Week 8

The story for this week 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

We will be introducing subtraction this week. The series seems to be going pretty fast thru the concepts. I think they are assuming that lots was introduced in K. I think it probably has been but we will be doing lots of extra work on it. Subtraction is a difficult concept. They are using the missing part early and that seems hard for kids. Wish us luck!!!

Thanks you so much for the great turn out and response to conferences. By the end of this week, I will have visited with every parent in my room. That is a really good feeling. I can already see the results of our visits. The kids commented on the positive comments and even on a few of their challenges. Their behavior was awesome. They were really showing me their best!!! Now I know it is possible and will be the goal we work for every day.

This is another busy week at school, These are the important dates:

Oct. 4 - I will have a substitute and "Reading Under the Stars" from 6:00-7:00 at school. They are serving hot dogs, etc. Please come out and enjoy the evening.

Oct. 6 - PICTURE DAY!!! If you want pictures, please send your money. Also our pictures will not be taken until 1:30 in the afternoon. I cannot promise you perfectly groomed children by that time of day. If you want them to be gorgeous, you might want to come at a little before 1:00 to get them groomed. I cannot do 24 hairdo's etc.

Oct. 7 - Please have your child's drawing and info back for the T-shirt by then. I would like to get them ordered.

Oct. 7 - It is Monster Sandwich Day. Your child does not need to bring a lunch. We will just enjoy the day together.

Have a great week!! I am going to. My daughter is coming from Ohio. I haven't seen her since her wedding last September so I am really excited. Thanks for understand that I will be gone a few days.

Week 7

We have finished our first reading book. The new book is called "Catch a Dream." This week we are reading "Dan's Pet." It is a story about a little boy who gets a pet chick. the phonics focus this week is short e as in hen. The vocabulary words are:

day

every

her

said

was

with

Spelling words are:

hen

pen

men

end

send

set

all

call

very

that

of

want

walk

In math we are going to continue working on addition. This series goes very quickly. We will have to do lots of extra practice. I really want us to learn the facts to 10 to automaticity. We have started doing Math Facts in a Flash on the computer.

Important things for the upcoming weeks. There is NO SCHOOL on Thursday for RVPS ONLY!!! They have given us this time for conferences. Friday is an Early Release. We have math training in the afternoon.

October 4 is "Reading Under the Stars" and Picture Day is October 6.

Have a great week! I hope to see you at conferences. If your time doesn't work for you feel free to call me and we can reschedule.

Warnings and Updates

A student just broke out with foot, hand, and mouth disease. You might want to keep your eyes open for signs of it. I know it has been other places in our room.

Also be watching for a Conference Schedule. Next Thursday the Primary School ONLY will not have school all day. We are allowed to have this day for conferences. Friday is also an Early Release.

Week 6

This week's story is "All That Corn". We will be learning the short o sound of the letter a as in ball. It is anon fiction story that traces corn from the farm field to your home.

Vocabulary words:

buy

that

very

where

Spelling words are:

all

call

fall

wall

ball

tall

on

not

so

of

We will continue to work on the concept of addition. They are introducing things very quickly. We will do hands on activities to help with the material. We are still working on skip counting by 2's, 10's, and 5's.

We are going to have a class T-shirt. I found a great idea and would love to do it my last year. They will be $8 at the most. If you have a problem with it please let me know.

I also have to make a confession. In a senior moment I have misplaced all the permissions for blog posting and email. That is why you all are still getting info in the notebook. I thought they would show up but they haven"t. I am going to make a new document and send it. Sorry for the double work.

Remember that Friday is Early Release. We will make headbands and flags for the kids to take to the parade. They can show their ELK support.

Have a great week.

E-Mail

Dear Parents

My school email does not seem to be working at school or at home. Please use my home email address. Get ready to either laugh or be offended but my husband came up with it because we are Rick And Tharon SASS. It is ratsass@frontiernet.net. It does work!!! The Elks one has been down for ages!!! Nothing seems to fix it.

Week 5

The story this week is called "Todd's Box". The new sound is short o. We will be reviewing short a and i also. We will continue to blend new words that are easily decodable. The new vocabulary words are:

don't

of

so

Spelling for this week is:

hot

hop

pop

pot

dot

not

back

pick

now

want

walk

they

In math, we continue working on addition. I have decided to tear the math book apart and send it home daily. It is big and cumbersome. The kids have trouble finding where they are. I am also hoping this helps you see where they are and what we are doing. This week's biggest concept will be the + and + signs.

We are going to fire up the computers. We will start Facts in a Flash this week. It is a program that allows the kids to practice the math facts. They must get 40 problems correct in 4 minutes with no mistakes. It will take some time just to get used to using the program. Don't expect perfection the first few days.

If your child has shoes that tie, please practice at home. I can't keep them all tied. They are too dangerous untied. I have been told that if you teach them to go around the first loop two times, it works like double knotting but will untie easily when you pull one side. You might consider teaching that.

Please send a picture of your family and one of your child. We are going to be making some 'About me' posters.

Remember that Wednesday is an Early Release. Your child will be coming home at 11:25.

Have a great week.

Week 4

This week's story is a fantasy story called "Jack and Rick." It is about a bear and a rabbit that want to play together but are on opposite sides of the stream. By working together they solve their problem. We will be working on the digraph ck. The vocabulary for this week is:

help

now

play

too

want

Spelling words are:

pick

pack

tack

back

sack

sick

big

is

they

walk

In math this week the big new concept is addition. We are also counting to 20 by 2's, to 50 by 5's and by 1's. Some are still struggling with this.

You all have done a great job with SMART books. They are appearing everyday and for the most part homework is done. THANKS for helping and making your child's life so much easier.

Our biggest challenges in the classroom are working quietly and getting work finished. This is a very social class. Many would much rather visit than work. I really want your child to become a happy, quiet, independent, and confident worker. That is my goal for the year. They are great kids with great potential. I hope I can tap all that potential to make them life long learners!!!

Have a great week!