Parent Letter 20/09/2010

                                                                                                                        20 September, 2010

Dear P1 Parents,

This is a short note at the start of our second (busy) week together in P1. First, I want to thank you for being patient in my arrival and for the wonderfully warm welcome to ISM, Arusha and Tanzania. Thanks also to Ms. Ilona for helping set this up for a smooth transition for students. I am grateful to be here and feel privileged with the opportunity to work with your child. I will aim to send a letter home at the end of every two weeks in efforts to share with you what we are doing in class and inform you about upcoming events/activities.

The following is a short overview of what we have been and are currently learning in P1:

Literacy: Last week students worked with repeated text and had a go at being authors of this genre of writing. Students also shared with me their understanding of high-frequency words and spelling. This week we will work on beginning sounds and rhyming words while talking about how we can use classroom resources to help us in our reading and writing.

Math: The focus in Math has been on using pictographs or bar graphs to answer questions and organize information. Graphs have been made showing which animals students like best (lions or tigers), how many people are in our families, how we get to and from school, and what sports we like best (stop in our classroom to see them). Last week we made a graph with our shoes! We are using the words ‘more than’, ‘less than’ as we evaluate our graphs. We will continue using these words as we begin looking at measurement and compare and order length and height.

POI:  Our Program of Inquiry unit (Me and My Family) will wrap up this week. We will conclude this unit by sharing an artifact (an object) with some significance to your child and its connection to his/her family. This may be any item: a piece of clothing, a trinket or charm, a picture or short story. Students will be sharing this item with the class over the next few days. Please have your child bring in something or talk through a story with them.

This week we will also be talking about and comparing how our families celebrate birthdays. It would be great if you would take time to talk with your son/daughter about how your family celebrates. Our next unit is entitled “Tales and Technology” and looks at structures, materials and the design cycle. 

Please feel free to contact me if you have questions, comments or ideas.

The best way to make contact with me is through email.

I sincerely look forward to getting to know your child.

Tuesday, September 14

P1 has spent time the last two days talking about the word COMMUNITY.
We compared this word to FAMILY.
Look who has made a promise to do their best to be kind, safe and fair in our P1 community this year.

We had a lovely first day in P1 today!


After reading It’s Okay To Be Different by Todd Parr we talked about what makes us special. This learning journey we are starting together is exciting! As a class we talked about how important it is to learn about the friends we will be with throughout the year. The following are some of the responses to the question, “What makes you different?”

“My dad is a Kung Fu teacher.”

“I have skirts and dresses and boys don’t.”

“My dad works in an office.”

“I like to run!”

“I like to watch TV.”

“I like to play around with my brother.”

“I get to have candy every Saturday and Sunday.”

“I have a trampoline at home. When I jump it makes me feel like I am jumping in bed.”

“My dad always takes me to buy ice cream.”

“My dad is building me a castle…all of you can come play.”

For Literacy today students had an opportunity to share with me what they know about spelling words. This information is helpful for me as I continue to prepare differentiated literacy instruction for your students. While sharing the poetry that is brought home each week, ask your student letter names and sounds. For many of the letters, students have learned an action that helps them remember the sound the letter makes. Our poem for the beginning of the week is This Little Piggy; the students have picked up on this poem quickly and are adding more sight words every day!

In Math we are working on graphing in addition to forward and backward counting. With Ms. Ilona 1P made a number of different graphs. Pictographs have been made showing which animals students like best (lions or tigers), how many people are in our families, how we get to and from school, who likes chips compared to who likes pizza, and what sports we like best (stop in our classroom to see them). Today we made a graph with our shoes! First we looked at all of our shoes and decided we could put them into three categories (laces, Velcro, and other). We made a graph and discovered there were more students with laces on their shoes than Velcro or ‘other’ (those wearing sandals, having buckles, or Eayle’s crocks). We are using the words ‘more than’, ‘less than’ a lot as we talk about our graphs. See if your P1 student can use these words in comparing things around your home or town.

We also made banners today! Students again practiced writing their names and sharing three important things about themselves. We learned things about each person in P1. For example, we learned Simone likes the beach, Neel really likes water slides that drop into deep water, and Eayle likes puppies. Tomorrow we will be talking more about what makes our families special.

I want to thank all of you for being patient in my arrival and for warmly welcoming to P1 and Arusha. I very much look forward to working with all of your children. It is a privilege to be a part of this very important learning journey with your child.

Please contact me with any comments or questions.