Dear Families,
What a wonderful week we've had! We talked about how to check for understanding while we read. We practiced this while reading a Scholastic News about Thanksgiving. We learned some new things about how the Pilgrims traveled and how they learned to grow food.
First grade mathematicians continue practicing addition strategies. Second grade mathematicians have been using their addition and subtraction facts with two and three digit equations using number lines to find the missing value. We've also been studying story problems to determine which part is missing: Start +/- Change = Result. We've also been doing a ton of place value practice and learning about equivalencies of ones, tens, and hundreds.
In writing students continue working on true small moment stories or are working on their own imaginative narratives--student choice! Both types of stories need the same elements: characters, setting (when and where), beginning, middle, and end. We've been using a planning sheet to begin thinking about fiction narratives so we have an idea of the whole story arc before we begin writing.
We did amazing science writing this week and are nearly done with our books. Many of you saw these books in progress at conferences. We'll be excited to share the final books with you too!
Now, some housekeeping. THANK YOU so much for sending your children in with indoor shoes! It helps keep our room clean. Since we sit on the floor a lot, it's nice to not have a wet rug to sit upon. The next great thing you can do for us is be sure to label snowpants, jackets, fleeces, gloves, hats, boots. It's amazing how many of these items get left behind each day. I do a "fashion show" at the end of most days for the unclaimed and unlabeled items, but it would be tremendously helpful if you labeled your child's items so they can be easily returned. Sometimes gloves get left on the bus and it's hard to get them back to the right person.
Thanks also for sending so many permission slips back already for Charlotte's Web. I'm just waiting to get 5 more slips back. Our chaperones are: Jane Erickson, Anita Bourgeois, Honi Bean Barrett, and Jocelyn Haley. Thanks for volunteering!
Next week we have two school days which will follow our normal routines. See you then!
Important Dates:
November 26-28: Thanksgiving Break (NO SCHOOL)
December 3: Charlotte's Web at the Flynn Theater
December 11: All School Meeting 2:30 pm
Friday, November 21, 2014
Friday, November 14, 2014
Highlights of the Week 11.14.14
Dear Families,
It was great to meet with so many of you this week for conferences. I'm glad we got to show off a lot of our projects and hard work to you also. We had a lot of change to our school schedule this week with the two half days and an all-school meeting. We also spent an afternoon with 4 amazing volunteers (thanks!) making listening tools. Everyone was excited and did a great job taking turns to make tools with their choice of fillings: beans, lentils, or rice. Thanks to the many families who sent in materials or came in to help us with the project. We couldn't have done it without you!
We continue to read Charlotte's Web any chance we get. Our trip to the Flynn to see this book as a play is coming up the Wednesday after Thanksgiving. Permission slips for this trip will be coming home next week. Please check for them and send them in promptly!
I was also impressed by home many students came to school prepared for a snowy recess today! The kids who had all their gear had the most fun! Please spend some time this weekend digging out the rest of the snow/winter gear. Please send students with gloves/mittens, hats, warm jackets, snowpants, and boots each day. Please also send indoor shoes. Our floor, carpet, and rug were wet and muddy after recess! Indoor shoes can go back/forth each day or a pair of indoor shoes can live in our classroom for the winter.
Speaking of shoes, we've all be learning or teaching others how to tie shoes this week. Many new tiers have made progress in learning this important skill. If your child is still working on tying shoes, please help them practice at home too!
Important Dates:
November 26-28: Thanksgiving Break (NO SCHOOL)
December 3: Charlotte's Web at the Flynn Theater
It was great to meet with so many of you this week for conferences. I'm glad we got to show off a lot of our projects and hard work to you also. We had a lot of change to our school schedule this week with the two half days and an all-school meeting. We also spent an afternoon with 4 amazing volunteers (thanks!) making listening tools. Everyone was excited and did a great job taking turns to make tools with their choice of fillings: beans, lentils, or rice. Thanks to the many families who sent in materials or came in to help us with the project. We couldn't have done it without you!
We continue to read Charlotte's Web any chance we get. Our trip to the Flynn to see this book as a play is coming up the Wednesday after Thanksgiving. Permission slips for this trip will be coming home next week. Please check for them and send them in promptly!
