Kids can help too!

In your mail tomorrow, you will recieve a "Kids Can Help Too!" piggy bank (sorry they are coming home late, but we just got them in).  You can use this piggy bank to collect money for PJ's and Books.  Some parents find it helpful to put the piggy bank beside their child's bed so they can easily put a coin in the bank after reading a book at night.

September reading logs and money are due on Thursday.  I will send a new October reading log home on Monday.  Just send the money in a baggie and keep the piggy bank at home! Thank you for your support for this worth cause.

Class Books

In my weekly newsletter this week, you may have noticed that we are making a classroom book on Wednesday to go along with the book Mary Wore Her Red Dress by Merle Peek.  Some other classroom books that we have made this year are Guess Who? and Look, Look, Who Do You See?. Having the student's help make the book not only gives them great ownership and motivation for reading, but it also exposes them to numerous early literacy and print concepts.

I will be sending these books home in a "book bag" with your child to read and share with you at home. I just ask that you return the books after reading so we can share them with the rest of our families. We will be making many more classroom books and I look forward to sharing them with you and I'm sure your children do too!

Bruno the Bucket

Yesterday we had our "Bucketfiller" assembly with Bruno the Bucket.  He is our school mascot when it comes to being kind and showing respect to others.  At the assembly, Mrs. Wolfe informed us that if we demonstrate respect, responsibility, trustworthiness, fairness, caring and citizenship then we are being bucketfillers!  When a child at Greenwood is "caught" being a bucketfiller, his/her name will be sent down to the office with a short description of what that child did to be a bucketfiller.  He/She will be honored during morning announcements and will get his/her picture taken with Bruno to be put on our Bucketfiller bulletin board.

If your child is caught being a bucketfiller at home, please send me a short note of what your child did so that they can get a picture with Bruno too!

Pictures

I've posted the Man Man pictures on our classroom website.  Please follow the link to view: MatMan  If you would like your child to be added, just send me a picture and I will be happy to add them to the photo gallery. Thank you for your help with his project!

Have a great weekend! Go Bucks!

A Color of His Own

Today we read A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni.  Looking at the cover of the book, the children had a hard time guessing that it was a chameleon.  Most thought that is was a lizard and some guessed that it was an iguana or a gecko.  But they learned that a chameleon changes its color to match its surroundings (or what it is standing on).

We had fun thinking of what the chameleon would look like if he was on our shirt. One girl had on a zebra striped shirt and we all got a good laugh thinking about a zebra-striped chameleon.

Tomorrow the children will have the opportunity to paint a paper shaped chameleon a color of their own at art center.

Respect Assembly

Today we went to the gym for our first assembly. The children did a great job showing respect by sitting on their spots and listening to the speaker.

Our speaker today was a ventriloquist! He was really funny. He brought a chicken, ape and a crying baby to help teach us about respect for ourselves, others and other people's property. He also taught us how to show respect to others by helping out. Have your child help you out today so they can practice what they learned from our assembly at home!

Mat Man Picture

Mat Man

On Wednesday we learned how to make Mat Man using wood pieces from Handwriting without Tears. Today, the children drew their very own Mat Man while singing the mat man song.

On Monday, I will be sending home paper wood pieces and a copy of the song for you and your child to make together. Send me a picture of your child with Mat Man and I will post it on our blog!

Free to Read

This year our Free to Read program is "PJs and Books." On Monday, I will be sending home a nightly reading record sheet.  Every Greenwood parent is asked to read to their child each night.  After reading a book or two, we ask that you place a penny (or any coin) in ziploc baggie. At the end of the month, please return your nightly reading record sheet with your coins. Greenwood will use all the money that is collected to buy pajamas and books to give to children at the Akron Women's Shelter.

When your child returns his/her reading record sheet, he/she will be entered into a drawing for a special prize from Mrs. Wolfe.

Thank you for your participation!