Happy Monday?!?!

Obviously, I'm having a hard time building up the routines, too! When I woke my children up this morning, all three asked for more time to sleep...I think they're still struggling getting into the school routine...as am I, since this is the SECOND time in a row I did not blog on Friday or Saturday....

Well, let me tell you about our week last week...

First of all, it was wonderful seeing so many of you at Back to School Night! If you were unable to attend, a manila folder should have come home last week with some important information in it...as well as a volunteer form. If you are interested in being a classroom volunteer, I need that form back ASAP, please! I also need the blog PHOTO permission form so that I can start photographing the FRONT of your child! ;-)

I also want to thank you for getting your children to school so promptly! They are supposed to unpack, copy their agenda, complete the Daily Language Assignment, and be ready to roll at 8:35...hard to do if you're rolling in at 8:30, so thank you!!

We are working on Before and During Reading Strategies in Language Arts right now. As a class, we are reading a book titled Jake Drake, Teacher's Pet. It is written by Andrew Clements, and is a really engaging book! I have been talking to the kids about how they are strong readers, and that they use strategies while they're reading and they're not even aware they're using the strategies! We spent some time comparing fiction and non-fiction and we used those books to talk about good reading strategies BEFORE you read a text. This coming week we will continue with During Reading strategies while reading their own novel in school, and at home.

In Writing we have begun using the Writer's Workshop model. Even kids who do not choose to write for pleasure end up enjoying Writer's Workshop...and these kids are off to a great start! I can't wait for you to see the ideas they are coming up with. Speaking of ideas...that has been our focus and we've created lots of different ways to record ideas for writing in our Writer's Notebooks.

In Social Studies we've immersed ourselves in maps...cardinal and intermediate points, grid systems, etc...and now we're going to use those skills as we identify national landmarks and symbols all over our country. The kids are enjoying this unit and will be researching a particular state and making a brochure in class that will be a culminating project of all that is learned!

In Math we've continued our numeration unit and we have had fun playing a game called "The Digits Game"...this game is fantastic and is one you could play at home. Let your child be the "teacher" and you be the student. Use your logic and deductive reasoning to identify the correct number...they ask to play it everyday! They just love it! We are heading into the unit addition and subtraction of bigger numbers. We will be applying the skills and working to persevere when solving problems!!

This past week I had a student that spent a huge amount of time on homework because it was hard. I got an email from the Mom alerting me to this...and I am SOOO thankful. Please, if your child is ever spending 45 minutes on a particular assignment, STOP THEM, write me a note, and I will work with your child to make sure the assignments are more appropriate for their learning. I really appreciate that line of communication.

Have a great week...I will REALLY try to post Friday or Saturday at the latest!