Sunday, March 18, 2012

Newsletter Updates for the Week of March 19th

DATES TO REMEMBER:
-Friday, March 23rd—Flip-Flops/Sandals Day, Ocean Assembly, 1st Visit to the Book Fair, & Library
-Tuesday, March 27th—2nd Visit to the Book Fair & 3rd Grade Bookstore
-Friday, March 30th—Beach Day, Final Assembly
-Friday, March 30th—Report Cards Home

MARCH IS READING MONTH:
Students are earning weekly prizes for their time spent on task during ‘Read to Self’ and ‘Partner Reading’ time. In addition, they will be entered into the final drawing for a chance to earn larger prizes, which we will draw for at the final assembly on the 30th. This Friday we will be having a special presentation by a gentleman who is coming in to talk about Ocean Life. This Friday is also flip-flops/sandals day; students are
encouraged to wear their flip-flops and sandals to school.

BOOK FAIR:
The Book Fair is coming!!! Our class will visit the Book Fair on Friday, March 23rd to ‘shop’ and then again on Tuesday, March 27th for those
students who’d like to purchase materials. The Book Fair is located in the Library and is open to the public. Please drop by and check it out: March 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, & 29 from 11:30-3:00 and extended hours on Thursday March 22 & 29 from 3:00-6:00.

THIRD GRADE BOOK STORE:
Each year the third grade classes set up a book sale for the K-2 grade students as part of their Economics unit. They have used books for sale, ranging from 5¢ - 50¢ each. We will be going to shop next Tuesday, March 27th. If you’d like to send your child with $1 in change, that would be plenty to purchase a couple of books. It is also a great opportunity for us to practice identifying and naming coins.

FUN TO BE FIT:
Mrs. Huttenga & Mrs. Kelley are still collecting T-shirt orders for Fun to Be Fit; if you’d like to purchase a shirt, please send your order form and payment in ASAP. ☺

READING:
This week we will be working on the letter Kk and the sightwords up & to. Our focus book for this week is The Three Little Kittens. We will continue to work on sorting, reading, and writing words with the chunks: og, ot, ock, & og. I am hoping to begin sending Reading Folders, with ‘good-fit’ books, home this week. Students will bring their reading folders home 3-4 times a week, to practice reading ‘good-fit’ books at home. You’ll find an informational letter, reading log, & list of reading strategies inside their reading folders. Please be sure to set aside a time and place to read together, sign and date their reading log, and help them return their book & reading folder to school so that they can take home a new book.

WRITING:
This week we will continue Writer’s Workshop. Several students have completed their first books, read them to the class in the ‘Author’s Chair,’ and have taken their published books home. Several others are ready to move to this step this week. Please be sure to celebrate their authorship with them as they bring their published books home. We will also complete a couple of journals this week. One will be a non-fiction writing where we will write about a favorite ocean animal and include 2 facts about it. The other will focus on ways to be a good friend to others, like the Rainbow Fish was.

MATH:
This week we will introduce the nickel and practice counting by 5’s. We will also practice counting by 1’s, 2’s, 5’s, & 10’s using charts and
number lines. Students will have opportunities to practice adding and estimating again this week.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES:
This week we will continue our Science Unit on Motion & discuss the seasons as we celebrate the new season of Spring!

ASSESSMENTS:
The end of the marking period is fast approaching and that means we will be doing lots of assessments in the classroom. I will have a sub on Thursday afternoon so that I can complete some assessments with the students outside of the classroom. Please remind your child to continue to do his/her best at school. ☺

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