Allen/Sutton/Sheldon News

2012-02-01T09:26:00.000-08:00

We have been lucky with the nice weather. The children have enjoyed time to play outside. Last week we finished up our China unit with the tiger and cobra. This week we are learning about animals that live in the woods here in Iowa. Mrs. Sheldon talked about fox, deer and will also cover skunk and raccoon. We will also talk a little about the groundhog tomorrow.

I am sending notes home today about our 100 day celebration on Friday, February 10th.

Your child will need to bring 19 valentines to school for the other children. They do not have to have them addressed to the children but please have your child sign their name. It is good practice and then the other children can see who the valentine is from.

Our continent for the Peace Festival is Asia. More information will come from the office.

2012-01-18T08:28:00.000-08:00

We are learning about snow this week. The weather even cooperated and gave us some snow to go along with our lesson. Yesterday, we filled a glass with snow and watched it melt. We saw that the water was not clean and did not fill up the glass like the snow did. We will find out why snow can be good for people and plants.

Thank you for sending your children dressed for the weather. Now we just need a little warmer temperatures so we can play outside in the snow.

2012-01-11T09:29:00.000-08:00

The children have been busy working in our room. They enjoyed learning about penguins and Antarctica last week. They learned that penguins only live in the Southern hemisphere and would never meet a polar bear. We also talked about the father penguin keeping the egg on his feet to keep it warm. The largest penguin, the emperor, is about 4 feet tall and the smallest, the fairy or blue penguin, is about 1 foot tall. There are 17 kinds of penguins.

This week we are learning about landforms. So far this week we have covered lake/island, gulf/peninsula and bay/cape.

We have had unusually warm weather this year. Weather reports indicate that we will be returning to more normal temperatures. Please remember to dress your child appropriately for the weather. If there is snow, remember to send snowpants and boots. If we go outside in the snow, your child will need shoes to wear in the room because the boots will get wet. Thank you for your help.

2012-01-04T08:30:00.000-08:00

We hope everyone had a nice holiday break. Thank you to everyone for the generous gift cards we received. The books of the children's pictures were wonderful to look at. We appreciate your thoughtfulness.

The children came in yesterday excited to see each other. They are ready to be back in a routine. We will be learning about Antartica and penguins this week and landforms next week.

2011-12-07T10:00:00.000-08:00

This is Miss Daniels' last week with us. She will be here through Friday. She will be missed.

We finished up our unit on food groups this week. We are learning a little about Hanukkah now and will have a Hanukkah party on Friday.

Next week, we will learn about holiday customs in other countries. On Monday, Dec. 19th we will have our Christmas party. This will be our last day of school before winter break. We will be off for two weeks and start back Tuesday, Jan. 3rd.

Please remember to dress your children warmly. We try to go out every day the temperature permits. It would help us if you could practice letting them put on snowpants, boots, hats and gloves at home. The more they can do independently, the faster we can get ready.

2011-11-30T09:48:00.000-08:00

We hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving weekend. The children were anxious to get back to school to see their friends. This week Miss Daniels is teaching the class about food groups. They have learned that there are five food groups: vegetables, fruits, grains, protein and dairy. We have done some tasting too.

Next week, we will learn a little about Europe and Hanukkah. We will talk about different holiday traditions the week before winter break. If you have a holiday tradition you would like to share, please let us know.

2011-11-16T08:25:00.000-08:00

We are having a busy November. Last week we talked about the five senses. On Friday, we did some tasting for bitter, sour, sweet and salty when we talked about the taste sense. The children enjoyed this. This week we are learning about native Americans (American Indians). We will make headbands with native American names the children will choose. Next week we will learn a little about the pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving. We will be having our feast on Tuesday. You should have received a note that tells you what to bring. Remember there is no school on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

With the cooler weather, please remember that we try to go out most days. On days that there is snow, the children need snow boots and snow pants. In addition to boots, please send shoes that your child can wear in the classroom. The children's feet get too hot in boots indoors and if they have been outside, the boots are often too wet to wear in the room. In addition to boots, it is a good idea to have an extra pair of socks in their backpack. It also helps if the children can remember to put their hat and gloves in their sleeve when they arrive in the morning. You can help us by practicing putting on snow pants and boots at home with your child. The more independent they are, the faster we can get outside.

We wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-02T08:37:00.000-07:00

We had a nice Halloween party on Monday. We also added a new student to our class, Chloe.
We are learning about North America this week. We will be learning about the five senses next week.

Open House is tomorrow night. The times for our class are 5:30-7:30. We hope to see you there.

