Welcome back to school! We look forward to an exciting year of working together as a team with you and your child this year! As we begin the year building communities within our classrooms, we have already begun to explore our social studies unit on rules and laws. The students have been exploring rules they would like to have for their own classrooms. Further analysis between rules and laws will lead to the distinction between government (laws) and communities (rules) and related consequences.

The first several weeks of school is an imperative time of getting to know the children. This involves much observation and assessment. We will begin our first comprehension study of making connections. Students will build on their background knowledge (schema) regarding connections and use this to build further depth of understanding through the anlysis of thin and thick connections.

In math, students are building on their understanding of place value through exploring addition and subtraction strategies for solving basic facts. Students will expand upon previously learned skills such as greater than, less than, before, after, between, and ordering numbers. Another important facit of math that students will explore is the issue of equality. Students often have misconceptions regarding the meaning of the equals sign and how it is used. The issues of equality will be explored throughout the year.

In writing, students have already begun writing in their lifebooks. They will be adding to their entries throughout year by writing about their memories, thoughts, feelings, and experiences.

Official homework begins on Sept. 24th.

One of the most important things you can do with your child every day is to read. Make it a special time in your home.