September 23, 2010

 READING

Next week we will be reading two stories to compare fantasy and nonfiction. The fantasy story is about two hippos named George and Martha, Round and Round. The nonfiction story is from the magazine Ranger Rick called Hippos.

We will be working on the comprehension strategy of connecting and comparing. Phonics lessons will review the short vowels and concentrate on the long vowel a vccv pattern. Vocabulary words will be cross, observed, thoroughly, unmoved, herds, mammal, moisture, nostrils, relatives, moisture, sunscreen and wicked. High-frequency story words are bought, front, kitchen, until and roll. Our grammar lessons will review naming and action part of sentences.

MATH

In math we finished our chapter on subtraction. We have started a new chapter on place value. We will be counting, reading and writing numbers up to 100. We will identify the place value of each digit (ones, tens, hundreds). We will be comparing numbers. Remember to keep practicing the addition and subtraction flash cards at home.

Social Studies/Science

We finished our chapter on Communities and Neighborhoods. We will be switching to Science where are new unit is on Living and Non-living things.

Happy Birthday

Owen – September 23

Student of the Week

Khadija is the Student of the Week! She likes to play play soccer, read and help people. Her favorite animal is a horse and her favorite color is yellow. When Khadijas grows up he wants to be an Artist.

Silly Banz

Many of the children have been wearing “silly banz” to school. Unfortunately, like any toy, they are a distraction to your children. We are asking you to instruct your child to keep their “silly banz” at home. This will prevent us from having to take them away in the classroom. Thank you for your cooperation, we appreciate your help in trying to keep the children as focused as possible during their school day.

Character Counts

The Character Counts pillar for the month of October is Responsibility. Have your child show spirit by wearing green every Wednesday in October. We will be discussing responsible behavior at school and at home.

Reading Logs

Reading logs are due on October 1^st. All the children who have read for 21 days in September will participate in a reading party. We will have lunch in our classroom and watch a movie.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Sept. 30^th – School Picture Day

Oct. 11th – Columbus Day - No School

Oct. 20 – Early Dismissal

September 17, 2010

READING
Our story for next week will be Mrs. Brown Went to Town, by Wong Herbert Yee. This story is about a woman whose farm animal move into her house while she is away. They have a lot of fun!
We will be working on the comprehension strategies of predicting outcomes and connecting and comparing. Phonics lessons will include the long vowels a and i following a cvce pattern (consonant, vowel, consonant, silent e) Vocabulary words will be commotion, wearing, delivered, tire, feathers, releases. High-frequency story words are floor, letter, move, poor and word. Our grammar lessons will focus on verbs.

MATH
In math we are working on subtraction. We are working on fact families, counting back and using addition to solve subtraction problems. Next week we will finish our chapter on subtraction. Our math test will be on Tuesday. Our next chapter will be on place value.
Please remember to review math facts with your child.

Social Studies
In Social Studies we are comparing rural, urban and suburban communities. We are locating communities, states and countries on a map. Next week we will finish Unit one on communities and take a test on Wednesday.

Student of the Week
Ismael is the Student of the Week! He likes to play play baseball, skateboard and play on the computer. His favorite animal is a dog and his favorite color is red. When Ismael grows up he wants to be an Artist.

Happy Birthday
Tyler – September 13

Book Fair
Thank you to all the children who gave our class a gift certificate to purchase books. We will enjoy reading them! I appreciate your thoughtfulness! Thank you PTO for hosting this special event!

Magazine Drive
The Magazine Drive started on last Monday with a short assembly. Packets went home with the children. If you need more forms, you may pick them up in the office, or e-mail me and I’ll send them home with your child.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Sept. 24th – Teacher Institute Day – No School
Sept. 30th – School Picture Day
Oct. 11th – Columbus Day - No School

September 10, 2010

READING
Next week our story is Julius by Angela Johnson. We'll read about Maya's pig, Julius. Julius and Maya learn a lot from each other – Julius teaches Maya fun activities like trying on hats and dancing to jazz, and Maya teaches Julius how to be polite. The comprehension strategies will be fantasy/realism, rereading for understanding and drawing conclusions.
In spelling, we started having a dictated spelling sentence test with includes some spelling words in the sentence. You child will earn the following points on this test. 2 points for each spelling word spelled correctly (these can be from previous spelling lists), 1 point for each capital letter, 1 point for each end mark and 1 point for all the other words in the sentence. This will be a part of their language arts grade.
Letters are coming home today to tell you which teacher your child will have as their RTI teacher for reading. We will be switching for reading on September 20th.

Curriculum Night
Thank you for attending Curriculum Night and signing up to help in the classroom. If you were unable to make it to Curriculum Night, I have sent home the information that was handed out that night.

MATH
In math we finished our chapter on adding numbers to 18. We reviewed the strategy adding three numbers and draw a picture to solve a story problem.
We started our next chapter on on subtraction facts and strategies. I am sending home the flashcards you brought in so that you can practice math facts with your child for homework.

Social Studies
We began our unit on Neighborhoods and Communities. We discussed rules in our classroom and rules in the community. Our weekly reader was about the Constitution of the United States.

Student of the Week
We will be starting Student of the Week in our classroom. The children are chosen randomly to be our “Student of the Week”. When it is your child's turn please make sure you return the poster to us on Monday. You are invited to be a guest reader in our classroom and read one of your child's favorite books to the class on either Wednesday or Thursday at 2:45 of that week.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
September 24th - Early Dismissal
September 16th_ Book Fair 6:30-8:00
September 30th – School Picture Day
October 11th – Columbus Day - No School

September 3, 2010

READING
We have been working this past week on reviewing consonant sounds, clusters, short vowels a and i and adding the endings -s, -ed and -ing to words. These skills are reinforced through classroom activities and practice book pages.
The comprehension strategies this week were predicting and inferring and summarizing. We concentrated on who the character is in a story and what the problem is and how it is resolved in the story.
Next week we will be following the five steps of the writing process to write a story. We will be choosing a topic, exploring and planning our story and organizing the details to include a beginning, middle and end. We will be concentrating on writing complete sentences and proofreading our story to make corrections and revisions.
In spelling, we will be focusing on the short vowel sounds of a, e, i, o and u. The children will have a pre-test of the week's spelling words on Monday. They need to study the highlighted words which includes the missed regular spelling words and challenge words during the week for a test on Friday.

MATH
In math we worked on adding numbers to 18. We reviewed the strategy adding doubles and doubles plus one, adding three numbers and using a function machine to add numbers following the rule. We will have our first math test next week on Wednesday or Thursday. Please remember to review math facts with your child.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Curriculum Night is on September 9th at 7:00 pm in the gym (parents only).
September 16th is the Book Fair and Ice Cream Social from 6:30-8:00.
September 24th is Early Dismissal we will have school until 12:00.