News from Lakeside Preschool and Middle School
Lakeside Staff
December 23, 2008
Preschool – Mrs. Schreuder
One is fun; around and back on the railroad track, one, two; around the tree, around the tree, that’s how you make the number three… The preschoolers have been busy learning their numbers and how to write each numeral. They were very excited to learn chants that went along with each number. After the students learned their numbers from 1 to 10 we started discussing the season of winter. With all the cold weather it is easy for them to think about winter and Christmas.
We welcomed two new students to the preschool this month. Gabby Rhew joined the morning class and Sara Davis joined the afternoon class. This brings our numbers up to 15 in the morning and 10 in the afternoon. This is the most kids we have ever had enrolled in preschool and they keep us very busy.
The preschoolers want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
4th Grade – Mrs. Palen
December is a time for giving and sharing. Our class did a
December Family Project by sending a plain green construction paper
tree home and each family has to use their imagination to decorate
it. They then sent the decorated tree back to school to be
displayed. I want to thank my students’ families for
participating in this project and making lifelong memories
together. We certainly have creative people at Lakeside as the ideas to
decorate vary from family pictures, to cereal, to feathers, to
stickers, etc. Stop by and see these lovely family creations
displayed on the wall outside our classroom. All our
visitors, the other students, and school personnel certainly have
enjoyed looking at them.
WRITE, WRITE, WRITE! The 4th graders practice their writing each and every day. On Mondays we write about a special person called the Smart Cookie for the week. The students are to write positive things about that person and we do an interview to learn more about them which we include on the journal page. It is then made into a book for that special person to keep forever and be reminded of how unique and special they are. Then on Fridays we write about our week at school so our parents know what we are studying and how we are feeling about school. We call this our Take Home Journal which has to be signed by our parents and returned on Monday. The students also get to keep this at the end of the year which is a great keepsake of 4th grade memories. On other days we write about many different topics and types of writing such as: The Legend of Waconda Springs, a poem about Christmas for the paper, The Incredible Blizzard, Our Favorite Relative, etc. We are also making a poetry notebook and each month we learn about a different type of poem and write new poetry. Writing to our Pen Pals in Maize, KS several times throughout the year is also teaching us letter writing skill and making long distance friends. During all of this writing we are using English Skills that are being learned such as adding adjective, adverbs, prepositions to make better and varied sentences, and of course correct punctuation skills are being used. Last, but not least is the 6-Trait Writing Method being used in all writing skills which includes: CONTENT – Is my message clear? ORGANIZATION – Does my story have a beginning and ending? VOICE – Does this writing sound like me, and how do I feel? WORD CHOICE – Will my reader understand my words, and did I use words I love? SENTENCE FLUENCY – Do my sentences begin in different ways, and is it easy to read? CONVENTIONS – Did I use paragraphs, spell right, capitalize, etc.? So as you can see the 4th grade minds and hands are working hard to create masterpieces in writing.
5th Grade-Mrs.
Porter
Fifth graders are excited about writing. We are writing about personal experiences to prepare for the assessment tests. Our latest topic was describing the trials we had while learning to ride our bike. What a tough time some had to master that skill. The power of words is becoming our best friend. We decorated a small tree with glitter and yarn ornaments for the holiday season. It is always an exciting time. We wish all of you and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Mrs. Goth’s 6th Grade: What a whirlwind fall! It is hard to believe that we are getting ready for the winter break and holiday. Our class has been busy writing acronyms for the Downs News, making ornaments for parents, Christmas decorations and staying focused on academics also! We are looking forward to the break before starting the new year. I hope you all have a warm and wonderful time with family and a fantastic 2009!
Drake Koops reports: This month we’ve been doing some fun things like making foam ornaments for our tree and we decorated the lunchroom, too. In math we are learning about dividing and multiplying fractions. In Science, we are learning about Newton’s Laws of Motion. Lately in Reading, we hve been reading about the future. In Art, we are doing baskets which is really fun. My favorite subject is Art because our teacher is relaxed and he helps us a lot. We are learning about Babylon and Hammurabi, a king there. In 6 Trait Writing we are writing stories about the ‘Perfect Christmas’ and soon we will write an essay about what freedom means to me. Overall, it has been a great month!!
Shayne Renken reports: This month we have worked on ‘marble runs’ in Science. We made countdown Christmas mice for the preschoolers. In PE we have been playing basketball. We made ornaments for our parents to keep. My class is the shortest of the two 6th Grade classes.
5th and 6th Science: The 5th Grade finished Chapter 6 dealing with the rock cycle, types of rocks and plate tectonics. They are starting the chapter on atmosphere and weather. I think they all enjoyed the activity dealing with air pressure and what it feels like. The 6th Grade has started Chapter 5 and are learning about velocity, acceleration, work and the laws of motion. They are building ‘marble runs’ to see if they can apply any of those laws.
6th Grade- Mrs. Wacker
Fractions, fractions everywhere! That is the call for 5th and 6th Math this month. We have done every kind of fractions imaginable. We have made them proper, improper, and mixed. We have turned them into decimals, then to percents, and compared them in every form. WE KNOW OUR FRACTIONS!!!!
In Social Studies we are learning about a guy named Hammurabi. He was an Amorite, and the King of Babylonia. We are finding out that there were many different groups of people in and out of this area of Mesopotamia from 3500B.C. to the present. This area of the world is now Iraq and Iran.
In cooking class this month we made some yummy Christmas gifts for
you parents. I hope they make it home in those school bags
and you enjoyed them. I really hope I don’t find them still
in the school bag when January arrives.
Our award day this month was spent decorating the All Purpose Room and making edible reindeer. That was fun. Our party ended a great month on December 22.
Middle School PE– Mr. Beisner
Our focus since Thanksgiving has been the sport of basketball. We took one week to work on skills such as dribbling, passing, and shooting. Following skill practice and development we introduced games to the different classes. Fourth grade played 3-2-1, where each shot counts for 3 points if made, 2 points if they hit the rim, and 1 point if they hit the backboard. The fifth grade played some 2 on 2 and 3 on 3. The sixth grade has played some 4 on 4 and we will play a little full court after the first of the year. A student favorite is knockout or knockout revenge. Following the New Year we will play speed ball (a mix of basketball, soccer, and flag football), floor hockey, and continue our monthly fitness testing. Happy Holidays to all!
Vocal Music – Mrs. Koops
As the business of the holiday season subsides, I look back on a great semester of activities. I want to take this time to congratulate the 6th grade students who participated in the elementary honor choir in Hays on December 13. These students were Josh Arnoldy, Sidney Cisneros, Cheyanne Crawford, Isaiah Miller, Shelby Benton, Carridy Storer and Austin Gasper. These students had a great performance with students from all across the northwestern part of the state.
Now, as the new semester starts, the elementary students will be busy back working in our music books. The junior high students will finish watching the musical “The King and I” and then we will be doing some music theory. As you can tell, there is always something going on in the music department.
Library News
We now have eight student pictures hanging on our “Wall of Fame”. Good Work and congratulations to Drake Koops, Dillon Sawyers, Josh Arnoldy, Trystan Schlaefli, Erin Brown, Garrett Zimmer, Sierra Senger, and Anna Schroeder. This means these students read and passed at least 84 points worth of book test points in our Accelerated Reader Program. But, we have room for many more so read, read, read!
The 5th graders are finishing up their literary unit on, Homer Price, by Robert McCloskey. They will be moving to another exciting classic story but at this time it can’t be revealed. Have a Very Merry Christmas. Mrs. Gaston
