September 11, 2009

READING
We have been working this past week on the writing process. We started out with topic selection, characters, problem and solution. Next we wrote our sloppy copy which was revised. We finished with our final story.
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 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 will be focusing on the short vowel sounds of e, o and u. The children will have a pre-test of the week's spelling words on Monday and study the missed words and challenge words during the week for a Friday test.

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. Please remember to review math facts with your child.

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. Let me know when you can come to our class to be a guest reader during your child's week. They can also bring a “Show and Tell” item each day during their special week.

Stoplight
We are following the stoplight behavior program in our classroom. You will be notified if you child moves to the yellow or red light. The children who remain on green all week will participate in a special reward at the end of the week.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
September 22nd - Early Dismissal
September 17h_ Book Fair 6:30-8:00
October 12th – Columbus Day - No School