Totally Terrific Child!

We have had a lot of fun learning about our Totally Terrific Children this week!  We have been investigating their names, looking at their pictures, and learning about their likes. Once each Totally Terrific Child shares his or her pictures, each child creates a page of the child's book.  This is also a great opportunity for us to work on beginning letter formation and handwriting as well as adding details to pictures.  Ask your child who the Totally Terrific Children were this week?

In math, we began numeral formation.  We began by learning the numeral formation rhymes for one, two and three and then we practiced writing them on whiteboards. We also drew them in the air with our skywriters!  I included the numeral formation rhymes in your child's Friday Folder this week.  There is no pressure to practice numeral formation at home, but if your child is interested, these rhymes might help him or her remember how they go.  Next week, we will move on to four and five! 

We also learned two new math games: Counting Leaves and Unifix Cube Trains.  In both games, the children were practicing 1:1 counting and subitizing (reading the dot patterns on the dice rapidly!).  Be sure to ask your child about these two games!  Can your child explain how to play?

We created another class book this week!  We read The Ok Book by Amy Rosenthal and learned that we do not have to be the best at everything.  It's ok to be just ok at something and that we are all learning and getting better at different things.  Each child wrote a page for our book sharing about an activity at which he or she is just ok!  What did your child choose?  We are excited to share this book with you at our October Open House!

This week we had our first Second Step lesson with Ms. O.  Second Step is a social-emotional curriculum in which children learn and practice strategies for listening, getting along with others, inviting friends to play, sharing, etc.  Each week Ms. O visits our classroom and teaches the lesson.  It usually begins with a visit from Puppy, Slow Down Snail, or Be Calm Bunny (puppets!).  This week's lesson was about the listening rules:  Eyes are watching; ears are listening; voices off; bodies still.  We are really practicing our listening rules!!  Included in your child's Friday Folder is a letter about Second Step and this week's lesson if you would like to chat with your child about his or her learning.

 Have a great weekend!

Be sure to also ask about...

• Ms. Celmer visiting our room to read The Energy Bus
• Using whiteboards for numeral formation
• Our Willaby Wallaby and high five greetings at Morning Meeting
• Our listening rules that we learned from Ms. O during Second Step.