October, Already?

October will be a busy month in our classroom. Please make sure to read the blog and check the folders each day.
Reading: We finished up some assessments from our first unit in Open Court. These will be shared at conferences. We also started a new unit on kindness. Our first story was called Mushroom in the Rain.
Writing: We did some pre-writing for a paragraph that students will write about themselves. It is the first project that we will take through the writing process. You will see a writing assignment for the month of October in next week's homework packet.
Math: We are working on strategies that help us remember the basic facts. We took our first timed test.
Social Studies: We continue to work on neighborhoods, focusing this week on the difference between urban and rural areas.

Our Field Trip is Tuesday! If you haven't already sent in the permission slip and money, please do so on MONDAY!
Your child will need a packed lunch on this day and should dress for the weather.

We took the COGAT test this week. This test will not influence reading groups, math groups or any kind of pull-out group. It is simply an extra piece of information for us to use to help your child learn.

Ask your child

• how to "sing" Happy Birthday in sign language.
• about our Free Choice Friday
• our new desk configuration
  

First Week of Fall

Well, it did not feel like autumn up in our classroom, but we did start talking about the change of seasons.
Reminder:
Field Trip Permission forms are due by next Friday. $10 is due with the permission slip.

Reading: Students read a story about a boy who gets lost in books and shares the stories with his family. They are migrant workers and travel between Iowa and Texas. We practiced summarizing and making connections. We started reading groups. 2 groups started a novel, and the other two groups finished up assessments.
Writing: We worked on strong verbs. Knowing the parts of speech helps us write complete, correct sentences. It also helps us make our writing more interesting. We also talked a lot about having a beginning sentence that introduces the whole story.
Math: We completed Unit 1 in our math curriculum. Unit 2 focuses heavily on the basic facts and computation strategies. We will begin timed math fact tests.
Social Studies: We are practicing looking at different kinds of maps. We learned about communities, leaders and rules.

Ask your child

• to sing the 7 Continents song.
• for a strong verb that means the same as sleep, eat or go.
• what a migrant worker is.

A conference reminder will go home with homework next week. Be sure to mark it on your calendars!

WOW!

We had a great turnout for curriculum night! It was great to see all of you. I know your children appreciate your enthusiasm! Please continue to stay involved and curious throughout the year.

I look forward to our conferences. If you did not sign up for a conference I assigned a time for you. Please look at the assigned time and let me know if we need to reschedule. (Reminders will go home in the next few homework packets.)

Please look for a permission slip in next week's homework packet for our trip to Goeberts on October 5th.

Reading: We practiced making a text to self connection. Your child will practice this next week for homework.
Writing: We learned how to use strong verbs to make our writing more interesting.
Math: Ask your child how they remember which way the greater than or less than sign goes. (<,>)

Ask your child about:

• How Honeycomb cereal helped us be better writers!
• Their Kindergarten Buddy
• Their first partner spelling test

See you all soon for conferences!

CURRICULUM NIGHT

Quick! Click the back button and reply to my email letting me know you are checking this blog! I need to know who is really checking it and who needs a hard copy! Thanks! (Then click back to the blog and read on.)

Curriculum Night is FAST approaching. I look forward to the opportunity to see each of you and welcome you into our classroom. Here are some of the details to help you plan.

What: Curriculum Night is an opportunity for you to learn more about your child's day-besides the special class she attended and who she sat next to at lunch. I will talk about our schedule, homework, differentiation, testing, our curriculum, parties and field trips. I will also have sign ups for conferences and volunteer opportunities.

When: Irving will be open on Thursday, September 16th from 6:30-8:30. I will give a brief presentation at 7:00. Please be on time for the presentation as it will cover a lot of information in a short amount of time.

Where: All of Irving is open.

Who: It is an awesome opportunity for you to see Special Area teachers, our Teacher Librarian, Mr. Hodge, Ms. Creehan, and the office staff including our nurse and social worker.

Why: Come because it shows your child YOU CARE about school. It lets your child know that we communicate and you understand the expectations. Classes with 80% attendance get a class party. If we get 90% attendance my class earns a Free Choice Friday. Students get to set the schedule after our reading test and it can include up to 40 minutes of recess! I am THAT confident that your participation will give payoffs all year in academic success.

How: Childcare is available in the auditorium during the presentation at 7:00. The timing of the presentation allows you to eat dinner and still get home at a decent bedtime.

Other stuff:
Ask your child about

• Dibels testing in the library
• Our Productive Thinking Book
• Xtra Math

Be sure to check the folders before returning them to school on Mondays. I try to write comments each week and it is a good opportunity for you to empty the folder.

See you Thursday!

Our First Full Week

We had a productive first FULL week of school. Students learned many more routines and continued to impress me with their reading and math skills.

Reading : We read a story called Come Back, Jack! about a little girl and her brother, Jack, jumping right into a book. It referenced many different nursery rhymes.
Writing: Students continue to write in their journals. We talked about topic sentences. We did some creative drawing and started writing stories about our pictures.
Math: We practiced counting by 100s, 10s and 1s. Check out the link on the left for a great website that has many different math games. Look for Bang on Time! It is great practice for those still learning to tell time.

Ask your child

• how to say "Walk to your desk," in sign language.
• about "hugs and bubbles."
• about reading centers.

Mark your calendar:
September 16th is Curriculum Night. I hope we will have 100% attendance!
October 5th is our first Field Trip to Goebberts Farm. (Click to see their website and find out more!)