March News #1

It's hard to believe that the month of March is already here. This week, the first graders will create a "Shamrock Person" art project, as well as a rainbow writing activity. These two projects will be displayed on the bulletin board outside of our classroom titled "We're all Special and Unique". The hearts were sent home last week. I had many compliments about them. Thanks for taking the time to create them. It was a "fun" bulletin board to look at. During our calendar time in March, we will be using lions and lambs to determine what the weather is like each day. We will put up a lamb for days that are calm and nice, and a lion for days that are roaring and windy. With the official start of spring coming later in the month, we hope that the lambs outnumber the lions this month. The lion definitely was the winner over the weekend, with the snow and cold temperatures.

Presidents/Citizenship: The students enjoyed reading and learning about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. They also recalled facts from books I read and we wrote 5 sentences about each of them. During the month of February, I displayed a poster of all the presidents on a bulletin board. The kids loved looking at this and reading their names. We also read about important U.S. symbols and they created a poster that showed some of them. They also finished this story starter "If I were President...

Reading: Our reading goals last week were to read and spell words with the long i sound using igh, i as a single vowel, and y as i at the end of words. Our grammar lessons focused on adjectives that compare using er and est. Check to see if your child remembers what an adjective is, as well as a noun and a verb. Our comprehension skill was identifying the problem and solution in stories that we read. This week our skills are to read and spell words with ar, our grammar skill is using color words as adjectives, and our comprehension skill is cause and effect. For comprehension, we also take a quiz over the main selection from our basal each week, and I have been impressed with how well they are recalling important details from our stories and they have been quite successful on these quizzes. Now that we have become such "Good Readers", the stories are getting longer and the kids have noticed this. I'm really proud of the progress everyone has made as a reader. It's fun to see them choose books during center time and sit quietly and read.

Spelling: Thanks to all who have been working hard at home to prepare for the Friday tests. I'm proud of the success the kids have experienced with learning their weekly words. Our "Making Words" lessons have also contributed to helping them become better spellers. Our lessons have focused on a variety of chunks found in words. I have been impressed with the dedication many have had with returning their "Making Words" homework. The extra practice at home is helpful. Thanks for initiating this at home.

Math: We have been working on strategies to use to solve 2-digit addition and subtraction problems. The following strategies have been introduced and practiced: drawing quick pictures of the number of tens and ones and adding them up or taking part of it away, using the hundred chart to count on by ones or tens, and exchanging 10 ones for 1 ten. This week, we will apply those strategies to problem solving and spend time reviewing all the concepts in this chapter and test over it on Thursday. Measurement will be our next unit in math. We also continue to do addition and subtraction timings 2-3 times a week. With the end of the quarter coming up on March 11th, we will be doing the addition and subtraction timed probe for facts to 10 this week. This was the one I shared at conferences that we have done 3 times thus far.

Read Across America: This week we will honor Dr. Seuss each day with a special activity or dress-up request. The note regarding what each day represents was sent home last Friday. On Monday, we will have 15 minutes of silent reading time district-wide from 8:30-8:45.

Naturalist: Matt from Swan Lake has visited us monthly and has presented some fun things related to nature. Some of the topics we've been informed about are: monarch butterflies, owls, turkeys, reindeer, and birds. We have enjoyed his visits and expertise.

Star Student: Korbin and James have most recently been featured. Korbin likes to drink pop and eat crackers. His favorite song is "Little Red Corvette" and he likes to build things out of wood. When Korbin grows up he wants to be a construction worker. James likes to drink hot chocolate and eat cheese pizza. His favorite place is Disney World and he likes to watch "Swamp Loggers" on TV. When James grows up, he wants to be a construction worker too.

To close, I'd like to share the "Reader's Oath" that the students will be practicing this week in honor of Dr. Seuss week.
I promise to read Each day and each night I know it's the key To growing up right. I'll read to myself, I'll read to a crowd It makes no difference If silent or loud.
I'll read at my desk, At home and at school, On my bean bag or bed, By the fire or pool.
Each book that I read Puts smarts in my head, 'Cause brains grow more
thoughts The more they are fed. So I take this oath To make reading my way,
of feeding my brain What it needs every day.