I hope you are all enjoying the wonderful start of October! The autumn colors across our community have been absolutely spectacular this week. Inside our classroom, we are officially in full swing with our academic learning, and our students are continuing to show incredible focus and growth. There is a beautiful magic happening in our classroom right now. It is incredible to watch them put their absolute best foot forward every morning, stepping into each day with growing confidence, eager minds, and a wonderful sense of community.
1st Grade Math: Complements of 10, Story Problems & Graphing
Our 1st grade math students focused on finding complements of 10, solving story problems, and playing an interactive graphing game where they collected and interpreted their own data. Developing fluency with complements of 10 and solving story problems lays the groundwork for algebraic thinking and flexible mental computation. Interpreting self-collected graphing data connects abstract mathematical concepts to real-world contexts while building foundational statistics skills.
2nd Grade Math: Open Number Lines & 100 Charts
Our 2nd graders focused on utilizing open number lines and 100 charts as tools for both addition and subtraction. Using open number lines and 100 charts provides students with powerful visual models to understand distance between numbers, place value, and jump strategies. These flexible mental models deepen numerical fluency and prepare students for complex multi-digit computation.
Writing & Upcoming Narrative Unit
In writing, students continued crafting structured paragraphs and applying their editing checklists to refine their work. It has been wonderful to see their self-monitoring editing habits develop. Next week, we are excited to kick off our new personal narrative writing unit, where students will learn to tell engaging true stories from their own lives!
Open House & Flat Stanley Adventures
It was great to see all of you at this year's Open House! I hope your child was a wonderful tour guide, as I always love seeing the genuine excitement they have when showing you what they do every day.
We also launched our Flat Stanley projects this week! The children wrote personal notes to their selected recipients, carefully addressed their envelopes, and mailed them on Wednesday. We are thrilled to track each Flat Stanley's travels on our classroom map. As each Flat Stanley returns, I will send home a new form so your child can select a new destination!
Civics & Our Class Charter
As part of our social studies civics unit, our students collaboratively created a Class Charter—a shared poster that describes how everyone wants to feel when they come to school each day. Grounded in our classroom expectations, the core words our students chose are feeling valued, safe, calm, accepted, and practicing acts of kindness. This living document helps hold all of us accountable to our actions and words, ensuring our classroom remains a warm and supportive community.
Read-Aloud Spotlight
• Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn: A gentle, beautifully illustrated journey of a young girl walking through the woods and town to greet the subtle signs of changing seasons.
• Fall Mixed Up: A silly, imaginative rhyming story where autumn traditions and nature get hilariously jumbled, encouraging children to spot the funny mistakes.
• The Biggest Apple Ever: Clayton and Desmond work together in a spirit of true cooperation to harvest apples and bake the largest apple pie ever for their school contest.
• The Circles All Around Us: A heartwarming story showing how simple acts of kindness, inclusion, and empathy expand our personal circles to connect us with the wider world.
Classroom Volunteers:
The classroom volunteer schedules will start next week. Below is the schedule: Each session will start promptly at the listed time. I appreciate that so many have the ability to do this. If you see an opening that you would like, please let me know.
Notes & Reminders
• Weekly News Journal: Your child has brought home their Weekly News Journal in their homework bag. Please take a look at their entry together, read their writing, and initial the inside cover. I hope this provides a meaningful way to connect about an event from your child's week at school! Please return it in their bag on Monday.
• Cooler Weather Gear: As the autumn weather cools down, please ensure your child brings a warm jacket or sweatshirt to school every day for outdoor recess and fresh-air breaks.
That is all for now. I hope everyone has a great weekend.
Peace,
Mr. Young
