Week ending 10/31/14

Hi Families!
Can you believe October is over already?  I'm amazed that 2 months and 42 days have gone by already!  I'm also amazed how much we've learned and applied in those 42 days!

Important information:
*Thanks to everyone for taking time out of your busy schedules to come in with your child to meet about their progress.   
*Thanks to everyone who was able to help with the pumpkin activity!  It's not a hard job but the more hands to help, the easier it is for the kids.  
*Thank you to those the brought in tissues and a new pencil sharpener this week!  Both were badly needed and I appreciate your donations.
*This week I sent home a sheet with a passcode for Xtramath.  Please start practicing your facts this way at least 2 times a week.  The more they practice the more automatic the facts are.  If the computer or iPad isn't for your child, please begin using flash cards.
*Tuesday, November 11, there is no school for Veteran's Day.  
*Looking ahead, there is an early dismissal on November 26, a Wednesday at 12:00 (not 12:30) and no school the 27th or 28th.  

3, 2, 1 things you should know…

3 skills we worked on this week were: telling details about the problem and solution of a read aloud and our own just right book, how to make change when paying at a vegetable stand, and how to make, read, and interpret a tally chart, pictograph, and bar graph.

2 skills we looked at in social studies were landforms and landmarks of the United States.  Ask your child to tell you about 1 landmark and 1 landform we discussed in class.

1 very important thing we think you should know is we had fun decorating the pumpkins and the door. -Arianna

Enjoy the weekend and happy trick or treating!

Here is a picture of our classroom door with our haunted houses & scary jack-o-lanterns and a picture of all of use with our decorated pumpkins!

    

Week ending 10/24/14

We've had a great week!  We've worked on many new concepts, built on those we've already started, and practiced those we've learned before to be sure we've mastered them.

Important Information

• Conferences begin Monday, the 27th and end Friday, the 31st. for our class.
• Please be sure to bring your child with you.  They have work they are very excited to share with you! 
• Thursday, the 30th, is an early dismissal for conferences.  Please have your child picked up by 12:30.  
• Thank you to all who bought books this past time through Scholastic!  It was wonderful see all those bonus points!  I was able to use many of the bonus points and still have some left! I purchased some early Amelia Bedelia books, a Fly Guy book, and some early chapter books.    I'll send home information again for another order soon.

3, 2, 1 for this week…

3 skills we worked on this week were making text to world connections to help us understand how our story relates to the real world in reading workshop.  In writing workshop, we focused on making our sentences more powerful by adding in adjectives throughout.  In social studies, we learned where we live in the world from our galaxy all the way to our own house.

2 skills we practiced in math were regrouping tens and ones and we learned math games to further our understanding.  We also practiced counting coins to buy things.

1 thing you need to know is…we're making our stories better and better so we can have a more detailed story to share with you at conferences!    -Jordyn

Have a great weekend!

Week ending 10/17

We're halfway through the month of October and the weather is not feeling very Fall like!  One day is warm and the next is chilly and rainy!  Hopefully the rest of October  will show us the cooler weather and we'll be able to enjoy pumpkins, sweaters, and hot chocolate soon!

Important information:

• If you haven't signed up for conferences yet, please do so.  

Here is the link as well: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4ea8a928a20-fall

• Please keep in mind that if the weather begins to get colder…please send in sweatshirts, jackets, etc. as we try to make it out for snack recess and they go out for lunch recess.
• Homework has started and has been going very well!  They have all turned in their homework and it looks great!  Please keep in mind that if your child has trouble with the homework, you can help them, but please add a note at the top or circle where they had difficulty so I know to go over those skills with them.  

3, 2, 1…things we want to share with you:

3 skills we've worked on this week: In reading, we worked on comparing texts (Amazing Grace and William's Doll) to understand the text and characters better.  In writing, we worked on self-assessing ourselves using the checklist to see what our story needs more of and how to make it more interesting to the reader.  In math, we've been working on understanding, reading, and writing place value focusing on tens and ones to start. 

2 read aloud books shared this week were One Green Apple to discuss text to world connections and Weekend with Wendell to discuss making meaningful connections.  Meaningful connections are those that help us make predictions, understand how the character feels, or helps us understand why the character did the actions they did.  

1 thing we want you to know is: Math was fun because we like to solve problems. (Daniel H.)

Week Ending 10/10/14

Thank you to those that could make it to Social Emotional Morning today.  I hope it gave you a little insight into our morning meeting and how our day starts.  I know it can be difficult to attends events and I want you to know that there will be other events throughout the year that you'll be invited to as well.
Important Information:

• There is no school on Monday, October 13.
• Conference sign ups have started (as in the email I sent this morning) and the link is in that email to sign up.  Please remember this is a short conference with you and your child to share their work.  They feel very proud of themselves with what they have accomplished and we will look at what's to come.  
• The link for sign ups is http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4ea8a928a20-fall
• October 30 is an early release day, with dismissal at 12:30.

Homework Information:

This week, we practiced working in a quiet spot to complete math and phonics worksheets.  Please work with your child to identify a quiet place in your home where he or she should work on homework and plan a time for completing homework that will work with their at-home schedule.  

At-home homework expectations will begin next week on Tuesday, October 14.  

(Complete homework expectations for the year are in my classroom website.)

Pointers for kids:

• Complete two worksheets (typically math and phonics).  Write you name and date on both sheets.
• Read for at least 20 minutes.
• Work carefully.
• If it's too hard, ask for help.

Pointers for families:

• Help as needed (putting a star or little note at the top lets me know help was needed).
• Use homework as an opportunity to engage in discussions about your child's learning.
• The week of the 14th, students will have one math and one phonics sheet.  
• You are encouraged to read with your child and ask questions about the text.  (More about reading expectations will follow later).

3, 2, 1 skills we worked on this week…

In reading workshop we worked on schema.  In math worked on name collection boxes, ways to show different numbers, and "What's my rule?".  During social studies, we've been working on locating the continents are, cardinal directions, and the oceans.

2 things to ask your child…

What schema is and how it helps you understand the text?

What is name collection boxes and how can you show 10 four ways?

1 fact we learned this week…

A long long time ago the lands were not apart from the oceans, they were all connected. -From Renee

Week ending 10/3/14

I can't believe it's October already!  September went by so quickly!  I hope you're enjoying the fall time with your families.
Some important information:

• I sent home the Scholastic flyers yesterday and the information for ordering.  It's a great way to get books for your child or gifts for others.  I also use the bonus points gained through parent orders to add to the classroom library for your children to read.  If you are going to order, please do so by Friday, October 10. Thanks!
• Next Thursday, October 9, is an early release day with dismissal at 12:30.
• Next Friday, October 10, is our Social-Emotional morning.  You will meet with staff from our school first in the auditorium and then join us in the classroom for morning meeting.  It's 8:30-9:30.  

3, 2, 1 things to know…

3 things we began studying and reviewing this week were: fact families focusing on always having 2 addition and 2 subtraction number sentences and the largest number goes at the end of a subtraction sentence; there are oceans and continents in our world and continents are larger than countries; and text to text connections help us understand the texts better.

2 skills we're working on in writing workshop are showing and not just telling the reader about our small moment story and writing goals for our narrative writing helps us be focused on the things we need to do to be strong writers.

1 thing that's awesome about our class is that we earned pajama day!  The students have been working really hard to learn routines, expectations, and begin working together.  Earning the baseballs for compliments for working together, trying their best, and doing above what is expected is awesome!

Have a great weekend!