Dear Families

This week we want to spotlight our Peace of Mind Curriculum. We gather once a week for a lesson that helps integrate mindfulness and social-emotional learning to help us be kinder and more positive. Every day we get into our mindful bodies in order to be focused and be the best listeners possible. We know that it takes our entire body for this to happen. We have learned breathing techniques to help us when we need to calm down. A favorite topic is heartfulness (kindness to each other and ourselves, teamwork and sharing and taking turns) and gratitude (what we need versus what we want, and giving compliments). This week as part of Brain Awareness Week, we were introduced to a new puppet friend named Brainy! Brainy is teaching us about three parts of the brain. The hippocampus helps us remember things. The amygdala helps us with our feelings, big and small. The pre-frontal cortex helps us with choices, making plans, and making decisions. Our students love Brainy!!

We did our first Words their Way activity this week as students cut, glued, and sorted animals/non-animals into categories. Students provided their own examples of animals and non-animals through illustrations and writing the beginning sound for the animal/non-animal that they drew. This workbook will be used each week to increase skills in phonemic awareness, and rhyming. 

We also practiced manipulating the /a/ sound in words and wrote the letter A using a variety of materials such as wooden sticks, chalkboards and chalk, crayons, journals and handwriting books, and the Wet, Dry, Try iPad application. All students should feel so proud! They are working very hard to master the sounds.

As a reminder, we will no longer send home an email about the sound of the week. It will be each student's responsibility to know the sound and bring in an object or drawing for show and share.

Have a relaxing fun-filled spring break. See you in April!

Warmly,

Jody and Atena