4.30.09

What a treat! Eddie Bowman who plays the character of
"Chester Drawers" visited the Wakefield School
elementary students.  Mr. Bowman has written many
books and recorded several fun sing-a-long songs.
He is dedicated to training and preparing our children
for a happy and successful future.  The students enjoyed
meeting an author and singing along to his delightful music.

4.28.09

Time is slipping away! Only 18 days of school left! My little bumbles are growing up much to fast. Not sure I'm ready for them to fly out of the hive yet. I'll miss seeing them every day and hearing all their fun stories! They are so excited about soccer, t-ball, and their scouting adventures.

This is going to be another bee-zy week in First Grade. Today the 6th grade band students in our school district are on tour. They will present a band program at 1:30 in the new gym. Thursday we are looking forward to an author visit. Chester Drawers will meet with the children to visit with them about being a writer and illustrator. He will share a collection of books he has written. His books will be available for purchase if you are interested. Mrs. Mohler sent information home on Monday.

Monday, May 4 is our spring music program. The children are busy practicing this week. I hope you have a costume idea ready for your child. The First Graders are to dress like sheep. (Black or white) If you have questions, please contact Mrs. Croxton at school. Your child will need to be in the classroom by 6:45 p.m. The program begins at 7:00 p.m. in the new gym.

Next Wednesday, May 6 is our class trip to the Manhattan Sunset Zoo! Remember that your child will need to bring 1.00 for admission. I'm accepting money now. If you haven't sent in your child's money yet, please do. I would like to have this prior to May 6. Also, we will have a picnic lunch at the zoo. Please send a lunch and drink with your child. The bus leaves at 8:45 a.m. and will arrive back to school at 3:00 p.m. The students should dress comfortable and wear walking shoes. Please send a light jacket just in case of cool weather. It's Kansas and we never know from one day to the next what the weather will like!

The school carnival is approaching! Mark Saturday, May 9 from 4:00 - 6:00 on your calendar to attend our carnival. We are looking forward to the games, food and prizes! The High School Cheerleaders will run the First Grade game for us. PTO has assigned our class the activity of "Face Painting". I will need help with baking of cookies, cakes, any items for the Book-Cake Walk. Notes will be sent home for volunteers to help with this. Please contact me via email or a note for any questions or information on how you can help out.

4.23.09

The Pilot Club ladies presented a puppet program this week on helmet safety. The lesson to learn is how a helmet can protect our head - so be smart and wear a helmet! The ladies passed out safety activity books and certificates for participation. Dalton's name was drawn for a free helmet. Thank you ladies for reminding us of safety issues. (By the way, Isaiah's grandma is on the far left!)

4.22.09

The children at school celebrated Earth Day today. We met around the flag pole for the pledge and sharing of songs about taking care of the Earth. The First Graders song was about reduce, reuse and recycle. We read books about making every day an Earth Day. Tomorrow we will pick up litter around our school. Each grade took turns planting flowers and spreading mulch in the flower beds. It was such a beautiful day! The kids really got hot being out in the sun. It felt like a summer day!

4.19.09

It's going to be another busy week in First Grade. Tuesday, April 21 the Pilot Club from Clay Center will be here in the afternoon to present a puppet play on the importance of wearing a helmet. They will draw a name to present a certificate for a free helmet. The child who wins the certificate will pick up the helmet in Clay Center.

Wednesday morning we will begin with an IDL program on "Life Cycles". The children will study the life cycle of the mealworm. Wednesday is also special because we will GO GREEN and celebrate Earth Day! Please encourage your child to wear something green. The elementary classes are gathering together at 1:00 outside the front of school to share some songs and readings about taking care of our earth. Each class will be picking up trash around our school yard.

This the last week to collect items for the benefit auction basket for Carlton Shumaker. PTO is asking for items that relate to a Harley/Motorcycle theme. We have a collection box in the classroom that items may be placed in. The auction is Saturday so please have things here by Friday. Thank you so very much!

I am very proud of the progress the children are making with addition. Friday they took a 60 problem test and was timed for 5 min. Nine children completed all 60 problems with 100% accuracy! This week those who are ready will try the 100 problem test. Your help at home with drill and practice is paying off! Thank you and keep up the good work!

