Pumpkin Day

As part of our pumpkin day, we all baked pumpkin bars together. Too many cooks in the kitchen?  Pshaw! Perish the thought :)  (Can you hear me laughing?) In all seriousness, we had a wonderful time baking the bars. We used the opportunity to read the recipe, divide the measurements by children in each table group and to complete the task while acting as a child of God; putting others first and being patient. After the bars were cooled and frosted, we were able to indulge in our homemade delicacies. One of my favorite comments: one little guy declared (with crumbs spewing from his big smile) "This is heaven"! Your children make me laugh. I love our 23 children.

Who knew you could squeeze so much curriculum out of a couple of pumpkins? We had a great day learning with God's beautiful orange orbs.


We could use a little help from home over the next few weeks. We'll be taking on a new challenge in our daily story writing. Our focus will move from creative personal narratives to writing for an audience. In other words, we'd like other people to be able to read our text. This means we're going to begin to gently focus on the mechanics of writing. Proper use of uppercase letters, spelling basic words correctly and effective spacing between words are just a few of the important components we'll be working toward. As children engage the left side of their brain during this focus, they can experience diminishing energy on the right side of their brain. In other words, creative juices run the risk of drying up. If your family has special experiences at home, could you please encourage your child to "grab the moment" to retell in writing? These moments can be simple; raking leaves together, wildlife in the backyard, Grandpa's birthday party, etc. Anything a little out of the ordinary. I'll be on the lookout for these "story moments" at school too. By helping your child pick special moments at home to write about, they will be less likely to feel writers block at school.

Have you heard your child talk about Daily 3 in math? We're changing the the format for learning and teaching in math. Based on skill need, I'll be dividing the class into three or four smaller groups. Children will work independently practicing math skills while working at "Math with Technology" (iPads, calculaters, Judy Clocks, etc) and "Math with Games". During the "Math with Teacher" session, children will be taught new skills directly at their instructional level. I'm finding this to be a much more effective way of engaging and reaching all learners. Mrs. Dreyer will begin taking a few students as well to work on concepts at a deeper and broader level.

Celebration of Learning Night is coming up! On Tuesday, November 13 from 6:30 - 7:30 you are invited to come to school with your child. At this event, your child will get a chance to show off some of the projects he or she has been working on at school on the iPad. We try to email projects to you, but it's much more impressive to hear it and see it in the hands of your child. If you can make it to this event, your child will have the opportunity to walk you through how we use the iPads in a variety of ways to publish and share our work and to bring to life those all-important drill and practice skills.

Our school-wide reading incentive program will begin on Monday, November 5. Please encourage your child to read and return the 1/4 sheets to school on Mondays. At the end of the month, your child will be rewarded with a small prize, a Pizza Hut coupon, but better still, improved reading confidence and enjoyment!

Swimming lessons for our first graders will begin when we return from Thanksgiving Break. 11/26-12/6 are the dates our children are schedule for lessons at the aquatic center. I'll follow up soon with the finer details, but the lessons will be in the afternoon for four days during each of those weeks.

Important Dates:
November 6-Election Day
November 12-Reading Incentive 1/4 paper due
November 13-Celebration of Learning Night 6:30-7:30
November 22 & 23-Thanksgiving Break
November 26-first day of swimming lessons