Best Week Yet...
Shelton's family fun
Stand back and take a look!
Center time is a busy time. It can be loud and chaotic at times because children are talking to one another about what they are doing. Language is extremely functional and they challenge each others' thinking. It is a challenge (in a good way) to have materials available that will capture their interest so that they engage in learning voluntarily and eagerly. It is important that they use their imaginations to take their knowledge to a deeper level (not just to answer the question), but to integrate what they have learned and use it. I stood back and took a look one day and I was so excited about what I saw...
Cami wrote a book using blends that we had been learning about.
Libby and Anna made an anchor chart about blends.
Melanie made a sight word book.
Taylor explored the microscope.
Ryan made a piggy bank.
Judah made a cell phone.
Blends
We learned about blends in shared reading. Here are some pictures of kids working together to make blend webs.
Our Field Trip to Town Hall
This was a great field trip. I have busting at the seams to tell you all about it. I hope that your child has talked about it. To prepare for the trip, we made a KWL chart (what I KNOW, what I WANT to know, what I LEARNED). Our kids went it prepared with questions to ask the mayor. First, the mayor introduced himself and town council member (thanks, Mrs. Bradshear). We had a mock Town Council meeting. We took pictures with the mayor. He talked about the "4 Pillars" that the town is built on. A Proclamation was made that made our students ""Pike Road Patriot Ambassadors." Then, we visited the planning room. It was amazing to see where the town began and where we are going. Then, we visited the library. Mr. Matt, the librarian, is amazing. He read stories to us about the library. And the bus ride is equally thrilling.
Mock Town Council Meeting
ENHANCE
Ask you child and see if they remember what the acronym stands for.
Libby took notes.
Mr. Steindorf
Mr.Steindorf, Town Council member, addressed the students and told them how long they have been planning for THEM...Inspiring!
Mystery Reader
I think that I made a typo on a previous newsletter. (I tell the students "It's okay to make mistakes." :) But I put that mystery reader would be on Thursdays, but it is not. All of the sign up dates are on Tuesdays. This has been exciting for the kids. If you would like to sign up, here's the link...
The Power of Play
Our grant has not yet been fully funded. Thank you so much for the sweet donations so far. Will you guys help get the word out. Can you post the link to your facebook pages? (I don't have facebook and not sure how that works) or email the link to family that might be interested in donating?
And for added motivation, I would like to share some research done in Finland about play.
Announcements
* It would be helpful if each student had a pair of earbuds, labeled with their name, to keep in their backpack for use with the ipads.
*Miss Rials' last day with us is this Friday. It would be great for students to bring in sweet notes to her to thank her for her time with us! And it's an authentic purpose for writing.
*Pumpkin patch field trip on Oct. 20
*Please label all jackets with student's names. The lost and found is growing already.