Dear
Parents,
Here we are at the end of the second
quarter of school. It is hard to believe
that that the year is about half over.
All the children have shown gains since the beginning of the year, which
are exciting to see. It is always around
this time of year that the children move from being second graders to truly
being third graders. Their confidence
and skill begin to cement and they start to take off as independent
learners.
This was perhaps our busiest and
most productive week in some time given the lack of interruptions or
breaks. We continue to move forward in
multiplication and are practicing our facts on a daily basis. I strongly encourage at home review, 10 min.
per night, until facts are solidified.
Next week we will slowly move forward into two-digit multiplication and division. Having strong basic fact control is
instrumental for these building skills.
In Language Arts, we have unofficially kicked off our Reader’s Response
Journals. This process will start in
earnest next week and you should look for a letter coming home next week that
will provide guidance/direction for you and your child. In Science, we continue to learn about the
habitats and will be testing out this unit sometime next week. In Social Studies, we have journeyed back in
time to Ancient Rome and will soon be learning all about the government, daily
life, and architecture of this is powerful civilization.
In addition to our regular
curriculum we took time this week to talk about
Monday’s
Presidential Inauguration as well as the contributions of Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. We completed a lesson on
empathy and tried to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes to solve a
problem. Today or Wednesday we will
discuss our hopes and dreams for the future.
You may be surprised to hear how many of the students hope not for a
video game or play date with a friend but rather a dream for a better, cleaner,
and safer world for all people. Is it
any wonder that I love being with your fabulous kids each day.
As you know, the children will be swimming at the
new Yorktown pool beginning on Wednesday the 30th through Tuesday
the 5th. Each child will need
a suit and towel in a separate bag to take to the pool with them. Some children do prefer to wear their suits
under their clothes as they come to school as we have swimming first
thing. If your child chooses to do this
please make sure there is underwear in their bag for them to change into before
coming back to school. As the children
will be coming back to school with wet heads, please be sure they have a hat or
hood on their coat to cover up for the ride back to Tuckahoe. We are also in need of a couple more
volunteers to help the girls in the locker room. As I mentioned last week this would entail
meeting the bus at the pool at 9:30 to assist the girls in changing and getting
onto the pool deck with their towels, and then again at about 10:30 to help
them change back into their street clothes and make sure nothing is left behind
in the locker room. If you can help with
any part of our swimming week with this please let me know.
Below are a couple of important dates to put on
your calendars:
Friday, January 18- End of 2nd Quarter
Monday, January 21- Dr. King Holiday- Schools Closed
Tuesday, January
22- Teacher
Workday- No school for students
Wednesday,
January 23- FULL DAY OF SCHOOL/NO EARLY RELEASE
Friday, January 25- Disco Dance-7pm
Wednesday, January 30- Tuesday February 5- Swimming
As always, I appreciate your help
and support. If you have any questions,
please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Ms. Coffman
