Dear Families,
I had a great week but it is exciting to be going back to school today.   I hope you all are feeling the same. 

Daily 5
The kids are really enjoying our nonfiction unit of study.  We will continue talking about features of nonfiction as well as the reasons we read it.  Our stamina continues to build as readers and I’m hoping that most of thekids are able to read silently at school and at home about 20 minutes each day.   I hope you’ve heard that many of your children have changed levels recently.  However, I still believe that all of them need to focus on their comprehension and fluency skills.  So remember, reading the words is the easy part – please have them slow down, speed up, and retell their stories when they are reading at home with you.  

Writer’s Workshop
Most of us have now finished at least one How-To Book.   I think we will work on these another week and then start our All About Books.  These  books will give the kids a chance to become an expert about one subject.  It really fits well with our nonfiction reading unit.   After we have finished this work we will have our next Writer’s Celebration.  
Everyday Math
This Thursday is the 100th day of school.   If any of you want your child to bring in a collection of 100 – that would be fantastic!  (100 pennies, 100 gumdrops, 100 rocks…..) 
My goal is to send math homework home each night this week. If you want more homework please don’t forget how important Dreambox is for building upon what we do at school.   
That’s all for now,

Molly 

 

 

February 13, 2012

 

Dear Families,

 Happy Valentines Day!   I know many of you are planning to send in Valentines on Tuesday.   We have our boxes decorated and ready to go.  Thank you so much for getting all of those to our classroom.   If you have a class list please have the kids address their valentines to each other.  If not – it is fine to just send in 26 without names and we will make sure everyone gets one.  We are wearing pajamas that day and I have two parents who plan to bring in special treats.   Also – thanks for remembering the “stuffed – animals” last Friday.  We really had a fun day sharing our learning with these special friends. 

Daily 5
Our Non-fiction unit is underway- last week we spent lots of time exploring these books and documenting our new learning.  This week we will explore the features of nonfiction text and continue sharing what we are learning during reading time. 

Writer’s Workshop
To go along with our non- fiction reading the kids are exploring non-fiction writing. 

We are now working on “How-To Books”.  Kids are teaching each other all kinds of things – everything from “How-to take care of a pet” to “How to do a coin toss” and even” How to read-to-self.”  Oh, and we have one child in our class who is teaching us “How to drive a speed boat” – go figure! 

Everyday Math –
I am planning to finish Unit 4 this week.   We will be working on our fact power.  The ability to quickly come up with answers to simple addition problems.   

Science –
Our science unit is rolling along….:)   The kids are learning that balls have different properties that make them move differently.  We have talked about what makes a ball a good roller and/or a good bouncer and last week we moved some balls using only straws.  We will keep at it this week. 

Class Meetings –
\As many of you know the PTSA paid for our staff to take a training in Positive Discipline for the classroom.   Out of this has come the desire to start having classroom meetings where we all start solving problems together.  We have already met several times and so far we have accomplished many great things.  First, we can now come to the carpet quickly, quietly and safely so that these meetings can happen in less than 15 minutes.  We are also learning how to give and receive complements.   We start each meeting by just going around the circle and having each child give and then receive these special comments.  Our first “action item” was to decide what kind of unity point party we would have- the kids came up with about 10 ideas.  And through discussion and a class vote we whittled those down to three – finally coming up with our “stuffie party.”  As we progress we will soon use these meetings for problem solving.   And as part of that process we are using Kelso’s Choice to learn the difference between big problems and small problems as well as teach kids ways they can solve problems themselves.  It’s really important work.

And finally – next week is mid-winter break.  I hope you all have a nice holiday.

See you soon,

Molly