Reading is Fun!

 

On Friday, September 27th we took advantage of the nice weather to do some of our read-to-self outside (see pictures below).  It was great to get outside and see the students really get into their books!  We have some great readers in The LAB and we look forward to many more fun ways to read. 

 

 

Don't forget that the USBORNE Books fundraiser wraps up this week.  I hope that everyone made a good effort to get sponsors to support our reading efforts and our field trips!

 

 

 

 

 

 



Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

Starting October 1st the school will be providing (through a grant) fresh fruits or vegetables for student snacks on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. 

On these days the school provided snack is the only one allowed, so please do not send snacks with your student. 

Your student will still need to have a snack on Mondays and Fridays, so please plan accordingly.  In addition, all birthday treats will now be enjoyed on Mondays and Fridays only. 

Refer to the sheet your student brought home on September 27th for more details. 

Remember there will be no snack on September 30th due to the late start.

4th Grade Field Trip

On Thursday the fourth graders took part in Envonmental Field Day at Lake Noquebay Park near Crivitz.  This is an event that has been running for such a long time that I remember going when I was a fourth grader! 

Students rotated through 8 stations throughout the afternoon.  At each station the students learned about our local environment by local experts.  We even saw some familiar faces from Wausaukee!  So what did the students learn about?

  -Critters, students learned about critters that live in the area and their habitats such as frogs, toads, turtles and (my least favorite) snakes.

  -Forestry and forest management, students learned how to find how old a tree is, how to find the height of a tree, and why trees are important.

  -Forest Fires, students learned how most forest fires start, how they spread and how they are fought. They also learned important steps to prevent forest fires.

  -Insects of the area, students learned about the importance of insects in the environment and played a game to learn about different insects and how they survive.

  -Fish, students learned about the ways fish are caught for studies and why they are caught,  they also saw northern and a bass up close!

  -Run off pollution, students learned about the causes of runoff pollution that affects our area lakes and rivers and ways that it can be prevented.  They also looked at critters that live in our lakes and rivers and rated them on a scale for pollution sensitivity.

  -Composting, students were amazed by the easy process that turns food waste and yard waste into rich soil!

  -Animal adaptations, students learned about different birds in the area and the specific adaptations they have to get the foods they need to survive.

  The students enjoyed participating in some hands on activities at each station and learned many interesting facts about our environment.  It was a wonderful fall day for learning in the outdoors!

USBORNE BOOKS - Reach for the Stars!!

Today we started a new PTO fundraiser.  Students were able to fill out a book wish list from an extensive selection of books that the USBORNE representatives have displayed here at school.  Students who participate in this fundraiser commit to reading at least 30 minutes each day at home for the next 10 days (something they should be doing anyway), and ask people to sponsor their reading.  

Sponsors participate by donating money (any amount is great) toward the student's reading goal.  

50% of all money donated goes to purchase books from the student's wish list.
40% of the money donated helps fund our field trips.

Refer to the sheet that your student brought home today for more information.

Thanks for supporting this great way to promote reading and help us afford our field trips!!

Reading and Writing Workshop

This week we started our reading and writing workshops with the students.  We focused on expectations for students and teachers, as well as building our reading and writing stamina.  It is apparent that we have very creative writers in The LAB - we have seen so many imaginative ideas for writing and are looking forward to more great stories and articles from our authors this school year!

Week One Wrap Up

Whew, we made it through our first week!  The students have been so awesome and are really working hard to create a great classroom community.  We will continue to work on this all year, but held it as a priority this first week of school.  We have had such positive students and couldn't be happier with the way our first week went.

Today we finished our movies, we will try to get them linked to the web page at some point.  We have to do some finishing touches with the editing but the students have completed their requirements.  We also discussed the use of a portfolio this school year and what it is for. Students had the opportunity to think about some goals they would be able to set for being a responsible and respectful student/classmate.  We saw some great goals being set and heard some good ideas on how to reach those goals.

We hope you all have a great weekend and please remember to feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns.

Below is a little glimpse of one of our discussions about goal setting.

Moving Making and Job Applications

Thursday was another busy day!  We spent time working on producing short videos that model the Ranger Way expectations for playground behaviors.  The videos will be part of a school wide 'movie' featuring all of the elementary classes!  The groups had to work together to share ideas and find ways to include everyone.  It wasn't always easy, but the groups are working on their collaboration skills and improving each time they meet.

We also spent some time thinking about classroom jobs for the school year.  We have asked the students to put together an application for a job(s) they are interested in having for the quarter.  Not all students are required to have a job as it can be a hard enough time just being a student!  We are hoping the students who apply think about what job would be best suited to them based on their qualities and interests.  Jobs will be assigned for one quarter of the year and then students will have to reapply for a job.  This will give students who did not have a job the first quarter an opportunity to apply, if they choose to do so.  We want students to have the opportunity to show case their responsibility within our classroom!

Creating Classroom Rules

We had another great day at school!  The students did a great job with their reading stamina, so we have set a high starting place for the first week of school!

We continued to refine our expected behaviors and reviewed the students' expectations from yesterday.  Below you will find photos that summarize their expectations of themselves, their classmates, and their teachers.  In addition, students worked together in groups to create our class rules, which are found at this link:  The LAB Rules

First Day

Wow!  What a whirl wind of a day!  We had a great time getting to know everyone and learning names. We learned and practiced many expected behaviors within our room and around the school.  We discussed what kind of things we need in order to learn well this school year, from ourselves, from our classmates and from our teachers.  It was a great discussion and we found that we needed many of the same things, all of which are tied to being respectful and responsible! There are a few pictures below from this activity.

  The day flew by very quickly and we are looking forward to another great day, tomorrow!