With the colder weather, please make sure that your child is dressed appropriately. We try to go outside every day unless the wind chill is below 15 degrees. Sometimes we don't stay out long but it is good to run off some excess energy and get some fresh air. Please put your child's hat and gloves/mittens in their coat sleeve when you drop them off. When snow comes, your child will need snow pants and boots. If you want, the snow pants and boots may be left here daily and sent home on Fridays.

2011-10-26T08:37:00.000-07:00

On Monday and Tuesday, we learned about bats. Bats can eat up to 600 mosquitoes in an hour. They migrate south and hibernate for the winter. Mrs. Sheldon brought Bob the Bat (a puppet) to tell the children lots of bat facts.

Our student teacher, Miss Daniels, started on Monday. She will be with us until December 9th. She is a student at Simpson College.

Our Halloween party will be on Monday, Oct. 31st. We will not wear costumes. We look forward to seeing everyone at Open House on Thurs. Nov. 3rd. Our classroom will be open from
5:30-6:30. Your child will be able to show you some of the activities he or she does at school.

2011-10-19T08:27:00.000-07:00

We finished up a short unit on pumpkins last week with pumpkin bars and pumpkin seeds. Thank you to Graham's grandmother for the pumpkin bars. They were delicious.

This week we are learning about bones. We have learned the names of some bones and that bones give us shape, protect other body parts and help make blood. We also learned that the biggest bone is the femur in our leg and the smallest are in our ear.

Next week we will learn about bats and owls. We also will have a student teacher from Simpson College, Miss Daniels, start student teaching in our class.

Please remember to send appropriate clothing for outside play with the colder weather. We try and go out each day unless it is raining.

2011-10-12T08:30:00.001-07:00

We are learning about pumpkins this week. Yesterday we saw photos of the life cycle: seed, vine, flower, small green pumpkin and finally the fully grown orange pumpkin. The children are excited about the field trip on Friday. We are still in need of drivers--state regulations will only let children ride with a parent or in a car with someone who has had a background check. A volunteer is making pumpkin bars for our snack.

We added a new student to our class today. His name is Lohith. We now have 19 children in our class.

Next week we will learn about bones.

2011-10-05T08:26:00.000-07:00

We finished last week learning about apples. We did a lot of tasting. We sampled apple butter on crackers, tasted different types of apples and made our own applesauce. This week we are learning about air, land and water. Today we learned about the three forms of water--vapor, liquid and solid.

We will be sending home permission slips on Friday for our trip to the pumpkin farm next week. If you would like to drive, please sign up on the list outside our room. We need several drivers to be able to go. We will be leaving school at 9:00 and return for lunch at 11:20. The farm provides juice boxes but we would like a volunteer to bring a snack.

Reminder: No School Monday, October 10th

2011-09-28T08:27:00.000-07:00

We finished up insects last week with a discussion on bees. We also tasted honey and realized that without bees and flowers we wouldn't have honey.

This week we are learning about trees, leaves and apples this week. On Friday, we will be making applesauce.

I am putting a sign up sheet in the hall for pumpkin farm drivers. Please sign up if you can drive. We are going the morning of October 14th.

2011-09-21T08:24:00.001-07:00

We are learning about insects this week. We learned that insects have three body parts and six legs. Yesterday we talked about ladybugs. They help plants because they eat aphids. Today we found out that grasshoppers eat farmers' crops. We will finish the week with ants and bees.

Next week we will learn about trees and apples.

We have scheduled a trip to Howells pumpkin patch on Friday, Oct. 14th. We will need several drivers. We will leave around 9 am and be back for lunch at 11:20. Let us know if you can drive.

2011-09-14T08:20:00.000-07:00

We have released 5 monarch butterflies this week. They emerged from their chrysalis and we let them go as soon as their wings were dry. We still have 3 more we are waiting on.

We started a unit on living and nonliving things and the importance of the sun. We are doing an experiment. We have two small flowering plants, one is sitting out by the window and the other is inside a black plastic bag. At the end of the week we will see what has happened to the plants.

Book orders were sent home on Monday and are due on Friday. Online ordering is very easy to do. The class receives free books for each online order.

We still have spaces on our signup sheets outside the classroom. This is where you can sign up to provide things for our class parties.

The Fall Carnival is next week on Thursday from 5-7.

2011-09-07T08:28:00.001-07:00

We are having a good start to the school year. The children like the outdoor activities in the courtyard. A parent from the school brought in several monarch caterpillars last week. We have six caterpillars that have formed their chrysalis and two more growing caterpillars. We should see butterflies next week.

We will be learning about the importance of the sun next week.

2011-08-25T12:01:00.000-07:00

It was nice to meet everyone at orientation today. We look forward to working with your child this year. See you next week.

