Think Win-Win

The habit we are learning about this week is habit 4 - Think win-win. This habit is not an easy one for 6 and 7 year olds to wrap their head around initially! When you think win-win, you take others' needs and wants into consideration. You talk and compromise to find a solution where everyone wins. To illustrate what can happen when we do not have this mindset, we read and discussed Dr. Seuss's The Lorax. Students saw how one individual's choice to only think about himself affected many others in a negative way.

Like all the habits, we will continue to come back to this throughout the year. I would encourage you to use this same language at home as the children are working through issues with siblings or even with friends.

What is science?

This week we are beginning our first science unit - weather. To kick off our science time and to introduce the idea of science, I posed a question to the students. I asked them "what is science?" They had a lot of great ideas. We brainstormed a web of what "science" means to them. We talked about how scientists use tools, they read/write/draw about their discoveries, they ask questions, they share information, they collaborate to complete experiments, and they are continually learning about their world. After our discussion, the students drew in their science notebooks what they think a scientist looks like. There were many different depictions. The students enjoyed sharing their ideas about science and scientists.

The essential questions for our science unit are:

- Why is it important for people to know about weather?
- How do temperature, wind, cloud cover and precipitation help us to understand the weather?
- How do we get information about the weather?

Word Work

This week we are working on -ack and -ap and the accountable words : she  no

Coming home today

A few items to look for in your child's take home folder:

1. Home paws: To help with the school to home connection with our PBIS and Panther Pride language, we send home some special paws to be given at home by parents. Each month you will receive ONE pink sheet of paws to give to your child. The children are always excited to bring in home paws and share how they are carrying out PRIDE outside of our school!

2. Book orders: Please see the previous blog post earlier this week regarding book orders. The due date to order by is next Friday, September 9th.

3. Abilities Awareness volunteer form: The week of September 26th we will be celebrating "Abilities Awareness Week" at Shenandoah. During this week each grade level participates in activities that help students understand different abilities. First grade's focus is on communication needs and different ways some people communicate. Volunteers are needed to help this event run smoothly. Please consider joining us for this activity. Please return forms as soon as you are able.

4. Passport Night info!

5. Run for Fun info!

6. Walk/Bike to school info!

** Please return dentist forms if your child is going to see the traveling dentist

Exciting News

Today we were able to use our chromebooks for the first time! We were able to borrow a few from Mrs. Wagers in the library so we could all practice logging in together. Students successfully logged into their google accounts and our math accounts! It took patience and good listening. The students were awesome at helping each other. The children really enjoyed the new math games. This will become part of our workshop routine for some of our math work. Your child can access the game center from home by logging into their google account. I will send out more thorough directions soon.

Morning Work

We use various activities for morning work. You should have seen some of these items coming home with your child. It may be math practice or word work of some kind. When our star weeks begin, Thursdays students will be writing a letter to our star student for their morning work. Today we started a journal which we will use 1-2 times per week. Students record one sentence in their journal. Throughout the year the expectation will increase to 2 sentences and then 3. The journals go home at the end of the month so you can see your child's work. I encourage parents to save these through the year, so they can look back months from now and see the progress!

NCADA Lessons

NCADA will be coming into our classroom for one lesson a week for the next 4 weeks. This four (or five)-lesson unit promotes language and behaviors that build friendships and provide
skills to handle uncomfortable feelings such as anger and conflict. In the past I've really seen a positive impact on student interaction and conflict resolution. The lessons are very engaging and the students love them! Ask your child what they have been learning!