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.