News From Our Classroom

      Hello.  I'm back to fill you in on what we did last week, and what we can look forward to this week.  We have justed completed our first full (5-day) week of school, and of course the temperatures had to get hotter.  Between the heat, the "Lockdown Drills" and taking the first NWEA tests, it has been a hectic, full week!

      Our first "Lock Down" Drill was Tuesday morning.  I think some of the kids were just a little nervous, so it's good that everyone was here to practice.  The children did very well, considering they were not able to talk (one of the requirements is to be "as quiet as possible" so no one could hear us in our classroom) or move around at all.   The lights were out, and we were all crowded into one space, but the kids handled the situation like troopers!  We were lucky this time that this "lock down" only lasted about 20 minutes, but sometimes they may go on for an hour or more.  We were in a safe place, we were nice and quiet, and we waited patiently for "Lock Down" to be all done!  Thank you for having your child participate in this drill with us--sometimes, the biggest concern is "fear of the unknown".  It is possible that we will practice "Lock Down" a few more times this year, so everyone is sure what he or she is supposed to be doing in the event of "Lock Down".  It's the best way to be prepared.
        We took our first of two NWEA tests on Wednesday.  This test was for Reading. I will tell you, Parents, that new, updated version seems a lot less friendly to young children than the older version did.  The old version seemed to get harder with each correct answer, and easier with each incorrect response.  This version seemed more random than that, and there was a lot less visual support.  That being said, I was very impressed with how well the children handled the testing situation.  Each child to his or her time, and really tried to do their BEST, and at this point, that is all I could ask of them.  We will have taken the second NWEA test (in Math, this time) today by the time you read this newsletter.  Hopefully, the children tried their best today, as well.  As I mentioned before, we will be sharing these results with you in the relatively near future.
         On Thursday, I had a sub for the morning so that I could try to get as many of our DRA reading tests done as possible.  I was able to finish most of them Thursday morning, though I did do one or two on Friday morning.  I will need a little time to look them over, and begin to separate the kids by reading levels and skills needed.  We should be able to begin official Reading Groups next Monday, 9/25.  We will be done reading those fairy tale books by then, and the books that come home overnight from the 25th on should be at your child's reading level. So should the sight word cards that come home on Monday nights.  PLEASE KEEP THE LITTLE PACKETS OF CARDS AT HOME, SO YOUR CHILD WILL HAVE THEM TO PRACTICE WITH EACH NIGHT.  RIGHT NOW, WE ARE JUST LEARNING TO READ THEM, BUT LATER IN THE YEAR, WE WILL ALSO NEED THE CARDS TO HELP US PRACTICE SPELLING THESE WORDS.  Also coming home beginning on the 25th will be a page of 12 sentences that the children need to be able to read fluently by Friday the 29th.  This means that your child will be able to read them without hesitation, sounding as though they were just speaking them.  There are six sentences on each side of the paper, and when I test the kids on the sentences, I will randomize the order of the sentences, so you want to practice them in random order, as well.   Parents, you don't have to "kill and drill" the sight words or the sentences.  I am asking you to review each with your child each night for a few minutes for words, and a few more minutes for sentences.  Words, sentences, and reading his or her book to you should only take your child 10 -15 minutes per night, if your child applies himself.  If you are finding that this work takes you significantly longer than that, please give me a call and we will have a conversation about it.  The cards and sentences are to stay home with you.  Only the "little readers" return to me each morning.  And, as always, there will be NO HOMEWORK over the weekends.
        Friday was a special day because we had our pictures taken in the morning, and basically had a book celebration the rest of the day!   Has your child told you that we have been reading our first chapter book, called The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner?  It has been my afternoon "Read Aloud" since school started.  Each day, I try to read a chapter (sometimes two) to the children.  It is my hope that by modeling what good reading sounds like (right down to changing voices for different characters), and feels like (we get emotionally involved with the characters), I am encouraging your child to develop the desire to read some of these  "chapter books" himself or herself.  Since chapter books last for periods of several weeks, these longer stories lend themselves better to character or plot discussions, as  we review what important events happened the LAST time we read before we start today's chapter.  All of those Literacy elements we are supposed to be learning about, like plot, setting, character development, story sequence, problem/ climax/ resolution, and making connections between texts, between the book and ourselves, or between the story and the world.   Well, we finished The Boxcar Children last Thursday, so on Friday, I brought in "Share" instead of the kids' doing it--we had a celebration for completing the novel!!!  I shared an animated video of The Boxcar Children that was given to me by one of my families several years ago.  It took the better part of the day!  We watched some of it in the morning after I completed those last  DRAs, and then we finished the remainder of the video in the afternoon.   The afternoon session was long, so about half way through, we took a break and I shared "apple treats" with everyone in the classroom.  (One of our little girls was absent, so we only ate those things that were perishable.  We will have OTHER apple treats next week when everyone is here.)  We were able to use our five senses to enjoy apple bread, apple tarts, apple cinnamon doughnuts, and apple fritters.  The pieces were small because there was so much to try.  We learned how to pass food to the person farthest away from the table, and how to wait until EVERYONE had their plate before we started eating.  Mrs. DeCarolis showed us how to take a small "No Thank You" bite, chew it up, swallow, and decide whether or not we wanted to eat the remainder of the item on our plate.  If we didn't wish to finish the item, we could put it in the trash.  Very little food went into the trash!!!  I was very impressed with how patient and friendly the children were to one another.  After our little "feast", we finished the video.  It was interesting for me to listen to the discussions that occurred after the movie that had to do with how true the video had stayed to the book, what things from the story were left out in the video, and how the children felt about that.    This is exactly WHY  we do a "book celebration" of some sort after each of the chapter books.  It leads to 1) a love for reading  2) a PAINLESS analysis of books vs. videos  3) and a feeling of comradery based on sharing a common experience.  I have students visiting me from High School who fondly recall those book celebrations!    Our next read aloud, which we started today, is Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.  A lot of it takes place around "Fair Time", so it seems perfect for this time of year!
        Grandparents' Day afternoon will be happening this Friday.  As mentioned, the grandparents' visit will take place in the afternoon this year,  rather in the morning as it has been in the past.  We will be "flipping our day" on Friday (doing our Read Aloud, Scholastic News, Science and "Share Time" in the morning), so we can do Reading and Math with our grandparents while they are here. Not every child will be lucky enough to have their grandparents come to visit, so it would be lovely if grandparents who do come would share themselves with little groups of children, including their own grandchildren, of course.  Also, the school office has asked that they be told ahead of time if grandchildren will be leaving their grandparents.  This will help us keep track of where children should be and with whom they should be.  Thank you for your help with this matter.
          Starting today,  I will be on lunch duty in the cafeteria during your child's lunchtime for the next 15 school days.  Then, I will be on duty at recess time for the 15 days after that.  That means I will have no time until the children's "specials" time, to read parent notes and/ or return phone calls.  I promise I will try to catch up on all of that stuff before dismissal time each day.  If I cannot, then you may get a phone call after school.  Oh, and PTA is meeting TODAY at 6pm.  Sorry for the short notice, but I hope you can make it.  I will not be there EVERY time, but I will be there tonight.  Okay, well I think that's all there is to share this week.  I will be in touch again next weekend.  Have a wonderful week!