Newsletter: October 20, 2016

Hi Room 2 Families,

    We had a great time during our Global Cardboard Challenge! There was a wonderful combination of imagination, creativity, math, science, art and technology swirling through the room that day. Kids planned and built their models. They listened to the ideas of others, compromised with each other, and made changes as needed in in true flexible fashion! They persevered when things toppled over or didn't stick together. Best of all~they had fun and were proud of their creations! Kids were eager to share with others and excited to see what others had created. Great life lessons for an amazing group of kids! Many, many thanks to Thia Philbin, Dave Richter, Brooke Stein and Katya Zimakov for helping to make the day such a success!

Here are a few pictures of our classroom creations...  

Literacy

Kids have been building their reading stamina during reader's workshop and have a new selection of books in their book bags to enjoy. The Gerald and Piggie books are still some of our favorites! Kids have also been enjoying our new chapter book, The World According to Humphrey. Ask your child about this cute and furry little fellow; a hilarious hamster who lives in a first grade classroom! Children have also been writing up a storm during Writer's Workshop! We've continued our weekly Monday journals, as well as writing several times a week using our writing folders. Kids have been writing some wonderful fiction stories as well as some interesting nonfiction books. One of the highlights has been the "Potato Series." Some super-funny stories have been written with potatoes as main characters....don't try to figure it out....it's a first grade thing! I look on in amazement as kids share these books with their classmates who roar with laughter and delight! It's adorable. :)

Math

We 've started our new unit of study on addition and subtraction.  We've been working on telling story problems (word problems), creating equations that match the stories, and writing story problems that match equations that are given. Kids have also been exploring numbers and using number bonds to break them into parts and wholes. We'll continue to work with numbers 4 through 10, using manipulatives to help us discover different number combinations for a given total (0+7= 7, 1+6=7, 2+5=7, 3+4=7 and so on). With a great deal of practice and a variety of activities, we will work towards solidifying our number combinations through 10.

Odds and Ends

Keep en eye out for Happy Hollow Book Fair information that your child will bring home next week. We will be visiting the book fair next Wednesday, October 26th. The book fair will also be open before and after school on October 27th, and on the evening of the Happy Hollow Movie Night, Friday, October 28th. 

We had both a fire drill and a bus evacuation drill this week (on 2 different days). The kids were amazing at following directions and getting out of the building and the bus safely, quickly, and quietly. 

I have so enjoyed meeting with parents for our-parent-teacher conferences! I look forward to meeting with those of you with whom I've not yet met in the next few weeks!

Our volunteer schedule will be ready to go in the second week of November. I'm so excited to have parents in to help out with our first grade activities! Keep an eye out for a volunteer sign up email from our fabulous Room Parents, Lisa Bagley and Erin Mueller. :)

I hope you all enjoy the weekend ahead! 

Take care,

Lise :)

lise_weig@wayland.k12.ma.us