2011-05-25T08:23:00.000-07:00

We have spent the last two weeks learning about farm animals. The children have enjoyed playing with the farm work.

Our field trip to Backyard Adventures was a lot of fun. Thank you to the parents who drove and provided food for lunch.

We have enjoyed working with your child this year. Good luck to those who are moving on to a different school. We look forward to seeing our returning students in August. We hope you have a wonderful summer.

2011-05-11T09:52:00.000-07:00

The children are enjoying learning about ocean animals and shells this week. Yesterday we learned about the octopus. There are many kinds but most are as big as your fist.

The children have been working hard on their songs for the concert next Wednesday. We hope you will be able to attend.

There is a note and permission slip coming home today or tomorrow about the trip to Peony Park. I am still looking for someone to coordinate lunch and drivers. This is a nice end-of-the-year trip.

2011-05-04T08:24:00.000-07:00

We started our Australia unit this week. We did a brief overview of the continent and are now learning about some of the animals. We have learned about kangaroos and koalas so far. I think the children were surprised to learn there are many kinds of kangaroos that range in size from 1-6 feet.

Our spring concert is scheduled for Wednesday, May 18th at 2:15 p.m. The children are working on the program during Spanish and music.

We would like to spend a morning at the park before the end of the school year. Our class has done this the last few years instead of a field trip. The children really enjoy the day. We would plan to leave school at 9:30 and go to Peony Park for the morning. We would have a picnic lunch at the park and return to school at noon. We would like to go on Friday, May 20th. If you would be willing to drive or help coordinate our picnic lunch, let the teachers know.

2011-04-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

We have been amazed at how fast our ducklings are growing. They will be leaving for a farm at the end of the week. We never named our ducklings--one reason is that we can not tell them apart.

We will be finishing our unit on birds this week. The children have learned many things about the goldfinch, robin, crow, blue jay, cardinal and woodpecker. We have learned which birds make nice nests and have beautiful voices and the birds that do not.

Next week, we will learn about Australia.

Our spring concert will be Wednesday, May 18th at 2:15 p.m.

2011-04-20T08:19:00.000-07:00

The children were excited Monday morning to find three ducklings in our classroom. They hatched over the weekend and are mallards. We are making books about the life cycle of the duck and learning about birds. Last week we learned that all birds have wings, beaks and feathers. We know that all birds cannot fly and some can swim.

The children were also excited that our classroom got some new equipment. We replaced our pink tower, broad stair, knobbed and knobless cylinders. The class has been building patterns and we are taking pictures for example books.

We will be dying eggs on Thursday, April 21st. Please remember to send 4 hard-boiled eggs with your child.

Just a reminder--There is no school on Friday, April 29th.

2011-04-13T08:26:00.000-07:00

We just finished our unit on the senses. We enjoyed having Graham's mother come and show us a model of the ear. She also showed us the smallest bones in the body which are in the ear. Everyone did a nice job on the hearing tests. We also did some taste testing for sweet, sour, salty and bitter. We also included activities on touch, smell and sight. We will begin a unit on birds this week. Our eggs are due to hatch around April 20th. I am sure this will be an exciting time in our room. In past years, we have spent a morning playing at the park. At the end of the morning we had a picnic lunch before returning to school. If any parent would be willing, we would appreciate help coordinating this.

2011-03-30T08:44:00.000-07:00

We have had a fun time learning about African animals. Next week we will study the five senses. Graham's mother is an audiologist and is going to talk about hearing. You will receive a permission note about a hearing test that one of her colleagues will administer on April 11th.

2011-03-23T08:30:00.000-07:00

We hope everyone had a nice spring break. The children were excited to see each other Monday morning.

We finished our unit on dinosaurs before break. We are now learning about African animals. Yesterday we discussed gorillas and today lions. We will also learn about the giraffe, hippopotamus, zebra, ostrich and hyena. We may do more depending on the time we have.

Thank you for coming to conferences. It is nice to discuss your child's progress with you.

Mrs. Sheldon will be teaching with Mrs. Reddy on Friday. Mrs. Sutton and Mrs. Allen will be attending a Montessori convention in Chicago.

2011-02-23T10:46:00.000-08:00

The peace festival was a success. The children did a nice job singing their songs and there were many kinds of food to sample. We enjoyed seeing all of you that were able to make it.

We are learning a little about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln this week. We are polishing pennies too--we discussed that Lincoln is on the penny.

The next couple weeks we will learn a little about dinosaurs. The children seem to enjoy this unit.

We look forward to seeing everyone at conferences the next couple weeks. You are signed up for either Mon. Feb. 28th or Tues. March 8th.

