Weekly News Sept 30-Oct 4

What a fun and busy week we had!  I have to say I am so proud of the way the students have taken over ownership of our rules and the things and procedures in our classroom!  We had a chance to introduce our school family this week at the assembly!  Check out the poster we made to share some of our favorite things!

Important Dates and Reminders:

October Lunch Menu 
October 2: Picture day-- you can send envelopes to school on or before this day!
October 3: PSC Skate City Event
October 4: NO SCHOOL for students
October 11:  Field Trip to Fire Station and Heckrodt--please send permission slip and $5.25 by 10/7
October 15 and 17: Parent Teacher Conferences--sign up here

Math:This week, mathematicians will work on adding and subtracting using pictures.   We will connect this work to the work we do as story tellers to understand that there is a first, next and last part to math problems.  We will continue to work writing numbers 1-5 and seeing numbers of objects in a group.

Reading: On Monday, we will have a celebration to mark the end of our first reading unit. The readers will choose their favorite book to carry around during our reading parade through the school. Stay tuned for a video!  Students have worked so hard to learn to retell their old favorite storybooks using the exact words from the book, sounding like the characters, and using connecting words to keep the story going. As we continue to work in these "Old Favorites" in our next unit, we will learn to use the pictures and words to really think about how the character might be feeling and what they are thinking. These colorful stories provide a great base to begin that comprehension work with our emerging readers.

Writing: We begin a new writing unit this week and I believe it will be extremely exciting for the kiddos! The  unit is called Show and Tell.  A note and Ziploc bag to came home Thursday so that students can bring ONE thing in to show, tell, and write about for Monday!

Researcher's Workshop: Now that our rules are complete, we will start discussing what will happen if we forget to follow a rules (which will happen to all of us).  Throughout the next week we will practice taking breaks in our classroom break spot.  Every one of us has a difficult time from time-to-time.  We might be sad, upset, tired, or confused.  When we, as adults, feel this way we often have coping skills to help us.  We may: go for a run, read, listen to music, or sit in our room.  The many emotions we feel on a day-to-day basis are real.
We don’t want to ignore these many feelings for kids, we want to help them control them and develop skills to handle them.  The “Take-A-Break” Area is to be seen as a tool.  After a child visits the area, a teacher may process with him/her about his/her feelings and a possible plan for how to cope with something similar in the future.  These conversations will be student led as we want students to independently develop coping skills that feel right for them.
At home you could also make a “Take-A-Break” Area.  In this area you might have calming tools or pictures, just like we will have here at school.