NEXT: All About Eggs

March 31 - April 7

Tigers Roar!

We have finished our weekly reader and classwork. Please take the time to review this work and booklet with your child tonight if possible. We made special reading sticks and used them everyday to read our books! We had a lot of fun talking about tigers and learning about their environments.

Facts we discovered:

(1)Each tigers stripe are unique just like our fingerprints! (2)The majority of tigers live in Asia. (3) A tiger is in the cat family (4) It is one of the only cats that LIKE water!

Books we read:

(1) Make Friends, Zachery (2) Mama Tiger, Baba Tiger, (3) Little Louie the Baby Bloomer (everyone's favorite book), (4)Tigger Tales, (5) Tiger Trouble, (6) Tiger Can't Sleep, and (7)Augustus & his smile.

Reading Readiness Project - Goodbye Winter...Hello Spring!

We have been working on saying "goodbye" to winter and "hello" to spring by making our first homemade book! They all turned out so well. If you receive your child's book and there are some pages empty it is because they missed school that day. It would be wonderful for you to finish it with them and have them bring it back into school so we can all look it. They are all so proud of them! I've taken quite a few training classes in regards to helping children with reading readiness. The following are some of the things I always emphasize when reading with them and you can do it to......their new book would be a great place to start.

• Always read the title and help them count the words in the title.


• Announce the author (Jack Smith is the author and he wrote this book Jane Smith is the illustrator and she drew the pictures in the book).
  
• Help them with understanding front/back/middle of the book....keep it simple.
• Acknowledge the page numbers.
• Ask them to read to you.....encourage them to look at the picture which will help them describe what is going on in the picture. I know it takes time but it is really advantageous for them to become comfortable doing this on a regular basis. It can be the simplest book and it should be simple.......what confidence it provides them.
• Have fun and READ something everyday!

The picture of everybody sitting so good is priceless. I couldn't get the Jessica pictures to open :-( Tell all the kids that the "owl" is coming back next month! I have petsits through the 11th, so I think I will drive through on the 12th. I need to be home by the 21st, but it should be a good visit Are the spring bulbs you all planted coming up?

Claddagh

It is a traditional symbol of love, friendship and loyalty and has become poplar as a wedding ring.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We had an eventful day even with the UGLY weather!! We started out with bagels w/GREEN cream cheese and GREEN milk for breakfast! Many would not even "try" it so we had to go back to plain ole white. We pretended to be leprachauns as we worked on putting together our individual puzzles and colored a picture of a leprachaun, rainbow, and GOLD.

Brady brought in pictures of his ancestors who came from Ireland as well as a wall hanging that is a Claddagh (pronounced cladaw). It is a traditional symbol of love, friendship and loyalty. The children were very interested in this piece. Brady is 6th generation and we thought that was realllly cool. After nap we were blessed with "rainbow" cupcakes ! Plus a bag of Irish potato candy to take home (basically butter, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, coconut flakes and cinnamon). A big THANK YOU to Brady and his mommy, Jennifer!!

Let's Go to the Dentist

Our goal is to learn about visiting the dentist's office! Our objective has been to identify people and items that help promote happy teeth. We are finishing this up tomorrow so look for it in your notebooks on Thursday.

Welcome Baby...Evan Robert Goff!

Anna and Jaylin have a new cousin! We were so happy to have Caden and Madison here at school with us while we ALL awaited his arrival. We were sooooooooo lucky to have such beautiful weather. CONGRATS......Big brother Caden and big sister Madi!!

Remembering Jessica...

Today we remembered Jessica by coloring a little angel to put in a special little book for her mommy, Julie.  Also, we talked about how important it is to wear your seatbelt!   Today would have been Jessica’s 19^th birthday and most of you know I am very close with her mother.  She has conveyed to me many times that she just hopes that people will remember Jessica.  I know it isn’t much but she will be thrilled to have this small token of remembrance from our little group! The stories I tell her of the children always make her smile and laugh…that is a blessing to her because everyday is hard.  The following is a copy of the picture and verse:

 

"See, I am sending an angel

ahead of you to guard you along the way ...”

 

 

Communication Notebooks

I promise I’ll get them back to you by tomorrow!  Sorry it’s taken me along time to transition from February to March!!!