Weekly News
10/27/25-10/31/25
Our Choice Time unit “Around the World” continued this week with more mapping activities, Day of the Dead, and a little Halloween thrown in. If your family has a history or traditions from around the world that you would like to share with us, please reach out to your contact teacher so we can get something scheduled! And if you would like to be a Choice Time volunteer, please sign up here.
Our next field trip will be on November 13! We will be visiting the Lam Museum of Anthropology at Wake Forest University to tie in with our Knowledge and Choice Time units. For this field trip, please make sure your student brings a lunch. Arrival and dismissal times will follow our regular schedule. We do not need parent chaperones for this one either, but if you want to join us, please reach out to your contact teacher to discuss.
In Literacy, first graders continued with their long vowels with the magic e pattern, adding o and i to their repertoire this week! We are also learning more tricky/heart words and building our fluency while reading in our decodable readers. In Knowledge, we read several stories about tiny characters - “Tom Thumb,” “Thumbelina,” and “Issun Boshi.” We also practiced our skills of comparing and contrasting.
Second graders spent a good amount of time working on writing their fictional narratives. We are almost done! We got through writing and editing and hopefully will complete our final drafts at the beginning of next week. Along with editing, we spent more time practicing HOW to edit for punctuation, commas, and quotation marks. Leslie has been reviewing our new Vowel Valley literacy tool! HUGE Thanks to Christine and Leslie for putting this up on the wall in our room! It is a fantastic reminder of the sounds and the articulation when saying these vowels and vowel blends.
In Knowledge, we continued our study of Early Asian Civilizations and have moved into the country of China. We started by learning about The Yellow and the Yangtze Rivers in China. Ask your student if they know how the Yellow River got its name? (Answer: Rain and wind wash the silt —a fine mixture of soil, sand, and clay—from the mountains into the river, making it a muddy yellow.) This week we will read about more of the paper, writing, and calligraphy that was used in ancient times.
In math, first graders finished our first topic on subtraction! We also started Topic B this week - another short intro Topic focused on word problem strategies like Read - Draw - Write. We’ll be thinking more closely about what each part of the word problem and equation are: Do I know the parts and need to find the whole? Or do I know the whole and am trying to figure out one of the other parts? At home, continue building fluency when you can with subtraction problems - “If I have five and I take away (subtract) three, how many are left?”
Second graders wrapped up Topic G this week. We did more practice exchanging 1, 10, and 100 dollar bills and learned more about their place value. That concept carried over this week as we continued to practice exchanging bills and determining how many $10 bills are equal to $1000. Next week we will dive into how to compose and decompose numbers using place value disks.
Critter Corner Update!
Thanks to all of your amazing donations, Shadow and Mr. Fuzzy Cheeks are in pretty good shape with their supplies for the next few weeks. If you still want to send something in, you can - small things like chew toys are good. Thank you, thank you again! They are two happy little piggies.
10/20/24-10/24/25
We started a new Choice Time Theme this week - Geography and traveling Around the World! Our Choice Time Centers mostly focused on geography by doing activities with continents, bodies of water, and maps. We also celebrated the Hindu holiday Diwali by coloring and cutting out candles to celebrate the Festival of Light! If your family has any history or traditions from around the world that you would like to share with us, please reach out to your contact teacher so we can get something scheduled! And if you would like to be a Choice Time volunteer, please sign up here.
We are working on scheduling our next field trip, so stay tuned for details!
In Literacy, first graders started their second unit for skills. They have started learning long e (spelled ee) and long a (with the “magic” e at the end). You can practice at home turning words from short vowel sounds to long vowel sounds by adding a magic e! Have them write something like “tap” and read it; then add the e at the end and read the new word. In Knowledge, we had a special guest speaker on Monday who shared cool facts about the human body! Then we started reading stories that share something in common. This week we read stories that share similarities with Cinderella including “The Girl with the Red Slippers” from Egypt and “Billy Beg” from Ireland.
Second graders kicked off this week by reading more of our reader, Bedtime Stories and learning about “The Frog Race.” We also reviewed the process of writing and brainstorming about a butterfly named Rosie who loves tacos and turns into a super hero! We have great imaginations in Rainbow! Students finished planning and are now drafting their first fictional narrative pieces. Next steps will be editing and writing the final piece. We also reviewed some tricky words (are, were, and some) as well as tricky words containing the /oo/ and /ou/ sounds.
In Knowledge, we continued our study of Early Asian Civilizations and learned about Siddhartha and Buddhism. Ask your student to tell you the story of Siddhartha and how he discovered Buddhism. A good leading question would be to ask your student how long Siddhartha sat underneath that fig tree. Ouch!
