Happy Fall Y'All! (sorry, I just couldn't help myself, haha)
There is a lot going on in the Red-tailed Hawks' classroom right now. We have a big interest in biology works including the external parts of vertebrates and the body functions (internal parts) of vertebrates. There are several related noun classification exercises such as animals and their young, animals and their sounds, and animals and their homes. Current researches are also reflecting the large animal interest right now, with reports on horses, dogs, macaroni penguins and more.
Our older students are working on multi-paragraph writing, and are currently editing their first drafts of their Writer's Workshop assignments. Our younger Writer's Workshop group has been working heavily with apostrophe usage in their "plural or possessive" work. We have also been delving into affixes with common prefixes and suffix spelling rules. Our transitioning first years are focusing on parts of speech (article, adjective, nouns) with several of them being introduced to verbs. Our new students are working on the "kite string" cursive group and are almost done with learning the rest of their cursive letters. When we return from Winter Break, we will be an "all-cursive" classroom, which means students will be doing written composition exclusively in cursive and lessons will be presented in cursive only. Some other works happening right now are the family of quadrilaterals, positions of a straight line, needle felting, and Spanish Days of the Week.
We are really enjoying hosting our families for classroom observations. Thank you for making the time to come in and see our students at work. Parent conferences are going smoothly, and it has been my pleasure to share your student's progress with you.
In the next few weeks we will beginning our "going-outs" to the library. Additionally, we will be needing to take trips to the store as we prepare for our Thanksgiving classroom feast and various baking projects. As such, I have sent home the General Permission Slip for this year. Please read it, and initial the "going-outs" that you approve for your student. Please sign and return the form as soon as possible. I will also attach a copy of the form below, so that you can reprint it if needed.
Lastly, thank you all so much for your generous donations for our "Taylor Swift: Welcome to New York" basket. It turned out so great and it is generating a lot of "buzz" with the students on campus. Our classroom project, "Time Square(d)" is on display in the lobby and really reflects the energy and vibrant colors of New York's Time Square!
We hope to see you at the upcoming Fall Festival on November 9th!
In peace and appreciation,
Mrs. Amie and Ms. Beth