Pictures!
Please check out the pictures from math centers, looking at a pumpkin, the Fun Run and Writers Workshop!

Brrrr!  It got cold this week!  Thanks for helping your child dress independently!  I know (trust me...I know) it is easier to "do it yourself" than to wait for your child to zip a coat or put on a mitten.  But in the long run, it is best to take a breath and let your child do it independently.  There are times I will zip or button, but for the most part, I expect your child to be able to do it.  If they say they need help, the first thing I will say is, "Show me what you did to try it yourself."  One more tip:  LABEL EVERYTHING.  (EVERYTHING!)

Math
Ever wonder what we do during math stations? Be sure to look at the pictures this week so you can see what math stations look like.  We work with partners to play games.  We build numbers. We read math books.  We even use the ipad.  We do math stations 2-3 times a week.

Reading and Writing
We are reading a lot about pumpkins this week and we are sequencing the events of a pumpkin life cycle during some shared writing.  We also finished our first Route to Reading skill.  We will start new groups and new skills next week!  EVERYONE PASSED their first skill!  Hooray! and Way to Go!  Look for a letter next week from your child's new Route to Reading teacher.

Library
We had a fantastic trip to the library this week.  Thanks a million to the parents who joined us.  It was a huge help.  If your child ordered a library card it is in the folder today!

Another Field Trip:
We are headed to Brookfield Zoo on November 15th.  Jaime Moran, Jeanetta Gant, Megan Adamski and Joann Apat signed up to be our chaperones on curriculum night.  If you are still interested in going, but did not sign up let me know.

Halloween

• Do not send your child to school in costume
• Do not send any weapons - even plastic- with your child's costume
• If your child needs make up, I cannot promise to do that.  Please arrange to come yourself or explain to your child that it won't work during school.
• Our party is SIMPLE in order to keep the children safe and have time to do everything before dismissal.  We have a simple craft, a simple snack and I will be reading some of our favorite stories.  

It was a short, but super-busy week!

FUN RUN!!!

If you haven't already asked for pledges for our Fun Run, be sure to do that soon.  The Fun Run is an absolutely FABULOUS fund raiser!  The kids have so much fun (hence the name!) and it is a great way to show them that fundraising can be healthy and pretty easy.  You can use this link to set up a website for your child so you can send out emails to family members.  Thanks for your support!  Also come on out and cheer us on!  Right now we are scheduled to run at 8:15.   If it changes,  I will let you know.
www.getmovingcrew.com

Reading: We are working on using those sight words to help us keep our place as we read books.  We are really working on pointing to the words as we read them in our small reading groups.  We are also practicing retelling stories after we read them.  Try this at home.  After reading a story, have your child retell the story in his or her own words.  Be sure to ask about the characters and settings.  Also talke about the beginning, middle and end of a story.

Writing:  Mrs. Chinn came in and helped us listen for sounds in words so we could write those sounds down.  We also worked on sharing our stories and listening to compliments (stars) and wishes about our writing.

Math:  The students worked on ten frames and finding the missing number when we are adding to 10. For example, if we see 5 dots, we know we need 5 more dots to get to 10.  We are also practicing showing numbers with our fingers.  For example, if we say 5, students can show me 5 fingers on one hand or they could show me 2 fingers on one hand and 3 fingers on the other.

Behavior:  We had some "issues" in the hall this week with running and talking too loudly.  Please make sure you take a minute to talk to your child about this.

Homework:  You are all doing a great job turning in the homework.  Remember, it is due on Fridays unless you let me know ahead of time.  Also, if you do nothing else...do the reading log!  I know it is a little tedious, but it is an expectation throughout the grades, so it is best to get into the habit now.  I also like to see what your child is reading at home.

Halloween: Thanks so much to our room parents for getting the Halloween festivities planned!  Please take note of a letter that is attached to a recent email about food at parties.  The time for the parade is 1:30-2:15.  

Conferences Next Week

I look forward to seeing everyone at your scheduled conference.  Please arrive on time.  You'll notice that I have the conferences scheduled for 20 minutes back to back.  I make every effort to keep on schedule, so if we run out of time and we still have something important to discuss, I will likely ask you to come back another time or schedule a phone conference.  I know many parents have conferences with other teachers and if I start to get late, those conference times are compromised.  Thanks for understanding!

At our conferences you can expect to hear about your child's

• social skills and school behaviors
• academic progress 
•  recent assessments
• work samples

I will also preview the report card and how it aligns with the Common Core State Standards.  The biggest change you will notice is that we are looking at end of the year benchmarks already.  With this in mind, your child may look as if she or he is "below grade level" when, in fact, your child is making steady progress towards a larger goal.

Please check out the Lexia app linked above if you haven't already.  It will become homework each week by the end of October.

Also, please look at the Starfall reading website that is now linked.  This is not as personalized, but the students really enjoy working on this website.  There is no "log in" but if you bookmark it your child could access a great website independently!