2011-02-16T08:34:00.000-08:00

We had a nice Valentine party. The children enjoyed distributing their cards. They were very excited.

The peace festival is tomorrow night. Our class time is from 6-7 p.m. The children will be singing their peace songs at 6:15. We look forward to seeing you there.

Thank you for signing up for conferences so quickly.

With the warmer weather, the children come in wet and sometimes could use a pair of dry socks. If you could put an extra pair in their backpack, it would help.

2011-02-09T09:50:00.000-08:00

We finished up our woodland animals unit last week. We learned a little about Chinese New Year and this week we are doing an overview of Asia. Today we celebrated our 100th day of school. The children were excited about this and enjoyed the snack mix we made.

We sent home notes this week about Valentine's Day and conferences. Your child may bring 20 valentines with his or her name on the card. They will take turns putting their valentines in sacks we decorate at school. There are sign-up sheets in the hall for conferences. They are from 3-6 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 28th and Tuesday, March 8th. Please stop in and choose a time that will work for you.

The Peace Festival is Feb. 17th. Our class time is 6-7 p.m. Our class may bring Asian food to share. The children will be singing their peace songs at intervals during the evening.

2011-01-26T09:26:00.000-08:00

We are learning about woodland animals in Iowa this week. Mrs. Sheldon brought Little Red the Fox and Sammy Skunk (puppets) to tell the children about these animals. We will talk about many other animals in the next week ending with the groundhog on Groundhog Day.

Chinese New Year is next Thursday, Feb. 3rd. If anyone in the class celebrates Chinese New Year and would like to share with the class, you are welcome to contact us.

2011-01-19T09:31:00.000-08:00

We are learning about Antarctica and penguins. Last week we learned that Antarctica is the driest, coldest and windiest continent. We looked at pictures from a book that a woman who visited Antarctica wrote. We found out if you stand at the south pole that you will always face north no matter which way you turn.

Penguins only live in the southern hemisphere. There are many kinds of penguins--the smallest is the little blue or fairy penguin which is 1 foot tall and the largest is the emperor penguin which is 4 feet tall. We found out that penguins are good swimmers and even though they are a bird they cannot fly.

Next week, we will learn about woodland animals.

The Peace Festival will be on Thursday, February 17th.

2011-01-05T08:28:00.000-08:00

Our class was very happy to be back at school on Monday. They missed their friends and were ready to get back into a routine. We started the week learning about snow. We will do short units this month on Antarctica, penguins and woodland animals.

One thing that you can help us reinforce is to remind your child to put their hat and mittens in his or her coat sleeve in the morning. This makes it easier when we get ready to go outside. They don't have to dig through their backpack to find things.

We would like to say thank you for the gift certificate from the class. We appreciate your thoughtfulness.

2010-12-01T09:41:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving break. The children were happy to be back and see their friends on Monday. We are learning about Hanukkah this week. Then in the next couple of weeks we will learn about Christmas customs in other countries. If your family celebrates another holiday that you would like to share with our class, please let us know.

We are celebrating many children's half-birthdays in the next three months. This gives children with a summer birthday their own special day.

Please remember with the colder weather to send appropriate outerwear. We will go outside if temperatures cooperate. DHS guidlines are that the temperature with wind chill should be 15 degrees. Make sure to send hats and mittens every day. When we have snow, the children will need snowpants and boots. Another suggestion is to put an extra pair of socks in your child's backpack in case their socks get wet.

Book orders are due Friday, December 3rd. Books always make a nice holiday gift.

2010-11-17T09:55:00.000-08:00

We have been learning about Native Americans. Each child has chosen a name which we will use on their headband. Ask your child to share their name with you.

We will have our Thanksgiving feast on Tuesday morning. Your child should have a note in their backpack today that tells you what we would like you to send for the feast.

Please remember to send warm coats, hats and mittens. We try to go outside whenever we can, so make sure your child is dressed appropriately. Please make sure that your child's things are labeled. We sometimes have duplicates or very similar items and the child does not recognize his own. It helps us if your child puts his hat and mittens in his coat sleeve when he arrives in the morning. When it snows, they will need snowpants and boots.

2010-11-10T09:52:00.000-08:00

We are learning about Native or First Americans this week. We showed the children some pictographs that Native Americans used to tell stories and decorate. The children will pick out names for their headbands and decorate teepees.

It was fun to see everyone at open house last week. We hope you enjoyed the work the your child shared with you.

Picture retakes will be next Wednesday. Look for notes about our feast at the end of next week.

2010-11-03T16:21:00.000-07:00

We had a wild Friday with a birthday and Halloween party. The children always get very excited about Halloween.

