Busy Business Owners!

Hello SK Families!

(Sorry for the late blog post... it'll be a tad on the succinct side, but we'll give you the full enchilada this coming Friday!)

Over the course of our four-day week, we were busy, busy soon-to-be business owners!  Read on for a few highlights form our days in SK...



- Beauty and the Beast: We enjoyed a special sneak peak performance in the theatre, and loved every minute!  We sang "Be Our Guest" and had a grand time.  We hope some of you were able to make it to the full-length feature over the course of the weekend!



- Final Family Skate: We were thrilled to welcome you all back for one last family skate.  It has been a joy to watch friends of all abilities fall and get right back up, sharpening their skating skills over the course of their time at the rink.  Hooray for so many generous families who found time to come lend a hand tying and untying skates, and zipping around the rink with friends on our special Friday afternoons.



- Brunch Business: We've been hard at work, preparing to begin construction (and to open!) our burgeoning brunch business (the focus of our SK economics unit!)  Friends have been earning "Wildcat Bucks" at the end of each day for making good choices; it will act as capital to start our business - there are lots of expenses when providing goods and services, no matter if they're needs or wants!  We headed to Maxfield's to learn what it's like to be the producers for eager consumers - and boy did we have a ball!  We toured the kitchen and dining room, learning everything from how seat guests, take orders, cook up food, deliver to tables, check on patrons and clear/clean up!  We feel truly thankful for having been so well taken care of by the generous team at Maxfield's; stop by for brunch there if you can!  Next stop; we'll choose the winning name for our restaurant first thing Monday morning, and then get busy on construction, and menu choices!  *vocabulary



- Reminders/Announcements: We have a three day school week coming up (March 4-6), with parent teacher conferences the evening of March 6th, and throughout the day on March 7th.  Thanks for being sure to sign up for a slot!  (Please keep an eye out for Melissa Shepperd's usual weekly e-mail for more information about our upcoming weeks in SK.  Thank you!)

We Heart SK!

Hello Valentines!  Read on to learn more about our LOVEly week in SK!

****Update: If you're having trouble with the new album, here's another link to this week's shots/videos: https://picasaweb.google.com/102148356740153666289/WeHeartSK?authkey=Gv1sRgCJLPjP7gq6O1zwE *****



Language:
Practice and Review: It's that time of year.. we've been challenging ourselves to check in on our skills, and sharpen some right up!
- Rhyming one word to another word
- Generating two words that rhyme
- Distinguishing between two words that rhyme.. and two that don't!
- Segmenting and blending our words (it helps us to stretch sounds when we read, and when we write!)
- Reading word wall words (we have 23 on our list, and we know LOADS of them in a snap!)
- Reading word family words (we use our chunking skills to read SO MANY words!  H-am, ham!  P-ig, pig!  C-an, can!  N-ap, nap!)



Math:
- Practice and Review: We've been checking in our how we're doing, counting by 1's to 75, by 5's to 50, by 10's to 50, and even backwards from 15!  We write our numbers (up to 30!) and LOVE sorting numbres into their Number Grid categories (teens, 30's, 50's, etc.)
- Math Skills: We have been tracking our Project Groundhog stats (and charting, comparing and graphing!)
- New Study: We have begun our ... drumroll please... Economics Unit!
- Needs and Wants: We brainstormed a list of things we NEED and things we WANT!  Can you ask your SKer which goes where?  Food, candy, water, air, balloons, sleep, Valentines. 
- Goods and Services: We LOVED sorting things we buy into goods and services.  Check with your SK friend to see if they can sort these: gym shoes, snow pants, babysitters, tote bags, landscapers, mittens, petsitters.
- A Classroom Business: Can you believe it?  We've brainstormed ideas for businesses we'd like to start in our classroom between now and spring break... some of the top contenders?  A farmer's market, an airport, a pet store, a toy store, a book shop, an art museum, and even a brunch restaurant!  We took a vote and can't wait to find out on Tuesday which business we'll be starting, and where we'll go on our field trip to learn how to run it!



Social Studies:
- A. Lincoln: Our friends were so excited to learn LOADS about our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln (in anticipation of Monday, President's Day!)  Ask your SKer... what nickname did he NOT like?  How did he get to school?  How did he do his homework?  What did he look like?  Where did he live as a kid?  As a grown up?  How about his hair?  When he was president, what did he do?  They are experts!

