Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I am sure all my little ghosts and goblin trick-or-treaters will have a fun night! I told them they could bring in one small piece of candy tomorrow.

I did ask the children to begin learning the first two stanzas of the poem, My Doggy Ate My Homework. This is our poem for Poetry in the Park. I also asked the children to begin looking for a white chef's hat, a wooden cooking spoon, and a white apron if possible. If a white apron is difficult to find, then have them bring in an another apron for me to see ahead of time.

We are publishing our first personal narratives this week complete with illustrated cover. Today we wrote poems about witches complete with a designer magic hat. The poem included adjectives, verbs and a phrase to describe their topic, witches. We will continue the study of poetry by looking at various styles of poetry, but focusing on free verse poetry. The children will write at least two poems based on two objects that they choose and complete the poem without the use of rhyming yet full of sensory language. We will practice this style of poetry as a class by focusing on a banana. How appropriate since their teacher eats one every morning.

I sent a multiplication table chart home today. We discussed how this could be used at home. I did make a request that though it is good to learn the tables in order, that once they become more comfortable with the process, they should practice the tables out of order. They really need to begin practicing all the multiplication tables now. But I am hopeful that they will have mastered 0-6's by Thanksgiving.

You should also see a notice about the Book Fair in your child's homework folder. I am going to try and take the children to view the books on Tuesday, Nov 8 and then take them on Wednesday to make purchases. However, as you will notice in the letter, everyone is allowed to go in the afternoons after school. This is always a great book fair with multitudes of good books to add to the reading shelf at home or to give as gifts.

We began Lesson 5 in Wordly Wise. The words include: amaze, amazing, arctic, Arctic, court, elect, interval, league, limit, milestone, recreation, and tackle.

This week in math we will be working on circumference, diameter, and radius. We will also review perimeter, area, and practice making conversions as a review for our test on Friday.
You will want to ask your child about the book we read in math today entitled, Sir Cumference and The First Round Table. Ask about their child, Radius.

We are continuing our work with our first grade buddies. My boys and girls reviewed the art of dialogue and narration and created a skit using paper bags disguised as Wilbur. Our first grade buddies used their "stick characters" to talk about their most and least favorite parts of the story. During our next visit, the groups will use plan and begin creating a tri-aroma illustrating the major scenes from the beginning, middle and end of the story, Charlotte's Web.

We have completed our study of the Calusa, Timucua, and Tocobaga. We have outlined information using outline style or other graphic organizers.After we will learn about the Tequesta this week, the children will complete and compare and contrast activity by choosing two groups to discuss. They will make their own decisions as to which groups to compare and contrast and the main topics they will use to base their comparisons.(ie. food, clothing, housing,etc)

Friday is Spirit Day and also the beginning of Homecoming weekend. We will have our Pep Rally on Friday beginning at 1:30. So.. lots of yellow and green!!!

Please check you child's supplies. There may a need for new sharpened pencils, red marking pencils, or loose leaf notebook paper.

Again, I do hope everyone has a "Spooky Halloween" evening! Don't get tricked!!!