Weekly Letter November 13th

I hope you all enjoyed the beautiful, but cold weather this weekend! In class 1-2 we have been very busy learning all about Light and Sound in our new science unit! This is very hands on unit and we love every minute of it! JI love how excited the students get when experimenting with various objects. Below are some of the topics we will be studying during this week.

Reading & Writing:

The unit on Waves: Light & Sound is an interactive and exciting unit! During this unit, the students will be introduced to the skill of making predictions. This is a skill that readers use daily while reading, but also during every day activities. This week in Reading Workshop we will be discussing how important our five senses are. Today we illustrated things we hear, smell, taste, touch, and hear. Towards the end of the week we will be going on a listening walk!

This week in Writing Workshop, the students will be learning about informational books: books that tell us information about topics. This will lead our focus onmaking journals throughout our new unit. Students will be involved in many hands on activities this month!

During writer’s workshop, students will also have a chance to choose a topic for their personal narratives. We will begin organizing our ideas and adding details to our story maps!

Spelling/Phonics/Vocabulary

The students will continue to focus on our Light & Sound vocabulary words until we complete the unit. We review the vocabulary words that we have already learned each morning before I introduce the new vocabulary word or words. The students answer questions, in complete sentences, using the appropriate vocabulary word. The phonics skill this week will focus on the long o vowel pattern. Please review our words each night!

Math

We will be continuing with chapter three this week! Our main concept this week is adding three numbers. Students will need to look at the three numbers to look for doubles facts or another easy way to add. An important key to remember is that we cannot forget to add the third number!! We will spend a great deal of time reviewing the skills and strategies that the students will need to be ready for the assessment. *The chapter study guide will be going home on Friday. We will have an assessment on Tuesday, November 20^th.

Announcements & Reminders

• Religion Chapter 4 Assessment on Friday. Books will go home on Wednesday. Questions to focus on: Who is John the Baptist? Zacchaeus? What does it mean to trust?
• Dress Down Day Friday
• Twisted Tuesday 11/20. Money Due by Friday

Weekly Letter October 22nd

We have been in school for two months already – can you believe it? November is right around the corner! In just a two short months, this class has grown into a respectful community of learners. Below are the topics we will be covering this week.

Reading/Writing Workshop

During Reading Workshop, we will discuss traditions that we have in our family and why those traditions are important. Students will also understand the meaning of a family and what that means to them; this will bring closure to our unit. Our family books are almost finished and we will be putting the finishing touches on them this week. Our family celebration breakfast is scheduled for November 6^th, Please RSVP by Friday, so that we know who is available to join!We hope to see you there1

Phonics/Spelling/Grammar/Vocabulary

This week our phonics skill will focus on the digraphs sh and th. Digraph words mean that there are two letters that make one sound. Their favorite sound to make was the “sh” sound. We already knew how to do that one! We also learned about “th” sound today and made our own list of words! Please review the words in your spelling packet with your child each night.

Math

This week we will dive into Chapter 3: Addition Strategies. The students will practice adding in any order, counting on 1, 2, or 3, and adding doubles. Each day we have been completing “fast math” worksheets. We have to solve as many basic addition sentences as we can in 2 minutes. These will be coming home for you to look at. Please continue to practice math facts with your child. Thank YOU!

Religion:

A chapter 3 test will be on Tuesday. Books will go home on today. Questions to focus on: Where was Jesus born? Who is in the Holy Family? What does it mean to obey someone?

Announcements & Reminders

• Please label all belongings such as jackets and sweaters. It can be very difficult to find the right owners at the end of the day without a name!
• Please continue to review doubles math facts with students. This math chapter can be a little tricky if we don’t know our math facts.

Weekly Letter October 1st

Happy Fall! Believe it or not October is here and we will be starting a thematic unit on Families this week. We have spent the last month establishing routines for Reading and Writing Workshop! This week we are going to put our skills to the test! I think we are ready to start our first thematic unit of the year!

Reading & Writing:

During Reading Workshop this week, we will be discussing the concept of “Book Talks” and the guidelines for working together while sharing the stories we read. This is an important part of Reading Workshop as “Book Talks” help readers with discussion skills and critical thinking skills. This will lead into a discussion on the proper behavior while reading with a partner, which they have been waiting patiently to do! The students enjoy sharing books that they read so I am sure this is going to be a hit!

