Week 3

This week we worked with the letters /m/ and /n/ and have learned 2 more color words, blue and yellow. With each color word, we learn a song to help with the spelling of the word and the color word in sign language. In math we have begun a unit on comparing numbers. Chrysanthemum was the story of the week. It is about a little girl with a very long name. We counted the letters in our names and graphed the results.

I have sent home some Scholastic Book order forms. If you are interested in ordering books, there are 2 ways to do so. You can fill out the order form inside the flier and send a check made out to Scholastic Books. Or you can order online by visiting https://orders.scholastic.com/HGKVX. Orders are due by September 12th.

Chart

Your child may have come home talking about our Clip Chart. Many of you may be wondering what this is all about.

In our classroom, I use a behavioral management system adapted by the Clip Chart system developed by Rick Morris. This method promotes positive behavior choices and encourages students to self-monitor their behavior.

How it works...

• Each student has a clothespin labeled with his/her name, and begins the day clipped to the green center of the chart labeled Ready to Learn. 
• During the course of the day the students have the opportunity to move their clothespin up or down the chart according to their behavioral choices - "clip up" or "clip down".
• Positive behavior choices allow the students to move his/her clothespin up one level: conversely inappropriate choices cause the clothespin to move down one level. 
• Rewards/consequences are issued later in the day, when students no longer have the opportunity to move their clip.

Clip Chart Advantages...

• Students can be acknowledged for positive behavior choices.
• Students feel a sense of accomplishment when they have the opportunity to clip-up.
• Students who have had to clip down have the opportunity to improve and clip-up later in the day, thus they continue to stay motivated to make positive behavior choices.

Our Clip Chart and sticker charts.

Our chart:

Red : Outstanding	3 stickers
Orange: Great Day	2 stickers
Yellow: Good Job	1 sticker
Green: Ready to Learn	1 sticker
Blue: Slow Down	Warning
Purple: Think About It	10 minute time out during playtime
Pink: Oh No! Stop!	10 minute time out during playtime + parent contact

Rewards...

Each day your child collects stickers on their chart for being on green or above. The sticker charts are pictured next to the Clip Chart. Once their chart is filled, they can get a Reward Coupon. The coupons introduce so far have been:

• Pick from the Treasure Box
• Special Spot Swap (they can trade their carpet spot for the day)
• Bring a toy to school
• Free cut in Line

They love picking coupons! More coupons will be presented as the year goes on.

Please be sure to celebrate if your child comes home and says they ended the day on green! I tell the the children that being on green is a good day! Sometimes they may have done everything asked of them and I just didn't catch them being good. Just keep doing the right thing and I will notice. Sometimes I am looking for certain behaviors in order to clip-up. Often I use clip-ups to shape particular behaviors of certain individuals or the whole class. On certain occasions we get a "class clip-up". This is very special. 

Have a great weekend!