October 2016 ~ Mrs. Koehn's B.U.G.S.

Friday, October 28, 2016

Halloween Parade and Party

Posted by Mrs. Koehn On 4:00 PM

We had a great time on Halloween! We loved the parade and the party! We are very thankful that Mother Nature cooperated with our plans and gave us such gorgeous weather!

We played Halloween BINGO!

We loved laughing and having fun with all our friends!

We also had some amazing snacks!

Thanks to all the generous parents who supplied us with great food and wonderful help during the parade and party! We couldn't do it without you!

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Thursday, October 27, 2016

We did it again!
We earned another 25 compliments!
Mrs. Koehn took us outside for an extra recess to celebrate!!
(The next time we earn 25 compliments, Mrs. Koehn promised to bake us her world famous cookies!!)

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Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Fire Safety

Posted by Mrs. Koehn On 4:30 PM

Today, the Paw Paw Fire Department volunteer firemen came to the Early Elementary to talk with us about fire safety. We know that if there is a fire, we need to GET OUT and STAY OUT! We talked about making a plan with our families for practicing fire safety and for selecting a "safe spot" to meet in case of a fire at our home.

We also got to see (and hear!) what a fireman would look and sound like if they came to rescue us. Even though he sounds like Darth Vadar, we know he is a good guy and he is here to help us!

We learned that it's even okay to shout at him or to throw something at him so he can find us faster!

The firemen shared with us a very cool new tool! They have a cool thermal machine that can tell where people are by measuring body heat! This can help firemen find people even faster in case of a fire!

We thought the images looked like ghosts!!

Thanks so much to all of the Paw Paw volunteer firemen and women!
We learned so much from you and we are so glad to have you in our community keeping us safe!

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Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Everybuggy Blogs!!

Posted by Mrs. Koehn On 8:31 AM

What makes the leaves turn such beautiful colors each fall?

I think the leaves change colors because in the summertime it's warm and in the fall it's cold so the leaves change colors. By Jude

I think why the leaves change because the tree bark gets bad and it makes the leaves change color. By Sophia

Leaves change color in fall because it is getting cold. By Abby

Leaves turn colors because when it is fall they are dropping it is coming to winter.The bark is dead. By Andrew

A tree turns coler’s because they do not get enough food and water. By Natalie

They change because they fall to the ground. By Blayne

I think the leafs turn another color so we can see them turn cool colors . by Kami

I think that it’s because of the sun. by Ezekiel

Liv Fs change color because the year es chigeeng. by Logan

I think the change color leaves because it is cold in the winter. By Bradley

The time of year they chag green yellow red. By Karsyn

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Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Everybuggy Blogs!

Posted by Mrs. Koehn On 11:28 AM

What kind of book do you like more, fantasy or realistic fiction? Why?

My favorite book is fantasy because a guy named Captain Underpants could fly a toilet could talk a baby could sae the world. By Jude

I love realistic fiction because it can teach you real and troy stuff that is why I love it. By Sophia

I like books that are not real thay are very silly. By Kami

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Monday, October 10, 2016

The Importance of Bundling

Posted by Mrs. Koehn On 3:12 PM

Today we were tricked into learning!! Mrs. Koehn said she needed to know if she had 1000 straws for a project. She asked how we thought we could most efficiently count them. It was suggested we bundle the straws by fives, and then it was suggested we bundle by tens. We all agreed that bundling by tens would be faster to count than fives.

When we got all the straws bundled into groups of tens, we started to count them, but Mrs. Koehn kept losing her place and there were so many bundles...so we decided to bundle them again - this time into bundles of one hundred!

We used our habit of the week - SYNERGIZING - to work together and create our bundles. When we finally had bundles of 100, we counted them again. It went super fast! We quickly found that we had more than 1000, (we actually had 1006!). Mrs. Koehn was delighted. Then she told us she had just tricked us into doing math without knowing we were doing math. Sneaky teacher!

We thought about our bundling experience while we worked on math. We were able to draw bundles of hundred, tens or single ones in order to solve math problems. This made doing math so fast (and correct!) We loved this strategy!

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Quick and Easy Activities for Home

Posted by Mrs. Koehn On 7:23 AM

Every now and then I like to share some fun activities you can do at home with your student to support the academic and social skills we are working on at school. Here are just a couple ideas for your Monday morning:

Reading: Make reading visible in your home. Point out all the different times you have to read in your everyday life. Do you read the weather forecast? A recipe for dinner? The note that comes home from school? Let your child see how important reading is! Take it one step further and have your child help with YOUR reading. Can your child read part of the forecast? How about the recipe? Practice reading in every context you can - it helps build fluency, vocabulary, comprehension and background knowledge!

Math: Do math problems in the car. Pick any number from 1-1000 and ask your child to name 10 more than that number, 10 less; 100 more, 100 less, etc. Make your child think backwards from that number and create a math sentence that would have your number as the sum or difference. For example, if you give the number 32, ask, "What two numbers could you add together to get 32?" or "What numbers could you subtract to get a difference of 32?" For one entire car ride, play with the same number and see how many different activities you can come up with for that same number.

Writing: We are constantly telling students how important writing is to every career in life, and yet, do they see what you write? Just like reading, make writing visible in your home. Have your child add items to the grocery list. Have your child write a note saying they will be picked up today by Aunt Marie (you just sign it). Could your child write your address on the insurance form while you wait for your prescription? Any chance you get, ask your child to help with writing. It gives application, as well as practice and it allows you opportunities to nudge and adjust any writing errors.

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Thursday, October 6, 2016

Good Citizens

Posted by Mrs. Koehn On 11:54 AM

What a great day for a field trip!

We started at the County Court House.

We sat out on the historic steps and learned that this building was the second court house built in Paw Paw. This one was built in 1901!!

We were very impressed by its age!

We went inside...

...to the historic courtroom. Judge Dufon was presiding in court today.

He explained the roles of citizens in a democracy, including the importance of voting and serving on a jury. He also talked with us about laws and the role of government in creating and enforcing laws.

We set up a council of townspeople to decide about creating a law that would not allow animals on school grounds.

Mrs. Koehn got arrested for bringing a seeing-eye dog to school.

Officer Holden was the one who arrested Mrs. Koehn. He was a witness at the trial.

After hearing the evidence, the jury found Mrs. Koehn guilty of violating the law of Teddy Town.

Judge Dufon presided over the case to make sure it was conducted fairly - with justice for all!

After the trial, the town council met again to talk about the law and to make revisions to it. They decided that a better law would be to only permit service animals on school grounds in Teddy Town.

The students learned so much about the legal process and the tough decisions lawmakers have to make! We also saw first hand how difficult it can be to enforce laws when there can be circumstances when it might be permissible.

What a wonderful day in court today!

Thank you to Mr. Hardester and Judge Dufon for all your time and energy in helping our students learn about the Constitution and its applications!

After the court house, we headed to the Paw Paw Police Station. We had a tour of the building, including learning about all the things police officers carry with them.