By Darlene Gelakoska on 12/17/2007

We will have our Winter Party on Friday, Dec. 21 after lunch.  We invite all the morning Friends to please bring a lunch, so we can all eat in our room and have a fun party.  The party is well palnned, and we will have crafts, games, and holiday foods.  The Friends will all need a sack lunch then so we can eat in our room together. Thanks for helping and making our parties possible.

By Darlene Gelakoska on 12/7/2007

Dear Parents,   Mrs. Morelli has given me the most wonderful gift.., a ticket to go visit my mother back in Wisconsin. She is ill, and I'm so fortunate to be able to visit her for the Holidays. I will be out all week, and Mrs. Lori Bender will be in for me. The Friends know and enjoy her very much. I'm not giving homework this week because of my absence. I will miss everyone, and wish you all a great week!!!

By Darlene Gelakoska on 11/30/2007

The class has been organizing a class play on our Solor System. They are dressing up as planets, and other space objects. They have organized this pretty much on their own for Theme.  We are going to have our first performance, complete with sound effects Friday afternoon. Please ask your student how and what they did to help with the play. You can ask them what they learned about space, and liked the best about this unit.

By Darlene Gelakoska on 11/20/2007

Kindergarten is having the museum come to us to deliver a presentation on space and the moon, on Tuesday the 27th in the morning.

By Darlene Gelakoska on 11/19/2007

We are making a Native American village in our classroom. The Friends have made teepees, rivers, mountains, canoes and have made vests for themselves. We are enjoying ourselves while we learn about life during these times.

By Darlene Gelakoska on 11/12/2007

Orders go out today, please think about Holiday gifts! Books make great gifts for all ages, and our order will be here before the Holidays.  Thanks!! 

By Darlene Gelakoska on 11/8/2007

Last week the students created a Native American Picture Dictionary of the animals of the Eastern Woodlands. The Friends learned that the Native Americans did not have a written language with letters like ours. They used symbols written on rocks, on hides, or in caves. The symbols for animals often resembled the outline of the animal or a special identitying attribute.

This week we'll read, "Arrow to the Sun" an adaptation of a Pueblo Indian tale. The boy has to prove his bravery by passing four tests. The Friends will draw something they are afraid of in their own Kiva, and share with the class their Kivas and let us know if they have overcome their fear.

When you're in the building, please check out our bulletin board with their "Color Poems".  They turned out great!!

By Darlene Gelakoska on 11/1/2007

Last week we learned about planets and objects in space. We also made a small book on our sun. They learned the sun is a star and the improtance of it's energy.  This week we will make another small book on the stars. We will not go into the different constellations, but will discuss how stars together in the sky can look like pictures. We'll learn more about planets and some characteristics, and start discussing our moon.

By Darlene Gelakoska on 11/1/2007

A huge thank you to everyone for making our Halloween party the best over, especially to our homeroom mom Pam Davis for organizing everything. There was a lot to do and the Friends loved it! Games, crafts, stories, dancing, food.., how did you get it all in!!  Kindergarten Rules!!!!!!!!!!

By Darlene Gelakoska on 10/31/2007

Some of the activities and concepts we are working on in the classroom are Number Stories, and Estimation. In telling number stories, students are beginning to learn strategies for solving addition and subtraction problems and are becoming acquainted with the appropriate symbolic language. Last week in class the students came up with their own number story about addition. They drew the picture, wrote a sentence or two about it, and wrote the equation.

To enhance our estimation skills we have Estimation Station in our classroom. It is a jar filled with something for the day. The Friends have to estimate how many are in the jar. They are in charge of this activity that we do everyday. Someone counts the items, and sees who won. They love estimating to see how close they come to winning. They begin to distinguish between a wild guess and an educated guess. The more opportunities children have to estimate, the more accurate they become. This helps them in math in that, it is good to b ... Read More »