I've been having fun getting to know each of your children! I hope that your kids enjoyed their first week and are settling in and making friends. They all seemed happy and content this past week, but I'll be calling home this week to check in and see how things seem from your perspective. Sometimes when kids want to please their teacher they'll act happy at school even though something is really bothering them. If that's the case for your child, I want to know so we can figure out how to make it right. Children who feel safe, happy, and content are better able to learn and grow, and that's what we all want! So when you see that 262 area code pop up on your phone, it's just me :)
Last Week
We spent a lot of time during the first week of school on relationship building and team building activities. One of my priorities at the beginning of the year is helping your child feel comfortable in our classroom, with me, and with his or her classmates. On Thursday, we did a poster gallery where the kids went around the room with sticky notes answering questions about their expectations for this school year, that I'd put up on sheets of poster paper. Out of that discussion, we developed our class rules:
- Be Kind (This came up again and again in our discussion from ALL of the kids. They really want to be treated with kindness. Don't we all?)
- Be Responsible (for your work, your words, your actions)
- Be Respectful (to your teachers, to each other, to our school)
- Be Safe (think before you act)
- Be Your Best (if you're going to take the time to do something, do your best!)
I shared some scripture with the kids that back up every one of these rules...they're really rules for life, not just our classroom. It would be great if you could take some time to talk with your child about these expectations and why they're important :)
In Literacy, we started working on building our reading stamina (how long can we read without getting bored, distracted, or tired) and made it to 25 minutes already! My goal was to be at 30 minutes after two weeks, but the kids are going to beat that by a mile...they love to read! We also talked about our classroom procedures for checking out and returning classroom library books, how we choose books, the kinds of thinking we do when we read, and how to 'book buzz' or talk about books in a small group. In their binders you'll see pages from their Reading Portfolios. We're tracking our reading stamina at school, and keeping a daily status of the books we're reading. We'll be adding more pages to our portfolios over the next week or two. You don't need to keep track of their reading at home on the status sheet.
This Week in...
Bible
We'll begin our formal DiscipleLand bible curriculum this week. I'll be sending home a parent letter that will give you a great overview of what we'll be learning this quarter, and our memory verses for the next 12 weeks. The memory verse will be on the homework contract each week as well. I'll be giving the kids a fill-in-the-blank quiz for their memory verse every Friday morning. We'll practice it at school during the week, but they'll do even better if you help them learn the verse at home and talk about what it means to you. A great way to have the kids practice is to write it on a sticky note and put it on the bathroom mirror. Then they can say it to themselves every time they brush their teeth or wash their hands.
Literacy
This week we'll be starting our Beginning of Year reading assessments, so I know where your child is starting out with his or her reading skills. We'll also begin our Literacy and Social Studies rotations. During this time, we rotate through different Literacy and Social Studies learning activities. This gives me time to meet with students in small groups or individually for guided reading groups, writing strategy groups, conferences, and assessments that allow me to tailor my teaching to each child's learning needs.
Social Studies
We'll start the year with a geography review of oceans and continents. Then we'll identify the equator and prime meridian, and learn how they divide the earth into the northern, southern, eastern and western hemispheres. We'll also learn about lines of latitude and longitude and make our own globes out of paper lanterns :)
Homework
Our first homework contract will come home this week on Tuesday, and the assignments will be due on Friday. For families new to MID, we send home a homework contract at the beginning of the week with all of the homework for the week attached to it (you'll get one from me for Language Arts/Social Studies and one from Mrs. Hudson for Math/Science). This allows you to schedule homework time around after school activities, sports, and family time. Your child's weekly homework from me will always consist of:
- 20 minutes of independent reading each night
- 2 or 3 reading comprehension questions (each week) that are answered in a quarterly journal (this won't start until mid-September)
- spelling word practice
- a language/grammar practice sheet each week (this won't start until late Sept/early Oct)
Specials
We start going to our specials classes this week! Art on Tuesday, Chapel and Music on Wednesday, Spanish on Thursday, and PE on Friday. Be sure to have your child wear or bring gym shoes on Friday. Also, we give extra Class Dojo points to the kids who change into their PE uniforms, so be sure to send that as well (plain white t-shirt and navy blue athletic shorts - logo not needed).
Other News
Finally, the Student Handbook will be coming home this week, and there is a form that needs to be signed and sent back to school the next day. If your child brings it back right away he or she will earn extra Class Dojo points for turning assignments in on time!
Have a blessed week!
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