September 21, 2010

After over a month of school, we are moving along smoothly.  The students are already learning the basics of phonics (sounds of letters) which will soon  lead to great reading skills!   Math is also one of their favorite classes, and we have lots of math fun every day!   Their writing skills are developing as well!  

Thank you, parents, for faithfully checking folders and signing the calendar sheet each day.  Also, I am SO imppressed with how you’re reading to your child so faithfully as well.   Remember to ask them questions about the story as well…That improves their focus and comprehension skills. 

Also, thank you for providing your child with a headset for computer lab.  Everyone is are off to a good start in their computer class as well.  I hope you take the time to look over their work samples that are sent home daily.  Praise them for their good effort…Some of the children are becoming very neat in their handwriting skills.   Also, help your child if you see they are having some difficulty with their letter formations.   When they see you taking notice, it motivates them to do even better.   

Jan. 19-22

The homework packets from last week were excellent!  Please continue to read each evening with your child.  I have seen a big improvement in this area.    Your child will receive their Pizza Hut coupon if they faithfully listen to a story from you each evening.  Don’t forget to write the title of the story each evening on the front of the homework packet. 

We will be having our next Voyager Benchmark test the end of this month.  Please help your child to “stretch” the sounds of a one syllable word you give them.  For example, “bus”, and they would say b/u/s.  Also review letter names.  They will be timed on identiying the letters as fast as they can.  They want to improve from their last test. 

Not on this test, but please keep reviewing the sight words that are sent home in the homework packets.  They are really getting excited about reading.  I hope you are praising them a lot!

Last, but not least, encourage them to be neat in their writing.  Their stories are improving as the weeks go by!

Jan. 5-8

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I hope everyone in my school family had a wonderful and safe holiday break.  Now it’s time to get back in the swing of school.   

The new January calendar is in your child’s folder.  Please remember to sign it daily.  Note that we will have math night Tuesday, Jan 12.  Please try and come.  You’ll see how fun math can be!  

Also we will be off Jan 18 in observance of MLK Day. 

Please make sure your child gets to school on time…stay warm!

Dec. 14-18

We are finishing up our assessments for 2009.  The students are doing a good job.   Please help your child continue to learn over the break.   The activity packet is due when they return on Jan. 5th.  Have a wonderful, safe break!

Dec. 7-11

Our class is reading so well!!   We have learned many sight words, too.  The students are excited about growing bean plants.  We planted them just a couple days ago, so it will be a while before they will come up.  I just hope they don’t freeze over Christmas break!  

We have completed our math unit on shapes and are now beginning patterns in math.  It’s a fun unit.   We continue to have calendar math each day…as well as counting by 1′s , 5′s and 10′s to 100.  Many of the students can write to 100 now without any assistance!  

Please continue to read to your child daily if possible.  Ask them a couple questions at the end of the story to check for comprehension.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!

Nov. 23-24

Several of our class qualified for a movie on Nov. 24.  They were on track in all areas of the last Voyager Benchmark test.  Congratulations!  

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Nov. 16-20

We are looking forward to our Thanksgiving dinner this Thursday, Nov. 19.  We hope many of you parents can join us. 

We are really excited about becoming good readers.  Our skills keep growing…and we’re reading stories now!  We are also building sentences…and trying to send home many samples for you to see.  Take time to praise your child for the progress you see. 

Wednesday, Nov. 18, is an early release day.

Week of Nov.2-6

Our week starts with our Voyager Benchmark test.  We are hoping to show growth in all our reading skills!

Thank you to all the parents who sent a snack for October.  Our supply is deleted, so please try to send in a snack for November sometime this week if you can.  The students all love snack time.  Thanks so much!

We are working on shapes in math this week.  Please help your child look for shapes at home.  They have learned some new tersm.  A quadrilateral is any shape that is made of four straight lines.  ( A square, rectangle, rhombus, and trapezoid are all in the quadrilateral family.   A rhombus looks like a diamond, lying on it’s side.  A trapezoid looks like the shape of a roof.  Have your child draw each of these for you.

Please try hard to turn in the completed homework packet each Friday.  We are setting habits now.  Turning work in on time is so important! Have a wonderful week….Remember to sign the folders daily.  (:

Oct. 19-23

Please continue to help your student hear the beginning sounds of given words.  Also help them “stretch” words, such as /b/a/t/   or /h/o/t/.  They are starting to put sounds together to read words…and they are very proud of themselves!  Also, encourage them to take time to write the letters neatly.  We are setting habits…and we want them to be good habits.  They are counting all kinds of manipulatives…Please let them count any items at home…such as spoons, buttons, blocks, or game items such as checkers.   Review right and left with them…most of them have processed that skill.  Review days of the week, what was yesterday, today, and what will tomorrow be.   Sometimes, “yesterday” is harder for them to recall.  Let your child review the months of the year. 

Praise them for all their accomplishments.   Please remember to initial their folder daily.

Oct. 12-16

Our class continues to make good progress!

100% of our class reached our goal for Successmaker’s reading program.

We did a great job on our Voyager Checkpoint this week.

In math, we’re continuing our measurement unit this week.

Please help your child practice hearing the beginning and the ending sound of  any given word.  For example, if you say “book”, they will  say /b/ for the beginning sound.  Then ask them to tell you what the ending sound is.  (That’s harder for some students to hear.)

Please check the folder and sign the daily calendar each day.