Please return the January Reading log as soon as possible.  A new log will be in your child’s folder tonight.

This week we will…

-Read the story, Jan’s New Home, and discuss how changes such as moving can be exciting.

-Work with words with the ending of -es (kisses)  and the r-controlled o (more).

-Check our reading comprehension by exploring theme and monitoring our reading.

-Practice our spelling words:   fix, fixes, class, classes, wish, wishes, kiss, kisses, bus, buses, friends, very. Bonus:  school, more.

-Work with the high-frequency words (word wall words):   away, car, friends, house, our, school, very.

-Work with action verbs that do not add an -s in our writing.

-Take the STAR Reading Test to reassess our AR levels.

-Continue the Rocket Math program.

-Continue the Unit 7: Shapes.

-Continue learning about maps with a focus on states in our country and the countries that border the U.S.

Reminders:

-Report Cards will be sent home this week.  Please sign and return the envelop containing your child’s report card. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

-On Friday an envelop was sent home about raising money to plant trees for Tu BiShvat.  You can mail your payments/orders directly from home, but please send a note in with your child if you plant a tree so we can record it on a poster in our room. Thank you for your support.

We will celebrate the 100th day of school on 2/9! We would like to have a special snack on this day.  We are asking that every child select a kosher item that can be added to a class snack mix–cereals, crackers, dried fruit, etc. Each child should count out 100 items of that particular item (please wash hands throughly) and send the pre-counted items in a bag to school by 2/8.  We’ll combine the treats on 2/9 and celebrate the 100th day of school.

This week we will…

-Read the story, Ruby in Her Own Time, and discuss how we learn to do things at different rates. For example, some of us know how to ride a two-wheeler and some of us are still learning.

-Work with words with the ending sounds of nk (sink) and ng (sing).  We will also work with compound words (classmate) and contractions (can’t).

-Check our reading comprehension by exploring plot and summarizing.

-Practice our spelling words:  bring, trunk, pink, bank, sang, wing, rink, blank, rang, sunk, every, sure. Bonus: when, were, bedtime.

-Work with the high-frequency words (word wall words):  any, enough, ever, every, own, sure, were.

-Work with action verbs that end with -s in our writing.

-Read our AR books and take tests and meet in reading groups.

-Wrap-up our unit on adding and subtracting two-digit numbers.  We have learned many strategies to help us solve these math problems: make a ten, use a number line (to count-on or count-back), use a number bond, and draw pictures.

-Continue the Rocket Math program.

-Begin Unit 7: Shapes. A “Friendly Newsletter” with more information will be sent home by the end of the week.

-Continue learning about maps with a focus on our continent and country.  We will use maps, globes and the iPads with Google Earth to explore these concepts.

Reminders:

-Book Orders are due on Friday.

-The second quarter ends this week. Report Cards will be sent home next week.

This week we will…

-Learn about MLK and his legacy.  We will write about our own dreams and reflect on his.

-Write our final draft of our Changing and Growing paper (complete with beautiful pictures!)

-Work on individual reading assessments to check for fluency and comprehension.

-Take AR tests!  Please have your child read his/her AR book to you and return it on Tuesday or Wednesday (depending on the note sent home with your child.)

-Continue the Rocket Math program.

-Wrap-up our unit on adding and subtracting one-digit and two-digit numbers.  Please be very careful with the homework.  We understand it was difficult for some children last week.  We have rewritten the homework and will send it home Tuesday to be returned by Wednesday as review.

-Work with iPads by reviewing the rules of handling an iPad as we explore some new apps.

-Continue working on maps and creating our own maps by including landforms.

Reminders:

-Please review our classroom rules with your child–there is a recent post about our “new and improved rules.”  In order for us to work as a classroom to learn and grow each child needs to follow the rules.  Thank you for your support!

-There is no spelling this week, but there is other homework.  Packets are due on Thursday.

-Thank you for sending in the permission slip for your child to go our field trip to MOSH on 2/15.  We are very excited!  We have room for a few parent volunteers if you’d like to join us for the trip.  The cost of admission is $8 per parent to be paid directly to the museum upon arrival.  If you would like to attend, please let Mrs. O’Neill know as soon as possible.

-Book Orders were sent home on Friday.  We hope you select a few books to enjoy at home with your child.  Don’t forget every book ordered supports our classroom library.

-There will be no school  on Friday, 1/20 for Teacher In-Service.

Today, as a class, we discussed classroom rules.  It seemed that we needed some additional rules to continue on with our successful year.  We tore up the old rules and talked about how we needed to act like a family in our class.  We discussed how we should treat each other (with respect, use kind words and actions) and how we should treat teachers (with respect, pay attention, listen and not talk during instruction.)  After our discussion we asked the children what rules they thought we should have for class.  The following is our list of rules–all kid created.  Some of the rules were old rules and some were new rules. We signed the document and posted it in the room so we have a guideline to follow for the rest of the year!

-Raise your hand  -Listen while others are talking  -Pay attention  -Be kind in your words and actions  -Stay still  -Compliment each other  -Tell the truth  -Use walking  feet  -Follow the directions  -Be a hard worker  -Try your best  -Keep your hands to yourself  -Clean up after yourself  -You are only in charge of you  -Use inside voices

We had so much fun “performing” for our classmates.  Each child had a part in a script and he/she practiced reading individually and then together as a group. We hope you enjoy our pictures.