September 26 Newsletter
Upcoming Events
*Friday, October 1st- Laps for Lincoln at Lincoln 5:00- 8:00pm
*Sept. 29, Oct 6,13,20,27 Late Starts
*October 6 - Student Count Day
*Oct. 14-15- Half Days
*Oct. 18th- No School, Teacher Professional Development Day
What we are doing
We just completed our first rotation of table centers. Table centers are activities that we work on in small groups. Each table does one activity a day. This week we worked on following rules and cooperating as we played a game with shapes, we used fine motor skills as we used playdough and did puzzles, we used our computers for the first time and practiced logging in, and we worked on matching letters and coloring using a code. We will also be starting new table centers, which will focus on some fall activities, letter sound games, and cooperative learning activities.
We continue to talk about and work on Daily 5 stamina. We have made it 14 minutes now during which we quietly read to self, work on writing, or do word work. You can help your child increase his or her stamina at home by having them read quietly each day. Remember there are three ways to read a book: read the pictures, read the words, or retell a familiar story. Make sure your child stays in one spot and reads quietly for this practice.
Our handwriting focus this cycle was practicing horizontal and vertical lines. This is helping us prepare for forming letters in the upcoming weeks.
In our writing program we will continue working on telling stories. Writers always begin with a story to share. We are verbally telling our stories now to a buddy as we practice being a good speaker and a good audience.
When writing in our journals, we are listening for letter sounds in our words and putting spaces between our words. Our newest focus is starting a sentence with a capital letter and ending it with a period.
In math we are working on quickly recognizing small quantities (1-4) of things by just looking, without having to count them. We are also learning how to figure out if we have enough supplies for everyone at our tables.
We will take the reading and math NWEA tests on the computer this week. This is solely to get a baseline for the children.
We will have our first fire drill this week. We will practice walking quietly to our safe spot and waiting until we hear it's safe to come back in.
Our Positivity Project focus for the next week is Open-Mindedness. We will be talking about this trait during our morning meeting and practicing using it throughout the rest of the year!
School Lunch
If your student is going to have school lunch, please remember to order in advance. The link to order is on below. By ordering lunch in advance, our morning routine will go much smoother. Thank you!
Homework
October calendars will come home and September calendars are due by October 8th. Your child will receive a prize from our treasure chest when his/her form is returned to school with your signature. This homework is not mandatory and can be used to reinforce what we learn in class.
Laps for Lincoln
Friday, October 1st is our Laps for Lincoln Family Event! You can continue to send money in this next week to help us reach our class goal!!! If you raise at least $30, your child will get a free Necklace and charm. There are prizes for students who raise the most money and for the class that meets their goal and gets the most money! Keep those donations coming!!!! We are also earning charms in class for being responsible, using teamwork, and showing kindness and thinking about other people.
Volunteers
I will finalize the list of parents assigned to parties and field trips this year. I will put it on my blog and email a link to the document later tonight. I am so happy to have so many people wanting to help. I do make use of parent helpers in the classroom often throughout the year. You are a vital part of our children’s education!
October Leaders
I will post our October snack and leader calendar on the blog later today or tomorrow!
Book Orders
Thank you so much to those that ordered books through our Scholastic book order. These books have been ordered and I will send them home as soon as they come in (unless you have let me know that they are a gift).
Dinges Farm Field Trip
Our first field trip will be in October! We will go to Dinges Farms. We will leave around 8:45am and will return around 11:45am. All students will ride the bus. The parents that were assigned to help on this trip may also ride the bus with our class The students cost is covered, but parents will be responsible for paying $4.00 on or before this date. I will be confirming a date for this trip tomorrow!
Please make sure you are checking your child’s folder each day!