Nocturnal Animals

This  week we began a new science/literature unit about night time and nocturnal animals. We will read fiction and non-fiction books about nocturnal animals and work on some directed art lessons to create a book of animals. These art lessons are more challenging than others we have done -they require the students to really watch me demonstrate the steps, and then use the many pieces correctly to build the animal. It takes a lot of focus, patience and perseverance - and gives us great opportunities to practice coping skills. Your children worked very hard on the first two animals we worked on this week!

In our social skills lessons we added "take a break" to our coping skills bulletin board. This is more challenging than you might think -often when we are frustrated, we resist stopping and taking a break...which leads to more frustration and upset. We also practiced using "laugh it out" when we make a small, silly mistake.  Your students are really getting good at identifying how the characters in our read aloud stories are feeling, and what zone they are in. We read "Where the Wild Things Are" and they were able to tell when Max was in the red, blue and finally, green zones!

Next week is busy:
Tuesday from 6:00-7:00 is our Parent Support Group Meeting - all parents and caregivers are welcome!

Friday is Halloween. Your child should bring their Halloween costume - we will put them on after lunch for the parade at 2:00. We will all parade out the front door of the school if you would like to come and watch. We will have a small and simple party after the parade.
Friday is the end of this marking period. I will see you all at Parent Teacher Conferences on November 13. Personally, I am really looking forward to meeting with you - your children have ALL made progress, and they are all wonderful to work with and to have in class!