Hi, September 5, 2014
We had a great second week! Your children are doing very well moving between two classes and two teachers and we are definitely enjoying them all.
It was nice to see many of you at Back to School Night on Thursday. Let us know if you have any questions or concerns about homework, expectations, or anything.
We would like to invite our students to come to tutorials on Tuesday afternoons from 2:45-3:45 pm in one of our classrooms. We will be there to offer support as needed, give children time to complete assignments, or homework with some assistance. This is also a great time for re-teaching of tricky concepts and retaking of assessments, if scored below 70%. Miss Fry and I will be in the room together, so that we can both work with your children in any subject necessary. If your child is staying, let us know by email or note. We will walk the children out to the front of the school to be picked up at 3:45. If your child is walking home or riding a bike after tutorials, let us know. Be sure to encourage your child to take advantage of this extra opportunity for time together. We will begin offering tutorials this Tuesday, September 9.
In reading this week, we are continuing to develop routines and procedures for reading workshop. We have a mini-lesson during which we learn a skill or strategy, then we practice that skill or strategy during our independent reading of our choice novel. Your child should be reading the same choice novel to completion. Therefore, that book should be traveling back and forth from home to school and home again each day. It should live in his/her backpack and come out only when it is time to read, then return to the backpack. Thank you for your help with this.
We are reading How to Steal a Dog aloud and discussing elements of the story as well as comprehension strategies as we read. They are taking notes on sticky notes to leave tracks of their thinking as they are listening. They are writing their predictions, questions, connections, thoughts and feelings and using text evidence to support their thinking. They are making inferences using their background knowledge and the text clues. We are having great discussions about the moral dilemma of the main character. Should she steal a dog to try to get money for her family or is stealing something wrong, no matter what? It is wonderful to read their responses and listen to their conversations. Then we practice these skills as we read independently.
In Social Studies, we finished up our map vocabulary posters and will continue to practice reading and interpreting maps. We began learning about some Texas landmarks and making posters to explain them by researching a bit and describing the landmark. Then they are writing about why it is important and finding two quotes from the text (with page numbers) that tell about the landmark. An illustration is then created that represents it. We are practicing using a rubric to create our posters and to revise and edit to be sure that all of the components are evident. Next week, we will finish these posters and begin studying the regions of Texas.
In Writing, we are gathering entries for personal narratives. We planned, sketched, and wrote a rough draft about a time with a special person and a time at a special place. Many children shared their writing so far, and we are off to a great start. We will continue writing personal narrative entries, then will choose one to revise, edit, and publish. We watched a video of Lucy Calkins, who is a famous education researcher, talk to us about honoring our writing and the writing of our classmates by reading and listening as if the writing was precious as gold. Here is the link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO29k1-RvsA I find it quite inspirational.
Don’t forget to encourage your child to read at least one day over the weekend to include in the reading log. Reading summaries and responses are due on Wednesday and Friday.
On Tuesday evening, there will be a Workshop for Kids about this year’s Reflections Program. I encourage all of the children to attend and have an opportunity to showcase their creative talents. It will be held in the FCE Library from 6:15-7:00 pm. Hope you can come!
Thank you for sharing your child with us. Have a wonderful weekend!
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
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