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• CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS
• No School Tuesday, November 11th. Teacher Professional Development Day.
• Tuesday, November 25 – Alumni Kickball, Thanksgiving Lunch, and Early Dismissal at 12:30 (No Aftercare)
• Wednesday – Friday, November 26th-28th  – No School

Our first graders have been giggling, reading, and learning together through an exciting Piggie and Gerald Reading Challenge! Inspired by Mo Willems’ beloved Elephant & Piggie series, students have been exploring the hilarious adventures of these best friends.  Our challenge kicked off with a read aloud story of “We are in a Book!” Through this adventure, we hope that students are reminded that reading can be both fun and meaningful. 

This week in phonics we unlocked the secret sound of “al” and how they LOVE all the balls! Students learned that the “l” doubles at the end of a word but only has one at the beginning or middle. We learned a fun way to remember our red word “said!” See if your child can tell you all about it!

In Math, we continued our monster math challenge and had several friends reach mastery 👏. We are so proud of their progress. We learned about doubles and how they help us solve addition problems quickly. We ended the week with a friendly game of doubles “show-down” to show off their quick thinking skills!

We began our mini Deep Dive on Maps! Students explored different kinds of maps — globes, world maps, neighborhood maps, and even maps of Oglebay and the Ohio Valley Mall. Students quickly realized that maps are tools that help us understand where we are and how to get where we want to go. To make learning hands-on, they created their own mini compasses using paper plates, markers, and arrows. They learned the saying “Never Eat Soggy Waffles” to remind them of the order of direction. 🗺️

This week in SEL was all about the BRAIN, specifically about the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex. The amygdala, or the “lizard brain,” is responsible for processing threats, emotions, and is known for the ‘fight-or-flight’ response. The prefrontal cortex, or the “wizard brain,” is a part of the brain responsible for complex thought, planning, decision-making, impulse-control, and self-awareness. Students learned what it feels like when a certain part of the brain takes over and how they can use tools to regulate their emotions to make responsible decisions inside and outside of the classroom.

We had our own little election this week after reading “Duck for President,” by Doreen Cronan. Students headed to the polls (aka the middle room) and placed their vote for Farmer Brown or Duck. After the election, we tallied the votes to reveal Duck as the winner! 🏆 Students received an “I Voted” sticker for their participation. 🗳️

Be on the lookout for info in your child’s folder about 29 hours! Together, we can meet our goal!!! We hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. Fuentes & Mrs. Mead

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

• Tuesday, November 11- Veterans Day and No School for Students
• Tuesday, November 25 – Alumni Kickball, Thanksgiving Lunch, and Early Dismissal at 12:30 (No Aftercare)
• Wednesday – Friday, November 26th-28th  – No School 

The last day of October was filled with moth man, Minecraft characters, cowgirls, ninjas and so much more! Our first graders had such a FUN Friday parading through campus, hitching a ride on the hayride, and creeping through the haunted house. Celebrating with a party was a great way to finish the half day! Thanks to the parents that signed up for the treats and drinks for the party!

We continued exploring floss words during phonics and focused on -ff and-zz. Ask your child to tell you why and when ll, ss, ff and zz are used! We have unlocked so many secrets to date, which have encouraged our young readers to keep reading and find those new secrets!

We have some Monster Math experts! Students are working independently to achieve their goal of completing this addition challenge! It is wonderful to see their concentration and perseverance to finish this challenge.

During Writing Workshop we read two spooky Halloween stories- Creepy Carrots and The Halloween Hustle- and then created our own creepy carrots and spooky skeletons! We talked about beginning, middle and end as well as the importance of remembering the sequence of events. They did a great job retelling the events and answering questions about details within each story!

It was all about the pumpkin in our mini deep dive. Students estimated the height and circumference and guessed whether the pumpkin would float or sink! We put our counting skills to the test by finding 444 seeds in our pumpkin!!!! 🎃

Happy Halloween and have a fun and safe weekend!

