April 22-25(26)

**I ask your patience as we have added Fridays to our school days; I may not get the blogs out on Fridays.  I will always have them up by the end of the weekend.  I still suggest checking in once a week to see all the fun things your child is doing, but also to get any important information on due dates, fun dates, and such.  
                                                                         
The letter books are complete!  They are going to be bound throughout the next few weeks, we will practice reading them, and they will come home soon!

All hand symbols, sign language, and handwriting videos are available on the class website:
Mrs. Gloudemans Letters of the Week Page   Keep practicing!

What a busy week!  Our theme was Earth Day and Trees this week.  Students are making me so proud I could cry!

On Earth Day, we watched the Lorax and talked about why we need to save the
trees and our Earth.  We did a Lorax themed project in which students emphasized the importance of taking care of the Earth with the "Unless" quote from the book:

There were two versions of the project this week.  Some students did more writing than others, but all did a great job!

We then talked about the three R's = Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.  Students were very concerned we still cut down trees to make things (to have them the first time before we recycle).  We then went into Reforestation as well.  I drew some illustrations on the board to help them understand the repetition and a cycle.

In my "illustration" we have Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.  We also have You use it at your house (top in green), you put it in the recycling (green), it goes to the recycle factory (green) and then they make it new and it goes back to your house.

We have for every tree they cut down (top left) the put two more trees up=reforestation.

After an "inschool field trip" to visit all the classrooms and collect their scrap
paper buckets, we took them to our room to recycle them.  Students turned the paper into pulp with water and a blender (and repeatedly used the word pulp--YAY!).  They then dried it on a screen, pressed teh water out, and put it out to dry!  They will be taking it home this week!

Students also worked on sorting out their recylcing.  They worked as a team to sort the recycling into the right recycling bins and then they graphed the results.  They then analyzed their graphing results.  Great math skills!








We also started working on subtraction math!  Students had alive trees, but then some died.  How many alive trees are left?  They did great with this paper!  We also got some good 1 on 1 practice with number skills and how to write the numbers.

Finally, we had our field trip.  After a confusing week of getting the day
wrong, new permission slips and basic confusion (I AM SO SORRY!), we made it!  We donated supplies to animals that do not have a home yet and needed our help, we saw and pet the animals, and we had a lot of fun.  The great thing about the mess up?  Students learned a valuable lesson in flexibility, understanding, and coping.  They did very well with this, were very understanding, and as long as they didn't miss the trip they were good to go!  Thank you all for your understanding and patience!

AM AND PM CLASSES HAVE SCHOOL this coming Friday May 3.  Class is 8-11, 12-3 as usual.  

AM If you child always takes the bus home from school, the bussing is still available on Friday. If you child normally gets  a ride or stays for extended day, they must have their own transportation at 11 am.  No bussing available for these students, and there is no extended day. 

PM If you always ride the bus, bussing is still available.  

Our additional 5 minutes also started and continues through the year.

Important Notes:

• Graduation will be Wednesday May 29 from 5-6pm for those who would like to mark their calendars early!  I will be providing more information as it comes, but thank you for your timely resonses in helping us pick a day.  This was the day with the least "no's" and the best we could do.  Students will be singing some songs, showing their work, receiving a certificate, and having some fun!  
• Book Orders are due April 28th (MIDNIGHT).  I ADDED THE WEEKEND TO THE BOOK ORDER SCHEDULE IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO GET THOSE IN!  I WILL SUBMIT THEM MONDAY MORNING INSTEAD OF SATURDAY.  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
• FINAL Reading with the Stars Wednesday MAY 15, 2013! Please RSVP regardless of attendance for correct amount of copies.
• 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: Flowers

SNACK: We have nobody signed up for either AM or PM snack this week.  We do have some snacks left over from previous weeks we can compile together, but if anyone is interested in either AM or PM please send me and email.

April 15-April 18 (April 19)

**I ask your patience as we have added Fridays to our school days; I may not get the blogs out on Fridays.  I will always have them up by the end of the weekend.  I still suggest checking in once a week to see all the fun things your child is doing, but also to get any important information on due dates, fun dates, and such.  
                                                                         
We did a review of the letters of the week this week.  We finished our handprint activities and completed our books.  They are going to be bound throughout the next few weeks, we will practice reading them, and they will come home soon!

All hand symbols, sign language, and hand writing videos are available on the class website:
Mrs. Gloudemans Letters of the Week Page   Keep practicing!


