2016.8.25 Dear Families, Happy birthday, Prisha! Special thanks to Prisha and her family for the gift books for every student in class! Special thanks, also, to Raegan and her family for providing four different kinds of home-grown squash for a taste test. YUMM-O! We got to meet our new fifth grade reading buddies today! Here are some pix. As a reminder, please do NOT post any of these on social media!

We have been working on establishing classroom rules, making and interpreting graphs, writing, reading silently or quietly with a friend, phonics, days of the week and month, writing the date, and showing we care about each other. We did our first reading response journal entry on Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco. Other favorite reads this week have been The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes, First Grade Stinks!, and Ralph Writes a Story.

If you haven’t had a chance yet, please complete and return the CSMH Foundation’s annual pledge drive form ASAP. We won’t get the $500 prize, but can still earn $100 if all forms are turned in ASAP. Thanks! Please remember to complete the orange surveys sent last week. Thanks! Thanks so much to everyone who’s signed up to volunteer in the classroom. Ag., music, and Friday folder volunteers are welcome immediately, others can hold off till the week of September 11. ABC/Project Cornerstone parents will be contacted by the schoolwide ABC leaders. In case you hadn’t had a chance, the sign up is at this link: http://signup.com/go/QHpEJLm. I’ve had to add a few more positions; one for a special project for the Gala Auction and another for the Family Fun Fest. Thanks, again, for everything you do! A paper sign-up will also be available at Back to School Night. Back to School Night is this coming Tuesday, August 29, 2017 promptly at 6:00 till 6:55 p.m. Several handouts are included with this newsletter (and posted on the Parent Resources page at my csmh.org class page) with the hope that you will have a chance to read through them before coming to our meeting so we can answer your questions about them then. The evening will give you the opportunity to experience learning in a bit of a project-based setting, as your children do daily. Documents attached include: 1. Special dates in room 108 2. 1st semester daily schedule 3. Back-to-School Packet 4. CSMH on Project-Based Learning 5. Characteristics of a First Grader; Five Good Reasons to Read to Your Child; 10 Skills Your Child Should Learn This Year; and Five Signs of a Successful First Grader 6. First Grade and the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) 7. a few games from the book Family Math 8. 101 Things to Do with Your Children 9. Helpful hints to make a great start to the year 10. Ways to Help Your Children Develop a Love of Reading 11. Helpful reading strategies to help you help your children 12. As I Grow 13. Mindset messages – *super important* 14. Helping Your Child Become a Reader 15. Helping Your Child Learn Math The last two booklets are included as resources for you for the year; no need to read them start to finish before our meeting! Have a fabulous weekend! Danielle