I was also impressed by home many students came to school prepared for a snowy recess today! The kids who had all their gear had the most fun! Please spend some time this weekend digging out the rest of the snow/winter gear. Please send students with gloves/mittens, hats, warm jackets, snowpants, and boots each day. Please also send indoor shoes. Our floor, carpet, and rug were wet and muddy after recess! Indoor shoes can go back/forth each day or a pair of indoor shoes can live in our classroom for the winter.
Speaking of shoes, we've all be learning or teaching others how to tie shoes this week. Many new tiers have made progress in learning this important skill. If your child is still working on tying shoes, please help them practice at home too!
Important Dates:
November 26-28: Thanksgiving Break (NO SCHOOL)
December 3: Charlotte's Web at the Flynn Theater
Friday, November 7, 2014
Highlights of the Week 11.7.14
Dear families,
This week has been great! We've been working together and taking care of ourselves well. Many of us do have colds though, so extra water and sleep please to keep us all healthy!
We were also super excited to see snow on Friday but many of us were COLD at and after recess. Please start to send kids in with all their cold weather clothes (boots, warm coat, gloves/mittens, hat). If your child wears boots to school it's also good to send in indoor shoes so our floors aren't slippery and wet. Indoor shoes can stay in our room or make the trip home/school every day!
We practiced a few more reading strategies this week: break the word into smaller parts, flex the sound, and connect to the story. We have also been thoroughly engaged in Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. It's amazing how much we have learned about spiders through this novel. We've also read a few articles and books about spiders to supplement our knowledge of spiders and webs.
Students have done amazing science writing this week, taking their notes about the similar and different traits of their animals and creating sentences describing it all. Our study of traits and heredity is coming along nicely and all the students are excited to share their books with you!
We also did a fantastic writing activity called 2 Stars and a Wish. In this activity students reflected on the things they are happy about doing at school, things they are proud that they have done at school, and things they want to get better at in school. I'll send these home today so your child can share with you their stars and wishes. You'll also notice in your child's progress report I used the same language to reflect his/her progress so far. Please take a look at my notes and we can discuss them at conferences next week!
One last thing: next Wednesday we'll be making some listening tools to keep in the classroom. I have one parent helper already but if you're also free to help Wednesday 2:20-3:00 please let me know!
Important Dates:
November 10: Half-day for students; Parent/Teacher conferences
November 11: Half-day for students; Parent/Teacher conferences
November 13: All School Meeting 2:45pm
November 26-28: Thanksgiving Break (NO SCHOOL)
This week has been great! We've been working together and taking care of ourselves well. Many of us do have colds though, so extra water and sleep please to keep us all healthy!
We were also super excited to see snow on Friday but many of us were COLD at and after recess. Please start to send kids in with all their cold weather clothes (boots, warm coat, gloves/mittens, hat). If your child wears boots to school it's also good to send in indoor shoes so our floors aren't slippery and wet. Indoor shoes can stay in our room or make the trip home/school every day!
We practiced a few more reading strategies this week: break the word into smaller parts, flex the sound, and connect to the story. We have also been thoroughly engaged in Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. It's amazing how much we have learned about spiders through this novel. We've also read a few articles and books about spiders to supplement our knowledge of spiders and webs.
Students have done amazing science writing this week, taking their notes about the similar and different traits of their animals and creating sentences describing it all. Our study of traits and heredity is coming along nicely and all the students are excited to share their books with you!
We also did a fantastic writing activity called 2 Stars and a Wish. In this activity students reflected on the things they are happy about doing at school, things they are proud that they have done at school, and things they want to get better at in school. I'll send these home today so your child can share with you their stars and wishes. You'll also notice in your child's progress report I used the same language to reflect his/her progress so far. Please take a look at my notes and we can discuss them at conferences next week!
One last thing: next Wednesday we'll be making some listening tools to keep in the classroom. I have one parent helper already but if you're also free to help Wednesday 2:20-3:00 please let me know!
Important Dates:
November 10: Half-day for students; Parent/Teacher conferences
November 11: Half-day for students; Parent/Teacher conferences
November 13: All School Meeting 2:45pm
November 26-28: Thanksgiving Break (NO SCHOOL)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)