Welcome to Room 22

I hope you enjoyed your long weekend!  This is a jam-packed blog post, but I promise they will be a little lighter on the reading as the year gets going and I have less “business” to tell you about! 

What we learned last week:

Reading: We began our first unit of study: Building a Reading life. The students learned how to set themselves up for success by choosing a good spot, coming to reader’s workshop prepared, and more. We began to build up our reading stamina and successfully read for 30 consecutive minutes! Very impressive! We continue to work on reading books like they are gold, meaning with expression and treating them as precious as we know they are. This will be an ongoing goal throughout the year.

Writing: We have started our Writing Workshop which bundles the skills that include: sequencing, spelling, rereading, and supporting big ideas with examples. Writing workshop creates an environment where students can acquire these skills, along with fluency, confidence, and the desire to see themselves as writers. We are focusing on personal narratives this month.

Math: We have been working on reviewing skills from second grade including working on a hundreds chart, even and odd numbers, addition and subtraction, rounding to the nearest 10, and more. We are jumping into our math curriculum, Everyday Math, this week.

Social studies and science will begin soon, focusing on the Miwok Native American tribe. Our study will begin with the differences between natural resources and artifacts. Along with this, we will practice scientific observation and doing scientific drawings to support and develop our thinking.

Technology:
This year I have added a Green Screen to our classroom. This allows me to engage the students in a variety of projects that not only work on acquiring new technology skills, but combining this with all of our subjects. Green screens are an exciting way to make learning visible, but also allows me to share student work with you.  I am also able share entire portfolios of student work with parents by uploading the videos with the app Seesaw.


Coding: We have already started with coding in our class. I have signed the students up for Code.org, which they can use at home and school. Next week I will be introducing Tynker. This is a coding curriculum that I have used for the past several years. I always enjoy this time as much as the students do.


Chorus Sign Ups
Chorus sign ups went home today in your student’s homework folder. Chorus is an elective class that students can sign up for. It is held once a week for 30 minutes during normal school hours. The only commitment that is outside of school is one performance in the spring. I always encourage students who are on the fence to give it a try.  I think it is such a wonderful program (thank you Kiddo!) and I have found that students absolutely love it! Students who choose not to sign up will stay in the classroom. I do not plan lessons during this time because in past years I only have 1 or 2 student who choose not to participate in chorus! Sign up forms are due by September 11th. If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Homework
Homework is sent home on the first day of the week and is due every Friday morning. Students are expected to read for 20-30 minutes each night and record on their homework reading log. Additionally, students have nightly math homework. This will vary from week to week and may be math fact review, a math game, a riddle, etc. Students should spend 5-10 minutes on this. If you notice the math is taking your child more than this and they are starting to get frustrated, please have them stop.  An adult should just write me a quick little note on the page so I know as I check homework. Thank you!

Last but not least, here are a few reminders about our weekly schedule.

1.     We have library class every Wednesday. Please help your child remember to bring his/her library books to school on Wednesdays.
2.     We have P.E. Tuesday-Friday. Please help remind your child to wear and shoes that are comfortable to run and play in. We have P.E. at the end of the day on Fridays, so students will be dismissed directly from P.E.

Back to School Night
I look forward to seeing you all at Back to School Night on Thursday, of next week (September 12). We’ll be in the classroom from 6:00-6:45 following our Principal’s presentation in the multipurpose room from 5:30-5:50.