Karen & Danielle

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

• October 31st- Halloween 🎃 9am parade. Party to follow for the children only. 11:30 dismissal. Aftercare until 3.
• Tuesday, November 11th- No school- Professional Development for teachers

First grade had the opportunity to lead our One School flag pole meeting on Monday! Nora and Levi held our flag high and then spoke about our upcoming career day!

In SEL this week, students learned how to communicate their feelings through the use of I-Statements. An “I-Statement” focuses on the feelings of the speaker starting with, “I feel…” We know it can be difficult for children (and adults!) to talk about their emotions. That’s why, this week, and throughout the school year, we are providing students the opportunity to learn about and practice creating their own I-Statements to describe what they feel. We break the I-Statements down by grade level and as students get older they are able to share more. 

In math this week, we introduced subtraction! We introduced multiple strategies that help us solve subtraction facts including crossing out, using our fingers, counting backwards, and using a number line. We continued to sharpen our addition skills through a new math challenge called “Monster Math!” Students are given a fact sheet for the day (+1, +2, etc) and they work to complete their chart to earn a monster prize!!!

In phonics this week we learned about the “Floss” rule. The letters l, f, s, and z double at the end of a word after a short vowel. We learned one rule breaker for -ll. See if your child can tell you a word that breaks that rule.

Simmons farm was a hit!!! We braved the cooler weather for hay rides, pumpkin picking, and a day of fall play. We got to hear from an Apple farmer and got to taste the fresh apples and apple cider. Thank you to the parents who came to help.

Thank you so much for attending our CAREER DAY! Our students put so much effort in to preparing and they did such an amazing job! 👏 This was such a fun way to wrap up our deep dive on community and community helpers!
We are so grateful that at WCDS we get to welcome you into our classrooms as much as we can. Next Friday for Halloween, we will be celebrating by holding a parade around the playground loop right at 9 a.m. Parents are welcome to join. Your child may come to school dressed in their costumes. Following the parade, we will have a party in the classroom just for the children. Dismissal will take place at 11:30 with aftercare until 3.

What a chilly week we had! We have encouraged the kids to dress in layers and come with jacket, hat, and gloves daily.
We hope you have a fantastic weekend.

Danielle & Karen

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

• October 18th – Vantoberfest!! Can’t wait to see you on campus this Saturday!
• October 23rd – First grade Field trip to Simmons Farm (see below for more info)
• October 24th- First Grade Career Day (see below for more info)
• October 31st- Fall Fest/Halloween Festivities/11:30 Dismissal (details to come)

First grade finished the week by celebrating our brand new mural! Students participated in “Wonder”stations that included ribbon making, field yoga and bubble catching! They danced to music, created their favorite animal from the mural and practiced mindful yoga poses!

We are close to finishing our Deep Dive and can’t wait to welcome families on the morning of October 24th from 8:30-9:00 a.m. for our Career Day! Please have your child to school by 8:15 that morning so we can prepare for this event. As mentioned before, it will be a casual walk-through, and we will begin our school day promptly at 9. Students are welcome to dress as their profession or bring items if they wish (optional). We look forward to showcasing their hopes and dreams for their future!

A reminder that our Simmon’s Farm Field trip is next Thursday, October 23rd! We will be traveling by bus and will leave promptly at 9:00. We should arrive by 10 am and will be departing around 2 pm. Students should wear comfortable clothing and shoes that are appropriate for the weather. They should also come to school with a labeled disposable snack/lunch/water bottle. If you plan to meet us there, please just give us a heads up.

Our next secret that we unlocked was OR. OR can’t make up their minds about anything!!! They always spend their time wondering what to choose or what to do! Students had fun searching for OR at the beginning, middle and end of words!

