Miss Jones's Newsletter
October 2015
What we have going on in Room 150...
What we are working on...
Nightly Reading Logs and Weekly Sight Words
Every night students will be bringing home a new book for you to read with your students and record on the reading log. After 10 books, students receive a free pizza pass!!! Please also make sure to review sight words every night! These words are so important for students to know and to be able to recognize to build reading fluency! It is the student's responsibility to change out their book each day, so if they are bringing home the same book over and over, please remind them they need to change out their books in the morning when they get to school. Reading log book baggies can be kept in the plastic folder in the back of student's binders.
This month we are working on...
Math
*We've been practicing Counting 1-20 and will be moving on to rote counting 1-40
*Practicing Writing Numbers
*Learning our 2D Shapes - Squares, Circles, Triangles, Rectangles, and Hexagons
*Be able to identify shapes by the number of sides each shape has. For example, even though a Hexagon and Octagon may look similar, we know we are looking at a Hexagon because there is 6 sides on the shape we are trying to identify.
Literacy
*Using Print Concepts when reading stories (Author, Title, Illustrator, where to start reading, direction to read, what a period is, and retelling the story.)
*Learning Letters and their Sounds
*Practicing Writing Letters
*Practicing checking for understanding after reading/listening to a story by being able to tell the characters, setting, problem/solution, and what happened in the beginning, middle, and end of the story.
*Launching the Daily 5 Literacy Block - this is the way our literacy block will be set up this year. It is a technique that focuses on the combination of whole-group mini lessons and 5 different literacy activities that students will preform independently while I am pulling small group Guided Reading Groups. Please refer to the bottom of this newsletter for more information on this topic!
Fundations
*We have been working on the letters b, f, t, m, n, i, u, c, o, a, and g
Writing
*In writing we have been practicing adding at least 5 details to our pictures and using at least 5 colors in the pictures we draw!
*We have started labeling pictures that we draw. We sound out the words and then write them in on our pictures.
*Writing our Names
Science/Social Studies
We have learned all of the 7 Habits of Happy Kids as a part of The Leader In Me! We will be using these habits throughout the year to be the best leaders we can be at Claxton!
*Habit # 1 - Be Proactive "You're in Charge"
*Habit # 2 - Begin with the End in Mind "Have a Plan/Set Goals"
*Habit # 3 - Put First Things First "Work First, Then Play"
*Habit # 4 - Think Win-Win "Everybody Can Win"
*Habit # 5 - Seek First to Understand and Then to be Understood "Listen Before You Talk"
*Habit # 6 - Synergize "Working Together is Better"
*Habit # 7 - Sharpen the Saw "Balance Feels Best"
We have also been working with Apples in Science! We labeled apples, tasted them, graphed our favorite color, and made applesauce! We topped off our apple unit by going on an amazing field trip to Skytop Apple Orchards!
Since October is Fire Safety Month, our next field trip will be going to visit the Asheville Fire Department and Police Department! In preparation for our next field trip we will be learning all about Community Helpers and how they all help our community work!
***Thank you so much for working at home with students on the work we do everyday in our classroom!
Our Classroom Fishbowl
Painting Fun
Hayride to the Apple Orchards
The Daily 5
- Read to self
- Work on writing
- Word Work
- Listen to reading
- Read to Someone
Right now, we are focusing on increasing our stamina to work independently during Read to Self (or reading to themselves). We have been focusing on the 3 ways to read a book (Read the pictures, read the words, and retell familiar stories). Within the next few weeks, the other choices will be introduced. While the students are completing their literacy tasks, I will be meeting with small groups and conferencing with individual students. The Daily 5 is how our literacy block will be set up this year. Students will be learning reading strategies to use during this block within 4 different categories (Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanding Vocabulary). These strategies will become tools for the children to use to help themselves become better readers and writers.
Happy Applesauce Tasters
Upcoming Events and Dates for October
October 1st - Asheville Police Department Smokehouse at Claxton
October 7th - Walk to School Day, 7:15am you can meet at Weaver Park or the Parking Lot of Fuddruckers to walk to school with friends and staff!
October 8th - Fun Run PTO Fun Raiser, 9:00 am Memorial Stadium
October 12th - Columbus DayOctober 16th - Early Release, 12:00 pm, School Picture Day
October 26th - Teacher Workday, No School
October 27th - Teacher Workday, No School
October 30th - Classroom Fall Celebration, PTO Fall Carnival 5:00 - 7:00 pm