We have been reading about the life cycle of pumpkins, and we did many activities with pumpkins. We discovered the answers to these questions today... 1. Can pumpkins be larger than a human? 2. Do pumpkins need blankets? 3. Are all pumpkins orange? We made a Pumpkano (Pumpkin Volcano) too. Your child is bringing home 5 pumpkin seeds today from our class pumpkin. We hope you will plant them this spring! Families, the effort that your children are putting into their days is outstanding! Thank you too for your investment in their learning! We had 100 percent Math homework completion! Thank you for supporting and extending learning at home!
Your children have been bringing in many items that show that they are thinking about their learning! I encourage children to extend their learning and to bring in what they have discovered. This past week, we have had some leaves come in to be investigated at the science center and a home made field guide of maple leaves! We don't have a formal show and share time, but we do find opportunities to display or discuss items that relate to our learning! You may have noticed your children bringing home projects made of boxes. This is a center in our classroom called Maker Space. It is filled with recyclable items that the children can use to freely create. If you have any small boxes, cups, or other recycled items that you think might be fun for the kids to create with, please feel free to bring them in. Halloween is fast approaching. Please review my previous post regarding the Halloween Parade and Party. We are now all set for the party! We had a visit from the New Boston Firefighters today. The children visited the Fire Safety trailer. The firefighters discussed fire safety and having a plan.
Here are some highlights that will prepare your child in the event of an emergency.
Your children also read about new Fire Tech tools. They are very curious about these tools, and some are excited to do some outside research on these tools! I am very proud of your children and their investment in learning. The Curious Caterpillars are a terrific crew! This week we will be reading and writing about friends.
During writing time, we will be generating ideas and writing about things we do with our friends. Generating ideas for writing is a daunting task. Children are learning to narrow down their topics and to write unique details. Example: Writing about playing with my friend Jill is too broad of a topic, but writing about the time my friend Jill and I built a sandcastle at the beach is a "just right" topic. Your kids will then focus on writing two or three details about their narrowed down topic. We will also have a visit with our local Firefighters this week. We will begin Unit 3 in our EveryDay Mathematics program. Your child will be bringing home his/her umbrella design. This week, they were challenged to figure out why trees do not blow down when it is windy. They used information from our science work on trees and an investigation of umbrellas to figure out that the roots, the trees, and the ventilated tree top all play a part in keeping trees from falling down in the wind. They then used this information to design an umbrella that could stay up in the wind. We tested them, redesigned, and tested again. If you have a fan handy, please give your child's umbrella a test!
Also coming home is your child's first math assessment. This is a cumulative assessment of the skills that your child was exposed to during Units 1 and 2. A Profile of Progress sheet is also attached. This profile will show the test item number, the standards attached to that problem, and your child's current level at meeting that standard. The standard levels legend is on the bottom of the second sheet. Please keep in mind that this is one measure, and that this reflects your child's performance on this assessment. Have a wonderful weekend! The third grade will have their annual Michaelmas Fair tomorrow. Our class will go down to visit this tomorrow morning. The third graders sell crafts and raffles to raise money for their field trip. The students can bring money to purchase items. Items range in cost from 50 cents to 5 dollars. There is more information regarding the Michaelmas Fair in our school's Thursday notice.
Halloween is approaching. We will participate in the school's Halloween parade on Oct. 31 at 1:00. Children may bring their costumes to school on that day, and we will change into costumes right before the parade. Costumes should be safe...proper length, ventilated, and your child should be able to see easily. Costumes should not depict violence. No blood or guts please! Please label everything! After the parade, at approximately 1:30, our class will have a party. Here is what we will need: cups, plates, spoons, forks, Fruit on a stick, Veggies and dip, 3 dozen cupcakes, juice boxes, and a few other sweet treats. Please let me know via email if you can bring any of these items! Thank you!
Hi Curious Caterpillar Families,
I've noticed a high frequency of classroom interruptions for changes in home plans and missed items. I am asking your help in trying to keep these interruptions to a minimum. If your child's dismissal plan is going to change, and you are aware of it ahead of time, please send a note. This eliminates the office having to call up to the classroom. Thank you for your help in keeping these interruptions to a minimum. Minimal interruptions equals maximum learning time! ...That is the question that your children will be exploring this week during reading, writing, and Social Studies. We will be using the vocabulary words country, city, rural, urban, town, state and country.
I enjoyed talking to many of you this past week. If we were unable to connect with a time, please let me know of a time that could work, and we can work on scheduling a phone call. During math time, we have been exploring sums and differences of ten. We have been working on noticing patterns in sums of tens and finding large number patterns on our hundreds chart. We continue to work with tally marks and to practice our number formation. Many of you have asked about your child's password card. This card will give you and your child access to the digital components of our reading and math programs. I will not assign any specific work on this, but it is an excellent way to practice skills. Of special interest to your children are the math games. They love Monster Squeeze! Two Fisted Penny Addition is a recommendation from me! Harvest Festival was a big success! Thank you for the donations of supplies and your time!
The students had a great time running scarecrow and gourd relays, rolling through the pumpkin obstacle course, pressing donuts, making apple cider, riding on the hay ride, and singing along to folk singer Real Fallu. Our focus of the day was working and playing together! We sure did that! And onto Homework... First Grade is a year full of firsts. For many children and families, this will be their first homework experience. There will be many different approaches to homework during your child’s educational development. My approach is that homework offers you a window into what your child is doing, and that it should be celebratory. It should not be a struggle. Each week, your child will receive an informational packet with reading activities to do at home. You do not need to return this to me, but please use these materials. We will have a weekly spelling test. We will practice these patterns daily, and the patterned words will be addressed in the reading packet. Practicing at home for a few minutes daily will help your child to “own and apply” the pattern. Your child will also have math Home Links that come home at the beginning of the week. These should be completed and returned by Wednesday of each week. Wednesday will be book night. Information about this will come home weekly. Your child’s password card will also come home. This will allow your child to access the digital components of our Math and Reading Programs. The site is listed at the bottom of the card, and you can also access it via my Links page and then Quick Links on our school’s web page. And another phone call... This will be a big week for your child, and I'd like an opportunity to check in with you at week's end with another phone call. Please send me an email to let me know what time frame will work best for you and the best number to reach you at during that time. Each call should take about 5-10 minutes. Thursday, October 5th between 2:30 and 4:00 pm. Friday, October 6th between 2:30 and 3:30 pm. |
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