Thursday 28th- Picture Day
Apple Donations- We will need 4 red, 4 green, and 4 ‘yellow’ apples for the class this upcoming Friday. If you can donate, (any or all) please reply ALL (sorry in advance for all the emails) so we make sure we don’t over buy.
Friday Folders- Today Friday Folders came home with your child and in them are some important things. You will find *graded papers* (which need to be returned on Monday) as well as the code to access your child’s Class Dojo account.
Thank you to all our Science lab volunteers and Mystery Readers so far! J
Academics-
In Math, we have begun unit 2. In this unit we really dig deep into place value and understanding the whole meaning of the word ‘value.’ For instance in the number 52 the value of the 5 is 50 and the value of the 2 is 2. The ‘place’ of the 5 is the tens, and the place of the 2 is the ones. We are using manipulatives (place value blocks) to help make this abstract concept more concrete. On Friday, we will learn about picture graphs and make one of our own, based on our favorite apple flavor. *If your child is not allowed to eat, or has an allergy to apples, please let me know ASAP. I do not have any record of any student having an allergy to apples, but I want to double check.
In Reading, English Language Arts, Writing, we are working on comparing and contrasting characters in stories, as well as predictions, retelling, inferencing, and formulating an opinion about a specific event within a story. We are finishing up our personal narratives of small moments. During this last week, we are focusing on revising a piece of writing to make sure our story comes to life with details (possibly dialogue), as well as conventions such as capitals where appropriate, punctuation, spaces, legible letters formed correctly, writing sounds we hear, and using the word wall for help spelling words.
With regards to Social Studies, we are focusing on patriotic songs. J The students will learn the words of “My Country Tis of Thee” and “America the Beautiful.” We will also use a Padlet to share our thoughts on specific parts of the songs and what they mean to us.
Curriculum Night Overview- In case you missed it, here are the highlights.
Your child will progress rapidly through the DRA reading levels this year. (You may hear Lexile, DRA, or other ways to level reading. We use DRA levels.) You will receive a sheet in your child’s Friday Folder next week with their specific DRA level as of September. This will indicate their independent reading level (which they can read on their own.) If you go to the library, you can look at books on their level. You can also go to www.scholastic.com and look up Book Wizard. This tool will allow you to type in names of books you have to see their level, or type in a level and see a plethora of books your child could be reading. J
While we are on the topic of reading, that is the one thing I ask that you do each night with your child. The homework I have the children write in their agenda daily is a suggestion. It is also pertinent to what we are learning in the classroom so you can see what we are doing. I will be checking the children’s reading logs at the end of each month to see if they are reading. I ask for them to read 10 (or more) minutes Monday -Thursday as a minimum. If they read more, GREAT!!! J This time can be you reading to them (it’s great to hear a fluent reader) or them reading to you/dog/sibling/stuffed animal, etc. Because I am really wanting them to read, I will be setting up a bulletin board in my classroom with incentives. If your child reads 10 minutes Monday-Thursday, they will hit the incentives. If they read more frequently, they will make it to ‘bigger incentives.’
Conferences- As you have probably already seen, the sign up genius for conferences came out yesterday. Thank you SO much to all of you who have already signed up.
Snack/Water bottles- We eat snack daily & ask that only water be sent in. No juices please. Water bottles are allowed in the classroom and stay at their desk (unless we have too many spills and we will look at keeping them back by the sink.)
Independence- This is a big year for learning independence. I work really hard in the classroom to teach your child to be an independent thinker and a good listener. When I am with groups, I ask them to ask 3 before me. If you could work at home on helping create a good listener/doer I would appreciate it so much. They are used to having multiple adults in the classroom and this year, it is just one adult. :) By asking your child to follow 2 and 3 step directions without redirecting them throughout the process, really helps in the classroom. For example- “Please brush your teeth and put on your blue shirt. “ Ask them to tell you what you expect them to do to make sure they understand, (or were listening ;) ) Then when you know that they know what to do, go ahead and walk away and see if they are able to do that by themselves. I know as a parent myself, I have asked my children to do things multiple times and reminded them throughout the ‘process,’ but that doesn’t help my own kids become more independent. This is a team effort and I am so glad you and I are on a team together. :)