Peek at the Week of October 1-5

Welcome to October!  Thank you for attending last week's Open House.  It's always good to meet in person since we hear so much about each other!

This is a nice and quiet regular week.

Please send in the check for $19 for the field trip to the Ridgefield Playhouse if you have not already done so. 

Save the date of Tuesday, October 16th at 4:30 at the Darien Library for our after-school author's visit.  I'm sending a letter home this week with all the details.  Exciting news!

Homework
Monday 10/1
1.  Read for at least 10 minutes
2.  Fall Word Work

Tuesday 10/2
1.  Read for at least 10 mintues
2.  Math:  Couning Around the House

Wednesday 10/3
1.  Read for at least 10 minutes
2.  Reader Response:  My Favorite Part

Thursday 10/4
1.  Read for at least 10 mintues
2.  Review for tomorrow's spelling test

Have a great week!

September Pep Rally

Congratulations to AD and DP for being our classroom Citizens of the Month. Keep up the good work!

Thank You

Thank you for attending last night's Open House program.  It was nice to meet so many parents.  As questions arise throughout the year, please don't hesitate to call or send an email.  Have a great weekend!

Save the Date

Save the date for an Author Visit!

Sara Pennypacker is coming to meet our class!

Tuesday, October 16th at 4:30

at the Darien Library

(I'll be sending a letter home this week with all the details)

A Peek at the Week of September 24-28

 

There is no school on Wednesday, September 26th in honor of Yom Kippur.

Welcome to apple week!  We will be using the theme of the apple for many lessons and activities this week.  We will be learning about folk hero Johnny Appleseed while studying the 'Tall Tale' genre. 

Please bring in 1 apple by Friday morning for a special project.

On Friday afternoon at 2:30 we will have our Apple Tasting.  We will have the chance to taste some apple treats.  Thank you to the families who are contributing to this event:
Donzeiser:  apple cider
Svedlund:  apple juice
Brown:  apple pie (and a knife)
Conze:  dried apples/ Aaple chips
Ochman:  apple bread cut into 24 small chunks
Struk:  48 small paper cups
Vrooman:  24 plastic spoons & napkins

Homework
Monday 9/24
1.  Read for at least 10 mintues
2.  Fall Word Work

Tuesday 9/25
1.  Read for at least 10 mintues
2.  Apple Sentences (questions & statements)

Thursday 9/27
1.  Read for at least 10 mintues
2.  Review words for tomorrow's spelling test
3.  Bring an apple for tomorrow's project

Have a great week!

Mystery Reader

BT's mom came in to be our Mystery Reader. She read a barnyard mystery story.

Highlights of the Week September 21

• (RC) We played Sit in gym.
• (MD) We learned how to be Stonger readers during Reading Workshop.
• (AD)  We wrote friendship stories in Writing Workshop.
• (WD) We sounded out words in Writing Workshop.
• (SD) In music we learned how to use our singing voices. 
• (GG)  In art we worked on a drawing project.
• (LM) Sara Pennypacker, the famous author, emailed our class and wants to meet us in real life.  (BT)Miss Dineen has to talk to the librarians at the Darien Library to see if we can meet there. 
• (GM) We found a cool math game site called Dreambox.
• (WC)  In gym we played soccer.
• (CN) We did Rainbow Word Work and got new words.
• (BO)  In gym we played a new game called Elimination. 
• (DP)  I played football at recess. 
• (MRS)  We sang lots of songs in music.
• (RS)  We made a sketch book in art.
• (AS)  We had our first Card Party for morning work.
• (VS)  We dribbled soccer balls in gym.
• (LS)  Every day two tables shop for books.
• (ES) In math we read a book called PitterPatters.  We learned about patterns.
• (BV)  We learned a new game on the computer.
• (WB) We are going to take our spelling tests today.
• (JB) In mustic we got to sing.

Clementine

We have read two books from the Clementine series.  We can't wait to read the next three books.  Miss Dineen reads the books to us during snack time. 

