We are wrapping up our first reading unit this week. That means we will have a Unit Assessment towards the end of the week. Because of this, I will not be having the usual spelling assessment on Friday. However, your children will still have the spelling preview on Monday and should still practice these words, as the skill will be addressed in the unit assessment.
Due to Halloween, we will not have Library this week. Also, I will NOT be sending home a Wednesday celebration book on Wednesday. We enjoyed our visit with the New Boston Fire Department. We read about fire dogs too, and how their role has changed over the years.
Today we learned about spiders and observed several videos on how they move and hunt their prey. We then made our own spiders move! Be sure to have your child share their spider and web with you. This was a tricky project, and the kids did a great job following the plan, changing things that didn't work, and enjoying a fun finished product. They used their engineering skills. Next week is Halloween, and we are looking forward to our parade and party. Please be sure to scroll down to a previous post for information about the parade and party. Today was the 34th day of school.
We have learned so much in these 34 days. We know the routines and expectations for our day, and today we talked about how it is now time to apply those routines and expectations consistently. Our expectations for the classroom continue to be safe, respectful, and responsible. We are working on being responsible in our transitions from one task to another, making sure that we are not disrupting others' learning time as well as being timely in our transitions. We are working on keeping some ideas "in our head" instead of blurting out answers or connections. In our daily work, we are working on clear handwriting. We are working on our letter size, formation, placement, and spacing. You may hear your child talk about spaghetti spaces between LETTERS and meatball spaces between WORDS. Our pictures are as powerful as our words. Our pictures should help show key details from our stories and our learning. It is expected that they are colored carefully and fully. We are working on applying our 2's, 5's, and 10's count. Most children know this as a rote song, but are now learning to match the visual look of the number with the count, and to write the larger numbers too! Today we counted pumpkin seeds by 5's or 10's. Your child is coming home today with ten seeds to plant when spring arrives. Please be sure to see my previous post regarding Halloween. If you would like to sign up for Halloween goodies, there is a link in my previous post. The temperature is dropping. The rule at school is that if the temperature is below 60 degrees Fahrenheit, jackets/layers are to be worn. Please be sure that your child wears warm clothing each day.
Labeling everything is a good idea. Snow weather will be upon us soon, and that means lots of clothing transitions. Getting in and out of winter gear and putting on shoes will be your child's responsibility. This will include shoe tying. Please be sure that your child is able to zip, tie, and button independently. This will give them more play time AND help them to feel INDEPENDENT! Online Learning Opportunities…
On Friday I sent home your child's Reading and Math password card. Your child’s reading and math programs, have an online component, and you can access this at home. Please put the password card in a safe location, and take the opportunity to frequently explore this resource with your child. http://connected.mcgraw-hill.com/school/h8x0 Click on Mrs. Veilleux 2018-19 Have your child enter his/her password. Going forward, the weekly Home Letter for reading will be accessed through this site. You will find it under “Home School Connection”. You will also find the weekly spelling words and a comprehension check here! I will not be sending a paper copy home each week. Thank you, thank you, thank you for ALL of the pumpkins! We had a fantastic lesson observing the exterior of the pumpkins. We predicted its circumference, its height, and its ability to float. This week, we will explore the interior of the pumpkins! Tomorrow, your child will bring home their first Math assessment and their weekly reading assessment. The children are getting used to the assessment process, so please don't be concerned this week with items that have been left blank. I will be reviewing many of these parts this week. This week we will be discussing the pets we have and the pets we would like to have. We will read about some pretty interesting pets, and we will describe a great pet. Halloween will soon be here, and we will celebrate with our school's annual Halloween Parade and a party afterwards. If you are able to assist with the party, please see the link below: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0C4CACAD28A3F94-halloween Our school has an annual Halloween Parade that will begin at 1:00. Children should BRING their costumes to school. We will change here at school. Please make sure all parts of your child's costume are labeled with his/her name. Costumes should not inhibit your child from seeing or walking and should not depict blood guts or gore. Accessories such as swords, sabres, scepters, etc., should stay at home. We will gather after the parade to have some treats. If you are at the parade, please feel free to join us. Families, we have been in school for 28 days and your children are growing and shining each day! I am very proud of each and every one of them! This week we have focused on how we grow our brains! We learned that trying challenging things helps us to grow our brains. We learned that it can take many tries to get the result that you were looking for. During science time, we observed our leaves for size, shape, and color. We then watched a video called "Austin's Butterfly". (https://vimeo.com/38247060) . This video shows the process a first grader used to draw his butterfly. This included drafts and peer feedback! We then set to work to draw our leaves. We had a feedback friend, and we made lots of drafts! Later that day, we took our drafts and our final product to our reading buddies. They then provided us with feedback about our drafts and final product! Wow were they amazed! Our work is hanging in the classroom, so please stop in if you happen to be in the building. Next week we will be making observations on Pumpkins! If you are able to donate a pumpkin to the class we would appreciate it. I am looking for pumpkins on the smaller end...Sugar Pumpkins or Jack Be Nimbles. (Pumpkins that are easy for first graders to manage, and they will not be able to be returned back to you.) We will be using these at the end of the week, so if you are able to donate, please have them at school by Wednesday. We also published our first book! We wrote about school! We then illustrated our books and they are now in our class library. They are very popular books to read right now! We have a classroom of best selling authors. Today starts a big change for your children.
Please be sure to check their folder. You will find: *Your child's spelling words. - We will practice this pattern all week with these words and other words. On Friday, I will choose 5 of the words from the list for the assessment. *Reading At Home Letter and Activities - These are great practice activities, you do not need to return it. This week and in the weeks to follow: Monday - Spelling Words Tuesday - Math Homework (due Wednesdays) Wednesday- Reading Book (due Thursday) We released our Painted Lady butterflies today. Be sure to ask your child about this. |
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