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Photo dump- last week of school celebrating Beach Day, Creek Day, Game Day, Movie Day and Field Day! Enjoy the photos as much as we have enjoyed teaching your children! It was an honor getting to know each of your children over the year! Have a wonderful summer!

Karen & Danielle

–UPCOMING DATES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

-May 19-21st- Casual dress. Please send your child to school Monday with a towel, extra change of clothes, water shoes, and their favorite shades for some fun in the sun and creek sometime next week.

-May 22nd- Field Day. Students will receive a shirt to wear. Don’t forget to purchase your duck for the big Duck Race? Don’t miss out on the quackiest race of the year — get yours now at summer.wcdsedu.com!

-May 23rd- Half day (no aftercare) Please wear blue and khaki, WCDS attire this day for the 5th grade graduation.

It was a jammed pack week of CAMPING fun and learning! We camped out under our tables, read stories with flashlights, wrote about spending a night in a tent, and talked about our heightened senses if we were at a real campsite! Students got to write about reasons they are excited for second grade- with the garden and cooking being top picks! They are FIRED UP for 2nd!

We wrapped up our final skills and students got to show us what they learned throughout the year. In phonics, our final skill was suffix “-es.” Like suffix “-s,” this suffix acts the same and makes the word more than one or an action. Students learned that the only difference is when we use it at the end of a word after a “s, x, z, sh, or ch.” We are so excited for our first grade Spelling Bee next Thursday. A list of words to study will come home on Monday!

We wrapped up our mini Deep Dive on the wind by exploring various stations around our upper campus. Students made parachutes out of plastic bags, flew paper airplanes, constructed wind streamer wands, and had sail-boat races on the water. Students have loved observing the wind during their time outside over the last few weeks.

We enjoyed watching our fourth graders perform with Attack Theater. They showcased their creativity and talent! We also loved watching the balloon launch, which honored Josiah, as well as participate in a few fun science stations.

As we head in to our final week of school, please be on the lookout for your child’s Aimsweb scores in a sealed envelope. Their writing workshop folders will also be coming home. Please take a look at all their amazing work over this final semester.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Danielle & Karen

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS 

This week in phonics, students were introduced to Kind Wild Old Ghost words!! These words break the closed vowel rule and make a long vowel instead. These rule breakers were no match for our class. We spent the week decoding, writing, and reading as many words as we could lay our eyes on.

We continued our Deep Dive on the wind by discovering more ways it can move and how it can affect our surroundings. We learned how trees grow deeper roots, how wind and sand can make yardang’s, and how there are different types of windmills used for different purposes. The weather has been very cooperative the last few weeks for amazing observations! 💨🍃

Thursday was all about sharks! We read “Gilbert The Great” and students were tasked with making their own word problem and made sharks to match. Check out this silly one created by Coen; “Miggy, the fat shark, had 10 teeth. 9 teeth fell out while he was eating the Titantic. How many teeth does Miggy have left?” We created can, have, are charts in our shark book and learned many interesting facts about these predators! 🦈

To all the incredible mothers, grandmothers, and mother-figures in our school community—THANK YOU!! Thank you for the love you pour into your children each day, for the lunches packed, homework checked, and bedtime stories read. You are their first teacher, their biggest cheerleader, and their constant guide. This weekend, we celebrate you and all that you do. Please check your child’s folder for a little gift. We hope it is a wonderful weekend for all full of so much love! You deserve it!
Danielle & Karen

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

We welcomed May with open arms! We will be planting some colorful flowers next week to bring springtime to our campus!

Can you say multisyllabic three times fast? Well students practiced these compound words and were challenged with tapping then writing each sound. They have come a long way since that first day in August!

Measurement, addition/subtraction, and number bonds rounded out our review during math time. We are getting so much quicker with our automaticity of math facts!

We explored our wide range of feelings during writing workshop. Our favorite Inside Out characters helped to remind us of the vast array of feelings that may pop up during any given day. They spent time writing about their feelings which resulted in a mini book of feelings.

Thursday was a windy day and aligned beautifully with our deep dive on wind. Students made pinwheels and enjoyed running throughout the upper campus with them.

Enjoy the weekend!

Karen and Danielle

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

Every day is Earth Day! This week we learned about the 3R’s, reduce, reuse, and recycle. Students made promises to the Earth and made Litter Monsters out of various recyclables.

