Newsletter Updates for the Week of February 24th

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Friday, Feb 28th—Visit from Smokey the Bear

-Monday, March 3rd—Reading Month Kick-Off; I Max Movie—The Lorax (10:20-11:00 Preview); 6:30—Families Welcome for Full Feature

-Friday, March 7th—Hat Day, Whispering Pines Mobile Zoo, + Popcorn

-Wednesday, March 12—Wacky Wednesday (wear a variety of colors & patterns)

-Friday, March 14th—Popcorn

-Monday, March 17th—Delayed Start & Irish Dance

-Friday, March 21st—My Many Colored Day (wear all of one color) + Popcorn

-Monday, March 24th—Crazy Socks Day

-Friday, March 28th—Jammie Day + Popcorn

STUDENT OF THE WEEK: 

Our student of the week is Lauren Hill.  Lauren enjoys swimming and being silly with her friends.  Lauren’s favorite place to go is to the Silver Lake Sand Dunes.  Lauren enjoys Science & Discovery; which will serve her well in her future career as an Archeologist.  Congratulations to Lauren on being our Student of the Week!

READING MONTH:  

March is Reading Month and our Theme this year is Dr. Seuss.  Attached to your newsletter, you will find a calendar of special events & dress-up days. :) We also are planning a special snack each week that corresponds with our dress up day.  Below is a list of items we need for these special snack days.  Please let me know ASAP if you would be willing to provide one of these items:

*One 14 oz bag of Skittles (3 bags needed)

*One bag of Animal Crackers (2 bags needed)

*One box of Fruit by the Foot (4 boxes needed)

*One box of Goldfish Crackers (2 boxes needed)

The Reading Month Committee is asking for these items to be sent in by this Thursday, February 27th.

 READING:  

Our focus text for this week is Honk, Honk, A Story of Migration and we will be using our Comprehension Strategy—Digger the Dog—to work on identifying Main Idea & Details. Our focus letter for this week is Gg and our new sight words are said & and.  We will introduce a new Beanie Baby for Fluency—Dot the Giraffe; Dot reminds us to look at the punctuation as we read and to always read with expression.  The students are very excited to begin bringing home their own ‘good-fit’ books to share with you.  I plan to send home reading folders 2-3 times each week, so that you can celebrate your child’s reading progress. :)

WRITING: 

Last week we wrapped up our unit on Pattern Books and this week they will be bringing one of their published books home to share with you.  This week we will finish an informational writing about our 16th President—Abraham Lincoln and complete a journal page: If I were president . . .   We will also create a class book using the mentor text: The Tree House and begin looking at the qualities of Small Moment stories, as we get ready to dive into our next writing unit on Small Moments.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES: 

This week we will begin our Dental Health Unit.  We will read several narrative and informational texts related to Dental Health and learn about the importance of good Dental Hygiene through several hands-on activities.  We will also be learning about several important Patriotic Symbols this week—The American Flag, The Pledge of Allegiance, & The Star Spangled Banner.  We will also learn what it means to show our Patriotism.

MATH:  

This week we will work on addition to 5 using a variety of manipulatives and strategies.  We will also work on graphing, probability, and measuring using our ‘feet.’

Newsletter Updates for the Week of February 10th

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Thursday, Feb. 13th—Valentine’s Party; (Jump Rope for Heart—1st-4th Grades); Parent Teacher Conferences 4:00-7:00

-Friday, Feb.14th—No School/PD for Teachers

-Mon., Feb. 17th—No School/Presidents Day

-Wed., Feb. 19th—The 100th Day of School!

-Thurs., Feb 20th—Dental Health Presentation

-Friday, Feb 28th—Visit from Smokey the Bear

VALENTINE’S DAY PARTY:  

24 Bowls—Lily

24 Napkins—Cyle

24 Spoons—Lily

1 Carton of Vanilla Ice Cream—Akira

1 Carton of Vanilla Ice Cream—Akira

Chocolate Syrup—Grayson

Carmel Syrup—Akira

Strawberry Syrup/Topping—Miley

Sprinkles—Madelyn

1 Can of Redi-Whip—Wesley

1 Can of Redi Whip—Miley

Parent Volunteers—12:30-3:00

Gail Cook

Brandi Shepardson

Tiara Valle

READING:  

