Dear Families,

We had a great week! We started our writing program and the children are on their way to becoming authors. They are drafting Personal Narratives. They grab an event or idea in their mind, sketch it,and then write a tiny bit about it. It is a process that asks each of them to take the risk to share stories about themselves. They practice phonemes as they try to put words and sentences on the paper. They are asked to draft stories and focus on content. Several children volunteered to share their work with the class. I expect more this week. The writing stays in their folders, which you are welcome to look at anytime you are in the classroom. I will share all their work at our Parent Conference. It will gives us an opportunity to see the progress over time.

In math we are focusing on Number Sense. We count, count, and then count some more. We are practicing writing single and double digit numbers. We compare sets. We are learning to sort, classify, and identify patterns in number.This is all to prepare for addition and subtraction.

We adopted a tree in the front yard of BCD. It is a crab apple tree. We are going to be observing the tree throughout the seasons. We will try to find out the history of the tree by interviewing Mr. Bingham. We looked at leaves and classified them by lobed, toothed, smooth, or toothed and lobed. There will be a homework assignment tomorrow, Monday. Please look for the instructions in your child’s backpack.

We had an exciting Friday! We had our first fire drill and we took it very seriously. Keeping each other safe is part of our First Grade Pledge. We were invited to an assembly called “Birds of Prey” . We were able to observe magnificent birds of all sizes; owls, eagles, and falcons. It was a wonderful treat! And we had our first birthday celebration. Happy Birthday Brenna!

Tomorrow begins our first full week. It is also the first week of Enrichment classes. Please send a note listing your child’s schedule for the week. I am hoping to make a master schedule. Please let your child know what they are doing after school. Then they do not worry. Thank you.

Looking forward to the full week!

Fondly,
Ms. Milani