A Snapshot of the Beginning of the Year

We have had a terrific start to the school year. Routines are already in place, and the children are working hard to learn new things.

In math, we have just finished introducing all of the multiplication facts, and patterns for each fact family.  The children will be bringing home flashcards soon to practice their facts at home daily.   It is important that the practice is focused on a small group of facts at a time.  We will spend a little more time practicing multiplication at school before moving on to division in the coming weeks.  

In reading we have finished reading The Year of Billy Miller as we launched Reader’s Workshop.   Be sure to ask your child what they thought of the story, how the character changed throughout the story, and ask them to include specific details from the story while telling you about it.  The children have learned many strategies to use while reading, and we created a poster to help us remember to use these strategies throughout the year.  See how many they can remember to tell you about so that they can use them at home, too.  We have just started looking at reading Informational text.

In writing we are still working on personal narratives.  The children have written some interesting stories about themselves.  We are working on creating strong leads that include the setting, some action and dialogue, using specific details in the heart of their story, ending with action, dialogue and a possible author's message, and using transition words and phrases.  We have also studied and used the revising and editing processes.  We will be writing information text next.

We are just about ready to introduce our study of space.  We will be focusing on the phases of the moon, the order of the planets, as well as how the revolution of Earth causes day and night.  Be looking for a project to come home Monday involving the moon.

We will be starting a study of the Pilgrims and Wampanoag soon. The kickoff for this will be a trip to Plimouth Plantation.   Permission slips went home today, please sign and return as soon as possible.  If you would like to be a chaperone for the trip, please check the box as indicated.  You must have a CORI on file at Parmenter School in order to be considered.

Book fair starts next Wednesday.  It will be open during the Pumpkin Stroll, as well.  We hope to see you there.

Finally, tomorrow is our next spirit day.  Please have your child wear his/her Parmenter t-shirt if possible.