Good evening, friends and families!

We had another fabulous week reading a chapter a day of our novel, Because of Winn-Dixie, engaging in more team building activities, and of course learning through play!

Monday-

I grouped the children into 4 teams to see if they could work together to build a LEGO set of their choosing. We first discussed what it means to work as a team. The students and I came up with the following list…

1. Cooperation
2. Communication
3. Respect
4. Taking Turns
5. Finding solutions to problems as a group

When children build with LEGO they are…

Problem solving, thinking critically, planning, following instructions, strengthening their ability to focus, exhibiting spatial awareness, fine motor skills and dexterity.

Each day I read a Chapter from our class novel and we respond to the reading by discussing important themes and plot points. Today we journaled about what we would do if we found a stray dog…

Tuesday…

Centers included Math Island, Jenga, Journaling (If animals could talk…), and Magnetiles/magnets

Wednesday-

Today we drew self-portraits. This important activity supports self-awareness and Identity, encouraging children to notice and appreciate their own unique features, helps them express how they see themselves, building self-esteem and confidence, and promotes understanding of diversity when they compare portraits with classmates. It also enhances observation and attention to detail, develops fine motor skills, and encourages creativity and artistic growth.

Centers included Uno, Journaling (List 5 things you love), Connect 4, and Multiplicity Lab’s Image of the week.

Ms. Filisa came to our classroom to read a story that will be read school-wide called “The Magical Yet”. This story teaches kids that just because they can’t do something yet, doesn’t mean they’ll never be able to. The word “yet” adds hope and possibility. After reading the story, the children colored their very on “Magical Yet” and wrote what their Magical Yet can help them to do…

Some of the responses included…

“The Magical Yet will help me to learn how to ride a bike.”

“Kick with my left foot”

“Draw more realistic pictures”

We played a fun game where you have to capture a cup from your partner with only a straw. We tried to see how fast we could carry the cup around the circle…

Thursday-

Today students finished up their self portraits, played math games, wrote about their favorite season in their journal, read Winn-Dixie and enjoyed the beautiful day outside at recess. I also listened to each child read and they are all doing very well! Thanks so much for supporting them by reading with them at home!

We hope you have a wonderful long weekend!

Ms. Melissa

Hello, friends and families,

Welcome to the 2025-2026 school year! To kick off the new school year, the children and I are having fun getting to know each other by playing cooperative games and reading back-to-school books. We had such a great two days together! Please enjoy some pictures from our short but very busy week…

Books Read This Week…

Thursday…

Beach Ball Name Game…

Save Fred Activity… The students were challenged to help their gummy worm friend named Fred get into his life preserver after his boat tipped over in the water. Each pair of students first tried to help Fred by only using paper clips. They were not allowed to touch anything but the paper clips. After a while, I told them they could touch the life preserver and they all saved Fred! This was an exercise in patience and teamwork.

Math Journal– Each day we will write 5 number sentences and the sum will be the number of the day. Today was the 1st day of school, so the sum had to be one. Students are able to use addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to solve the problems.

Centers– This weeks centers included Lego- (Build a school), Play Dough, Uno, and Journaling- (Write about how you feel on the first day of school).

DEAR– Drop Everything And Read

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Chess Class

Making Connections Activity with Ms. Anna and Ms. Beth’s Classes– Each student wrote somthing on their strip of paper that told something about themselves such as, “Loves pizza”, “Love to Bike Ride”, “Love to swim”. We shared our strips of paper with other friends and made connections. For example, they could link “Beach” with “loves to swim”. Soon the students were able to find a way to connect all 36 strips of paper showing us how much we have in common!

Friday…

We read the book “Our Class is a Family” by Shannon Olsen. It’s a great book to help students feel a sense of belonging and community in the classroom. We then illustrated a picture telling about either what our classroom family means to us, or something that tells about our gifts and interests we each contribute to our class family.

Centers…

Cup Tower Teamwork Activity…

Building a cup tower might seem simple, but it offers a wide range of developmental benefits for kids. We will keep these cups in the room the whole year for the students to build with during free-choice time. The advantages include… Fine motor skills, problem solving and critical thinking, spatial awareness, patience and perseverance, creativity and imagination, collaboration and social skills, and math and early logic skills.

• Note about Nightly Reading…

Beginning Monday I will be sending home a folder in your child’s backpack. Inside you will find a book or a sheet that they are supposed to read to someone at home. The reading should only take around 5-10 minutes. If you could please listen to your child read the literature each night and send it back in the folder the next day, I will send something new each day. Most of our students are holding their own when it comes to reading, but everyone can use extra practice to strengthen skills, even if they are already an awesome reader. 🙂 You will be surprised by how much they improve over a short period of time just by reading a few minutes each night. 

Thanks so much for your support! 🙂

Have a great weekend!!

Love,

Ms. Melissa