Portfolio Night - NEXT Wed, May 20

You're invited to join us for Willowwind School's Annual Portfolio Night!

Who: Willowwind's students will present work from the school year to illustrate overall growth and progress in all areas of study.  Please note, this event is mandatory for all K-6 students.  Please let your classroom teacher know if an unavoidable conflict stands in the way.

Where: Willowwind School

When: Wednesday, May 20 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. for K-6 Students.

Why:  

Portfolio Night and the preparation leading up to this event allow students to become reflective learners within their own education.  Analyzing school work while preparing for Portfolio Night allows students take ownership of their school year and they progress they have made.  Portfolio Night provides students a platform to speak about their growth, building their public speaking skills in an informal, open house style forum.

During Portfolio Night, parents can first browse through portfolios in their student's current class.  Then parents will have the opportunity to travel to other K-6 classes for a sneak peek at what your child will study in future years and/ or what other classrooms have been studying through the year.  We look forward to seeing you at our much anticipated Portfolio Night!

Last Day Talent Show - May 28

As the end of the year draws near, we invite students to participate in our annual talent show.  All students are invited to present a 90 second performance. Students may share a K-6 appropriate song, dance, comedy routine, acting scene, etc., with the Willowwind community on Thursday, May 28 at 9:00 AM. Participation is voluntary.  

Please take time to discuss this opportunity with your child.  They may need your advice and guidance as they select an appropriate act. Ideas should be approved by Ms. Christine by the end of the day on Thursday, May 21. Should your child require music, please provide it to Christine by Friday, May 22. You can email Christine at christines@willowwind.org.  

Thanks so much for sharing your talents, students!  Parents, you are very welcome to join us for the show.  We'd love to have you there to cheer us on!

Shhh! Kindergarten Wishes - YOUR HELP NEEDED

Our time together is quickly coming to end. While this thought can bring some sad feelings in our hearts it is a truly a time to celebrate all that we have done together and our love for one another. It is a time where we are reflecting on our own individual progress over the last 180 school days and thinking about all of the wonderful things we have done together. We have become a family and experienced so much together.

This week, the Cottontails have been talking about wishes. We concluded that a wish is a something we want that makes ourselves and others feel better. Students took time this week to think about our Kindergarten year and brainstorm three wishes they would love to see come true as Kindergarten comes to an end. We generated a flurry of ideas and were excited to think about all the wishes, big and small, that could happen in the coming weeks. I am excited now to take one of each students' wishes and make it come true before the end of the school year.

Daily, beginning TOMORROW Monday, May 4th, a student's wish will come true. While the Cottontails know that one of their wishes may come true, it is a total surprise for the Cottontails regarding who's wish will come true each day. I have created a schedule of students' wishes and what day they will come true. Some may require your at home help.  These wishes can be found in red font. I will send reminder emails before "at home help wishes" occur.

Thank you so much for your help in making the last month of Kindergarten incredibly special and fun. Remember, the wish schedule is top secret!! And don't forget to send me your baby picture ASAP or BEFORE your child's Wish Day.

Cottontails' 2015 End of Kindergarten Wishes

Tues, May 5 - Colin's Wish - Bring a Special Toy - Note:  Please pack a special toy your child might like to play with at school.


Wed, May 6 - Kristy's Wish - Have a Class Picnic

Thur, May 7 - Henry's Wish - Play in Different Centers

Fri, May 8 - Mira's Wish - PJ Day - Note: Pack a pair of PJs in your child's backpack for them to wear at school. We will change into our PJs after the big Wish Reveal that morning.

Mon, May 11 - Jeret's Wish - Movie Day

Tue, May 12 - Darian's Wish - Special Snack

Wed, May 13 - Kianna's Wish - Extra Art w/ Mr. Ryan

Thurs, May 14 - Rial's Wish - Stuffed Animal Day - Note:  Please pack a special stuffed animal your child might like to play with at school.

