September 30, 2011

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

Our next chapter is on number concepts and patterns. We will be learning about ordinal numbers, greater than, less than, odd and even numbers and skip counting. Please remember to practice flash cards daily.

Science

We learning about energy in motion. We are learning how heat and light are forms of enery and can change matter.

Student of the Week

Fariha is the Student of the Week! She is from Bangladesh, she has visited 15 states in the United States and plays the guitar. Her favorite animal is a cat and her favorite color is pink. When Fariha grows up she wants to be a Teacher.

Reading Logs

Our reading party for those who turned in a completed September Log will be Tuesday, October 4th. The children will eat their lunch in the classroom and watch a movie together. They can still purchase a hot lunch that day. Your logs will be sent home on Monday with a new reading sheet for October.

Happy Birthday!

Brenna – Sept. 27

Crystal – Sept. 30

ANNOUNCEMENTS

October 10th – Columbus Day - No School

October 11^th – Teacher Institute Day-No School

October 21^st – Family Halloween Party

October 31^st – Classroom Halloween Party

September 23, 2011

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

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 Enery and Motion.

Happy Birthday!

Ethan – September 23

Student of the Week

Angelina is the Student of the Week! She likes to go to the beach, ride on boats and water slides. Her favorite animal is a dog and her favorite color is purple. When Angelina grows up she wants to be an Art Teacher.

Reading Logs

Reading logs are due on October 3rd. 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. This will be the first week in October.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

September 29^th – School Picture Day

September 30th - Early Dismissal

October 10th – Columbus Day - No School

October 11^th – Teacher Institute Day-No School

September 16, 2011

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.

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.

Happy Birthday!

Sarah – September 13

Ryan – September 16

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

September 29^th – School Picture Day

September 30th - Early Dismissal

October 10th – Columbus Day - No School

September 9, 2011

READING

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.

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 last 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.

Next week we will begin our next chapter 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 Law of the Land.

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.

If those times don't work with your schedule, please let me know so we can set up a better time for you to read to the class.

Happy Birthday!

Abby – Sept. 8

Amuktha – Sept. 10

ANNOUNCEMENTS

September 12^th – Magazine Kick-Off

September 15th^_ Book Fair 6:30-8:00

September 29^th – School Picture Day

September 30th - Early Dismissal

October 10th – Columbus Day - No School

September 2, 2011

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.

We took our first spelling test this week. The children did a great job working on their spelling words and homework. Remember that your child's spelling words are the highlighted words he/she brings home on Monday. We have a spelling test on Friday. I will go over this and other procedures at Curriculum Night.

PBIS

Next week, September 6-9, Elizabeth Ide will be implementing an approach to discipline called Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS). PBIS is a proactive systems approach to establishing the behavioral supports and social culture needed for all students in a school to achieve social, emotional, and academic success.

We will begin by establishing clear expectations for behavior that will be taught, modeled and reinforced across all settings and by all staff.

MATH

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

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Curriculum Night is on September 8^th at 7:00 pm in the gym (parents only).

September 15^th is the Book Fair and Ice Cream Social from 6:30-8:00.

September 29^th is Picture Day.

September 30th is Early Dismissal we will have school until 12:00.