Upcoming Events.................

The October Reading Program will be kicking off soon.  All grades will be counting minutes that they read outside of school.  More information will be coming soon.  Kindergarten will have a reading log to fill out daily. Students will return the log (probably on Monday) to receive a prize.  Kindergarten students are expected to read 10 minutes daily or 70 minutes a week.  Of course, that is just the minimum amount of minutes and we always encourage students to read more.
The Scholastic Book Fair will be coming at the end of October.  This is a fun time for staff and students.  It's fun to see the new books that kids are reading. Kindergarten students are always amazed at how the library transforms into a little shop of books. Information will be sent out closer to the end of October.
Pastries for Parents will be October 14th.  Come eat donuts before school with your child.  It's free and we welcome parents to come and visit the school.
Kindergarten testing for report cards will be beginning soon. Children will be tested on letter and number identification, sounds of the letters, rhyming, shapes, address, phone number, counting, and several other areas.  Report cards for Kindergarten will be passed out at Parent Teacher Conferences will will be help the Tuesday and Thursday following Halloween.
Atwood Pumpkin Farm informed us that we will not be able to visit the Pumpkin Farm this year.  Of course, we are very disappointed since this is usually our first field trip.  But the owner has just had a new baby and I definitely understand how busy she is.  Hopefully, your family can go out and visit anyway.
I appreciate all that you have been doing for your child and the patience you have shown me.  The fall is a very busy time for the children as well as the school staff.  We are always experiencing a lot of change  and sometimes have to adapt at the last minute.  I do try to check my email at least once during the day but there are several days where I am unable to check it until after school. Kindergarten is a very busy place.  If there is any type of routine change such as picking up your child please call the office or send a note with your child.  If I have a substitute for some reason and you send me an email about a routine change I will not get it, nor the sub.   Thanks for understanding!!
As always, if you need to contact me- do not hesitate.  I will do my best to get back to you as soon as I can.

Mrs. Travers!!!!!

Kindergarten welcomes Mrs. Travers each Thursday morning to read a new book to the class.  Mrs. Travers volunteers at Washington Elementary each Thursday just because she loves reading children's books.  We can't wait to see what Mrs. Travers will read next!

Dan Wardell From PBS Kids!!

The kids were so excited when I told them that Dan Wardell from PBS kids was coming to our school.  Most of the students knew him from television.  So, it was like having a celebrity pop in. Dan gave an exciting presentation about turning off the television, using your imagination, going outside to play and of course, reading.  The whole school, including staff, got engaged as he had us acting out the story, Rumble In The Jungle, by Giles Andrea.  The students were memorized by his high-energy performance.  I absolutely loved it! I found out  that a few of my students had seen him at the Fairfield Public Library this summer for story-time.  Later that evening I was able to listen to him speak at the Jefferson/Van Buren  Iowa Reading Association.  He spoke about his travels during the summer to reach out to communities to help libraries with their summer reading program.  He is in high demand and I can definitely see why.  He has a true passion for children and helping kids live a healthy life.

Rose The Snack Lady

We are very fortunate to have Rose from the Iowa State University Extension Office visit our school to teach the kids about healthy snacking.  Rose comes twice a month and prepares healthy snacks for the kids to enjoy.  Each student is allowed to try new foods and recipes.  On Monday, Rose came for the first time this year.  The kids were not sure of her cottage cheese dip and cut-up zucchini.  However, after taking a small bite several children discovered they actually like it.  Rose brings stories about vegetables and fruits, coloring sheets, and information about healthy living.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Kaden, Emily, Jazlyn, Ben and Isabelle

Chicka  Chicka Boom Boom
Will we have enough room?

Last week, we read the story Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault.  They kids loved repeating the lines with me over and over.  So...we decided to make our own Alphabet Tree and decorate uppercase and lowercase letters to put on the tree.  After several readings of the story, we watched the movie version of the book.  

September 5-8th

This week we will review the color word "red."  Skyler was our leader on Friday and I let her decide what color word we are going to learn next.  She said "purple," so purple it is!  We will practice writing purple and red and learn a new song for purple. 
We will continue to learn the sounds for the letters.  I am teaching the students motions to help them remember the sounds that each letter makes.  So far, we are up to the letter "I,i"  Every couple of days, I show them a few more motions.  Soon, we will be able to do the whole alphabet.  
In math, we will learn a new poem about squares.  We have started to work in our Math Journals.  An example of something we might do in our Math Journal would be solving problems such as : 1 rat and 1 hen.  How many legs?  We would draw out the problem and practice counting the legs.   We will work on counting out objects and will continue to practice writing numbers 1-5.
Our butterflies were supposed to be here last week.  I am hoping they come soon!! The kids keep asking and I have never had them be this late before.  We will keep our fingers crossed.
Questions the students and I will be discussing this week about reading are: Why do people read?  What different kinds of things can you read?  Where do you like to read? 
The first home football game will be Friday!  Thankfully the weather has cooled off and we can enjoy being at school.  Hope you all had a great weekend and I look forward to seeing your little ones tomorrow morning.