Words from Walsh October, 2021
Staying connected with Walsh School
Greetings from Principal Martin
Dear Parents/Guardians:
Last month, our students learned a lot about safety as we conducted fire, tornado, lockdown, and bus evacuation drills. I am proud to say they did a wonderful job! This month, our students will have the opportunity to meet members of our local fire department, as they demonstrate fire safety measures and let us see the fire engines up close. This is also a good time for you to review safety measures in your own home.
Starting October 25th, we will celebrate Red Ribbon Week. This is a special week where the whole school participates in activities that teach us how to stay healthy and substance-free. Our kindergarten and first-grade students will also celebrate Halloween with a costume parade and class parties on October 29th. All treats/gifts must be non-edible. There will be no food served during the parties. Have a fun, safe and enjoyable October!
~ Mrs. Teresa Martin
Important Dates in October
Mark Your Calendars
1 - Too Good for Drugs with Officer Kevin & Officer Jeren (every Friday)
11 - No School - Columbus Day
14 - Fire Department Drill & Fire Truck Visit
15 - Spirit Day (Favorite Team)
15 - 1st Grade Field Trip
19 - Board of Education Meeting 7:00 pm
25-29 - Red Ribbon Week
- Monday - Wear Red day
- Tuesday - Wear your favorite sport item
- Wednesday - Wear pajamas
- Thursday - Wear your favorite clothes
- Friday - Wear a costume
29 - Halloween Parties
Looking Ahead...
November 4 - Picture Re-Takes
November 5 - First Trimester Ends
November 11 - Veteran's Day - Regular School Attendance
November 22 & 23 - Parent/Teacher Conferences - No School
November 24-26 - Thanksgiving Break - No School
Drop off times: no earlier than 8:40 a.m.
Please be prompt for pick-up at 3:25 p.m. (2:45 p.m. on Wednesdays)
Remember to call the office by 9:00 a.m. if your child will be absent.
Office hours are 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. ~ 815-838-7858 www.d92.org
Virtual Backpack
Welcoming Walsh's Newest Member, Nurse Sarah!
Hi there! I am Sarah Landry, the Walsh Elementary School Nurse. I am an Illinois Registered Nurse, and hold my Associates and Bachelor Degrees in Nursing from Rasmussen College of Nursing in Romeoville. I started out at Adventist Hospital in Bolingbrook on a medical / surgical adult inpatient unit. Prior to being a nurse, I worked in Edward Hospital on the Orthopedic and Spine unit and at Saint Patrick's long term, rehab and hospice facility in Naperville. After that, I switched gears to school nursing at VVSD #365. I worked there for two years, and then went onto Kennedy Jr High in Naperville and SEAL alternative school in Romeoville.
I have an 11 year old 6th grader, Ewan, who attends middle school in Bolingbrook and a 9 year old 4th grader, Nala, who still goes to Robert C Hill. At home, we rescue and foster animals full time including cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs and more. We have 2 rescue dogs, 6 rescue cats, 1 rescue guinea pig, 3 rescued rats and 1 rescue gecko. We usually are fostering animals year round on behalf of Forget Me Not Animal Rescue in the Joliet area. I also am heavily involved in their charity and fundraising efforts. I love the outdoors and hiking, and travel when possible. I am a huge music buff and have been to many concerts and theater productions in the last few years. I also do photography on the side.
I hope that together that we can create a healthy, safe and fantastic experience for all our students here at Walsh.
Reminders from the Nurse
If your child has any food allergies that were not mentioned in their physicals or health information, please let the health office know.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, schools are required to perform hearing screenings for preschool, kindergarten, first, second and third-grade students yearly. This is not an exam, it is just a screening to see if the child needs further follow up. We will begin these in October, and parents will be notified only if their child did not pass or will be re-screened.
RED RIBBON WEEK
Red Ribbon Week is dedicated to remembering to be healthy and to remain smoke and drug free. At Walsh School, we emphasize being healthy to ourselves, our environment, and to others. A list of scheduled events for the week of October 25th through 29th will be sent home and posted on our website calendar. Please support your child as we emphasize healthy living.
P.E. News by Mr. Wallace
Kindergarten News
We have had a wonderful beginning to our school year. The children have adapted nicely, and have been learning all of our routines. We will be focusing on the letters: c, o, a, g, d, s, e, and r. The sight words we will be learning are...this, to, come, little, we, like, & have. We are also learning how to identify the beginning sounds of words, as well as name words that rhyme.
We have been very busy doing a variety of math activities. The children have been very engaged while learning the following math skills:
∙ compose and decompose numbers to 5 and 10
∙ subitize numbers to 10
∙ build with geometric shapes
∙ count by 1’s and 10’s to 100
∙ count 100 objects
∙ use critical thinking to create patterns
∙ make estimates of quantities and compare them to determine which has greater or fewer
∙ identify missing numbers in a sequence
At the end of the month, we will have our first classroom party. Students may pass out treat bags with small prizes but FOOD, CANDY, AND BALLOONS ARE NOT ALLOWED DUE TO ALLERGIES. Thank you!
First Grade News
The fall season has begun, and the weather is finally starting to reflect that! It’s nice to have cooler weather and have the cool breeze come through the windows! We have been very busy in first grade. We have spent the last month working on what it means to be a “well rounded” reader. We have been looking at levels of books, different genres, and what interests us as readers. We have been looking at the best places to read, and what makes us good readers. We will begin our new unit on nonfiction. We have been practicing our Daily 5 routines, which we use during our reading groups, and are ready to start them at the beginning of this month. Please remember to have your child read nightly to you, using the book from their baggie book or Raz Kids, whichever your child's teacher assigns.This is homework, and your child is responsible for this reading.
