Hi Parents,
Okay, I have been a SUPERSTAR SLACKER these past two weeks! We have been so busy with performance practice and boosterthon pep rallies and meetings, we have not gotten to it in a while. I promised the children we would take the test on Monday, so make sure your kids know those facts! I'm expecting really good scores since they've had over two weeks to learn these facts! I'm so glad everyone was able to come to the PTA performance last night. It was so adorable and I was so proud of the kids hard work learning the songs and lines. Make sure you read the news and information section of this blog for important info about our field trip next week...we are so excited!
Phonics: We learned the rules for long and short vowel words before adding -ing. We made a flip book for the rules, we played several games involving our words, and we practiced reading our words on our spelling squares. We also worked on the skill of sounding our phonetic words. Many children rely on rules to spell words, but they really need to remember that most words in our language do follow phonetic patterns and are spelled just like they sound. We played a game on our white boards, spelling out very long words out of the dictionary.
Writing: We wrote a response to literature paper on a Patricia Polacco book called Chicken Sunday. After much guided practice and modeling, it was the children's turn to show me what they could do independently. You will find your child's story along with a grade sheet in his/her folder today. Any child not making a grade of 3 or 3+ will continue to work with me in small group next week on another story.
Reading: We began our author study on Patricia Polacco. We listened to many of her stories; Aunt Chip and the Triple Creek Dam Affair, Thank You, Mr. Falker, Chicken Sunday, and Babushka's Doll. Several reading comprehension strategies were practiced, such as using a venn diagram to compare and contrast characters from these stories, retelling the story using a filmstrip organizer, and making connections from the story to our lives on the bridge organizer. We also read several more chapters in Dolphin Song and compared ourselves to either Ben or Martine from the book.
Math: From now until the end of the year, we will be reviewing and extending our more challenging skills. We will be having Money Mondays, Telling Time Tuesdays, Word Problem Wednesdays, Thinking Thursdays (number representations), and Fraction Fridays. I will be using the rest of the year to preview for 2nd grade in math and provide the children with opportunities to earn 3+'s on the 1st grade report card with extension activities. This will also be a great time for me to help any students who are still struggling with 1st grade concepts.
Class News and Information...
Congratulations to Blake Marble for being chosen as this week's teacher's helper! Way to go, Blake!!!
Way to go Luke, Addison, and Evelyn for completing the CHALLENGE PROJECT! These projects are on display in our hallway.
Thank you for supporting our Boosterthon this year! The EXTRA wonderful news is that I will get 10% of what is raised back to spend on these kiddos for classroom items for next year! At the top of my list is building up my chapter book and literature collection so we can dive right into 2nd grade with engaging stories.
Next week is our field trip! Please remember to have your child wear the tie-dyed shirt so we can easily keep up with them at the zoo. Chaperons, you can either come to the school at 9:00 and follow the buses to the zoo, or you can meet us directly there (we will probably be there by 9:45). If you meet us there, we will gather at the front gate. If you are a chaperon, please plan to bring a bag to carry your group of students' lunches as well as a FIELD TRIP KIT that I will be making for you. It will contain a fun scavenger hunt for the kids, bandaids, wipes, and other essentials for the day. This is an awesome field trip and such a fun way to celebrate the end of a wonderful school year!
Dinner Conversation Starters...
*ask your child how they would be feeling if they were Claudius from Dolphin Song
*ask your child who their favorite Patricia Polacco character has been...can they tell you about the story they were in?
*give your child a double digit addition problem and see if they can use "mental math strategies" to solve it in their head (we learned how to close our eyes and envision moving on a hundred chart to solve these problems quickly)
*ask your child to tell you a good hook for a response to lit paper on a book they've recently read
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