September 13,
2013
Dear
Parents,
Welcome to our Bolgerblog 2013-2014! We are off to a rocking-good start this year. We have 19 smart, lively, curious, energetic young girls and boys. You have not seen much paperwork come home during these first three weeks because we believe it is so essential for us -- and your child -- to put a ton of our energy, up front, into community building and getting very solid with classroom expectations and routines. We are practicing everything from how to hold your pencil when you are in Circle (with the pointed tip down) and how to hand in our reading and writing work to how to solve problems with our classmates and be self-reliant and resourceful when we need something.
In Reading,
we began a new Read-aloud book called Top Secret (a book about a 4th grade boy, Allan Brewster, who discovers the key to human photosynthesis). Allan stops eating waffles and bacon because he finds that he gets all the energy he needs standing in the sunshine. ask your child to tell you about Ms. Green, his mean science teacher; ask who it is who does believe in Allan; and ask what he plans to do with the president of the United States!
We discussed
what it means to pick a “just-right” book, and we practiced picking books from
our classroom library and sitting quietly and respectfully to read. We have also paid two visits to the ABS library, and we will have Tuesdays as our regular,
weekly day, to drop off and pick up books.
In Writing, students received their Writer’s
Workshop folders where they will keep their growing portfolio of work. We
learned that good writing comes from good spelling and good grammar -- yes. But, it comes even more from noticing well and remembering well. We talked about how
if I say, “Tell of a time you hurt yourself,”
for most kids, that will prompt a memory. Let that memory come up. Pay
close attention to it, and tell the
story that it brings. We learned about how good writers also often tell their stories verbally before
settling in to writing them down. We decided that writing is going to be a lots
of fun of us this year!
In Fundations students at the first and the second
grade levels have been reviewing the considerable content and learning routines
from last spring. Note: as you know, Mrs. Powers and Ms. Schwartz teach 1st-grade
Fundations, while Mrs. Rodliff and I teach the second-grade Fundations. We have all just completed (or we have nearly completed) the first unit of the year.
In Math, both the first and the second
graders are exploring patterns – repeating patterns and growing patterns. We
are using our Number Corner calendar
every day to explore and expand our understanding of this central math concept.
Second graders got their Math notebooks this last week. This will be a place
for reflecting on what they are learning. I will use it often at the end of a
class to build a record from each child of what they have understood or not understood
during the lesson.
In Science, we are starting off the year with a study of plants -- their life cycle, their root and leaf structures, and their similarity, in some respects, to us humans. We are also growing our own plants (beets, lettuce, bok choy, and peas) in our raised bed outside of the classroom.
Continental Math League sign-up: registration at the Grade Two level is not until October. In the meantime, please contact me or Betty Poirot if you would like your child to participate and/or if you would like to volunteer to run a one-time-per-week 2nd-grade Continental Math group (it's lots of fun. ) See the most recent School Bell for details.
Odyssey of the Mind sign-up (see the recent School Bell for details): this year, we are lucky to have several parent volunteers at the K-2 level for this engaging and stimulating program. Please contact Betty Poirot if you are interested in having your child participate!
Getting Outdoors: To keep the
blood pumping to our brains, we also did an outdoor activity each morning with Mrs. Powers’ class. We played Scatter,
Deer Habitat, Partner Tag, Toilet Tag (!) , and Cross the River When the River
Rises. Especially if you are new to the classroom, you could ask your child to
explain these games to you . You could certainly play them at home.
Room Mom: Karen Allen is our "Room Mom." She will be heading up the coordination of volunteer support and food and beverage donations for Horizon events across the year. Thank you Karen!
Birthdays: I'd like to make a special request this year that parents and birthday boys or girls try to bring in something healthy like apples and cinnamon or celery and peanut butter (no peanut allergies this year!), or some cut-up mango or a basket of blueberries instead of the yummy-but-not-so-good-for-you frosted cupcakes we have all been enjoying for years. Last year, when we began to bring in fruit, they devoured it! And kids at this age are impressionable, and they're setting their habits for a lifetime. Thanks for helping out on this.
Getting a good night's sleep: Since we’re
talking about health… I’ve noticed this last week that many kids are dog-tired.
My own kids are dog-tired! Thank you for
remembering to hold the line and get them to bed at a consistently-good hour
so that they can come to school refreshed and open to learning. We adults know what a difference a good sleep
can make, and for little kids, it’s huge.
We are
looking forward to seeing you at our Horizon
Curriculum Night on Wednesday the 18th (6:30 p.m. to 8:00
p.m.) Let us know if you have a
particularly-keen interest in a certain aspect of the curriculum so we can be
sure to address it.
That’s about
it for now.
Have a great
week, everyone.
Mr. Bolger