Our young writers are diving into Writing Workshop! They have created their own “heart” of ideas to help them get started with a topic. We have introduced letter formation, spacing, punctuation and where and when to use a capital letter. Personal narratives are the perfect place to begin as each child is an expert on their on experiences. We are excited to begin the Author’s Chair where students share their piece to their peers!

In math, we read “Gavin the Gator” and then practiced how Gavin eats the bigger number. Students worked with a partner to identify if the number was greater than, less than or the same (equal). We are also working on our accuracy and fluency in addition. After each mini lesson, we apply the specific skill and practice either on paper or white boards. During our math center time, all the skills we have learned are reinforced with card games, dice activities and Ipad practice.

We wish everyone a wonderful weekend:)

Karen & Danielle

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

• October 18th – Vantoberfest!! (see email from school)
• October 23rd – First grade Field trip to Simmons Farm
• October 24th- First Grade Career Day (see below for more info)
• October 31st- Fall Fest/Halloween Festivities/11:30 Dismissal (details to come)

What better way to learn about the community than to see it in person for ourselves! On Wednesday we visited our Northern Branch classroom which is located in the heart of downtown Wheeling. We got to witness the busy streets right from the classroom window. We toured the Ohio County Library and ventured down to the waterfront playground. On our walks we witnessed many community helpers in action, noted the signs & monuments, and walked past many buildings. We even got to see construction workers in action. Our class has loved learning about what makes a community and the amazing helpers who make it run. We welcomed our last community helper, Mrs. Rachel an ER VET! Students got to review X-rays of items that were swallowed by cats and dogs. They all received stethoscopes and checked Boone’s (their family dog) heartbeat!

We look forward to finishing our Deep Dive and welcoming families on the morning of October 24th from 8:30-9:00 a.m. for our Career Day! Please have your child to school by 8:15 that morning so we can prepare for this event. It will be a casual walk-through and we will begin our school day right at 9. Students are welcome to dress as their profession or bring items if they wish (optional). We look forward to showcasing their hopes and dreams for their future!

Students are excited for our Simmon’s Farm Field trip on October 23rd! We will be traveling by bus and will leave promptly at 9:00. We should arrive by 10 am and will be departing around 2 pm. Students should wear comfortable clothing and shoes that are appropriate for the weather. They should also come to school with a labeled disposable snack/lunch/water bottle. If you plan to meet us there, please just give us a heads up.

It was so AMAZING welcoming all the Special Guests into our classrooms. We were so excited to celebrate the wonderful people who have shaped the lives of our students. We celebrated by recalling memories they have shared together. They placed these in a “Memory Jar” that was decorated and will serve as a keep-sake in years to come.

We hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Danielle & Karen

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

• October 6th – No School (Fall Long Weekend)
• October 8th- First grade to Northern-see drop off instructions below
• October 10th – Special Persons Day (see the info. sheet in your child’s yellow folder)
• October 18th – Vantoberfest!! (see email from school)
• October 23rd – First grade Field trip to Simmons Farm (details coming next week)

First grade is so excited to head to our branch classroom located in the former Student Union building of WV NorthernCommunity College on October 8th! Below is a description of our drop-off and pick-up recommendations:

 The address of the building is 8 16th Street. When dropping your child off, you have a few options. There is a parking lot attached to the building (off Market Street), but spaces are limited so we ask that you do not park there for long. Parking along the main streets (Market or 16th) and using the paid meters is also an option if you’d prefer to park and walk your child to the front doors.

When arriving between 8:30-9:00, you will be greeted by a WCDS administrator/teacher, and our classroom is located upstairs and through two sets of locking doors (exterior and interior). Look for the WCDS logo sign hanging in the front door window if you want to confirm you are in the right spot. 

When picking up, please just arrive back at the same spot and allow the WCDS administrator/teacher outside to know you are there and they will text the other teacher upstairs. 

Our first week of October was filled with so many wonderful learning experiences! We met so many wonderful community helpers throughout the week and finished with a fun, interactive reading performance from the library.

