinking.

We had an AWESOME week in Room 17!

February 2: A Week In Review

We have had a BUSY week in Kindergarten!

Next week we are going to begin observing familiar objects like scientists during writing workshop. They will get to use magnifying glasses to look at items up close and then write down all that they can about the object.  On Thursday, I would like the children to bring in a favorite toy from home (no electronics) that they can observe like a scientist.  They will bring it to school on Thursday and take it home on Thursday.  I am so excited to see what they bring in.

Exploring Capacity

I think the highlight of the week was going out to explore capacity in the snow.  The Kindergartners worked together with 4th graders to learn about how a container can hold snow.  They had SO MUCH fun!  We will definitely be revisiting this activity while we can!

Shape Hunters

In math this week, we explored shapes.  We hunted around the room and the school for shapes.  They created their own data collecting sheet and made tally marks every time they saw the shape.  Later in the week, the kindergartners drew a circle on a blank piece of paper and used their imagination to create a picture from it.  They drew - dogs, cats, ferris wheels, moms, and dads, playgrounds, the sun, etc.

Groundhog's Day

On Thursday, we learned about Groundhog's Day.  The kids were so excited to collect survey data by asking their classmates "DO you think the groundhog will see his shadow?".  The tallied the results, made bar graphs, and then made a final determination!  It was so fun to see them so engaged.

VALENTINE"S ARE DUE ON FEBRUARY 8th!

Upcoming School Events

FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT - February 23rd at 6:00 pm in the school's gym.  We will be watching the movie Trolls.

BIRTHDAY IN A BAG - The WLE Girl Scouts are collecting items to make a child's birthday extra special.  All items will be collected from February 20-March 10th.  The are looking for things like - cake mix, canned icing, sprinkles, balloons, festive birthday plates, candles, etc.  See the flyer attached for more information.

February WLE TV

February 2nd: https://safeshare.tv/x/LBTcIyyI1tw

February 9th:  https://safeshare.tv/x/8u_NHW053NM

February 14th:  https://safeshare.tv/x/3ykH4fniCiQ
February 16th: https://safeshare.tv/x/uQD02zZEQJ0

February 23rd:  https://safeshare.tv/x/cTh1LYOT2VM

February 28th:  https://safeshare.tv/x/qlKGabvVqoo