Toledo Zoo Details

The kindergarteners and first graders will be taking a field trip to the:

      Toledo Zoo!

     

      When?

        Wednesday, June 15, 2011 from 8:45am-3:00pm

      Where?

        2 Hippo Way, Toledo, OH.

      How?

        Students and chaperones will be riding the bus together.

      Who?

        Kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms

        4 chaperones from every class who will ride the bus with us.

Chaperones will be Mrs. Booker (Kyle), Mrs. Christian (Noah), Mrs. Burton (Morgan) and Ms. Reynolds (Dominique)!

      Cost?

        $6 for students

        $7 for chaperones

        Money is due by Friday, June 10.

      Dress?

Students should wear comfortable clothes and shoes according to the weather.

      Lunch?

        Students and chaperones should bring a bagged lunch that can be     

        thrown away.



Current Exhibition Schedule

Below is the current exhibition schedule.  There are still a few students who have not signed up for times.  The exhibitions begin next Monday, so if you are not scheduled, please contact me ASAP.  Thank you.

Monday, June 6
9:00am  Reigna
9:45am
10:30am  Kyle
2:15pm  Kameron

Tuesday, June 7
9:00am  Cheyanne
9:45am
10:30am
2:15pm  Nico

Wednesday, June 8
9:00am  Noah
9:45am  Kyndal
10:30am
2:15pm  An'Niyia

Thursday, June 9
9:00am
9:45am  Mya
10:30am
2:15pm  Malik

Friday, June 10
9:00am Emmanuel
9:45am
10:30am  Keisa
2:15pm  Morgan

Beach Day Reminders

Tuesday, May 31 is Beach Day!  If your child completed their milestone #4 (visual aid) on time, they may dress in beach/summertime day attire. They can wear things such as flip-flops, shorts, t-shirts, sun visors and sunglasses. Please do not bring or wear bathing suits. If students wear flip-flops, please bring a change of shoes for recess and gym. Students may also bring a beach towel with them.

Pancakes and Pajamas were a hit!

Our Lighthouse Village event, Pancakes and Pajamas, was a HUGE success!!  There were so many people catching flying pancakes, painting pillow cases, reading bedtime stories and dancing the night away at the Pajama Jam!  I didn't get a chance to take any pictures because I was selling tickets, but I know how much fun everyone had by the smiles on their faces!

I was very excited to see some friends from our room!  I saw Reigna, Kyle, Kyndal, Romeo, An'Niyia, Malik and Peyton enjoying pancakes and having a great time with their friends and families!  I am so excited for next year's pancakes!

No School Friday, May 27 - Monday, May 30

This is a gentle reminder that there is no school this Friday, May 27, or the following Monday, May 30.  School will resume on Tuesday, May 31.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!!

Shining Light

Last week, our class honored 2 Shining Lights!  Congratulations to both Kyle and Cheyanne!  They were chosen because of how hard they have been working, as well as always following directions and making great choices!  I am so proud of both of you!

Mr. Kefgen Will Not Be In School On Wednesday

I will not be in class tomorrow, May 25.  I will be enjoying jury duty!

See everyone on Thursday!

Milestone 3 - Due This Thursday

This is a gentle reminder that Milestone 3 is due this Thursday, May 26.  This is the completed visual aid. For those students that complete this milestone on time, they may participate in Beach Day the following Tuesday!

I am really looking forward to seeing all the childrens' hard work!

All-You-Can-Eat Pancakes is Back!!!

Please join us for the evening sporting your pajamas for pancake eating, pillowcase decorating, dancing and reading ( with the chance to win some of the many books up for raffle)

Location: UPA Ellen Thompson Campus - gym and 1st floor village
Date: Thursday May 26, 2011
Time:  5:00 - 7:00 pm
Cost: $5.00 per person at the front desk prior to the event
          $6.00 per person at the door (children under 2 free)

I hope to see everyone there!!

The Celebration of the Arts was a Success!

This past Wednesday, our school held the 1st Annual Celebration of the Arts!  This was a combination of the Annual Art Show, Young Author's Night and musical performances!  It was a HUGE success!  Here are some of our friends enjoying all the activities.

Here is Kyndal and her family!

Here is Malik and his family!

Romeo, Noah and Kyndal all entered the writing contest!

Kyndal won the 1st Grade writing prize for her story about candy!  Here she is with her prize!  Congratulations, Kyndal!

The students' amazing art lined the walls and covered tables in Lighthouse Village!

Here is Cheyanne and her family in front of the art award winners.

Cheyanne won Best Use of Lines for her drawing of giraffes!  Congratulations, Cheyanne!

Here is Ms. Mirjah following along with 4th grade writing as a recording of the author's voice reads the story.

Here is Ms. Standard and her daughter, Keira, entering the kindergarten writing contest.  Afterwards, Keira won the kindergarten prize for writing!

Mrs. Woolsy did a great job of displaying writing from our village.  In one room, she played a video that showed kindergarteners reading their emergent writing! 

She also created this poster explaining the different stages of early childhood writing!  The writing samples came from the different classrooms in our village!

Mr. Curran did an amazing job of running the Poetry Cafe on the 3rd floor.  The poems that the children wrote and read were amazing!  The Starbucks treats were the perfect compliment to the evening!

Here are Cheyanne, Dominique and her grandmother, and Malik using a computer program that gave them a silly picture and space to type a story to go with it!

Here are Ms. Ritter and the 3rd graders as they perform a recorder concert for everyone!  They all did a great job bringing music to everyone's ears!