Our theme was Trees, Plants, and Plant Life Cycles.  We planted some seeds--some with all of their needs met, some without light, some with out water, and some with out soil. We will monitor their growth and progress as well as see if they can live/grow with out water, soil, and sun.

We wrote our predictions in our journals, and we will be documenting our observation as we go.

At Reading with the stars,  we made plants with REAL MUD! We talked about the different parts of a plant and used a variety of materials to make each part!

Our Final reading with the stars will be Wednesday May 15, 2013 at 5:30pm!  Join us!

Students helped create a life cycle of a tree with me on the dry erase board.  We used this as a basis for our our art project.

We also went through the seasons of a tree and made them with our
hands and a variety of different types of art supplies.  It was a BIG mess, but it was a lot of fun and they look great!

Students' morning work one day this week was to create letters (on a template) out of shapes!  They did well with this.  It was also great to hear the manners and shape words as someone would say, "please pass the ___" :)

On Thursday, we practiced a tornado drill.   The state wide drill was supposed to be on Thursday, but due to severe weather expected in Southern Wisconsin, the state pushed it back to Friday afternoon.  Since none of our children were going to be present, we practiced.  We meet at our bookshelf, heads by the wall, bumpers by the windows and crouch down like a seed and cover our heads.  We never run to the bookshelf, but we always stop what we are doing and move quick.  I wanted to keep you informed if this conversation is brought up at home!

For those who attended on Friday: We watched The Magic School Bus: Takes to Seed and had some great gross motor activities in the gym.  We did the life cycle of a plant yoga, and practiced the tornado drill one more time.

AM 4k has class this coming Friday April 26.  Class is 8-11.  If you child always takes the bus home from school, the bussing is still available on Friday. If you child normally gets  a ride or stays for extended day, they must have their own transportation at 11 am.  No bussing available for these students, and there is no extended day.

Our additional 5 minutes also started last Monday and continues through the year.

Important Notes:

• Graduation forms:  Please fill out the graduation/picnic form and return so we are able to get a day that works for MOST of our families.  I truly hope to find something that most can attend.  It should be a fun evening!
• Field Trip information forms came out a few weeks ago.  THE TRIP IS NEXT WEDNESDAY.  PLEASE BE SURE TO SEND IN ALL PERMISSION SLIPS AND PAYMENTS. Please be sure to send the payment with the slips as CASH. If you have donations, you can send those to school as well and I will bring them all together with us to the trip.  A list of needed items came home with the permission slip.  If you have any questions/concerns, please feel free to contact me!
• Book Orders are due April 26th (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
• FINAL Reading with the Stars Wednesday MAY 15, 2013! Please RSVP regardless of attendance for correct amount of copies.
• 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: Earth Day-Recycling

Letter: STARTED NUMBER OF THE WEEK, Numbers 1 & 2

AM Snack: Ulmen Family (got it already-thank you)

PM Snack: Brunn Family

Graduation & Friday Family Day

***paper copy of this note coming home in Wednesday folders***

Parents,

I cannot believe it is time to start writing this letter, but I have some questions regarding graduation for you!  I would like to do an evening graduation to allow you all to come.  I would like to do a 5pm-6pm graduation ceremony, but I would like your input on which day of the week works for you.  I cannot accommodate everyone, but I wanted to do the best I can to find a day that works best for you.  PLEASE RETURN THIS NOTE WITH THE DAYS YOU WOULD PREFER GRADUATION TO BE.  Please return to your class by Friday April 26^th so we can make sure our space is reserved in time and we can begin making our preparations.  Any questions, please ask!

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
May 26 NO	27 NO	28	29	30	31 NO	June 1 NO
2 NO	3	4	5	6 Last day of school NO	7 NO	8 NO

Many of the other 4k teachers are offering a Friday Family Picnic during the day.  The picnic would be open to all siblings and the parents as well. I wanted to get an interest inventory on a Friday Family Picnic from you.  I want to know how many people would want/be able to attend a Friday picnic.  I know many of you work, and schedules get crazy at the end of the year so I wanted to see who was interested and if there was high enough interest to proceed with the planning.  PLEASE RETURN THIS NOTE WITH THE DAYS YOU WOULD PREFER THE PICNIC TO BE IF THERE ARE ANY.  Please return to your class by Friday April 26^th so we can make sure the space was reserved in time and we can make preparations if necessary.  Again, any questions, please feel free to ask!

**We can have the picnic during Friday school time as well, though it would be a little more difficult with the two times, the other Fridays we could do it all at once.**

Friday May 10
Friday May 17
Friday May 24	NO-MEMORIAL WEEKEND
Friday May 31

Thank you!  I appreciate your input! 

