Apples Week 2

I'm Please send in those family photos!  They love to see their family when they may be missing you as well as make them feel like we are a part of a school family!  Thanks

AM Class

PM Class

We continued our apple week with our trip to the orchard this week.  On Tuesday students went to Hofacker's Hillside Orchard.  It was a short 5 minute bus ride to the orchard.  Students got to pick apples for one rotation and learn about apples and the orchard on their second rotation.  We saw a lot of different kinds of apples!

Please click on the Photo Links tab above to see the album from our apple orchard trip!

We also made apple cores with seeds in them.  This project included cutting a paper plate on a curved line (this is a tougher materials and curves are also harder so it really worked those fine motor skills!), using bingo markers to make a green or red apple skin, and then picking a leaf that had a number on it. Students worked to recognize the number on the leaf and then stamp that many seeds into their core.  They look great hanging in our hallway!

We read a poem about apples this week.  The poem was about picking apples, making applesauce, and then eating applesauce.  We talked about how we cannot mix up the parts of the poem because we cannot do those things out of order.  We then got excited because we were going to do those things in order!  Tuesday we picked apples, Wednesday we made applesauce in class, and Thursday we added our homemade applesauce to the snack!  


We  are still working a lot on name writing.  It is important that your child can write their name because it is the foundation of a lot of their writing skills, the beginning of their letter recognition, strengthens and refines their fine motor skills, and it is important to be on all papers so we know whose it is!  Please work on name writing at home. Sheets are in our writing center to help them at school.

We have been working on proper writing in general.  Here is a look at our lines. There is the sky line, the plane line, and the ground. (eventually there will be a worm line but we aren't to worm line letters).  We always start at the sky line. ALWAYS.  For T, it is start at the sky, pull down to the ground.  Across the sky.  for t, it is pull down, across the plane line.  Encourage this language and proper formation as it will truly help the with their fluency down the road.

The letter of the week was Ii. We learned the sign language for a letter, the literacy link sound symbols, the letter sound, and looking at and writing it in both capital letters and lower case letters.  Click here to view the many ways we learn the letter of the week!

Each week we watch letter videos from "Have Fun Teaching" and the students are really picking up the names of letters, formations, and the sounds of letters.  Check out these videos with you child!  Click HERE.

The Tuesday project of letter of the week is to decorate a letter with 
something that starts with the letter. This week we decorated the letter I with Ice!  On Thursday, our letter of the week project was to read a page from our alphabet book, I is for Ice cream.

Students also do a maze of the letter helping get from one object to another starting with that letter, find and color all of the letter, color a page of something that starts with that letter, and make a crown at the end of the week to be the Kings and Queens of the letter!

We also do a handwriting sheet.  This is important because writing the letters correctly helps with efficency as well as learning cursive down the line.  We ALWAYS START AT THE TOP.  Please encourage students to write the letter correctly!

Important Notes:

• As a part of our room decorations and to make every one feel at home, we have a "family and friends" board in our room.  Students will feel more at home and have a school family if they have their home family with them.  (The same as you putting a family picture on your desk).    Please feel free to send in a family photo that will be stapled up on our wall for the duration of the school year. Send in those family photos!
• Background checks. When it comes to these, we assume you are good unless we get a note otherwise, but we are counting on it not being processed (and will not make that assumption that it was run and you are good) until 2 WEEKS AFTER TURNING THE FORMS IN.
• Homework Some parents have asked about homework and keep home stuff.  Homework would be the only blank stuff sent home.  We have a homework stamp page in the back of you child's every day folder.  When you do homework with your child and send it back, we stamp the homework, stamp the homework page, and then send it back. Anything with a stamp on it or a project that is already done is yours to keep.  The homework page in the back of the folder explains more about homework. Homework TYPICALLY comes home on Thursdays and it is some reinforcing of letters at home (same sheet different letters so they also become independent).
• Folders. Please be checking your child's daily folder each night.  We put notes on the notebook pages in their folders as well as any notes we may have for you.  Artwork is also sent home this way. As we start letter of the week, we will also start sending home homework to help reinforce the letter concept and identification.  Please work on this with you child to help the students make the connection between home and school. 
• Also, Please check the student's Wednesday Folders.  Please try to take info out and return the folder and any forms/info/payments in those folders a day or two after receiving. 
• Literacy Bags come home every three weeks.  Students will have a week to complete the project inside and can then return the bag with completed sheets in it on MONDAY.
• Library Books come every week.  We go to library on Monday and student have the opportunity to check out a book and keep it for a week. It can be kept in their back packs or at home, but please remember to bring it on Mondays. 
• Book Order is submitted.  Books will be sent home with your child when they come in unless you send a note that you would like it done differently.  We do encourage books to be gifts so if this is the case, please send a note and we put them in brown paper bags and tell the student it is mom/dad's homework.  The next book order is due OCTOBER 21st.  Please click on the link for scholastic at the top of this page.  When you buy books for your child, it helps buy books and supplies for our classrooms. 

Next Week:
Theme: Fire Safety/911 (be prepared for a lot of "emergency talk"
Letter of the Week: Cc
AM Snack: Romnek
PM Snack : Olson (already brought in)
***Thanks to a parent suggestion, here is a healthy snack list site that can help with some ideas!***
Snack List

Some photos of us playing this week: