Mat Man

Derek and Mat Man

What was your favorite part of making Mat Man at home? Eating his eyes and putting tape on his boots.

If you could give your Mat Man a name, what would it be? Bat Man or Lukey

What was your favorite part of making Mat Man with your child? Hearing Derek sing the song as we put him together.

Important notes

School Pictures- Picture retake day is Monday morning. If you want retakes please make sure to bring in your old pictures so we can return them to Interstate Studios. If your child has not had a school picture taken yet we will take them on Monday.

"Peanut Free" reminder- Please remember that we are peanut/peanut butter free. There are have been a few things in lunches that we can't have in the classroom such as peanut granola bars and Butterfingers (in the lunchables).

Chapel- Chapel this week is on Monday.

Chapel Offerings- Our mission project for this year is Giving Gardens. Giving Gardens is a mission project sponsored by Wheat Ridge Ministries. The money we collect will provide seeds for food for the people of Haiti along with education on how to grow the seeds. The food will help feed the families and provide them a source of income.

Artsonia- You should have all received an email from Artsonia a few weeks ago. The email helps you set up an account to view your students artwork online. You can also invite family and friends to view your child's artwork. Through the account you can also purchase different items with your child's artwork on it.  If you didn't receive the email please let me know and I can manually resend your email.

Family Movie Night- Zion Early Childhood teachers are hosting a preschool and kindergarten movie night Friday October 7th at 6 PM for families of Zion students in preschool or kindergarten. We will offer 2 different choices of Veggie Tales movies as well as popcorn and water. You are welcome to bring your own "peanut free" snacks and drinks.

This week in preschool

Working on control as we cut strips of paper

Working carefully to cut

Gluing our strips into sculptures

We made Mat Man and then drew pictures of him

Pretending to be the teacher, rubbing backs at naptime

Enjoying a Tumblebook (online book) before naptime

This week I worked with the students to show them how our iPods and iPad works

We are getting better at helping at clean-up

Lots of control as we roll the marbles to make paintings. We are also working on a group marble painting to hang in our classroom.

Mat Man

What was your favorite part of making Mat Man at home?- Putting the head together

If you could give Mat man a name, what would it be? Logan

What was your favorite part of making Mat Man with your child?  Having him teach us the song!

Mat Man fun at home

What was your favorite part of making Mat Man at home? Eating the bubble gum eyes when we were done.

If you could give your Mat Man a name, what would it be? Sticker Mat Man


What was your favorite part of making Mat Man with your child? Cutting out the hands with him and taking the pictures.

Who Works at Zion VoiceThread

We still have a few more pictures to add and a few more people need to make comments but this is what we have worked on so far.

When we make a VoiceThread, Mrs. Helmkamp uploads the pictures then each student sits down with her to make a recording. Making recordings is a great skill because we have to learn how to articulate what we want to say and think about it before we record. It also helps us to be more open when we see ourselves on tape.

I hope you enjoy our first VoiceThread of the year.

Busy Week

Getting our wiggles out with Mrs. Adams before she reads us a story.  Thank you for coming to our classroom and sharing a book with us and answering our questions:
Why do you work in the office? Answer: Because I love talking to your Moms and Dads on the phone
Why do you come in the office every day? Answer: Because everyday Moms and Dads and Grandparents have questions and I like to help them.
What do you like to do in the office? Answer: I like talking to the students and parents and typing
What is your favorite part of working in the office? Answer: I like talking on the phone (Hello this is Zion Lutheran School)
What is your least favorite? Answer: When done of the kids are at school in the summer.

Painting some beautiful pictures (see them soon on Artsonia)

Playing in the kitchen (I think the pet is caged up in the corner??)

Playing with play dough and making a family

Our last scavenger hunt led us to Pastor Rouland relaxing in his office

Thanks for letting us come and visit

Enjoying building a tower together and taking turns to knock it down

Since it was rainy on Wednesday we got the chance to go and play in Mrs. Heohner's room

Mr. Debrick came down on Thursday morning and played with us outside

Digging in the rocks with our principal

Can you believe that he can even hula hoop?

