Week 11

This week's story is a realistic fiction story called "Try Your Best." The new vocabulary words are:

be

good

Mr.

need

our

right

saw

time

try

Questions of the Week:

Monday - List 5 things that make noise.

Tuesday - List 5 things that are quiet.

Wednesday - List 5 words that rhyme with need.

Thursday - Use the word right in a sentence.

Friday - Tell me 5 things you can do with a pumpkin.

In math we will continue with frames and arrows and time to the half hour. We are continuing to work on money and counting by 2's and 5's.

Spelling seems to be going well. We had 3 testing times last week. Some are already on list 4. I will provide testing times as often as possible. I will be using my intern, aide, and parent volunteers to do this.

Our Halloween Party will be Friday morning. You child may wear a costume but no mask. Face paint is allowed as long as it isn't too gory. Please no accessories like wands or swords. I will be asking some of you to send items for the party. Each child may bring a treat to share if they would like. We will pass them out during party time.

It sounds like the weather is going to change this week. Please have your child dressed appropriately. They may need gloves and hats. They do go out at recess time. They enjoy it more if they are comfortable.

Have a great week and remember that Friday is an Early Release Day for teacher inservice.

Trying again.

I don't know if everything has arrived. I am trying again.

Field Trip Part 2

Here are the rest of the pix.

Field Trip

We had a great trip the second time. The pictures are wonderful. Thanks Mr. Adair. As you look at them, ask your kids if they can find a witches broom and a cat face.

Clean Up Time

Someone had written on the wall across from the library with a crayon. It looked pretty messy. It hadn't been cleaned up in about three weeks. I asked my class if they would do it so our school would like nicer. They happily agreed. We all went to the library with Magic Erasers and cleaned. I think they had fun (anything involving a squirt bottle is fun)!! The wall looks much better. They received thanks from the janitors, Mr. Bingham, and several teachers and aides. They were pretty proud.

Work Time

A couple weeks ago we did some projects with the book "Rosie's Walk." I took some pictures as the kids were working. They did a great job of listening and following directions. I hope you enjoyed them as you came to conferences.

Week 10

WOW!!! We are going to have a normal week of school. It seems like it has been a while. I am looking forward to getting back to our usual routine.

This week's story is called "Where Do Frogs Come From?" It is a non fiction story about the life cycle of frogs. The kids really seem to enjoy non fictions stories. The new vocabulary words are:

eat

from

gone

grows

or

two

Spelling will change this week. We will start individualized spelling. I expect each child to pass at least one test per week. Everyone will take Test 1 today. If they miss only 1 they can move on to the next list. Each child has a book of spelling lists in their desks to use for practice. Each parent should have a book of lists that were sent home from Parent Night. If you have misplaced yours, please let me know and I will send another. The lists are also available on a link from the blog.

Questions of the Week

Monday - It is Canning Day. List some foods that come in cans

Tuesday - List 5 words that rhyme with rug.

Wednesday - The first movie with sound was shown in 1927. What is your favorite movie?

Thursday - It is Teddy Roosevelt's birthday. What toy is named after him?

Friday - It is Make a Difference Day. What can you do to make a difference?

We have gotten a bit behind in math. This week we will be doing time to the half hour and frames and arrows. Both of these are difficult concepts. I will send a homelink so that you know what frames and arrows are. If you have time to help your child it will be to his/her advantage.

I appreciate your coming to conferences. It is always nice to meet the families of the children I teach and to have the time to sit and visit. If you were unable to attend, give me a call and we can schedule a time to meet.

Have a great week!!!

Field Trip

The field trip to Greer was great. We had super weather for our hike. Thanks to all the parents who went along to help. Also a big thinks to the Tilford's for having us over to do a picnic in their yard. I will post pictures as soon as the photographers send them to me.

Week 9

This is going to be a crazy week. We really won't have much class time so we will have to make good use of what we have. Remember the Field Trip on Monday, and early release for conferences on Tuesday and Wednesday. If you haven't received your conference note (I sent them last Wednesday) call me to get your appointment time.

Our story this week is "Space Pup". He is a super hero type guy. The sound we will be working on is short u, as in pup. There are several vocabulary words this week. They are:

gives

he

night

out

people

says

when

your

Spelling words are:

us

bus

bug

rug

mug

must

with

then

she

use

said

was

very

they

said

want

Questions of the week:

Monday - What was an interesting thing you saw today on the field trip?

Tuesday - It is Ready, Set, Relax Day. No Homework.

Wednesday - It is National Pasta Month. What is your favorite pasta?

Thursday - It is Grouch Day. Tell me three things that make you grouchy.

Friday - It is School Lunch Week. What is your favorite school lunch?

This week in math will be spent on the number line. We will be skip counting using it and adding and subtracting using it.

Spelling is still not going well for most. Only 5-6 kids got them all right or only missed one. Please help your child practice every night. I am including they and want again on the spelling list. They are words they use all the time so they really need to be learned.

Thanks to those of you who sent more school supplies. Your child will be set for a few more weeks. Glue sticks really do go fast. If you would prefer to send glue bottles, that is fine.

Thanks for being understanding about the cancellation of the field trip last week. It looked nice here in town but it stayed nasty in Greer most of the morning. I don't think we would have had a good time.

Have a great week and I look forward to seeing you at your conference time.

Week 8

This week our story is "Boots for Beth." It is about a little pig who outgrows her boots. Her friends try to help her solve her problem. The sound this week is the voiced and unvoiced /th/.

Vocabulary words are:

could

friends

new

put

she

use

Spelling words are:

then

them

this

that

path

with

men

set

was

said

very

of

want

they

Questions of the week:

Monday - How is the weather changing?

Tuesday - It is Alaska Day. What might you see if you went there?

Wednesday - It is Dictionary Day. What things do you find in a dictionary?

Thursday - It is Circus Day. Have you ever been to a circus?

Friday - It is Make a Difference Day. What can you do to make a difference?

In math we will be doing time to the half hour, counting up and back in the frames and arrows format, and trading pennies and nickels for dimes.

Your child should be able to count by 5's and 10's to 100 and by 2's to at least 20. You might want to do a little check at home.

We will be doing vocabulary checks on the words for the book "Guess Who". I will be sending home a list marked with the words your child does not know.

Spelling is not going very well. Last week I had 6 good tests and the rest missed three or more words. We have practice time but it doesn't seem to be working. I am going to try something else this week. Any help you can give me with spelling from home will be greatly appreciated.

Remember the field trip to Greer on Wednesday. Please return the permission slip and $1.00 to help cover the cost of the bus.

You might ask you child how they are for glue sticks and dry erase markers. I have no more markers. We have used up the few that we had at school. We use our white boards constantly so the markers are really important.

I will also be scheduling conferences for the October 13 & 14. The board has given us two early releases to accommodate these. Your child will be dismissed at 11:30 both of those days. Watch for the note that will have your scheduled time. If you get a time that doesn't work for you, please call and we can reschedule.

Thanks for all you do. Thanks for your donations for Jump Rope for Heart.

Have a great week.

Book Writing

I have started publishing books that the children have written. It seems to have really sparked an interest in writing. I still have a few children that are unpublished. I will be encouraging them and maybe you can too at home. You might talk about potential writing topics at home. We will do some brainstorming in class also.

Right now most stories are fiction, but they can also write about things they have done or write an informational book about things they know. Most anything can be turned into an interesting story.

The children are very excited to bring their books home to share. Please return them after they have been read. Other children like to take them out of the book box to read also. We can use these books as a part of our 'Read to Self' time.