I hope you are enjoying all the beautiful autumn changes that are happening outside! It is an exciting time of the year for the children and it is a busy time in the classroom!
The students have been enjoying some fall activities. We’ve painted pumpkins, made leaf rubbings, and made a book about Scarecrows. We have also started a class book about the costumes students will wear for Halloween. We have finished the Mom and I Went to the Zoo innovation and have been reading them to each other. Once they come home, I would encourage the children to reread them as much as possible. It’s also good to have them point to the words while they read.
We will be starting a short unit on American symbols next week. We learned a lot of neat facts about the bald eagle today. Students have started writing and drawing about the bald eagle and will do their own research reports on different animals next week.
We have been working with numbers 6-10 in math. These numbers have been tricky to write for many of our students. I would recommend practicing them as often as possible to help make them easier and more automatic for your child. Some fun ways to practice include writing the numbers in a tray of salt/sand, spraying shaving cream on the table and using fingers to write the numbers, and writing the numbers on post-its and sticking them all over the house.
Our class enjoyed two guest visits this week. Mr. D. (our assistant principal) read “Five Little Pumpkins” on Thursday and Mrs. Christiansen (our guidance counselor who will visit our class weekly for a couple of months) read a book about feelings.
Our class attended a whole school assembly today about demonstrating self-control. There was a special speaker, a police officer from Lowell, who brought his K9, Bossi. He talked about how Bossi helps the police and has to learn self-control as part of his job. Several students were also recognized for showing great self-control on a regular basis and some participated in a school relay activity as well.
We will be doing a few fun Halloween/pumpkin activities on Wednesday (Halloween). We will not be wearing costumes. Students are invited to bring in an extra snack for the afternoon while we are doing some other fun activities. Snacks do need to be nut-free.
We will be focusing on families and homes during the next couple of weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. The students will make family collages, which will include everyone who lives in their homes and they will also create a class book with their houses and addresses. It would be helpful if you could work with your child on memorizing his/her street address. Phone numbers are also useful pieces of information for children to learn.
I sent home the conference times earlier this week. Thursday, November 29th is a conference day and there will be no school for students. Most of you are scheduled for that day. Please let me know if you can’t make the scheduled time so we can pick another time.
***An important reminder: Please send students with a winter jacket, gloves/mittens, hats, etc. for recess. Many of the students have complained about being cold. Kindergarten goes outside at 9:30am so even if it is supposed to be warmer later in the day, it is still pretty cold when we are outside.
Some important November dates:
Nov. 5 - Professional Development Day (No school for students)
Nov. 6 - Election Day (No school)
Nov. 8 - Scholastic Book Orders Due (flyers will go home next week)
Nov. 9 - Veterans Day Ceremony at School (Let me know if you have a veteran in your family that you would like recognized at the ceremony)
Nov. 12 - Veterans Day Celebrated (No school)
Nov. 21 - Half Day of School
Nov. 22 - Happy Thanksgiving!
Nov. 23 - No School
Nov. 26-Nov. 29 - Scholastic Book Fair at School (Looking for volunteers)
Nov. 29 - Parent Conferences (No school for students)
Have a great weekend!
Melanie Duncan
