Weekly Wrap-up, March 25, 2019

As part of our growth mindset, we are also learning about traits or habits that help people to become stronger learners.  In the educational jargon, these are sometimes referred to as "Learning Stances". We are currently learning and practicing persistence. In our room, persistent means - trying and trying again, even if it seems hard.  We have explored persistence through books, discussion and activities.  One of our favorite examples of persistence is Ormie the Pig.  Ormie is a animated wordless video about a pig trying to get a cookie.

Literacy 

We have been working our way through literacy assessments and self-reflections to prepare for our upcoming conferences.  Overall, I am very pleased with the progress the class has made.  They are reading more challenging words and beginning to deepen their understanding of text.  The class has also acquired many new sight words.

We are currently working on reading and writing words with the "Silent E" pattern.  This pattern is also referred to as the "magic E".  It is a vowel followed by 1 consonant and then an e.  Typically these words have a long vowel sound (the vowel says its name).  There are, of course exceptions to this rule (e.g. have, give) which we are discussing. 

As the students move into longer and more complex text, we will increase our focus on building reading stamina.   By stamina, I mean the ability to stay focused and to continue to read without loss of accuracy or comprehension.  Building stamina is an essential part of continued progress in reading.  At this point in the year, students should be reading for at least 20 minutes a day outside of school time.  If you need help finding appropriate books for your child, please do not hesitate to ask.  Students are welcome to borrow books from the classroom library provided the books are returned. 

Toys

Recently there has been an increase in students attempting to bring in toys from home to play with during the day.  This is causing problems for some students as they are a distraction.  Toys have also become lost or damaged resulting in very sad students.  I cannot ensure that personal toys are safe at school.   If a toy makes it to school, I will instruct the student to keep the toy in their backpack for the day.  If the toy reappears, I will store the toy for safe keeping on my desk.  

ECO

The ECO session scheduled for this week has been postponed until May 30th.  If you are interested in joining us for an ECO session, please let me know.  We always enjoy and appreciate guests.

Upcoming Events

Thursday, April 4th - ECO 9AM-11:40AM  Please help your child prepare for the weather that day.  Children often struggle to bring appropriate gear for the changing spring conditions.

Thursday, April 4th - Celebration of Learning 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM

We will be sharing our some of our work around space.  Children are encouraged to also visit other rooms but should remain with an adult at all times.  It is not necessary for your child to remain for the entire 2 hours.  Please do what is right for your family.  

Friday, April 5th - Parent Conferences

These are student led conferences and will last approximately 30 minutes.  If you have not returned your conference request form, please do so as soon as possible.  I will be sending out emails confirming conference times later this week.