January 31st Newsletter

                    

 Important Dates     

February

          4 – Early Dismissal – 12:00

          13 – 100^TH  Day of School

          14 – Valentine's Day Party

          17 – President's Day – No School

          21 – Spring Picture Day

          22 – Snowflake Ball 6:30-8:00

          28 – No School – Teacher’s Institute

    The 100^th day of school is on Thursday, February 13.  In past years, we have asked each child to bring in 100 objects to school.  This year we are asking each child to bring in 5 (or more if possible) cans of food for the food pantry to go along with our service project.  Any canned goods or nonperishable food items would be appreciated.  We are hoping to collect at least 100 items per classroom which would be a big help to the local area.  A note will be coming home explaining the “Lend a Hand … Bring in a Can” project.  Thanks!

    Earlier this month, all students took the MAPS test (reading and math) on computers.  We had also taken the same test last fall.  On Friday, a copy of the results will be sent home with your child.  It should show your child’s score from the fall and also the winter.  We will be taking one more MAPS test towards the end of the year.

Reading

          The story from our Making Meaning curriculum for next week is A Good Night’s Sleep by Allan Fowler.

Comprehension Strategies

          The children will work on making text-to-self connections and identifying what they learn from nonfiction.

Vocabulary Words

          The vocabulary words for next week are: fortunately, doze off, snore, and pleasant

Phonics Skills

          The children will work on the sound of /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

       

  Ariella will be our student of the week next week. 

Stay warm, be safe, and enjoy the snow!

January 24th Newsletter

          

 Important Dates

January

          31 - Pro Kids Assembly

- Cozy Pajama Day

                  (reading incentive)

February

           4 – Early Dismissal – 12:00

          14 – Valentine's Day Party

          17 – President's Day – No School

            

      Daniela will be our student of the week next week. 

Valentine's Day Party

    Our Valentine's Day party will be on Friday, February 14^th from 2:00-3:00.  The children will pass out their valentines before the party.  Do not address the valentines; just have your child sign his/her name. This makes passing them out much easier. There are currently 18 children in the class. Thanks.

          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.

Reading

          The story from our Making Meaning curriculum for next week is Hearing by Sharon Gordon.

Comprehension Strategies

     The children will be exploring the difference between fiction and nonfiction, using schema to help them understand nonfiction, making text-to-self connections, and identifying what they learn from nonfiction.

Vocabulary Words

      The vocabulary words for next week are: outer ear, inner ear, tube, and cup your hands

Phonics Skills

     The children will be learning about the sound of /wh/.

Grammar Lesson

     We will be focusing on past tense and future tense of verbs. (Example:  I cook. Yesterday I cooked.  Tomorrow I will cook.)

Spelling Words

         Next week’s spelling words are:

did, cut, twin, whale, wheel, white, whisper, what, when, whenever

Monthly Reading Charts

      Our January reading chart is due on Friday, January 31.  A new chart for February will be sent home soon.  Happy Reading!

January 17th Newsletter

            

 Important Dates

January

20  -  No School – Martin Luther King’s birthday

      31 - Pro Kids Assembly

- Cozy Pajama Day  (reading incentive)

February

           4 – Early Dismissal – 12:00

          14 – Valentine's Day Party

          17 – President's Day – No School

          

    Exploration Station

  This week we will be starting 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.

 

          In math, we just finish working on place value – hundreds, tens, and ones.  We are now working on numbers that are greater than, less than, or equal to another number.

  Jokubas will be our student of the week from January 21-24.

Reading

          The story from our Making Meaning curriculum for next week is Down the Road by Alice Schertle.

Comprehension Strategies

          The children will work on wondering, visualizing, sequencing, and reading independently.

Vocabulary Words

          The vocabulary words for this book are: mended, dozen, dillydally, meadow, emporium, dry goods, and bolts of fabric

Phonics Skills

          The children will work on the following skills: long “u” (CVCe) and final e

Grammar Skills

          The children will learn about forming the past tense of verbs by doubling the final consonant – such as, hug/hugged, nod/nodded, rip/ripped.

Spelling Words

         Next week’s spelling words are:

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

***Enjoy your day off on Monday!

January 10th Newsletter

            

 Important Dates

January

          10 – Ide Movie Night at PV

15 – Early Dismissal – 12:00

20 - No School

     - Martin Luther King's Birthday

31 – Cozy Pajama Day

         

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.  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

Michael will be our student of the week from January 13-17.

Comprehension Strategies

       The children will be learning about referring to a story to support their thinking.  We will be reading the nonfiction book called, George Washington and the General’s Dog.

Vocabulary Words

       The vocabulary words will be: heroes, colonists, general, troops, and supplies.

Phonics Skills

       We will be working on long o (CV-CVCe), final clusters (-ft, -lk, -nt),  long i (CVCe)(review), and segmenting phonemes.

Grammar Skills

       We will be working on adding -ed to verbs to make the past tense.  For example:

(talk + ed = talked, smile + ed = smiled)

Spelling Words

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

   Thank you for all the gifts and cards you gave 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.