Conference forms were sent home last week. If you have any questions, be sure to ask.

This week we started our North America unit. We will learn a little about animals such as buffalo, turkeys and bears. We will also learn about Native or First Americans. It will wind up the week of Thanksgiving with pilgrims and our Thanksgiving feast. You will receive a note the week before Thanksgiving that will ask you to send a specific item for our feast.

Thursday night is open house. The time for our classroom is 5:30-6:30. We hope you all can make it. Your child will be able to share some of the activities he or she works on in the classroom. Be sure to check our turkeys on the wall and see the one your child made.

2010-10-27T15:42:00.001-07:00

We have been learning about our skeleton this week. Ask your child if they can show you where the largest bone (the femur) is. We have also discussed how our skeleton gives us a shape and we would be like a lump of clay without it. Our skeleton is many different bones so that we can move.

Our Halloween party will be on Friday. No costumes please.

We hope to see you at open house next Thursday. This is a time for your child to show you the activities he likes to do at school.

2010-10-20T08:25:00.000-07:00

We had a great trip to the pumpkin farm last Friday. The weather was perfect and the children enjoyed the wagon ride to the field to pick pumpkins. They spent a lot of time in the play area and had fun feeding the goats. Thank you to all the parents who accompanied us.

This week we have learned about bats. We found that the smallest bats are the size of a bee and the biggest, the flying fox, is the size of a cat. Bats are nocturnal and are mammals. Yesterday, Bob the bat visited (Mrs. Sheldon's puppet) and told the children that he eats lots of mosquitoes in Mrs. Sheldon's back yard.

We will learn about spiders and skeletons also. Our Halloween party will be Friday, October 29th.

2010-10-06T08:37:00.000-07:00

We finished our apple unit last week. On Friday, we made our own crockpot applesauce. Most of the children thought it was delicious.

This week we are learning about trees and leaves. The children may bring leaves and seeds in from home. We learned that deciduous trees loose their leaves and coniferous trees do not. We talked about the parts of a tree snf how a tree grows. We will find out why leaves change color.

Next week will be busy. There is no school on Monday. Wednesday is picture day. Friday is our field trip to Howell's pumpkin farm. Permission slips will go out at the end of the week.

A reminder: Book orders are due on Friday. You can choose to order online or by sending a check made out to Scholastic with the order form.

2010-09-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

We finished our unit on insects last week. We have 3 butterflies and one more about to emerge from the chrysalis. This has been very exciting for the children.

We are learning about apples this week. On Monday, we did a taste test with different types of apples. Yesterday we tasted apple butter and today apple juice. On Friday we will make applesauce.

Next week we will start a unit on trees and leaves.

We have scheduled our field trip to Howell's for Friday, October 15th. We need several drivers because of the new regulations. The trip includes a wagon ride to the field to pick out a small pumpkin. It has always been a favorite field trip so we would appreciate any parents that can drive and go along.

2010-09-22T08:44:00.000-07:00

We are finishing up our unit on insects this week. Over the weekend, our five caterpillars formed their chrysalis and we are waiting on butterflies. The children come in and check the butterfly cage every morning.

Next week we will begin our apple unit. We will learn the parts of apples and about different types of apples. It will even involve some taste testing. At the end of the week we will make homemade applesauce.

We do not have a volunteer for homeroom parent yet. If you are interested, please let the office or one of the teachers know.

2010-09-15T09:47:00.000-07:00

We are having a fun time learning about different insects. We have learned that most insects have wings and the parts of the insect's body. We studied ladybugs, ants, grasshoppers and will learn about bees and some others. We have some painted lady caterpillars that we will watch as they change into butterflies and learn about the life cycle of the butterfly.

After we complete our unit on insects, we will have a short unit on apples.

The children are getting used to our classroom routine and making new friends. Everyone seems to come in with a smile each morning.

We would like to take a field trip in October. We have gone to the Howell Tree Farm in the past. This year the regulations for drivers have changed due to new Department of Human Services rules. A driver may only drive their own child unless they have a criminal background check. We will only be able to go if we have parents willing to have background checks or at least drive their own child. If you have questions, please talk to me. The paperwork would have to be done as soon as possible.

2010-09-06T18:04:00.001-07:00

We had a great first week of school. Just a few tears, but most of the time a very busy and happy class. We'll see how this week goes as we adjust to our regular schedule.

I am sending book order home this week. The books are priced well and we earn points to use for classroom items. Please take a few minutes to look at the selections.

We will be learning about insects. If you find any insects your child would like to share, please send them. I will be ordering some caterpillars so we can see how they become butterflies.

I hope to see you at parent orientation Tuesday night.