This week was student appreciation week! We love our students so much and celebrated them in a big way! They enjoyed free dress downs, yogurt parfaits, and delicious ice cream Sundays! We ended the week with International Day. Students rotated around campus and got to SEE THE WORLD! We ended with some amazing treats representing so many countries!

The countdown is on for the end of the year for our 2nd graders in training! We are reviewing our math skills and building our automaticity with math facts!

We said our final goodbyes to our student teacher, Miss Brittany! She has been a wonderful asset to our team and the class has grown to love her so much. We wish her the best of luck. She will be an amazing educator!
Have a FABULOUS weekend!
Danielle, Karen, & Miss. Brittany

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

Our number sense skills were put to the test this week as we worked to find the thief who stole the Easter Bunny! We read, “The Easter Bunny is Missing” by Steve Metzger. Students were challenged to solve a clue each day by doing addition, subtraction, place value, and more! In the end, little Heather was revealed as the thief!

In writing workshop this week we read “The Best Easter Egg Hunt Ever!” by Dawn Casey. Students were tasked to create a truly magnificent egg and write about it. Then, like in the story, students kept the egg warm at their seats. Little did they know their eggs would crack to reveal the cutest PEEP surprise Wednesday morning! Students adopted their very own peep chick, made a home for it, read to it, and filled out their baby books! They enjoyed this surprise!

Our students showcased what they learned about animal habitats at our Exhibition Wednesday morning! They came live from Animal Planet to reveal the most interesting facts about each habitat. They shared their plant and animal creations, showcased their writing skills, and encouraged families to interact with our sensory bins! We have enjoyed this Deep Dive so much and thank you for attending.

We ended our short week with our school-wide egg hunt! Students raced with so much excitement to gather their eggs. HUGE thanks to our 5th graders for taking on the role of the Easter Bunny!

We hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend with your families. We can’t wait to see the kids back at 10 am on Tuesday!
Danielle, Karen, & Miss Brittany

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

Important Dates:

• Monday, April 14-donations due for eggs
• Wednesday, April 16- 9:00AM- 1st grade Habitat Exhibition ( see more information below)

• Thursday, April 17 – Spring Egg Hunt and 11:30 AM Early Dismissal
• Friday, April 17 – Monday, April 21 – Spring Long Weekend 
• Tuesday, April 22nd – 10:00 AM Start Time 
• Friday, April 25 – International Day

‘Want a date night this Friday?  Let us help!  Movie & Pizza Night with Miss Tylar and Miss Claire- drop the kids at the Community Room from 5:30-8:00 for a night of pizza, popcorn, and Moana 2 with their friends and teachers!  There are only 10 spots left at $50 a spot.‘  

Rain, rain go away!! We are really ready for some sunshine and Spring weather! We took advantage of this unpredictable weather and used it to inspire some creative poetry- clouds, sun and lightening bolt shapes showcased our ideas and budding poems.

In math we started the week off reading “Give Me Half”, which was a wonderful introduction to fractions. Students learned about 1/2, 1/3 and 1/4. They played fraction bingo and created their own original fraction pizzas as well as named their own pizza shop, which should have come home today in a Papa John’s pizza box! We have also been reviewing counting by 5’s. Ask your child to share how well they can recite the 5’s up to 100!

We are so impressed with our first grade readers! They really took to the challenge of reading so many Dr.Seuss and Mo Willems books. We have seen such high interest along with better expression and fluency!!

REMINDER-Habitat Exhibition is coming soon so mark your calendars for April 16th at 9:00 am. Our class will be putting on an event that morning to showcase what we have learned about various habitats and the plants and animals that live there. This will be a walk through event as you travel around the “world” “aka our upper campus,” to explore these amazing habitats created by our class. We are asking that all students arrive by 8:30 that day to have time to prep their habitat. Drop your kiddos off that day, go grab a coffee, and be back for this amazing experience. You don’t want to miss it!

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

Important Dates:

*April 14th- Donations due for Easter Eggs (see below)

*April 16th- 9:00 a.m.- 1st Grade Habitat Exhibition (see below)

Our first graders learned the beauty and balance in shapes, objects, and patterns this week as we explored symmetry! They learned about equal parts and were challenged to create abstract symmetrical art using a variety of supplies ranging from popsicle sticks, shape blocks, cubes, and things found in nature. After reading, “Let’s Fly a Kite,” students showcased their creativity by making symmetrical kites with a partner!