Valentine's Day:
We were love machines, making cards, gifts, wrapping paper, gift tags, and sending each other friendship notes in our SK Post Office!  Our room is filled to the tip top with l-o-v-e love these days.  Please see the We Heart SK album for fun photos and videos!

Reminders/Announcements:
- Family Skate: Our final skate date is next week Friday.  Please join us for fun and treats! 
- Snow Clothes: They've been wet and a little muddy lately... thank you for giving your SKer the message about when you'd like them sent home (nightly, weekend, etc.)  Thank you!
- Box Tops: Thank you for your GENEROUS contributions!  That takes a LOT of time and dedication - you're all stars!  The contest is over for now.  Can't wait to hear the totals!
- New Notebooks - Please ask your SKer if he or she needs a new Rest Time notebook - many are filled up with beautiful creations again!

Welcome Back!

Dear SK Fans and Families,
We are thrilled to welcome Mrs. Linzmeier back next week!  All three teachers will be working as a consistant, collaborative team to plan, prepare, and support your child's learning here at school.  There is great strength in our numbers!
Enjoy this beautiful white weekend,
Your SK Teachers

Wintry Weather!

What a week it's been - a double Superstar, ice skating lessons, a visit from the Milwaukee Ballet, a veritable blizzard, and a wintry wonderland at school today!  Read on for more details about our week in SK...

Daily Five

- Word families: We're working hard to distinguish medial vowel sounds (i.e. contrasting op/at/it families) - it's tricky business, but we're up for the challenge, listening, writing and sorting words into word families.
- The -an family: Dan is in the Van!  We're adding a new family to our neighborhood.  Hunt for -an family words this weekend!

- Word wall words: "see" is a new friend to our Word Wall... Oh say can you "see" any "see" words around town this weekend?

 

Printing

- A-Z: We tackled writing our entire alphabet in upper case this week!  We're working hard to get all of our letters in the right order, in the correct case, facing the right direction!

- a-z: Again, we worked hard to do our best SK writing of our lower case alphabet: it's not easy, but we're really making progress!

 

Math
- 100 Day!  We celebrated our 100th day of SK with a morning full of 100 math games, comparing and contrasting our 100 collections, ... and an afternoon party with the whole grade, creating 100 hats (10 groups of 10 polka dots!), 100 glasses, 100 necklaces (with 10 groups of 10 Fruit Loops!), enjoying 100 cookies, bouncing basketballs 100 times... it was a hundred hoot! 
- When I Am 100: Don't forget to take a peek at our "When I Am 100" collages and written work outside our classroom door - they're marvelous!

- Counting by: 5's, 10's, and 2's too! (Counting by 1's into the high high numbers)

- Tricky Double Digit Numbers: Writing (up to 30, recognizing (up to 50)
- 0-9: We wrote from 0-30 this week, and WOW do our numbers look better than they did at the beginning of the year!  There's a lot to keep track of... getting numbers in the right order, (27, 28, 29), order the digits correctly (12, not 21), and be sure that numerals are facing the correct way!

 

Science - Project Groundhog

- Consensus: although time of day, location and placement if our groundhogs made a BIG difference (which we discovered in a heated discussion!) we found that the overwhelming majority of groundhog enthusiasts witnessed a no-shadow situation!

 

- Map skills: we used our smart board to point out the locations if our team members and read their letters, describing their favorite hobbies (snow skiing, water skiing, biking, beach going!) and their classrooms (one has 8 boys and 1 girl!)

- Data collection: we averaged our week's temperatures and posted them online for our team to view..based on the weather we've been having, we're not so sure that our groundhog knew what they were doing!  We're looking forward to compiling our findings with our team members to get a bigger picture, week by week.

 

Announcements:

- Envelopes?  We are sharpening our letter writing skills and mailing them in our classroom post office!  Any old envelopes you might have are warmly welcomed!

- Valentines at School: we are looking forward to our afternoon party on Valentines Day next Thursday!  Please help your SKer select (or make) 17 valentines, one for each friend (free if any candy or treats) - we can't wait to deliver and feel the love!

- Snow gear: Thanks for being sure your SKer has hat, waterproof mittens, coat, snow pants, and warm boots each day at a hook for our daily 45+ minute recess.

