September In The Know

Our themes for September are "school days" & "apples." We will use these themes to introduce both narrative and expository writing, explore the difference between fiction and nonfiction literary genres,  learn about pollination and improve our counting skills. We are excited about our trip to Millstone Creek Apple Orchard this month! This is a great family-run farm that is very student friendly. The class will have the opportunity to learn about and taste different apple varieties, learn about tree grafting first-hand, make apple cider and of course we will go on a hayride through the farm just for fun! Johnny Appleseed Day is on the 23rd. During this day we will read and write about John Chapman as well use our math skills to make some apple goodies at school!

This month we will review correct letter formation and letter sounds. A common error many students make is not forming letters from the top to the bottom. Please encourage correct letter formation at home using the Fundations homework packet as a reference. Also, many students want to add the schwa sound to the end of many letter sounds, for example /b/-buh. When you hear those sounds just tell your child to "clip" the sound, and they will know what you are talking about. I am telling the students to "clip" these sounds in class as well. I know this may sound picky, but it truly makes a difference for emergent readers. The video below explains this in better detail:

The following are our show-and-tell themes for Friday:

• 8/30-toy
• 9/6-book
• 9/13-toy
• 9/20-book

-Show-and-tell items must be small enough to fit in a backpack, and they may not be alive. I encourage students to take pictures of any living items they want to share.

Math this month is all about place value up to 100 and building number sense. I would really love for the kids to have a solid foundation in the basics before moving to more abstract concepts.  

We will have our parent-teacher (IIP) conferences the first week of October. During this time we will look at beginning of the year data and set goals for the year. Please be sure to look for a Sign-up Genius in your email inbox soon for dates and times to sign-up. Of course, I'm always available to meet if you have questions before October. 

Upcoming Dates: 

• 8/30- 11:00 dismissal
• 9/2- no school 
• 9/6-book show-and-tell
• 9/13-toy show-and-tell
• 9/19- library trip- Please send in booster/ car seats
• 9/20- book show-and-tell
• 9/23- Johnny Appleseed Day
• 9/25 (tentative date-permission forms will come home soon)- apple farm field trip Please send in booster/ car seats
• 9/26- 11:00 dismissal 
• 9/27- no school
• 9/30-10/11- parent/teacher conferences