Thank you to ALL of the parents who participated in parent/teacher conferences! Although the minutes seemed to fly by, it was valuable time well spent. Thank you for helping me to know your child better and for continuing to partner with me so we can work together to ensure your child's success!

We had a busy week!!

Language Arts:  The kindergarten classes had a wonderful experience this week. We were visited by an author! Don Booty, a local author, came to May Watts and read his newly published book Brave Little Starling . He talked to our students about when he wrote his first book (he was 8!) and where he gets his ideas for his stories (from his real life). This was an excellent way to kick off our writer's workshop. He was so nice to the students and really inspired them to come back to the room and write their own stories. A big thanks goes out to Jackie Hoheisel From Mrs. Wilke's class who arranged for this amazing opportunity. If you are interested in purchasing his book, you can click on the link in the top left hand side of the blog. It will take you to the Barnes and Nobel website where you can buy it. It is also available on Amazon.
We are very excited to be starting Writer's Workshop! We had a discussion about WHY we write (grocery lists, letters to people, to become smarter...better readers and writers, to tell people things) and about people we know who write (moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, friends, teachers, US.) We discussed what makes authors good writers (writing about what they know.) We also talked about what we can use in the classroom to help us with our writing (writing offices, word wall, dictionaries, other books, word lists.) Very soon, we will begin MAKING great things in Writer's Workshop!

Math: We showed our skills in identifying two d shapes and the use of positional words to describe their locations.  We are developing our fluency of making five with the Make Five finger game.  In addition, we had Game Day honing our counting and grouping skills with Monster Squeeze, Skyscrapers, Monkeys on the Bed, and Papa Get the Moon.

Science:A new topic we will focus on is our 5 senses. The class will be introduced to the 5 senses (taste, touch, sight, sound, and smell) through read alouds, short video clips, and hands on experiences. There also will be opportunities to visit our wonder center which will be filled with 5 senses materials. Our study of the 5 senses will carry into the following week and will lead into our next unit of study in science, nutrition.
Social Studies:  Empathy is our Cool Tool this week.  Understanding the feelings of others help us to make better choices with our friends.  We will continue read books about and discuss empathy.

Notes:  Thank you to PTA for our Popcorn Day!  Thank you to Mrs. Ashish for helping in the computer lab.  Thank you parents at home who are helping sharpen pencils and sending in supplies for our classroom.

Picture re-takes are being planned for Thursday, November 15, 2012, beginning at 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. If you need to have your child’s photo re-taken, please do the following:

1) Call the office to get your child’s name on the re-take list.

2) Return the complete original packet of photos on November 15.

If your child did not have money with them on the original picture day to purchase photos, forgot to turn in their payment envelope, was absent, or is new to May Watts School, they should also be placed on the re-take list. All students have their photos taken in order to have them appear in our May Watts yearbook and for their academic file regardless of whether you purchase photos or not.

If you have any questions, please contact the office at 428-6700.

Have a great weekend!