Dear Families,
Here is our week in review:
Social-Emotional Learning:
This week, the students at ABS celebrated with a schoolwide buzzy celebration for being safe, kind and responsible. They filled the school hive with buzzies again. This time, we had a schoolwide “stop, drop what you’re doing, and dance” party together. The students had so much fun!
The students also filled our classroom buzzy jar. We celebrated with a special picnic snack.
We celebrated World Kindness Day on Monday. We read books about kindness and the students at ABS were encouraged to look for acts of kindness in their peers and write down their names (or the act of kindness) on a strip of paper which we will hang as a paper chain in our school. They loved this project so much we extended it throughout the entire week. Ask your child what acts of kindness they discovered!
Ms. Heather, our ABS School Counselor, is back again. She led another Guidance lesson this week, teaching the students about safety, the importance of using one’s assertive voice or asking a caring adult for help in different situations. The students also had the opportunity to sing and dance along to a catchy song while learning about the “never, never rules”. Ask your child to sing it to you. They are fantastic singers.
The students participated in another Restorative Circle with Ms. Nicole this week. They learned more about how to manage their emotions and how to make positive choices at school while showing respect to other students and adults.
You Can:
You can support your child’s social-emotional learning at home too by having conversations and clear expectations around safety. Sometimes we call them “non-negotiables”. In other words, there are some things that are dangerous and not up for debate. For example, playing with the stove or with matches. There are lots of situations young children encounter every day that are not as clear. Take running in the hallways, rough-housing or throwing papers, pencils or other school materials for example. While these things might be acceptable and okay at home, they are not acceptable and okay at school. At school we must have different routines and rules from those at home. There are many different reasons for that. It is important that our young students learn to understand that the classroom and the school has different rules around safety. You can help your child understand these different norms and expectations by engaging in these conversations at home too.
Reading:
The students continued reading just right decodable books and choice books this week. They participated in small groups and had the opportunity to read texts in whole class reading as well. We read more books about “Library Mouse” by Daniel Kirk too.
You can:
Your child packed some decodable texts/books for home over the holidays. They are inside your child’s Home Folder this week. Please consider reading these books with your child at home. Repeated reading is encouraged for young children. Research shows that emerging readers solidify their phonological awareness skills, build confidence and skills when practicing repeated readings.
Thank you for helping your child read online at Lexia and/or razkids as well. Many children have earned special certificates for their efforts and they are placed inside your child’s Home Folders too.
Writing:
This week, the students continued practicing decoding and encoding CVC words. Decoding means to look at a word and using strategies to read the word properly while representing all the sounds. Encoding means to write the word while stretching our each sound and representing it in writing with the corresponding letters. The students also learned about digraphs. Digraphs are two letters that make one sound. This week, they learned about the following digraphs: sh, wh, th, sh, ch, and -ck With continued practice, the students are expected to be able to read words correctly with these letter combinations/sounds. The students are also expected to be able to represent these letter combinations/sounds in writing.
You Can:
There is an informational family letter from Fundations inside your child’s Home Folder this week. It outlines our new unit on digraphs and other helpful information. Please consider doing the activities and games included as well as a way to support your child’s emerging spelling and writing skills. Thank you.
Math:
First grade mathematicians learned about teen numbers this week. They learned that anchoring to 10 and finding “some more” help mathematicians solve problems more efficiently. They played several new games and rotated through stations to explore 10 and some more with rekenreks, unifix cubes and 10 frames.
This week, first grade mathematicians also participated in a story-problem solving challenge. They were partnered up and worked on our vertical whiteboards to solve a problem involving ten and more using mathematical representations, equations and labels. They did an outstanding job collaborating and explaining their thinking.
You can:
Your child has several games and activities for home use inside the Home Folder. Please consider playing these games with your child to encourage mathematical thinking at home too. As always these games/activities are optional and they do not need to come back to school. Thank you for considering.
News and Reminders:
There is no school next week due to our Thanksgiving break, 11-20-11/24. School resumes on Monday 11/27. I hope you will have a safe and restful holiday with friends and family. Get some rest too! Fingers crossed for a healthier return.
Have a great weekend and week off,
Maria
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