Upcoming Events
*Sept. 28, Oct 5,12,19,26 Late Starts
*Oct. 10- Field trip to Dinges Farms
*Oct. 13-14- Half Days
What we are doing
We just completed our second rotation of table centers. Table centers are activities that we work on in small groups. Each table does one activity each day. These centers change weekly. They focus on cooperation, fine motor skills, letter and sound work, practice with numbers, and themed art activities. So far we have played some small group games, practiced graphing and writing letters, explored with patterns, used play-dough, worked on puzzles, matched beginning sounds in words, and practiced counting.
We continue to talk about and work on Daily 5 stamina. We have made it 14 minutes now during which we quietly read to self, work on writing, or do word work. You can help your child increase his or her stamina at home by having them read quietly each day. Remember there are three ways to read a book: read the pictures, read the words, or retell a familiar story. Make sure your child stays in one spot and reads quietly for this practice.
Our handwriting focus this cycle was practicing horizontal and vertical lines. This is helping us prepare for forming letters in the upcoming weeks.
In our writing program we will continue working on telling stories. Writers always begin with a story to share. We are verbally telling our stories now to a buddy as we practice being a good speaker and a good audience.
When writing in our journals, we are listening for letter sounds in our words and putting spaces between our words. Our newest focus is starting a sentence with a capital letter and ending it with a period.
In math we are working on quickly recognizing small quantities (1-4) of things by just looking, without having to count them. We are also learning how to figure out if we have enough supplies for everyone at our tables.
We took the reading and math NWEA tests on the computer this past week. This is solely to get a baseline for the children. We will take this test again in January and May. I also spent some time individually assessing each student so I can better plan instruction to meet each child's needs.
We had our first fire drill this week. We practiced walking quietly to our safe spot and waiting until we hear that it's safe to come back in.
Our Positivity Project focus for the next week is Optimism. We will be talking about this trait during our morning meeting and practicing using it throughout the rest of the year!
Snack Time
As stated at Back to School night, my policy has been that each student eats the snack that the leader brings each day. This is for a few reasons: 1. to encourage students to try new things, 2. to not hurt the leaders feelings, and 3. it is faster and more efficient so we can return to learning more quickly. I also understand, though, that not everyone likes every snack so I have decided to provide pretzels everyday as an alternative for those that do not like the provided snack. I hope this helps you and your child feel more comfortable about our snack time.
Entering School in the Morning
I sent this message in an email last week, but wanted to remind you that we are no longer lining up as a class in the morning before school. When the bell rings and the doors open, your child is welcome to just walk inside. I will be waiting outside our classroom to greet them. My hope is that this can get us all in and ready to learn faster. Thank you!
Forms and Papers
Each child puts all important forms and papers in their folder at the end of the school day and then puts the folder in their backpack. Please remind your child that these papers need to get home to an adult so that you can see their work and make sure not to miss important information.
Thank you so much!
School Breakfast
If your student is going to have breakfast at school, please drop them off early so they have time to eat before we start our day at 8:30!
Homework
October calendars will come home and September calendars are due by October 7th. Your child will receive a prize from our treasure chest when his/her form is returned to school with your signature. (The actual work does not need to be returned. Just the calendar with at least 3 activities each week checked off.) This homework is not mandatory and can be used to reinforce what we learn in class.
Volunteers
I have posted a list of party and field trip volunteers on my blog. If you did not return your volunteer form and would still like to attend a party or field trip, please email me and I will find a spot for you! I do make use of parent helpers in the classroom often throughout the year. I will be contacting parents that have indicated interest in helping later this week so we can set up a schedule. You are a vital part of our children’s education!
October Leaders
I will post our October snack and leader calendar on the blog later today or tomorrow!
Book Orders
Thank you so much to those that ordered books through our Scholastic book order. These books have been ordered and I will send them home as soon as they come in (unless you have let me know that they are a gift).
Dinges Farm Field Trip
Our first field trip will be on October 10th! We will go to Dinges Farms. We will leave around 8:45am and will return around 11:45am. All students will ride the bus. The parents that were assigned to help on this trip may also ride the bus with our class The students cost is covered, but parents will be responsible for paying $5.00 on or before this date.
Please make sure you are checking your child’s folder each day!
