Glad to see everyone is well-rested after our long weekend. Our Act of Kindness assignment is very appropriate for this time of year. The students are asked to clean up a neighbor's or relative's yard by raking leaves or picking up sticks. This will be an easy task after all the strong winds we had this past weekend. Mrs. Hruby even volunteered her yard in case there was someone looking for some leaves to rake! Encourage your child to get outside and enjoy the fresh air while doing a good deed!

Today the students enjoyed the story Incredible Ned by Bill Maynard and Frank Remkiewicz. Ned had a problem, every word that he spoke appeared over his head or next to him. This caused no work to get done in his classroom because the students had much more fun watching Ned's words appear. The parents, teachers, school nurse and principal could not fix his problem. He was ordered to "say nothing at all or go stand in the hall." Finally, the art teacher came to his rescue and gave Ned pencils, paper, and paints. Ned's pictures that were in his head, did not appear above him or next to him, but instead appeared on his paper. His problem was solved by letting his creativeness out!

Did you know that it took Thomas Edison 10,000 tries to invent a working light bulb? Today, we talked about our monthly character trait, creativeness, and related it to inventions. The students heard about the many inventions of Thomas Edison such as the phonograph and his creation of the first silent film. They also learned the lesson to 'not give up' on your creativity, it may take many tries before you succeed. Ask your child the name of the state that Thomas Edison was born in?

Our October character trait is creativity, using your imagination to do something unique. We discussed the possible was to show your creativity such as building legos, drawing, painting, or writing poetry. Today we highlighted Norman Rockwell for his creativeness and inspiration expressed in his art. I shared some background information and showed the students some pieces of his artwork. Throughout this week, we will continue to focus on this trait by meeting other people that are famous for being creative.

Today, we finished our book, Miss Daisy Is Crazy. The students in the story, successfully read their 1 million pages, won their video game arcade party, and had the principal dress in a gorilla suit. As for Miss Daisy, she continued to have trouble with the school subjects and needed the help of her 2nd grade students to explain things to her. The students really felt sorry for her and hope that next year's students will help her succeed!

I heard about many fun games that were played throughout the past week as part of 'Family Game Night'. The students enjoyed sharing the game they played along with who they played with. Later this week, when the rain returns, may be a perfect time to plan another game night!

On Monday,the PTO will be selling raffle tickets to win a paw print yard sign. There are 2 yard signs available to win, one for the Kindergarten-2nd grades and another for 3rd - 4th grades. These are the same paw prints that were raffled off at our tailgate. During lunch time, the students will be able to buy tickets 1 for $1 or 6 for $5. The winners will be announced on Friday, October 21st. All the money raised will go towards future PTO projects. Thank you for supporting us.

"Say cheese"! Tomorrow is our school picture day. I reminded the students to come prepared for having their picture taken. I told them to talk with their parents about their clothing choice, comb their hair, and come with a smile! Each student will have a group classroom picture taken along with an individual one. If you choose to buy a package, please return the envelope with your payment. Thank you.

PTO meeting tonight at 6:30 in our school libary. Hope you can join us!