Dear Parents,

 

The colors are fading, the leaves are falling; and it's dark out by 5 p.m. It must be November, and the holidays are right around the corner!  It's good-bye colorful, beautiful October!  It was a good month. We have been learning about bats and owls. The children are fascinated with these creatures! Thanks to Mrs. Young and Mrs. Atkins, we had successful bat and owl centers in October. The children got to dissect owl pellets and review bat facts by making a puzzle of a bat out of the facts. We had our first in-house field trip, and the children got to see eight owls of various sizes. And last but not least, we ended with a Halloween celebration.  Our party was very successful thanks to all of you who sent in goodies and our Room Mother (Mrs. Cunliffe) and party helpers (Mrs. Atkins and Mrs. Bassett).

 

We will be completing our bat and owl unit by the beginning of next week, and we will then begin our study of Native Americans and Pilgrims, with a focus on the First Thanksgiving. We are planning a First Thanksgiving skit; and more about that will be sent home.

 

In reading we are in Unit 2, the 3rd story. Please keep reading at home; and don't forget to send in the monthly book it calendar at the end of the month!  We are publishing our first descriptive story this week.  The children went through the whole writing process (drafting, revising, editing and finally publishing and sharing their writing). They are very excited about their red editing and revising pens!

 

Unit 2 in Math focuses on geometry. It's a very hands-on unit, and the children have really been excited to learn about 3-D shapes; 2-D shapes; and symmetry.  We should be completing this unit by the end of next week.  Don't forget to keep studying our math facts. I will be sending home our doubles math facts tomorrow to begin practicing. A fluency quiz will be given on our doubles addition and subtraction in two weeks.  On Friday our first school-wide math fluency check will be given to all grades.  This is repeated two more times throughout the year, and that data is kept in the students' files.  We like to see improvement each time it is given.

 

I will be seeing all of you very shortly for conferences. A reminder of the time and date will be sent out next week.  See you then!