Family Newsletter

Dear Families,

Here is our week in review:

Social-Emotional Learning:

• This week, the students learned about how they can use their assertive voices when they feel uncomfortable or distracted by other people.  They learned how they can use their assertive voices to say no, rather than getting influenced by other students when unexpected things happen and how they can stay focused on the group plan.  This is a skill we will continue to work on in the weeks ahead.

• The students are making positive relationships in class and play well together.  If you are interested in scheduling additional time for your child to play with a peer from our classroom, please email me a request so I can send it to you (or check your email since I already linked it). The list is based upon permissions granted and information provided in PowerSchool so please let me know if any information needs to be updated or changed.  Thank you and have fun playing together outside of school!

• This week we also practiced our Restorative circles to provide opportunities for students to share their thoughts on different topics.   We always start our circles with a “zone check-in”.  A “zone check-in” is a quick check-in about how everyone is feeling.  At ABS, we follow the Zones of Regulation approach which teaches our young learners self-regulation and identification of feelings based on a color-coded system.  Here is a picture to explain the approach:

You Can: 

• You can support your child’s social-emotional learning at home too.  If you want to, try to introduce the above color-labeled emotions at home too.  This is particularly powerful when young children start to feel strong emotions.  The zones help the children label and identify their feelings; the first step in accessing self-regulatory practices and techniques that reflect prosocial and productive solutions.  Try sharing your own feelings too in different situations.  Young children benefit from seeing the adult in their lives model how they self-regulate when they experience strong  emotions.  For example, share that you feel frustrated (on the yellow) and tell your child why.  Share with your child that you will manage this emotion by doing something productive and helpful (so you can get back to feeling calm; on the green).  Share with your child that you might choose to take some deep breaths, use positive self-talk, go and get some water, or count back quietly from 10, or any other strategy that works for you.  Young children benefit from seeing the adults in their lives model this because many times they do not necessarily know that adults experience the same emotional range as the children.

Reading:

• A few weeks ago, we started a new unit on “Superpowers” with Mrs. Clopton.  In this unit, the students are learning about our diverse and unique needs through a series of read alouds.  Our diverse needs create a more enriching, and interesting community.  The students are learning that they all have something awesome to contribute and these superpowers make them special. They are also learning that we create a strength-based approach to include everyone in our learning community.  Last week, the students created superhero capes, representing their superpowers.  They had the opportunity to use fabric, markers and glitter.  The students also had the opportunity to write and draw about their superpowers.  We will display their creations outside the library for everyone to see.

• This week, our first grade readers continued to rotate through several different multi-sensory stations to practice decoding, blending and reading words and texts.

You can:

• Ask your child to share about their superhero powers and how they use this power every day.

• We hope you are reading your child’s decodable books/texts at home. Repeated reading is great for deeper learning and reading progress.  Thank you for supporting your child’s reading at home too!

Writing:

• This week, first grade authors continued to build stamina and independence.  They learned new skills for sounding out each phoneme when spelling CVC words and words with digraphs.  (CVC words are consonant-vowel-consonant words such as map, pit, hat, etc.  Digraphs are new sounds made when two letters form a new sound, such as /sh/, /wh/, /th/, ck/, and /ch/, to name a few).  

• We also started a new mentor text for our ELA classes.  This time, we are reading the book “What is that? Said the cat” to learn more about how to create proper and grammatically correct sentences using subjects, predicates, proper ending punctuation and capitalization.  The students also use a rubric to help them check their own writing to make sure it makes sense.

You Can:

• You can support your child’s enthusiasm and joy of writing at home by reading/doing the activities in last  week’s Home Folder from Fundations, our spelling program.  The parent newsletters from Fundations always include many valuable resources, games and activities for families to have at home.  

Math:

• This week, first grade mathematicians continued to build a deeper understanding of the relationships between part-part-whole and the connections between addition and subtraction in this regard.  They used number bonds and written equations to show their understanding of parts of numbers to 10, such as 9-2=7 because 7+2=9, etc

• This week, our amazing mathematicians had a chance to practice their facts to 10 while playing two new games; “Yogurt” and “Drop the Beans”.  Ask your child to explain these two games.

You can:

• While solving math problems this week, we learned more about the importance of having a positive attitude and mindset towards math.  Having a growth mindset helps all learners manage their emotions while working through increasingly complex problems and situations.  They did an outstanding job in class showing a growth mindset and recognizing this in others.  Consider recognizing each other at home for having a growth mindset when basic tasks are completed and dealt with.  Young children thrive on positive feedback and if they see caring adults in their lives using these strategies too, the connections between school and home become more powerful.

News and Reminders:

• It is getting colder outside.  Please help your child pack weather-appropriate clothing for outdoor activities as we go outside every day.  The mornings are particularly chilly!

• We have no school 11/25-11/29 due to our Thanksgiving Break.  

Have a great weekend,

Maria