Our focus text for this week is The Wolf’s Chicken Stew and our new sight words are one, two, & three.  I am attaching the next set of sightword flashcards to practice at home:) Our phonics focus this week will be on the    digraphs sh & ch as well as the s blends (sc, sk, sl, sm, sn, sp, st, & sw).   We will use Chunky Monkey to help us look for these chunks in the words we read.  We will also introduce a new Beanie Baby for Accuracy—Skippy the Frog.  He reminds us that if we gut stuck on a word while reading, we can skip the word, read on, then hop back, and re-read the sentence to try to figure it out.  The students are doing a fabulous job of using their accuracy strategies and building their stamina for reading during Read-to-Self time!

WRITING: 

This week we will finish up our pattern books about foods we like to eat, practice editing & revising, conference with a friend, and then celebrate by reading them to the class during ‘Author’s Chair.’ I am very impressed with the students’ writing; their confidence and skills grow every day and it is very exciting to watch!

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES: 

This week we will read several books related to friendship and kindness, in preparation for Valentine’s Day.  We will also learn about the important role that our heart plays and practice listening to our heartbeats.

MATH:  

This week we will practice reading, writing, and building 2 digit numbers using base 10 blocks.  We will also work on determining  probability using attribute blocks.  We will engage in several fun math activities and games related to Valentine’s Day as well!

**Please remember to return your library books on or before Wednesday!

**Please remember to return you January Book-it Calendar as well!

LUNCH MENU CHANGE

Just a heads-up . . . . the kitchen is switching Tuesday's & Wednesday's lunch this week, they will be flip-flopped.  Hope you all get this message in time! :)

Also, I received an email from Mrs. Kelley that February is Heart Month and this Friday is National Wear Red Day!  She would like all of the students and staff to wear red! :)

Newsletter Updates for the Week of February 3rd

DATES TO REMEMBER:

-Thursday, Feb. 13th—Valentine’s Party, (Jump Rope for Heart—1st-4th Grades), Parent Teacher Conferences 4:00-7:00

-Friday, Feb.14th—No School/PD for Teachers

-Mon., Feb. 17th—No School/Presidents Day

VALENTINE’S DAY PARTY:  

24 Bowls—Lily

24 Napkins—Cyle

24 Spoons—Lily

1 Carton of Vanilla Ice Cream—Akira

1 Carton of Vanilla Ice Cream—Madelyn

Chocolate Syrup—Grayson

Caramel Syrup—Akira

Strawberry Syrup/Topping—Miley

Sprinkles—Madelyn

1 Can of Redi-Whip—Wesley

1 Can of Redi Whip—

Parent Volunteers—12:30-3:00

Gail Cook

Brandi Shepardson

Tiara Valle

READING:  

Our focus text for this week is Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes; we will also be reading some other books by this same author.   Our focus letter for this week is Pp and our new sight words are yellow & green.  We will continue to practice both of our new Comprehension Strategies: Repair Bear—monitoring as we read & Digger the Dog—digging for the ‘big idea,’ important details, and the author’s purpose in the texts that we read.  At stations, we will continue to work on reading and writing our sight words, rhyming, retelling, word study, and writing.  Students are becoming more and more independent during stations, which allows me to work with small groups to build literacy skills.  Please continue to practice reading and writing sight words at home.

WRITING: 

Last week we began writing a see-saw pattern book about things we like to do in Michigan in the Wintertime.  This week we will finish up those books by taking some time to conference with a friend, edit & revise, add a title, and add a ‘WOW’ cover.  We will be editing our January Journals to bring home to share and complete a journal page about hibernating animals.  We will finish the week by introducing pattern books with a Question & Answer Structure and begin writing our own books using this type of structure.

MATH:  

This week we will practice writing and building our teen numbers using base 10 blocks. We will continue to work on addition and subtraction stories, as well as identifying 3D/Solid Shapes (cubes, spheres, cylinders, rectangular prisms, & cones).  Students will be introduced to Attribute Blocks this week and practice different rules for sorting.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES: 

We will begin our week by learning about Groundhog’s Day; we will check in with Punxsutawney Phil to see if he did OR did not see his shadow on Sunday and what that means for the upcoming weather forecast.  We will also read several narrative and informational texts related to polar animals this week and learn about how they adapt to their cold environments.