Snow Day?

Please watch your local television station, listen to local radio or go online tomorrow morning to find out if Edgerton School District will have school or not.

If the weather allows, tomorrow's activities will go on as planned. However, if school is canceled tomorrow, our Holiday Sing will be canceled as well. We will try to reschedule a "Winter Sing" in January. If there is a cancellation, we will have our book exchange and PJ party on January 2nd. 

We hope to see you tomorrow, but just in case, we wish you and your family a safe and happy holiday break!

Holiday Traditions

Over the past few weeks we have been learning about a number of different celebrations that occur around the world during the month of December.

The one that is most familiar to our class is Christmas. We have read books and made projects related to this and talked about how some people celebrate Christmas with gifts and Santa, while others celebrate Christmas as Jesus’ birth, and some families recognize both of these Christmas traditions. Our room has some Christmas touches to it too!

We have a felt tree to decorate.

We can bake cut-out cookies.

And stockings to hang by the chimney with care!

We have also learned about the Jewish holiday called Hanukkah that is celebrated by a series of rituals that are performed every day throughout the 8-day holiday. Las Posadas is a Mexican celebration during which neighbors reenact the nativity pilgrimage to a designated house that represents the “inn”. We also learned about Kwanzaa, an African American Holiday that celebrates a fruitful harvest.

Thank you all for sending in show & tell items about your family's traditions. We have really enjoyed learning about the different ways families celebrate together!

We had a great time at the tree farm! Be sure to see you check out the photos on our photo gallery page. Thank you to all the chaperones who joined us for the day and thanks to those who volunteered to come as well...so sorry that we couldn't take you all with us!

---

Don't forget to bring in a book for the book exchange if you haven't already and be sure your child is in his/her PJs on Thursday for our Polar Express PJ party!

---

Also, the Holiday Sing is on Thursday night at 5:30pm at St. Joseph's Church (the circle church). We will be in the lower level where the stage is located. Please do not arrive more than 5 min early...the kids get too crazy :)

Our Musical Week

Monday we listened to John Denver’s Sunshine on My Shoulders while we looked at the book by Christopher Canyon that has illustrations to coordinate with the song.

We also drew our December page for our Person Book. The increase in the amount of details on the self-portraits from September until now is amazing!

Tuesday we heard the song, What A Wonderful World and viewed the accompanying book that was illustrated by Ashley Bryan.

We then watercolor painted a picture of our choice while listening to Mozart.

We made paper plate shakers on Wednesday. It was a great fine-motor activity since we had to lace the plates together.

Thursday we practiced patterning with bells as we made instruments for our holiday sing. We are getting soooo excited to get up on that stage and perform for you!

Don't forget about the music we will be making for you at our Holiday Sing on Thursday, December 20th at 5:30pm.  

This performance will be at St. Joseph's Church in the lower level/stage area. This church is NOT the same one we went to for the potluck. It is commonly referred to as the "circle church". Please let us know if you have any questions. We will be sending home an RSVP form next week so that we know how many chairs to have set up for our amazing audience.

Abracadabra!

First of all, thank you to everyone who contributed to and/or attended the potluck! It was a huge success. See more photos on our photo gallery page!

Due to your generosity, we have frozen the extra buns, ham, and cheese for some nourishing snacks on a few days in December! Thank you!!!

Now on to this week... We learned about an African Folk Tale called Abiyoyo. It is about magic, music, and understanding. Mrs. Fox even performed some fun magic tricks each day!! Monday we made a magic hat with a rabbit. Did your child pull a rabbit from a hat for you? On Tuesday we made our very own magic wands. Wednesday and Thursday we heard the story of the color changing rabbit and we made our own version of the book. We experimented with color mixing to make new colors. It was very messy but fun. Please have your child “read” the book to you.

---

 Holiday Book Exchange

We will be doing a class book exchange for the holidays this year. Each student can bring in a book wrapped in their favorite wrapping (with a tag indicating who the gift is from) to exchange with another student. Please see the red note in this week’s folder for more details.

---

Giving Tree

Next week, we will be setting up a “giving tree” in our entryway. If you were thinking of giving us teacher gifts this year, we would prefer you get a gift for our class to use instead. Simply take a tag from the tree that lists an item from our wishlist, purchase the item for our class, wrap it up and place it under the tree with a tag noting who the gift is from. We will open the gifts together near Christmas. We will also post wishlist items on the website for those that can’t stop in to grab a tag but would still like to participate.

---

 Look at this super-cute snack we had this week!!! Thanks Charlie!

Another Beary Fun Week!!!

This week we worked on a number of bear projects that utilized our math skills.

On Monday we started our “bear books” we colored each of the shapes in the book a specific color.

Tuesday we all enjoyed our day off...well Mrs. Fox didn’t get the day off, but she enjoyed meeting with all the families at conferences. Thank you to those who attended and were patient as the schedule got behind!