In math, first graders started learning subtraction! It’s a tough switch from always adding to sometimes subtracting. We are focusing a lot on paying close attention to our minus sign and the order our numbers are in. If you want to practice at home, subtraction word problems can be fun to do (If I have 5 cupcakes and I eat 3, how many will be left? What would my number sentence be?). Second graders wrapped up Topic F and have moved on to Topic G where we are learning the relationship of place value of 1, 10, and 100 with MONEY!!! The kids were super excited to learn and get to play with “money.” We talked about how to COUNT and EXCHANGE money. We practiced exchanging $10 for 10 $1 bills, 10 $10 bills for $100, and so on. We also learned how to make $320 using one hundred and ten dollar bills. Students were then challenged to show different ways to show this. This is a fun activity to practice at home!
Critter Corner Update!
Shadow and Mr. Fuzzy Cheeks are so appreciative of the supplies and treats they have received, and we (the teachers) appreciate it too! It is soooo helpful. If you would like to donate, here are the links for paper bedding and the hay they like to snack on. Thank you so, so much!
10/13/25-10/17/25
We finished our Castles unit this week, ending with our Medieval Picnic field trip! Next week we will begin our new unit, Around the World where we will focus on geography and world cultures. If your family has any history or traditions you can share with us, please reach out to your contact teacher so we can get something scheduled! And if you would like to be a Choice Time volunteer, please sign up here: https://calendar.app.google/FDjkAJZGjkyGcEtUA.
In Literacy, first graders finished the first unit! We did a lot of independent reading this week and tested our skills on finding the answers to questions in the text. During our next unit, we will begin learning more of our non-standard words (called tricky words, heart words, or red words) and our first long vowel patterns. In Knowledge, we finished with Human Body Systems and are getting ready to start our new unit next week. This unit is especially well-timed because it is all about how similar stories are told in different countries all over the world. Plus several of the stories we will read are fairy tales - so both of our choice time units will tie in nicely with what we’re learning about!
Second graders got new CKLA books this week as we started Skills 2! We reviewed our Basic Codes: a_e, i_e, o_e, and u-e as well as spelling alternatives by reviewing ‘ea’ and ‘ee.’ We also learned more about grammar. We practiced how and when to use quotation marks and discussed punctuation options and how to read a sentence when it ends with a period, exclamation point, or question mark. We continued reading “Bedtime Tales” and worked with partners to answer questions about what we read. In Knowledge, we continued learning about Early Asian Civilizations. We read and learned about Diwali and how it is celebrated in the Hindu religion. We also spent some time writing about the holiday; the students did an AMAZING job on this. I am so proud of them and all their hard work! Look for your child’s work in their backpacks!
In math, first graders finished Module 1! Next module, we will focus on subtraction. In our first topic, we will use the awesome work we did with addition to explore the relationship between addition and subtraction. We will also start building our fluency with taking away numbers through 6.
Second graders had some more fun this week using our popsicle sticks while learning how to understand place value units! We wrapped up Topic E and started Topic F where we are practicing how to understand three-digit numbers in different forms. We are also learning what a number looks like in standard form (ex: 275) as compared to the expanded form (ex: 2 hundreds, 7 tens, and 5 ones) and how the value can change based on its unit. Our students have enjoyed the last couple of topics in math and many have even asked for homework! Please know any ‘homework’ you see in your student’s folder is optional, but it is also a wonderful opportunity to strengthen these math concepts at home!
Critter Corner Update!
Shadow and Mr. Fuzzy Cheeks are so appreciative of the supplies and treats they have received! If you would like to donate, along with paper bedding, they could also use some hay like this to snack on. Thank you so, so much!
Halloween Field Trip
After the Lower School Halloween parade on Friday, Oct 31, Sunrise (Kindergarten) and Rainbow (grades 1-2) students will visit Friends Homes to share some cheer with the residents. They will parade through the halls and then students will receive goody bags with special treats. They will leave campus around 10 a.m. and return before lunch. This is a cherished tradition for Sunrise and Rainbow, and we are looking forward to it!
10/6/25-10/10/25
During this short week, we discussed and learned about being thoughtful and showing strong leadership. We’ve started posting acts of kindness on the back of Peach’s door when we’ve seen students doing throughout the day. It might be as simple as holding the door for someone, helping them clean up, or just checking to make sure someone is okay. During Choice Time, we focused on some fairy tales (getting ready for next week’s performances!). If you would like to volunteer to help during Choice Time, please click this link and sign up: https://calendar.app.google/hiwUskQL4193MtGM7
In Literacy, first graders have been talking about ending punctuation and quotation marks. We have also been learning to identify and use our question words. In Knowledge, we concluded our body systems by making posters to highlight the important parts or functions of the systems we discussed. We have also been talking about ways to keep ourselves healthy!
Second graders got new CKLA books this week as we started into Skills 2! We reviewed our one-syllable words containing vowels: a, i, o, and u. When paired with the magic ‘e’, a_e, i_e, o_e, and u_e all produce the sound of a long-vowel sound when the magic ‘e’ is added to the end of the word. For example, the word slid has the short-vowel sound, but once the magic ‘e’ is added to the end, it changes the sound entirely and now the word (slide) has a long-vowel sound. We also began reading “Bedtime Tales.” In Knowledge, we continued learning about the Early Asian Civilizations. We learned about the geography of India and the Himalayan mountains and the Indus and Ganges Rivers. We also discussed Hinduism and read the Indian Trickster Folktale “The Tiger, the Brahman and the Jackal.” Ask your student about that tricky little jackal, or was it the tiger who was the trickster? Hmmm…. We also read a famous Indian poem called “The Blind Men and the Elephant,” where six blind men describe an elephant very differently. Ask your student which man was the most accurate.
