February 27th Newsletter

Important Dates

February
28 – Snowflake Ball


March
2 – No School – Casimir Pulaski Day
6 – End of the trimester
10 – Report Cards
12 – Early Dismissal/Conferences
13 – No School
25 - 1st Grade Music Concert – 7:00
28 – Spring Break Begins



Reading Books
Please remember to turn in your child's hardcover reading book if you haven't done so already. Thanks.

Conference Slips
Conference slips went home on Friday. Please return them as soon as possible. If you are unable to come to the conference time that is scheduled, please let me know & I'll try to fit you in at a time that is convenient for the both of us. Thanks.

Black History Month

Since February is black history month, we have been reading some books to go along with this theme.
The class really enjoyed the book called Almost to Freedom. It's a story about slaves escaping to the North as told from a doll's point of view. Ask your child to tell you about it.

Math

In math, we have been working on greater than, less than, equal to, one less than, one greater than, ten less than, & ten more than. Some children use a number line or a number grid to figure out the answer and others are able to do it in their heads. We will be finishing chapter 11 some time next week.

Reading

We will read the stories Lost and On the Move.

Comprehension Strategies

Next week we will work on sequencing, monitoring, clarifying, reading a diagram, and recognizing signs.

Vocabulary Words

The vocabulary words for next week are: building, buildings, city, disappears, elevator, friendly, library, part, scare, & worry.

Phonics Skills

The children will work on the o sound made when using double o as in the words book and look. We will review the oa and ow vowel pairs.

Grammar Lesson

We will be working on proper nouns for places and things.

Spelling Words

Our spelling words will be: look, book, took, good, foot, cook, hoof, crook, school & police.

Enjoy the long weekend!

February 20th Newsletter

Important Dates
February
26 – Pictures
27 – Reading Books Are Due Back
28 – Snowflake Ball
March
2 – No School – Casimir Pulaski Day
6 – End of the trimester
10 – Report Cards
12 – Early Dismissal/Conferences
13 – No School
25 - 1st Grade Music Concert – 7:00
28 – Spring Break Begins

Robert Crown Health Center
On Thursday, all 1st graders went to Robert Crown Health Center and learned about the 5 different food groups, our 5 senses, germs, parts of the body, & what they do. Have your child tell you about what he/she learned.

Paper Making Assembly
On Friday, we had a paper making and recycling assembly. Each child got to make their own piece of paper by tearing up old paper, adding water and glitter to it, and then straining off the excess water. The importance of recycling was also discussed. Ask your child to tell you about it.

Reading Books
We just finished reading our anthology entitled Surprises. I sent it home on Wednesday for students to practice reading the stories. Please send them back to school by February 27th.

I also sent home a pink list of words from the last 3 stories. Please go over this list of words with your child. I will be checking to see if they can read these words in the next few weeks. Thanks.

Reading
We have a story and two poems in our anthology next week. The story is That Toad is Mine. The poems are Hug O’ War and Sharing.

Comprehension Strategies
The children will work on summarizing, problem solving, using rhyme and how to read a poem.

Vocabulary Words
The vocabulary words for next week are: agree, book, books, candy bars, fault, food, hop, toad, lemonade, shared, & toys.

Phonics Skills
The children will work on the following skills: vowel pairs oa, ow, ai, & ay. They will also begin to learn about dividing words into syllables.

Grammar Lesson
We will work on proper nouns for people and animals.

Spelling Words
The spelling words for next week are: boat, slow, coat, grow, show, toad, coast, know, coach, & throat.

Have a great weekend!

Important Dates
February
16 – No School – President's Day
19 – Robert Crown Field Trip
20 – Paper making Assembly
26 – Pictures
28 – Snowflake Ball

March
2 – No School – Casimir Pulaski Day
6 – End of the trimester
10 – Report Cards
12 – Early Dismissal/Conferences
13 – No School

Tomie dePaola
Tomie dePaola is our author for the month of February. We have been reading his books everyday and explored his website at www.tomie.com .

Student of the Week
Matthew was our “student of the week” this week. He has done a nice job of writing the date and leading the calendar.

Valentine's Day Party
Thank you to everyone who helped with the Valentine's Day party. It was a nice way to end the week of testing. The children had a good time.

IOWA Testing
We finished taking the IOWA test today. If your child was absent during testing, make-up testing will be done next week.

“Lend a Can” Food Drive
Thank you for making the school's service project a success! Our class brought in 106 cans of food and approximately $10.00 in spare change. Thank you for your generosity!

Reading
This reading lesson was started this week. The children did not have 'Power Hour' the week of February9th and will not have it the week of February 17th due to the shortened week and our paper making assembly.

In our anthologies, the children will be reading the story Red-Eyed Tree Frog and the poems The Snake and The Toucan.


Comprehension Strategies
The children will be practicing the skills of predicting and inferring.

Vocabulary Words
The vocabulary words for next week are: boa, caterpillar, eyed, eyes, iguana, katydid, macaw, moves, poisonous, tongue, & toucan.

Phonics Skills
The children will be learning about the vowel pairs ai and ay. We will also review the long e vowel and the vowel pairs ee & ea.

Grammar Lesson
We will be focusing on naming words for one or more.

Spelling Words
Next week’s spelling words are:
day, say, play, may, way, stay, away, holiday, evening, & near. (The test will be Feb. 20th due to IOWA tests.)

Happy Valentine's Day - enjoy the long weekend!

Important Dates

February
10,11,12, & 13 – Iowa Test of Basic Skills
9 - 100th day of school
13 – Valentine's Day Party -No Spelling Test
16 – No School – President's Day
19 – Robert Crown Field Trip
20 – Paper making Assembly
26 – Pictures
28 – Snowflake Ball

Exploration Stations
This week we started the unit dealing with measurement. There will be no Exploration Stations the week of February 9th due to IOWA testing or February 16th due to our trip to Robert Crown on Thursday and Paper-making on Friday. We will continue with this unit the following week.

Student of the Week
Yasmeen Obeid was our “student of the week” this week. She has done a nice job of making her poster and sharing it with the class.

Iowa Test of Basic Skills
Our class will be testing next week on Feb. 10, 11, 12, & 13 (Tues. thru Fri.) in the morning only. Please make sure your child gets plenty of rest and eats a good breakfast in the morning.

Due to our testing and Valentine's Day, we will not be having a spelling test on Fri., Feb. 13th. The test over Theme 6 – Week 3 will be given on Fri., Feb. 20th.

Math
Last week we worked on graphs in the computer lab. We are now working on probability. We have been using the terms possible, impossible, more likely, less likely, predict, & test.

Reading
Due to the IOWA test, we are doing the same reading unit for two weeks. We will continue to work on the following stories, strategies and words during the weeks of Feb. 9th & Feb. 17th.

In our anthologies, the children will be reading the story Red-Eyed Tree Frog and the poems The Snake and The Toucan.

Comprehension Strategies
The children will be practicing the skills of predicting and inferring.

Vocabulary Words
The vocabulary words for next week are: boa, caterpillar, eyed, eyes, iguana, katydid, macaw, moves, poisonous, tongue, and toucan.

Phonics Skills
The children will be learning about the vowel pairs ai and ay. We will also review the long e vowel and the vowel pairs ee & ea.

Grammar Lesson
We will be focusing on naming words for one or more.

Spelling Words
Next week’s spelling words are:
day, say, play, may, way, stay, away, holiday, evening, & near. (The test will be Feb. 20th due to IOWA tests.)

Have a great weekend!