While Halloween isn't until next week, the students have been asking me lots of questions about what will be happening in school that day. Halloween morning will be a 'normal' morning in school and the students should come dressed in their regular clothes. The students may dress up in their Halloween costumes for the afternoon activities, which will be the Halloween costume parade and a class party. Many families choose to take their children home for lunch on Halloween to help them change into their costumes. You may do this, or you may have your child bring his/her costume to school in the morning and change at school during lunch/recess. (I will help those students get into their costumes.) A note will be coming home asking you to select your child's lunch procedure for that day. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Here's what we've been working on in the classroom:
Reading : Last week we spent time talking about, and practicing, three different ways that readers can get their minds ready for a book. Before reading a book with your child, please take some time to 'get your minds ready.' Here are the three ways we discussed:
- Look at the cover : Read the title and look at the picture - what do you think this book will be about? Do you recognize the author? If so,
what do you know about this author's writing style?
- Read the blurb (on the back of the book) : What information does this tell you? What do you think the book will be about now?
- Go on a book walk : Open up the book and look at the pictures. What do you think the book will be about now?
On Friday, we had some 'comfy-cozy' reading time, which the students loved. They got to choose where they read and made themselves comfortable by taking off their shoes and lying down, if they chose.
This week, we're going to start working on decoding strategies for when the students get stuck on tricky words.
Author Study : We are currently reading lots of Mo Willems' books in the classroom. The students LOVE these books. So far we've read the three Knuffle Bunny books, all of the Pigeon books, and Leonardo the Terrible Monster. (FYI - Knuffle Bunny is pronounced 'Ka-nuffle Bunny.' Don't try to convince your child otherwise! Read book two, titled Knuffle Bunny Too, to learn why.)
This week, we're going to start reading Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggy books, which are my favorite. These are fantastic books for early first grade readers to read and discuss. I strongly recommend getting some from the River Edge Public Library.
Writing : Publishing has taken a little longer than we thought, so last week we spent time 'fancying up' our pieces to get them ready for this Monday's publishing party. The students have worked very hard to make changes to their pieces so that they make more sense and the reader will be able to understand their stories better.
This week, the students will clean out their writing folders from our first writing unit and bring some writing pieces home. A note from me will accompany the pieces, explaining that these writing pieces are completely unedited and untouched by me, and not to be alarmed in any way. The goal of this first writing unit was for the students to learn the procedures of writing workshop and to think of story ideas and relate those ideas to an audience through pictures and words.
Math : Last week we spent a lot of of time learning how to tell time to the hour. Please continue to work on this with your child at home. If you ever notice an analog clock when it's "on the hour," ask your child what time it is. We also spent time investigating how to use rulers to draw straight lines and the patterns of dots on dominoes. At home, please practice using a ruler (or any straight edge) to draw straight lines. It takes some practice for the students to figure out how to hold the ruler still.
This week, we'll be learning all about pennies and nickels.
Social Studies : Last week we learned all about atlases. We spent some time getting to know the atlas that we will be using this year. Many of the students are very interested in looking at maps of the world and United States. This week, we're going to discuss how maps and globes show real places.
Here are some pictures from last week: