Reading

This week in Reading Workshop, our young readers started a brand new unit: Character Study. In it, they will begin to identify character feelings and motivations, retell the major plot points, and write summaries including what happens at the beginning, middle, and end. They will also practice reading with expression and fluency by reading out loud to their reading partner. After our in-depth unit on nonfiction books, First Graders are excited to dig into some fiction stories.

Writing

First Graders started a new writing unit this week as well! For the next month, our writers will be learning all about how to write nonfiction books. We spent this week brainstorming lists of topics that we know a lot about, so that we could turn them into teaching books. What does this class know all about? Books currently in-progress include Hippos, Skateboards, The City of Chicago, LEGO Dimensions, Birds, Dogs, Amazing Species of Cats, Helicopters and Airplanes, Ants, and more. Students are learning to plan and organize their ideas before writing, and to include all the information that they think readers want to know. This is a rich and exciting unit of study!

Parent Lunch

On Wednesday we held our Fall Parent Lunch! First Grade parents came to TCS to enjoy an outdoor lunch and even some recess time with the First Graders. The students were eager to teach the grown-ups some new outdoor games. It was a beautiful October day in Charleston and we had fun spending some quality time with parents during our school day.

Important Dates

• Thursday, October 27 – Parent Forum, 5:45-6:45, TCS Library
• Monday, October 31 – Halloween, Half Day, 11:30 dismissal