Weekly News
11/10/25-11/14/25
As we went “Around the World” this week, we learned more about marine life and US geography, how to follow directions on a map, and how to make recycled paper. We also had our field trip to the Lam Museum on Thursday and learned about the Rainbow Nation (South Africa).
Coming up in December, we will need Choice Time volunteers who can help with our Simple Gifts centers. Choice Time is Monday-Thursday, 2-3 p.m. Please sign up here if you are able to join us: https://calendar.app.google/ta3epaTAdRhDqtJUA. Thank you!
In Literacy, first graders finished Unit 2 for Skills. We have learned all of our magic e vowel sounds and are practicing reading and writing them. Next week we will start Unit 3, which will include more vowel teams. We will also begin our spelling assessments. Be on the lookout for more info on that in your email soon! In Knowledge, we finished Unit 4 comparing and contrasting stories and characters.
Second graders finished planning, writing, and editing their first book report of the year! We worked together to write about a story we read in class, “The Hare and the Hedgehog.” I saw some of the best work done by our students this year. By the end, they were very focused and did an amazing job with their writing! We also studied more contractions and had our spelling assessment on nine contractions and the tricky word “their.” We briefly touched on antonyms and will continue to discuss that next week. In Knowledge, we read an Ancient Chinese tale “The Magic Painbrush” and continued group work by adding a page to our “Facts About China” books. We also read about The Silk Road and the importance of silk for China. If you have any silk at home, show your child and ask them to tell you how it is made!
In math, first graders continued working on different strategies for finding the missing number in a subtraction equation. Students are encouraged to find the right strategy for them, but also to know alternatives for different types of problems (e.g. I only have 10 fingers, what else could I do so I can still use my fingers, or what’s another strategy that works for me?).
Second graders have covered quite a bit of ground over the past few weeks! This week we spent time comparing three-digit numbers in different forms. We finished Topic H and Topic I and officially finished this lengthy module! We spent the end of the week reviewing what we have learned during this second part of the module and we plan to assess what we have learned next week - just in time for Thanksgiving! Hooray!
We also wanted to send a reminder to our parents about sending warm hats, coats, and/or gloves to school with your student. We go outside several times a day and it is starting to get very chilly, especially in the mornings! This past Monday and Tuesday was a stark reminder of just how cold it can get. Brrrrrrr.
A few small notices: We are starting to run low on Friday snacks. We just need something small like graham crackers to keep us going until regular snack time. Please send something in if you can - no eggs or nuts. Special shout out to the families who have sent things in so far!
Critter Corner Update - Thanks to all of your amazing donations, Shadow and Mr. Fuzzy Cheeks are in great shape with their supplies for the next few weeks. Thank you, thank you again! They are two happy little piggies.
We would like to wish our families a very Happy Thanksgiving! We hope you enjoy this time together and get some well-deserved rest. We are so very grateful you entrust your children to spend time with us every single day. We appreciate you! And we love our little friends!