Heroes Day

   I can't believe that November is already here and it's the end of 1st trimester!

The students have grown so much since the beginning of the year and I look forward to meeting with you next week at parent-teacher conferences to share about their progress.  Parent-teacher conferences are only 15 minutes long and we must stay on schedule or else it affects the scheduling of every teacher and every classroom.  I will use this time to chat about what I see in the classroom, their strengths and any areas they are still growing.  It is important that we meet with all families.  Please check your child's Friday Folder for a reminder of your scheduled day and time.  If this day and time does not work, please email me as soon as possible to reschedule.

A look at our learning...

Fundations: we learned the name, sound and correct formation for lowercase p and j.  

Please use the verbal prompts below:

p-dow...n, up, around

j-dow...n, curve up, dot

By the end of 1st trimester, which is now, your child should be able to:

*identify 40+ letters of the alphabet (uppercase and lowercase combined)

*name at least 10 letter sounds correctly

Writing Workshop: we are learning about where writers get ideas and how to put those ideas down on paper.  Right now "writing" is in the form of drawings and we are writing about everyday things that we do (riding our bikes, going to Level Up, going to the park, etc.)  This is why we have spent so much time learning how to draw people (not stick people), backgrounds/settings and 3 start coloring.  The students tell a story through their drawings and labels at this point in the year. 

Shared Reading and Spelling: this week we read the Big Book Look at Me.  We worked on pointing to words when we read, monitoring on known words (being able to locate and read spelling words quickly that are in text, even if we don't know all the words in the text) and discussing what we read.  

Next week's spelling word:

the

Math: this week we worked with 10 frames, learned more about the rectangle and worked on counting and number stories. Ask your child to tell you about the story Ten Little Fish and the counting game that goes along with the book. 

Heroes Day: thank you to all of the grandparents, everyday heroes and past and present members of our military for joining us for our annual BEU Heroes Day. This is such a special Beulah Ralph tradition.  We enjoyed listening to the Smithton Middle School band perform patriotic songs, Kenneth Noble-Chief of Police, US Department of Veterans Affairs speak, Rock Bridge High School Cheerleaders perform, recognizing all active and former members of the military in the audience and student speakers sharing about their heroes.  We especially enjoyed our classmate, Molly, speaking about her hero.  Way to go, Molly! 

Did your child miss out on having a visitor this year?  No worries, this is a yearly tradition and we hope they can visit next year! Enjoy a few pictures below.  MANY more are posted on our class Facebook page.  

A week of fun