Fri, May 15 - Riviera's Wish - Field Trip to Natural History Museum

Mon, May 18 - Ella's Wish - Host a Special Visitor from the American Legion

Tue, May 19 - Nithin's Wish - Celebrate Everyone's Birthday

Wed, May 20 - Raneem's Wish - Dress Up Day - Note:  Please pack a special "dressy" outfit your child might like to wear.  Please don't bring a costume but bring something nice they might want to wear.

Thur, May 21 - Freddy's Wish - Outside Game

Wed, May 27 - Michelle's Wish - A Class Field Trip (More Info to Come)

Specials Newsletter - Apr/May

Music Update - from Ms. Katherine
The monthly music blog has been updated.  Please visit http://wwelemmusic.blogspot.com/ to learn more about your child's Willowwind music experience.


Movement Update - from Ms. Karen  (karenr@willowwind.org)

I hope you and your child are getting outside to enjoy being physically active in this great spring weather. The current units in PE are building physical skills for your child to enjoy being outdoors. We continued work on Frisbee skills, fitness and softball skills. We will finish our spring with track and field, outdoor adventure activities, cooperative games and their favorites.

Did you hear about Disc Golf in PE?  They all practiced throwing a Frisbee forehand.  Upper grades tried throwing backhand also.  Targets were set up to practice and improve their accuracy. To apply their new skills, I introduced students to the game of Disc Golf.  Students completed a course I had set up for them.  They loved to Tee Off and putt to get their Frisbee in the target hoop. The rules are simple and very similar to golf.  Disc Golf is an awesome family recreation activity.  There are several local courses in the area.  They are at Sugar Bottom and Coralville Reservoir Dam in Coralville, and the Peninsula area in Iowa City.  All you need are your own Frisbees, one for each player, and get ready to have some family fun!

I look forward to introducing students to the great outdoor adventure activity of Geocaching. It’s one giant treasure hunt with a GPS. We will create our own fitness caches in Willowwind’s play space. I will encourage students to get their family involved in a geocache hunt. There are a few websites to get you started. A good website with introductory videos and maps is www.geocaching.com.  What a great activity to enjoy getting physically active outdoors.

Speaking of family fun; it's time to do the Twist! In PE class, most students participated in the game of Twister.  Students have been exploring how to bend and stretch different body parts. They have been challenged to stretch and bend in many different directions, with different numbers of body parts and in as many different ways as possible. All this bending and stretching draws students' attention to their muscle movements. When muscles can stretch, the muscle can allow different body parts to move through their full range of motion. We call that muscle flexibility.

Flexibility is an important component of being physically fit. Our older student population is testing their hamstring flexibility with a V-Sit stretch. They measure how far they can reach through their legs in a V position, with knees straight and hands stacked on top of each other. When it becomes obvious that a muscle is tight, we can work to stretch out these tight places. Discovering where a student needs to increase flexibility helps maintain their healthy body throughout their lives. Inflexibility is a common cause of back and shoulder pain in adults.

In PE class, we have learned that stretching after the body is warm is when flexibility can be increased.  Stretching is commonly used in a warm up in preparation for movement, but really long periods of stretching is better left for the end of activity time to be effective in increasing flexibility.

Our overall goal in PE is for your child to develop the knowledge, abilities and commitment needed to live and promote a healthy, active lifestyle. Students are becoming “physically literate” in PE. This is a term used in the new National Standards for Physical Education. Physically literate students will be able to move with confidence and competence in a variety of environment. These National PE standards are available to view at www.shapeamerica.org. Students’ progress in PE will be evaluated at the end of the school year against these standards, so you are encouraged to check them out.

Spanish Update - from Ms. Megan
Spanish is the perfect time to practice GRIT on a regular basis.  It takes a lot of time and effort to learn a new language. As a class, the kindergartners are eager to learn Spanish and have no fear in trying to sing new songs and pronounce new words. They joyfully sing our class songs, and learn a lot in the process.  They are learning to pronounce words (three times) after me, and do so even with the accent!  As a class, they are working on listening to instructions the first time and listening to one another without interrupting.  I look forward to seeing more spring growth!  Ask them to teach you the game “Cuatro Rincones” at home...and see if they can teach you to play it in Spanish!


Art Update - from Mr. Ryan
** Coming soon. **