I have an out-of-school workshop all day on Monday, so the students will have a sub. If there are any changes to your child's dismissal routine, please write a note for the sub (rather than sending me an email).
The Halloween Parade and class party are Friday afternoon. The students must wear regular clothing to school on Friday morning. They may change into their costumes at lunch. The parade starts at 1:10. A note will be coming home on Tuesday or Wednesday asking you whether or not your child will be going home for lunch that day. If you are going to pick your child up for lunch, please meet him/her at the glass doors between CHS and NBC (the normal drop-off and pick-up spot). Your child must be back at school by 12:52, at the same place you picked him/her up.
Reading : This week, we will continue to learn about various strategies to figure out tricky words. We have an animal paired with each strategy we learn. Last week, the students learned about Spoon the Raccoon Detective. He helps us remember to use picture clues to help us figure out tricky words. The most important thing when using these strategies is to make sure that whatever the students are reading makes sense.
Phonics : So far, we have gone over the short a and the short i. We have hand signals to help us remember these vowel sounds. Ask your child to show you the hand signals. (If he/she forgets, remind him/her to 'get an apple and take a bite,' for the short a and to 'get on his/her gloves and go inside an igloo' for short i.)
We've also been working on splitting up the beginnings and the endings of simple words. (For example, I would have the kids 'split up' the word bat. They would say /b/ - /at/. The word clap would be /cl/ - /ap/.)
Writing : I hope that many of you were able to read your child's published piece when you visited our classroom last week. The students were excited that you were able to see them.
Last week, we started going over the process one goes through to write a story. Here are the steps we've gone over so far:
1) Think of an idea.
2) Tell the story across your fingers.
3) Get paper.
4) Sketch pictures.
5) Write words to match the pictures.
This week, we'll finish up the rest of the writing process by talking about the importance of re-reading and adding to the words and pictures. Then, we'll start talking about narrowing the focus of our stories. (Writing about small moments instead of big moments.)
Math : The students have done a great job counting nickels and pennies so far! Keep practicing at home by giving your child a random assortment of nickels and pennies to count. (I always tell the kids to make sure they 'organize' their money first, as it's much easier to count all the nickels and then the pennies.)
This week, we'll wrap up unit 2 by talking about number models and number stories.
Social Studies : The students enjoyed looking at maps of (fake) towns last week and locating various points of interest. This week, we'll talk about neighborhoods.
Misc. Notes : Please keep your child's snack limited to one item. We only have about five minutes for the students to eat their snack, so large snacks tend to go to waste. Thank you!
Remember, the first week of November is a strange week. No school on Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday.
Have a great week! Perhaps I'll see you at the parade on Friday!