Wow!  It hasn’t felt like a short week.  We have worked very hard and I am so proud of all that the children accomplished.

 SHARED JOURNAL

We are writing in our journals every day now.  The students have already amazed me at what they can do.  For now, we are only having 1 child share each day.  We will continue to do this until everyone gets a chance to be written about.  Then, we will move to letting 2 people share each day.  The hardest part of doing shared journals in the beginning is assuring the children that they are writers even if they don’t use the correct letters.  Once this fear has been overcome, the children are able to communicate their thoughts and they really grow as writers and thinkers.  Please encourage your child to write freely at home.  This can be done as they play school, restaurant, policeman etc.  You can also let them write letters to their friends and family members, add items to your grocery list, etc. 

 THEME

This week, we read books on being good friends.  We learned that friends share, use manners with each other, show respect and help others make good choices.  We also did some role-playing where the children got to act out some of the scenes from the stories and show how they could be a good model for their friends. Next week, we will begin to focus on our families and our homes.  This will help us lead into the Circus because people who work in the Circus may have homes that are very different from the ones we live in. 

 SHARED READING

It’s rhyme time!!!  Our shared reading books focused on rhyming words this week.  The children really loved reading these silly rhyming books.  We found the rhyming words that were in the stories, made up our own silly rhymes and played rhyming games.  In addition, we used the illustrations to play I Spy and look for things that begin with certain sounds.  Hearing and identifying the sounds in words is a crucial skill for helping children read and write.  You can encourage this by playing I Spy at home.  To do this, just say, I Spy something that begins with ___.  (Instead of saying the letter’s name, use the sound)

 IMPORTANT DATES AND NOTES

 Several children have been bringing in items to share with the class.  While I do not mind the children sharing, I would like to ask that you wait to bring these things in when they can be related to shared journals.  If a child gets a new toy, and has signed up to share about it at journals, then by all means, please let them bring a picture or the toy to use when they are telling their story.  However, we are having a bit of trouble because so many children are bringing things in to share and we just don’t have the time for everyone to share each day.  

 Also, please send a coloring book to school with your child.  The children finish writing in their journals at different times and having pages to color while they are waiting on me to conference with them really helps out.

 I am sending new book orders home today.  If you are interested in ordering from them, please get them back to me by next Friday.

 Monday, September 18 – Cici’s Night

Tuesday, September 19 – Fall Festival

Thursday, September 21 – STAR Night

Friday, September 29 - Celebration

Cameron K. reading our version of The Sweeties Came to School!