Thursday, October 1, 2026

Friday, October 2

               

Friday, October 2

  Irish Pride Celebration Today at 8:30.
 Bringing our elementary students together builds community and school pride! Students of the month for September will be recognized as well as new students to Maple Lake.  The new character word for the month will also be introduced which is kindness. We will end the celebration by singing our Irish Pride song.

Mrs. Marsicek will be here teach the children about the Unthinkables, Topic Twister Meister and Energy Hare-y.


READING AND VOCABULARY
Big Book: Annie, Bea, and Chi Chi Dolores: A School Day Alphabet By: Donna Maurer
Print Concepts: Book Parts
FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS

Phonological Awareness: Segmenting Phonemes and Blending Phonemes
Phonics Focus Skill: Short Vowel a
Irregular Words: a, the
 GRAMMAR
Verbs continued...

KinderMath: Identify Patterns
The kids will work with colored cubes to create patterns as well as doing a variety of patterned body movements. (stomp, clap, clap stomp, clap, clap...)  (clap, wave, clap, wave...) 
 STEAM with Mr. Brown 
  
NO Phy Ed or Music today as we will be attending the high school pepfest.

We are attending the homecoming pepfest in the high school this afternoon. A few years ago, a tradition was started where each high school senior gives a kindergartner an Irish Hanky as a symbol to carry on their Irish Spirit. It's a pretty cool thing to witness!

From Mrs. Thomas:
Hello Families,
We are still looking for a few more volunteers to help make our Book Fair a success! 📚✨ There are just a few spots left, and we would love your help! If you are able to volunteer, please click the link below or scan the QR code to sign up for a time that works for you.
 
~The book order is due Wednesday, October 7...included with the flyer is a $5 coupon. You can place your order here.
Enjoy the weekend ahead!

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Thursday, October 1

            

Thursday, October 1

READING AND VOCABULARY
Read Aloud: Schools Around the World By: Clare Lewis
Connect and Teach: Topic and Central Idea

Big Book: Annie, Bea, and Chi Chi Dolores: A School Day Alphabet  By: Donna Maurer

FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS

Phonological Awareness: Isolating Phonemes, Blending Phonemes

Phonics Focus Skill: Short Vowel a
Irregular Words: a, the

GRAMMAR
More with Verbs

Library from 9:50-10:20.

Handwriting: Tall Line Down and Short Line Down
Tall Line Down: Start on the "top line" and end on the "writing line".
Short Line Down: Start on the "middle line" and end on the "writing line".
 

KinderMath: Less Than
As the title says, today's lesson will give the kids opportunities to compare groups of items and determine which group has less.


It's the 20th day of school already...Zero the Hero, our puppet friend, will be here again!
  • • Phonological Awareness: Rhyme, Counting Syllables
  • • Phonics Focus Skill: Consonant m
  • • Handwriting: Manuscript m
  • honological Awareness: Teacher’s Choice
  • • Phonics Focus Skill: Uppercase Letters U, J, S
  • Phonological Awareness: Teacher’s Choice
  • • Phonics Focus Skill: Uppercase Letters U, J, S
  • Phonological Awareness: Teacher’s Choice
  • • Phonics Focus Skill: Uppercase Letters U, J, S   
  
(Last names A-K: PE, L-Z: Music)

~ Tomorrow is Irish Spiritwear Day!
~The book order is due Wednesday, October 7. You can order here.
~We enjoyed celebrating with Maven yesterday!


~Jersey Day Triplets!

Tuesday, September 29, 2026

Wednesday, September 30

              

Wednesday, September 30
Happy Birthday, Maven! 

READING AND VOCABULARY
GENRE: Informational Text
Connect and Teach: Check for Understanding
Power Words: city, country, map
FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS
Phonological Awareness: Counting Syllables, Blending Phonemes
Phonics Focus Skill: Short Vowel a
Irregular Words: a, the
GRAMMAR
 Verbs 

Handwriting: Learning the "Pinch, Rest, Tuck" Pencil Grip
Please look for a description of this technique in the Wednesday envelope.

KinderMath: More Than
As the title says, today's lesson will give the kids opportunities to compare groups of items and determine which group has more. This is building the foundation for counting & cardinality.
 
 STEAM with Mr. Brown 
  
(Last names A-K: Music, L-Z: PE)
 
~Library day is tomorrow...if you haven't done so, please return your child's book so they can get a new one!
~The book order is due Wednesday, October 7...included with the flyer is a $5 coupon. You can place your order here.
~Friday's dress up day is Irish Spiritwear!

Monday, September 28, 2026

Tuesday, September 29

                      

Tuesday, September 29

READING AND VOCABULARY
Read Aloud: Schools Around the World  By: Clare Lewis
GENRE: Informational Text
Connect and Teach: Features of Informational Text

FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS

Phonological Awareness: Rhyme, Blending Onset and Rime

Phonics Focus Skill: Short Vowel a
Irregular Words: a, the

GRAMMAR
Introduction to Verbs

Handwriting: Learning the Parts of the House
A house image will be used for our handwriting paper. It will be important for the kids to know where to place their letters and numbers when they are learning to write the "School Way."

KinderMath: Same Number

This lesson has the kids working on identifying sets of objects with the same amounts. This will help the kids work on accuracy when counting.
  • • Phonological Awareness: Rhyme, Counting Syllables
  • • Phonics Focus Skill: Consonant m
  • • Handwriting: Manuscript m
  • honological Awareness: Teacher’s Choice
  • • Phonics Focus Skill: Uppercase Letters U, J, S
  • Phonological Awareness: Teacher’s Choice
  • • Phonics Focus Skill: Uppercase Letters U, J, S
  • Phonological Awareness: Teacher’s Choice
  • • Phonics Focus Skill: Uppercase Letters U, J, S   
  
(Last names A-K: PE, L-Z: Music)

~ Tomorrow is Jersey Day!
~ National Hot Lunch Day (October 13) is a BIG tradition here at MLE. Be sure to RSVP by October 6 if you can make it!

Sunday, September 27, 2026

Monday, September 28

             

Monday, September 28 

READING AND VOCABULARY
Big Book: School Bus by Donald Crews
Connect and Teach: Check for Understanding
Power Words Review: clue, mistake, puzzled

FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS

Phonological Awareness: Blending & Segmenting Phonemes
Phonics Focus Skill: Consonants m, M, t, T
GRAMMAR
 Identify and Use Adjectives  


Handwriting: Prior to writing letters and numbers, it is important to learn the eight strokes that the alphabet and numbers are made of. We will spend a few days learning these through movement, song, and modeled practice. The following photo shows what they are.

KinderMath: Sort By More than One Attribute
The lesson begins with reading, The Button Box by Margarette Reid. I will ask their thoughts on how the buttons are being sorted (size, color, shape, style, etc.) Then we will look at a pile of attribute buttons and talk about how they think we should sort them. (Sort by shape, button hole amount, size, etc.) 

Project: Self-Portraits
The kids will create a self-portrait like the photo above. (We did not get to this on Friday.)
 STEAM with Mr. Brown 
  
(Last names A-K: Music, L-Z: PE)
 

~ Wednesday is Jersey Day for homecoming dress-up days.