St. Michael Catholic - Mrs. Konold Class Pages
October 2009 Newsletter
October, 2009
Dear Parents,
The year is off to a good start. The class is moving at a good pace and is making good progress. I would like to give you an update as to what we will be doing during the month of October.
In science we are noticing the changes that are occurring during the fall season. We will start a unit on seasons and focus on autumn. We will read about how and why the changes are occurring during this time of year. In social studies, we will be talking about communities and the different kinds of communities people live in: urban, suburban and rural. The children have been introduced to words, equator, latitude, longitude, Northern Hemisphere, and Southern Hemisphere, when we have used maps during our lessons.
We already have talked about the special events that have taken place so far in October.
- October 2 - Memorial to the Guardian Angels
- October 4 - Feast of St. Francis
- October 12 - Columbus Day
With Halloween just around the corner, we will talk about the religious and secular traditions of Halloween. We will also review safety tips for trick-or-treating.
We have three math groups in our class, so the children are in a group depending on how well they understand math concepts and also how well they know their math facts. It will benefit your child if you have math flash cards or a computer software program to help reinforce their math facts. Use of manipulatives, such as cubes, pennies, elbow macaroni, etc., at home will be helpful when your child is doing his/her math assignment. We will be reviewing adding and subtracting with regrouping and multiplication facts in all three math groups. Please review these concepts with your child at home
In English, we are learning what nouns and verbs are and how to distinguish them in sentences. The class will have more assignments writing complete sentences in English, spelling and reading.
I would like to go over our discipline rules in our room and what is expected of the children. If the class has a good day, they earn a point. Once the class receives twenty points, we have a small classroom party. If a student is disruptive or does not follow our classroom rules, his/her name goes up on the board. This is done mainly to be a reminder to the child that he/she has not followed our classroom rules. If the child makes a second offense, a check mark goes by his/here name, and if the child makes a third offense, another check mark is put by the name. At this point, a note will be sent home to the parents with a request to sign the note and return it. The child will also receive a detention to be served at a specified day and time. We start each day with a clean slate. (Also see St. Michael Discipline Web Page.)
Please check your child's planner each day. It is one way to make sure your child is getting his/her work done.
Thank you for coming to our Curriculum Night and also for supporting our Book Fair. Our Harvest Festival will be on Sunday, October 25th and it will be a fun day for everyone. I look forward to seeing you there. In the meantime, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.
Blessings,
Mrs. Konold
