Week of October 6-10

Please note that there is no school this Friday (Oct. 10) or Monday (Oct. 13).

Special thanks to Geoffrey's Dad (Matt), Willem's Mom (Betsy), Zoe G's Mom (Karen), Sophia's Mom (Mary Jo), and Seneca's Dad (Jean-Luc) for coming in to volunteer this week!  Angelo's Mom (Serenity) and Morgan's Mom (Courtnay) among others will begin volunteering soon....  

We are expanding our study of butterflies to include all kinds of insects.  We had a great time writing and making a mural about ants after reading Those Amazing Ants and then making various insects (and spiders) out of egg cartons. 

We also learned a song called No Bones Within by the Banana Slug String Band about insect body parts: head, thorax, and abdomen.  I sent home a copy of the song lyrics in your child's folder but it's not homework, it's just for fun!  

This week we practiced counting nickels and pennies, grouping

 all the nickels together first and then counting the pennies.  It can be challenging for children to not lose their place as they switch from counting by 5s to counting by 1s.  Please help your child practice counting change or groups of things and encourage him/her to make groups of 5 and then count the singles leftover (like with tally marks).

I have set up our class for the Everyday Math online games and sent home a hand-out with your child's password and the log in directions.  These are optional games that reinforce the concepts we are learning at school.  Your child's participation/performance is not graded, but is encouraged.  Children will have opportunities to play the games at school during choice time (maximum 2 days a week for 20-30 min each day). 

I have also set up our class in raz-kids, a website with stories at various levels of difficulty that offer children the choice of listening to the story, reading the story (some words, when clicked on, will be read aloud), and answering questions about the story.  Currently I have not "assigned" children any particular books to read but have given them a recommended level for independent reading (minimal adult assistance needed).  These levels don't necessarily correlate with the leveled books at school and I don't refer to the level number with the children.  Look for a hand-out with your child's password for that website, too.  Again, this is an optional activity that will reinforce what we are learning in school.  Your child's participation/performance will not be graded, but is encouraged.   Children will also have opportunities to use this website at school during choice time (again, maximum 2 days a week for 20-30 min each day). 

Next week's sight words will be: do, help, it, like, this.  I will be doing assessments in the library on Wednesday (Oct 15) and Susan Adleman will be in the classroom.  I will be out of town on Friday (Oct 17) and Richie Holtz will be in the classroom.  

I appreciate your support!