Newsletter Week of August 21st

Week of August 21st

Good morning parents,

I hope you all had a relaxing weekend. Last week was a very busy week, building our reading and writing stamina and setting up our classroom agreements. During the open house, I hope you get the opportunity to see your child's hope and dream for this year. This is their goal for the academic year. It is great to see our community coming together. If there is any parent interested in being our room mom or dad, please send me an email and let me know. I will be asking at the open house for a room parent. If you are interested before then, please do let me know. I hope to see you at Open House Monday evening.

This week will begin on a day 4.

Reading

We will begin our first reading unit: Building a Reader’s life. Students will learn to choose books that are just right for them and to monitor as they read so they can spend their time reading lots of books with accuracy and comprehension

Writing

We will begin our first writing unit: Crafting True Stories. This week students will learn how to find ideas for stories. Students can think of an important person or place and list the moments that happened. Then students choose one of these moments and begin drafting their story. Students will also set clear reading goals and track their progress towards their goals.

Math

We will begin our first math unit on Measurement.

In this unit students will:

• Tell and write time to the nearest minute and measure time intervals in minutes.
• Solve elapsed time, including word problems, by using a number line diagram.
• Reason about the units of mass and volume.

Social Studies

Students will begin to learn about what makes a map and what tools help us to read a map such as a compass rose, map key, symbols (landforms), etc. If you have any maps at home that you would not mind the class looking at, please send them to school with your child to share.

Please take a minute to look at our ES Parent Learning Connection. Here you will find information and resources of our units in Mathematics and Literacy.

Great article from NYT on children and reading.

Week of August 21st. Please complete 2 activities and bring to share on Friday, August 25th.

Math: Make records of important times of the day (wake-up, dinner, going to school, getting home from school, etc.) and practice telling how long between activities ( I have 23 minutes between dinner and home learning).	Language arts: Act out your personal narrative - be sure to think about the actions, dialogue, and feelings when you act.	Language arts: Make a list of how you make your reading the best it can be at home (choosing a comfy spot, reading new genres, etc)
Math: Practice your fact fluency (addition, or subtraction) Flashcards, online, games, worksheets, cards.	Social Studies: Study a map you have at home. List what makes a map (map key, compass, colors)	Other: Go for a walk with a friend or family. Talk about the best part of your day.

Remember: Reading is just what we do. It is expected each night.