October 31st Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This week in literacy we did some focused work with vowels.  Vowels are tricky, and if we don't continue to notice and emphasize them they can be very confusing.  We found them in our shared reading poems, we sorted our word wall words into a vowel chart, and this week we'll be finding them on various print around the classroom.  We've been practicing both the short and the long sounds for the vowels.  You can help at home by doing the same with words you notice when reading with your child or even when looking at a Christmas catalog or a recipe!  Help your child understand that words are all around us, and they all have to have at least one vowel.  Keep in mind, it is best to use words that either have the short or the long sound in them, like in "bat," but not "ball."  Or in "that," but not in "the."  

We'll be wrapping up our first study of small moment (or narrative) stories for the year this week.  Some will come home, and some will be saved for parent teacher conferences.  It sure has been fun to learn more about these amazing kids and get to know them in the best way, through their stories!  We've learned about their friends, their pets, their families, their weekend adventures and more!  Keep the stories coming!

In math, we will continue to practice counting up and back on the number line in order to understand addition and subtraction.  We are working on problem solving skills using the hundreds chart and our number lines.  We will also be learning how to tell time to the half hour.  Look for Home Links 3.5, 3.7, and 3.8 to come home this week.

This week we will be finishing up our Land and Water science unit.

Thank you for all of the help and donations for our Halloween Classroom Party!  The kids had a blast!

Special Points of Interest

• No School this Friday, November 4th
• Remember to dress your child for the cold weather.  They will be going outside for every recess unless it rains.