A Can of Food, a Cup of Joe, & Even an Angry Bird, or Two!

A Can of Food - Willowwind Food Drive - until December 16th
During this season of giving, Willowwind is participating in a food drive for the River Community Church (across Muscatine Ave) Food Bank. Please take a moment to donate a non-perishable food item, or two, or more. Students often enjoy raiding their own cupboards for non-perishable items they can bring in to donate. Food donation bins are located upstairs near the Front Desk and downstairs near the Preschool Lost & Found. Willowwind will collect nonperishable items until December 16th. Please help stock the River Church Food Drive shelves. Your participation will help many families throughout the Winter months. Thank you!

A Cup of Joe - First Friday Parent Coffee - THIS Friday, December 2nd
This month's First Friday Parent Coffee is on Friday, December 2nd. After drop off, stay for a cup of coffee and a lesson and demonstration by Willowwind parent, Chef Gaby, and owner of Back to the Table. Gaby will also give parent ideas for fun and healthy lunches.

Even an Angry Bird, or Two!
Speaking of fun lunch ideas… I found a great blog that details ways to make eating healthy and lunch time more fun. This lunch idea shows ways to transform fruits & veggies into cute Angry Birds characters. Angry Birds is a popular game on our iPad and your child may love the surprise of Angry Birds invading their lunch box. Check out this blog and Gaby's Friday Coffee discussion for more great lunch ideas.

Another Lunch Blog
Angry Birds Lunch Idea

Important Reminders

Dear Cottontail Families,

The days leading up to Thanksgiving Break are going to be very busy. Here are a few quick reminders.

1) Library Field Trip THIS Friday - Please make sure your child has their library card.

2) Puppet Theatre Field Trip NEXT Monday - Please make sure you drop off your child's $2 admission price (to Amber or me) and that your child has their booster seat on Monday. One or two more drivers are still needed. Please email me if you are interested in driving.

3) Thanksgiving Feast Ingredients - Please use the Thanksgiving Feast Volunteer Sign Up link to sign up to help provide ingredients for our Feast's baked goods (Gluten Free Corn Bread Muffins and Pumpkin Seeds). All ingredients are needed by the morning of NEXT Monday, November 21.

4) Thanksgiving Feast Shifts - Please use the above link to sign up for shift help with our Feast (Set Up on Monday afternoon; Serving and Clean Up on Tuesday afternoon). Two parent volunteers are needed from each classroom. Please feel free to sign up for multiple spots if your schedule allows.

5) Partner Book Writing - Parents are still needed to help with the Partner Book process. Please email me if you are interested in helping out.

Enjoy the busy week! Remember, there are conferences THIS Thursday afternoon and evening and there is no school NEXT Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday in honor of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Volunteer Opportunities: Thanksgiving Feast Ingredients & Day of Help

Our annual Thanksgiving Feast is upon us. The K-6 students and staff will gather together on Tuesday, November 22nd to give thanks and enjoy traditional Thanksgiving foods created by each classroom. The Cottontails are excited to bake Cornbread Muffins and Pumpkin Seeds. I am in need of parents to help supply ingredients for these baked goods. Please use the link below (or on the Welcome Page side bar) to sign up to bring one or more ingredient for us to use in our cooking. Please bring ingredients no later than the morning of Monday, November 21st. We will be baking before we leave for our Eulenspiegel field trip at 12:00.

In addition, Willowwind is in need of two parent volunteers from each classroom to help with setup, serving, and clean up. The dates and times that we are in need of parent support is as follows. Please note that the Set Up shift will take place the DAY BEFORE on Monday afternoon. Please use the link below to sign up for a time slot. Feel free to sign up for more than one spot if you have the time.

Set Up: Monday Afternoon 2:00 - 3:00
Serving: Tuesday Afternoon 11:45 - 12:30
Clean Up: Tuesday Afternoon 12:30 - 1:30

Thanksgiving Feast Volunteer Sign Up

Your help is SO much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

In addition, please note that I am still in need of parent volunteers to help with Partner Book Writing and drivers for our field trip to Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre on Monday, November 21st at 12:00. Please use the blog posting below (Volunteer Opportunities: Partner Book Writing & Field Trip Driving) to find more information.

