Week of September 26-30

Dear parents,

We have had a busy week in room 109!
In reading workshop this week we read the book If you Plant a Seed.  We discussed the themes: kindness and selfishness. We worked on the phrase "a heap of trouble" and what it meant. We will use the book today to practice a Visual Thinking routine called Step Inside. In this routine we will practice stepping inside the characters in the story and writing what we see, think, feel and wonder.
Our popcorn words this week are:in, is, it, if, me, mom. We have been looking for these words in our shared reading books. We have also focused on concepts about print, noticing and finding periods when we read.

During Daily 5 we have been reading independently for 17 minutes. I have been testing students using a "DRA" (developmental reading assessment) which helps me find their highest level of instruction in reading. The district has asked me to do further testing with our students this year. I will finish testing late next week and we will begin reading groups as soon as it is complete!

In writing, we have introduced real world reasons to write - letters and lists. We have practiced planning a story with a partner. We are now writing for 20 minutes independently!

In math we have completed Unit one. We took our first math assessment yesterday. This was challenging for some students. Extra practice and re-teaching may be needed on tally  marks, number stories and counting. We will continue to review them in class. I will check the assessment and send it home next week so you can review with your child at home.

In Social Studies we have begun working on the concept of Fair and Unfair. We will read the book Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King. We will learn the difference between a rule and the law. We will discuss how a law can be changed if it is not right. We will also read and discuss the story of Ruby Bridges in relation to how laws can be changed.

I am so enjoying the time we have had in our classroom!
There is no school on Monday, October 3rd.

Have a good weekend,
Mrs. Scheck