April 25th Newsletter

Important Dates

April   

          24 – Spring Open House/Book Fair

          29 - Mrs. Fish’s Presentation

May

          16 – Early Dismissal – 12:00

          23 – Patriot Day – wear red, white,

                                        and blue

          26 – No School – Memorial Day

                    

Chick Embryology Unit

   Our eggs have arrived!  On Tuesday, we placed 9 eggs in the turner in our incubator.  Five of the eggs came from the U of I Extension Office and the other four came from a friend close to home that raises different breeds of chickens. We have a total of 4 dozen eggs throughout the 1^st grade classrooms. Our eggs are different sizes and colors.  It will be interesting to see what kinds of chicks will hatch. The chicks should hatch in approximately 21 days (May 13). I’m sure your children will keep you posted.

    Progress reports are being sent home on Friday only on an as-needed basis. If your child receives one, please sign and return it.  Thanks

Math

     This week in math, we have been working on telling time to the hour and half hour.  We used the iPad (during centers) to check the times on a worksheet the children completed.  We used an APP that scanned the answer.  It was pretty cool. Ask your child to tell you about it.

   

Reading

     We have been reading many books on chickens – fiction and nonfiction.  We made a Venn diagram comparing the 2 stories – Cinderella and Chickerella.  The children did a nice job on this activity.

Phonics Skills

We will be working on suffixes –ful, -ly, and –y and the sound of /al/.

Grammar Skills

     We will be working on antonyms (opposites).

Spelling Words

Our spelling words for next week are:

bad, vet, fact, all, talk, walk, small, made, their, beanstalk

April 17th Newsletter

Important Dates

April   

          17 – Early Dismissal – 12:00

          18 – No School

     22 – Earth Day – wear green, brown,

                                     or blue

          24 – Spring Open House/Book Fair

          29 - Mrs. Fish’s Presentation

May

          16 – Early Dismissal – 12:00

          23 – Patriot Day – wear red, white,

                                        and blue

          26 – No School – Memorial Day

Ide Open House/Book Fair

    Our Open House/Book Fair will be held on Thursday, April 24.  All family members are welcome to come to it.  We hope to see you there.

Chick Update

     We have been reading books on chickens and eggs.  We have also been doing some activities to go along with what we have learned.  We are currently doing an experiment where we have placed a regular egg into a jar of water, vinegar, saltwater, and 7Up.  We have talked about the scientific method and are observing the eggs daily.  We are recording our findings on a paper that we have placed in the yellow chick folder.  Ask your child to tell you about their observations.

Math

    We have been using a website called xtramath.org to practice our math facts.  You may use this site at home also.  I have already set up an account, so you can use my email address to login (lmicetich@ccsd66.org).  Your child will type in his/her first name and then a number code. That code will be taped to their green folder.

          At the beginning of each week this site will send me a report on my class.  It will tell me how many problems each student got correct.  Please have your child practice on this site at home if possible.  Thanks.

Comprehension Strategies

   We will work on questioning and comparing/contrasting

Phonics Skills

  We will be working on the sound of /or/.

Grammar Skills

    We will be working on plurals by adding –es to words that end in -x, -ch, -sh, or -s.

Spelling Words

Our spelling words for next week are:

Got, bun, belt, fork, storm, horse, forty, goes, does, morning

April 22^nd is Earth Day.  Please remember to reduce, reuse, & recycle!  Please wear green, brown, or blue on this day also.

Have a Happy Easter!

April 11th Newsletter

    

Important Dates

April   

          17 – Early Dismissal – 12:00

          18 – No School

     22 – Earth Day – wear green, brown,

                                     or blue

          24 – Spring Open House/Book Fair

          29 - Mrs. Fish’s Presentation

         

                       

Chick Embryology Unit

   Mrs. Fish (a parent from our district) will be coming to our school on Tuesday, April 29, to give a presentation on chickens.  She will be bringing a couple of her own chickens for the children to see and touch (if they want to).  She is very knowledgeable about chickens and will answer any questions the children may have thus far.  She will also be taking our baby chicks home with her a couple of days after they hatch.  She brings several of them back each week for 2-3 weeks to let the children see the changes that occur.

   

Nedas was our last “student of the week.” We will not have any more “students of the week” this year.  Instead, I will choose a different student each day to be my helper for the day.  This way everyone will get at least one or two more chances to lead the calendar and be the line leader before the end of the school year.

 Blackberry Farm Field Trip

    All first grade classrooms will be going on a field trip to Blackberry Farm sometime in June.  I will send out more information as the time gets closer.  If you are interested in chaperoning, please send me an email.  I would like to take as many chaperones as possible, but I am not sure how many we are allowed to bring. I will let you know as soon as I find out.

Reading

      We won’t be reading a new story in Making Meaning next week.   Instead, we will be working on chick activities and doing some writing activities.

Phonics Skills

            We will be learning about the /oy/ sound.

Grammar Skills

We will be reviewing adverbs.

Spelling Words

The spelling words for next week are:

Jet, dig, help, boy, toy, enjoy, annoy, two, four, destroy

***Our spelling test will be on Thursday since there is no school on Friday.  Thanks.