Week of Oct. 8th - Oct. 12th

Week of Oct. 1st - Oct. 5th

Hello Parents!

This past week seemed like it was filled with many new things! I wanted to start off by letting everyone know that our classroom aide, Sally Imgruet, will no longer be in the room.  She had some personal things to attend to - but she will still be able to visit and will be at school from time to time. With that said, Jan Balinski will be our new classroom aide. She will start this Tuesday and the kids seem to be excited!  

I have also put in place a new behavior management system.  We will continue to use the cards - but this was something else that we needed in order for the students to work as a team.  On Monday we brainstormed some ideas about what it means to be a team and how to work together. Surprisingly, a lot of the kids said that playing as a team meant "beating another team and winning." I explained to them that as a classroom, we work as a team and what we each do, affects each other.  With that being said, when the class as a whole works together (working quietly, following directions, using kind words with each other, etc.) they earn one point of a star on the board.  After they earn five points (a whole star) at the end of the day, they earn a class paw.  After they have earned a total of five class paws, we will have a party.  They all are doing such a great job and I am excited to see how the rest of next weeks goes!

Looking Ahead for next week! Oct. 8th - Oct. 12th

Reading Strategies

We will be focusing on summarizing stories (what happens first, next and last.)

We will also talk about story structure (setting, characters, problems, solutions, and endings).

Vocabulary

(Students will not be tested on these words)

fierce

delightful

suspense

clumsy

capture

rescue

Phonics

"qu"

*This blend is made up of two sounds "k" and "w"

Writing/Grammar

Proper Nouns

ABC book using nouns

Spelling

on

but

plum

quick

quiz

queen

squid

to

do

squirrel

Our next test is Friday Oct. 12th

Math

Students will be bringing their Chapter 3 test home on Tuesday. Please go over any problems that they may have gotten wrong and discuss the answers.

In Chapter 4, we will begin discussing different ways to add and subtract. Remember that doing addition and subtraction problems at home in "real life" situations will help to make a connection from school to home.  Try doing some problems during dinner while eating:

• If I have 3 strawberries and I give one away, how many will I have left?
• If I put 5 carrots on my plate and then add 3 more, how many do I have altogether?

Some of your children may have come home last week and asked if they could bring in an old sock! I am sure you are wondering why?! We have recently gotten some new dry erase boards and unfortunately the erasers don't work very well. I have found that using socks are perfect! Please don't go out and buy new socks for your child to bring to school - but if you have any old socks that may be missing a partner or that have a hole in it - we can use it! So please send your child with a sock this week if you have one! Thank you!

Looking Ahead

• No School on Monday, Oct. 8th - Columbus Day!
• Fire Prevention Week is coming! The Darien Fire Chief will be here to talk to the students about fire safety.

Reminders

• If you haven't signed up for conferences, please visit my online conference sign up! The spots are filling up quickly! :) http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090444A8AA23A57-fall
• Please send your child with a healthy snack :) - fruit, veggies, pretzels, granola bars etc.
• If you have a certain week that you would like your child to be "Marvelous Me" let me know and we can see what is available! If not - I will assign your child a week.

Thanks and have a great week! :)