Spring Music Concert

During the month of March, students have truly enjoyed the 'sound of music' as we had mini-concerts once a week at school during the week.  These mini-concerts offer a wonderful way for students to showcase their musical talents for their teachers and friends.

Above: Two Wellman Elementary siblings performed a musical skit during the first mini concert of the month! 

What a fun night we had at the Wellman Elementary Spring Concert.  Students did a great job of sharing their songs for all to enjoy!!  It was definitely a great way to 'Sing Your Way Home at the End of the Day!' Thank you again for your support of our Music department.

Balls and Ramps

We are nearing the end of our current science unit, Balls and Ramps. Our first grade scientists have enjoyed exploring how different balls move and have even been challenged to create their own balls from a variety of materials. Students are now using what they have learned in this physical science unit to create ramps. Our first experience with ramps required students to build an understanding between ramp height, ball speed and distance traveled. As always, students were asked to record their findings in their science journals, which was a great way to encourage our young learners in their writing and thinking. It was great fun and highly motivating!

Reading Week Fun!

Students at Wellman Elementary enjoyed many special activities planned throughout this past week in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday. We enjoyed listening to a mystery reader over the loud speaker each morning and making our best guesses! A special thanks to the PTO who worked hard to decorate the entire building to add to the fun. This group also provided a healthy snack to enjoy during our independent reading time on Friday.

Hopefully students made it home with a small bit of our grande finale on Friday, inspired by Bartholomew and the Oobleck. Making Oobleck in our Friendship Groups was a hit with students of all ages!! To recreate this fun at home all you need is cornstarch and water. Enjoy;)

Polygons and 3D Shapes

First graders were immersed with geometry this past week as they were introduced to polygons and 3D shapes!  First, students learned three very important rules about polygons; (1) they must have straight lines, they must meet at a closed corner and (3) they can never cross.  After some creative work with polygons, students were then introduced to the following 3D shapes; cylinder, cube, rectangular prism, pyramid, cone and a sphere.  It was definitely all 'hands on deck' as students worked hard to build all of these geometrical shapes!

Polygon Creations

3D Marshmallow and Toothpick Models

Spelling Fun at Home!!

Here are a few fun ideas to encourage our young readers to put in some extra time practicing their spelling words at home!!

1. Ask your child to draw a picture and "hide" all their spelling words within their artwork.

2. Challenge your child to write his/her words in shaving cream.

3. If you have extra magazines or newspapers lying around, search for the necessary letters and then glue the spelling words together.

4. There are several free recording apps out there that will record their own voice with an app on the phone or iPad.  Have your little one record himself/herself spelling out his/her words and then replay it and check to see if he/she spelled it correctly. 

5. Use a flashlight in a dark room to write the spelling words in the air.

6. Letter scramble- Write your child's spelling words on a piece of paper.  Cut apart each word and have them unscramble the word!

7. Scratch and Sniff-Have your little one write his/her words in glue.  Then, sprinkle dry jell-o onto the glue.  When the glue has dried, have your little one trace and scratch the word.

8. Sidewalk chalk-Use sidewalk chalk to spell the words!

9. Magnetic Letters-Using magnetic letters on any magnetic surface in your home or on a cookie sheet, have your child spell his/her words.

10. Jumping jacks-Have your child do a jumping jack for each letter in the word!

Valentine's Party

Students were 'tickled pink' as we celebrated the fun, loving holiday of Valentine's!!  Thank you again to the Valentine's Day committees who helped provide delicious snacks and paper products for our fun afternoon party!!  Our most favorite part of the day was sharing our special Valentine's with one another!  Smiles were definitely an abundance with the friendly messages and candy given away!

Enjoying the many Valentine's given....

 The sweet treats hit the spot!

Math estimation and graphing with conversation hearts!

All School Sledding Party!

It was a day of celebration for all of the students in Wellman Elementary as students received a sledding reward for the positive behaviors that they have shown throughout the school year already!  Students were challenged to 'fill the bucket' by displaying our three Golden Hawk promises:

I am respectful!

I am responsible!

I am safe!

We then finished our winter fun with some warm hot cocoa!  It was a terrific end to all of our sledding fun!  

Let the sledding fun begin!!

It was a fabulous day!!