Dear Families,

Here is our week in review:

Social-Emotional Learning:

• This week, we had another buzzy celebration because the students filled the classroom buzzy jar again for being safe, kind, and responsible.  This time, the students voted for pajama and stuffy day.  We had a terrific day learning and playing with our stuffed animals!

• The students continued to learn more strategies and skills for focusing their attention this week.  In previous weeks, they have learned about whole body listening skills and how using the “attent-o-scope” can help them.  They have also learned different mindful breathing activities and how taking a break can help us get refocused on the task at hand.  This week, the students practiced another strategy.  They learned about the power of repeating the directions quietly to themselves as a way to focus and remember what to do.  The students practiced this individually but also in small groups and partner settings as they practiced revoicing what other friends had shared.  They did great.  They realized that being “brain in” helps us understand our surroundings better.

You Can: 

• You can support this learning at home by engaging in the conversations suggested in this week’s Second Step HomeLink assignment.  As always, this is optional but we encourage parents to try these strategies as a way to embed self-regulatory techniques at home too.

Reading:

• This week in reading the students rotated through several different reading stations.  They practiced reading skills reflecting their own individual needs and they were encouraged to reread the texts and books independently after meeting with the teacher.

• The students also learned about two new heart-words this week.  Heart words are words that cannot be “sounded out” in English and thus need to be memorized.  This week, they learned the following new words: sure and you.  They are encouraged to find these words in the books they read.  

You can:

• The students also accessed a new online reading platform called razkids.  Razkids is an outstanding reading program that you can access from home too.  It is linked on the student portal on the school website.  The students are encouraged to listen and read the stories online. You can encourage your child to access razkids at home too.  Since we have introduced two online reading programs already, it might be helpful for you and your family to design a schedule for your child to follow (if you access these programs at home).  The weeks go by quickly and the evenings are busy with sports and activities. In the past, some families have shared that they use different reading platforms on different days.  Let me know if I can help.

Writing:

• The students continued to learn more about phonological skills this week in our spelling and writing classes.  It is so wonderful to see their progress and joy of writing!  

• We read the book “Library Mouse” by Daniel Kirk this week.  In this book, a little mouse is writing tiny books that he secretly shares in the school library.  All the children at the school are curious who this amazing author is, so the little mouse places a little box with a mirror inside it for the children to meet the author.  When the children look inside to meet the author, they see themselves!  They are the authors!  We have the exact same box in our classroom. The students are encouraged to look inside the box and remind themselves of their own awesome power as authors, while writing tiny mini-books, using tiny mini-pencils, just like the mouse in the story.

You Can:

• You can support your child’s enthusiasm and joy of writing at home by checking out the parenting letters I included in this week’s Home Folder from Fundations, our spelling program.  These newsletters include many valuable resources, games and activities for families to have at home.  

Math:

• This week, first grade mathematicians continued to explore groups of numbers using our Number Bond models.  This week we included the subtraction strategies and equations as well as the students learned about parts of numbers/quantities.  For example, if we know that 3+7=10, we also know that 10-3=7 and 10-7=3.  The students played games with math partners and explored our other workplace options too.

• This week, first grade mathematicians also had an opportunity to participate in open-ended problem-solving to deepen their collaborative skills while also practicing having a growth mindset in math class.  They were randomly partnered up by our special “buzzy bag” match-up system (ask your child to explain more)  The students worked on vertical whiteboards to find multiple combinations and possibilities for the same problem.  They are outstanding mathematicians and are learning to work together nicely.

You can:

• You can encourage your child to develop a positive mindset about math by engaging in conversations about numbers and math around us.  Ask your child “keep thinking” questions rather than “stop thinking/find the answer” questions.  In other words, emphasize the process and the strategy your child used to solve a particular problem.  Ask your child to explain his/her thinking another way, or tell you why something is true or not true.  Have fun talking about numbers and math!

News and Reminders:

• School picture retakes will be on Monday, October 30th.  If you are interested in participating in this, please contact the front office for the guidelines. 

Have a great weekend,

Maria