A peek into the week of September 29th

In literacy this coming week we will be working on the lowercase letters u and i. These are the first two vowel letters introduced so far. We will drill and practice writing them and listening to their sounds particularly at the beginning of words. We will continue to work on rhyming, color sight words and writing our names correctly with lowercase letters, first letter being uppercase.

For the last few weeks, we have been talking about sentences and words. What makes up a sentence? What makes up words? What ends a sentence? In what direction do we read sentences? Practice has been trying to determine how many sentences I would write in my morning message. We also carefully look at how many words are in a sentence as well by carefully observing the finger spaces in between words.

In Math, we continue to explore materials and how we can compare attributes of objects. We have begun to sort attribute blocks and buttons to find out how many ways they are the same or different. Compare, attribute and describe are still math vocabulary words we discuss. We have introduced the Counting Jar and what it means to represent the number we have counted. How many ways can you represent this number? Our new math word this week is equal. What does it mean?And can you make an equal set of chips determined by what was counted in the jar? These are just a few concepts we will practice all year long.

We are Up and Running...

We are off to a great start. We are beginning to work on following our work boards for math and literacy. This process tends to be a bit difficult at the start but eventually the children will understand the routine. Currently in math we are exploring manipulatives that we will use throughout the year. These are buttons, geo blocks, attribute blocks, colored tiles, pattern blocks and connecting cubes. We have learned three new math words: attribute, compare and describe and are using these words when we use our manipulatives. We are also learning how to read a calendar. Counting is something we do everyday as well.

In literacy, we are focusing on lowercase letters f, t, b, m and n. Please look closely at the parent notices from the Fundations program that come home regarding the new language for writing letters. Pay attention to where letters begin when writing and where they go when they are formed.

Along with letters and sounds, we are also practicing rhyming. What does it mean to rhyme? Do these words rhyme? Which word does not rhyme? Can you thing of a rhyming word? We practice these routines daily.

PIN Parent Information Night

Just a reminder that PIN night is tomorrow Tuesday September 16th. This is an opportunity for parents to meet the new principal and visit with me in the classroom. You will have the chance to discover what your child experiences during his/her day at Memorial. Hope to see everyone there!

We had a great first few days!

Yes we had a great few days! And boy was it hot!! Despite how warm the room was, the children were wonderful. No one complained except me! We took it easy and began to establish some of the expected rules in and out of the classroom. These are very difficult for them to fully understand but they will catch on quickly as we review them daily. And every part of the day has rules....class rules, playground rules, library rules, lunch rules etc...Eventually it just becomes a part of their day.

Some of the rules we talked about for our classroom:

• Following the directions the first time! When the teacher asks you to do something you should do it the first time you are asked.
• Being good listeners. When the teacher is speaking, everyone needs to look and listen. This is how we learn!
• No running in the classroom or hallways. We don't want anyone to get hurt.
• Keeping our hands and feet to ourselves. We need to respect our friends and their space.
• Sharing at all times. Everyone is to be included.
• Talking nicely to our friends. We want to make friends not lose friends.
• Raising our hand before we speak and wait to be called on. It is not fair to a friend who has been called upon and someone else shouts out the answer.
• Work quietly at our centers. No one can concentrate if someone continues to talk and bother others at the work tables.

Lunch

Starting this week, your child will have the opportunity to purchase a lunch and/or milk at school. If your child plans to make such a purchase it is highly recommended that you create an online account through the school so that your child is not carrying money each day in his/her backpack. This can be done, I believe, on the Medfield.net site. If you choose not to go that route, please make sure your child's money is enclosed in a plastic ziplock bag with his/her name on it. This will be a great help to us  when it comes time to collect the money each day. Thanks in advance.

A Note regarding Allergies

Dear Families,

This year we welcome a student with food allergies to Mrs. Hedberg’s classroom. We invite your help and cooperation to help this child stay safe.

This student has multiple food allergies including walnuts, peanuts and sesame seeds. A reaction could potentially be life threatening. There are several practices that will be in place to help prevent an allergic reaction.

1.     Students will be encouraged to wash their hands before and after snack.

2.     Room 6 will be designated as allergy aware .

3.     It is our hope that families CHOOSE not to send nut or sesame products to school.

We look forward to working together with you to have a wonderful year. If you have any questions, please contact us at 508-242-8576.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Hedberg                      Mrs. Zappulla MEd,BSN,RN

Looking Forward to the First Day!