Welcome back! I hope you had a wonderful vacation with our children. I missed them tons!
I read a book over break called Mindset, which teaches about how to praise and encourage ourselves, our employees, and our children. If you have a child who does not do his/her best, has test anxiety, is overly competitive, or too hard on him/herself, I recommend reading chapters 1-3 and the chapter on Parenting/ Teaching. It is a worthwhile read to inform us to not praise fixed traits like intelligence and talent; instead praise determination, risk taking, and persistence. Soon, there will be a Willard parent book group formed around this text. I will let you know more details as they become available.
We start science tomorrow! Children in 211 will be going to Mr. Vick's class from 12:35-1:15 daily to learn Electricity and Magnetism. Please ask them what they learned each day to keep those new concepts and vocabulary in their brains.
Our Geography Bee is on Friday at 2 p.m. in the auditorium. Sophie and Mary are representing our class with diligence, motivation and enthusiasm! The first four Battle Books are due by Friday as well. Many of our classmates have worked very hard to achieve this goal and are becoming avidly critical, analytic readers.
By the end of this week, or the beginning of next week, we will be having a math test on Unit 5- on multiplying large numbers. Please keep practicing those times tables at home! Next week, we will also have MAP testing on the computers to see how much our children have grown. I know they will make us all proud and do their best so I can see what else they need to learn for the remainder of the year. These tests really guide my instruction..
Starting in January, we will be having some lunch discussions around a few Battle books. We have a grandparent volunteer (and former librarian) that has volunteered to lead the discussion. Anyone who has read the Battle Book is invited.
Here are the dates:
January 24: Wonder
February 21: Gabriel's Horses
March 14: Black Radishes
April 18: Drawing from Memory
I read a book over break called Mindset, which teaches about how to praise and encourage ourselves, our employees, and our children. If you have a child who does not do his/her best, has test anxiety, is overly competitive, or too hard on him/herself, I recommend reading chapters 1-3 and the chapter on Parenting/ Teaching. It is a worthwhile read to inform us to not praise fixed traits like intelligence and talent; instead praise determination, risk taking, and persistence. Soon, there will be a Willard parent book group formed around this text. I will let you know more details as they become available.
We start science tomorrow! Children in 211 will be going to Mr. Vick's class from 12:35-1:15 daily to learn Electricity and Magnetism. Please ask them what they learned each day to keep those new concepts and vocabulary in their brains.
Our Geography Bee is on Friday at 2 p.m. in the auditorium. Sophie and Mary are representing our class with diligence, motivation and enthusiasm! The first four Battle Books are due by Friday as well. Many of our classmates have worked very hard to achieve this goal and are becoming avidly critical, analytic readers.
By the end of this week, or the beginning of next week, we will be having a math test on Unit 5- on multiplying large numbers. Please keep practicing those times tables at home! Next week, we will also have MAP testing on the computers to see how much our children have grown. I know they will make us all proud and do their best so I can see what else they need to learn for the remainder of the year. These tests really guide my instruction..
Starting in January, we will be having some lunch discussions around a few Battle books. We have a grandparent volunteer (and former librarian) that has volunteered to lead the discussion. Anyone who has read the Battle Book is invited.
Here are the dates:
January 24: Wonder
February 21: Gabriel's Horses
March 14: Black Radishes
April 18: Drawing from Memory