In math, we will be working on sensible strategies for adding and subtracting single-digit numbers using math manipulatives. We will be learning about fact families and story problems.
We will be learning about Christopher Columbus and fire safety this month, and we will have our first classroom party for Halloween. Of course, we will participate in our fun and exciting Halloween parade. However, due to the safety circumstances, families will not be allowed to come and view the parade. Additionally, we will be going on an exciting fall trip to Dollinger Farm on Friday, October 15th. We expect to have so much fun! Thank you, as always, for your continued support with your child’s education!
Early Childhood and Community Preschool News
The Reading Corner by Mrs. Squires, Kindergarten Reading Specialist
We’re well on our way to a great school year! Want to know how you can raise a reader? This acrostic from Reading Rockets gives some great suggestions. Go to the website at readingrockets.org to read the full article, 10 Things You Can Do to Raise a Reader. You’ll also find great resources, videos and activities to help support your child’s journey to becoming a reader!
Look for new books and authors that your child may enjoy.
Organize an area dedicated to reading and writing tools.
Visit the library for story time and book recommendations.
Encourage your child to talk about what he's read.
Talk to your child, and sprinkle interesting words into your conversation.
Offer a variety of books to read.
Read with your child every day.
Expand your home library to include magazines and nonfiction.
Ask questions if you're concerned about your child's development.
Decide to raise a reader!
Music News by Mrs. Moan
What a month of music-making in the Walsh music room!
Preschool: It is wonderful to have our youngest children in the music room! We have been learning about using our singing voices and floating in bubbles. We rode the color train around the music room and played I Spy using our colors. The students are being introduced to classroom instruments, like egg shakers and rhythm sticks. We also enjoyed playing with and moving our scarves. The song “I’m a Squirrel” helped the children hunt for “acorns” to collect for our teams. Next month, we will practice animal movements that correspond to music, and play more instruments! Yay!
Kindergarten: We have been “Goin’ to the Farm”, and meeting all kinds of farm animals. We met ducks, chickens, sheep and cows this month. Poor Mary lost her little lamb, and the students helped her find it by singing to the lost sheep and tiptoeing quietly. Little Bo Peep also needed some kindergarten help, and the students played a listening and finding game using maracas. We studied the book, Rosie’s Walk, by Pat Hutchins, and staged our own play! All the students enjoyed playing the role of Rosie (a chicken) and the fox (watch out!) The song “Tall and Small” taught us about high and low sounds in music. Students raised their arms to show if the sounds were high or low. We had a great time experimenting on the drums and playing animal footsteps. Ask them to demonstrate them for you! The students will be practicing a steady beat throughout October, and playing our instruments. We will also be doing some dancing!
1st Grade: The first graders are excited about instruments! We have been learning about mystery instruments, like the violin, trumpet and timpani. We also practiced some musical opposites, like high and low, and loud and quiet. We learned a new partner song called “Circle Round the Zero”. In the song, “Hickory Dickory Dock”, we practiced listening for up and down. Then, the students identified sounds going up and down on our small glockenspiel. Our classes played in a “band” of high and low sounds, watching the conductor. We practiced rhythms using the Muffin Man song and challenged ourselves to think the rhythm in our heads, instead of saying it out loud. We used our scarves in the “Syncopated Clock” and woke each other up with an alarm! In October, we will be continuing our steady beat practice and learning about music notation.
News from the Media Center
Classes have begun working with iPads to learn how to locate and log into several apps they will be using throughout the school year.
We are learning to close out applications and how to search for apps if we cannot locate them. The students will also be learning how to use our digital reading resources, Tumblebooks and Bookflix.
You can navigate to our Media Center page by starting at our district page: https://www.d92.org and then selecting “Walsh”. Next, use the drop-down menu to navigate to the Media Center where the students have been practicing using several links.
Art News by Mrs. Deckinga
The kindergarten classes are working on pumpkin paintings, inspired by the book Big Pumpkin. We're developing painting skills with this project and learning how to mix primary colors to make secondary colors. Later in the month, we'll be creating 3D paper bag haunted house sculptures.
The first grade classes are working on a multi-media fall landscape, inspired by the Vincent van Gogh painting Avenue of Poplars in Autumn. We've learned about the use of perspective to incorporate the art element of space. Our landscapes will use paint, pastel chalk, and oil pastels.
Making Math Count by Mrs. Romeo
Another busy month at Walsh School! Students are working hard at identifying, writing, adding, and subtracting numbers. Below are websites and activities to try with your children.
This month’s focus:
Kindergarten will be able to count and write numbers 0-10.
App: Numbers with Nemo, by Disney
Activity: Have students write numerals they want to practice on plain paper. Ask them to trace over each numeral with several colors to create a rainbow effect. They may also want to glue objects to represent that number below.
First-grade students will be able to add and subtract within 20 to solve word problems.
App: Math Slide by Math Adventures, Limited
Activity:
1. Roll and add with 3 dice
2. Each person flips 2 cards and adds. The person with the highest total keeps the cards. The winner is the person with the most cards.
Walsh SEL (Social Emotional Learning)
In that spirit, we will continue with self-awareness as our focus of the month.