September 25, 2015

Dear Parents,

Fall has arrived and today’s weather certainly is proof of that. Please make sure your child brings a coat to school every day with their name clearly written on the tag. Every year, hundreds of unclaimed clothing items are donated. If your child’s name is on their coat, there is a better chance of getting it back. The lost and found rounder is located in the foyer outside the cafeteria.

Thank you to those who have returned their permission slips and checks so promptly. Please remember if you would like to be a chaperone, the district MUST clear your volunteer paperwork first. It takes a while for the volunteer paperwork to be processed so turn it in ASAP if you have not already done so. I will send out chaperone confirmations after the October 2nd deadline has passed.

The students did such a nice job managing their water bottles on their desks the day of the mile run so I have agreed to let the bottles stay there as long as they do not become an issue. Therefore, you may send in a water bottle for your child to have during the day if they would like one. Please make sure their name is on the bottle. Thank you.

Literacy

·  We learned about how to take care of books and what “just right” books are (basically, books that are not too easy to read and books that are not too hard). We have also begun to discuss the difference between fiction and non-fiction books. Next week, we will start learning about story elements (character, setting, and problem/solution)

·  We focused on the letter sounds /Mm/ and /Cc/ and the sight words “a, I, the, like and and.”

·  We added a new poem about apples to our poetry binder.

·  We said goodbye to summer and hello to fall with a writing activity.

·  We matched upper and lowercase letters.

·  We wrote in our journals.

Math

·  We reviewed our shapes and compared and contrasted their attributes.

·  We built an apple graph gathering information from the class on how we like to eat our apples. Ask your child which way had more/less. J

·  We are working on counting and cardinality through various games and activities.

Science

·  Through books, real apples and the online Let’s Find Out magazine and resources, we learned about the parts of the apple, reviewed the apple life cycle and completed the parts of an apple labeling activity.

Social Studies

·  We attended the Taproot Theatre assembly on making friends and bullying. We learned some new skills for making friends and ways to “recognize, refuse and report” bullying.

·  Our Second Step lessons this week was all about reviewing the listening rules and ways to focus our attention so we can learn better.

·  A Let’s Find Out magazine and online resources reminded us to always try our best at school.

Art/Other

·  We made a torn paper art project to illustrate an apple poem.

·  Nurse Susan read a story and talked to the students about Type 1 diabetes. Two of our classmates have diabetes so this was a way to help the class further understand diabetes and know what they can do to help support their friends this year.

Coming Up

·  Next week, the class will have two half days with a substitute so I can complete the beginning of the year assessments. I will be at school working in the center room with students. Mrs. Bacon will be here in the afternoon on Tuesday (9/29) and in the morning on Wednesday (9/30).

·  Library Books Due – Friday, Oct. 2nd

·  Permission Slips and Field Trip Fee Due – Friday, Oct. 2nd.

Happy Friday!

J