This has been a pretty hectic week, but I'm glad that all of our families are safe and weathered the storm! I called the orchard today, and we are still on for our field trip tomorrow. The following are a few reminders:
We will eat lunch at the farm, so please send a packed lunch. If you ordered lunch already, students can pick them up after school.
Please encourage your child to wear their field trip shirt tomorrow.
Please send in booster/car seats if your child requires them.
Small electronics are allowed on the van as long as they have headphones or earbuds.
We will leave campus shortly after 8:00; if you are planning on going with us you are welcome to follow the van or meet us at the farm ( 506 Parks Crossroads Church Rd. Ramseur, NC). If you prefer to meet us at the farm with your child please let me know so that we won't wait for you in the morning.
We are scheduled to arrive at Millstone Creek Orchards at 9:30, and we will return to campus in time for afternoon classes.
Every year the primary class participates in writing a book which is published through Student Treasures Publishing. This year our theme is "Christmas is..." Our books will be back before we leave for Christmas break, and they make a great gift for family members. However, we understand and respect that our class is comprised of students of various faiths. Please send me a message separately if you are uncomfortable with your child participating in a Christian themed class book.
For more about the process and Student Treasures Publishing, check out the video below.
We enjoyed our library visit today! We started with an apple craft, read some books about apples and we had a tour of the children's room. Some of the library card applications came back because either there was already a card issued for you, some of the information was missing on the form, or the card needed to be renewed. I put those applications in the kids' backpacks with a note on them. Please be sure to update these ASAP. I allowed those students to check out books with my personal card; however, please return the books to me by the 24th so I can renew them 😊. These are some pictures from our visit today:
Thank you to those of you who have already selected a time to meet through Sign-Up Genius. If you did not receive the link via email please let me know. I look forward to meeting with all of you soon!
By popular demand, we will start "Show and Tell" next week. Each Friday students are encouraged to bring something from home to share with the class. We will alternate weeks with a book or a toy. I will make a note on the homework sheet as to which week it is.
We are off to a great start this school year, and it's hard to believe we are already in our 4th week of school! We have a lot of fun and exciting things planned for the month of September. A few of our objectives for this month are:
asking and answering questions about text
describing characters, settings and events in a story
understanding common, proper and possessive nouns
using strategies to make addition and subtraction easier
comparing two 2-digit numbers
This Thursday (9/6) we will be off campus from 9:00-11:00 for our trip to the High Point library. We will take the school van, so if your child requites a booster seat, please send it with them on Thursday.
I have heard from a few of you about some struggles you are having with homework. Please keep it simple. The most important thing you can do is read with your child for 20 minutes every day. This is one of the few things I am adamant about because the research is very clear on the benefits of reading and being read to in the primary grades. Once a child reaches 3rd grade his brain slows its development and reading habits become set. Please don't miss this opportunity in your child's development. For further reading on the topic click here.
Also, please let me know if you are woking on flashcards instead of Xtramath at home; I see that some students have not logged in yet. I apologize for bing a stickler about this, but it is amazing to see the progress of the students who do this regularly! The following video is a tutorial for logging in at home. If you are having trouble with this please let me know and I will help you.
One of our major themes for September is apples. We will learn about apple varieties, tree grafting, pollination and pollinators, sustainable living & we will explore the life and times of John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed). We are planning on going to Millstone Creek Orchards on September 19th. While there we will have some fun hands-on activities and games! We will have lunch at the farm, but we'll return to school for science lab, specials and PE. Permission forms will go home today in your child's homework folder.
This week we start our regular homework routine! I recommend keeping homework simple. There is a sheet in your child's homework folder; please keep it until next Monday. Essentially the homework sheet is just a reading log and an accountability piece for Xtramath. Please encourage your child to read for 20 minutes nightly- including weekends. Xtramath should be done daily as well. If you have any questions please let me know!
We are having a great first day! It has been fantastic meeting so many new faces and seeing familiar ones too! I am very excited for a great new school year.
Homework this week will be pretty simple; your child will come home with a paper bag, please encourage them to fill it with things that they would like to share with the class. I don't recommend sending in anything that is easily broken, and if there is something that doesn't fit in the bag they are welcome to draw a picture of it and bring it in. I will start my BOY assessments tomorrow, and I will have two assistants in the room through Friday. I will also send out a Sign-Up Genius soon to set up times to meet with each of you. I look forward to working with you and your child this year!