More detective work went on this week as we “unlocked” the secrets of -th and -wh. Students searched high and low for these digraphs as they read in their “good fit” books. They used post-it notes to write down words that began or ended with -th or -wh! They even used magnifying glasses to “I Spy” so many fun words!

Our first graders are becoming quite proficient mathematicians! During our Morning Meeting, we incorporate engaging math routines that help reinforce these skills daily- such as counting the days of school with tally marks, identifying odd and even numbers, and solving simple addition problems as a group. We are adding to 20 and use hands on tools like tens and ones blocks to build a strong understanding of place value and number combinations. Our consistent review provides a foundation for number sense and encourages students to recognize patterns, make connections, and build confidence in their math learning.

We are quite the experts on community helpers! This week, we had hair stylist Betsy visit our classroom. She provided a wig and variety of tools to style hair. Each child was invited to work on the wig and create their own hair style! Also, Caston’s mom came to visit and shared her experience as an EMT! Getting to sit on the stretcher and sit in the ambulance were highlights! Lastly, we welcomed two Wheeling police officers AND their two furry friends! We learned about how much training a police dog gets and that most of them came from another country!

Finally, thank you so much for taking the time to meet with us to discuss your child the wonderful goings on in First grade. We value our partnership and are only an email/text away if you have any questions. Enjoy the beautiful weather and long weekend!

Karen & Danielle

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

• October 3rd- 11:30 Dismissal
• October 6th – No School (Fall Long Weekend)
• October 8th- First grade to Northern (details coming)
• October 10th – Special Persons Day (details coming)
• October 18th – Vantoberfest!! (see email from school)
• October 23rd – First grade Field trip to Simmons Farm (details coming)

In celebration of Fall, first grade spent the week learning about APPLES! 🍎 🍏 We read stories, talked about the life-cycle of an apple, and ended our week with EXPLODING APPLES! Our 3rd grade “cougar buddies” came to assist our first grade friends as we became scientists and mixed baking soda with vinegar! We watched in awe as the chemical reaction bubbled over the apple.

We continued our detective work as we “unlocked” the secrets of -ch and -sh. Students spent the week identifying these sounds in the beginning, middle, and end of words. Students searched the texts in their book boxes to find words to add to their secret notebooks.

In math this week, we celebrated a week of apple math related activities to sharpen our addition skills. We had an apple race to 120, did an apple addition write the room, and made addition problems with a deck of cards. We are working to build our math fact fluency!

This week in first grade, we had some very special visitors! We are learning all about community helpers and how they help keep our neighborhoods safe, healthy, and running smoothly. A firefighter, a nurse, and a mail carrier came to our classroom to talk to us about their important jobs!

👨‍🚒 Firefighter Ryan showed us his uniform and helmet. He told us about fire trucks, how he puts out fires, and how he helps rescue people. He shared why he loves to be a firefighter and what made him choose to become one. The best part? He let us pass around his fire hat to feel how heavy it is!

👩‍⚕️ Nurse Elizabeth (Isaac’s Mom) told us how she helps people feel better when they’re sick or hurt. She gave us a lesson germs where she applied lotion to their hands and shined a special flashlight to make those germs pop!

📬 Mail Carrier – An Ohio County Mail carrier shared how she delivers letters and packages to people every day—even in the rain or snow! She brought a real mailbag and showed us how letters get sorted at the post office before they come to our homes. We even had the opportunity to see the mail truck!

We had so much fun learning from our visitors and asking lots of questions. Thank you to our amazing community helpers for all the hard work you do! Be on the lookout for more community helper visits.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Danielle & Karen

Upcoming Dates:

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

• September 22 – October 3 – Parent/Teacher Partnership Meetings (sign up here) This will be a virtual meeting and the link will be sent to you a few days prior. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0848AEAB2FA6FFC16-58434667-first
• Tuesday, September 23 – Preschool – 1st – School Pictures
• Wednesday, September 24 – 2nd – 5th – School Pictures
• Friday, September 26- Freedom Friday and 8am Parent Coffee
• Friday, October 3- Early Dismissal
• Saturday, October 18- Mark Your Calendars for Vantoberfest! More details to come!

