Last Week of October, First Week of November

Dear Families:
I am not sure about you all, but I am still recovering from the Halloween festivities. Thanks so much for all of your help on Friday with costumes, parading, party and clean-up. You helped make some great memories for these kids. Because I am running behind on my blog and this is a short week, I will summarize the two weeks together.

Animated Alphabet: Last week we only learned one character, Crazy Camel and this we will also only learn one, Lizzy Lamb. Make sure you are talking about the characters at home, singing the songs, and pointing out letters in print. Carrying over these lessons at home will help make your children readers! Also, a new Animated Alphabet activity sheet came home today. Try to do one activity with your child each day.

Math: Students have been focusing on counting by 5s and 10s, using money to count, and also learning to use the addition and equals sign. Students are learning in many different formats, using manipulatives, body movement, as well as paper-pencil methods. Students are also spending time learning how to write their numbers. This is a skill you can work on at home.

Science: Last week students participated in a culminating activity where they learned about the 5 senses. Parent volunteers manned learning centers where students experienced each sense hands on. They had a great time guessing smells, tastes, feeling and trying to decide "what's in the bag?", as well as guessing sounds, and looking at objects through rainbow glasses, magnifiers, and telescopes. We ended our day with a popcorn party where we used all 5 of our senses!

I have been spending the last two weeks assessing students. This way I will have the most accurate and up to date information to share with you at conferences.

If you haven't returned your parent conference slip do so as soon as you can so I will know if you are planning to attend. Conferences are very important and I look forward to visiting with all of you.

Book orders...I will wait until tomorrow to turn that in, so it's not too late!