From the desk of Mr. Dunlap

The kindergarten and first grade will be using the climbing wall
during the month of January. This requires they wear shoes to school
along with their snow boots. We can't climb on the wall without shoes.
Other activities the kids will be doing during the month of January
include; tumbling, ABC ladders, and fitness games.

Report Card

Next week, we will begin testing for Quarter 2.  We will have testers coming in to help the kindergarten teachers assess for the report card.  Report Cards will be sent home on January 13, 2011 as long as we have no snow days.  Your children have grown so much already this year, you should be proud of all of their progress as I am.  They have been such a blessing this year and so fun to work with. 

Winter Weather

We are now in the "Winter Weather."  Due to time constraints I am unable to dress 22 students for the cold weather.  Your child needs to be able to get dressed by themselves to go outside.  Please understand that we go outside unless it is raining or for severe cold.  Your child must have snow pants, boots, coat, hats and gloves if they want to play in the snow.   All children must have boots, coat, hat and gloves.

Your child will go outside unless they have a note from a doctor for a medical reason. I do not like to leave children unsupervised in the classroom as I have recess duty or I am in the office, rest room or talking with another teacher during that time.

Music Program

Just a reminder that our K-2 Christmas Music Program will be on the evening of December 9th.  The program will be held at the auditorium at FHS beginning at 7:00.  Washington and Libertyville students will be performing together.  More information will be coming out next week. 

What To Expect In December

In December, we will be working on several things in math.  We will begin by extending patterns and using shape templates to create patterns.  We have a lesson entitled Rudy Reindeer which we will use pipe cleaners and cereal to solve problems, create patterns and use beginning addition and subtraction.  The addition symbol will also be introduced.

Small Group Reading have really taken off.  Several groups have worked on Reader's Theater and writing during this time.  Instruction is varied to meet the group's needs.  Students in each reading group are reading at their own level and will be responsible for sight words learned in small group as well as other decoding skills needed in order to being a good reader.


We have introduced to the whole group the letters: M, S,T, R, H, N.  Children are responsible for producing each letter sound and being able to write the uppercase and lowercase letter.

We are finished learning about Pilgrims and turkeys and are now going to be learning about caribou and reindeer.  Of course, we all know that reindeer don't fly unless they are Santa's special reindeer. 

Thanksgiving Feast!

Mrs. Spalla's Kindergarten Class invited Mrs. Gleason's class down for a Thanksgiving Feast.  Mrs. Gleason's class came down as Native Americans.  Our class dressed up as Turkeys and Pilgrims.  We have spent the last month learning about what life was like if we were a pilgrim and had to make that intense journey across the sea.  We also studied how Samoset and Squanto helped the pilgrims learn skills so that they could survive in the new world. Before feasting, both classes sang Thanksgiving songs and danced a Pow-Wow!  We are blessed to have such fun friends in our school and to be able to share Thanksgiving with them.

From the desk of Mr. Dunlap

During the month of December the primary grades will be indoors and
playing a lot of games in the gym. They will be doing PEP Grant
activities like ABC ladders and medicine balls. Some of the activities
for December include builders and bulldozers, line tag, dribbling
basketballs, dynamite, running, and scooters.

Smores at the Park- Reading Program Award!

 As a reward for our school wide reading program, students were able to go the Jefferson County Park to eat Smore's and play games with Therese.  Our class went with our fourth grade reading buddies.  Mrs. Pettit joined our group and helped to make smore's and play games.  The kids had so much fun hanging with their reading buddies and enjoying the beautiful weather.  Mrs. Schloss and her husband Ben made the smore's for the students.

Many Thanks!

I would like to take a moment and thank all the parents and grandparents who bought books for our classroom at the Book Fair during conferences.  It is so nice to have new books to share with the class. We have read them all and the kids were excited to share what they had picked out for the class.  

I appreciate all the parents who came to conferences and the encouragement and support that I received was overwhelming. I really enjoyed talking to all the parents and getting to know you and  your child better.  We are off to a great start for second quarter.  I will keep you posted on what we are working on and any future events coming up. I know that in December we will be having a music concert for kindergarten, first and second.  I will let you know more information as it becomes available.  Thanks so much for everything!

Field Trip to Jefferson County Park

We enjoyed going to Jefferson County Park to visit with Therese. 

Looking for the queen bee.

Hunter wanted his picture with the big rattlesnake.

Gabbie watching the turtles swim.

Kayla feeding the fish.

Kiya holding the baby turtle.

Cian's favorite animal is the turtle.

Looking at the birds and squirrels

We all enjoyed playing "Bat and Moth."

The end of a perfect morning!