2010-08-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our classroom blog. I will try to make a post every Wednesday and tell you some things that are happening in our room. We currently have 18 children in our class. I am ready to start the new school year.

2010-05-19T08:19:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe that this is the last week of school. It has gone by very quickly. We have enjoyed your children this year. We will miss the children that are moving on to other schools and classes. We are happy that half the class will be returning to us for another year. Thank you for everything you have done to help us.

We are looking forward to the picnic on Friday. We hope to see you there!

2010-05-05T09:48:00.000-07:00

We finished our bird unit last week. The children enjoyed learning about the birds. We had two ducklings hatch. The children named them Quackers and Fluffy. We have enjoyed watching them grow and they do grow fast.

Next week will be busy. Our music concert is Wednesday, May 12th at 2:00. We will be going for a fun morning at Peony Park on Friday, May 14th. We plan to leave school at 9:30 and get back about 12:00.

This week we are learning about South America and the Amazon rain forest.

2010-04-21T09:39:00.000-07:00

We are starting our bird unit this week. We found out that all birds have a beak, wings and feathers. Not all birds can fly! Mrs. Sheldon talked about robins and woodpeckers. We have a robin's nest in the room to look at.

We are anxiously waiting for ducklings to hatch next week. We have seven eggs.

We are planning a morning at Peony Park in West Des Moines for our spring field trip. We plan to spend the morning with a snack and lunch. Heather Schebel will coordinate lunch for the children. If you would like to drive, please let us know.

Reminder--No School Friday, April 23rd.

2010-04-14T08:06:00.000-07:00

The children have enjoyed learning about Australian animals. We are now learning a little about coral reefs and ocean life. We have some shells out to match and today we will learn about sea turtles.

We will be having an end of the year music concert on Wednesday, May 12th at 2:00. The children will sing some songs with Mrs. Ward.

2010-04-07T08:23:00.000-07:00

We are learning about Australia now. We found out that Australia is the smallest continent and the largest island. Yesterday we learned that there are 42 kinds of kangaroos. We also learned a new word--marsupial. Australia has many marsupials while North America only has one, the opossum.

We are enjoying the nice weather. Be sure your child dresses appropriately because we will go outside unless it is raining.

2010-03-31T08:28:00.000-07:00

We have been busy in the ten days we've been back since spring break. The children have learned about the sun, moon, earth and other planets. Your child should remember that the sun is a star. We have learned that Saturn is mostly helium and could float if there was a body of water big enough for it. Jupiter is the biggest planet and Mercury is the smallest.

We will be dying eggs at school tomorrow. Please send four hard-boiled eggs in an egg carton with your child.

We have seven duck eggs in our incubator. We put them in on Monday and they take approximately 28 days to hatch. We will be looking for duckling around April 26th.

2010-03-10T08:19:00.000-08:00

We have been learning a little about Africa and a lot about African animals. We have learned about lions, gorillas, giraffes and ostriches. We learned some sign language when we talked about gorillas. We read a book about Koko, a gorilla in a zoo who communicated with the staff through sign language. Ask your child if they remember the sign for ball and cat. We will learn about a few more this week.

After break, we will study the solar system and space. The children get excited about this unit.

Thank you for attending conferences. We hope you have a relaxing break!

2010-02-23T10:00:00.000-08:00

We have been busy the last couple weeks. The children enjoyed making our 100 day snack mix. The next day we shared valentines. Two parties in two days!

The Peace Festival was a lot of fun. The children did a nice job singing their peace songs with Mrs. Ward. There was delicious food to try.

Yesterday, our class was able to join the 5-7 class in the afternoon for a special presentation. A lady from SOAR which rescues birds brought a bald eagle to show the children. It was during nap time so unfortunately the nappers were not able to join us. The children were amazed by the size of the eagle. The lady shared a lot of interesting information.

We look forward to visiting with all of you at conferences!

2010-02-08T14:59:00.000-08:00

We learned about many woodland animals last week. The children enjoyed the puppets that Mrs. Sheldon brought along to tell about the animals.

We are touching on Asia. We learned that Asia is the biggest continent with the most people. We also learned about pandas and tigers.

We will learn about the heart and Valentine's Day this week. Our valentine party will be on Friday. We are also planning a 100 day party on Thursday. Each child should bring 100 of a food item that we can make into a snack mix. A note was sent home today.

Another note that was sent today is about conferences. The sign up list is posted in the hallway outside our room. Please take the time to sign up. We would like to speak to all parents.

2010-01-27T08:36:00.000-08:00

We wrapped our unit on Antarctica. The children especially enjoyed learning about penguins. There are 17 kinds of penguins. The largest is the emperor which is 4 feet tall and the smallest is the fairy which is 1 foot.

