What a beautiful Fall week we all enjoyed! The students were so happy to be back from the very long weekend away from school and we spent most of out time outside. We read a story called Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf during circle time that showed the life cycle of a maple tree. When we went outside, we went on a hunt for more beautiful Fall leaves to display in the classroom!
On Monday, we celebrated Ally's birthday! Happy Birthday Ally and thank you so much for the yummy cupcakes and juice. 
We had a special visitor help us in the math center and read, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie during circle time! Thank you to Luke's Grandma for coming in and being a part of our morning!
We shared a new story this week during the morning meeting titled JK Star Rules. This book helps us all to remember what the rules of the classroom are and why we need them in order to learn in the room. We have a new job on the helper board, leader. This job is given to many students in the room when I need help showing others what a star student looks like. I can call on one of the leaders and they will show me and the class a safe body, quiet lips, and respectful choices.
The morning meeting helper has an added responsibility to help with the morning letter. Not only will he/she track the words to help the class read the letter, he/she will write his/her name on the board, and he/she will help fill in the missing beginning letter sound to words in the letter. For instance, one sentence on the board usually reads: We have music today. But each day a new beginning letter sound will be missing so the board might read: We have _usic today. The JK kids think this is hysterical that I would forget to write some letters on the board! They are having a good time helping me remember what letter comes at the beginning of different words.
We began four centers this week: fine motor, listening, math, and language arts. We did not get to all four centers this week and we will be finishing them up on Monday and Tuesday of this coming week. In the fine motor center, students were able to work with the Handwriting Without Tears wooden pieces to make letters. Ms. Becker talked them through the creation of the letters using the HWT language, for example saying, big line down, little curve at the top makes a Capital P.
In the listening center, the JK kids had a choice of the computer, listening to a story on tape, or working with the Leap Pad activity books. This is an independent center where the children are able to navigate these activities on their own.
In the math center, the JK kids explored shapes such as diamonds, squares, and triangles. The students freely explored the shapes and built objects such as trains while learning or reviewing the names of the shapes as they created. They also continued to practice their counting skills by telling how many shapes they used to build their object. Next week the children will build on their knowledge of these shapes and create patterns with shapes, tell simple addition and subtraction stories, and continue to count the number of objects used in the patterns.
In the language arts center, the JK children worked on the -ack family words. We built a rhyming list of words that they would find in the story Jack. Some students practiced beginning sounds, rhyming sounds, sight word recognition, and tracking words on a page. Each group lesson is differentiated to meet the needs of the individual child. When everyone has completed this center, the Jack books will go home.
Free Choice is a great time for the students to choose activities that they enjoy the most. They build social skills, independence, and creativity every morning!
Thank you so much to the Bach family for donating this new light table! The children are exploring with Lego blocks during free choice. We will be introducing a variety of color wands too so they can explore mixing colors in a different way!
The writing center is set up for the children to use a variety of tools to write and explore with with such as chalk, dry erase markers, crayons, play-doh, scissors, and all kinds of materials.
Third Grade Reading Buddies! Every other Thursday!!!
We were busy preparing for Grandparents Day this week as well! The JK kids practiced three songs that they will perform on Tuesday morning. We encourage you to turn in your form indicating who will be here for Grandparents day as soon as you can so we can be prepared for the Grandparents to join us for the performance and in our classroom! Grandparents Day is November 23 beginning in the gym at 9:00a.m.
Thank you for meeting with me during Parent Teacher conferences. I hope meeting has provided you useful information on your child's academic skills. I thank you for your insight in getting to know each of your children better too.
October's Scholastic Book Orders came in last week and were placed in your child's mailbox. The November orders will be due on November 23. December orders will be available beginning the week of November 29 and due on December 10 for those of you that will not be able to make it in for Roycemore's Book Fair December 6 -10.
There is no school Wednesday, November 24 - Friday, November 26 for Thanksgiving Vacation. Classes resume on Monday, November 29.
Centers for the week of November 15-19 are language arts, math, and art. The students will be creating turkey hand prints, playing turkey bingo (matching upper case letters and lower case letters), and making patterns with shapes.
The students will be focusing on the Thanksgiving Holiday through stories, poems, games, and art. They will be preparing for the Grandparents Day visit as well.
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