Family Newsletter

Dear Families,

It is hard to believe that this is the last week before our week-long break for Thanksgiving next week.  I will send home book bags and reading logs on Friday for reading at home over vacation.  I hope your child will find time to read every day, even if there is no school.  If you want some other school-related activities over vacation, don't forget to check out some of the printable math games and spelling words you can print off the wiki.

Reading:
We finished our unit on Mercy Watson and will celebrate with a class party on Friday.  Mercy Watson is the main character in the series by the same name, written by Kate DiCamillo. Throughout this unit, the students have explored vocabulary, figurative language and character traits while reading and listening to these books.  I have several pictures showing some of the work surrounding these projects, but I have encountered some pretty significant technical problems trying to upload my pictures from my phone to blogger, the digital platform for these newsletters.  I hope to resolve the issue shortly and will post the pictures at that time.
The students and I will celebrate the end of this unit on Friday.  Since Mercy Watson loves buttered toast, we will also celebrate by eating buttered toast while sharing our thinking about these books.  Please let me know if there are any dietary restrictions/allergies relating to white bread and butter.  Thank you. 

Writing:
We continued adding to our small moment stories last week.  Today, for example, the students learned how to add dialogue to add additional information and more interest.  We will continue this work tomorrow.

Technology:
Last week, the students had the opportunity to use Lexia and Raz-kids in our computer lab.  Thank you for utilizing these online reading resources at home.  Please remember, however, that online reading should not replace an actual book!  This week, we finished our "assignments" on google classroom.  The students shared which Mercy Watson book is their favorite and then we all entered into the same google doc to share our ideas and wonderings about the books.  It was pretty amazing to see them react to each others' comments in google doc as they could see "real time" what their friends were writing.  Ask your child to show you our google classroom from home.  It is in our cssu gmail domain.
After Thanksgiving break, we will start Typing Club again.

First Grade Math:
First grade mathematicians are working hard in our classroom.  We are practicing stamina and perseverance in math class.  We continued working on partners to 10, 10 and more, using a variety of addition strategies.  We started subtraction today and will continue developing strategies for solving those problems in the next few weeks.

Upcoming Events and Reminders:

•  Harmony's Family Breakfast is on Friday, November 18th between 7:30-8:15 am.  Thank you for bringing in treats for our gathering.  We are excited to see you.
• There is no school next week, November 21-25.  School starts again on November 28th.
• The annual Book Fair is scheduled for November 30th.  We are going over to WCS between 1:45-2:15.  More information will follow, but suffice to say now is that it is okay for children to bring a small amount of money to purchase books.  We usually recommend $5-10.  We are only buying books when we visit with our class.  If your child wishes to purchase pencils, games, or trinkets, we ask that you will visit the Book Fair at another time.  I believe they usually publish the extended hours in the SchoolBell.  Thank you.
• When we return from Thanksgiving break, Harmony House will start its social studies on Africa.  The students will rotate through a series of workshops between the different classrooms.  More information will follow when we return from break.

Best,
Maria