My Leave...

I hope everyone has had a great start to this beautiful week. I wanted to let everyone know due to the Lainey's birth and her being at Good Sam. and with the recovery of Shannon I will not be returning to work until April 9 (this is the Monday after Spring Break). Mrs. Paytes will be the guest teacher these next 2 1/2 weeks while I am out and Miss Isaacs will also be in the room teaching with her. I have talked with Miss Isaacs extensively about procedures and what is to take place while I am out. I have also dicussed lessons and specific learning goals, which need to be taught and assessed. I have asked her to update me on what has taken place in the room 2-3 times a week; therefore, I am still aware of what is happening. I am very confident in Miss Isaacs and Mrs. Paytes to give exceptional instruction to your child while I am out on leave. I am planning on stopping in and seeing both groups of children this week to say hi. I have missed them greatly, I truely do love them all (this is when I know how much I love my job).


If you have any concerns or questions, please email me. I will try and get an answer for you!

Alaina "Lainey" Stahl...

I wanted to let everyone know that we had a baby girl, Alaina, on March 8.  We are going to call her Lainey.  She was premature (32 weeks), but she is doing fantastic!  It was quite a shock when we had to go to the hospital 2 weeks ago and find out that Shannon, my wife, had to be put on bed rest for some complications.  The next week we found out it was in the best interest of everyone to take the baby early!  We were confident in the doctors decision and Lainey is the best thing that has ever happened.  The doctors and nurses at Good Samaritan hospital have been phenomenal.  I cannot say enough good things about the health care we have received and what Lainey is receiving.  I am sure I will add a picture soon of her so everyone can see, but right now she is having some beauty rest before she makes her appearance to the rest of the world!

This Week...

This week in Reading Street we will be diving into a new and exciting adventure. The question of the week is, “What would it be like to have an Antarctic Adventure?” Children will build on prior knowledge of what they know about Antarctica and have the opportunity to explore the topic more in-depth. It is always exciting to teach our young learners that the world is much bigger than the community we live in!


With our Antarctic Adventure come six new amazing words: Antarctica, continent, icebergs, penguins, seals, and whales. The students will learn these words through pictures, songs, and the book If You Could Go to Antarctica. To extend your child’s learning at home, you can use books, pictures, or maps that align with the concept of Antarctica. Or, you could ask your child to teach you about Antarctica!

We will begin the week with three new sight words! Our new words for the week are: here, from, and go. The sights words will continue to become more difficult as we come to the end of third quarter and begin the fourth quarter. We greatly appreciate you for continuing to work at home with your child! Many of the children have shared with us that they are now using flashcards at home – this is fantastic!

In writing this week, the children will practice a new concept...story writing! Over the past few weeks, we have started to discuss ideas of topics or events that we could write a story about. The children have shared some very creative ideas! We are looking forward to getting their stories onto paper this week. Each student will have their own book and they will be writing and illustrating their own story. While writing, they will not only be focusing on transferring their story to paper, but they will be using proper sentence structure (a capital letter at the beginning, two finger spaces, and punctuation at the end)!

This week in math, the children will continue to work on their addition skills by creating ladybug number sentences! We are using a multitude of approaches to meet your child’s needs. We are exploring math by telling stories, using manipulatives, and drawing pictures. The children have enjoyed learning about addition and are consistently developing their addition skills. At home, you can ask your child:

-What does addition mean?

-Why it is important now and in the future?

-Can you tell me a number story and show me how to create a number sentence?

The children have a lot of learning to do this week! We hope you have a wonderful week!

Field Trip...

We are working on planning our field trip.  We will be going on March 29 (B Class) and March 30 (A Class).  It is important to send in your 5.50 and the permission slip.  If you plan on being a chaperone, you must have fingerprints on file at the Board of Education office.  You need to do this immediately as it is important to have them back in time.  In addition, it will be an additional 5.50 for you to go as well.  We will be departing at 9:30 from WT and will travel to the Children's Museum for a science experience.  We will depart the museum center at 12:00 and arrive back at WT by 12:30.  We will be eating lunch at WT; therefore, it is your choice if they pack or buy school lunch.  If you have any questions please feel free to email or call.

Moving into March...

We will be working with the story "Goldilocks and the Three Bears."  We will be continuing to identifying the characters, setting, and plot.  However, this week, we will focus the majority of our learning and discussion on characters.  When reading with yoru child at home, it is a great idea ask them about the characters, setting and plot!



Our sight words this week are: one, two three, four, and five.  Please take 5-10 minutes each night to practice sight words, especialaly on the off days.  This will allow learning to continue and will allow your child more practice with these words.

This week, in math, we will be continuing our exploration with the concept of addition.  We touched on addition last week, but will delve more deeply into the concept this week!  We are very excited to continue working on this skill with the children!

Over the next few weeks, we will be incorporating St. Patrick's Day into our "Fun Friday" activities.  THere will be three rotations during our Friday Fun Days.  THe children will be able to work with sight words, sequencing, and music.

Please be on the lookout for our pink field trip permission form!  These will be sent home on Monday/Tuesday.  Pleasre them ASAP!  Miss Todd and I are very excited to be going to the Children's Museum this year.  It will be a wonderful learning expereince for the children.

Thank you, again, for continuing to make this such a successful year!

Sight Words...

New Sight Words

Feb. 27 - Mar. 9

~ one

~ two

~ three

~ four

~ five

Please make sure you mix these words in with the others.  We do not want the children to learn these words in this order because they may just be guessing :)

This Week's Fun...

We will working with the story One Little Mouse in Reading Street this week.  With the story, One Little Mouse, we will be continuing to identify the characters, setting, and plot.  However, we will also focus on the sequence of events in the story.  When reading with your child at home, it is a great idea to ask them about the characters, setting, and plot!

One area Miss Todd and I continue to find to be troublesome for some children are the sight words.  These words are progressively becoming harder and this week we have a new set.  Our sight words this week are: one, two, three, four, and five.  Please make sure to take 5-10 minutes each night to practice sight words, especially on the "off days."  This will allow learning to continue and will allow your child more practice with words.  Please reference the pink sheet we sent home last week or our blog posts last week - these had all of our sight words for the entire year!

 In math, we are continuing our work with the teen numbers and building numbers.  Children should be able to read and write numbers to 20 and be able to compare these numbers.  This week, we will also be introducing the concept of addition.  We have touched on addition previously, but will delve more deeply into the concept this week!  We are very excited to begin working on this skill with the children!

Over the past few weeks, we have been discussing healthy living and healthy eating habits.  Hopefully, the children have shared with some of the healthy activities we have explored and healthy food choices we have discussed.  The children did a phenomenal job during our Friday Fun Days with jumping rope.  It was wonderful to see them motivated to won keeping their heart healthy.

Thank you, again, for continuing to make this such a successful year!