October 1, 2013

Do you see the original seed?

Dear Parents, 

It has been a very busy couple of weeks as we near the six-week mark. We planted Lima Beans using compost soil made by our class worms; we learned about painting plants with Ms. Beeken in Art; we have also finished our reading assessments (phew!), and we are getting settled into book groups. 

In Reading, we began our Read-at-Home reading log (the sheet with the balloons on it). The kids seem excited about it, and when they bring their reading logs in on Friday morning, we'll do a fun activity ("Boys and girls, look at this reading log someone brought in.  Let's see. Can you guess who read A-Z Mysteries  for 65 minutes straight on Wednesday?...") I will also keep track of their reading minutes, and when a student reads (or is read to) for  enough total minutes, he or she gets to pick from the treasure chest. 

Painting in Art 

In Writing, we are deep into Writer's Workshop. Students are writing personal narratives with a beginning, middle ("Suddenly...!)  and an end.  

Home-School Journals will go home tomorrow (instead of today).

First and second grade math homework is due Thursday. 

Our Horizon Team launched, this week, a unit called "WIN" or "What I Need."  For a half hour per day, four days per week, from  2:00-2:30, students get to work in a focused way, on a subject or a skill area in which they have an interest or a need for deeper instruction. Ask your child about his or her WIN class. (We also call it Team Time). Ask who their teacher is and what they are learning. 

Look what Wylie made.
He was resourceful!

Parent-Teacher Conferences: Over the next couple of days, I will post by email a sign-up schedule for conferences.  Your children have done so much in just a month, and it's been very, very interesting to get to know a brand new set of students as the old and the new students mesh, and the character of the class evolves, yet again, into something new.  I am looking forward to having a chance to get together with you.

   

That's it for now. Have a great rest of the week, everyone. 

Mr. Bolger