October 1st NEWS

Dear Parents and Students,
How are you? Thank you for your help with last week's apple celebration! Next week we'll have an exciting fall surprise! I hope your child will enjoy the math and science activity we will be doing.
In math we have moved on from patterning and are now learning and practicing addition strategies and facts. We have been using 10 frames and counters; we have also been using dominos. We will soon be learning strategies for subtraction and practicing subtract facts. Please help your child practice their math facts at home.
In reading we are continuing to review short vowels and learn new blends. We have also been practicing our reading fluency and doing reading groups and centers each day. Please remember to read with your child each day and sign their reading folders. Their folders need to be turned in each Monday to earn an entry for a bike.
As a reminder: October book orders are due next Wednesday October 6th.

Please check your PTA news/calendar for upcoming school events.

Thanks for all you do! :)

MATH

Check out this cool website for things you can print off and use at home to help your child with math. Right now we have been learning many strategies for addition. One of the things we have been using is dominos. You can print domino flash cards here: http://mathwire.com/strategies/matsdom.html I have a set of these flashcards we use as a class. It is great practice for basic addition facts.

Apples

APPLES IN AUTUMN

It's hard to eat apples

without my front teeth,

but apples in autumn

are really a treat.

The apples are squooshy

down under my feet,

But those from the tree

are still crunchy and sweet!

APPLE TREE

Way up high in the apple tree

two red apples smiled at me.

I shook that tree as hard as I could

down came the apples,

MMMMM..... were they good!

I'm a little apple, short and round,

I make a munchy, crunchy sound.

If you bite into me you will see-

I'm delicious as can be!

(sing to the tune of "I'm a little teapot")

We read a book about John Chapman (aka Johnny Appleseed) and talked about this legend. We read several different books about apples too. Each student in our class brought an apple to graph. We also did apple art by making the prints of apples. The best part was going out to enjoy the beautiful fall day and eat our apples! :)

Practicing centers

Sight word practice.

We start reading groups and centers this coming Monday. We have been busy getting ready! :)

Writing around the room.

The listening center.

Writing word families in their journals.

Playing blend tic-tac-toe.

Word work center.

Patterns

We have been learning about patterns and practicing making patterns. To wrap this up we made pattern key chains for each student to hang on their back packs. It was fun to see all the patterns.

Watermelon

A few weeks ago we learned about the 4 seasons. We have been writing and reading about summer. To culminate this we enjoyed eating a summer treat, WATERMELON! We used our seeds for our art as well. It was fun to go outside and enjoy a cool treat on warm day. I'm excited to learn about fall and do some of the fun activities for fall.

SPIRIT DAY!

As a reminder:
Spirit days are on Fridays.
Students and teachers/staff can wear:

• A GARLAND t-shirt or hoodie. They can be current ones or old ones.
• SPIRIT SLEEVES. They can be on the arms or the legs. (these are available from the PTA)
• A BEAR RIVER t-shirt.
• A RED shirt.

The winning class will receive Grizz for a week and a prize.

******Today our class came in second place with 90% of our class participating in spirit day!!! :)**