January News #2

On Wednesday, we will celebrate the "100th" day of school. On that day or prior to, please send a collection of 100 items in a ziploc or box. Examples of items sent in the past are: paper clips, legos, puzzle pieces, macaroni, pennies, M&M's...... (be creative). We will be using the collections for a few counting activities and the kids will have the opportunity to create a design with them as well. We will dedicate most of the day to "100". We will also create "100" folders which will be sent home at the end of the week. You may want to check and see if your child is able to count to 100 by 1's, 5's, and 10's, for a volunteer will be checking each student on these counting skills. Stickers will be earned for being successful on these counting patterns. The stickers will then be placed on the "100" folders. It will be a "fun" day and with all the "great" activities to implement it may take us a few days to complete them.

Reading: We continue to learn new words daily and use the chunks we've learned to help us decode unknown words. The stories we are reading are getting longer, which means we are becoming better readers. Thanks for taking the time to listen to your child read the books that are sent home. I have been pleased with the progress everyone has made and for their enthusiasm for reading. At home, please remind your child to read with expression and to pause when they come to a punctuation mark. I have reminded them that "speed reading" is not "good reading". I have also started to have the kids read the directions for any work that we do. Hopefully, reading it will create better understanding of what to do, as well as knowing they can go back  and read the directions when working independently, if they are stuck on what to do. When correcting their work, I have also been counting items wrong if they incorrectly spelled a word that was displayed correctly on the paper. This will hopefully make them responsible and accountable for taking their time and working carefully.
Our reading goals last week were to read and spell words with the long u sound, understanding when to use has and have, and drawing conclusions while we are reading. This week, our reading goals will be to read and spell words with the long a patterns of ai and ay. We will also read to compare information in a story. Our stories will be non-fiction and about weather, therefore we will compare different kinds of weather noting how two particular storms are alike and different. Our grammar skill will be the correct use of go, goes, do, and does. Last week, each student was tested individually on reading skills using the "FAST" test which is similar to Dibels. Your child's scores will be shared at conferences coming up in February.

Math: We have been working hard in Chapter 6. Within this chapter we have counted and written the numbers to 120. We have also counted by tens from any number to extend a counting sequence to 120. An example of this is 43, 53, 63, 73, 83, 93, 103, 113. Choose a number and see if your child can count by tens using this strategy. Last week, we also used models to represent 10's and 1's. We started by using connecting cubes, and then we used manipulatives called rods and units. We started by using them to model 2-digit numbers using a ten frame. We then moved on and discovered the concept of exchanging 10 ones for 1 ten. We also used the rods and units to solve word problems using 2-digit numbers. Last week, the students were also given the mid-year math test. The same test was given the first week of school. I was pleased to see that everyone's scores increased. The same test will be given at the end of the year as well to show growth. These will be shared at conferences. We have started our progressive timings for addition and subtraction. I haven't been able to do them as much as I was hoping thus far due to no school, early outs, and testing, but I'm hoping to get back on track with them this week.

Special Units: We started the New Year reading and learning about what animals do in the winter. We used the pocket chart and sorted a group of animals into 3 groups: hibernate, migrate, adapt. We also worked in a booklet and learned interesting facts about these groups. These books were sent home last week. The students also wrote what they may want to do if they were an animal during the winter. I'm thinking I'd like to "migrate" to a warmer place right now. Check to see if your child can name a few animals for each group. The sorting activity will be placed in a center this week.

Star Student: Mox and Brayden were most recently featured. Mox likes to eat pizza and drink Mello Yellow. He wants to be a racecar driver when he grows up. His favorite movie is "Home Alone" and his favorite song is "Big Green Tractor". Brayden's favorite food is pizza and his favorite drink is orange crush. When he grows up he wants to be a police officer. His favorite subject in school is PE and his favorite toy is X-Box.

We have had lots of inside recess which makes it very difficult to keep those young minds focused and on-task. We do take breaks during recess times by either playing in the classroom or watching a movie, but it is not the same as getting outdoors and clearing our minds. Please help me out by reinforcing the importance of listening and doing our best at all times. THANKS!

Just a reminder: As I mentioned above, send a collection of 100 items with your child by Wednesday of this week. Conferences are coming up on February 10th and 13th. Notes about your time will be sent home soon. The same time will be given as the previous conference in October.