#THANKFULandBLESSED

Good afternoon families! We have had a great time this week thinking, talking and writing about what we are thankful for! It is that time of year where we tend to be more intentional with expressing what we are grateful for and it is so nice to have such meaningful conversations and to be able to hear and read about everything our class is thankful for.

We took some time on Monday, after finishing up a unit in skills to make some Thankful Turkeys for the hallway. We followed this with writing our stories about what we are thankful for.

We are working hard on using our first grade checklist which includes CAPS, ends.!?, finger spaces, best handwriting and 3+ sentences.

This week we have also wrapped up our third unit in Knowledge, reading similar stories from different lands, as well as our second unit in Math! We have been working very hard at making story comparisons. We are learning how to describe the setting and the plot (those two concepts can be easily mixed up and are great ones to talk about with your child at home!!) and what the similarities and differences are. You can see some of our comparisons here:

We are busy, busy learners! While wrapping up various units we make sure to take time for reflections. You will see in your child's folder that along with their math pre and post test is a rate-it and date-it page. We will be doing these with each unit in math.

At times we take a break from instruction and reflect on our math goals and how we are doing at reaching those goals. As we learn this process and get used to the process, we will be rating our learning more and more.

During library this week, Adri and Addy were displaying some great read to someone strategies. They were taking turns reading as well as echo reading and choral reading. These are all different styles of reading we use daily during lessons and read to self in Daily 5! They were pretty excited about the books they chose!

As we move through November and closer to Thanksgiving, there are a few opportunities I would like to share with you:

First Grade Feast:

*Thanksgiving presents great opportunities to learn about traditions long ago vs. today. We learn about the first Thanksgiving and would like to enjoy a real feast on Tuesday, November 20th. Both first grade classrooms will not do regular lunch this day IF we are able to provide the students with a feast. The feast will be in place of school lunch. We gather at a very long, decorated table and enjoy foods that are a mixture of what they might have eaten long ago and some foods that are tradition today.

*This can only be done with extra help from some of our families. If you would like to volunteer to purchase and/or make one of the following, it would be VERY much appreciated! Of the following items, each volunteer would send in the quantity needed. Some items we will need multiple volunteers to send in!

** 1 container of Turkey, deli/sandwich style meat is fine (we will need 3 total)

** 1 container of Salmon - yes...we will have kids try it, since fish was likely part of the First Thanksgiving! (we will need 2 total)

** Cranberries (enough to serve 20 students)

** 1 pumpkin pie and 1 cool whip can (we will need a total of 3 of each)

** 1 loaf or pan of sliced corn bread (we will need 3 total)

** Mashed potatoes (enough to serve a small portion to 20 students)

** Corn (enough to serve 20 students)

**Holiday theme plates, cups, and plastic utensils (enough for 20 studnets)

*Everything must be cooked and prepared ahead of time - ready to serve! We can only warm it up at school. Please do not purchase or make items until we have confirmed it with your so that we have just the right amounts of all the things we need! You can access your parent letter here!

Forest View Can Drive:

In keeping with our Forest View traditions, we will once again be collecting canned goods this year to create food baskets for families in our community who are in need of a little extra support during this upcoming holiday season. So many of us are blessed with more than we need and so this is a great opportunity to support our friends and neighbors and to share with them some love and extra food around the holidays. This year, rather than collecting the goods and bringing them down to the gym, we are adding a challenge - 'CAN' we collect enough canned goods to completely line all of the halls in our school?!?! We think we'CAN!' If you are willing and able to help by donating nonperishable foods, please send in your goods anytime between now and the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. In high demand this year are things like peanut butter, canned tuna, macaroni and cheese, and new this year - new toys!

As always, please check our homepage for important dates!

Take some time this week to have meaningful conversations with your child and discover what they feel thankful for!