February 1st Newsletter

 Important Dates     

February

            7 – 100^TH  Day of School

            8 – Field Trip Money is Due - $7 cash

          14 – Valentine's Day Party

          18 – President's Day – No School

          19 – Reading Anthologies Are Due

          23 – Snowflake Ball  6:30-8:00

          26 – Early Dismissal – 12:00

          27 – Field Trip

 Bully Goat Gruff Field Trip

       On Wednesday, February 27, all first grade classrooms will be going to Lewis University in Romeoville to see the play, Bully Goat Gruff Meets the Ugly Duckling.  We will leave at 9:30 and will return around 11:45 in time for lunch.  Please pack a snack for that day just in case we get back a lot sooner. I will need 3 chaperones.  If anyone is interested, please send me an email.

    We will also be going on a field trip sometime in May, possibly to Blackberry Farm.  So if you don’t get a chance to chaperone this trip, you will have a chance to chaperone the next one.  Thanks.

      This week I am sending home the reading anthology that we just finished.  Please have your child practice reading the stories.  I think some of you will be amazed at the improvement your child has made since the beginning of the year.  The books are due back on Tuesday, February 19.

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, hoptoad, lemonade, shared, and 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 alphabetical order.

Spelling Words

         Next week’s spelling words are: an, cat, skin, say, away, play, today, why, where, playground

       

  Rohan will be our student of the week next week.  

 Important Dates

January

21   -  No School

– Martin Luther King’s birthday

22 – Report Cards Go Home
25 - Pajama Day

30– Early Dismissal – 12:00

           

February

          14 – Valentine's Day Party

          18 – President's Day – No School

          

    Exploration Station

  Last Friday we started a new Exploration Station. The students will be learning about the flag, monuments, and famous Americans, such as George Washington, Martin Luther King Jr., and Abraham Lincoln. This unit also discusses voting – how it works and why it's important to vote.

  

          After reading The Mitten by Jan Brett, the children colored and cut out the characters and stored them in a mitten bag.  We then worked on retelling the story using the important facts and details.  Ask your child to retell the story to you.

       Connor will be our student of the week from January 21-25.

Reading

          The stories from our anthology for next week are: EEK! There’s a Mouse in the House and Animals Big and Small.

Comprehension Strategies

          The children will work on noting details and asking questions while reading a selection.

Vocabulary Words

          The vocabulary words for next week are: barn, dancing, elephant, laying, marched, mercy, mouse, tangled, and rhyming words.

Phonics Skills

          The children will work on the following skills: blending long “e” (CV, CVCe), vowel pairs “ee", " ea”, long “o” (CV, CVCe), long “u” (CVCe) and final clusters “ft”, “lk”, and “nt”.

Grammar Skills

          The children will learn about naming words for places and things.

Spelling Words

         Next week’s spelling words are:

Bus, pot, swim, cube, tune, used, excuse, little, down, useless

January 11th Newsletter

                     

 Important Dates

January

     11 – Ide Movie Night at PV

     21 - No School

     - Martin Luther King's Birthday

22 – Report Cards Go Home

30 – Early Dismissal – 12:00

         

     

Author of the Month

            Jan Brett is our author for the month of January.  We read a couple of her books this week.  She gives many picture clues in her books that help children to predict what might happen next.

          

Computers

                 We explored Jan Brett's website as a group in class and will do so individually during computer time next week.  We worked on the game called Mouse Concentration which can be found under Computer Games.

          You may also access this website at home.  It has many different activities for children to do.  Her website is:

                  www.janbrett.com

Please remember to return your child's green reading anthology if you haven't done so already.  Thanks.

Reading

          We will be reading The Sleeping Pig and What Is a Desert?

Comprehension Strategies

       The children will be learning about story structure and summarizing a story.  We will also talk about how to read a social studies article.

Vocabulary Words

       The vocabulary words will be words that name fruits and vegetables and the following words: began, celebrate, coyote, cricket, howl, rabbit, tail, and watermelon.

Phonics Skills

       We will be working on long o (CV-CVCe), long u (CVCe), final clusters (-ft,

-lk, -nt),  long i (CVCe)(review), and segmenting phonemes.

Grammar Skills

       We will be identifying naming words for people and animals.

Spelling Words

Our spelling words are cod, lot, snap, bone, nose, home, globe, live, give, tadpole

Abby will be our student of the week from January 14-18.

       Thank you for all the gifts and cards you sent to me for the holidays.  I had a nice break, but it felt good to get back to school and see the children again. I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday also.