Room 12 News
October 1st, 2023
In the past few weeks we have continued to grow as a class family. A few ways we do this all year are through community-building Morning Meeting activities, movement breaks that are playful and fun, and conversations about kindness and support. We’ve also been sharing our All About My Culture flip books and exploring places that are special to us on our globe, which has been a highlight for many kids!
Important Dates
- Oct. 4
School Picture Day
- Oct. 6
No School
- Oct. 9
No School
- Oct. 19
Pumpkin Carving - Volunteers Needed!
- Oct. 20
Pumpkin Delivery - Volunteers Needed!
- Oct. 23-27
Parent/Teacher Conferences
- Nov. 9-10
No School
- Nov. 22-24
No School
Current Curriculum Overview
Reading 📚
In reading, students have been learning about story elements (characters, setting, problem, events, resolution) and how they help readers understand and retell stories. Coming up, we'll be noticing patterns across series books, growing ideas about characters, and envisioning the world that the author is creating.
Writing ✍
We have begun a new bend in narrative writing, focused on revision. Room 12 writers have learned that pieces they love deserve to be honored through revision, and we will begin to revise by telling and showing feelings and bringing out what's deep inside.
Math ➕➖
Coming up in math, students will do an Exploration in which they'll count by 10s and 100s, work with shapes, and sort dominoes. They will also take the end-of-unit assessment. Next, we’ll add and subtract within 20 by solving number stories, using doubles and combinations of 10, and using the “near doubles” and “making 10” strategies.
Phonics
We are exploring homophones, punctuation, and usage of capital letters. And we got a new phonics friend named Gus – ask your child about him!
Parent-Teacher Conferences 🗓
Parent-teacher conferences are the week of October 23rd. I am offering time slots before and after school. All conferences will be 20 minutes long. After selecting a time slot, you will choose whether your conference will be held in person (in Room 12 at Morse Street School) or over Google Meets. If none of the time slots work for you, please let me know. I would be happy to accommodate your schedule. Click this SignUpGenius link to reserve your spot:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4CABA72CAAF9C52-44798638-fall
I look forward to meeting with each of you. I'm enjoying teaching and learning with your children. It is a special and spectacular bunch; I feel lucky to have them in Room 12!
Volunteering 🎃
In a couple of weeks, each class at Morse Street will carve several pumpkins and deliver them to L.L.Bean for the Camp Sunshine Pumpkin Festival. I would love a few volunteers for the below dates and times. If you are an approved Morse Street School volunteer, please let me know if you want to come help!
Thursday 10/19, 1:25-2:10 Pumpkin carving in the classroom
Friday 10/20, 10:45-11:15 Deliver the pumpkins to L.L.Bean
Logical Consequences
After creating our Room 12 Rules together, we learned about Morse Street School’s logical consequences. They are Break It, Fix It (for example, cleaning marker off your table or apologizing for hurting someone’s feelings), Loss of Privilege (for example, temporarily having to use crayons instead of paint if you are making a mess), and Take-a-Break. Take-a-Break is used when a student is getting overly excited or upset and needs to calm down in order to refocus on learning. When a child starts to show signs of this beginning, the teacher tells them to take a break in a chair from which the student can still see and hear learning that is happening. There, the student takes deep breaths, relaxes, and prepares to rejoin. When the student is ready, the teacher tells him or her to rejoin the group for learning. If you have any questions about logical consequences, please let me know; I would be happy to talk about them.
ConnectED ➕➖
ConnectED is a web platform associated with our Everyday Math curriculum. It provides many resources for students and families, including math games, an “etoolkit,” lesson information, and an online reference book. This week I will tape a small piece of paper with your child’s ConnectED login information into your child’s green home-school folder.
To access ConnectED:
1. Go to https://connected.mcgraw-hill.com//school/i3z2
(also listed at the bottom of the login info paper)
2. Select “Michaud 2023-2024”
3. Select your child's name
4. Enter your child's password, listed on the paper in their green folder
While we are not requiring any ConnectED work, you and your child are welcome to explore and use it as much as you like. Children love the games in particular, and they are all in support of the math learning your child is doing this year!