This week we are learning about woodland animals. Yesterday we had a story about Little Red the fox. Today the children heard about deer. Tomorrow we will do skunks.

The peace festival is February 18th.

2010-01-13T09:54:00.000-08:00

Finally the weather has warmed up enough to play outside! We have been out in the snow every day this week and the children have been very excited. It also gives them a chance to burn off some energy. Thank you for sending their snow gear each day. Just a reminder that it helps to have an extra set of socks in the backpack.

We began learning about Antarctica this week Yesterday we learned that Antarctica is the coldest, driest, highest and windiest continent. We also found out that in the winter it can be
-100 degrees Farenheit or colder. That means if you dumped a cup of boiling water, it would freeze before hitting the ground. We also learn about penguins.

2010-01-06T09:36:00.000-08:00

The children were very happy to see each other on Monday. We also welcomed a new student to our class--Luke Xu. We started the week learning about snow. We found out that snowflakes have six sides and no two are alike. We also learned that snow can be good and bad. Ask your child about some of the good things about snow.

We also have been learning some snowman rhymes and songs. I will share a couple with you.

I'm a little snowman short and fat
Here are my buttons, here is my hat
When the sun comes out I cannot play
Slowly I just melt away (Tune: I'm a little teapot)

There was a chubby snowman who had a carrot nose
Along came a bunny and what do you suppose
That hungry little bunny ate that snowman's nose
Nibble, nibble, crunch!

2009-12-18T11:19:00.000-08:00

We had a busy December. We always seem to be short of time especially with the snow days. We had a nice Hanukkah party on Monday and a combination Christmas/birthday party today. Thank you to those who have provided things for our parties.

The children played outside in the snow today. Thank you for sending their outdoor things. They have been very anxious to get out and play. Be sure to send all their outdoor clothes when we return on January 4th.

We appreciate the gift card we received from the class. It was very generous. We loved the drawings the children made.

We wish everyone Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

2009-12-08T09:49:00.000-08:00

Winter is here! Please remember to send snowpants and boots with your child. We try to go outside to play if the temperature cooperates. Be sure to label everything with your child's name. An extra pair of socks is a good idea too. Your child can practice getting ready to go outside--snowpants, boots, coat, hat and gloves in that order. If you want to leave the snow clothes here during the week, we will send them home on Fridays.

Our class spent the first week of December learning a little about Europe. This included reindeer, wolves and wild boars. We also read some fairy tales. This week we are learning about Hanukkah with our party taking place on Friday. Next week we will spend on Christmas. Our Christmas party will be Friday, December 18th.

Winter break begins December 21st with school resuming January 4th.

2009-11-17T09:45:00.000-08:00

We are learning about First or Native Americans this week. Each of the children chose a Native American name that we will use on headbands, etc. The children really seem to enjoy this unit. We spent the first part of the month learning about North America and a few of the animals that live in our continent. We studied turkeys and bears.

Our Thanksgiving feast will be on Tuesday, November 24th in the morning. Your child will bring home a note that tells what item we would like you to send. We will make corn bread and butter at school for the feast.

2009-10-29T07:16:00.000-07:00

We are looking forward to the Halloween party tomorrow. Please remember that the children do not wear costumes. They are very excited about Halloween.

We have learned about some animals that you sometimes think about around Halloween. Mrs. Sheldon brought Bob the Bat (a puppet) to visit last week and share some information about bats. We learned that bats are mammals and eat insects. We talked about owls and how they swallow their food whole then cough up what is not digested. Owls also have very good hearing and eye sight and can fly very quietly. We spent the last couple days on spiders. Spiders are not insects because they have eight legs and only two body parts. All spiders spin silk and use it to catch food, build nests and make egg sacs.

Don't forget that next Thursday, November 5th is Open House. Our room will be open from 5:30-6:30. The children will show you some work they do while they are here. We hope to see you then.

2009-10-21T09:49:00.000-07:00

We had a great trip to the pumpkin patch. It was worth rescheduling for the perfect weather. Thank you to all the drivers who went with us. A special thanks to Zoey for the cute treat bags.

Pictures went well this morning. Everyone was happy and hopefully the pictures will be good.

October 30th will be our Halloween party. Just a reminder that we do not wear costumes.

We will be sending home fall reports next week. Be looking for them.

We will be learning about bats, owls and other things related to Halloween.

2009-10-16T11:26:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note---We postponed our field trip until Monday, October 19th. We will be leaving school at 8:45 a.m. Be sure to have your child dressed appropriately for the weather. Boots would be a good idea because it will still be muddy. Have a great weekend!

