End of the Year

I can hardly believe that we are in the last few weeks of school.  This school year has flown by so quickly!  I am honored to work with your children and appreciate all of the help you've given them from home.  It has been a great school year!  

This week in Pre-K we will be learning about bugs and frogs.  We will travel to the school forest (weather permitting) and will hopefully catch some tadpoles and frogs from the pond.  We will also eat a snack and then walk back to the bus.  If the weather does not cooperate, we will have to cancel the field trip and instead will have a fun morning at school with a movie and popcorn.  Here are some Medford webpage's that contain some interesting history on our school forest:  

http://www.medford.k12.wi.us/do/school%20forest/FOREST.HTM

http://swedlundbiology.weebly.com/medford-school-forest-introduction.html

Next week, our theme will be good bye friends.  We will make a special gift for our dads for Father's Day and will go on our last field trip of the year!  On Tuesday and Wednesday, we will walk to the city park.  There, we will enjoy play time, as well as a picnic lunch!  Afterwards, we will walk back to school.  Please note that we will most likely return around 12:15-12:30.  

UPDATES AND REMINDERS:

~Rest time items (blankets and pillows) will be coming home Wednesday and Thursday of this week.  Please keep these items at home as we will only have a short rest time next week.

~Please send a backpack with your child on the last day of school.  He/She will have many things to bring home for the summer!

~The last day of school for the district is Wednesday, June 5th.  This is an early release day and students will be dismissed at 1:22 P.M. - This only pertains to our M/W group.  T/TH students will be dismissed on Tuesday, June 4th at the regular dismissal time.

Amazing Artists!!!

On Monday and Tuesday of this week we completed our 4th quarter self-portraits.  I challenged the students to take a look at their outfits and draw themselves exactly as they appeared in class that day.  I was so impressed to see the outcomes of their drawings.  Many students took their time and focused on the details in their clothing.  The final products were too awesome not to share!  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!!  If you'd like to make the picture larger, just simply click on it!  :)

Farm Field Trip

Wednesday and Thursday we ventured to the farm for some field trip fun!  There, High School FFA students taught us about life on the farm.  We were able to pet cows, see how their food is made, scratch a pig's back, feed a baby calf and see a duck that is sitting on a nest of 27 eggs!  We had a tasty snack of string cheese, cheese curds and a beef stick and then got to play in the sandbox!  What a fun trip!  Below are our class pictures in front of the Klussendorf's milk house!

 

Fun on the Farm

This week in Pre-K we will be learning about farm animals, machinery, crops and many more things that we would see on a farm.  We will talk about how some of these things work and why they are important to us and in our world.  On Wednesday and Thursday we will be traveling to the Klussendorf Farm for a tour.  While we are there, we will get to see and feed a calf, see other farm animals, learn how they milk the cows, have a string cheese snack and play in the B-I-G sandbox.  Please remember that it can be muddy and messy on a farm, so dressing your child in older clothes, as well as rubber boots, would be best.  Feel free to send along another pair of shoes for your child to wear at school.  :)

SPECIAL WISHES:
**Thanks Cheri Klussendorf and the High School FFA students for coming over to make lip gloss with us.

**Thank you in advance to Ryan and Cheri Klussendorf for opening their family farm up to us for a field trip.  I'd also like to thank the other farmers and FFA students who help out to ensure a safe and exciting adventure!

**I hope all of the moms had a great Mother's Day with their loved ones.

UPCOMING EVENTS/REMINDERS:
**We are in the process of finishing up our quarter 4 testing.  Your child's report card will come home with him/her on the last day of school.

**Our theme next week will be "caterpillars and butterflies."

**Our final FBI Workshop will be on Friday, May 17th from 1-3 here at MAES.  We are excited to host the Kraft's Kuddly Kritters Traveling Petting Zoo.

**The last day of library for Pre-K will be next Monday, May 20th and Tuesday, May 21st.  Your child will be able to check out a library book, but please note that all materials must be returned to the library by Friday, May 24th.  Please contact me if your child lost his/her book and you need to know the replacement cost.

**There will be NO SCHOOL on Monday, May 27th due to Memorial Day.

**School Forest Field Trip: Wednesday, May 29th and Thursday, May 30th

**Park Field Trip: Tuesday, June 4th and Wednesday, June 5th

**Pre-Kindergarten's Last Day of School will be on Tuesday, June 4th and Wednesday, June 5th.  Please send a backpack with your child on that day.

**LAST DAY OF SCHOOL: Medford Area School District's last day of school will be Wednesday, June 5th.  This is an early release day and dismissal will be at 1:22 P.M.

Scuba Diving Fun!

On Monday and Tuesday our class got to go scuba diving in our classroom!  The students had to pretend they were scuba divers and swim around our classroom.  Their jobs were to take pictures of many different ocean animals to put into their photo albums (My Ocean Book).  This was a fun project because the children worked with partners and also worked very independently.  Here are pictures from both days!  Enjoy!!

Leila and Kayelee finding 8 crabs.

Peyton and Nathan work together to turn the page.

Partners Rylee and Cooper and Olivia and Ethan work on counting 3 seahorses.

Rivalee and Brody are finding other scuba divers.

Eli and Cole work to find a blue whale.

Bayley, Paige and Madalyn are counting fish.

Ariella and Evan find 9 eels.

Hayden and Blake work together to count scuba divers.

Sadie and Wyatt take pictures of sea turtles.

Keaton and Keegan count 6 fish.

Aaron and Chloe are counting seahorses.

Hanul and Sawyer are taking pictures of 8 crabs.

Keagan and Taytene finding lobsters.

Morgan and Mykena count 10 star fish.

Jaeden and Zoey find one whale.