4.14.09

We are counting down the last days of school. As I look at the calendar tonight we only have 27 days left this school year. We've been so busy that time is just flying by! I wish I could make the clock stop for a few more weeks to try and get everything done that we need to. It's already progress report time again. The children will be bringing home their grade reports on Friday.

Several children have already began to bring their 1.00 for our class trip to the zoo on May 6th. Thank you! If you would like to join us, please get in touch with me. The children will need a picnic lunch that day. I'll send more notes as the time nears.

We'll need to begin to get in gear for our school carnival on Saturday, May 9. I have only received one item for our Patriotic basket. Donations of red, white and blue items are needed. PTO has asked each class to help with one game at the carnival. The first grade game is "Face Painting". If you like to paint faces I sure could use your assistance. I thought I would ask our cheer squads to also help out. The girls are good at things like this. Remember that we will also need donations of cookies, cakes, baked food items for our Book Walk.

4.7.09
A reminder that April Scholastic Book orders are due on Wednesday. Please have all order forms and money to me so that I can place the order online. Thank you!

There will be a community Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 11 at the baseball field. The Egg Hunt will be from 2:00 - 4:00. Please have your child bring their basket and come along for some fun in the park!

Monday night at the PTO meeting the board approved to pay for our Zooventure class in May. THANK YOU PTO! Cost is 3.00 per child. Our field trip is to the Sunset Zoo in Manhattan on Wednesday, May 6. The children will each need to bring 1.00 to cover the admission price into the zoo. They may bring their money anytime.

The PTO is asking for basket items to be auctioned off for a benefit for Carlton Shumaker. Carlton is a well known member of our community who has donated for years many items to our school. His family has managed the Wakefield Short Stop it seems like forever! Whenever we have needed anything, Carlton would jump right in and take care of our needs. Carlton truly cares about the students at Wakefield School. Now, it's our turn to show how much we care about Carlton. He is battling cancer and has numerous medical needs. Please keep Carlton and his family in your prayers in the times ahead. You can show your support by bringing in items with a Harley/motorcycle theme to classroom teachers. The PTO will collect these items and put together a beautiful basket to be auctioned off on Saturday, April 25. We will accept your donations with kindness, and look forward to showing Carlton how much we appreciate all the fine things he has done for this community!

4.6.09
We sure have been experiencing some crazy weather lately! Our egg hunt is to be on Thursday, but the forecast is for showers. Doesn't sound very encouraging! We may be hunting for our eggs in the first grade classroom. Thank you to Jaden's mom who is going to help by sending in a refreshment. I'm also baking cookies and have a drink for the children which we'll have after finding the eggs.

In Reading this week we are going to read two non-fiction stories which have to do with animals growing up. The first story is about a baby otter. While in Sea World at San Diego I filmed the otters swimming for the children. They will enjoy watching them. The otter is an amazing animal. The second story is about a baby foal. This story is strong in sequencing. We will study the stages of development and learn about what happens as a baby foal grows up. The children love horses so this story will be exciting for them! Our phonic skill and spelling will focus on Long o as in oa and ow. We'll also be working on adding the ending -ing to words. This will be a short week with no school on Friday. The spelling test will be on Thursday.

In Math we will experiment with how shapes can be flipped and turned. The children will explore how shapes can be used to make different shapes. The children will have another diagnostic checkup on Tuesday. I plan on introducing fractions on Wednesday. The children are busy making addition flash cards. We try and make a new page every day. I hope your child had the opportunity to play the addition game online that I mentioned in the April Newsletter - THAT'S A FACT .
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/thats_a_fact/english_K_3.html
Any fact drill time they get will enhance their success in mastering the facts. Thank you very much for working with your child!

4.1.09
It's April Fool's Day! I'm sure the kids will have fun fooling around trying to trick each other. We will begin working on the Puppet Show today. The children will act out a part from their selected book using their character puppet. Many children have already brought their puppet to school. They are just adorable! If your child has not they will need to do this by Friday. Puppets were due today. We will practice this week and then I will video tape the show!

Next week on Thursday, April 9 the children will have an Easter egg hunt in the afternoon. The PTO has donated 2 eggs filled with goodies for each child. We will hunt for our eggs at 2:15. After the egg hunt we will have refreshments in the classroom. I will call a few moms to see if you would be willing to help out. There is no school on Friday, April 10. Happy Spring to all!