MARK YOUR CALENDARS:
** Newly added dates are marked with ** for those who follow and mark their calendars every week.
** Wednesday, 11/8: Bulb planting We will be adding to the beauty of the garden in the back of the school by planting bulbs along the walkway. If you are available on Wednesday, 11/8 at 1:10 and you have any interest in getting your hands dirty with us, please let us know. We are looking for 2-3 volunteers.
Friday, 11/10: NO SCHOOL - Veteran's Day
Monday 11/13-Friday 11/17: Book Fair @ M-S
- Monday, 11/13 - 10:40-11:00: Book Fair Preview We will be previewing the school book fair on 11/13. After our preview, your child should come home with a written or mental list of books that s/he would be interested in purchasing at our book fair.
- Wednesday 11/15 from - 1:20-1:40: Book Fair Classroom Visit - This is our time to purchase books at the school book fair. If you and your child choose to purchase books at the book fair, please send in your child's money on this day in an envelope labeled with your child's name, my name (Ms. E-J) and book fair $. If you are able to join us during this time, please let me know. It would be much appreciated.
Wednesday 11/22: Early Release - NOON dismissal
Thursday 11/23-Friday 11/24: NO SCHOOL - Thanksgiving
Wednesday, 11/29 - 6:30-8:30: Responsive Home Workshop - Are you struggling with behaviors at home or think that things could run more smoothly? The Social and Emotional Learning Department of the Newton Public Schools will be sponsoring Responsive Home Workshops for families to help you create a calm, supportive and encouraging environment at home. This workshop goes hand in hand with the Responsive Classroom work that we are doing in the classroom. My husband and I attended one of these workshops last year and it was definitely 2 hours well spent! We left with a concrete plan for how to tackle our most tricky times as home (such as setting up morning routines that work for everyone or how to agree on what "clean" means when we say, "Please go clean your room."). If you can't make it on 11/29, they are also offered on 1/10, 2/7 and 3/6. All sessions are from 6:30-8:30 in Room 210 at the District Education Center, 100 Walnut Street, Newtonville. I would HIGHLY recommend that you try to attend one of these workshops. If you do attend and you would be willing recommend attendance to others, please email me your thoughts so that I can post in future newsletters. Thanks!
Friday, 12/1: Integrating the Arts Morning (8:30-9:15) Please plan to attend or find someone (a friend, neighbor, grandparent, aunt, uncle, nanny, babysitter, etc.) to accompany your child during this time, as we will be creating art together.
IMPORTANT NEW INFORMATION FOR FAMILIES:
Resources at the Newton Free Library: This week, one of the children's librarians from the Newton Free Library came to tell us about all of the great things that we can find and do at the library. Click HERE to check out the offerings at the library. As our reading-based homework is starting next week, it would be wonderful to take a family trip to the library to check out some new books. The librarians are always willing to help with suggestions.
Dismissal changes made in the morning: If you have any dismissal changes that you did not let me know about prior to the day of the change, please email and also send a written note in your child's folder, as I sometimes do not check email after 7:30ish.
PTO Directory: I spoke with many families at conferences about setting up playdates for your child. Click HERE for a link to the PTO directory, where you will hopefully find contact information for the family that you would like to contact.
REMINDERS FOR FAMILIES:
Facts to 20 practice at home: Is your child fluent in math facts to 20? If not please practice at home. Here are some ways:
4. If you find any other ways that you and your child are enjoying math fact practice, please share so that I can share with our classroom community. Thank you!
Wishlist: Thank you for your support with our wish list! I will continue to post items to our classroom wish list when there is a specific need or wish that would help enhance learning in our classroom. The items posted will likely change throughout the year, but for now they are mostly books that will enrich our classroom’s independent reading and read aloud libraries. If you are curious, you’ll always be able to find it through our classroom’s Sign Ups page. Click HERE to go there.
ASK ME ABOUTS:
Ask me about...
- exploring pumpkins with our 4th grade buddies
- what I know about the Day of the Dead
- landforms in the United States and the landform I created with oil pastels today
- the percussion concert we experienced today
- my monster that I created this week. How did I write so that my reader would be able to visualize my monster?
- the trick words again, please, animal, sure, use, used
- my current small moment story - what spicy words are in my story?
LOOKING FORWARD:
Looking forward, we will:- share our monster descriptions and try to create one of our classmate's monsters.
- begin an author study about James Marshall
- begin unit 5 in fundations, focusing reading and writing words with more than 1 syllable and the suffixes ful, ment, ness, less, able, en, ish (Click HERE for unit 5 family fundations letters.)
- continue strengthening our small moment stories through adding thinking and bringing in the 5 senses.
- continue work in our new project-based math unit, Measuring for the Art Show. This unit focuses on the development of the open number line model within the context of measurement. Next week, we will begin using the open number line to solve problems requiring double digit addition. Please click HERE to refer to the math practices section of our website to learn about how this will be taught in second grade and how we would like you teach teach your child at home.
- continue our study of the United States by looking at urban, suburban and rural areas and what we would experience in each of these areas.