In math, first graders focused on “partners to” different numbers. How many ways can we add two numbers to get 5? We also did 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. This fluency will help them as we move into multi-digit numbers and subtraction. The more quickly I can remember 7 + 2 = 9, the easier it will be for me to subtract 2 from 9 or 377 from 589!
Second graders had some fun this week using popsicle sticks while learning how to understand place value units! We started Topic E and learned to count efficiently by bundling the sticks by ones, tens, hundreds all the way to 1,000. Continued practice at home will help your student next week as we wrap up Topic E and move into Topic F.
Critter Corner Update!
Shadow and Mr. Fuzzy Cheeks would like to thank our parents for our new donations! They are particularly fond of the piece of “cake” they now have hanging in their cage. Ha Ha, so fun! The guineas are still a little low on bedding (paper bedding like this), and they(we) would really appreciate it if our Rainbow families would like to donate to their cozy home. Thank you, families!
Field Trip Reminders
Next Friday, Oct 17, is our first field trip of the year! We're looking forward to visiting Gateway Gardens and celebrating the end of our Castles unit. Students will enjoy a medieval picnic, act out fairy tales on a stage, and explore the gardens.
After the Lower School Halloween parade on Friday, Oct 31, Sunrise (Kindergarten) and Rainbow (grades 1-2) students will visit Friends Homes to share some cheer with the residents. They will parade through the halls and then students will receive goody bags with special treats. They will leave campus around 10 a.m. and return before lunch. This is a cherished tradition for Sunrise and Rainbow, and we are looking forward to it!
9/29/25-10/3/25
This week, we had our Friday Quaker Meeting in the gym with our Galaxy (grades 5-6) buddies and the rest of Guilford Campus. In Choice Time, we made stained glass windows, mosaic castles, and puppet shows. We also had a preview of what we will be doing next week. If you would like to volunteer to help during Choice Time, please click this link and sign up: https://calendar.app.google/hiwUskQL4193MtGM7
In Literacy, first graders continued to review the sound patterns we already know and practiced reading fluently in our Skills readers. We have been learning how to identify a noun - try doing a noun hunt at home! In Knowledge, we continued our study of the human body systems: skeletal, muscular, digestive (there were quite a lot of giggles about this one!), and circulatory. We have a few systems left to learn and then we’ll talk more in depth about how to keep our systems working properly.
Second graders spent this week working on more tricky words (could, should, would, there, said, says) and the tricky spelling of “S,” which can have a /s/ or /z/ sound. We also talked about the -ed ending and the three sounds it can make (/e+/d/, /d/, and /t/). We finished reading “The Cat Bandit” in Skills 1. Next week we begin Skills 2; we are making so much progress! In Knowledge, we started studying Early Asian Civilizations. So far we have discussed the Indus River Valley Civilization and are beginning to learn a bit about Hinduism.
In math, first graders started Topic D. We are working to understand what the equals sign means conceptually and on furthering our addition fluency. Our first graders have very strong number sense - if you want to help them keep developing their understanding of the concepts behind addition, ask them a math fact (6 + 2) and then ask them to tell you how they know or what their strategy was for finding the solution.
Second graders continued working with tape diagrams and number lines to help add and subtract efficiently in Topic D. We took this a few steps further by learning how to compare with different unknown word problems by using measurement contexts. Continued practice with this at home will help your student next week when we see how much we have learned at the midpoint of our module.
Critter Corner Update!
Shadow and Mr. Fuzzy Cheeks would like to thank our Rainbow friends who have brought in items for them. They have really enjoyed the toys (toilet paper tubes) and leftover veggies that some of you have donated! Now the guineas would like to ask our parents for more donations. They are getting low on bedding (paper bedding) and food (guinea pig food and timothy hay), and they would really appreciate it if their Rainbow friends would like to donate to their food pantry and care package. Thank you, families!
Field Trips
As a reminder, we have planned and confirmed our first field trip for the year! On Friday, Oct. 17, from about 10:00-1:30, we will celebrate the end of our Castles unit with a trip to Gateway Gardens. Students will enjoy a medieval picnic, act out fairy tales on a stage, and explore the gardens.
Halloween Field Trip
After the Lower School Halloween parade, Sunrise (Kindergarten) and Rainbow (grades 1-2) students will visit Friends Homes to share some cheer with the residents. They will parade through the halls and then students will receive goody bags with special treats. They will leave campus around 10 a.m. and return before lunch. This is a cherished tradition for Sunrise and Rainbow, and we are looking forward to it!