Today we went to the author's website to learn more about her.  Her name is Sara Pennypacker.  She lives in Massachusetts.  We sent her an email to tell her how much we like her books!

Happy Birthday

We celebrated RS's 6th birthday. His mom and brother brought some treats and a funny book!

STAR Books Begin

The first STAR (Students Together Are Responding) book will begin its rotations today. In the front of the book there are a list of discussion questions for you and your child to use after reading the "Jungle Bullies" book.

Please keep the book for a night or two and then return it to school so that others can have a turn.

A Peek at the Week of September 17-21

There is no school on Monday in honor of the Rosh Hashanah holiday.

The school year feels like it is really underway now!  Following the routines and schedules is becoming more automatic. 

Reading Workshop:  This week we will work on previewing a book as a comprehension tool.  We will be discussing how "strong readers" use the title and cover artwork to get themselves ready to read.  We will also learn the technizue of a 'picture walk' which is when you use the pictures to tell yourself a story/make predictions about the story.

Some guiding questions you may want to use with your beginning readers: 
-What do you think of when you read the title? 
-What do you see on the cover?  What does it remind you of?
-What is happening in the pictures?  What do you think is going to happen?

Writing Workshop:  We began our "Small Moment" unit last week.  Our focus for last week was to write short stories about our families.  This week we will be writing friendship stories.  These small moment stories will be about a funny time with a friend, meeting a new friend, a memorable playdate, etc.  Basic sentence structure will be modeled.  We will also discuss ways to start a story.  Beginning a story is often the hardest part of the writing process. 

Word Work:  Last week was the first official week of our Word Study program.  In our classroom we call them "Rainbow Groups" because the groups are named after the six rainbow colors.  I apologize to the blue & purple groups.  I realized on Tuesday that the list I sent home was all pictures and no written words.  That was a mistake.  This week we should all be on track. 

Math Workshop:   This week's topics will include:  Comparing Numbers, Ordering Numbers, Describing Patterns, and Identifying the "repeat" of a Pattern.


Homework
Monday 9/17
1.  Read for at least 10 minutes

Tuesday 9/18
1.  Read for at least 10 minutes
2.  Fall Word Work

Wednesday 9/19
1.  Read for at least 10 minutes
2.  Math:  Scoops!  (patterns)

Thursday 9/20
1.  Read for at least 10 minutes
2.  Review words for tomorrow's spelling test

Have a great week!

Happy Birthday

CN's mom brought in a treat and shared a fun book!

Highlights of the Week September 14

•  In art we made a group project called a collaboration.(WC)
• We went to meet the new Spanish teachers.  (RC)
• We learned lots of songs in music.  (MD)
• On Tuesday we had our class pictures taken.  (AD)
• In gym we played Pinball.  (WD)
• We are learning to be Strong Readers during Reading Workshop.  (SD)
• Recess was awesome this week because the weather was awesome.  (GG)
• In art we learned how to make our drawings better and better.  (LM)
• I learned how to play Mancala.  (GM)
• This afternoon we are going to celebrate my birthday! (CN) 
• In gym we ran really fast to not be out of our warm up.  (BO)
• In gym we ran outside in two big laps.  (GP)
• We did the pacer test in gym.  (DP)
• We went to music and sang lots of songs.  (MRS)
• Recess was fun.  Some kids played a pretend game.  (RS)
• We got new sections on our Reading Workshop binders.  (AS)
• We went book shopping in our classroom.  (VS)
• We went to gym and did new games.  (LS)
• We picked out good books in our classroom.  The books are called "Just Right" books.  (ES)
• Just Right books are perfect for you to read.  They are not too hard and not too easy, but Just Right.  (BT)
• This week we had our first fire drill practice.  (BV) 
• This afternoon we are going to have visitors during Math Workshop.  (WB)
• We wrote family stories during Writing Workshop.  (JB)

Computer Zone

Today we will try out a brand new math program called Dreambox.  We are going to work with Ms. Hefeld, the district technology coordinator, who will teach us how to get started with this program.

