IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

It was so wonderful getting back to school today! The children were so excited to see new manipulatives to play with including SNOW! They also enjoyed getting to write in our mail center. We put some special paper, markers, and envelopes out and the children were able to spend some time writing to each other…they LOVED it!

We also got a surprise note today from Sam, the library mouse (it is a fictional character that is in 4-5 great children’s books). Sam told us that he had a problem because his family was coming to visit us, but he did not have enough room in his hole in the library. So, he asked us if we would make a new home for him.

The children of course said YES, and they worked on writing a letter back to Sam asking a few questions. We put it in his home in the library so we will see if we get one back tomorrow!

We welcomed Miss Boyle into the classroom today as she will be with us everyday until the end of the year! She already formed great connections with the children and was so integral in the day!

Cannot wait for tomorrow!

Today was a very exciting day back! We received a note from Sam, our library mouse, asking us to build a city for him and his relatives (he said he ran out of room in the library). With the boxes we have collected from families, we will be planning for and creating a large dwelling for Sam and his family! Today, we thought about some questions we will need answered before we start our plans

1. How many mice are there?

2. What things do you need?

The kids are so excited. I am optimistic this will turn not only into a great geometry experience, but also support us as we learn to work as a team, negotiate, and use communication skills.

We also picked a day for our Literacy Celebration. Our class will be hosting this event to showcase our published pieces of writing from Story Workshop. The date we chose will be the evening of the January 24th, at 6pm. More information will be sent home shortly!

After break, the k-1 team will be starting a unit on geometry. We need your empty boxes, containers, and cans to make this happen! Please send them in with your child on Monday, January 7. Thanks for your help!

Today, we finished up creating winter gifts for our families and got to watch The Polar Express. We had a great time! The day was filled with hugs and excitement. We hope you have a wonderful winter break and will see you in 2013!

Today was quite the busy day getting everything prepared for our puppet movie! We divided into groups and tackled some jobs-setting up the popcorn, getting the red carpet ready, getting the ticket booth and donations jar table prepared, setting up chairs, and making decorations to hang up!

Last Wednesday, I had a great small group discussion where we were working on our donation jars. While we were working on them, one friend suggested that we need to have someone there to watch the jars so nobody steals the money. I reassured the friends that everyone coming to the show is there to support us and that I did not think anyone would steal our money. They said, “Just to be safe, we should have someone there!” Selah, then offered that Mrs. Clark one of our 1/2 teachers’ husbands was a police officer and he could come! Selah wrote a note to him yesterday asking if he could come and watch over the donations jars. What was great was that he wrote back today and said he would love to come watch the money (in full uniform!) So, I just wanted to let you know that he will be there tomorrow-in complete support of our class’s desire to raise as much money as we can!

The last thing we did was watch our movie. The children sitting in the front two rows with smiles stretched from ear to ear watched so diligently. As soon as it was over, Sarah said, “I want to watch that again.”

Cannot wait for tomorrow…