2017-2018
TO JESUS THROUGH MARY

Franciscan Value for OCTOBER: Covenant with Earth

In EC3A terms- Care for the Earth

 

October 13, 2017

Thank you so very much for being a part of  our EC3-A field trip. The children all seemed to have fun and enjoyed their trip. We really apprecite all of the chaperones that took time out of their day.  

Our class can wear Pink on Monday for the tag day that they missed today.

October 12, 2017,

**** MWF children receive their vision screening on October 25th. If you did not fill out a permission slip and would like your child screened please let me know. I will send home a new form.

We are all so very excited about our field trip tomorrow!! My friends asked me many times throughout the day when it was going to be time to get on the bus.

We continued to work on the letter "P" today by stamping and Q-tip painting the letter. At the art center the children marble painted pumpkins. The sensory table has diffrent body parts (like potato head pieces) and playdogh balls. The children are creating mini Jack O Lanterns.

We read the book "Pig's Picnic"  with help from my puppet friend Petunia the Pig. It was Parker's turn with the letter Jar. He shared some great items that start with the letter "P" My friends loved the smartboard activity we completed today. We each made a Jack O lantern by adding eyebrows, eyes, nose and a mouth. The Jack o Lantern was used in the five little pumpkin song.

We took a silly walk around the building after lunch. It was too wet to play on the playground. I think the children enjoyed free play in the classroom for a change.

Lets all pray for great weather tomorrow!!!


October 11, 2017,

My friends were so excited to see each other this morning. They all unpacked and began to play right away. I love seeing the friendships that are forming.

We started our new letter "P' and Pumpkin theme today. We will continue this theme next week also. 
We created a P out of pumpkins and vines for our letter book at the art center. The children worked on pin pushing and finding the letter P at the writting center. They have also been working on writting letters using the chalkboards. We counted and sorted pumpkin seeds, used unix cubes to measure diffrent size pumpkins, and played pumpkin bingo.
We sang the song" Five Little Pumpkins Sitting on the Gate" with a felt board activity.

During gym class my friends played games with various size balls. In Spanish the children learned a few new songs and played a color game on the smartboard.

October 10, 2017,

I hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend! We finished the letter "F" today. We made a fireman out out he letter "F" using glue sticks and construction paper. We played a fire themed matching/memory game and read the book "Firefighters A to Z". 

We completed a Scholastic Big World Leaflet on "Fire Saftey" (they are coming home in folders). The children watched 2 videos and sand along to the song "The Wheels on the Fire Truck". We also completed the back page together as a class. My friends did a fabulous job following directions and using their pencil boxes.

Our class had a visit from Millcreek Fire Company after lunch today. The children watched as the firefighters dressed in full gear and used the hose to spray water from the truck. The firefighters spoke to the children about fire safety. My friends really seemed to enjoy the visit.



                                     

  October 5, 2017,

Happy first week of October!! We have been so busy this week. We learned all about the letter "F" and Fire Safety. My friends are really interested in learning.

During our Circle times we read "The Brave Little Engine", "Fire Trucks" , "Clifford the Fire House Dog" and "Fire Rescue". We learned a finger play "5 Little FireFighters" that included a Felt board activity. We also learned the song 'Ten Little FireFighters" We learned to "Stop,  Drop and Roll". We had a pretend fire and charted items that were Safe to Touch and Not Safe to Touch. We discussed the letter"F" and items that begin with the letter. We used the smartboard to learn about diffrent parts of a fire truck and how they work. Jonah also shared the letter "F" jar with our class.

Our centers coordinated with the "Fire Safety Theme". We color matched fire helemts, counted dalmations, and sorted fire trucks by size and color. We used tweezers to pick up bones and fed a dalamtion. My friends had to sort through fire (crinkle paper) to find the correct number of fire hydrants to put out numbered flames on our magnet board. The children worked as a team putting together a large fire truck puzzle. WOW!! My friends enjoyed playing with a fire station, trucks and dalamtions in our block area. Our Dramatic play Area was set up as a mini fire station. The children made 911 phone calls and raced to put out a fire. (so cute). At our sensory table, my friends used spary bottles to put out fires (paper flames). Our art crafts consited of q-tip painting spots on a dalmation, paper plate fireman, and a construction paper fire truck.



Our Writting center is so popular. My friends love to find our letter and write. I am using a variety of writting tools to help with thier grasp and fine motor control. The children are getting so excited with their letter formation. If you have time at home continue to work on our letter writting at home. The continued practice of grasping a writting tool by just by even coloring (crayon, marker or pencil) will continue to boost their confidence. I am amazed at how well the children are doing this early in the year. 

Scholastic book orders for October went home in folders. Order is due by October 25th. For those of you who ordered books they went home this week. Thank you for your order. Our class recieved a pumpkin game and 3 books for our library.

