August 31-September 4, 2015

We had a great start to a new school year! We learned about many school and classroom procedures and expectations. Throughout the week, we reviewed cafeteria expectations, recess and hallway, before and after school procedures. Thank you for sending the signed Daily Agenda to school every day. I truly appreciate your support.

I enjoyed the children's presentation about "Special Me" bag.  We had so much fun learning about one another, our favorite sports, toys, families, friends and pets!  Each one of us is special in a different way.  We closed our presentations with this thought: We are so much alike, but we have differences too.

This year we are going to include “Growth Mindset" lessons in our daily activities.  We want the children to understand and believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. This mindset, create a love of learning that is essential for great achievements.  This week we learned that there are things that we can do very well and things that we may not be able to do YET, but we know with motivation and hard work, we will be able to accomplish anything.  We are learning to change our words in order to change our mindset.

This week:

READING

We will learn how to read independently to ourselves for a few minutes at a time. Each day we read for a little longer period to build up our stamina. We will learn that strong readers read every day. A picture is worth a thousand words and we can read the pictures as well and retell the story through pictures.  We will talk about our favorite reading memory, when reading felt so good to us.  The children will practice using the classroom library correctly and responsibly.

WRITING

We will begin our first lesson: Introducing the writing tools (papers, pencils, markers and crayons, tape, glue, scissors), and resources such as the alphabet charts, first grade words,  and the prints around the classroom. . I will first model how to brainstorm, sketch, and write about my story, something that I know and care about. The children will then begin writing a true story about themselves, something that they have experienced and has happened to them.

MATH:

This week in math we will explore numbers.  Numbers represent different and specific quantities.  We will think about things that we can count and different ways that we can find the answer to the question, "How many?" At this age some children count individually and some can count by 5 or 10's.  If asked to show 6, some children count one by one and some can show 6 in one move. Our goal this week and forward is to push children to use the benchmarks of 5 and 10 to determine the total amount vs. counting one by one.  We will work on recognizing instantly the quantity of structured arrangements. 

SOCIAL STUDIES:

This week we will be discussing rules, and laws at school, home and in our community. What is the difference between a rule and a law? Why do we need rules and laws? We will discuss the characteristics of good citizenship at school.  We will also identify the leaders/authority figures at school, home, and in our community.

SCIENCE:

In science we will learn about who a "scientist" is and why do we need to learn about science? Science helps us understand the world around us.  Scientists ask questions, make observations, record data, and communicate their thoughts.  We will learn how to follow safety procedures during investigations in order to keep people safe and healthy.

IMPORTANT REMINDERS:
-Tuesday: Tuesday folders come home.  Please sign and return the folders the next day.

-Agendas:  Please initial the behavior calendar and send it back every day.

-Snack:  Please send a healthy snack with your child every day.

-PE:  Group A will have PE on Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

       Group B will have PE on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday.

          *Please make sure your child wears Tennis shoes on those days*

          *You can see what group your child is in on the right side of this blog*

IMPORTANT DATES:

September 14:  Open House @ 6:30-7:00