October 14, 2016 Dear Parents,   Land Ho! This week, our class enjoyed learning about the 1492 voyage of Christopher Columbus. We watched videos, read books, made explorer hats, and went on our own voyage with tablemates to find the class treasure box, by following the directional signs N, S, E, W and listening to our classmates as they gave clues: cold, warm, warmer, hot, and burning hot. What fun! We continued our focus on rhyming by sorting words that rhyme with the headers clock, fly, and pan. We enjoyed learning the poem Autumn Leaves and had fun adding physical motions to act out the phrases “Autumn leaves are falling down,” “Whirling, twirling round and round”, and “Down and down and down.” We highlighted the sight words are, can, and too in the poem and shared reading text Red, and added them to our Word Wall and word rings. We discussed the multiple meanings of the word can and distinguished between the words our and are and to and too in sentences. We completed reading the Star Book The Little Red Hen and began reading The Three Bears. 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, setting, problem, and solution. We also discussed whether we agreed or disagreed with specific actions of the characters and shared reasons to support our thinking. In Writing Workshop, we continued to plan and draft teaching book topics across a three-page booklet, by sketching and labeling a related topic idea on each page. In Reading Workshop, we learned that readers have adventures with books by noticing emotional parts of books and sharing their feelings about those parts with their reading partners. In Math, we practiced looking for subtle differences in scenes. We learned how to show numbers to five on a ten-frame. We also practiced counting and writing numbers 0-5 by listening to marbles as they are dropped in a can and writing the corresponding numerals on personal white boards. We continued to use our language to tell addition stories to five by observing and describing similarities and differences in a scene. In Science, we selected a very large oak tree in the school yard to be our “Class Tree.” We identified the tree parts, made crayon rubbings of the bark, and shared our thoughts about the shape, size, and structure of the tree. We are looking forward to observing our tree each season of the year! Have a lovely weekend! Linda Yelvington

Looking Ahead: Special Notes: WEF Family Fun Run: Saturday, October 15   Looking Ahead: WEF Family Fun Run: Saturday, October 15 Leaves Due: Wednesday, October 19 National School Violence Awareness Week: October 17-21 Book Fair: Tuesday, October 24 Class Time- 9:50-10:15 a.m. Family Night- 7-8 p.m. Mr. Blake Reads- 7:30 p.m. Halloween: Monday, October 31 Class Party- 12:10–1:10 p.m. School Parade- 2:30 p.m. Special Notes: A very special thank you to all the parent volunteers who helped cut out skeleton bones for our upcoming Halloween literacy project. The children and I appreciate all your hard work!!! Thank you for your help with the Harvest Fest. Our class pumpkins were amazing!!! The children had a wonderful time, despite the rain! 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. Writing Folder Collages are now due.