Good Morning,
I hope you have all had a great week. As we wrap up week three, I am both pleased and excited with what the group has accomplished and the routines they have already mastered. On Wednesday, we officially started our writing times. We talked about why writers write and discussed the concept of spelling in their work. I stressed that spelling is important but that I don't expect them to already know how to spell each word they use. I showed them how to sound out a word and then circle it and move on. By circling the word, they are indicating that they tried their best but don't think it is spelled correctly. This eliminates the issue of students getting hung up and not producing writing pieces.
Today I introduced a game called silent dodgeball. It is a fun game that has become a tradition in my classroom. We play this game every Friday during our morning meeting. I spent some time talking about wanting to win and how to handle if you don't. We also talked about respecting the game and the rules that come with it. I then related the conversation to the kids playing soccer this weekend. How can they respect the game and make sure that they are enjoying the experience of the game. I explained that it is absolutely ok to want to win but to also know how to handle when things don't go the way they planned (hence the Respecting the Game). I told the kids they could email me and let me know about their soccer experience over the weekend. The point of these conversations are much bigger than the specific examples themselves and will continue to be part of our discussion as we learn to work with others.
Below is today's video. I hope you enjoy.
Notes:
*I will be out of the building on Wednesday. Last spring the Governor appointed me to the Vermont Standards Board for Professional Educators. We have a monthly meeting and October's meeting is next week.
*Please have your child in the classroom by 7:40. Now that the year is well on its way and the students all seem comfortable with the transition back to school, I ask that you make this a focus. Once October hits, the students will be working on spelling words from 7:40-7:50 each day. This amounts to 50 minutes of work a week. If your child misses this or is late each day, it puts them at a disadvantage with their peers. I appreciate your support and focus with getting your child to school on time.
*Homework bags. Please make sure that your child brings back their homework bag and reading book each day. I can;t send home a new book unless both come back.
*WEEKLY NEWS: Today your child has their Weekly News journal in the homework bag. We will write in these journals every Friday. The focus in learning to write a letter, a paragraph, detail and elaboration and/or sentence structure. It allows kids to write at their level and for each student to work on different skills. The entry will always focus on something about each child's week at school. Your job will be to read the letter and respond back. We will share the responses at Monday Morning Meetings. When you respond, just write on the side of the column or top or bottom of each page. Please make sure these journals come back each week.
That is all for now. I hope you have a great weekend.
Peace,
Tommy
