Grade 1-2

Dear Families,

Developing a love of reading is something we work towards in the Grade 1/2 classroom. Although not every child is going to love reading, my hope is that every child develops at least an appreciation of reading. Fortunately, this year’s class is filled with children who love books of all kinds and who love to read. From the nonfiction books about volcanoes, which prompted many thoughtful questions in social studies, to the always popular children’s books like Miss Nelson is Missing, to our end-of-day read-aloud, The World of Pooh… The words we read spark images, the images spark imaginations, and new worlds open up our hearts.  All day, every day, we are surrounded by books, including books that we have written.

Ways to Foster a Love of Reading at Home

* Read aloud to your children as often as possible.

* Keep books of all kinds in your home. Children who grow up surrounded by books          tend to become lifelong readers.  It is said that a home without books is like a house without windows.

* Model reading whenever you can, by sharing what you read with your children:  online news, recipes, a local newspaper, or even a piece of mail.

A few days ago, two students walked across the room with their noses in their books. We were transitioning from reading time to music class, yet they just couldn’t stop reading.  It was one of those moments that teachers of young children hope for, and it is one that all of us can help to create.

All the best,

Kay

Dear Families,

Friday was our 26^th day of school. Your children have been working very hard and already are developing into capable young people. How do I know this? By the many things they do independently throughout the school day. Establishing routines early in the year, paves the way for their newfound sense of security to move about our classroom with ease and confidence.

When the children arrive in our classroom they have three tasks to perform. First is to sign-in on a clipboard indicating if they will be picked up by a parent, taking the bus or going to PM at dismissal time. Second, they read the Morning Message and answer the question at the bottom. Third, they go to the white board to learn what the Morning Work is for the day and they get to work!

Do they sometimes need a reminder or some help reading words? Of course they do, but they own the process and the routine. At Morning Meeting they sit together as a class, and under their own leadership, proceed through the steps of greeting each other, sharing, re-reading the Morning Message, filling-in our calendar and weather chart before reviewing our schedule for the day.

Thank you for getting your children to school by 8:10. As you can see, your children accomplish a great deal within the first hour! I look forward to talking with you all during Parent Conferences on November 1 and 2.

All the best,

Kay

Dear Families,

On our first day together in Grade 1 and 2 we read Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson. Throughout the story we talked about ways to show kindness and why treating each other with kindness is important. In the story, the teacher has each student drop a small stone into a bowl of water. As they drop the stone each child shares an act of kindness that they performed. She tells them each little thing we do goes out, like a ripple, into the world. It is one of our classroom goals this year to spread kindness throughout our classroom and the BCD campus.

This week we will go on a hike to find “kindness” stones which we will gently drop in water so that we can see the ripples spread wider and wider.  Throughout the year, we will be putting paper stones (that we painted and cut) on our Kindness Wall each time one of us is the recipient of an act of kindness.

I hope your child enjoyed our first week of school as much as I did. Thank you so much for sharing your child with all of us here at BCD!

Kay