We worked on shapes on Wednesday. Another math skill :) Thursday we added bears to our bear books when we worked on positional words such as on, over, next to, under, etc.

Portraits of our stuffed animals.

We also had a great time at our teddy bear pajama party where we read stories to our bears, made them some porridge, painted a bear  portrait  and made our bears a bracelet. It was a beary fun day! So sorry we missed getting pictures of the big day for our blog...see what happens when I (Mrs. Crandall) take the day off...I kid, I kid. Thank you to everyone for the kind birthday wishes too!

Don't forget about our potluck on Tuesday! 

We look forward to seeing you there!!!

Three Bear Fun

Last week we started talking about Goldilocks and the Three Bears. You would not believe how many different version there are of this classic tale!

We made a jointed bear on Monday. It was a great project for working our fine motor skills. We had to insert brass fasteners (brads) into tiny holes and then open the "wings" of the fasteners. These adorable bears are now decorating our classroom. Some are waving, some are kicking, some look like they are doing karate!

Tuesday we made patterns with the characters from the Goldilocks story. We each had a pattern different from our neighbor so we had to work really hard to complete our own. You will have the opportunity to see your child's pattern at conferences. Did you know that patterning is math?

We worked on sizing on Wednesday. Papa Bear and his bowl, chair and bed are all large/big. Mama Bear and her things are medium, and Baby Bear and his items are all small/little. While we all know big and small...medium is a difficult concept to grasp. We will continue to work on learning medium throughout the year. Your child's sizing page will also be available at conferences.

Thursday we used sequence cards to retell the Three Bears story. We had to recall what came first, second, third and last. Everyone did a great job!

---

Thank you to everyone who has returned their potluck RSVP form, if you haven't yet returned yours, please send it back ASAP so we have enough seats/food!

Spooky Fun

On Monday, we made orange jack-o-lanterns by mixing yellow and red paint. We then added silly eyes, noses and mouths to turn the pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns. 

Tuesday we heard the story called Where the Wild Things Are. We made our own Wild Thing complete with googly-eyes. 

Wednesday was our awesome costume party! What a bunch of cute characters we had here!! Thank you to everyone who sent special snacks, goodies bags, etc. And thanks to those who joined us for the festivities too! You can see pictures of the fun on the Photo Gallery Page. 

AM Class

PM Class

Thursday we made the November page of our Person Book. We used fine-point markers, which are great for practicing proper pen positioning for writing. If you don't have a set at home, they would be a great addition to your art supplies.

There is a lot of important information in your child's red folder this week:

1. Newsletter - Be sure to read the article about Sleep...it's so essential to your child's success!
2. Student Spotlight Schedule
3. Potluck Participation Form
4. Conference Confirmation Note
5. Feather Bulletin Board Project

Have a great weekend and we will see you Monday for some Three Bear Fun!!!

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything

This week we focused on a book called The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything.

On Monday we made our own version of the book, which required us to do sequencing to get the story in the correct order. Has your child "read" their book to you yet?

We worked our fine motor skills on Tuesday when we cut the corners off our papers to make heads for our scarecrows. We then used crayons and/or markers to draw a jack-o-lantern face.

Wednesday we patterned stripes on the scarecrows pants. Did you know that sequencing and patterning are considered math skills? So if you son/daughter says "we never do any math at school" you can point out how these skills are math.

Thursday we assembled our scarecrows and they are now protecting our classroom from crows.

 

---

Next week is our costume party! Be sure your child can get in/out of his/her costume to go to the bathroom by him/herself. Please practice over the weekend if need be so we don't have any accidents during our fun party :) Also, please remember no masks/make-up or weapons/gore. Thanks!!!

---

Now is a great time to check your child's backpack to be sure the extra clothes in it are suitable for fall weather!!!

Pumpkin Fun

We had so much fun learning about pumpkins this week! We learned that pumpkins start as seeds and then grow into sprouts. The sprouts turn into vines and on the vines grow flowers. These flowers develop into little green pumpkins. Then the green pumpkins grow into the big pumpkins we can carve into jack-o-lanterns.

Class Pumpkin Patch

We also made a Pumpkin Patchwork Quilt for each class. We started with all squares and had to use scissors to trim the corners off to make circular pumpkin heads and eyes. We also cut out our own stems and added teeth to the mouths if we wanted them.

PM Quilt

AM Quilt

Our field trip was a blast! It was the first time on a school bus for many of our friends. At the farm we saw animals including goats, donkeys, llamas, a calf, a pig, a sheep, bunnies, a Saint Bernard dog named Hans, and cats with kittens. We took a hayride through the pumpkin patch and saw pumpkins that were orange, white, yellow, striped, bumpy and more! There was a spooky barn maze too. When we clapped really loud, we made ghosts fly, cats meow, and witches cackle. Be sure to check our our photo gallery page...we have tons of photos!!!

