Week 15

Thank you so much for all the help at the feast. I am just amazed at the number of people that showed up to eat. Sorry if any of you didn't get food or a place to sit. It was our largest turn out ever. We calculate that between 360 and 380 people were there. That is just AMAZING!!!

This week's story is a biography called "Tomas Rivera." Tomas was a young boy who picked crops with his family. He developed a love for reading and writing. He grew up to be an author and a teacher. The phonics sounds we will be working with this week are qu and wh. The wh sound is particularly hard because the kids don't really say wh anymore. They replace it with the sound of just w. This story also seems to be the story that takes us into a whole new reading level. It will get way more difficult from here on out. The new vocabulary words are:

about

books

by

family

grew

read

work

writing

In math we will continue to work on addition and introducing several ways to solve the problem besides counting on fingers. By the end of the year we want these facts to come to automaticity. The methods include counting up and using the number line.

Four children have earned the zipper pull in AR. I am so proud of them. One child is really close to a shirt. The kids are working hard and doing their best. I am so happy with every step they take into becoming fluent readers. That is our goal.

I will place a book order at the end of the week. If you are wanting to order for Christmas gifts you can order and I will contact you when the order comes in. You can stop by and pick them up so they will be a surprise. If you order online it gives me free books for the classroom.

Our SMART books aren't looking too smart anymore. I guess you do get what you pay for. If Santa would like to bring your child a new one for Christmas, that would be great.

Thanks so much for all you do to help your child. That in turn helps me. This is a GREAT class. What a way to exit!!! I am so lucky.

Have a great week.

Thanksgiving Week

This week we will take a week off from the reading series. We will do some review and vocabulary work. There will also be no question to answer for homework. There will be a reading assignment on Monday night.

Tuesday will be the feast. If you haven't sent your $3/person for those attending, please do so. We will have posse stew, fruit salad, bread, butter, and milk. In the afternoon, we will have pumpkin dip and cookies in the room. Your child will be involved in preparing most of the things we are serving. They love this project.

You are welcome to come but please let us know so we can have enough food.

I only have 3 parents who have signed up to help. If you could give us some time with preparation, serving, or clean up on Tuesday, please contact me.

This feast has nothing to do with the school cafeteria. Your lunch account will not be charged for this meal, only for the carton of milk they drink.

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday.

Week 14

This week our story is a play called "Did You See Chip?". This is the first time we have hit the play genre. It will be an interesting read. The phonics sound is /ar/ as in the word bark. The new vocabulary words are:

city

house

sometimes

take

there

In math we will be finishing up the graphing chapter and starting a new unit on addition. The kids will learn several strategies that will make addition more user friendly, such as counting on and the commutative property of addition.

Remember next Tuesday is the Thanksgiving Feast. Please send $3/person attending. I am not going to send a special note about this. I need to shop next weekend so please let me know how many will be coming. We'd hate to run short on food. The menu will be posse stew, fruit salad, homemade butter, bread and pumpkin pudding with whipped cream. The children will help prepare the meal. I need parents to help with preparation, set up in the cafeteria, and clean up afterwards. I have 3 parents that have offered. If anyone else can help, please let me know.

This will be a busy week getting costumes ready for the feast and learning about the trip to America on the Mayflower.

Have a great week.

Week 13

We are starting a new reading book this week. It is called "Here and There." The difficulty of the reading level will increase in this book. The stories will become much longer and the vocabulary more difficult.

The first story is "I Am a Butterfly." This isn't a great time to study butterflies. We will do some activities now but will save most of them until Spring when I order butterfly larvae to watch grow and hatch.

The sound the week is /ch/ made by the letters ch and tch. The new vocabulary is:

air

animals

around

fly

live

soon

turns

In math we will continue reading and making graphs. Practice on math facts and skip counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's are to your child's benefit.

Spelling is moving along. The kids are getting better at moving thru the program so it is becoming easier.

We will be doing our yearly Thanksgiving feast on Tuesday, Nov. 22. If any of you can come help prepare food, set tables, clean up, or whatever please let me know. The cost will be $3 for each person attending. It is a fun time where we dress up in Native American or Pilgrim costumes and sit to eat with all the first and second grade classes.

Remember that Thursday is an Early Release for Professional Development and Friday is No School in observance of Veteran's Day.

Have a great week.