Opening Picnic and Insects Galore!

Good Evening CFI Families,

We are now on day twenty and are well immersed in our study of insects and are becoming critical thinkers of the literature we read. I am excited to see everyone that can make it to our opening picnic tomorrow night and to get to see your children in a new light. If you cannot make it you are of course welcome to drop by during the day sometime to have your child give you the grand tour of our classroom.

In the past few days we have read many books focused on kindness such as Each Kindness, and Crow Boy analyzing how the characters feel on both sides of a conflict and how we would act if placed in the same situation. In Each Kindness the character telling the story excludes the new child in school and is mean to her. One child in our class said he wouldn’t have done that. He would play with her. This sparked discussion on what each of us would do and together we talked about how we want to be people who reach out, help others, and are kind and welcoming. We have also looked at how authors and illustrators show us how the characters feel with features like thought bubbles and detailed illustrations.

In addition to all the amazing stories your children write in free writing time during writer's workshop, we are also working together on starting books about each of us. Right now we are just in the brainstorming and initial writing of this book but stay tuned for more information as it develops!

Sharing Stories and Reading Workshop:

In math we are working together on activities with our table buddies. Our new math game is roll and record where students roll two dice, add the numbers together and graph that number. Our amazing mathematicians noticed the trend that some of the higher numbers such as seven and eight were rolled the most. We tossed around a few ideas but finally discovered this was because there are more ways to make seven and eight rather than say two so you roll it more often. It’s these amazing observations that lead us to develop our understanding of complex ideas like probability and decomposing numbers that we can later name and describe but children are already seeing them in action.

In science and all day I am hearing about all the cockroaches each child has ever seen! They are seen at home, in aftercare, and all over so they are fascinating! Did you know cockroaches can fly short distances! I for one was very unsettled by the idea of a cockroach flying at me! This is just one answer that came from researching a child’s question in the classroom. Here at the center we love questions and they propel us toward new knowledge and understanding. In our study of cockroaches, and insects in general, the curiosity of your children guides us to new insights each and every day!

School and Class Information:

Opening Picnic is tomorrow night!

First Sandhills Library trip is Friday so I need all library cards!

Our Scholastic Book Order is Due This Friday

Monday, September 19th Active Gamecocks form is due and to be redeemed it must have something on every line, each one totalling at least 30 minutes of physical activity.

Next Thursday the 22nd is a half day and the afternoon is designed as the district’s conference day. I will be available that afternoon after 1pm but please let me know if you would like to meet so I know to expect you and what you would love to talk about. Know we can also schedule a meeting after school, or before school at your convenience.

Thursday, October 6th is our first Curriculum Night from 6:15-7:00

Friday, October 21st is our First Gathering so put it on your schedule if you would like to come see what we have been learning! It is at 2:20

Friday, November 4th is the school wide field trip to the zoo!

Home to School Connections:

I will be sending home the packet of home activity pages that I mentioned on the last blog tomorrow in your child’s folder so be on the lookout. I will also start sending on monday a reading log to document and discuss home reading and a work page related to our current studies to be completed and returned at the end of each week.

Continue to read at home, engage with characters and how they feel throughout the book. They often change over the course of a conflict so be on the lookout with kids and help them to pull out these key literary features. As always, thank you for your help in and out of the classroom as we live and learn together! Have a great night!