Monday, December 15, 2014

Gingerbread Buddy Day

Our Gingerbread Buddy Day was a wonderful event!  
Builders of all ages created beautiful houses 
using a variety of shapes and colors of 
candy, candy and more candy.  
Here is a quick peek at some of the 
busy builders and their creations.


The candy buffet was a magical place to meet - oh, the possibilities!




Adding some finishing touches



Now how am I suppose to get this home????



Thursday, December 4, 2014

Was it Grandpa Swift or could it be...

We were all treated to a wonderful drawing session 
from Grandpa Swift this morning.  He came as Fisher's V.I.P.
guest and was gracious enough to stay and  
share his talents at our art center.  
View the sketches below and ask yourself,  
could Grandpa Swift be from the North Pole???


A happy frog...


and a sweet bulldog.


Butterflies that soar and a lion that roars.


Ho!  Ho!  Ho!  
Did we ever have fun.
Thanks Grandpa Swift!!

Saturday, November 29, 2014

A Day at the Pow Wow

We all enjoyed a Native American Pow Wow in our classroom last Monday and Tuesday.  The children visited several centers that incorporated crafts, stories, games and music.  We opened the Pow Wow with a traditional call of the tribes entering from the east and closed on Tuesday by exiting to the west.  Look and see just a few of the activities we accomplished together!

We created feathers by tracing and fringing with Mrs. Cambro-Feliz


Played partner games.


Made headbands adorned with pictographs to tell a story.


Designed Iroquois False Face masks with Mrs. Boeker. 


We used our color word knowledge to complete a color by number page.

Friday, November 7, 2014

Let's Hear it for Color Week!

We celebrated primary and secondary colors this week at school.  Children not only dressed in the color of the day but also had a chance to incorporate each color into their center time.  Take a peek...


We learned to write our color words...



We read books about colors...



We built a ring of colors words...



We recorded specific colored 
objects at our I Spy table...



And we mixed primary colored 
gelatin into secondary colors.

What fun!!!



Tuesday, October 28, 2014

A Beautiful Day at Calvin College!


The woods at Calvin College 
beckoned us to come and discover.


We found trails in the tree bark left by beetles


"Do turtles have five senses like us?"  
We examined a painted turtle and discovered 
they do!


An old tree trunk is a perfect home for insects.


We learned that each variety of tree
 has a distinctive bark pattern.


We wiggled our fingers in the warm pond water... 



...as bull frog tadpoles nibbled at the duck weed.

What a beautiful day at Calvin College's Nature Center!!

**Extra thanks to Heather Saunders 
for sharing her talents behind the lens.



Friday, October 24, 2014

Apple Pizza Time!

First we choppped....



...and chopped...


..and chopped until our apples 
were in small pieces.  Thanks to 
Mrs. Feliz-Santana for helping us!


We combined the topping ingredients with 
Mrs. Bolt, and sprinkled it on top.  
This is what it looked like
 after 20 minutes of baking at 450 degrees.

Now, the fun part!!!

Apple pizza topped with a dollop of whipped cream and...

..a thumbs up from all - yum!

***Thanks again to our parent helpers***

Saturday, October 18, 2014


Great fun was had by all at Steffens' Apple Orchard! 


Grandma Steffens and Farmer Rob shared lots of information 
on how apples are grown and where they are sold locally.


 Extra thanks to all the parents who were able to
 join us for our very first field trip together.

Saturday, October 11, 2014

From deep in the hundred acre woods, where Christopher Robins plays --- Winnie the Pooh came to visit us on Friday. He heard there was a full honey pot and wanted to thank the children of Wealthy School. Just look at all the blue and gold smiles in our classroom - all were very excited to support the Hearts of Gold event!!

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

A Day With Artist Bren Bataclan

The children were treated to an incredible hour with world famous artist, Bren Bataclan on Tuesday morning. Bren shared his design techniques as well as his inspiration to paint characters that bring a smile to everyone's face. Bren stopped down to our classroom to view the self portraits that the children had painted on our classroom door - he even took a photo of them! We were all so honored to have him as our guest and continuously marvel at the daily development of his latest mural - right in our school. What a gift!!

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Enjoy our video, Officer Buckle & Gloria.  This project was completely done by Room 101 students. (So this is really Film Making 101!)  We learned to use our classroom iPad and I learned how to embed videos onto this site.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

If you were unable to attend the curriculum presentation tonight, check it out below.  Please let me know if you have any questions.


Saturday, September 13, 2014

We completed our first full week of school together!  We are getting more familiar with the Wealthy routine and are working very hard to learn everyone's name.  Here is a quick look back at our accomplishments:

Reading - We began rotating through literacy centers each morning - focusing on letters in our name and our new friend's names.  Children are encouraged to connect the beginning sounds in their peers names with other words they want to write.  e.g. baseball begins with the same sound as Beckett and Brayden.

Language Arts - This week we read stories to keep us safe as we practiced our first fire drill on Monday.  We also discussed and practiced where we would go if there was a tornado or a code red signal issued at school.  We read  Never Talk to Strangers by Irma Joyce, assist the children in deciding if someone is a stranger or not.  Lastly, we ended the week with the story and reenactment of Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann.  I had four camera men who captured our play with our classroom iPADS. I hope to upload this for you to view shortly - the kids were so darling!!

Math - We continue to work on number forms and quantities.  Additional skills are completed on the iPADS during math centers.  The children had fun playing the card game WAR and Guess my Number with a partner.

Science/Social Studies - Our area of study is based around the theme of motion.  We have formulated a knowledge probe about the definition of motion, we are formulating questions about motion and plan on gathering data by observing motion in the cafeteria and playground.  Once our data has been evaluated, we will be able to make a claim, that hopefully answer our question.  What great scientists!  

Writing Workshop - We are the Tiger Writing Club - hear us roar!  Children are currently writing teaching books during writer's workshop.  I am coaching them along and introducing several ideas to assist them in transferring their knowledge of a subject area to the page.  The children are all eager to tell what they know.

Music/Art - Rhythm sticks and letter props help us imitate a rain storm and sing the song Bingo.  The children enjoy movement songs such as If You're Happy and You Know It, Walk to School and The Raindrop Song.  We also include This Little Light of Mine each day to remind them to "let it shine!"  Watercolor and dot paints have been available in our art center as well as the daily option to visit the Creation Station during free choice.  Next week we will create our seedlings for the hallway mural and paint beautiful fall leaves to drop from the ceiling.

Looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday evening at 5;15 in our classroom for more in depth coverage of the curriculum, our plan for the year and daily routine.  It's been a great week!!

Monday, September 1, 2014

Welcome Friends!

I'm so excited to get to know everyone and create an atmosphere of academic achievement and positive social growth.  Please view the hallway mural as a tribute to the importance of the home and school connection.  The mural is inspired by the the book The Happiness Tree by Andrea Alban Gosline.  The treetops represent the guides in your child's life.  The soil symbolizes the character traits that will help foster their emotional growth.  The children are the seeds that emerge and carry with them the influences of their environment.  I look forward to building this ever important home/school bond with your family this year.

Let's have a great year together!

Warmly,

Kerry McKee

“Everything good begins with me,”

the acorn told its mother tree,

and drifted on the dancing breeze,
to find a cloak of golden leaves.