Students in Room 2 are busy learning to be more independent in their work time, building their stamina for focused work, and practicing their manners when sharing classroom materials. Our lead story this week is Mrs. Bindergarten Takes a Field Trip. Students are drawing and labeling details about the setting, addressing envelopes to send to a friend, and finding our word walls words in a poem. One of our new vocabulary words from this week’s story is chaperone. We noticed that it doesn’t have the same “ch” sound as Charlie! We are working hard at hearing the sounds letters make in words! In math, we are Weather Watchers graphing the weather in our Number Corner. We are also watching the pattern of spiders and ladybugs, made by students, unfold on our calendar. Students are broadening their work with our manipulatives to include our newest spinner game, Which Bug Will Win? Students are having fun predicting which bug will win and enjoying rooting for their favorite! Our third Home Connections math game will be coming home later this week. Please enjoy playing these games at home, and then send the signed envelope back to class so that it is ready for the next assignment. We started running laps to condition ourselves for the annual Run for the Arts fundraiser. We felt our hearts pounding after our first run – but we know that exercise builds our strength and stamina and so we press on! The event is coming up fast -Thursday, October 13th! Check the directions on pledge form for how to earn points for a free t-shirt, or other great prizes. The pledge sheet should be returned to school no later than Tuesday, October 11th. I hear most kindergartners run about 6-10 laps. In science, we continue our study of trees. Students articulated all sorts of reasons trees are our friends, from providing us with clean air to breath, to providing a cool, shady spot on a hot, sunny day. We will be putting our artistic skills to work creating our own trees later this week. Looking ahead, Tuesday, Oct. 11th is picture day, and we will be heading out on our first field trip to the pumpkin patch later this month. Stayed tuned for details! The volunteer calendar is up. Please sign up to help with morning literacy work or afternoon art, science, or gym. Thanks!