AM Class

PM Class

Thank you to all the chaperones who joined us, your help was very much appreciated!!!!! 

Our next trip will be to a Christmas Tree Farm around the first week of December. Watch future newsletters for the details!

---

A turquoise note about conferences came home in your child's red folder today. Please fill out your top three preferred time slots and return it ASAP. We need to meet with every family!

---

If you would like to bring in a fresh food snack in November, please let us know what you would like to bring and when. Thank you!!

Hurry, Hurry Drive the Firetruck!!!

We really enjoyed our fire safety week! On Monday we made a firetruck out of shapes and hung them in our classroom.

The visit from the firefighters this week was awesome! We even got to sit in a real firetruck!!! Be sure to view the slideshow on our photo gallery page.

Morning Class

Afternoon Class

Here are some important items to discuss with your child:

• We talked about how if our clothes catch on fire, we need to STOP, DROP, & ROLL.

 

• Please be sure that your family has a designates meeting place in case there is ever a fire at your house.
• Talk with your child about only calling 9-1-1 in an emergency. Remind them not even pretend calls on an old cell phone (911 still works on a cell even if you no longer have it activated on your account!)

---

Don't forget to send back your child's school pictures and/or payment to avoid being billed $69.00 by Lifetouch for the portrait package.

---

Also, if you haven't sent your child's pumpkin farm permission slip and/or payment back, we need that as well!

---

Finally, please be respectful of our drop off-times. Unless your child gets off the bus, he/she cannot be dropped off until 7:55am/11:40pm (even if they are a bus student and you happen to be dropping them off). The time before class is teacher prep time and we are not staffed for extra kids. Thanks for your understanding!!

Apple Week

This week went SO fast..... but before we get to that...thank you to all the families who joined us at the open house last week. What a great turnout!!! If you haven't signed up for a Student Spotlight Week yet, please go to our Student Spotlight page to see what weeks are still available and let us know which one you would like to sign up for. 

We have gotten lots of leaves back for our October bulletin board. See how awesome it looks?! If your child hasn't had a chance to bring his/hers back, there is still time. Also, if you need a new one, please let us know.

 

On Monday we made another page for our "Person Book". Each month we draw a picture of ourselves and write our names. These drawings are compiled in a book that you will receive at graduation. It's a great way to see your child's progress through the year. 

Tuesday we were detectives! 

We investigated apples!!

We figured out:

• what color the skin was
• whether it had a stem or not
• how many cubes it weighed
• how many cubes high it was
• what it looked like inside.

Wednesday we learned about the inside and outside of an apple and did large motor skills groups. This involves us doing obstacle course-type movements and is super fun!!

 

Thursday we tasted a number of different kinds of apples and apple flavored foods including red, yellow & green apples, applesauce, apple butter, and an apple cereal bar. It was fun to see how many of our friends liked the same apple-flavored items as us.

We have some exciting events coming up...

• Thursday, Oct. 11 - The Edgerton Firefighters and one of their trucks are coming to talk to us about fire safety.
• Wednesday, Oct. 17 - Field trip to Hermanson's Pumpkin Patch - Be sure to return the permission slip that we sent home this week in your child's red folder.
• Wednesday, Oct. 31 - Costume Party - Be sure to read the costume requirements in this week's newsletter.

Marvelous Me!

This week we talked about how we are all different and special in our own ways. We learned about body parts too. We made some awesome personalized projects that are displayed in our classroom for the open house tonight! If you can't make it to the open house, here are some photos of our displays.

We also have our Student Spotlight Sign-up Sheet prepared for you to sign up tonight. For more information on Student Spotlight weeks, please see the Student Spotlight Page. We will display the list here once people have signed up so that you can select a remaining week if you didn't get a chance to sign up and for future reference so that you remember which week your child is in the Spotlight.

We sent home a new bulletin board project in this week's folder. 

Please help your child decorate it & cut it out.

 Don't forget to put his/her name on it too!

 October's Show & Tell Theme: Collections

We have had a great first month of school!!!

The kids have learned so much already and are doing a great job!

Have a great weekend!

~ Mrs. Fox & Mrs. Crandall ~

Families are Fun!

We spent this past week talking about our families. On Monday we used markers to draw a portrait of our family on a quilt square and then assembled the squares into a class quilt.

AM Class Quilt

PM Class Quilt

Tuesday had our hands traced to make the trunk and branches of our family tree.

We added leaves to our trees on Wednesday and on Thursday we glued our family pictures on the page. We now have a gorgeous forest of family trees on displayed in our hallway!

Forest of Family Trees

We enjoyed the nice fall days on our playground too!

Friday we had a blast dressing up in Red/White/Black and cheering on the Tiders!

Don't forget!

We are having an open house so you can see what we have been doing.

Thursday, September 27th

5:30-6:30pm

Grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncles, neighbors and friends are all welcome to visit!!!