Chapter 4 in math, as you may have noticed, is a bit harder than most of the lessons we've had in our math series so far. We are taking it slow and going through a couple of lessons together to make sure the skills are becoming more automatic and that the students have a better chance at mastering them as we move on. We have 5 more lessons left in this chapter, the chapter test, and then we will be giving the students a benchmark assessment that will review all of the skills learned in the past 4 chapters. With the new Common Core State Standards, the students, teachers, and principals are being held to higher standards to ensure our children are able to be successful throughout their lives. The standards are less but more complex, causing the students to really dig deep into the basics in first grade and are being provided with many different strategies as all learners are not the same when it comes to learning, especially in math. Please, if you need anything as we dig into these standards and our new math series, do not hesitate to contact me. I will help in any way that I can. Your child will be assessed on the Common Core State Standards 4 times a year in the coming years as the assessments are created which is why we are assessing the students after every 4 chapters in math. After this chapter we will be skipping to geometry and measurement to ensure that your child understands these concepts for the MAP Assessments in the Spring.
We are studying the election and the candidates in class and the children will get a chance to fill out voter registration cards and vote for the president. We will be calculating a winner of our own class as well as talking about the winner of the actual election and filling in our voting map. Here is a picture of our election board.
In order to help the children understand the election process, two of our teachers, Mrs. Kester (1st grade) and Mrs. Gallimore (2nd grade), have created a Pigeon election to get the whole school involved in the election. Each classroom has read the book "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus". This Pigeon is a hilarious character that the children love!
Mrs. Kester's class wrote persuasive papers in favor of or against letting the Pigeon drive the bus and some of the students went to each class to try to prove why the Pigeon should or should not be allowed to drive the bus. They also created campaign posters that are displayed in the hallways. On Monday, November 5 the whole school will be voting in favor of or against letting the Pigeon drive the bus. Ask your child what the outcome was on Monday when they get home from school!
In computers, the students are really doing well with typing and have been creating some really fun projects including writing a spooky story, inserting borders into documents, inserting pictures they've drawn into their own documents, as well as typing up the clues you helped them write for their classmates to guess what they were going to be for Halloween. I hope you are as proud of them as I am!
We will continue to really focus on writing complete sentences and using capital letters and end marks wherever needed. We are struggling with this skill but practice makes perfect. Please practice writing with your child at home. I am going to begin sending home weekly writing homework to reinforce these skills so please continue practicing at home.
Report cards come home tomorrow. Please remember to sign the 1st quarter line and return it to school on Monday.
On Tuesday, November 6 we do not have school because of election day.
On Tuesday, November 13 from 10:20-11:10am you are invited into the classroom to complete an activity with your child for American Education Week. I look forward to seeing you there!
Your conference reminder date and time will be in the comments of the report card. If you need to make any changes, please contact Marianne in the office and she will assist you in rescheduling your appointment.
Your child has the week of Thanksgiving off. This is from November 19-November 23. They will return to school on Monday, November 26.
Parent Teacher Conferences are Monday, November 19 from 1-9pm and Tuesday, November 20 from 10-5pm. I look forward to seeing or meeting you at your scheduled conference time!
Thank you so much for all you do to make your child's time at school a successful and enjoyable one! :)
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