Monday News for Sept. 28th

We are about to finish our first month of school!  Routines have been established at this point but do require frequent reminders.  The children are working very hard each day at school so plenty of rest will help your child immensely!  If you are interested in volunteering in our classroom, we would love to have you!  Please e-mail us with dates and times that work for you.  We would love to have your help!

Parent-Teacher Conferences are coming up quickly.  We have created a sign-up genius where you can look over dates and times and hopefully find a time that can work for you.  If none of the dates and times work for you, please contact us and we will find another time that will work.  

We are continuing with our unit on Pebbles, Sand and Soil.  The children are enjoying their work as scientists.  Don't be surprised to see your children looking more closely at rocks to see if they can find some evidence for questions they are trying to answer in class.  One on-going science theme is our garden.  On Friday, the children explored parts of plants that are edible (roots, stems, leaves, fruit).  They also had an opportunity to do some sampling.  We will be planting tulips in our garden as part of a Journey North project coming up soon.  

Enjoy the photos!  If you have any questions, please give us a call or send us an e-mail with your concerns.  Have a great week!

Monday News for September 21st

Last Friday, we had an assembly where we learned about fire safety and got to explore a fire engine and ambulance. We also completed our individual butterflies for the Journey North Symbolic Migration Project. Please enjoy the pictures below!

In other news, we will be beginning a science unit on Monday called Pebbles, Sand and Silt. This is a unit that is in line with the newly adopted Next Generation Science Standards. Our district science coordinator, Stephanie Konowitz, will be joining us for some of the lessons. We are very excited about this hands on unit. Here is some more information about it:

“The Pebbles, Sand, and Silt Module provides experiences that heighten primary students’ awareness, curiosity, and understanding of Earth’s natural resources—rocks, soil, and water—and provides opportunities for students to engage in scientific and engineering practices. Students explore the natural world by using simple tools to observe and describe properties of earth materials. In this module, students will • Observe and compare physical properties of rocks and soils, using various tools. • Rub rocks together and observe that they break into smaller pieces. • Use screens to separate and group river rocks by particle size, and investigate properties of pebbles, gravel, sand, silt, and clay particles. • Explore places where earth materials are naturally found and ways that earth materials are used. • Use sand to make sculptures and clay to make beads, jewelry, and bricks. • Find, collect, record, and compare samples of soil outside the classroom.” (from www.fossweb.com)

As part of our balanced literacy program, last week, we began meeting with guided reading groups. Groups are reading books at their instructional levels, as well as working on reading strategies to promote greater understanding as readers.  In writer’s workshop, students are beginning to write about “small moments” from their lives--single events that are important to them. We have been talking about the many different tools a writer can use to help them (i.e. pencil, paper, partner, word wall and other charts).

A reminder that there is no school this Wednesday, September 23. Also, be on the lookout for a SignUpGenius email from us for fall conferences, which will be happening in mid-October. As always, if you have any questions or concerns before then (or after then), never hesitate to contact us.

Monday News for Sept. 14th

Your child has been assigned a reading partner and math partner.  These partnerships will change from time to time based on specific learning goals at the time.  Please enjoy the photos!

We are taking part in the Journey North Symbolic Migration project.  Your children will be acting as ambassadors by participating in this project.  We have worked to protect the Monarch Butterfly by raising several butterflies and then releasing them. The children are decorating paper butterflies during this time  that will be sent through the Journey North program to Mexico where they will be received by Mexican children living near the Monarch sanctuary.  The children in Mexico who live near the sanctuaries will keep the butterflies and will then send them north when the real Monarchs leave their wintering grounds for the north.  It is always exciting when our packet arrives in the springtime with butterflies from all over the US and Canada.  Please check out the link to Journey North and the Symbolic Migration website for further information and some fun kid activities!  Once we send our packet out we will be posting to the map.  We'll let you know when we post!

This week we are beginning Writers Workshop.  The children were asked to write about something important to them.  We used this as a baseline to see where individual students are as developing writers.  This gives us an idea of what we need to address in writing with each child.  Each student will keep this piece of writing and will be able to measure their own progress as writers as the year moves forward.  

Reminders:
Please remember to send your child with sneakers on Tuesdays and Thursdays for PE!

Library Day - Please make sure your child has their library books on Wednesdays so they can take out new books.

Homework Folders- Please remember to send the Homework Folder to school each day.  Besides using these for homework we also use these folders to send home any parent information we receive from the office.

Have a wonderful week ahead and feel free to contact us with any of your questions.

A special reward!  Running through a sprinkler on Friday afternoon!

The children are off to a great start!  We have been focused on creating a classroom community of learners where every child feels valued for his or her own special talents.  The children have set goals for their learning this year and have also worked on coming up with a set of classroom rules that will help to create a positive working climate for achieving their goals.  During the next few weeks we will continue to build our classroom community.  Best practice supports taking time during the first 4-6 weeks of school to establish routines and expectations so that children understand and can work independently so that the teacher is free to work with small groups of children.  Your children are doing a great job!

Taking turns watching the caterpillar change into a chrysalis!

The children have been learning about the life cycle of a Monarch Butterfly.  Thanks to a student in one of the 2nd grade classrooms we have all been provided with Monarch caterpillars.  At this point several of the caterpillars have changed into their chrysalis stage.  We are expecting that our third Monarch caterpillar will probably be a chrysalis by Tuesday!  The amazing thing is the children actually got to watch one of the caterpillars transform itself into a chrysalis.  They were so lucky and fortunate to witness this most incredible event, taking place before their very eyes!   

As of Tuesday this week, we officially have begun our job share.  Mrs. O'Brien will be teaching on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesday mornings.  Mrs. Driver will be teaching on Wednesday afternoons, Thursdays and Fridays.   We will have some overlap for planning purposes on Tuesday afternoons and Wednesday afternoons.  We are excited to make this a great school year for your children!

Important News:

 School Picture Day on Sept. 9th- Please make sure your child brings in their order form on the morning of Sept. 9th!

Parent Curriculum Night on Sept. 10th - The K-2 team is presenting A Continuum of Learning that will be very informative for all parents K-2 students.  We will begin at 6:00 and end at 7:00.   Babysitting will be provided.  We hope you can make this presentation! 

Big smiles after receiving their first reading charm!

Reading Graphs - just a reminder that reading graphs are handed out every Friday.  Reading graphs are expected back on the following Friday.  However, we will collect them as well on Monday in the event your child forgot to hand it in on Friday.  This will provide your child some extra time on the weekends to do the reading if for some reason you have had a busy week.  This allows your family some flexibility.  However these are the only two days we will accept reading graphs.  Charms are only awarded on these two days.  Please remember that your child needs to read an equivalent of 100 min. or 20 min. 5 x week in order to receive a charm.  Supporting your child with their reading is the single most important thing you can do as a parent to help your child succeed in school.

That's it for now!  Have a wonderful week and please feel free to call or e-mail us with any of your questions or concerns.