Wow! My head is STILL spinning from last week! I think we had too many days off (between snow/ice days and vacation time)! This past week felt like September again, with the children once again being unsure what to do next! One could tell it had been a while since we have had a full week in school, as the kids (and I) struggled to get through Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I would love to say that we will work next week to reestablish our "usual routines", but the timing is bad, and that will NOT be the case. It is time to do the assessments I must do toward the end of each ranking period. I will have to get sight word and reading evaluations at least started, if not finished, in order to get ready to do report cards. So, I will NOT be meeting with reading groups on a regular basis for this coming week, though the kids will still have plenty of opportunities to read. Because I will be seeing children individually for assessment, we will NOT have sight words or fluency sentences this week. "Little Readers" may come home on those rare days when we can fit them in, but I will spend the majority of "Reading Group" time determining how close each child is to the "end of the trimester benchmark" previously established. Hopefully, I can get all of this reading testing completed in this one week. We will have Math assessments to do, too, but more of them can be done "whole class".
As you have probably heard "through the grape vine" last week, Dr. Murphy has proposed to the Department of Education that rather than stretch our school year to the very END of June, that we make up 5 of those snow days by adding an hour to each school day for 25 days, beginning as soon as possible. That would mean that instead of our school day ending at 2:30, it would end at 3:30 each of those 25 days, and our last day of school would move back to June 16th. The DOE has not approved that plan yet, though approval is likely since they are the ones who created that option several years ago when it looked as though we might go to school until July 1. Still, different state administration could possibly have different thoughts on the matter. The CPS office will send out an official notification to parents and teachers if/ when this plan is approved. Obviously, if we have any more snow days or "flood/ mud" days, it will again either move the last day of school from the 16th toward the end of June, or we will have to apply for additional "lengthened days". Let us hope that we are have no more major storms, and that melting is slow enough so that we are spared the flood/mud problems. I know that it will be difficult for already tired kids to add that extra hour to their school day, so it is my plan to use that "extra hour" each day to 1) share "chapter books" with the children and 2) provide time for them to strengthen their skills in Reading and Math through "guided practice". I have created many "games" and activities to let the children "play" while learning, but because of the fast pace at which we must go through the curriculum, have not had much of a chance to use them. Obviously, the end of a day is not the time to present new material, but hopefully, extra practice time and "repair of work" time will be beneficial in that we will be able to spend less instructional time reviewing things we should have already learned. It is my desire that this time seem more like fun than like work.
Another change in our school calendar, as a result of the school board meeting the other night, is that the "Teacher Workshop Day" originally scheduled for Friday, March 17th, is no longer happening. It is now a school day again, and attendance at school is expected.
Our guidance counselor, Katina Colombotos, had been organizing an opportunity for someone to come into our school to talk to the children about personal safety. In our case, the talk was supposed to be about what "personal space" is, why it's important, and appropriate steps kids can take if someone is violating their "personal space". The person who was supposed to come in has received special training in working with young children on this (and a variety of other) childhood safety matters. Katina was notified Friday afternoon that the personal safety program would have to be canceled for the year, as this woman would NOT be available to come to our school. We were not provided any details as to why the program was canceled. I just wanted to let you know that the safety program you received notification about on Friday will NOT be happening for the children this year.
The next piece of news is that Sunday River has been in touch with Mr. Brown, and has tentatively rescheduled our "day at the mountain" for Wednesday, March 22. The plan is that our first graders will go to the mountain that day (from 8:30 to (1:45?), and would be back at school for "early bus" at 2:00. (Of course, an "extended day" MIGHT alter the hours involved.) However, March 22 is late into the ski season, and could be affected by heavy melting due to warm days and/ or rain fall. Who knows if we will still have snow to ski on by that time?!? March can be a rainy month, so we could get "rained out"! Still, I wanted you to know that Sunday River has made the attempt to "make up" the day we were supposed to go skiing, and that it is rescheduled for March 22. Certainly, as we get closer to the day involved, I will give you any information I am given.
We have begun an intense study of US coins, and counting money to $1.00. In our district, a first grader should be able to identify all common US coins (pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and half-dollars) by their names AND their values. They should be able to add coins up to establish their total value, and should be able to (when given a total value) be able to use various coins to "make" that value SEVERAL DIFFERENT WAYS. For example, if I gave the children the monetary sum of 37⍧, they could form that amount by using (37 pennies) or (3 dimes, 1 nickel and 2 pennies) or (7 nickels and 2 pennies) or (1 quarter, 1 dime, and 2 pennies) . . . Most of the children do know the coins' names (a few do not), and many of them know the coins' values (a few more do not). We are now focusing on adding coins, and figuring out what coins we need to "make" a certain amount. I will be sending home a "report" by the end of the week, letting you know what money skills your child already seems to have, and asking for help with those skills they still need to acquire. Using money and making change is a life-skill, but so few children "handle" money that it is a difficult one for them to acquire in their everyday lives. It would be great if you could find the time, a couple of times a week, to grab a handful of coins, and have your first grader sort them by "like coin", review their names and their values, put them in order from most valuable to least valuable, and count out their value. In order to be successful at this, your child will need to know how to "skip count" by 25 (on the quarters) AND to "skip count on" from that value by 10s for any dimes, and then "skip count on" from THAT value by 5s for any nickels, and then count on by ones for any pennies. They will also need to realize WHEN they must change the way they are "skip counting" (each time the value of the coin changes)--both are tricky to learn! That is why I have them put the money in descending order by value-- It's much easier to start with quarters than to add their values on at the end. Like many things in this world, counting money gets easier and easier with PRACTICE. I can provide SOME of that at school, but you can also provide some (without much effort or prep time on your part) at home. Any practice time YOU can provide helps make your child that much stronger in this area. Thank you.
That's all for this week. Remember, there is no homework sheet today because I will be assessing reading, sight words, and fluency this week. I will be "in touch" again next weekend. Have a wonderful week!
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