We had a fantastic time at the Kittle's farm last Thursday! We spent the morning in the woods looking for signs of forest life and collected branches to build shelter structures in the school garden. We found deer trails and saw scat and tracks from a variety of animals. Students were like detectives and used clues to figure out what animals lived there in the woods. In the afternoon we collected eggs, picked Italian plums and cooked delicious plum custard tarts. We also fed the horse carrots and ate salsa made from the garden produce. Thank you to the Kittle family and to our volunteers Jenna, Scott, Dick, and Sheila!
This Thursday we are going to Gales Meadow organic farm to see what food is growing in October. We will be leaving at 11:10 and will return to school by 2:15. We will be outside for this trip. Please help your child be prepared with warm layers, a rain coat with a hood, rain boots, a healthy lunch, and a full water bottle. We have enough volunteers for this trip, but if you are interested, you are welcome to join us!
This week students will continue reading in their book clubs. At the beginning of the school year we brainstormed a large list of WHY people read and the students came up with many reasons. Most of all, reading should be fun! If your child does not yet have a habit of reading at home, please take some time to consider what kind of reading routine would make sense for you and your child. Five to seven days a week, for about twenty minutes at a time is a good goal for first and second graders. You can read books to your child, he or she can read them to you, or he or she can read them alone. Soon we will be sending home 'just right' books with all students so that you will always have reading material that fits your child!
We are also working on our personal narrative writing unit, which will focus on our experiences at the Kittle's farm. We filled up almost three pages with favorite memories when we came back to school that afternoon! I think the students have a lot to write about and am looking forward to their stories! Students will continue working on handwriting this week, as well as spelling, and are deciding what their own school goals should be for this year. Students will share their goal with you at their goal setting conference on October 27-28.
Since we have a short week this week, I'd also like to check in with families about our trip on Tuesday, October 18th to the Audubon. If you have volunteered to join us, could you please send me a short confirmation email? We had many parents interested in this trip and I want to be sure I have my volunteer list in order! Part of our trip will entail a hike and tour through the forest. Then we will take a class on identifying animal tracks and detecting other signs of life while out in the woods. This class will help us when we go to see what lives in the Tillamook Forest in the spring, as we are trying to build a forest habitat for forest creatures at school! ***The day we go on this trip is normally a pizza fundraising day. Please remember to send a healthy lunch with your child and your pizza order will be pushed up to the next week, if you ordered. Please also help your child be prepared for wet and cold weather by wearing warm layers, a rain jacket, rain boots, as well as a full water bottle.
Thank you Barn Swallow families! We have a great class!
Sincerely,
Sherry
No comments:
Post a Comment