Weekly Update

Dear Families,
It is hard to believe that we are in October already.  The weather certainly has changed so thank you for sending your child in with warmer clothing for outdoor activities.  We have recess every day, except for when it is raining.  The students need sweatshirts or jackets for recess now.  Thank you!

Our Learning:
Reading: This week, the students continued to explore Mo Willem's books about Pigeon.  We learned that the setting is important to telling a story, but Mo Willems does not expand on the setting in his stories about Pigeon at all.  We discussed how the setting is important for the stories we read, and why.  The students were encouraged to develop a setting for pigeon.  Some children decided to place pigeon in outer space, while others placed him in cities with tall skyscrapers.  These settings will be particularly important later on when the students develop their own pigeon adventures.  In computer lab today, the students explored Mo Willem's web-sites, which I have linked on the wiki, under "Authors".  Please check it out at home.

Writing:  This week, the students finished their letters to a family member or a friend.  Some of them they were able to deliver, and some of them are inside this week's Friday folders.  We learned to re-read our own writing this week, checking COPS.  COPS stands for capitalization, organization, punctuation and spelling.  The children will eventually get editing partners who will help them reflect on their writing before we publish in class.

Math: This week, first grade mathematicians played different games learning about "ten and some more."  We explored the teen numbers and the components of teen numbers, while thinking about decade groups.  We also continued working on our number lines, numbers before and after as well as justifying our mathematical thinking.

Upcoming Events and Reminders:
 Next week, I am starting parent teacher conferences.  If you have not yet signed up for a lot, please do so by accessing our google doc.  Thank you.  I look forward to seeing you all again and share our elarning.

2nd grade students will visit WCS next week to meet Dav Pilkey, children's author.  This is a quick visit during the day and a teacher from Harmony will go with them.  First grade students will stay at ABS.

Next week, students at ABS will participate in our district-wide writing assessment, often referred to as "On-Demand."  All students in the same grade level get a topic to write about.  This topic is not known before the writing assessment.  This is a formative assessment and we ask that the students do the best they can.  This assessment will guide our instruction throughout the year and better serve the individual needs of our students.  The students will take the same assessment at the end of the school year so we can look at growth and progress.

There is no school on Friday, October 9th and 12th.  

I hope you have a great weekend and enjoy our fall weather:)

Best,
Maria