Happy New Year to everyone! I hope you are having a great start to your new year. We have hit the ground running this week. We don't have a minute to waste in our classroom this second half of the year. I am thanking you in advance for your support at home of this philosophy in regards to our behavior and our new behavior sheets. You will begin to notice that we are beginning to pay more attention to the Learning Skills section of this behavior sheet in our classroom in preparation for 2nd grade. I really want the children to begin to independently take care of their materials as well as staying on task to complete assignments and asking me directly if they have a problem rather than asking you to email me and ask me. Ways you can reinforce this at home would be asking your child before they walk out the door if they have everything they need for the day (picking a special place to always keep the bookbag is also great), not bringing items they forgot to school for them, and prodding them to come to me with any questions or concerns they may have (what superstar test am I on? How many contract pages need to be done so I can go to fun friday?) Remember, I love each and every one of these students and one of my goals this year is to teach them the necessary skills so they can be successful in school. Please, as always, let me know if you would like to speak about this or any other matter.
Here's what we've been doing in school...
Phonics: We learned all about the long a spelling pattern that contains a "bossy e". We also were able to review many blends and short a spelling patterns in comparison. We made a word web with these words, we completed a sort, and we played a game of sparkle to help us remember these words. We took our assessment on Friday. You will find your child's test in today's folder. If your child is having trouble, you may want to get a head start on next week's pattern of long i with the "bossy e" at the end (line, drive, like, chime, etc.)
Reading: This week, we compared several Jan Brett books. We talked about similarities and differences through the use of a Venn diagram. We also worked independently on our reading contracts with various books. We practiced the skills of finding words with silent e's, retelling a story in sequential order, finding action verbs in sentences, and looking for compound words.
Math: In math, we learned about addition strategies with greater sums. We talked about adding a number to a 10 (10+5, 10+7), adding three digits (pick two numbers to add, then add the third), using a table of information to solve word problems, and making fact families. We will begin our unit on subtraction with greater numbers next week.
Writing: We began our new genre of writing this quarter, information writing. We learned to write a "how to" paper in order to teach our audience something. We talked about how to "hook" our audience with a catchy question or phrase. We learned how to use transition words and phrases to show we are writing steps in sequential order, and we reviewed how to write a "cool closing".
Social Studies: We learned all about Martin Luther King Jr. and his contributions to our country. We watched a short brainpop video on him, we read a book about Rosa Parks and how her actions led to changes in the country's laws, we read a book called Happy Birthday Martin to learn about Martin's young life.
Classroom News and Announcements...
2nd nine week report cards come home today! Please keep everything that is inside EXCEPT for the white signature card and the envelope. Please sign and return that on Tuesday.
Please remember to sign and return your child's blue behavior sheet on Tuesday.
Regular homework resumes next week. I am sending home the homework packet today so you can get a head start over the weekend and on Monday. Pay special attention to the Phonics Focus so you can help your child study for the assessment next Friday.
Also, remember we have resumed our superstar math facts quizzes. You will also get your child's test today so you can begin studying for next week.
In case you forgot your child's IXL password and username, for any child that was here last year, is is their first and last name plus the number 90, and the password is their initials. If your child was not here, email me if you need it!
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