Thursday, September 17th, 2009

Primary (Ms. Emily):
1.) Today during math we talked about nearest and farthest. We played a bean bag toss game and talked about where the bean bags landed.
2.) During Drama with Mr. Jim we played lots of games using our imagination. We pretended to ride a train and make several stops, one of the stops was a pretend library.
3.) We continued to work on our “All About Me” books today, and everyone shared pictures of their families.

Inters (Ms. Lynn):
1.) We started working on our community! We each picked a building in a town to create and started painting our boxes.
2.) We had drama with Mr. Jim and played lots of fun games like, “The Magic Suitcase.”
3.) We read the third chapter of our Frog and Toad novel. It was about eating lots of cookies and we learned the meaning of “willpower.”

Inters (Ms. Jenni):
1.) In math we completed a chapter review and practiced patterns using foam sticker and dot markers.
2.) We had Drama with Mr. Jim and the students enjoyed such activities as “The Magic Suitcase” and “Night at the Museum.”
3.) We wrote thank you cards for the firefighters at the station next door and read several books on firefighters. Tomorrow we will be delivering our cards to the fire house with a special treat!

Uppers (Ms. Kate):
1.) Fine motor work was the order of the day. A warm-up arrival activity included learning to tie knots, and then knots at several spaced intervals along a line of string. This was followed by sequencing activities and identifying ordinal numbers, which included a great deal of scissor cutting, and printing practice.
2.) Today we created our Post Office word wall by pairing post office-related words with pictures on poster board. Students worked in groups, demonstrated understanding of the art of compromise, and furthered their understanding of the group process, as they sorted through the material together.
3.) Ms. Kathy led a wonderful O.T. class where students utilized gross motor skills. Incorporated during the session was: listening/attentional work, accurate processing of directions, “Form a circle please,” directionality (left-right, up-down, turn around) body awareness, teamwork, and timing/rhythm, combined with very lively sets of music. A “rock star” game served to strengthen the upper body and “cross mid-line” awareness.

Uppers (Ms. Barbara):
1.) Today we played some very funny drama games with Mr. Jim.
2.) We wrote a story to picture prompts.
3.) We started working on a 3-D map of Maryland.

IMPORTANT DATES:
· Pizza Lunch TOMORROW – Please send your child in with their snack and drink for the day.

· The following forms are due Friday, September 24th:
o T-Shirt Order (all sizes are adult sizes and NOT kids sizes)
o TaeKwonDo Registration
o After School Social Club Registration

· The School Counseling Group is presenting a Parent’s Lecture, September 30th, 2009 @ 9:30AM to discuss guidelines and ideas when considering schools after Diener and the general admissions process to other schools in the area. More information to follow. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to lois@thedienerschool.org.