NEW!! Math Homework

Per the requests of many Cottontail families the Kindergarten class is beginning a new homework routine. As a class, we discussed this routine and the Cottontails are so excited to have weekly math homework just like their older friends, partners, and family members. Please help foster this excitement as they bring home their weekly work.

Each Monday, students will take home a weekly math packet. This math packet will contain four double sided worksheets that can be completed throughout the week. These activities are supplemental activities to the activities and lessons we complete as a class throughout the week. They are meant to provide your child with added practice and reinforcement. IT is also my hopes that this homework routine provides you with the opportunity to take a look at some of the concepts your child is studying in Kindergarten. Yesterday, the class brainstormed various ways to complete the packet. Some friends suggested completing one double sided page each night, other friends were eager to complete the entire packet on Monday evening, others had other ideas to divide the work up throughout the week. We all agreed, though, that waiting until Thursday night to start the packet was not the best idea.

On Friday morning, your child will bring their packet back to school and turn it in. If they happen to finish it earlier in the week they can certainly turn it in sooner, upon full completion. We will take part of our Friday Math time to review our work independently, with partners, in small groups, or as a large group. Please see that your child is prepared to participate in our Math review each Friday. As you begin our new Math homework routine please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for continuing your child's learning at home!

Volunteer Opportunties: Partner Book Writing & Field Trip Driving

Your help is needed in the Cottontail Rabbit classroom! Please email me if you are interested in helping out. Thank you in advance for your help and support.

Partner Book Writing
Parent volunteers are needed to help with our partner book writing experience. Kindergarteners seem to benefit most when they can work on their writing individually with an adult. Please email me if you are available to help with Partner Book writing. Our schedule is flexible so please let me know the times that you could help out. I am looking for writing help during the school day and even after school during ASP.

Drivers for Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre - Monday, November 21 12:00 - 2:00
Drivers are needed for our upcoming field trip to Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre in West Liberty. Please let me know if you are available to drive. If you are, let me know how many booster seats you can fit in the back row(s) of your vehicle. Drivers, please be sure to submit a copy of your driver's license and auto insurance to Amber at the Front Desk.

Book Bag Clean Out

It is time to clean out our Book Bags - making room for new books. With your Cottontail, please go through their Book Bag removing the books that are marked with a reading sticker in the upper right corner. These books can be added to your child's at-home library. Often times, families will set aside a basket to collect the black and white books. It is exciting for your child to watch their collection of black and white books grow. They will enjoy looking back at the books they have read throughout the year. Thanks for your "clean out" help.

Website Updated

The Cottontail Chatter has been updated. Take a look at all of the following changes.

~ LOTS of new blog postings - Take a peek into our time together!

~ NEW November Newsletter

~ Updated October and November Photo Pages

~ Updated "Upcoming Events" (see right side bar) and Calendar Tab

~ Updated "Volunteer Opportunities (see right side bar) - Volunteers are needed to help with Partner Book writing and for Saturday, November 12th's Parent Workday. Drivers are needed for Monday, November 21st's field trip to Eulenspiegel Puppet Theater in West Liberty, Iowa. Please let me know if you can help out. Thanks!

Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre Field Trip - Monday, November 21

The Cottontail Rabbits and Prairie Racerunners will be traveling to West Liberty to visit the Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre on Monday, November 21st. Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre is a nonprofit puppet company organized to promote the art of puppetry by producing and presenting high-quality performances. The company is committed to educating the public about the arts, serving as a center for the exchange of ideas, and enhancing the quality of community life. Check out their website!

Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre Website

At Eulenspiegel we will enjoy a performance of Hans Christen Andersen's story The Snow Queen. This performance follows Gerda as she searches for her best friend, Kai, who has gone with the Snow Queen to her ice palace in the north. Plucky, and loyal Gerda, meet many eccentric characters who help them on their journey and show Gerda how to save her friend.

Drivers are needed for this field trip. We will leave Willowwind around 12:00 and return around 2:00. Please let me know if you are interested in driving. Please provide $2 to help cover the costs of the puppet show's admissions. Thank you!