This year, our school also created an anthology of student writing.  Each class submitted writing to be included in the book!  The books were then available at the art show for families to take home!  I am so excited and proud of the students who had their work selected and included in the UPA Anthology!  Congratulations to Noah, Kyle, An'Niyia and Malik!  You are now published authors!

We all had such a great time!  I hope to see everyone again next year!

Field Day Volunteers Needed

Coach Marbry is looking for volunteers to help with Field Day.  If you are interested, please email her at:

smarbry@uprep.com


Thank you!

Making Slime at Home!

A lot of the children have been asking for the recipes to make the slime we made at the Hands-On Museum so they can make it at home!  Here are the recipes:

Slime


Iingredients:
*borax powder            *water              *2 small bowls
*white glue (Elmer's)       *food coloring (optional)

In the 1st bowl, combine 6 teaspoons of glue, 6 teaspoons of water and food coloring (optional).  In the 2nd bowl, pour 1/4 of a cup  of water and 1/4 of a teaspoon of borax.    Slowly stir the glue mixture  from the 1st bowl, into the 2nd bowl.  Once your slime has formed, pick it up and knead it in your hands.  There will be some liquid left in the bowl.  The more you play with the slime, the firmer it becomes.

Oobleck  (A substance that is like a liquid and a solid!)


Ingredients:
*cornstarch             *water             *1 small bowl

in the bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of water.  Stir.



Have fun!  Remember, do not taste your experiment!

Our Very Special Mystery Reader

This week, our Mystery Reader came all the way from Oakland University! On Monday, Mrs. Woolsey invited the OU mascot, Grizz, to our village!  We learned that he loves basketball and his favorite colors are black and gold!  While he held his book, Mrs. Woolsey read the words for him.  During question time, Grizz's friend helped answer them for the kids.  What a great surprise to start off the week!

Mr. Peri Visits

Our last 2nd grade friend joined our class last week!  We were very excited to welcome Mr. Peri into our classroom.  Just like Mrs. Chisolm and Mrs. Bruner, Mr. Peri has some of our older siblings in his class!

Some of the things we learned about Mr. Peri is that he loves to read (and teach reading!), he has a dog named Luke and he has a lot of technology in his classroom, including a Smart Board (a computerized white board)!  Questions that we asked included how long he has been teaching, what is his favorite subject to teach, what makes second grade special and does he have linking cubes (this seems to be popular question!).

Thank you Mr. Peri for visiting and reading us Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea!  It fit in perfectly with our study of fiction writing!

   

   

Important Dates

These are also posted on the left side of our blog.  If you have any questions, please let me know!  Thank you!

Celebration of the Arts
Wed, May 18

5K Walk
Belle Isle
Sat, May 21

Milestone #4 Due
Completed Visual Aid
Wed, May 25

Pancakes and Pajamas
Thursday, May 26

NO SCHOOL
Fri, May 27 - Mon, May 30

Exhibitions
Mon - Fri, June 6 - 10

All-School Carnival
Fri, June 10

Lighthouse Award Ceremony
Tues, June 14

Toledo Zoo Field Trip
Wed, June 15

Last Day of 1st Grade!
Fri, June 17

Pancakes and Pajamas!

Please join us for Pancakes and Pajamas!
ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT PANCAKE BREAKFAST is BACK!!
Served with SAUSAGE, ORANGE DRINK & COFFEE 
BY: CHRIS CAKES

LOCATION: Cafeteria of Ellen Thompson
Date: Thursday May 26, 2011 
Time: 5:00-7:00 p.m.                                                               
COST: $5.00 per person at the front desk**
$6.00 per person at the door
(Children under 2 free) 


Please join us for the evening sporting your pajamas for pancake eating, pillowcase decorating, dancing and reading (with the chance to win some of the many books up for raffle!!).  Activities will be located on the 1st floor village.

**Tickets can be bought prior to the event at the front desk. 

Our Trip to the Planetarium!

We had such an amazing time at Wayne State's Planetarium!  Even the weather was perfect for a walk through WSU's campus! 

We watched a great demonstration about the our solar system including the planets, the sun and moon, and the stars.  Even the teachers learned new things!  Did you know that the Big Dipper is not a constellation?  It is a star pattern inside the constellation Ursa Major (The Great Bear)!  A constellation is actually a mapped out area of the sky, similar to a county map of Michigan!  Each section is called a constellation, and inside those are the familiar shapes most people (including me!) mistakenly call constellations!

Next, we watched a physics demonstration by one of the WSU professors!  He was able to show us some really cool machines and experiments that related to electricity, magnets, angles, centrifugal force and temperature!

First, we watched as he filled a container with liquid nitrogen.  He then demonstrated how cold it was by dipping objects into the liquid and freezing them in seconds!  The coolest was the balloon.  When he pulled it out of the container, the cold air molecules inside the balloon, and the balloon itself, had shrunk. As it warmed up, the molecules expanded and the balloon inflated back to normal! He also froze a rubber tube and a rose that broke when he tapped it on the table!

Here he is using tools that real scientists use to demonstrate electricity and static.

The children really liked learning about motion and centrifugal force.  The professor explained that weight distribution can alter the speed at which you spin.  He used ice skaters as examples - they spin slowly with their arms and legs out, and faster when they pull them closer to their bodies.  The children and some of the grown-ups got a chance to try this out using hand-weights and a spinning stool.  Everyone kept falling off when they spun faster! 

The children also used a spinning bike tire to make them spin on the stool!  When they tilted the tire to the side, they would spin one way.  When they tilted it to the other side, the stool would start to spin the other way! 

We had such a great trip!  Thank you Ms. Dawn and all the staff at Wayne State's Physics Outreach Program!