A New Beginning!

Hi Parents,

Thank you for visiting our class blog today.   This is the place you will find information regarding our classroom; everything from what standards we've covered that week to calendar reminders.  I will send a "BLOG UPDATED" email every Friday to remind you to check out the latest post. I would encourage you to take a minute each week to read over the classroom update. So let's get started! Here's what we did in our AMAZING classroom this week...

Reading:  We began our short week by making a chart together which highlights expected behaviors during independent reading time.  We learned that to become better at any activity, we have to practice it. So to become stronger readers, we MUST practice reading every single day and build our reading stamina. We are working on incorporating good habits into our reading lives.  We visited the computer lab and took the Reading Inventory to get a baseline LEXILE score.  We also began our first novel, Stone Fox.  If you have purchased this first book for your child, please go ahead and send it in to school.  If your child needs to borrow a book, I have some extra copies so please don't stress if you cannot get your hands on it.

Writing:  Just as in reading, we began our writing unit by discussing what Writers' Workshop will look like in our classroom.  The students were all given a writing notebook.  We created a chart with some DO's and DON'T's for the notebook.  We also learned about a great strategy for coming up with ideas for stories.  Idea generation can be the hardest part of writing an excellent story! I also modeled a narrative and shared it with the students.  We discussed what components of my story the students liked and talked about how they can try the same thing out in their stories.

Math:  We used this week to learn about some of the activities available in our room when we have "free math" time.  We worked with polydrons, geoboards, cards (to practice adding and subtracting), and pattern blocks.  We also learned what a NUMBER TALK is, which is how we begin our math time daily.  During number talks, we practice our mental math skills and also develop important math language as we talk about the math processes we use to solve a problem.  We learned how to complete a spiraled math sheet which will help us practice and maintain important skills after we've moved on to other topics.  We started our math notebooks and reviewed place value and rounding.

Social Studies:  Our class is reading the book The Seven Habits of Happy Kids, which is helping us develop excellent social skills. These skills will be very important as we go through our journey together this year.  Our first two "habits" are being proactive and beginning with the end in  mind.  Ask your child to explain one of these habits and how this habit may help him or her in every day life.

Class News and Announcements...

There are still a few families who have not joined our SEESAW group.  If you need help, I'd be glad to sit down with you and make sure you are able to take advantage of this excellent communication resource.  Just let me know if you need help!

Open House is next Thursday at 6:30.  This is an "ADULT ONLY" night in which we will cover everything from curriculum to classroom management.  Please make arrangements for your little ones!

The Ice Cream Social is THIS FRIDAY!  Come out and enjoy this fun event!