K1 Visits the Farm!!

Kindergarten had a great visit to the Griebel Farm last week. We had a chance to feed baby calves, pet baby goats, bunnies, & kittens, & we learned all about the milking machine that milks the cows twice a day. We loved our day at the farm. I hope you enjoy the slide show designed by our student teacher, Ms. Gault.

Dress Code

With the sudden arrival of nice weather, please be reminded Keystone School District has a dress code. All families received a copy of the school's handbook at the beginning of the year - please refer to the handbook if you have questions concerning the school's dress code. You can also find this handbook on the school web page listed under the very first link on the Parent section.

Behavior "Incentive" Plan

Beginning Monday, March 30th, 2009 we will be implementing an additional behavior system. The behavior cards will still be used but, we will also begin using "money". The colored behavior cards will continue to focus on the serious issues while the money will focus on minor infractions. Every Monday, your child will begin the week with 10 cents. Throughout the week, students will have the opportunity to earn more money or they may lose money, depending on their behavior.
At the end of each week, the children will count the money they have earned. Depending on the amount, they may have the opportunity to redeem their money for a small prize. Throughout the week, we will emphasize the ways to earn and lose money. This is a great way to give students extra reinforcement on their money skills while giving them something to work for each week.
Please feel free to email me if you have any questions and again..... thanks for your help & support at home.

A New Experience..........."Wordle"

Today, during our computer lab time, the children tried something totally new. We visited a website called Wordle. Each child typed in our 20 sight words & created a "wordle" collage & then printed a copy of the collage to share with their family.
This was a great lesson and gave everyone a chance to practice learning how to spell our sight words & how to locate the letter keys on the keyboard. If you would like to let your child show you what they learned today, please visit http://www.wordle.net/create. They can create a new wordle collage by typing our sight words from the ring attached to their folder. One child even experimented making a wordle collage with the names of family members. This is a great site to use with older children in your family or in future years for learning spelling words & vocabulary terms.

Recipes - Gak, Oobleck, Silly Putty, & Flubber

You & your child(ren) might enjoy trying one of these recipes on a boring weekend. I haven't personally tried them all but the ones I have tried were fun, but a little messy!!!

Gak Recipe
Ingredients:
· 1 cup Elmer's glue
· food coloring, your choice of color (optional: coloring can stain!)
· 1 cup liquid starch
Pour glue and coloring in plastic container. Stir until color is thoroughly mixed in.
Add starch a little at a time, stirring with a spoon or kneading with your fingers as mixture thickens. Keep stirring until mixture holds together like putty. Test with your fingers: if too sticky, add more starch in small amounts until mass is smooth and rubbery.


Oobleck Recipe
It acts like a liquid until pressure is applied.
Ingredients:
2 parts cornstarch
1 part water
food coloring (optional, as could stain clothing and skin)

Amy's Flubber Recipe
Needs 2 bowls.
Mix thoroughly
1 1/2 cups very warm water
2 cups Elmer's glue
food coloring (optional, as could stain clothing and skin)
In a separate bowl, mix thoroughly:
1 1/3 cups very warm water
2 level teaspoons Borax
Mix the contents of the two bowls together kneading until it is fully combined. Discard any remaining liquid


Borax (Flubber) Recipe
Put 3 T. of water into a ziploc bag.
Add 1 T. of white glue.
Add 2 heaping T. of Borax (laundry detergent). It must be Borax.*
Shape into a ball. If the mixture is too sticky, roll the ball in a little bit of Borax. Enjoy stretching this elastic substance.


Silly Putty Recipe

This will bounce and pick up pictures from the paper just like the name-brand stuff.
Add: 1/2 cup water to 1/2 cup Elmer's glue (Not School Glue!)
Mix and add 3 drops of food coloring (optional)
Make Borax solution: Take 2 tablespoons borax (You can buy this at a grocery store or online) and add to 1 cup of water and stir. Add 1/2 cup of Borax solution to water and glue mixture
Stir and store in a plastic bag - mix well. Add food coloring if you wish. Let it dry about an hour. When ready, it will be smooth and rubber-like. Store in an airtight container.

Literactive

Thanks to Mrs. Witkowski, Keystone's Instructional Technology Specialist, for finding this great website. Literactive is the leading provider of reading materials for pre-school, kindergarten, & grade 1 students available online. http://literactive.com/Home/index.asp The program is comprised of carefully levelled guided readers, comprehensive phonic activities and a wealth of supplemental reading material which gradually develop a child's reading skills in a sequential and enjoyable manner. Developed and approved by teachers and parents across the United States, Literactive is the acknowledged leader in early learning online. All the material is available for free from this site, but you do need to register.

Childtopia

I'm adding a new educational website to the favorite links section on my webpage. Be sure to check out Childtopia, a safe place to learn & play. It features over 1,400 educational games & 500 worksheets in 5 different languages. I'm sure your child will enjoy a visit this website!
http://www.childtopia.com/index.php?newlang=eng