October 4, 2013 

Hello, Everyone!

Well, we filled the school Buzzy Jar today (in the front office), due to so many kids being kind, safe, and responsible this week.   I did not tell the kids yet because I got the email after they left. So on Tuesday, it will be crazy hair day as a celebration. Please tell your child so you can help them think about what they want to do to have crazy hair (!)

Reading and helping your child make connections:

When you are reading a story to your child or they are reading to you, always talk about any connections you or your child has. For example, if you are reading a story about a child who lost a tooth and your child has lost a tooth.....that would be a connection because your child would know how that child felt. 

Some kids say, "Well, they had a red shirt and I have a red shirt!" We call that a shallow connection because it doesn't help you understand the story better. 

We will continue to work on text-to-self connections next week. They will be doing an activity with this on Tuesday, and our sharing theme for next week will be kids sharing a book that they really like -- and they can talk about a connection they have with a character in the book or a theme in the book, or the setting. If over the weekend you read a book that prompts a connection for your child, you might suggest that he or she bring that book in for sharing.

The kids are building stamina, and being more productive and accountable as the days progress. We are working on not being afraid to say, "I don't understand..." The smartest thing a person can do, we decided,  is to be ok with not being perfect, take on that thing we're not yet great at, and then work very, very hard (and get lots of help) to get stronger at that thing. 

That's it for now. Have a great weekend!

Mr. Bolger