In phonics this week, we explored the new suffix, “ing.” Like suffix -s, suffix -ing can also make a word an action that is happening right now. Student enjoyed acting out words and using these words in a sentence with our daily Secret Word.

The world of shapes can be exciting and fun! When combined with the creativity of poetry, it becomes an even more engaging experience. Our First graders, in particular, are at the perfect age to explore both shapes and language in a hands-on, creative way during writing workshop. One fantastic way to do this is through shape/concrete poems. This type of poetry is where the words form the shape of the object or concept described in the poem. Their written words can go around the poem or inside of the poem. They showcased their creativity as they chose their own shapes and were challenged to make their poetry rhyme.

We wrapped up our final habitat this week and have begun preparing for our Habitat Exhibition. Please mark your calendars for April 16th at 9:00 am. Our class will be putting on an event that morning to showcase what we have learned about various habitats and the plants and animals that live there. This will be a walk through event as you travel around the “world” “aka our upper campus,” to explore these amazing habitats created by our class. We are asking that all students arrive by 8:30 that day to have time to prep their habitat. Drop your kiddos off that day, go grab a coffee, and be back for this amazing experience. You don’t want to miss it!

Towngate Theatre put on an amazing performance of a variety of Aesop’s Fables for our entire school. Students learned the how to go at their own pace from the “Tortoise and the Hare,” how good things come in all sizes from the “Lion and the mouse,” and how its okay to be different from “The Peacock.”

On April 17th, the fifth-grade class will be hosting a Spring Egg Hunt for our PS-4th-grade students on main campus. We have lots of plastic eggs from previous years but we need your help in gathering items to fill the eggs. If you are able to donate a dozen small toys, trinkets, stickers, or candy for the school, we would love to have them by Monday. April 14. Thank you in advance for your help in making this a special event for our students! 

Thank you to all who came to Celebrate or made donations. Our art work was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Big thanks to Mrs. Dena for all her hard work with our kiddos.

Our service partners need our help again. The Ohio County Animal is bursting at the seams with doggies! They are in need of lots of dry or wet dog food. If you would like to participate in buying more food, we will be excepting donations through next Friday. Thank you!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Danielle, Karen, & Miss Brittany

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

We have seen all types of weather over the last few weeks, so our “Wonderful Weather” poem fit right in! It was a great week learning both in and out of the classroom. Even on windy days we took the class outside to “write the room” for math!

We unlocked the secret to /ow/ and even pinched ourselves saying “ow” to remember this sound and also had bandaids as a visual as well.

It was all about the time in math. Students used a hoola hoop to recreate a giant clock. Students took turns moving the hands and identifying to the hour and half hour. We also integrated partner games where students had to match the correct time with the correct clock.

First grade had another wonderful time with our guest readers from Linsly. They read Dr. Seuss books and challenged the class to make rhyming words. We continued our Dr. Seuss challenge with many friends completing their chart! Way to go!

We are excited for Celebrate and hope to see many friends attend! The class worked so hard on their art project!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Karen, Danielle and Brittany

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

First grade got a special delivery from a pesky little Leprechaun this past week. They were tasked with addition and subtraction problems that revealed the secret location of the key that was hidden under a chair in our classroom. This key unlocked a safe to a number of St. Patrick’s Day surprises. Even though students were unsuccessful at catching the Leprechaun with the traps they set, they LOVED the challenge of unlocking the box!

We continued our studies of the rainforest by exploring the amazing animals that live there. Students researched facts about various animals discovering where they live and what they eat. We look forward wrapping up our habitat unit by visiting the ocean next week.

25, 50, 75, $1.00, all for Country Day, stand up and hollar! We are becoming masters at counting mixed change to $1.00. Students have learned how to sort change and exchange money for various amounts.

S-P-R-I-N-G…SPPPRRRIIINNNGGG was the topic for writing workshop this week. Students shared what the season brings by writing lengthy sentences enhanced with adjectives. Then they learned about poetry by completing a Spring acrostic poem. We read “Who You Were Made to Be” by Joanna Gaines and created beautiful hot air balloons in celebration of our excitement for the new season.

We are getting so excited for CELEBRATE! Don’t forget to get your tickets! Be sure to check out some photos of the art project first grade will be auctioning off.

We hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Danielle, Karen, & Brittany