I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend! Please see some updates and friendly reminders below to see what's going on in our classroom!
MAP testing reports were sent home on Friday. Please make sure to check your child's take home folder for their reports. For additional information you can visit the Parent Letter from the district and the MAP Parent Guide.
Picture retakes will be Thursday, October 17th. If you would like your child to have their school picture retaken, your child will need to return the entire original package to school on or before that date.
Our first Scholastic Book Order was sent home on Friday! Scholastic Book Order is a great resource where you can find a wide selection of quality children's books that are just right for your child's reading level and interests. Many of these books are at a lower cost than you would find in a book store too! If you would like to purchase books for your child, please see the attached note on the flyer for more information.
Halloween is approaching! Please see my previous blog post regarding Halloween
information. If you'd like to pick up your child to help them into their costume, it must be during our lunch time (11:00-11:40). Please send a note to school that you plan to pick up your child.
Our classroom is still looking for a few volunteers for our classroom parties. Please visit this link to sign up. You can visit the PTO Blog for additional volunteer opportunities as well.
Parent/Teacher conferences will be held November 21st and 22nd. This year we will be using an online program called SignUp Genius to push out our conference sign up sheets. You will be receiving an email in the next few weeks which will allow you to pick a time that works best for you.
Writing
We are continuing to build our foundations in opinion writing! With a new season upon us and the weather changing, we discussed the pros and cons to each season. Each child then chose their favorite season to write an opinion piece about. We began our planning by analyzing the prompt using the TAK model and then brainstormed using a circle map. We took our ideas and organized them into a T-Chart. Students were introduced to a color coding system to help them keep their ideas organized. This planning process helps ensure that students are staying organized with their thoughts. In the coming weeks we will look closely at our paragraphs and analyze our writing for interesting words, word choice and number or words in each sentence.
We have been working hard with in our word study groups! I sent an email last week regarding Words Their Way homework. While sorting, it's important to have your child say the word or picture first and then lay it in the correct group and explain why it belongs in that group. Please remember to only send the blue homework sheet back at the beginning of the week. With a shortened week this week, we will not be getting new sorts.
Reading
We were introduced to a new shared text this week called The Recess Queen. This is a fictional story about a girl named Mean Jean who bullies other kids on the playground. A new kid comes to school and challenges Mean Jean who then realizes that bullying kids is not the right thing to do. As a class we've been analyzing the characters and the choices they make and the lessons they've learned to help us understand the central message of the story. In the next few weeks we will transition back to non-fiction text and work on identifying the main topic and supporting details.
We are continuing to work with number bonds and were introduced to fact families this past week. A fact family is a collection of addition and subtraction facts made from the same numbers. This will also help us understand the relationship between numbers and build our foundation of number sense. We will use these tools to help us solve word problems with missing parts in the next few weeks.
Our hermit crabs have arrived! We were so excited to finally get our class pets! We have been talking about how all living things need food, air and water to survive. Students watched short clips of animals and had to decide what it was that they were taking in to survive. We have also been watching our bean plants grow! Both of these are authentic experiences that help our children understand how living things grow and change.
October 12 - NO SCHOOL - District Holiday
We are continuing to build our foundations in opinion writing! With a new season upon us and the weather changing, we discussed the pros and cons to each season. Each child then chose their favorite season to write an opinion piece about. We began our planning by analyzing the prompt using the TAK model and then brainstormed using a circle map. We took our ideas and organized them into a T-Chart. Students were introduced to a color coding system to help them keep their ideas organized. This planning process helps ensure that students are staying organized with their thoughts. In the coming weeks we will look closely at our paragraphs and analyze our writing for interesting words, word choice and number or words in each sentence.
Word Study
We have been working hard with in our word study groups! I sent an email last week regarding Words Their Way homework. While sorting, it's important to have your child say the word or picture first and then lay it in the correct group and explain why it belongs in that group. Please remember to only send the blue homework sheet back at the beginning of the week. With a shortened week this week, we will not be getting new sorts.
Reading
We were introduced to a new shared text this week called The Recess Queen. This is a fictional story about a girl named Mean Jean who bullies other kids on the playground. A new kid comes to school and challenges Mean Jean who then realizes that bullying kids is not the right thing to do. As a class we've been analyzing the characters and the choices they make and the lessons they've learned to help us understand the central message of the story. In the next few weeks we will transition back to non-fiction text and work on identifying the main topic and supporting details.
Math
We have been working on several strategies that help us build fact fluency. Fact fluency is being able to answer a math fact quickly. Counting on from the bigger number is one strategy that helps us build fluency. Here are some other strategies that help us build fact fluency:
- +0 Facts: Anytime you add 0 to a number, the number will not change
- +1 Facts: A quick count up strategy
- Doubles: Doubles facts stand out to us. Memorizing these facts helps us build fluency
- Doubles +1: Once we memorize doubles facts, we can then quickly answer facts like 5+6 by thinking of the double 5+5 and adding 1.
We are continuing to work with number bonds and were introduced to fact families this past week. A fact family is a collection of addition and subtraction facts made from the same numbers. This will also help us understand the relationship between numbers and build our foundation of number sense. We will use these tools to help us solve word problems with missing parts in the next few weeks.
Social Studies
We are coming to the end of our symbols study. Students have looked at many different symbols that stand for strength, freedom, and liberty. We also have discussed the president and his role in our country. We will continue discuss our president in the coming weeks.
Science
Our hermit crabs have arrived! We were so excited to finally get our class pets! We have been talking about how all living things need food, air and water to survive. Students watched short clips of animals and had to decide what it was that they were taking in to survive. We have also been watching our bean plants grow! Both of these are authentic experiences that help our children understand how living things grow and change. 
October 10 - NO SCHOOL - Columbus Day
October 11 - NO SCHOOL - District Holiday
October 12 - NO SCHOOL - District Holiday
October 13 - Math Night for Parents (1st & 2nd Grade) 6:00PM
October 18 - PTO Special Lunch (pre-order required)
October 25 - Early Release - 2:00PM Dismissal
October 27 - Literacy Night 6:30PM
October 31 - Halloween Parade and Class Party
