Learning To Go Mr. Avery's Class on the Web 

We’re off and running! So much of our success depends on building our classroom community of learners right. We are learning names and faces and how to speak kindly at Morning Meeting and through the day. We are learning routines for how to take care of our school supplies (through Guided Discovery–read more at https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/article/guided-discovery-action) and how to navigate the building. We are also learning work expectations, like sitting in one place and trying our best. In short, we’re learning how to be in school again! At Floral, we teach students in all gradesto use their FACTS (Focus; Attitude; Confidence; Try Your Best; Stamina)

Screenings At the start of the school year, we try to find out where students are with regards to English Language Learning, Reading, and Math, so that we can meet each child where he or she is academically. We also use the information to determine elegibility for extra help such as through Title One or E.L.L. Your child may therefore tell you that heorshe played math games/read with another teacher during these first weeks. This is especially true of students new to our school or district. These adults are tutors and specialists in the building. If your child is eligible for additional help, we’ll let you know soon.

Reading We’re learning how to choose just right books from the classroom library using “I-PICK”: Purpose (why do I want to read something); Interest (do the pictures/topics interest me); Comprehend (do I understand what I’m reading); and Know (can I read almost all the words). Research still points to the importance of beginning readers spending time in books that are at their specific levels, or just below, and not above. This week we’ll practice reading books on our own for longer and longer periods (the eventual goal is 20 minutes at a time), at what we call “Read to Self” time. I-PICK and Read to Self are methods taken from the Daily 5, a literacy management program we’ll be following to improve our reading, writing, and understanding. For more info, including sample videos, visit: http://www.TheDailyCafe.com/public/department38.cfm

Math The year begins with learning how tools like playing cards, number lines, dice, and money can help us learn and practice math. We are reviewing counting up and back by ones, and counting by 5s and 10s to 100. Believe me when I say that using and memorizing the number line and number grid goes an enormous distance to helping kids compute fluently and understand numbers. Read more on the theory here: http://bridges1.mathlearningcenter.org/files/media/rekenrek/numberline_overview.pdf

You can create number lines here; kids can use them to identify numbers to 100, to count up and back and to do simple addition/subtraction if you give them problems: http://www.math-aids.com/Number_Lines/Number_Lines.html

Here is a number grid to 100 you can print out; let me know if you find any interactive games for using the grid to count online–I’m still looking: http://springbrook.ipsd.org/uploads/Number_grid.pdf

Homework Math is the first homework to begin, and it will start next Thursday, 9/11. In the meantime, please help your child learn the following as homework over the next few weeks: address (#, street, town), phone number, birthday, and how to tie shoes, use buttons, and zipper clothing. If these are hard for your child at first, I promise they will improve with just 5 minutes practice a day!