Our Spanish class had so much fun creating papel picado, a traditional Mexican folk art made by cutting colorful designs into tissue paper. These bright and cheerful banners are often hung to decorate for special celebrations, including Mexico’s Independence Day on September 16th. The students loved learning about this beautiful tradition with festive color!

Our first school assembly showcased our WCDS expectations. Several fifth grade students demonstrated the right and wrong way to be respectful, caring, determined and safe! As you walk through our campus, you will notice posters that reflect our school-wide expectations.

We continue to unlock sound secrets with our latest being qu, which stick together like glue. Students found that there are not as many words in their books that begin with these letters. Our sound detectives searched high and low for new qu words!

Our first graders explored basic addition this week and began to build foundational math skills by solving simple word problems using real-life scenarios. They identified the key elements of the story by underlining or emphasizing key words such as “in all”, or “altogether “. This focus on both numbers and context clues supports their understanding of the addition process and encourages strong problem-solving habits from an early age.

The kiddos engaged in a fun and interactive lesson about community helpers through hands-on learning activities designed to build their understanding of important roles in their neighborhood. One highlight of the lesson was a matching game where students were given cards—one set with pictures of community helpers, such as firefighters, doctors, and mail carriers, and another set with images of their workplaces, like a fire station, hospital, or post office. Students eagerly worked to match each helper to their correct workplace, reinforcing their comprehension through visual cues and discussion. This activity not only supported vocabulary development but also encouraged collaboration and critical thinking in a meaningful and engaging way. We also had our very own Mrs. Rutherford join in on the fun!

SPLISH, SPLASH! To round out the week, the class earned a Water Day! This was a collaborative effort with all students working for the same goal. The pictures speak for themselves …enjoy!

Have a wonderful weekend and we look forward to parent partnership meeting that begin next week. Times are 8 or 10 each morning. We will send you a link to join the zoom call so please check your emails or talking points the day before your scheduled time. As always, any questions, please email both teachers at kmead@wcdsedu.com or dfuentes@wcdsedu.com.

Karen & Danielle

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

Upcoming Dates:

• September 22 – October 3 – Parent/Teacher Partnership Meetings (sign up here) This will be a virtual meeting and the link will be sent to you a few days prior. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0848AEAB2FA6FFC16-58434667-first
• Tuesday, September 23 – Preschool – 1st – School Pictures
• Wednesday, September 24 – 2nd – 5th – School Pictures
• Friday, September 26- Freedom Friday and 8am Parent Coffee
• Friday, October 3- Early Dismissal
• Saturday, October 18- Mark Your Calendars for Vantoberfest! More details to come!

This week our students strengthened their reading skills as we practiced CVC words! We sounded out each letter by tapping, practiced blending sounds together, and worked on reading the words smoothly. We built words with short using playdoh, wiki sticks, magnetic tiles, and much more! OUR CLASS LOVES DOING CENTERS!

Along with our CVC word work, we also practiced some important RED words “the” & “and.” These words pop up all the time in books, so we practiced reading them quickly and confidently. We appreciate your support at home to read the weekly decodable book and practice our spelling words, RED words, and sentence. Just 5–10 minutes a day can make a big difference! Make it part of your morning or bedtime routine. And remember—it’s okay to make mistakes! We learn best by failing forward!

One major focus this week was our HANDWRITING! We are learning which letters are tall or small and which fall below the line. We have been working hard on proper letter formation.

In math, we continued to our review of numbers 1-20. We have counted, ordered numbers, solved missing numbers, and determined one less and one more.

