Counselor News
Preschool students continued with the Al’s Pals Curriculum, which focused on what makes each student special, along with feeling/emotion identification. Our kindergarten and first grade students continued with the Second Step curriculum, which focused on empathy. Students practiced feeling identification, which involved looking at the person’s face, body, knowing the situation, and paying attention to the words someone uses. The Students have papers called home links that are sent home occasionally from their lessons, which explain more of what the students are learning in class.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at (641) 472-2110 or Kelsie.roland@fairfieldsfuture.org.
Reading Corner:
It has been wonderful watching how much all the students are learning already! They are making great connections between letters, sounds, and reading whole words.
Here are some ways you can help your child at home to become more proficient and confident with their letter sounds and word reading:
Practice identifying letters and saying their sounds together.
Point out letters you see in everyday life — on signs, packages, or books.
Read together daily and celebrate every new word your child recognizes!
According to Reading Rockets (2025), “The top predictor of reading success hinges on accurate and automatic alphabet knowledge.” Providing your child with frequent opportunities to see letters and say their sounds builds a strong foundation for reading success.
If you’d like to learn more, visit:
Reading Rockets: Basics Alphabet Knowledge
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at (641) 472-2110 or rebecca.thompson@fairfieldsfuture.org
Preschool:
Preschool students had a great time going to the Adams Pumpkin Patch and learning about pumpkins! We also learned about apples, comparing apples and pumpkins to see how they are similar and different. As the weather starts to change, please have your student practice independently putting on their coat and zipping.
We have learned the letters Ll, Ff, Ee, Hh, and Tt this month. In November we will focus on the letters Ii, Uu, Cc and reviewing letters we’ve learned up to that point.
Our literacy theme will shift from learning about trees to learning about clothing. We have also introduced a new tool to students to help them describe objects called the Expanding Expression Tool. We have plushy beads called Eetchy that help us remember: Green (what group is it), Blue (what does it do), Eye (what does it look like), Brown (what is it made of), Pink (what are its parts), White (where can you find it), and Orange (what else do you know). This tool helps the students to become more adept at describing things, expanding their vocabulary.
In math we learned about sorting by color, shape and size; in November we will work on patterns and positional terms like above, under, next to, behind, in front of. We have learned about all 7 Leader In Me Habits and have begun reviewing them daily in our classroom.
Kindergarten:
Dear Families,
Trimester One is almost over! The past few weeks have flown by, and we are so proud of the progress each student has made.
We are now focusing on building individual goals for letter sounds and number recognition (1–31). In literacy, we are beginning to read CVC words and learn our sight words. One of our ongoing goals is correct letter formation, and we are working hard on this every day. We use the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum and are happy to send home resources if you’d like extra practice with your child.
In math, students continue to grow in their understanding of numbers, counting, and early problem-solving.
Our Kindergarten theme days have been such fun! We’re currently planning a special day all about turkeys as we move into November.
We hope you are enjoying the beautiful fall weather and look forward to seeing you at conferences on November 17th.
Warmly,
K-Team
1st Grade:
Hello Parents!
October has been a busy month of learning in 1st grade!
We finished up our reader “Snap Shots” and are now into “Gran”. In Gran we are learning about magic e! We learned that the e at the end of a word tells the vowel to say its name. We are also talking about common and proper nouns.
In math we continue our work on numbers to 20, adding and subtracting, adding 3 addends together, and story problems. We use number lines, ten frames and cubes to help us understand these concepts.
In knowledge we are listening to fairy tales and folktales. We have been hearing several that are similar (similar adventures, conflicts, and names) and learning that they all come from different countries (Denmark, France, Japan). We have some great vocabulary like commotion, deeds, and scarcely. Talk to your child and ask them to use it in a sentence.
Please sign up for conferences. Washington’s conference date is Nov. 17 Details are emailed to you from your child’s teacher. If your child receives Title services their teacher will pop in and chat with you about your child. Report cards will be passed out at conferences for us to look at together.
First grade has a fun project coming up! We will be learning about the 1st Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and will be having our own throughout the building! This is a tradition we started 3 years ago and have loved seeing their balloon creations!
Dates coming up:
Thanksgiving dates Nov. 26-28 (No School)
End of trimester Nov. 14
Please send your child with a jacket or a coat. Our mornings are getting to be too cold for just a long sleeve or a sweatshirt.
The following is from the Student Handbook
Recess Attire and Guidelines Recess is a supervised portion of each day in which we expect all students to participate in some type of play activity. It is important for students to dress appropriately for this activity since recess is held outside if at all possible. If it is 60 degrees or above, students are allowed outside with no coats. Between 50-60 degrees, students may go outside to recess if they have long sleeves. If it is between 32-50 degrees, students are required to wear a coat. Below 32 degrees, students must have a winter coat to go outside. If it’s below real feel zero all students will stay inside. Students must have snow boots, snow pants, and gloves or mittens to go off hard surfaces. If students just have snow boots they can play on hard surfaces only. Students must stay near the wall if they do not have snow boots or another pair of shoes to change into. There will be no throwing snow or sliding on the ice.
