September 4, 2009

Upcoming Dates

Monday, September 7th: No School – Labor Day
Enjoy your three-day weekend!

Friday, September 11th: Scholastic Book Orders Due
Yesterday at Back to School Night, you received our first September Book Order catalogs. Please look over them and submit your orders online by Friday. If you want to pay by check, you can send ONE check payable to Scholastic Book Clubs with the order form, and submit that to me by Friday.

Friday, September 18th: No School – Staff Learning Day
The Cupertino School District will have a day to introduce teachers to the new math program this year.

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Dear Families,

I’m glad so many of you were able to make it yesterday to Back to School Night! I apologize for speaking so quickly and rushing through many things, but there is so much to cover! Remember to take time to look over the website if you ever have questions about our classroom procedures. If you were unable to attend, I have sent home our Back to School Night packet in your child’s orange or green daily folder. Please look through all the materials and return the forms included.

I mentioned homework last night which includes library take home books, sharing, monthly packets, and weekly packets. Only the September Homework packet has started, and that will be due October 1st. Sharing begins the week of September 21st and library take home books will begin in October. I will try to send the weekly homework packets in the next few weeks.

Here are some highlights for the week:
• Language Arts: We worked on the letters E, F, G, H, and I this week. We learned their sounds and proper handwriting. We are even learning sign language! Ask your child to show you the alphabet up to letter I in sign language!

• Social Studies: We are beginning our Star of the Week program today. We will select a child each week to learn about. We will interview them by asking them questions, and then afterwards we complete a book about things that they like. The Star of the Week completes their posters at home and get to bring Beebear home for the weekend!

• Math: We completed the second chapter in our math books. This week was all about same and different things. We compared similarities between objects and sorted them by their shape or color. We also sorted the class into groups such as boys and girls, people wearing pants and not pants, or names with certain letters. In Friday Fun Centers, we also worked with Ms. Shyama on a sorting activity.

• Library: We had our first library visit this week. We met Mrs. Glass and learned about the library rules. We need to use walking feet, whisper voices, and we have special shelf markers to help us remember where we found our books. Students have time to read different books in the library and learn how to put them back in the correct spot.

• Buddies: We saw our fourth grade buddies in Ms. Allen’s class for the first time. We took a picture with our buddies and then worked on a “Me and My Buddy” interview. We learned about each other’s birthdays, favorite food, colors, animals, and favorite things to do. Then we illustrated our pictures on the paper.

• Computer Lab: This was our first time in the computer lab. Each of us are assigned to one computer for the whole year. We started by learning how to use the mouse and we explored the software program, Kidpix, today. We learned how to use the different drawing and painting tools, as well as how to quit the program when it is time to leave.

• Music: We met Ms. Disney for the first time this week. She is a wonderful music teacher who has great discipline and control of the classroom. During music, she focuses a lot on movement, rhythm, and beats, instead of just singing songs like we do in the classroom. When we first started, we walked in a circle to different drum beats such as fast, slow, or syncopated. Then we did some rhythm patterns using our hands and hopped, skipped, galloped, jumped, and wiggled to a song about a car on Highway 1.

Thank you for filling out the forms and paperwork from last night. Please return them as soon as possible. I will be contacting volunteers through email as soon as I can to get you in the classroom. Thank you for your help!