Things to Know

Hello Families,

Here are some 1-2 CREW updates:

Community Led Learning:
Last Wednesday marked our first Community Led Learning for this school year. After lunch, the students attended various workshops led by volunteers while the teachers did some collaborative, long-term planning. Some of the students, for example, learned about different instruments that will be incorporated into our playground and others learned about rehabilitating animals (this included petting some rehabilitated squirrels!). I got a lot of positive feedback from the students regarding their experiences. If all goes as planned, Community Led Learning will become a regular Wednesday afternoon activity. We’re always looking for more Community Led Learning volunteers, so if you’re interested in helping out, please let me know.

New CREWmunication Folder Pages:
As you have probably noticed, the October CREWmunication pages look a bit different than the September pages. Two new features include a place for the students to record how they felt during the day (this was in the original page, but this version is a little easier for the students to fill out), and a rubric to help the students to think about their behavior for the day. The rubric has written descriptions of behaviors as well as pictures of thumbs to help non-readers when filling it out. Please take the time to sit down with your child and discuss their day with them. I’m really stressing the rubric in class, so this would be a good place to begin your discussion.

In the classroom:
Last week (as many of you know) we spent a lot of time discussing the meaning of courage. This week we will focus on two other parts of CREW, responsibility and empathy. The students will be brainstorming a list of behaviors that are responsible and a list of behaviors that are empathetic, and as a class will craft definitions for both of these words.
For reading workshop we will be thinking about understanding what we read by practicing “Check for Understanding.” To use this reading strategy, students will stop at the end of a page, and think back on what they just read. They might verbally give a quick summary of what has happened in their book so that they know that they understand. If they find that they do understand, they will keep reading; if they find that they do not understand, then they will go back and reread. While your child is reading at home this week, try asking them to stop and check for understanding.

Dates To Know:
Wednesday and Thursday October 6th and 7th ARE school days (even though Moscow School District does not have school those days). If your child is ordering lunch on these days, it will be peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Friday, October 8th is a teacher workday. There is no school.

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments about any of this!