Our First and Second Grade Class: November 2021

Friday, November 19, 2021

Thanksgiving and almost 33% of the year has passed!

Happy Vacation, Everyone!

I think we all have earned a break, folks. Your kids are growing so much and working so hard. You all have a lot to be proud of! I really appreciated our time together in conferences, if there is ever a time that you’d like to chat more, please let me know. Also, if you didn’t get a chance to sign up for a time, let me know and we can figure out a time that works!

You will notice that we sent home the contents of their cubbies, we hope you get a chance to give everything a wash and send in fresh clothes after the break. Also, please try to empty out their folders as well. There’s lots of great stuff in there.

We spent this week taking a break from introducing new letters, sounds and words and used the week to practice. With the week off coming up, I thought it made sense to pause on the new and practice the old.

The kids did some writing about what they are thankful for and did some beautiful painting to make turkeys with their hands. I hope you have a special place for this great work! I hope you see how hard your child is working on putting as many sounds as they can in their writing.

In math this week we worked on counting with partners, playing dice games, building numbers using unifix cubes and playing “How many bears in the cave?” Matt Pelkey, the math interventionist who comes in to work with the group, has commented on how well they are doing with their number sense and conceptual understanding of numbers. I couldn’t agree more!

I think that’s it for now. I really hope this is a week of rest, relaxation and a pause to take stock of how truly fortunate we are for the gifts in our lives.

Take good care,

Ben and Honi

Conversation starters:

*What signs of deer did you see in the forest?

*What fun things did you do in the snow at school?

*Who honked Snowfight's horn?

*Try "partner counting" with your student (you say 1, they say 2, you say 3, they say 4....).

*Senora Donovan read a book in Spanish about colors: what colors do you know in Spanish?

*Look at the new photos in our photo album. They are great conversation starters!

Reminders

Class Blog

You can check out the blog here for the newsletter and resources

Pictures

The folder with class pictures can be found here.

Picture Retakes

December 8th

Class Gear

Please remember to send in all the tools for the kiddos to be using as we go through the year (change of clothes, raingear, camp chair, etc.). Sneakers are the best daily footwear for students. If you need help getting any of those, please let us know, the school will be happy to help.

Book Order Information

With a $25 order, you can pick a FREE $5 Book (use code: READS).

Shop Our Class Page: https://orders.scholastic.com/XLZX8

Class Code: XLZX8

Monday, November 8, 2021

November!?

Happy Monday, Everyone!

I hope it was a great post-Halloween week for you all! The kids were super, despite the challenging timing of the holiday! As a reminder, regular hunting season is coming up this weekend, be careful if you are venturing into the woods. Also, because we have conferences this week, I will not be sending out a newsletter on Friday (or the following Monday!)

Last week, the kids continued to build their word rings for their sight words, adding the works the and to. This week they added the words was and you. They are making great progress on seeing these words everywhere as well as starting to read the morning message. They are working so hard on these foundational skills!

We also got to do some work in our writing journals and the kids are starting to put their knowledge of sounds and words to use in writing. I am looking forward to showing you their hard work at conferences (albeit through Zoom). They are growing in their ability to use the lines on the page and to focus on using as many lower case letters as possible.

We read another great book this week, To Be A Kid. The kids loved seeing what other kids around the globe do as kids. The pictures are beautiful and it is a great window into the world of children. We also read Opening Day, a great book about the conflicts that beginning hunters can feel. The kids are doing such a great job talking about books and the big ideas in them.

This week in math class we got to start our work in our iReady math journals. The kids are getting in the practice of using the workbook pages as a tool for practicing the math skills we are working on as a whole group. We also got to practice our other math games like drop the chips, counting objects, Blokus and Abalone.

Amy should be back this week to resume our work in the woods. Soon, we’ll be able to really start tracking and making winter shelters. The kids have been doing a great job getting to know our outdoor space as well as using tools responsibly.

Last, here is the sign-up for fall conferences. If none of the offered times work for your family, please let me know and we can figure something out. I am really looking forward to talking to you all soon!

Have a wonderful week,

Best,