We made recordings on a VoiceThread (see other post)

We are learning good school lunch manners

and working on remembering to eat lunch instead of just talking

After lunch on Thursday Mr. Marolf came down and played lots of games with us, like hide-n-seek.

You can hide from us Mr. M

The girls enjoyed pushing  him around on the trike.

Making patterns with leaves to hang on the ceiling.

Thursday continued to be exciting as we went to the 5th grade classroom after nap to help them celebrate "International Dot Day"

They worked with us on the computers to make dot pictures. 

We are enjoying the nice weather outside. They made a "fire" and wer roasting marshmallows (balls)

Family Mat Man Project

What was your favorite part of making Mat Man at home? His belly button.

If you could give your Mat Man a name, what would it be? Rainbow


What was your favorite part of making Mat Man with your child? I enjoyed watching how excited she was to create her own Mat man. Also watching her use fine motor skills. I really think it is a neat way for her to better understand her body awareness. Great activity, love family time.

We are really getting into the swing of things now. Everyone is getting used to the flow of the day and responsibilities.

Mr. Debrick led our Baptismal remembrance chapel. Each month the students who celebrate their Baptismal birthday that month will receive a special gift in chapel. This week we will have chapel on Monday led by Mr. Marolf.

We also went to the gym for the first time (sorry, no pictures I forgot my camera). We will go to the gym on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in the morning. Some days we will play games and other days the students will get to play with different kinds of balls or other equipment such as hula hoops.

Things we did:

• completed Day 5 and 6 in our creation book
• Made portraits of Mr. Debrick, Mrs. Adams, and Mr. Marolf
• Made our names with wood pieces and wrote our names
• Finished up a few projects from last week

This week we will:

• Make patterned mobiles
• Use the SMARTboard to learn more about the people who work at Zion
• Write questions to ask Mr. Debrick, Mrs. Adams, and Mr. Marolf
• On Wednesday we will be going on our last Scavenger hunt to find Pastor Rouland

Mat Man- We have started our family take home bag "Mat Man" to learn more about Mat Man please see the link at the top of the page for Mat Man. Each week 2 students will get the chance to take home the Mat Man bag.

Artists at work drawing their own rendition of Mrs. Adams

Art studio filled with portrait artists

Another scavenger hunt, we were even greeted by some Kindergarteners on our way.

Where will our next clue lead?

Somewhere in the church office...

Pastor Reitz!

Using the Wood Pieces to make the letters of our names

Writing our names

New Highlights Offer

Highlights magazine has sent me another offer, which means another chances for our classroom to get some free stuff.  A white Hidden Pictures flier should come home in your child's folder this week. Please sign and return as soon as possible so that we can get our free stuff.

Thank you

Important information for next week

Don't forget that fundraiser packets are due!

School Family Directory- Your oldest child at Zion should receive a family phone directory the next time they are at school

Scholastic Orders- Remember you can place your Scholastic book order online by Monday. Check the post from last week to fine out how.

Chapel next week is on Tuesday

Family Take Home Activities
Next week we will be starting 2 take home activities. Each one will make their way through all the students in our class.

• Mat Man- We have learned how to build Mat Man at home, now it will be your turn to make your own Mat Man at home with your child. All of the needed pieces and directions will be included in the special bag.
• Estimation Jar- When your child brings home the estimation jar, they will get to fill it with between 5-20 of some sort of item. Back at school the students will get the chance to try to guess how many are in the jar. 

School Picture Retakes- If your child has not had their picture taken they can get their picture taken on retake day, Monday, September 26th. These pictures are the pictures that are used for the yearbook and class composites. If your child doesn't attend school on Mondays, you can bring them to the church basement anytime on Monday morning to get their picture taken.

Playing pretend, creating their own special place

Working together, practicing lots of small motor control

Enjoying making special creations

Practicing cutting

Builders at work

Loving our new play dough and making letters

Reading together

Geometric shapes

Moved on from hairstyles to nails