During reading/writing workshop this week students will be focusing on their immediate families! Today we discussed how many people were in our immediate family and even illustrated a picture of our family.

Also during reading workshop this week students will be book shopping. Students will get a chance to bring 5 books home in a baggie. The books in their baggie should consist of 3 books that are on their reading level and 2 books that are free choice. These baggies should come back to school each day and students will be able to switch out books once a week.

Phonics/Spelling/Grammar:

This week our phonics skill is making words plural by adding “s”. Please review these words with your child each night. You will notice on the Spelling Packet this week a new type of activity on Tuesday.

The students are asked to create flashcards for their spelling words. Your child should be writing the words on the flashcards. The word on one side and possibly a picture on the other. You can use these flashcards to study and hold them up for students to identify and spell orally. These flash cards are to be kept at home; please do not send them into school.This will be part of their homework each week to help them automatically recognize these words in print without having to use any decoding strategies. Feel free to encourage your child to create flashcards for the sight words already reviewed from previous weeks, as well as the spelling words.

Math:

This week the students will learn how to model and compare groups to show the meaning of subtraction using bar models. Bar model is a strategy used to help students solve taking from and taking apart subtraction problems. The language used in order to develop this understanding includes Part-Part-Whole, and is sometimes referred to as that. These components – the parts and the whole – are also in subtraction situations in which the whole and one part are given and the other part is to be found. This is a critical thinking problem solving skill that the students need to develop in order to solve word problems independently. Please help your child solve these problems as they could be difficult. The students will also learn how to identify how many are left when subtracting all or nothing (0) and showing different ways to take apart a number. Please help your child solve these problems as they could be difficult.

Religion:

This week we will be finishing Chapter 2 about the Blessed Trinity. The students will learn that the Sign of the Cross is a prayer to the Blessed Trinity and that it shows us that we believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Please practice the Sign of the Cross with your child! There will be a religion assessment on Thursday.Books will go home each night starting on Tuesday so you can review with your child. Please review: The Blessed Trinity, What is Prayer, and What is the Sign of the Cross?

Announcements & Reminders

• ReligionChapter 2 Test on Thursday
• Friday, October 5^this a noon dismissal
• Monday, October 8^th–No School
• Please keep all chapter 1 Go Math booksat home. We will not be using them anymore J
• Testsonly need to be signed and returned when you see a stamp or sticker from me. If you see no stamp or sticker that says, “please sign and return”, you may keep the test at home.

Weekly Letter September 24th

I cannot believe we are almost finished with the month of September! This week will be a busy week filled with learning and thinking! The students are beginning to feel more comfortable following class routines independently. Our class is really starting to develop some nice friendships, helping build a community of learners. We look ahead to this week and all of the new and exciting things we will be learning.

Reading & Writing:

During Reading Workshop this week, we will be learning how to work together as we explore “Book Talks” and Reading Conferences. The students will soon learn that they have a job to do during reading conferences. The students will also continue to practice picking Just Right Books using the 3 Finger Test! The students learned to pick a book, read one page, and count how many unknown words on the page. If they have 3 fingers up, the book is not right for them. You can incorporate this strategy at home too when your child chooses books from their home library!

Phonics/Spelling/Grammar:

This week our phonics skill is the “short o” vowel pattern. Please review spelling and sight words with your child each night.

Math:

We have our chapter one test on Wednesday. Study Guides can be found in the green folder labeled. On Thursday, we will begin Chapter 2: Subtraction Concepts. During this chapter, the students will learn how to subtract numbers from 10 or less. The students will learn important vocabulary including: minus, difference, subtract, subtraction sentence, compare, fewer, and more. This week the students will learn how to use pictures to show “taking from” and find differences and use objects to solve “taking from” subtraction problems. The students will also develop their problem solving skills when they learn how to solve subtraction problems by making a model.

Religion:

This week we will begin chapter 2: “We Believe in the Blessed Trinity”. The children will learn that Jesus is God’s greatest gift to us. We will explore the concept of the Blessed Trinity and practice the Sign of the Cross. Please practice at home as well J

Announcements & Reminders:

• Chapter 1 Math Test- Wednesday, September 26^th. Study Guides went home on Monday.
• Scholastic Online Class Code: NHWTP– Orders due by October 1st. Orders can be made by check and sent into school or made online using the above code.
• Please sign up for class dojo if you haven’t already. Forms went home with back to school night packets.