Mar 4- Mar 7

Our letter of the week was Ww.  We talked about the sound Ww makes (like in watermelon, whale, and watch).  We practiced our hand symbol, practiced the hand writing sheet, and made our hand print book page (Whale), and we decorated the letter Ww with watercolor paints.  The students are doing really well with our alphabet letters.  I am so proud of their progress with the sign language symbol, the sound symbol, the letter and even our handwriting sheets are improving!  

**** Found the correct wording on how to write the letters. Please click HERE It should bring you to a google document.  When you get in the document, you can save it (download) as a PDF.  You can then view, rotate counter clockwise to get a better view.***

This week we finished up Dr. Suess-Green Eggs and Ham and  Dental Awareness.  

We read Green Eggs and Ham, again looking for they rhyming words.  We then did a math activity in which the students rolled and put that many eggs on their plate.  They did this two times and then picked the plate that had more and the one that had less.  We continue to work on figuring words out (more or less) with sounding out the first sound of the words.

We did a play on words from Green Eggs and Ham and integrated some technology by typing "I am ____"  on the computer. This introduced more letters to look for, as well as the space bar and the shift key to make it capital. We will continue to increase our technology skills that help us work on our academic areas as well!

We set up an experiment with eggs representing teeth.  We put them in water, milk, and soda. We observed what the teeth looked like before and predicted what we thought would happen. We wrote down our answers as a class.  We then checked them again at the end of the week and discussed what we saw and what it meant for our teeth and what is healthy to drink.  Students helped me write down the answers.

Students had the opportunity to floss the play dough out of the teeth!  Play dough was stuffed in between the pieces of a large lego.  They used yarn to floss it out.  Great practice on flossing and the purpose of flossing!



We had a dentist visit as well. Afternoon students and students that stay for extended day were able to hear some dental awareness information and learn about healthy teeth!

Marshmallow and paper mouths

Apple, peanut butter, and marshmallow
mouths

Tooth counting addition

Students made marshmallow and paper mouths, apple mouths.  Students counted their 20 teeth and worked our fine motor skills putting them on.  We worked with matching a toothbrush to the teeth, and did some teeth math with some unifix cubes (white) as manipulative to help with the math problems. 

It was a crazy week with my being gone two days, but things looked great when I came back!  Students are doing a lot of learning and having a lot of fun!

Thank you for those of you that made it out for conferences.  It was nice to touch base and be able to chat about your child and their progress.

As always, photos available by email at your request.  Additional photos are available for viewing on the website: http://mrsgloudemans.wix.com/stedward4k 

Important Notes:

• Field Trip information forms came out this week. Thank you for your feed back. As of now, it looks like the trip is a go.  Dates are being finalized as we speak and will be out next week along with a permission slip and waiver.  We do know there will be a small fee ($2/$3) for each student and volunteer/chaperone, but it is all given as a donation to the shelter. If you would like to add on to your payment for the trip or send in an animal related donation, they will be openly accepted by the shelter.
• Book Orders are due March 22nd (MIDNIGHT).  There are some great new collections. Also, if you order online you get a coupon for free books.  It also earns points and free books for our classroom as well!  Find the link the scholastic section of the website: http://mrsgloudemans.wix.com/stedward4k
• Spring Break is the week of March 25th-29th.  
• Reading with the Stars Thursday March 14, 2012!  Please RSVP (even if it is a no) so I can get an accurate count.  Thank you!
• Dress for the Weather.  We go outside Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Students need coats, hats, and mittens.  If there is snow or even if it is in the 30s I would suggest snowpants and boots for warmth and dryness.  St. Edward Extended day families, these students go outside for "long recess" after lunch daily and need to be dressed for it daily.  Please come with everything they need to stay warm and have fun!
• Even as Spring approaches, if there is snow we need your child to come in snowpants and winter gear for playing on the playground.  If they do not have the proper clothes, they will need to stand on the blacktop with the teachers.
• Lost and Found.  Our lost and found is growing.  If you are missing something please feel free to check out the box on top of the lockers by our door, or email me and I will take a look for you!  
• As always, any questions or concerns please feel free to email me!  Have a great weekend!

Next week:

Theme: St. Patrick's Day

Letter: Vv

AM Snack: Rach Family

PM Snack: Sawinski Family