Happy November

Wow! The last two weeks have been oh so busy! WIth a trip to the library, Halloween, Day of the Dead, and a few bumps and bruises on my end, October came to a quick end and November is off to a crazy start! First off, I wanted to say thank you to all of you who sent such kind emails and cards as I was home nursing my wounds at the start of the week. Upon my return, your child's smiling face and warm embrace was the best medicine of all. The love I received from each Cottontail and their family was truly remarkable. Our Cottontails sure have a natural understanding of compassion, one of Willowwind's seven Core Virtues. At Thursday's Morning Meeting we spent a lot of our time swapping stories of accidents we have all experienced. It was nice to know that my klutziness ranks right up there with that of five year old! :) The Cottontails could truly empathize with my injuries and with me. Thank you for the love your child shares with me!

Fall conferences are just around the corner. Conferences will take place THIS Monday and Tuesday afternoon as well as the afternoon of Thursday, November 17th. Using the link below or on the right side of the Welcome page, please sign up for a conferences if you have yet to do so.
Fall Conference Sign Up

With Fall conferences approaching, it presents a natural time to reflect on and document the progress in our year. The Cottontails have recently completed a variety of reading, spelling and math assessments to highlight their progress. I am amazed at our growth in 55 short days and I am eager to share this growth with you. You will be so proud of your Kindergartener!

Math time is one area of wonderful growth. The Cottontails recently finished Chapter 2 in our Math in Focus curriculum. Throughout Chapter 2, the class learned a few new math songs and math games. It brings me great joy to listen to the class as they sing these songs at snack, recess, and free choice time. They are catchy numbers that help your child further develop their number sense. In addition, our two new math games have become wonderful activities that the Cottontails often choose to play with at Center time. What I love most about Math in Focus's math games is the simplicity in the game. There are no complex rules or "record" sheets, rather there is a simple game board with simple instructions - ones that your Cottontail can understand right away. It is fun to watch the class choose to play the games when the choice of activities is completely theirs. Upon conference time, I will send home the two game boards with you. Have your child become the teacher and teach you how to play these games at home! In addition, I will give you your child's first (of four) completed Math workbook. The class is so excited to share their workbooks with you. It is such a proud feeling to have a workbook full of our work and activities. Enjoy!

We continue to bring math concepts into our everyday world as we recently spent time cooking with Chef Gaby (Prairie Racerunner, Erika's mom). She is a personal chef here in Iowa City who has a passion to share her love for cooking with healthy foods with children. We worked with Gaby to make a Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Apple Crisp. We shared our Apple Crisp with the rest of the Willowwind community at Monday's Halloween celebration. Ms. Brooke has graciously posted the recipe on her class's website. Use the link below to find the recipe and share it with your family at home.
Ms. Brooke's Website - Apple Crisp Recipe

This week, Willowwind friends began a new writing project. The K-6 students are eager to start our annual Partner Book project. Look to our November newsletter for more information on this wonderful tradition. The books the children create are truly magical. I am excited to see them take life. Writing is new for our Kindergarten friends. Because of this, I am in need of parent volunteers to help with the writing process. I am looking for parents to come in during the school day to provide one-on-one help with writing. The writing process can't be done without your help and support. Please let me know if you can help out. Our schedule is flexible so let me know what times you are available and we'll work with your schedule. After school help is needed, too. This is a great activity you can work on while some of our friends focus on their school work during ASP time. Thank you in advance.

November brings shorter hours of daylight. Today Daylight Savings Time comes to an end. Did you "Fall Back" this morning? It was nice waking up a bit "earlier" as it gave me more time to work on the coming week's activities. Don't forget to turn your clocks back an hour. Our Fire Safety unit taught us that this is a great time to check our smoke detectors' batteries, too. I hope you have enjoyed your weekend. It was nice to be a part of the Hawks' win yesterday, albeit a very close win and a very windy Saturday. The sun sure is shining today, but the wind continues to whip, so Brian, Lambeau, and I are enjoying our time inside. Brian and Lambeau are cheering for their Packers as I write conference reports. A warm pot of coffee is on as I dive into the joy of reflecting and documenting the progress of your child. See you Monday.