2009-10-14T08:33:00.000-07:00

We are off to the pumpkin farm tomorrow. We will go unless it rains so be sure to bundle up. Boots are also a good idea because it will be muddy.

School pictures are next Wednesday morning at 9:20. If you are ordering, please remember to send the envelope back.

We love to watch the birds outside our windows. We would appreciate donations of bird seed--wild bird seed or finch thistle seed.

We will be learning about pumpkins and bats. We will also have lots of Halloween fun the next couple weeks.

2009-10-07T09:55:00.000-07:00

We finished up talking about trees and leaves last week. Mrs. Sutton presented air, land and water to the class. We also talked about living/non-living. We will learn about pumpkins next week before our field trip on Thursday morning.

Some reminders about the field trip:
--It is always colder there. Be sure that your child is dressed appropriately for the weather. We will be in the pumpkin patch getting pumpkins. It can be muddy so boots are a good idea too.
--Your child will be bringing home a permission slip the end of the week. Please try to return those with your money on Tuesday if possible.
--If you are planning to drive, we need a copy of your driver's license and proof of insurance. Stop by the office to take care of this.
--If you are not driving, be sure to leave your child's car seat at school on Thursday morning. Make sure that it has their name on it.

With the change in weather, many children are wearing coats. Make sure your child's things are labeled with their name. We sometimes have more than one of the same coat.

If you have extra plastic grocery bags that you would like to get rid of, we always can use more.

There is no school on Monday, October 12th.

2009-09-30T08:32:00.000-07:00

We started a unit on trees and leaves. We learned that deciduous trees lose their leaves and coniferous trees do not. We have collected leaves and saw that different trees have different shaped leaves. We also talked about the seeds of different leaves. We will be learning why leaves change color tomorrow and Friday.

Mrs. Sheldon told the children about squirrels. They heard a couple stories about people who raised orphan squirrels. The children learned what kind of food squirrels like and where their summer and winter homes are.

I will be sending another book order home on Monday.

2009-09-23T08:36:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had fun at the carnival. The weather was perfect and I saw many children there.

Just a quick note to let you know that we have scheduled our trip to Howell's pumpkin patch on Thursday, October 15th. There is a sign-up sheet posted outside the room if you would like to drive.

The class learned about Johnny Appleseed at the beginning of the week. We will begin studying trees and leaves on Thursday.

2009-09-18T07:06:00.000-07:00

This week we have been learning about apples. We tasted different kinds of apples and learned that bees are important in an apple orchard. We saw the different parts of an apple and today we are making applesauce. We also have learned a little rhyme:
Way up high in the apple tree, two little apples smiled at me.
I shook that tree as hard as I could. Down came the apples, mmmm were they good!
We will learn about Johnny Appleseed next week and begin a unit on trees.

All our butterflies emerged from the chrysalis. We are letting the last one go today.

We hope to see you at the school carnival next Tuesday from 5-7.

2009-09-11T09:34:00.000-07:00

We are finishing our unit on insects. We learned about grasshoppers, dragonflies, bees and ants. Next week we will start a unit on apples. The children especially like to taste test. We had our first Spanish class on Wednesday with Senora Mendoza. We will start music next week with Mrs. Ward.

Thank you for your book orders. It will take about a week to receive the books.

Natalie Becker and her family welcomed a new baby boy this week.

2009-09-07T09:05:00.000-07:00

We had a great week of normal hours last week. It is nice to be able to get into a routine. We talked about the importance of the sun -- which included herbivores and carnivores. We also began to learn about insects. Insects have six legs and two antennae. We counted spider legs and learned that it is not an insect. We also learned about ladybugs and butterflies. We will learn more next week. We have 5 painted lady caterpillars that may have made chrysalis over the weekend. I was also able to find a large monarch caterpillar that I hope will stay a caterpillar until Tuesday morning.

We put some activities in our courtyard area which the children are able to use in the afternoons. They enjoyed their time there.

2009-08-28T09:50:00.000-07:00

We had a great first week of school. The children are busy trying a lot of the practical life and sensorial materials. They have been happy to see old friends and are making new ones.

We will learn about the importance of the sun next week along with herbivores and carnivores.

Don't forget parent orientation on Tuesday night.

2009-08-23T20:23:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our classroom blog.

I will use this spot to update you on happenings in our room. I will post happenings in our classroom community, songs, information on units we are studying and reminders. You may become a follower of our blog and be notified when there is a new post.

One change from last year for returning students: When your child brings home the surprise bag, they can bring it back the next day with their surprise and also bring a snack to share with the class.

I will try to make a new post at least once a week. Parent orientation is Tuesday, Sept. 1st.

I am excited about the new school year.