Clifford’s Classroom Connection August 30, 2013

1. Clifford’s Classroom Connection August 30, 2013 Important Notes • It was great to see a lot of you at Back to School Night! Thank you for coming. If you were unable to attend, I sent home a packet of information with your child. Please let me know if you have any questions. • Please have your child bring in supplies for the Self Portrait Activity we will be doing next week. The supplies include photographs of the child/family, magazine cutouts of things your child likes, and stickers. We will be using these self portraits during writing to help the students generate ideas. • Spills and accidents happen! If possible, please send your child to school with an extra change of clothes that can stay in his/her cubby in case of an accident or spill. • Our class has P.E. every Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. If possible, please have your child wear his/her gym shoes to school on Friday morning so we can transition to P.E. right away. • You can reach me at kclifford@barrington220.org or • 847-756-2775 What We’re Learning It has been a wonderful week in first grade! The students are continuing to become acclimated to the longer day and the routines of first grade. In math, we are working on comparing numbers using the vocabulary greater than and less than. We have also been identifying and creating number patterns. Next week, we will be reviewing what we have learned in Chapter 1 and taking the Chapter 1 test on Wednesday. Up next is Chapter 2: Number Bonds. During character education, we are continuing to focus on the pillars of character including respect, fairness, responsibility, and citizenship. We discussed what it means to be caring and trustworthy. The students came up with a lot of great examples of how they can show the pillars of character at home and in school. In health, we continued to learn about safety. The class brainstormed rules for safety when in the car in on a bus. The students worked in teams to create a page on each area of safety. We put the pages together to create a classroom book all about safety! In writing, we are working on personal narrative stories. The students learned how to identify a small, true moment from their lives to write about. The students also used strategies such as “touch and tell” and sketch to plan for what they will write. In reading the students are learning the stations they will be doing during the reader’s workshop. The students worked on building their stamina during independent reading. We also discussed the three ways to read a book (read the pictures, read the words, and retell the story) and how to use the finger test to see if a book is a good fit. Upcoming Events September 2nd – No School September 3rd– Students should bring in supplies for the Self Portrait Activity September 3rd– Earth Dome Assembly