Summary of the Week - 1/13

     Last week in preparation for MLK Day on Monday and Black History Month in February we began talking with our students about Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. Many of our students have heard of Martin Luther King Jr. before but they all seemed very interested in learning more about him and talking about equality. On Friday morning our Social Studies lesson continued the conversation about fair treatment for all and students made posters related to equality, respect, and community. We will continue to build this theme and learning into our work in the coming weeks.

     We have been working on building a strong community in other ways as well - cooperative games, fair play at recess, and independent work completion.

Scavenger Hunt Celebration

     This week during Book Club the class finished a chapter book we've been working on for several weeks called CrimeBiters written by Tommy Greenwald. Today students found a scavenger hunt set up by a 'mystery person.' They had to work together as a team to process through the clues and follow them to the surprise. Some of the clues involved math, while others were word riddles. The students seemed to really enjoy the adventure of it all. At the end of the hunt they discovered hot chocolate as the surprise celebration. What fun!

    Students have also been continuing to enjoy the snow and sleds at recess time. It doesn't quite feel like recess anymore when the sleds aren't outside to enjoy.

Returning to School

     Welcome back! We hope you all had a wonderful vacation and holiday. Before vacation students enjoyed making holiday crafts and presents to share with you all. We hope those were shared and enjoyed.

     Since coming back from vacation students have been working hard to get back into our routines and expectations. They are reminding themselves of the sensory tools and materials that work best for them. In literacy 1st and 2nd graders have been focusing on letter sounds and word sorts involving vowel sounds. They have been doing great! Older students have been doing a lot of independent reading and improving their reading fluency. In math all students have been working on the skill of subtraction. Younger students are doing subtraction with smaller numbers while older students are doing subtraction with larger numbers. They are learning various strategies and tools they can use to be successful.

     Students have also been settling back in to their work and learning in the Unified Arts classes. In Enrichment Mrs. Roll has continued to teach students about the process of turning wool into yarn. Some students have a real knack for it! 

Aromatherapy Trays

     During community time this week Miss Callie made aromatherapy trays with students. These trays have salt, food coloring, and a few drops of essential oil. Students smelled and rated essential oils last week and then chose their favorite to put into their tray. These trays will be in our classroom for students to use whenever they need them for calming - they can simply be smelled or students can trace with their finger in the salt. Their hands may come home smelling like their chosen scent!

Work Hard; Play Hard

Students are doing such great Literacy and Math work lately! There is not much to say about it except, wow! Their teachers are very proud of the work they are doing and parents should be too.

 All that hard work in the classroom means students need to play hard as well!