This week our classroom community has really begun to mold and take shape. Our students are hard at work preparing to be the best leaders that they can be!
During this school week we will be continuing our beginning of the year assessments. NWEA will continue starting tomorrow. We did have to add tomorrow as a make-up day since many students did not complete the test. Please make sure to discuss with your child the importance of taking their time to really showcase what they know.
We will also begin putting together our leadership binders to showcase our hard work this year. This binder will showcase your child’s W.I.G.S (wildly important goals), data from their learning, celebrations, and leadership opportunities. If your child’s leadership binder is in need of repair, please send in a new 1 inch binder with your child. Many binders could use some extra love.
Today I also sent home a parent volunteer form. Please review this checklist and send in if there is anyway that you can help out within our classroom. We greatly appreciate any help that you can give!
Lastly please see below for the content and items we will be covering this week.
Reading- Establishing Readers’ Workshop routines and expectations, introducing independent reading time, active listening to a partner during book talks, and discussing author’s purpose for writing a text (to persuade, to inform, and to entertain).
Writing- Discussing reader’s response questions and beginning to brainstorm and draft a persuasive letter.
Word Work (phonic skills)- closed syllables, open syllables, final e (silent e), and long a word patterns (a, ai, ea, ay).
Math- Relating multiplication to equal groups and arrays, and also discussing the meaning of factors within a multiplication sentence (the size of the group or the number of groups).
Social Studies- Starting Unit 1: Geography of Michigan. During this week students will discover what is a state. They will also learn to discuss the location of Michigan using relative and absolute location.
Science- This week in science we will start our unit on forces, called “Invisible Forces.” Your child will learn how almost any action one can imagine consists of a push or a pull, or as scientists call them: a force.
In class your child was presented with a list of action verbs like “drag,” “lift,” “press,” and asked to decide whether they were pushes or pulls. You can help support your child’s learning by continuing this at home. Try applying it to actions that might be of personal interest, like the actions involved in a favorite sport (a throw, a hit, a slam dunk, a tackle, etc.).
Leader in Me: Discussing Habit 4: Think Win-Win and what Mutual Respect looks like within our classroom. It is the first habit of interdependence-the ability to work well with others. Working well with others includes respecting others and their ideas. Today, our class talked about having mutual respect. Ask your child, “Why is having respect for others important?”
We will also begin working on Habit 1: Be Proactive. This habit teaches us that we are responsible for our actions and words. Proactive people focus their time and energy on what they can control, and that includes doing quality work.
Upcoming Events
Book Fair is this week starting 09/10-09/12.
Tuesday- NWEA Make-ups and BRICS bond meeting at 7 pm.
Wednesday- NWEA ELA
Thursday- Open House 6:00-7:30pm
Friday- Book Fair Clean-Up (please volunteer if you can).