Building Bridges

Some of the best moments with your child are the ones in which I can detour from "the plans" and we can just be a class together. This week included a moment just like that. As I began a round of reading assessments, the Cottontails had the opportunity to enjoy extra center time. Lucas and a few of his friends were eager to use our cubes to build a bridge that spanned across the rectangle tables over to the red table. It was a fun moment to watch as interest grew within the class and more friends joined in the process. Throughout Thursday, the Cottontails realized that the Unifex cubes weren't quite strong enough. They scrapped their Unifex bridge and tried it again with the linking cubes. Indeed, the linking cubes proved to be much stronger, but the Unifex "materials" couldn't going to go to waste. After all, they already committed to using them. So, Sayan came up with the idea to use them as guardrails to protect the cars and traffic that would use the bridge. The "problem" with the cubes wouldn't be the last problem the group would encounter. They took time to patiently try different materials to add to the design of their bridge. It was fun to watch various jobs and roles naturally developed. With Lucas as the "Senior Engineer", overseeing the overall design project, and Sayan acting as the "Constructional Engineer", Aidan became the "Marketing Executive" and "Accountant" monitoring materials they could sell to receive money to put towards their construction project. You should've seen his pile of money. Man, was he good at selling goods and gaining revenue! This project was well funded. Rayne and Vismitha became the "Urban Planners" as they gather chairs to develop a path for the bridge to take. Rosie, Stella, and Margaret enjoyed sharing the role of "Constructional Engineer" with Sayan as they worked on securing the linking cubes and building the pillars, supports, and bases of the bridge. Ginger was the "Team Motivator" providing each friend with wonderful comments and compliments. She often highlighted the fact that we are indeed engineers. She helped troubleshoot in times of confusion and was so proud to announce our class's ability to work together and persevere. By Friday afternoon my heart was beaming with pride and my smile was a mile wide. I couldn't help but close up my binder of reading assessments and join in the building fun. What a great way to end a crazy week!

Quiet Observations

One of my favorite parts of teaching Kindergarten is sitting back, watching, and listening to the interactions between four and five-year olds. They are so sweet, so cute, so genuine. Here is a new component to our classroom website - enjoy my "quiet observations". I'll share them with you as they arise. Quiet Observation 1: Art has come to an end, and the Cottontails come back to class going on with our next routine activity without any instruction. Friends are quietly washing their hands in the Project Room. As I finish one last email from my spot at the Project Room table I overhear the following conversation. Cottontail 1: Remember when you were the Dust Buster and I was helping you and you said I was a really good helper? Cottontail 2: Yeah? Cottontail 1: Thanks. Cottontail 2: Well it's true, you were. My heart melts... Quiet Observation 2: Group Discussion has just finished. The Cottontails have headed back to class and I mosey in slowly behind the class of Kindergartners. I quietly grab my camera and stand in the doorway as I watch the class work together. The kiddos are standing in a circle in the Group Area. Each one has a hand placed in the middle, eyes gleaming, and big smiles. One friend says, "Ok. On the count of three let's say Go Cottontails!". They count to three and cheer. "One, two, three! Go Cottontails!". My heart melts…

The Giving Season is Upon Us

Here at Willowwind, we can't do what we strive to do so well with you! As of Friday, November 4th we had 41% parent participation in the Annual Fund drive. Thank you!! We have been moved by the parents who have given thus far - your generosity is inspiring. Willowwind is asking for all parents to commit to the Fund drive at the level at which you are able to give. Your gift enables us to continue to meet the needs of our greatest resource - the students in our school. Remember it is all about participation. Many of the grants we apply for look for participation in annual giving from faculty and families. When Willowwind can say that 100% of our community gives back our appeal to grant providers grows ten fold. Please be sure to check out the growing thermometer and the "Why I give to Willowwind" board in the Front Entry. Fund Drive envelops are available at the Front Desk. Our next goal is 55% participation by Friday, November 11th. Please pledge or donate to help us meet our next short term goal and overall goal of 100% participation. Thank you for your commitment to providing your child with an amazing private education.