Laura Harris

School starts next Wednesday! I am excited to start a fantastic new year. I look forward to meeting everyone at the Back to School Ice Cream Social on Tuesday, August 14, 3:30-4:30. We will unpack all the school supplies together on the first day of school. You do not need to label--Expo markers, pencils, highlighters, glue bottles, glue sticks, post-its, tissues, wipes and hand sanitizer as these are community supplies. Thank you for helping your child get ready for school.

A CALM CLASSROOM

The learning process is a very delicate thing. Research has proven that children learn best when their whole body is ready to learn and this all starts at home. To best help your child prepare for school is to have a calm and peaceful morning as they transition into the full day of school. 

FIRST GRADE NEWS

HEALTHY SNACKS FOR THE CLASSROOM!

Here are several ideas:

• Fresh Fruits
  • apple
  • orange
  • strawberries
  • banana
  • grapes
  • watermelon
  • pineapple
  • cucumbers
• Dried fruits
  • raisins
  • cranberries
  • mangoes
  • apricots
• Veggies
  • celery
  • carrots
  • broccoli
  • cauliflower
  • asparagus
• Unsweetened Applesauce (in squeeze packages or pack a spoon)

Thank you for your help with this!! 

 

Dear Families,

Hello! There are a couple easy ways to help raise money for Jackson School's Student Council. One way is to collect Box Tops from grocery products purchased. Just cut off the Box Top label and send them in to school and I will pass them on to the student council members. Another way is to drop off your paper recycling goods into the bin located in our parking lot. We get money per each pound dropped off. Please do not put cardboard in the container. 

Thank you for your help with this endeavor.

I sure am looking forward to working with my new little friends!!!  

Sincerely,

Laura Harris

READING!

Reading daily with your child is VERY important!

During read alouds it is imperative to, “Provide opportunities for children to respond orally to books read aloud.  Their oral responses prepare them for their written responses they’ll later be asked to make on their own” (Taberski, 2000).

 

Pre-Reading Strategies:

Take a picture walk through the story and ask your child what they think will happen throughout the story (predicting) while looking through the illustrations.

During Reading Experiences:

Read and discuss stories together. Have your child: identify the main characters, where the story takes place, what were the problem(s) and solutions to the story.

After Reading Reflections:

Ask them questions such as: What was your favorite part in the story?  Can you relate to the events that took place in the story? How? Do you think the problem was solved in a clever way? 

When your child comes to a word they don’t know, encourage them to:

• Look at the picture.  Think about the story (what word would make sense that matches the letters and sounds of the word printed).
• Go back and reread from the beginning of the sentence.
• Get your mouth ready, point and slide under the word while sounding out the word.
• Skip the word and read through the end of the sentence and go back (what word would make sense that matches the letters and sounds of the word printed).
• Try a word.

             Does it make sense?

             Does it sound like language?

             Do the letters match?

Take a mini-vacation and read a good book!

 

What exactly are brain breaks?

Brain breaks are teacher coached energizing movement breaks that allow the children to regroup and refocus. These breaks only take 2-3 minutes to do. I use them in my classroom because they challenge our brains, are fun to do and they make us laugh. These are all important to the learning process! Whenever you cross the mid-line of your body, it helps engage both sides of our brains. Brain research suggests performing brain breaks every 30 minutes with my friends. The children and I have been having a ton of fun during our brain break exercises. Ask your child which brain break they did today!