News From Miss Schwartz's Class
September 19, 2014
Reading Stamina
This week, we talked about reading stamina. I used my own personal stories from training for half marathons and (sprint) triathlons to talk with the class about what building stamina means. We'll be charting the stamina of the class over the next few months, aiming to build up to 30 minutes. We started at 7 minutes, built our way up to 10 minutes, and we'll slowly be adding on to this.
Book Bags and Reading Logs
The kids will be bringing home their book bags for the first time today. You should keep the book bags at home for the week and return them next week on Friday. You'll also find the first reading log in Friday folders today. The reading for the reading log does not have to be limited to the books in your child's book bag. Please help your child keep track of the reading he or she does throughout the week and return the log next week on Friday. The log can used to record books your child reads, books you read to your child, or books you read together.
Writer's Workshop
This week, I launched writer's workshop. Currently the student have a choice as to what type of writing they do. Within this, I'm working to build the routines with the class. Typically, writer's workshop begins with a short 5-10 minute lesson. These lessons cover a variety of topics depending on what genre we are working on. Then, the children think about the writing they'll do for the day and talk about it with a classmate. At this level, talking before writing is a great way to help the children plan out their writing. They have a nice chunk of time to work either independently or to conference with me about their writing. I try to end writer's workshop each day by having a student share a piece of writing with the class. I'm looking forward to building these routines with class. Writer's workshop usually ends up being a beloved part of our day.
Horizon Breakfast
Please join us for an early morning breakfast social on October 2nd from 7:30-8:15am to get to know each other and see some of the work Horizon students have been doing this fall. If you are willing to bring something for breakfast, please sign up here. Thank you!!
Three Little Pigs Engineering
On Monday, I read the story The Three Little Pigs to the class and introduced the projects and the partnerships they'd be working in. In these partnerships, the children will be constructing a home for one of the three little pigs. The home had to be able to withstand the huff and puff of the Big Bad Wolf (a fan). We went on a walk to collect some sticks for the building phase of this project which began on Tuesday. Thank you everyone who sent in recyclables to use as building supplies! Tuesday was a building day. Wednesday the children had an opportunity to test their buildings and make modifications. Yesterday, we did the final test. What a great learning experience this was! Ask your child if his or her home survived the Big Bad Wolf.
Needed: Four Winds Volunteers and Choose Your Own Adventure Volunteers
We are still in need of volunteers to lead the Four Winds program. We have gotten one since last week. Thank you! We do these lessons once a month with Kim Rodliff's class. Our Four Winds lessons are currently scheduled on Wednesdays from 8:15am-9:30. Please let me know if you are able to help out with this.
Additionally, here in Horizon we are starting something that we're calling "Choose Your Own Adventure." We're planning to do this on a near monthly basis. The idea behind this is that we'll each offer a lesson of some sort. We've brainstormed a vast variety of ideas ranging from art to building things to nature walks, etc. The children will be able to sign up for what they are most interested in learning about each time. If you have a passion or area of expertise or that you'd like to share with our students here on Horizon, this is a great opportunity for you to take part in what we do at school. We're planning 1:05-2:00 each time we do this. The first few dates are: October 3rd, November 21st, and January 23rd. Please let me know if you are interested in teaching about something. We'd love to have you join us.
Additionally, here in Horizon we are starting something that we're calling "Choose Your Own Adventure." We're planning to do this on a near monthly basis. The idea behind this is that we'll each offer a lesson of some sort. We've brainstormed a vast variety of ideas ranging from art to building things to nature walks, etc. The children will be able to sign up for what they are most interested in learning about each time. If you have a passion or area of expertise or that you'd like to share with our students here on Horizon, this is a great opportunity for you to take part in what we do at school. We're planning 1:05-2:00 each time we do this. The first few dates are: October 3rd, November 21st, and January 23rd. Please let me know if you are interested in teaching about something. We'd love to have you join us.
Dates To Remember
September 23rd- Picture Day
September 26th- Shelburne Museum Field Trip
October 2nd- Horizon Breakfast 7:30-8:15
September 26th- Shelburne Museum Field Trip
October 2nd- Horizon Breakfast 7:30-8:15