Week of August 29, 2016

Wahoo! Our first week (and a full week, no less) has been fun and full of new learning!

Ask your child: What was your favorite material this week?

• We "opened" so many new materials this week! When we open a material, we discuss what we notice, how we could use it and how to take care of it. Then we explore and practice! This week we opened: pencils, electric sharpener, clipboards, scrap paper bin, crayons, colored pencils, hand held sharpeners, pencil boxes, scissors, glue sticks, book boxes, some of our book nook, geoblocks, pattern blocks, base 10 blocks, blue blocks, and connecting cubes. (We've been pretty busy).
• We also began learning about our new room set up! We are using flexible seating this year, which means we do not have assigned desks. We find a place where we can do our best learning throughout the day. That might mean that sometimes we are standing at a desk, but then later lay down on a pillow. We created rules and shared ways to use the seats. Students have practiced using each seating choice and deciding if a spot is helping them do their best. More details to come, but so far we love it!
• We learned about time away and practiced using our calming caddy.
• We sang lots of songs from last year and learned new songs: Funga Alafia and Oh My.
• We read Even Superheroes Have Bad Days. Then we brainstormed what our super power is when we are feeling mad or sad. We felt inspired and created our own super heroes to display next to our super power (pictures will be posted soon!)
• We did lots of superhero themed activities including designing a cape, reading superhero books, reading superhero poems, decorating superhero books, and more! It was a great theme to help us learn and practice using materials in our room and build strong work habits!
• We shared about the qualities of a good partner.

Literature

• How To Deal with Bullies Superhero Style By: Wiley Blevins
• Timothy and the Super Strong Pajamas By: Viviane Schwarz
• Even Superheroes Have Bad Days By: Shelly Becker
• Kate and Pippin By: Martin Springett
• Schools Around the World By: Margriet Ruurs
• Too Much Glue By: Jason Lefebvre

Reminders

• A HUGE thank you to all of the families in our class! We really appreciate all of the donations of wipes, colored pencils, tennis balls, and dry erase markers this week. We have already begun using and sharing them and are so lucky to have such generous families!
• Remember you have to go "slow" to go "fast." We will be slowly and purposefully adding in academics again this year. We spend time building our classroom community, learning routines, building strong work habits, and taking ownership of our learning time and classroom materials. When we take time to lay this foundation, we will really be able to soar this year!
• We have Library every Tuesday, so please make sure your child packs his/her books!
• Students need to wear sneakers on our PE days (Tuesdays and Fridays)