 

Reminders:

- Healthy Picnic: Lukas Monday 2/11

- Fun at the Rink: Last Skating Lesson and final Family Skate coming up soon!
- No School: 2/15 (Teacher comment writing) and 2/18 (President's Day) - Have a LOVEly long weekend!
- Nuriyyeh's Friday Superstar: Photos will be up in next week's blog.  Thanks for your kind patience!

Artistic Groundhogs!

Hello SK Fans and Families!  This week was one for the books as we burrowed further into our groundhog study, and worked with our spectacular Artist in Residence to sculpt a brand new permanents playground structure to be added to USM's LS space this summer!  Read on for more details...



Language
Favorite Facts: We loved writing our favorite groundhog facts, illustrating them, and displaying them on our bulleting board at Show and Share night.  Check them out if you missed them!  You're sure to learn a LOT about our furry woodland friends.
I Predict Journals: Friends did an excellent job, writing predictions for what we're in for... six more weeks of winter, or an early spring!
SK Tree Descriptions: SKers used describing words to write about the state of our SK Tree.  "Snowy, cold, black, sad" were all good choices!
3rd Grade Buddies: We loved having our 3rd Grade Buddies over for our usual A Day date, sharing stories, practicing good listening skills (like asking questions and checking for reader understanding!)  Next time we go to their room - what fun!
H/h: H: Start at the blue sky, pull down straight, pick up!  Star the blue sky, pull down straight, pick up!  Slide right on the red fence.  h: Start at the blue sky, pull down straight, push up, rainbow over, pull down to the green grass.



Math
Charting/graphing/mapping: We are thrilled to be in the first week of a terrific learning opportunity that ties in excellent math skills, as well as scientific observation and language leanring!  Read more about it below under the Science section.
Compare/contrast: We love the end of a month, and a new month's beginning!  We compare and contrast the temperatures we've experienced, the types of weather we've predicted and been faced with, and notice differences from season to season, all from our daily Calendar Book data recordings!
Subtraction stories: Friends are experiencing loads of success with our addition stories, using manipulatives to write their own.  However, many are having a tough time with subtraction stories (5-2=3), working with a group of objects, taking a few away and writing a number story to reflect this.  Play with cars, trains, cheerios or bows to help your friend use math language, telling "take away" stories together! 



Science
Project Groundhog: We are participating in an exciting new project!  ProjectGoundhog.net is helping us to study the weather and woodland animals, practice some important math skills, sharpen our good letter writing habits, and engage in 21st century learning with a global community of learners!  We are a part of a six-classroom team, spanning the USA and Canada, that is working together over the next six weeks to collect data, compare results, and communicate our findings, all in the name of deciding... can we predict the seasons based on a groundhog?  BE SURE to check Friday Folders for an important kick-off piece of the project that we need your help on!  THANK YOU!



Extra!  Extra!  Announcements
Project Groundhog: Please be sure to check Friday Folders and head outside first thing Saturday morning with your SKer to check for their groundhog's shadow!  THANK YOU!
Valentines: A note will be going home next week Friday in folders about Valentines at school.  Thanks in advice for taking a close look at it!
Friday Folders: Your SKer's entire collection of Calendar Data is coming home in their Friday Folders this week - be sure to walk through pages with them and ask for an explanation of our daily routines!  They're all pros.
New Show & Share Round! New theme: help your SKer decide on a special artifact that tells us more about a hobby of theirs!  A tennis tacket, a ballet slipper, a piano book, a golf tee, a soccer cleat, a guitar pick... anything! 
(We begin a new round of special helpers and their show & shares on Monday.  Remember: it's just a simple day of line-leading and helping with classroom jobs - no family visits, special treats or high pressure! We will send a note home around your SKer's tote handles the night before their day with a reminder, but we won't be publishing a schedule this time - easier to accomodate changes this way!


Reminders
100 Day: We celebrate on Monday!  If your SKer did not send in his or her collection of 100 objects yet, we need to have them by Monday at the very latest.  Thank you!
Next Skating Lesson: Wednesday, February 6th.
Next/Final Family Skate: Friday, February 22nd.
Next Superstar Day: Gabe on February 6th!
Next Healthy Picnic Day: Lukas on February 11th!
***Family Skate Photos will be up next week in the blog.***