Vision screenings were given to the children on Tuesday. If your child needed an additional eye examination a paper was sent home in thier folder. My friends that attend school on MWF the screening will occur on a date that is to be determined


September 28, 2017,

Happy Thursday!! I am so proud of my friends.. We had an amazing day especially with transitions. We are learning the routine and school is getting to be FUN!! 

We played a Farm Animal hide and seek game during circle time. This was an excellent way to use our discriptive words. We read a story about "Horses" and review objects that begin with the letter"H". Every firend could name a diffrent object!! WOW!!

During our center time children used finger paint to "Put the Mud on the Pig". My friends also worked really hard at writting the letter "H" on chalk and dry erase boards. We also worked on AB patterning with farm animal counters.

At Art class my friends dot painted leaves on a tree with q-tips. 

Tomorrow is our RED dress down day.

September 27, 2017,

My Friends all looked so great today for their pictures. We were able to get a glimpse of everyones pictures to make sure they had huge smiles! Hopefully you will love them!!! They all did fantastic!!

After pictures we went to Spanish Class. The children learned a Buenos Dias song and played a game on the smartboard. During Gym class my friends had so much fun dancing to music videos on a huge projector. We have some great dancers in our class. We spent a few minuites on the playground for morning recess so we would have time for centers.

During our Center time we made a horse craft shaped as the letter "H". My friends worked at the writting center and at our farm theme manipulatives. 

We listened to the story "Do Like a Duck Does" and sang our "5 Little Ducks Song" with the Flannel Board. Our Question of the day was : Have you ever been to a Farm? The children shared stories about thier trip to a farm. Cooper also shared items from home that were RED from our color Jar.
I had 3 friends who said they have never been to a farm so we went on a virtual field trip to a farm on the smartboard. This was really cool!! 

We celebrated Cooper's birthday on Wednesday with cupcakes and Elena's birthday today at morning snack with Munchkins!! Happy birthday my Friends!!!!

Red dress down day. (Friday 9/29) Our class will be celebrating the color RED. Please wear something red to school.

11:30 Dismissal (Friday 9/29) Same dismissal procedures apply for half days. Children only need a morning snack unless they are attending Eagles club.



September 26, 2017,

Happy Independence Day!!! WOW!! I am so proud of my friends that walked to our classroom all by themeslves this morning!! They were so happy and excited to come into class and unpack independently. We gave lots of Hugs and High fives this morning. Thank you Moms and Dads for helping make today so successfull!!!

Hip Hip Horray for letter " H" We started a new letter yesterday and a theme about Farm Animals. 
Today Henrietta the Hen helped us name objects that begin with the letter "H". Hannah also had Homework (our class letter jar) that she shared with the class.
We read the story "Where is Hippo Hidding" and sang the song "Five Little Ducks
Went out to Play"(with a felt board activity). We also used farm animal yoga cards during our morning circle time.

During centers the children explored with farm animals in our block center. We worked on puzzles, measuring and sorting. My friends are really getting the hang of our centers. It is great to see so many of the children interested in learning and writting.

In technology class the children watched videos on the letter"H" and farm animals.

Picture Day is tomorrow. We will be having morning snack before pictures and then heading straight to Spanish and Gym Class. Busy Morning!!

Have a Happy Night!!



September 25, 2017

Important Information for the Week>>>

Picture Day. (Wednesday 9/27) We will be getting our pictures taken in the morning. Pictures are taken from the waist up so please make sure your child wears sneakers for the day. We will still be going to gym and the playground for recess.

Red dress down day. (Friday 9/29) Our class will be celebrating the color RED. Please wear something red to school.

11:30 Dismissal (Friday 9/29) Same dismissal procedures apply for half days. Children only need a morning snack unless they are attending Eagles club.

Kid Stuff Books (coupon book) a Home and School Fundraiser was sent home with the oldest and only children on Friday. If you are not interested in purchasing the book please return in your child's book bag. thank you.

Vision Sreening permission slips were also sent home on Friday. Your child will not be screened without a signed form. Please let me know if you do not want them to be screened.

Independence day for our building is set for tomorrow Tuesday, September 26th. This does not pertain to our classroom. However, I do encourage you to start working on your own independence day with your child. It really helps for an easy morning transition.











September 20, 2017,

Thank you for taking the time to attend Back to School Night. I hope you enjoyed learning about our classroom and routine. If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to ask. My friends  were very excited to know that mom or dad was sitting in their special animal seat. 

During Spanish Class the children learned a song and started working on naming colors. Mrs Schock had the children exercising  and running during gym class.

Our circle time was so much fun! We read the story " Apples Apples Everywhere" and learned the song " Way up High on the Apple Tree with a flannel board activity. Our question of the day was Do You Like Apples? We had 10 yes and 6 no. I started to introduce the concept of more and less. We then completed a smart board activity on counting apple seeds. 

