Hello! This is my first newsletter after the Thanksgiving Break. I hope you were able to enjoy time with family and friends over the short "Break". Has it "whetted" your appetite for the upcoming holidays? I was able to complete all of the assessments necessary for an informed delivery of information on your child's report card, so we will go back to school "as usual" beginning this week. Therefore, "little readers" will go home as usual, and your child will also have sight words and fluency sentences to study this week, with an assessment on Friday.
Reading Groupings will stay the same for the moment, though I will take a good look at groupings again after the Winter Break. Several groups are beginning to read longer chapter books now. This often involves our reading the chapter book during Reading Group time, and the children taking home an unfamiliar shorter reader to share with you at night. When the longer book does come home, it will have a post'em on its cover giving you the return date (I allow these books to stay home longer, so your child doesn't have to reread it all in one night. If you finish it earlier than the posted return date, you may return it anyway.) As I predicted, several children ran into the "time" barrier when taking their reading tests this time around. From Level 14 on, the children must meet accuracy, comprehension, and fluency requirements in order to "pass" each reading assessment. Several children were able to sufficiently meet the accuracy and comprehension requirements, but their need to "sound out" some of the harder words decreased their rate of reading beyond the lower acceptable level for fluency. We "fix" this issue by learning more words by sight (so they don't have to be "sounded out"), and we read and reread material that is just slightly challenging. Please practice those fluency sentences at home each week.
Beginning this week, our writing classes will begin to address how to write "how to" pieces. One of the key differences in this kind of writing involves the use of sequencing words like "first", "then", "next" and finally. We will be writing about many things we know how to do, or are learning how to do. I would encourage you to work on both this kind of writing AND story writing at home, if you have the opportunity.
In Math, we have begun working on Place Value last week and this week by learning about the "teen" numbers. Because of our "number language", numbers from 10 - 20 are not intuitive. MANY children confuse numbers such as "12" and "21" because they don't understand the order in which numbers are written. The number on the left of a two-digit number represents the amount of tens that exist in the number. The number on the right represents the amount of ungroupable ones. Once kids learn this information, then much of place value becomes "easy". We continue to work on learning our addition and subtraction facts. Most people have now passed the timed addition facts test. (They are able to correctly write 45 or more of the addition fact answers within 5 minutes.) Those who have passed the addition timed test are moving on to the subtraction timed test. All children are expected to be able to correctly write 45 or more of both the addition and subtraction fact answers within 5 minutes before they leave First Grade.
We haven't made much progress in Social Studies over the past few weeks. The children are still working on learning the continents and oceans of the world. They have had the opportunity to work on some mapping skills, and that effort is coming along well. They know their cardinal directions, and know that maps use symbols to represent places on a map. They know that maps should have a title, and a key or legend that explains what those symbols represent on that particular map. We will make an effort to learn the oceans and continents by the Holiday Break, but there will not be a grade on the report card for most of this area of study for the first trimester.
In Science, we have learned about the skeletal system and the muscular system so far. This week, we will be learning about the respiratory system. Next week, we will address the circulatory system. After Break, we will have to do the Nervous System (brain and spinal cord), and the week after we will work on the Digestive System. Since this system is one that they will have to be able to illustrate, we will have to spend some time on it.
There are a number of events happening between now and the Holiday Break.
Breakfast with Santa happened last Saturday morning. I neglected to inform you ahead of time about that one, and for that I apologize.
There is a PTA meeting scheduled for this Wednesday at 5 pm. Please consider attending, as we are looking for "input" about the operations of our school from as many parents and teachers as is possible.
Our Coyote Coupon celebration is planned for this coming Friday, and is a PAJAMA DAY (when kids and teachers wear their pajamas to school), and all of our class has met their goals to participate!
Our first Rugrats skiing event happens on December 14. My understanding is that we will leave school right after lunch, and will return by 3:30. Buses do not transport at this time from Crescent Park, so you will have to make arrangements to pick up your child, either at the Mountain (around 3:10 pm) or at Crescent Park (at 3:30 pm.) Children not picked up by 3:45 will be sent to MKA, and a fee will probably incur. My biggest fee about doing the Sunday River program is "losing" a child, or sending them to the wrong place after the fact. PLEASE, WHEN YOU PICK UP YOUR CHILD, WHETHER AT THE MOUNTAIN OR AT CPS, CHECK IN WITH ME SO I KNOW HE OR SHE EITHER WENT HOME WITH YOU OR WITH A PERSON YOU HAVE DESIGNATED FOR THAT PURPOSE. And, speaking of that, it would be good if you sent in a note telling me if someone other than you is picking up your child. I don't want to release them to the wrong person. You alone know who the "right person" is. It doesn't look like there will be a LOT of snow on 12/14, but much of that first afternoon is matching equipment to children, anyway. However, if that progress is able to go quickly, the kids will ski that first day, too. Several of you have not yet returned your paperwork for Rugrats skiing. It is cost free to you. However, if you do not wish to have your child participate in this program, he or she will either have to be picked up at lunchtime on RugRat ski days, or they will spend the afternoon in Mrs. Ferland's office reading, writing, and working on material left for them. He or she will NO LONGER be placed in another grade's classroom on those afternoons.
The week of 12/11 to 12/15 will be Student Coucil's "Spirit Week", when events are planned for each day. Information about what happens when will be coming home soon. The fifth grade will be presenting an musical called "ELFIS" on Friday morning of the 15th.
Our class Holiday party will take place on Wednesday afternoon 12/20 from 12:00 to 1:30. The party will start with gift giving (each child will open a present given by someone in the class, and then all of the children will open presents from me). The food part of the party will take place from roughly 1:00 - 1:30pm. If you would be willing to contribute to the eats, PLEASE contact me by phone or by note. I ended up buying food for our Halloween party (because I had only heard from two parents) and then a number of you sent food in. Please don't misunderstand me--I greatly appreciated your support. It's just that we had a lot more food than we needed because I had purchased supplements we ended up not needing. I am getting the paper products and the veggie platter. I would love help with the rest of the supplies. Should the 12/20 be a snow day, we will have our party the next morning.
December 21 is a half-day of school for students. They will eat lunch around 10:15, and will be dismissed around 11:30 to begin their Holiday Break. School will begin again on Tuesday, January 2nd, 2018.
I think that is everything. I am doing homework as usual this week, but there will only be readers next week, and NO HOMEWORK 12/18 - 12/21. Good luck preparing for the Holidays!
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