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