October 21, 2016 Dear Parents,   Our class enjoyed participating in Washington School’s Violence Awareness Week. We participated in the schoolwide assembly, proudly wore peace clothing and school spirit colors, signed the grade level Power of One Oath, discussed the books, Be Polite and Kind and What Does kindness Mean?, and had great fun drawing and writing uplifting messages of kindness, peace, friendship, and respect on the school’s front driveway with sidewalk chalk. We continued our focus on rhyming by sorting words that rhyme with the headers bug, mop, and beet and participating in the rhyming names activity, Willoughby Walloughby Woo. We highlighted the sight words yellow, orange, the, and he in the shared reading texts, Yellow and Autumn Leaves, and added them to our Word Wall and word rings. We completed reading the Star Book The Three Bears and began reading No Roses For Harry. We are having great fun using character voices as we read along with the text! We grew our thinking by discussing new vocabulary, as well as identifying characters, character traits, setting, problem, and solution. We also discussed the parts of books that surprised us. In Writing Workshop, we selected our favorite teaching books to publish. We revised our drafts by adding missing details and labels, adding color to the sketches with colored pencils, and creating a title and cover. In Reading Workshop, we added star books to our independent book bins. We learned to use the character’s name, along with a character trait, and to name the setting when reading the story, e.g. The Little Red Hen is a hard worker. She lived in a cozy house in the woods with her friends, the Cat, the Dog, and the Mouse. In Math, we practiced looking for subtle differences/changes between similar scenes, as well as counting, building, and writing numbers to 7. In Science, we visited our class tree. We measured its circumference with outstretched arms and string, collected some of its fallen leaves, and drew a fall illustration of the tree. We read about leaves and learned that they have the important job of making the food for the tree. We learned that green chlorophyll covers the colors of the leaves and that when the leaves stop making food in the fall, the chlorophyll fades away showing the colors that were always there. We enjoyed sharing, discussing, and observing the leaves that we brought from home. We brainstormed different ways to sort the leaves with our tablemates, made crayon leaf rubbings, completed a leaf report, created colorful tissue paper leaves, and made Autumn Leaves wind socks, which are cheerily twirling in our classroom windows. Have a lovely weekend! Linda Yelvington

Looking Ahead: Special Notes: Book Fair: Tuesday, October 25   Looking Ahead: Book Fair: Tuesday, October 25 Class Time- 9:50-10:15 a.m. Family Night- 6:30-8:30 p.m. Mr. Blake Reads- 7:30 p.m. Halloween: Monday, October 31- Wear Costumes to School Class Party- 12:10–1:10 p.m. School Parade- 2:30 p.m. Parent/Teacher Conferences: Mon., Nov. 7- Schools Closed for Students Tues., Nov. 8- Minimum Day for Students Wed., Nov. 9- Minimum Day for Students NJEA Convention: Schools Closed – Thursday Nov. 10 & Friday, Nov. 11 Special Notes: Kindly remember to sign up for November Parent/Teacher Conferences on Sign up Genius. Let me know as soon as possible if you did not receive the email link. Please send Book Fair money to school on Tuesday, November 25, enclosed in a sealed, labeled envelope or zip-lock bag. Please help your child practice reading, spelling, and using their sight words in sentences. Also, please be sure to read and discuss your child’s Book Buddy book selection with your child each night.