The apple centers are are a huge hit. My friends are really working hard at each center and are showing so much interest in learning. Of course our " Apple Orchard" is the classes favorite. I observed friends weighing, bagging, buying and selling apples. 

Red, White and Blue tag day is on Friday with pretzels for snack for those that ordered.

Field trip permission slips are due on Friday.

Last call for Scholastic Book orders for September. Thank you for those that have placed their orders. Our class is really showing a love for reading.

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

 

Friday, 9/22          - Tag Day - red, white and blue; pretzels
Wednesday, 9/27       -  School pictures
Friday, 9/29          -  11:30 dismissal (Eagle's Club is open)
Friday, 9/29.         -  Color red wear day for month of September 
Saturday. 9/30        -  Home and School Family Movie Night 6:30 SJB Hall

September 19, 2017,

I am looking forward to seeing everyone tonight at Back to School Night. Please meet in our EC3A classroom. We will begin at 6:30. Reminder..this is a parent only event. Please let me know if you can not attend. I will make sure you receive al of the information.
Thank you for your understanding.
Ms Mekulski 
 

September 18, 2017,

Happy Monday!! Thank you so much for helping out with the "sticker snack". Snack time was much easier for my friends today! They were so happy with their independence.

Picture forms were sent home today for our picture day on September 27th. You can turn in the form anytime up until the day of pictures. Children may dress up for pictures.

Field trip permission slips went home on Friday. Please let me know if you have any questions. 

Back to School night is tomorrow at 6:30 in our EC3-A classroom. If you can not make it please let me know and I will get you a packet and information discussed. 

On Friday we celebrated Nico's birthday with munchkins for snack. Happy Birthday Nico!!!

Today we started our Letter of the week "A" for apples theme. Our classroom has been transformed with apples galore. Please check out all of our themed based manipulatives  and centers at back to school night.


 

If you choose  to have your child play on the playground after dismissal please park in the parking spots near the tree line by the Sherwood Park gate.  We ask for you to do this for the safety of our SJB students and the flow of traffic.  We thank you for your cooperation and assistance in this matter.  If you have any questions feel free to contact your teacher.  

September 14, 2017,

Reminder.... please help us by putting a sticker or a mark like a smiley face on your child's morning snack. My friends are told as a group to open their lunch box and look for their "sticker snack". We have quite a few friends that are starting to eat their lunch before we get to them for help and some who are taking out all of their food and getting it mixed with others at the table. The stickers really help them to determine what they should be eating. Thank you so much for your help. 

My friends were playing so cooperatively this morning with centers and morning manipulatives. They are adjusting extremely well to their new classroom and school.

We started our Circle Time with our morning Prayer,  Calendar and Weather. I then read a silly story that always gets tons of laughs.. "Even Firefighters Use the Potty" . We charted picture cards with good and poor choices. I held up a card and explained the action ( lining up, listening ears, pushing) and the children took turns putting it on the chart under good choice (smiley face)or bad choice (sad face). We will continue to talk about these choices for the rest of the school year.

During center time the children continued to explore the Pete the Cat centers from yesterday. I started beginning of the school year assessments with some friends today. I hope to have everyone finished by tomorrow. More information to follow on this at back to school night. 

 

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

 

Tuesday, 9/19         - Back to School Night at 6:30
Friday, 9/22          - Tag Day - red, white and blue; pretzels
Wednesday, 9/27       -  School pictures
Friday, 9/29          -  11:30 dismissal (Eagle's Club is open)
Saturday. 9/30        -  Home and School Family Movie Night 6:30 SJB Hall

September 13, 2017

What a Wet Wednesday! We had a very busy morning. We had  2 specials back to back. We started with Spanish class. My friends walked over to the big school ever so quietly. We had so many compliments on how quiet we were from the teachers in the hallway. Ms Koval introduced Spanish class, sang a few songs and colored a welcome picture. While we were walking over to the hall for gym class it began to rain. Everyone thought it was so fun to be walking in the rain!! Mrs Hutton was the substitute gym teacher for our class. She went over some of the rules for the class, execrcised with the children and then played a few interactive games.

I began to introduce our daily circle time routine with the Calendar ( Month, days of the week, and date) and Freddy the weather frog. We also read Pete the Cat and the Magic Sunglasses and sang along with Pete the Cat the Wheels on the Bus and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. 

Our centers will filled with Pete the Cat activities. We painted a paper plate blue and glued on pieces to create Pete. ( these on are display in our classroom ).  We played a Pete Memory Matching Game, counted buttons for one to one correspondence, sorted buttons by size and color, and our dramatic play area was filled with sunglasses and stuffed animals to act out our story.

