Reading groups have started

We have been practicing reading behaviors since September and we are building stamina every day.  Students can enjoy: 

• Read to Self
• Read to Someone
• Listen to Reading
• Word Work 
• Writing

Students have choice within their language arts skills and again within each of those with a variety of activities.  Stay tuned for our stamina building progress...

Writers record their ideas

Today, the writers in our classroom learned about recording their ideas about stories they may want to share with their peers and families later during writing time.  Students each illustrated their idea and many students "wrote" a description of the story below it.  The developmental stages of writing are fascinating to watch students transition through.  Here is a brief description of the stages your child will go through.  Take a peek at their writing on their work coming home, which stage is your child at?  We will discuss this awesome process and how to encourage your writer where they are at in their developmental stage of writing.  

Authors had a chance to share their writing, if they wanted.  We have so many brave students, many of them sat in the author's chair and wore a microphone to share their story ideas with the class.  The listeners practiced sitting in a ready to learn position, listening to the speaker, thinking about what the speaker is saying and making connections to what the speaker is saying.  






Authors had a chance to share their writing, if they wanted.  We have so many brave students, many of them sat in the author's chair and wore a microphone to share their story ideas with the class.  The listeners practiced sitting in a ready to learn position, listening to the speaker, thinking about what the speaker is saying and making connections to what the speaker is saying.  

Move - a - thon

Thank you Westwoods PTO,Westwoods parents and families!  The Move - a - thon was a BLAST!  Everyone smiled, moved their bodies, enjoyed the sunshine and even danced a little!  Another HUGE than you to anyone who donated to the Move-a-thon.  We are so lucky that every teacher request the PTO has received to support students, has been approved.  Your donations are what makes that possible and make Westwoods a unique place to work and to attend.  Chromebooks, programming, field trips, Scholastic News, online reading subscriptions, playground equipment, furniture, professional development for staff and countless other educational opportunities are a sampling of the grants funded.  

If you would like the opportunity to donate, we are still accepting pledges through Friday the 20th.  Checks can be written to Westwoods PTO.

Here are some fun pictures of the athletes.

October is Fire Safety Month

Long Lake Fire Department came to Westwoods today to help students learn about fire safety.  What should your child know to help keep them safe from fire?

• Their address
• Your family's escape plan
• How to call 911
• Stay low
• If a door is warm, do not open it
• Stop, Drop and Roll if you are on fire
• DO NOT GO BACK IN for anything
• Do not hide if you are scared, instead yell for help

Here is your child's homework from the Long Lake Fire Department

• Practice a fire drill at home
• Find 2 ways out from every room in the house
• Ask your family to check all smoke detectors

Here is a video of Firefighter Bill demonstrating what they may sound like when they are in full gear.   

Math leaders

Math leaders help each day in the classroom with our daily math routines and calendar.  Students on the rug are expected to engage and participate by modeling the quantity of the number they are orally counting.  Currently we are working on counting 1 - 10 and 10 - 1.  We are looking at patterns on the calendar and on our number tape, where we record the number of days we have been in school. 

Here are a few questions to ask your child:

• Show me how you count up to ten and match your fingers to your words
• How do you know when you have a pattern
• How many days have you been in school
• How does the class keep track of the days in school
• What are the links that your class uses to record the number of days and is it all one long chain, why or why not

First fire drill

Students participated in their first fire drill this week.  They did an amazing job being silent, listening to instructions and walking at a brisk pace in a safe manner.  Next week the Fire Department will visit and students will learn more about Fire Prevention.

Germs

You may have noticed that 5 year olds are very oral, hands in mouths, noses, licking objects, putting objects in their mouths, etc.  This is completely developmental for their age.  With that said, it is extra important we communicate the importance of proper hand washing and asking the children to do so each time they do one of those things.  We have been exploring germs over the past few weeks.  Mrs. Walter demonstrated how far a sneeze goes and all the places it travels by pretending to sneeze a handful of glitter on to our learning environment.  By the end of the day, students were covered in glitter.  We talked about what if those were real germs, what might happen and how could we prevent such things.  

The class is also conducting an experiment with bread.  We took three slices of bread and placed each one in a plastic bag.  One bag, gloves were used to place the bread in the bag.  One bag washed hands were used to place the bread in the bag.  The third bag, each student touched the bread before placing it in the bag.  We are patiently waiting to see if anything happens to each slice.  Stay tuned...

What can you do at home?

• Model proper hand washing (sing the ABCs)
• Help your child recognize when their fingers or objects are in their mouth and show them how to clean the items and their hands properly
• Reinforce the idea that germs make us sick
• Tell your child that picking their nose is private and they may need to do it but it is something we do in private and with a kleenex (in the bathroom) and we wash our hands
• Teach your child to blow their nose
• Encourage children to sneeze into their elbows

***Gum is allowed in the classroom to help students curb their oral habits.  Students may bring in gum and only chew it while in our classroom.  They may only eat the gum their family has provided, that way I know parents actually allow their child to chew gum.  Once fingers go in the mouth to play with the gum, students get a warning and wash their hands.  If it continues, students will be asked to spit it out and try using gum again later.  No bubbles and no wrappers on the floor.  

  

Morning meeting share

Morning Meeting is part of our daily routine.  Morning Meeting is how we launch our day. During this meeting students greet each other, there is a share, morning message and an activity.  We are slowing adding these components to our morning meeting routine.  The morning meeting is part of Responsive Classroom, to create safe and joyful learning communities where students develop strong social and academic skills and every student can thrive.

Here students share by bunny hopping through the classroom to find three friends to share their favorite food.  Once they meet up with a friend, they high five and take turns sharing, listening.  This is a great opportunity to practice many of the necessary skills to effectively communicate, eye contact, listening and not thinking about what you are going to say, responding appropriately to your peer and all of this happens with  bonus of getting to know the friends in your learning community.  

2nd step

Every Friday, Mrs. Laura Parker, a school social worker from TBAISD, is a visitor to our classroom.  She teaches a social emotional curriculum called Second Step.   Through this program, students gain the skills and know-how to be kind, caring, and responsible members of society. Today students learn to solve problems on the playground; tomorrow they’ll manage conflicts in the workplace and everyday life.  Our first lesson we met Impulsive Puppy.  The students helped to teach Impulsive Puppy what a body read to learn looks like and sounds like.  

• Eyes Watching
• Ears Listening
• Voice Quiet
• Body Still

I am sure you will be hearing lots about our weekly visits from our puppet friends!