Welcome Back!

Welcome back to another great Bobcat school year!  I'm so excited to get to know you and your child.  Our first couple of weeks back have been wonderful!  We've been working on establishing classroom expectations and working through routines as well as launching reading groups.  There are so many things happening right now, but here a few at a glance:

-Bobcat Time: We've started small groups in which your child is paired with an adult.  There are typically 4-6 students in each of these Bobcat groups.  For 20 minutes, 4 days per week, your child will be engaging in various literacy activities tailored to your child's needs.  We are excited to delve into these this week and practice various literacy skills including word decoding/word building, reading authentic texts, practicing sight words, working on fluency, and asking and answering questions about texts (comprehension).

-The Daily Five/CAFE: During this literacy block, students participate in whole-group mini-lessons related to reading strategies and writing skills.  Students engage in a choice of five activities: Work on Writing, Word Work, Read to Self, Read to Someone, and Listening to Reading.  As I meet with students for guided reading or individual reading/writing conferences during this time, students independently complete various tasks related to the five activities.  Students LOVE The Daily Five because it gives them choice, and who doesn't love that?  I have been greatly impressed by how engaged and motivated our class has been to be independent during these activities.  I can't wait to see what the future holds for us!

-Butterfly Unit: Butterflies, butterflies, butterflies!  Ms. Upah and I CAN'T WAIT to begin our new science unit focusing on the life cycle of a butterfly.  We will be raising our own Painted Lady butterflies from caterpillar, to chrysalis (NOT a cocoon--more on this later!), to flittering butterfly.  You'll hear buzz words from your child like scales, nectar, proboscis, and chrysalis.

Mrs. H