Welcome - First Day of School

Dear Parents,

Today was just great!  We started off the day by playing a name game and by sharing things about ourselves.  We also wrote about our family.  Most importantly, we spent time establishing routines of the Daily 5 (Reading and Writing Program) and practicing the first part of the program.  We created our first chart for: 

Ways we choose books…

·         Find one that is part of a series;

·         By looking at the front cover;

·         Making sure it is Just Right for me;

·         Personal Connections;

·         Genre;

·         Books that are also movies;

·         Recommended by your teacher / friend;

·         Book you have heard out loud;

·         By trying the beginning to see if we like it!

To help build our stamina (the maximum goal for this is 20 minutes – which allows for me to pull small groups for guided reading , word study, etc.) for reading, we spent time discussing what it meant to read to just ourselves!  Here is what we decided as a class for Working on reading.

Working on Reading

I can:

·         Concentrate!

·         Read quietly to must myself;

·         Select books out of my book box;

·         Read anywhere in the room;

·         Take care of my needs before we begin;

·         Select books that are Just Right for me;

·         Stay in my area and read!

·         Giggle inside my head;

·         Wait to share interesting things with my friend;

·         Shop for books first thing when I come to class.

Also, we tried to solve a word problem together and a few kids shared their ways in solving the below problem.

Our wonderful day ended with Health Fitness and Art!  I cannot believe that it flew by so quick!

Obviously, I will not be giving you a play by play scenario every day, but I definitely wanted you to be able to have conversations about the first day of school!  J Thank you for sharing your wonderful kids with me!