A Peek at the Week of September 10-14

This week's calendar of Special Events:
Monday: Homework Begins & Class Coffee for Parents
Tuesday: Class Picture Day
Wednesday: World Language Assembly
Friday: Mystery Reader

Last week I met with our class Room Moms, Erin Schenck and Blair Martin. They will be sharing my volunteer set-ups at the Class Coffee on Monday, September 10th. I look forward to having parents visit our classroom throughout the year for Game Days, Mystery Readers and party helpers.

The first 2 weeks of school we worked on setting up routines and schedules and learning each other's names. We have a great class of 23 kids who are excited to work and play with each other.

Homework will begin this week! Your children should get into the habit (if they haven't already) of reading every day. There will be written homework Monday-Wednesday, usually a sheet of Word Study, Math, Reading or Writing.

Reading Workshop: We have enjoyed hearing about everyone's favorite books from home.
These books are being kept in our Book Baskets. This week we will begin "Book Shopping" for our 'Just Right' books. Our lessons this week will focus on how to pick out books based on reading and interest level. We will be working on increasing our Independent Reading time. Other lessons this week will be about how our classroom library is organized, how to find books and how to return books.

Word Study: We are getting more into our academics now in week 3. We have made our Word Study groups and have had a chance to work on some assignments with our group. This week each group will start on their own lists and do many activities with the words. The list of words will come home every Monday stapled to a homework choice sheet.

Writing Workshop: We have been doing some short writing pieces. We are getting used to stretching out our ideas when writing sentences. Using capital letters at the beginning of every sentence is a goal.

Math Workshop: We begin each lesson with a 'warm up' of quick drills to get our brains thinking about numbers. We use our white boards each day during warm ups.

Homework
Monday 9/10
1. Read for at least 10 minutes
2. Fall Word Work (choose 1 of the listed assignments from the sheet)

Tuesday 9/11
1. Read for at least 10 minutes
2. Math: Numbers All Around Us

Wednesday 9/12
1. Read for at least 10 minutes
2. Reading Survey

Thursday 9/13
1. Read for at least 10 minutes
2. Review your words for tomorrow's spelling test!

Have a great week!

Highlights of the Week

Be on the lookout for a blue-colored booklet. The first page has the directions. Your child wrote a letter to someone in his/her family. There is a page for you to write back.

Mystery Reader

We had our first mystery reader. It was Mrs. Goldstein, our Assistant Principal. She read a book called "Owl Babies". It was a cute story.

Highlights of the Week September 7

-We played Capture the Flag in gym.  (MD)
-I learned how to jump rope better in gym.  (LM)
-We went to the school garden. (AS)
-We learned that Miss Dineen's favorite book is Fancy Nancy.  (BO)
- I became a faster speed walker.  (BV)
- We learned to keep a beat in music.  (WB)
- I know how to make a sketch book.  (BT)
- In library we checked out fun books.  (WD)
- I learned some new songs in music.  (GG)
-There are new, cool books in the library.  (LS)
- We practiced sounding out words in our books.  (JB)
-We sorted words in our Rainbow Groups.  (DP)
-We learned a lot of songs in music.  (GP)
-We went on a Scavenger Hunt for books.  (ES)
-We looked for books that matched the colored dots on cards.  (SD)
-We read different books.  (MRS)
-We talked about finding a good spot to read.  (CN)
-A good reading spot is a place that is comfortable and quiet.  (AD)
-We used the computers in the lab.  (GM)
-We put the work that we don't finish in our red Catch Up folders.  (WC)
- I played with my friends at recess.  (RC)
- Miss Dineen gave us new math books.  (VS)
-Free Choice time is at the end of the day.  It is fun.   We get to play with fake money, play doh, blocks, and draw.  (RS)

Harvest Time!

We worked outside at the school garden this afternoon. Our class was in charge of picking the carrots. We lost count of how many we picked.

Computer Zone

Today we will play some games on a great website called ABCYA. 

Rainbow Word Work

Today we made our "Rainbow" groups. This is the group we work with to do some phonics activities and learning centers. Today each group did a word sorting activity.