Mrs. Gloudemans-

April 8-April 11

Our letter of the week was Zz.  We talked about the sound Zz makes (like in zoo and zebra).  We practiced our hand symbol, practiced the handwriting sheet, and made our hand print book page (zebra), and we decorated the letter Zz with zig-zags.  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!  

Here is my letter Zz handwriting video:

We have finished our letters of the week!  I showed students what the books look like and they are excited about them!  We are working on doing the make up letters for those absent and then getting the books bound and they can bring them home to read them to you!  They are doing very well using picture clues, reading finger, and figuring out the picture based on the sounds!

We continued our theme of Pets.  We fed our pets different amounts of food and added up the amount we gave them, and some of us made a pet book. The week was a little crazy with the 2 hour delay thrown in there on Wednesday.  

Mr. Gloudemans came in to read us a story about medicine.  Mr. Gloudemans is a pharmacist and talked to the class about not taking medicine if you don't need it, only take medicine parents give you and taking all of your medicine mom and dad give you even if it is yucky.  We also talked about how medicine can help you when you are sick and help you stay away from getting sick, too.  The kids were good listeners!

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

AM 4k has class this coming Friday April 19.  Class is 8-11.  If you child always takes the bus home from school, the bussing is still available on Friday. If you child normally gets  a ride or stays for extended day, they must have their own transportation at 11 am.  No bussing available for these students, and there is no extended day.

Our additional 5 minutes also starts Monday and continues through the year.

Important Notes:

• Field Trip information forms came out a few weeks ago. Please be sure to send the payment with the slips as CASH. If you have donations, you can send those to school as well and I will bring them all together with us to the trip.  A list of needed items came home with the permission slip.  If you have any questions/concerns, please feel free to contact me!
• Chaperones are still needed for the trip, especially for our AM trip.  Many noted they could volunteer depending on the date.  Again, the date is April 24.  Bus: 8:45-10:45 and 12:05-2:15.
• Book Orders are due April 26th (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
• Reading with the Stars Monday April 15, 2012! Please RSVP regardless of attendance for correct amount of copies.
• 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: Trees, Plants, plant life cycle

Letter: Review

AM Snack: Erickson Family

PM Snack: Schultz Family

April 1-April 4

Our letter of the week was Yy.  We talked about the sound Yy makes (like in yak, yellow, yes, and yarn).  We practiced our hand symbol (one student told me "It looks like 'hang loose!'", practiced the handwriting sheet, and made our hand print book page (Yak), and we decorated the letter Yy on yellow paper with yellow yarn.  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!  

Here is my letter Yy handwriting video:

Our theme this week was pets.  We started with a list of pets we know about.  Students helped me write the

list by helping me figure out the letter that it started with.  Students were excited to see our dramatic play area turned into a vet office and/or animal shelter, Littlest Pet Shop was in block area, and letter hidden in shredded paper (like animal bedding) for matching and sorting in the sensory table.

We matched the dog with the lower case letter on his envelope to the capital letter dog house, drew pictures of a pet we want or we already have, and sorted pets by how many legs they have.

We also made spring blossoms for our class tree/bulletin board so hopefully it will bring on the real spring weather!  I think the snow may have been jinxing us!

The Shelter field trip is Wednesday April 24th.  We have gotten a lot of permission slips in, but are still waiting for many payments.  Please make sure to send the $2 CASH payment if you have not done so.  

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 3 weeks ago. Please be sure to send the payment with the slips as CASH. If you have donations, you can send those to school as well and I will bring them all together with us to the trip.  A list of needed items came home with the permission slip.  If you have any questions/concerns, please feel free to contact me!
• Chaperones are still needed for the trip, especially for our AM trip.  Many noted they could volunteer depending on the date.  Again, the date is April 24.  Bus: 8:45-10:45 and 12:05-2:15.
• Book Orders are due April 26th.  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
• Reading with the Stars Monday April 15, 2012!
• 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: Pets

Letter: Zz

AM Snack: Griesbach Family

PM Snack: Brunn Family

Alphabet Videos

Hello Parents!

I am so excited to hear that you enjoyed the handwriting videos!  I am in the process of making all of our past letters to video as well!  

To make them more accessible, I am putting the videos on our school website (http://mrsgloudemans.wix.com/stedward4k) as well as youtube (http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE-q1z0O5-pGYbpG3BBNYkQ?feature=guide).  

I hope you find them enjoyable!  I will get the rest of them up as soon as possible!