This week in SEL, students learned about building relationships and working together as a team. Through interactive and engaging group activities, students had the opportunity to get to know a peer in the class and work on relationship-building skills. Some topics of conversation were “Who is your favorite superhero?” and “Do you like chocolate or vanilla?” Students loved learning fun facts about their friends by comparing similarities and differences. Ask your child who they’ve met recently.

Have you heard about our caterpillar? Vocabulary caterpillar, that is! As we come across new-BIG words, we add the word and watch the caterpillar grow. Some words we have added include; persevere, respectful, citizen, and volunteering!

In our community deep dive, we explored what it means to be a citizen. We discussed the roles and responsibilities of a good citizen and how that affects a community. Our class is off to a great start learning how to be thoughtful, helpful citizens of both our classroom and our world. 💙🌍 Stay tuned for more as we continue our journey through this social studies Deep Dive!

Did you spot a new adult in our class?? This week we welcomed Joe Zaccirey from Ohio University Eastern. Joe is a Junior and will be spending Monday’s and Wednesday’s observing and assisting our first grade friends. We are excited to have him!

Have you ever heard of International Dot Day? Every September 15th, we celebrate a day of art (though we celebrated a few days early). We read the book, “The Dot” by Peter Reynolds and created beautiful art ourselves starting with a single dot! Our students ideas were soaring to come up with the coolest creation- a flower, a spaceship, an eyeball, and many more! We can’t wait to see the final masterpieces piece when dry by Monday!

A few reminders:

• Please email both of us when sending a message. dfuentes@wcdsedu.com & kmead@wcdsedu.com
• Send two healthy snacks daily
• Our school day starts right at 8:45. Please try to have your child arrive by 8:30 at the latest so they can settle in and have a great start to their day.
• Don’t forget to sign up for a Parent Partnership Meeting! We look forward to chatting with you!

Thank you for joining us for parent night! We look forward to this amazing year together as a team. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out. Have a wonderful weekend!

Danielle & Karen

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

Upcoming Dates:

• Thursday, September 11th – Parent Night (Grades 1st – 8th Grade)
• Monday, September 15th @2:00 – SK – 5th Grade Assembly
• September 22 – October 3 – Parent/Teacher Partnership Meetings (sign up here) https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0848AEAB2FA6FFC16-58434667-first
• Tuesday, September 23 – Preschool – 1st – School Pictures
• Wednesday, September 24 – 2nd – 5th – School Pictures

We had an amazing week of school in first grade! Students have adjusted to the daily schedule and have shown us just how quickly they learn! They are becoming independent learners and exude confidence and perseverance throughout each day. They are beginning to follow multi-step directions and take ownership in their work. We also love to see how eager they are to help one another throughout the day! This class ROCKS!

In phonics we continued to unlock a few more secrets and now know the secrets to all of the short vowels. Make sure to ask your child to share some of the stories that explain why the short vowels sound the way they do! We are looking forward to diving into reading and phonics next week and breaking into smaller groups.

The kiddos have had a lot of fun practicing their number sense by playing Last Man Standing. This fast pace game requires students to say the numbers quickly and in sequential order. They like to predict who will be the last one standing! They also learned a game called “Snakes”. Students roll two dice and add to get the sum. Then they cross out the number, however, if they roll a seven they draw a snake! The student with the most snakes wins the game. This is a fun and engaging way to practice early addition.

Our deep dive focused on community. Students illustrated four examples of communities – home, school, community and the world. These will be displayed on parent night so be sure to look for your child’s unique view of the world.

We had two special visitors today! Mr. Mike from the Ohio County Library shared important things we should know about the library and performed a lively reading of “Miss Nelson is Missing”. Students loved the interactive story and the opportunity to shake out some wiggles with a freeze dance! Miss Reid, our 5th grade student teacher, also visited and was our special reader after recess!

Just a quick reminder that we will be confirming the final book order for Scholastic this evening.

We hope you enjoy your weekend!

Karen & Danielle