We managed one whole uninterrupted week of school, and it was wonderful! The children have adjusted well to the changes that have been made to keep them safe, and are doing their best to follow all the health protocols. I must say though, I'm looking forward to the day when they will no longer have to wear a face mask so I can see their faces.

We've started reading The One and Only Ivan and this week we focused on character traits. Students are learning to use text evidence to support making inferences about a character's traits.

We did a wonderful exercise where students noted (right on their books or on Post It notes) all the comments related to what Ivan (the gorilla) thought of humans. I am trying to teach students the value of taking notes; not only does it help them by providing a quick reference, but it also focuses their attention. The students did a fantastic job (for their first time). They got to show what they learned when I gave them a quiz and allowed them to use the notes they had taken.

Thank you, parents, for providing the journals and folders for your children, we've been using them on a daily basis.

We did our first Ketchup and Pickles this week and I think the kids really enjoyed themselves. The students who were all caught up with their work and had done a good job got to pick an activity (pickles), and those who had work to complete got to catch-up (ketchup). I do this every Friday (for about 40 minutes) and kids love it. They also work hard throughout the week to earn this privilege.

I've started giving out Eagle Bucks (our school's reward system), and asked my homeroom class to help me make a list of incentives for our class. They were so cute, some of the incentives include lunch with the teacher (I offered to bring a treat), lunch in the class with two friends, no shoes, sit on the teacher chair, etc.

Over the next two weeks we will

• Continue reading the novel, The One and Only Ivan focusing on plot and point of view (perspective).
• Practice grammar by using mentor sentences.
• Learn about our form of government (this is a preview since we will explore this further when we learn about the Constitution), then go right into early explorers.