In the classroom last week, the big news was the latest development in our caterpillars' lives. When we left school on Tuesday, we had five caterpillars, but when we returned to school on Thursday, we had five chrysalises. The students can't wait for our butterflies to emerge!
This week is the Week of Respect at Cherry Hill. Each day has a theme. Please help your child plan accordingly.
Monday - School Pride Day (wear CHS colors)
Tuesday - Make a New Friend Day
Wednesday - Go Green (wear green)
Thursday - Switch Day (students dress like teachers)
Friday - Unique Day (wear something that represents your uniqueness)
Here's what we've been working on in the classroom:
Reading : The students got their independent book bins and reading spots last week. As I explained at Back to School Night, they all chose their own books for their book bins (within their appropriate reading levels). They also got a chance to choose their own reading spots. They all made really great choices about where their spots would be, because reading was a great success last week. We've been working on developing our reading stamina, and we've already doubled our reading stamina from the beginning of the year. On the first day of school, we read for five minutes, but now we can easily read for ten!
Author Study : We continued our author study on Kevin Henkes last week. If you haven't gotten a chance to read his books, I strongly recommend doing so. The students love following Henkes' mouse characters from one story to another.
Writing : This week, we'll officially launch writing workshop. While we've been doing various writing activities all along, this week will mark the official launch to the framework we will use for writing for the rest of the year. The students will be working on coming up with writing ideas and getting their ideas down on paper. They'll be using the writing folders that you helped decorate at home to get ideas and store their work in.
Math : We are at the end of our first math unit! Last week we investigated some of the math tools that we'll be using this year, from geoboards to base ten blocks. We also spent some time talking about thermometers, what they're used for, and how to read them.
Science : As I mentioned above, our caterpillars have moved on to the next stage of the butterfly life cycle and are now chrysalises. The students are a little worried because only two chrysalises are still hanging from the top of the cage (the other three have fallen down), but we're still hopeful!
On Friday, we went to the Discovery Lab and used different kinds of pasta to show the different stages of a butterfly life cycle.
Visitation Day : Please keep in mind that Visitation Day is on Wednesday, October 3. You will receive a note with more detailed information regarding our schedule that day early this week.
Here are some pictures from last week: