West Elementary News

How to Play: Every player starts with 4 cards and must have 4 cards at all times…so whenever you lay a card down, you draw a new card. Your GOAL is to make the other player reach 99 or above! As you lay your card down you need to ADD it to the previous sum…for example, if the game begins and player one lays down a “9” the starting sum is “9”…0+9=9. Next, if player two lays down a “3” then the new sum is “12”…9+3=12. The game continues until one of the players reaches 99 or higher! THE GOAL IS TO MAKE YOUR OPPONENT REACH 99 OR HIGHER!!!!

Card Values: Playing cards 2-10 are worth their value…whatever number is on the card is the number you add to the previous sum! Face cards have “multiple values”…

Jack: -10 Queen: Any value, 0-10 or –10 King: 0 Ace: 1

Remember, you goal is to get your opponent to reach 99 or higher…so make sure you hold on to those “face cards”, they can be helpful when you get to the higher numbers!!!! Also make sure you “keep up the pace”…the faster you can add your numbers, the more your opponent has to stay on their toes!

Third graders have been learning about how some animals and insects camouflage themselves to protect them from predators.

Last week Second Graders attended Farm Safety Day at the Palo Alto County Fairgrounds. Students had lots of fun! A HUGE thank you to all the community partners that helped put this on.

Some of the sessions included:

Fire Safety - They had the Fire House that simulates what to do in a fire. (climb out the window)

Tractor Safety - Dangers of the PTO and other equipment on the farm.

Grain Safety - Almost impossible for a person to climb out of grain once trapped. Students test themselves to see how many pounds they are able to pull. One student pulled 84 pounds.

Animal safety - how to approach an animal

Basic First Aid - wrapped a pretend wound

ATV safety - helmets, goggles, appropriate size of rig

Food Safety - they washed their hands and then used special lotion before UV light showed places they had missed! Yuck

A few weeks ago, Readiness Kindergarten students in Mrs. Deitering’s class found a Monarch Caterpillar on one of the milkweeds in the wildflower garden. Students were able to observe the caterpillar in their classroom over the past few weeks. They watched as it ate milkweed, leaves, pooped, crawled around and finally built a chrysalis. On Thursday, September 22, it changed to a butterfly! Students were super excited to let the butterfly go to migrate to Mexico for the upcoming winter. We are learning about life cycles, metamorphosis, predators and prey, as well as how to ask questions and research to find out the answers!

Students attended many different sessions some which included:
proper handwashing, grain bin safety, tractor safety, fire safety, and pet/animal safety.

Kindergarten has had a busy month! They have visited the Nature Center and gone downtown to make their kindergarten t-shirts. They have also been busy working hard in school with learning more about colors and apples.

Students have been enjoying the nice weather for outside recess. As the weather starts to get cooler please remember the handbook policy about coats/ jackets.

Students will wear coats if the temperature is 49 degrees or below, and a light jacket or a sweatshirt 50 - 60 degrees, 61 degrees and above no coats are necessary.

Mrs. Bjustrom has been busy getting art projects started this fall. A few of them include: Third graders have been working on their oil pastel owls and first graders working on their pattern pups.

Preschoolers have been learning how to play in the centers with the different toys and how to be a friends to others. Some students have been very interested in insects. Our wildflower garden has provided a great opportunity for catching insects! Grasshoppers and crickets have been a fan favorite and their most recent catch was a praying mantis. They have been enjoying observing, drawing, and reading about insects. To build some background they recently had Caitlin, our county naturalist, come in and share her knowledge on insects. Preschool is off to a great start!