This week the students got to 13 minutes when building their independent reading stamina. I was so proud! We've come a long way since the first few days of school. Because we've been doing such a great job with independent reading, this week we introduced read to someone, or partner reading. We made an anchor chart together and then tried it out. We will continue practicing next week. This week we also finished up our first math chapter. And today we went to our new math classes for the first time! The students will either be with me, Mr. Schreurs, Mrs. Friedli, or Mrs. Bauman. These are flexible groups and we will constantly be making sure the students are in a classroom that is a good fit for them. This week we also had a great time working on a project. First we read the book The Orange Splot. Then, the students created their own dream houses. Finally, we used an app called thinglink to make the photographs of our houses come to life by adding videos and text to describe the details of the house. We also started writer's workshop this week! The students have been brainstorming small moments that have happened to them that they can write stories about. Next week we will be starting to learn how our word study program works. This week will be a practice week with words that most of the students already know how to spell. The following week, they will be getting into their spelling groups with words that are just right for them. I'm also hoping to finish up assessments this coming week and then I will be able to give your children their Raz-Kids usernames and passwords. I'm also working on getting IXL set up and Spelling City, so thank you for your patience and you will be getting all of the information soon!
Things to ask your children about:
-What did you put in your orange splot house?
-What is on your list of small moment story ideas?
-What made the book Chester so funny?
Things to Remember:
-Scholastic book orders are due on Friday. Thanks so much to everyone who has already submit an order! Remember, the more you order, the more new books I can purchase for the classroom library!
-We have Rivershire on Friday afternoon. I will be sending home packets of information to all of the parents signed up to come on the trip. Thank you to those who have volunteered. Let's hope for nice weather!
-The green book bags that have been coming home must come back to school each day, even if the student has chosen a long book to read. We need to get in the habit of bringing these everyday. We have new strategy cards to put in next week and when we start Team Literacy they will need to be coming back to school or the students will not get to bring home books. Thanks for your help!
-Some of the students were concerned that you didn't know about a change in the lunch menu. It looks like pizza is now on Wednesdays, not Fridays. I told them I would let you know :)
-I've been getting some emails about setting up mystery readers, which is great. Please send me an email if you are interested.
-Our classroom tends to be pretty chilly. Please send your child with an extra sweater or sweatshirt just in case.
-Feel free to follow me on Twitter @hollyschlan All of my tweets are not school related, but most of them are :)
Things to ask your children about:
-What did you put in your orange splot house?
-What is on your list of small moment story ideas?
-What made the book Chester so funny?
Things to Remember:
-Scholastic book orders are due on Friday. Thanks so much to everyone who has already submit an order! Remember, the more you order, the more new books I can purchase for the classroom library!
-We have Rivershire on Friday afternoon. I will be sending home packets of information to all of the parents signed up to come on the trip. Thank you to those who have volunteered. Let's hope for nice weather!
-The green book bags that have been coming home must come back to school each day, even if the student has chosen a long book to read. We need to get in the habit of bringing these everyday. We have new strategy cards to put in next week and when we start Team Literacy they will need to be coming back to school or the students will not get to bring home books. Thanks for your help!
-Some of the students were concerned that you didn't know about a change in the lunch menu. It looks like pizza is now on Wednesdays, not Fridays. I told them I would let you know :)
-I've been getting some emails about setting up mystery readers, which is great. Please send me an email if you are interested.
-Our classroom tends to be pretty chilly. Please send your child with an extra sweater or sweatshirt just in case.
-Feel free to follow me on Twitter @hollyschlan All of my tweets are not school related, but most of them are :)