September 17th Update...

Good Morning Parents,

I hope everyone has relaxing plans for the next week! My family and I will be doing just that on the beaches of St. George Island.  Please continue to work with your child over the break.  Some important concepts we have been working on this week that should just be a review for your child are skip counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's, identifying coins and counting money, writing numbers to 100, and adding and subtracting single digit numbers.  If you notice your child struggling in these areas, your help at home is important.  Of course, continue to encourage reading for comprehension. Your child should be able to easily identify the character, setting, and 4 important events from a grade level appropriate book.  In writing, I am expecting sentences to start with a capital letter, end with punctuation, and be one complete thought.  Application of spelling patterns that we have covered this year is also expected.  Thank you so much for all you do at home!  I have been sooo impressed with the homework that is coming back to school!  Way to encourage "personal best"!

Phonics/Grammar:  We learned the sk, sp, and sn sounds this week and we reviewed the st as well.  We talked about the difference between asking and telling sentences and how to identify them.  We worked on generating questions.

Reading:  We worked on retelling stories using a graphic organizer.  We read from our book, Because of Winn-Dixie.  Just like Opal did concerning her mother in the book, we wrote 10 important things about ourselves.  We listened to a story and tape and wrote what the book was about.  We worked in small groups on identifying the genre of a book. We listened to a short story read by our book buddies, then we went on a short vowel search in the passage.

Writing:  This week, we learned how to formulate a plan, otherwise known as prewriting, to help us map out what our story will be about.  We then wrote our personal narrative. I conferenced with the students as they finished and we discussed how to take our stories to the next level and ways we could improve our writing.

Math:  We learned two more strategies for addition, memorizing doubles facts and using a number line to count on.  We reviewed money and skip counting.  We played several interactive smartboard activities that enforced these concepts.  We also went on a "money" scavenger hunt in our room in a partner activity. We also worked on several word problems, utilizing our four square method for solving.

Science:  We discussed the water cycle and learned all about precipitation, water collection, evaporation, and condensation.  We created illustrations to show our understanding of this concept.  We also reviewed the four seasons and discussed temperature, weather, and other characteristics of each season.

Conversation Starters...
*Ask your child why Opal wants to work at the local pet store in Naomi, Florida.  What is she trying to buy for Winn-Dixie?
*Ask your child to explain the water cycle to you, and see if he/she can include the hand motions that go with each phase.
*Ask your child to explain "Touch Money" to you.  Can he/she count some sets of coins for you?
*Ask your child how many nickels it would take to equal the same amount of money as a quarter.  How do they know?
*Ask your child who their book buddy is and what activity they did this week.
*Ask your child what their favorite smart board activity has been this week.

Classroom News and Announcements...
Thank you goes to Mr. Tovar, Mrs. Turner, and Mrs. Kwan for helping out this week with AR.  The kids are really getting into a routine of reading books and taking quizzes to check their comprehension.  Parents, your help during our classroom guided reading time is so valuable to me. Thank you!

We will be administering the CoGat test in first grade on September 29, 30 and October 1.  PLEASE send your child to school on time each day and please make sure your child has eaten a healthy breakfast.  Sugary or carbohydrate loaded foods really do affect your child's ability to concentrate on a lengthy test like the CoGat.  I would suggest protein and low-sugar carbs for BRAIN FOOD during these days especially.

We will have another bake sale on Thursday, September 30 to support our Kemp families with children battling cancer. Please consider supporting this fundraiser by allowing your child to purchase a baked good.

Donations Needed:  We often use dry erase markers on our desks or on whiteboards.  We are in need of clean small socks that your children can put over their hands to use as erasers during these activities.  You may send in one sock, or a bag of socks!  Our classroom also needs donations of child appropriate magazines that can be cut apart (gardening, food, home improvement, science, automobile magazines).  Any donations are greatly appreciated!