January 30th Newsletter

                    

 Important Dates     

February

          10 – 100^th Day of School/Conferences

          11 - Early Dismissal – 12:00

          12 – Valentine's Day Party

          13 – No School

          19 – Spring Picture Day

          17 – President's Day – No School

          21 - Snowflake Ball

          26 – Field Trip – Rialto Square Theatre

        

   

             Earlier this month, all students took the MAPS test (reading and math) on computers.  We had also taken the same test last fall.  Last Friday, the results were 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.

Field Trip

      On Thursday, February 26, all first grade classrooms will be going on a field trip to the Rialto Square Theater in Joliet to see the play, “Rainbow Fish.” The bus will leave at 9:05 and will return by 11:50. The children will still be able to purchase a hot lunch on that day if desired. A permission slip will be sent home soon.  Please fill it out and return it along with $6 cash by February 9 if your child plans on attending. Thanks.

Reading

          This week we read The Moon by Lydia Carlin.  We learned that the moon orbits the earth and has many phases.  The first grade teachers sent home a moon chart for the children to observe and chart the different phases of the moon each night. Please help your child with this activity.  It shouldn’t take very long.

Comprehension Strategies

          The children will work on making connections and identifying what they learn from a nonfiction book.

Vocabulary Words

          The vocabulary words for this book were: astronaut, crater, gravity, phase, solar eclipse and satellite

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

 Grant will be our student of the week next week.    

Have a nice weekend!

January 23rd Newsletter

 Important Dates

January

          30 - Cozy Pajama Day

                  (reading incentive)

February

          10 – Conferences 3:45-6:00

          11 - Early Dismissal – 12:00

          12 – Valentine's Day Party

          13 – No School

          17 – President's Day – No School

            

  Dylan will be our student of the week next week. 

Valentine's Day Party

    Our Valentine's Day party will be on Thursday, February 12^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 23 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

          This week we read The Earth by Megan Duhamel.  We learned what causes day/night and winter/summer.  We also discussed the difference between rotating and revolving.

The vocabulary words for this book were: atmosphere, canyon, inhabit, lava, ray, revolve and rotate

 

Phonics Skills

     Next week, the children will be learning about the sound of /wh/.

Grammar Lesson

     We will be focusing on the 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 Monday, February 2.  A new chart for February will be sent home soon.  Happy Reading!

January 16th Newsletter

 

 Important Dates

January

  19- No School

   – Martin Luther King’s birthday

       30 - Cozy Pajama Day

                  (reading incentive)

February

          9 & 10 – Conferences

          11 – Early Dismissal – 12:00

     12 – Valentine's Day Party

          13 – No School

     16 – President's Day – No School

         

   

  Exploration Station

     We will be starting a new unit in science dealing with weather.  Our first topic that will be covered is hurricanes & tornadoes.  We will be reading books and then comparing & contrasting the 2 types of weather using a Venn diagram.  We will also be playing on a website which allows the children to change the size & strength of a tornado and see what happens. 

  

   Our next parent/teacher conferences are on an as-needed basis.  I will be sending out an email next Tuesday morning to the parents of students I would like to see.  If you do not receive an email and would like to schedule a conference, please let me know.

      **Report cards will not be sent out until later in March.

 Katelyn Krapf will be our student of the week from January 19-23.

Reading

          This week we read The Solar System by Jeff Bauer.  We learned about the 8 planets (ask your child to tell you why Pluto isn’t considered a planet anymore), asteroids, meteors, comets, moons, and more.

          The vocabulary words for this book were: asteroid, classify, comet, meteor, universe, and vast

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 9th Newsletter

           

 Important Dates

January

16 – Early Dismissal – 12:00

19 - No School

     - Martin Luther King's Birthday

30 – 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 past 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

We will not have a “student of the week” next week due to early dismissal on January 16.

Reading

       This week we read the book called, Me and My Place in Space by Joan Sweeney. We made a booklet showing their home, city, state, country, continent, planet, and solar system.

Vocabulary Words

       The vocabulary words for this story were: galaxy, cyclone, fiery, gleaming, massive, millions, particles, and trillions

Phonics Skills

       Next week 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 also 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.

Have a nice weekend!