Classroom Update 11/20/09
November 20, 2009
Dear Families,
We are sending good, healthy thoughts to those of you we haven’t seen in a while! With many people out sick this week, the rest of us are getting very good at washing our hands! In this time of sickness I am always reminded that sleep is incredibly important in fighting an illness. Through an old video made in the ‘90’s by Alan Datar, we learned about germs and how they spread through your body. Ask your child if they can explain something from the video! It had some great information and explained it in an accessible way!
The Week at a Glance:
Reading:
If you were to walk into the room during Literature Block after lunch each day you would see children involved in a variety of activities. You might see a small reading group working on reading or comprehension strategies with a teacher or children reading independently. You might also see a lot of writing. As time goes on, each child is moving through many different ways to reflect on a book or story. Another activity that you might come across is a student-led reading group. These student-led groups, or Literature Circles, have a very clear structure and are designed for children to help each see new aspects of a book. In a literature circle, each child has a job. The jobs rotate each week to give everyone in the group an opportunity to work on a different skill. (The jobs include: Discussion Director, Word Wizard, Illustrator, Circle Connector, and Literary Luminary) This format can be a great way for a group to take ownership of their work and enjoy a book together.
Harvest Feast:
Wednesday morning, November 25th, we are having a harvest feast made from food from our school garden in the bowls that the children made in art! We are inviting people from the community to this meal to say thank you for generous donations to the garden project over the last two years. These donations have made our garden project possible. We regret to say that we will not be able to invite all of the families at the feast. As much as we would love to, we cannot accommodate so many people. Thank you for your understanding!
Rest up everyone! Stay Healthy!
Have a good weekend,
Erica and Emma
Posted: November 20th, 2009 under 34.