We ate lunch in the classroom today because of the rain. My friends had enough fun in the rain and had their turn being soaked for the day during our walk to and from gym class. They also had a special treat of watching a short Disney show while they were eating. Because of the rain we had indoor recess which included free play of the classroom toys.

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

 

Tuesday, 9/19         - Back to School Night at 6:30
Friday, 9/22          - Tag Day - red, white and blue; pretzels
Wednesday, 9/27       -  School pictures
Friday, 9/29          -  11:30 dismissal (Eagle's Club is open)
Saturday. 9/30        -  Home and School Family Movie Night 6:30 SJB Hall

September 12, 2017,

Today was a Terrific Tuesday. The day went by super fast beacause we had so much fun together. We spent some time this morning exploring and playing with classroom manipulatives. The Ipads were alo introduced this morning. The children are quite the pros at Technology.

We took a long walk over to the big school and up the stairs for Technology class. My friends did a fantastic job staying in line (behind a friend) and walking with thier finger on a lip and hand on hip. (ask them to show you.. they look so cute)

Ms Luce had the children put on headphones and watch a montage of videos about Pete the Cat.  We will be reading a Pete The Cat Story tomorrow and making a coordinating craft. She also introduced the Technology Lab and rules.

During center time I read another David story :David Gets in Trouble. My Friends actualy read me the story. We looked at each picture and they described what David was doing on each page. We decided that David is super silly and could definitely make better choices.

September 11, 2017,

A special thank you for all of the classroom supplies! We are so greatful for your generosity.

Marvelous Monday! What a great day! My friends came in this morning happy and ready to play. We started off the morning with music class. The children joined Mrs. Wagner on our carpet and participated in singing and dancing. Mrs. wagner was so impressed at how well the children were duting thier first music class. They all  seemed to have so much fun with the movement and activities.

After music we ate snack and went outside for a short morning recess. My friends are doing so well with all of our transitions and following into a routine.  We seem to really love lining up on the animal train.

During Circle time we listened to the story "No David". We were very concerned by David's choices. We discussed how David could do things differently and what could happen if he continued to make poor choices. We also spoke about good choices and poor choices in the classroom. 

During our center time we painted paper plates to make a David Face. We also sorted by color, worked on puzzles, counted keys to unlock a padlock. The children also explored  with playdough and magnet blocks.

September 8, 2017,

Happy Friday!! Happy 1st Day of School for our MWF Friends. Today was another great day!
We spent most of the morning exploring the classroom and playing together. The children were doing such a fantastic job sharing and using their words to communicate. During our circle time we played a game to get know our friends names. Next week I will start to introduce our morning routine.

We lined up on our animal train and walked over to the "Big School" for Library. The children met Mrs. Oldiges and Mrs Tobin our Librarians. They explored the library and listen to a story about silly choices.

The children were very tired today and some started to melt down after lunch. We had a short recess and came in to wind down for rest. All of my friends fell alseep very quickly. The begining of school and all of our transitions can be very exhasuting for my friends.

Rest towels will go home next Friday since this was a short week. Thank You!

I will be sure to post pictures next week of our classroom fun.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
 

September 7, 2017

We made it through our first day!!! The children had a great day. I was so impressed at how well the children came in to class this morning and started playing. We completed the entire day with no tears. I am hoping it goes as well tomorrow.

We spent most of the day introducing the classroom, bathroom, hallway and playground rules for the school. The children did a fantastic job listening and following directions. The first day can be so overwhelming but they did extremely well.

We had two small circle times today (carpet time). I read the story "The Kissing Hand". The children will show you the secret from the book tonight. They also took turns petting Chester the racoon from the story and learning our classmates names. During our second circle time we discussed how we were feeling today at school. We charted our feelings. We had 8 friends who were happy and 3 freinds who were sad. I do not think they were really sad. They just liked that the child on the picture was wearing a blue shirt.

During our center time, block area, housekeeping and manipulatives were introduced. The children also made a construction paper Chester Racoon from our story.
We went outside for a morning and afternoon recess. The children had an opportunity to play on two of the playgrounds.

During Art class the children experimented with colors and milk to make rainbows. 

 

 

9/5 & 9/6 Orientations                       

Welcome to EC3-A. I, Ms Mekulski will be your child's teacher along with my para Ms Kavanagh. We have been very busy getting our classrrom ready for your arrival. I am so excited about this year and look forward to meeting you and your child at our small group orientations on Tuesday 9/5 and  Wednesday 9/6 . I will go over classroom and school information and answer any questions you may have about our upcoming year.

Please remember to bring:

• Yellow Emergency Card

• Child Information Sheet

• OWL ABOUT ME SHEET

 

• Change of Clothing (labeled with your child's name)

• Towel for rest (labeled with your child's name)

• 1 box of Tissues

• 1 clorox wipes

• 1 hand sanitizer

• 1 flushable wipes