Thank you all for sending your black and white photos all around Stratham! We can't wait to start our Knuffle Starfish Community Book! We can't wait to share with you all soon!
Important Dates:
** A bright orange SMS After School Enrichment sheet is coming home tomorrow. The activities will begin the week of January 7th. All registration forms must be returned by Thursday, December 20th!
-Thursday, Dec. 13th: Early Release
-Thursday, Dec. 20th, 1:00: Family Gingerbread House Decorating Holiday Party
-Friday, Dec. 21st: Class Polar Express PJ Party and Mug Exchange
-Monday, Dec. 24th - Tuesday, Jan. 1st: No School (Holiday Break)
*Holiday Reminders: *At 1:00, on Thursday, 12/20, we will enjoy the second grade tradition of decorating gingerbread houses. If you’re available, we’d love to have you join us! It’ll be fun decorating to celebrate with our families and friends. In order to be allergy friendly, we will be asking each child to provide their own bag of toppings for this event. A Handout is coming home in your child's blue folder tonight.Thank you in advance for all of your help! If you have any questions, please let me know!
Here is an update on the learning in the Starfish Classroom:
Light up the Class with Kindness
The Starfish are excited to spread Kindness in the Month of December. Every time one of the starfish does something kind and another person spots their kindness, we will add an ornament to our bulletin board!
We also read some great read aloud stories about Kindness last week. I highly recommend taking Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed by Emily Pearson out of the library to share as a family. What a great read aloud!
Here are some books we shared together:
Writer's Workshop:
It was an exciting week during Writer's Workshop. Each Starfish wrapped up their nonfiction "expert book" and will be sent to the publishers early this week. These amazing nonfiction books, focused on a topic in which the student was already an expert on. While these books required no additional research, each Starfish had to work hard at incorporating important nonfiction features (which included a table of contents, close up drawings, bold words, headings, detailed diagrams, and a glossary!). They should be so incredibly proud of all their hard work!
This week we will be busy writing our Knuffle Starfish Community Book during Writer's Workshop. Along with our photography/cartoon illustrations, we will also have a writing piece about our favorite places in the Stratham Community! We can't wait to share!
In addition to their nonfiction book they have been writing, we have also been incorporating research with partners during reader's workshop. Each partnership gathered their information from a text set of nonfiction books around one topic. This week the kids will be celebrating their research with creating a poster or a brochure to display their information to teach others about their topic.
Reader's Workshop:
Making our Reading More Fluent
During our reading lessons over the last few days the Starfish are learning to not only pay attention to their own reading voices but also to listen to the voices of the characters, reading those voices the way the author intended.
The Starfish are paying close attention to the dialogue of their characters. I have been teaching them the importance to read in such a way that the character's voice, personality, and mood comes through.
We have also talked about the pace of our reading. How important it is to not read too quickly or too slowly to support our understanding of the story.
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Also, EPIC is a great resource to use at home and school. Your child uses EPIC quite often during choice time and during literacy centers. There are thousands of book titles for your child to access online or using by downloading the EPIC app on an IPAD. Use the class code: rth0681. Your child will then find their username and password. When you enter into your child's account at home, there is an icon on the upper right side with a mailbox. This is where I have curated a collection of books for your child to read. This week I have put together a collection of holiday books to read. It might be a fun activity to try at home together too!
Questions to promote Home-School Connection?
1. What's happening in your chapter read aloud Holes? Can you tell me anything about the main character Stanley?
2. Can you tell me what Raz Kids is?
3. I heard that Mrs. Murphy rearranged the classroom? How does that classroom look different? Who do you sit close to?
4. What does it mean to scoop up your words as your read? Why is this important?
5. Can you show me how to subtraction 57-23? What about 43-27? How do you know when to borrow from the ten's place? What does it mean more on the floor...go next door?
6. What's your Expert Book Topic?
7. Who is your Nonfiction research partner?
8. Mrs. Murphy told me you are lighting up the classroom with kindness in December. What does this mean?
