Newsletter volume 27

President’s Day- We continued to learn even more facts about George Washington- “The Father of our Country” and Abraham Lincoln-“The Log Cabin President”. We made Venn diagrams comparing the two presidents and even talked about how they are alike and different from us.

Math- We continued working on addition facts. We worked on adding doubles plus 1 more. If we know that the answer for doubles has to be even, we know that doubles plus 1 will give us an odd answer. We also worked on making a ten. For example, if we had the addition equation 8+3, we know that we need 2 more to add to 8 to give us ten, so we have 10+the left over 1 to give us 11.

Wilson Fundations- We have been working on digraph blends. These are words that have a digraph in the word, with a consonant before or after the digraph. For example: shrug. The digraph /sh/ is underlined together and then the consonant /r/ is underlined by itself. The word shrug would have 4 taps. /Sh/ would be tapped together since it’s a digraph, then /r/ would be tapped by itself, followed by /u/, and then /g/.

Geo-Animals- I am soooooo impressed with how all of the animals turned out! They look AMAZING!!!! Last week, students started to type up the facts they learned and inserted a picture of their animal. On Friday, for the Geo-Animal Zoo, students will be able to share facts that they learned about their animal. Hope to see you there!

Important Information:

-Geo Animal Zoo- You are invited to our Geo-Animal Zoo, next Friday, March 1^st from 12:00 to 1:00 in the Media Center. Hope you can join us!

- Boosterthon- Keep on getting pledges for our laps for the Fun Run. Parents you are welcome to cheer us on and run with us on Thursday, February 28^th from 9:30 to 10:30 for our Fun Run!

- Box Tops- Keep on turning in Box Tops before we track out. Make sure my name is on it, along with the college team of your choice. The “Banks Road Basketball Classic” will end on Friday. The regular Spring BoxTop contest will run through May with the top 3 classes getting a popcorn party.

- Math Masters and Word Lists- We track this Friday, so make sure you are practicing both of these!

- End of 3^rd quarter- Friday is the end of our 3^rd quarter. The 3^rd quarter report card will be coming home. In addition, coming home on Friday will be an optional Track Out Packet. It will have our March Book-It! reading log in addition to other activities.

Homework for the week of February 25th

Math	Complete the two math sheets: “I Know My Doubles” and “Journal Prompt- Make Ten Strategy”
Spelling	Sight Words this Week: any       my      now     time      tree  Your child needs to choose 2 of the 6 activities listed.  In addition, they should also read the sight words to a parent each night. Pick 2 of the choices below: *Write each sight word 3x each. *Use each sight word in a sentence. *Rainbow write your words in 2 colors for each word. *Write your sight words in ABC order. *Write each word neatly. Trace over all the vowels in each word with a blue crayon. *Write a story and use each of your sight words. Underline each word as you use it in the story.
Reading	Read for at least 10 minutes each night.  Write the title on this sheet. Monday _________________________________________ Tuesday__________________________________________ Wednesday _______________________________________ Thursday _________________________________________
Wilson Fundations	Complete the Wilson Fundations sheet.  We have been working on digraph blends. These are words that have a digraph in the word, with a consonant before or after the digraph. For example: shrug. The digraph /sh/ is underlined together and then the consonant /r/ is underlined by itself. *Please make sure this sheet is turned in on Friday with all of the other homework.

Newsletter volume 26

President’s Day- This week we studied about our first and sixteenth presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  We read books about both presidents and even compared our lives to Abraham Lincoln with a Venn diagram. Both men were wonderful leaders and we have some students in the class who want to be president and would be great leaders. We also wrote a story, “If I was president, I would…” There were some great responses to this topic.

Math- We started working on addition facts. We first talked about addition equations where one of the partners is a 0 and how the answer will always be the other partner, since 0 doesn’t change the number. Then we worked on adding one more and two more and last we worked on doubles. We found out that the answer will always be an even number.

Wilson Fundations- We started working on a new unit where we were working on blends. These are two, or three, consonants that are beside each other, but we hear each of their sounds. They each get their own tap and each consonant is marked up individually. For example, if we had the word “kept”, it would get four taps and it would be marked up k e p t.

Valentine’s Day- Thank you to everyone who donated items for our celebration Thursday. We had a great time of reading some wonderful books and sharing with our friends how much their friendship means to us.

Important Information:

- February Scholastic Book order- Orders are due Thursday, February 21^st. Remember you can order online as well!

-Geo Animal Zoo- You are invited to our Geo-Animal Zoo, next Friday, March 1^st from 12:00 to 1:00 in the Media Center. Hope you can join us!

- Boosterthon- We will be having our Pep Rally to get more information about Boosterthon, this Tuesday from 2:00 to 2:30. Parents, you can join us if you would like. Then we will do the actual Boosterthon Fun Run for Thursday, February 28^th from 9:30 to 10:30.

- Box Tops- Keep on turning in Box Tops before we track out. Make sure my name is on it, along with the college team of your choice.

- Math Masters and Word Lists- We track out next Friday, so make sure you are practicing both of these!

Homework for the week of February 18th

Math and Geo-Animal Project	Complete Math Expressions page: 7-4 (Homework- front and Remembering - back) Finish up your Geo-Animal Project. They are due this Friday!
Spelling	Sight Words this Week: say      do      first    saw     them  Your child needs to choose 2 of the 6 activities listed.  In addition, they should also read the sight words to a parent each night. Pick 2 of the choices below: *Write each sight word 3x each. *Use each sight word in a sentence. *Rainbow write your words in 2 colors for each word. *Write your sight words in ABC order. *Write each word neatly. Trace over all the vowels in each word with a blue crayon. *Write a story and use each of your sight words. Underline each word as you use it in the story.
Reading	Read your “Book in a Bag” to Mom or Dad. Parents complete the Parent Participation Sheet. Your child should continue to read their “Book in a Bag” several times throughout the week. *Use the Fiction/Non-Fiction Retelling Star.  We have been using this in the classroom to help with our retelling.  When your child is retelling the story, have them use this star to assist them.
Wilson Fundations	Complete the Wilson Fundations sheet.  We have been working on consonant blends. These are two (or three) consonants, but hear and tap out their own sound. We mark this up by underlining each sound. *Please make sure this sheet is turned in on Friday with all of the other homework.

Newsletter volume 25

Math-Last week we wrapped up our unit on 2-D and 3-D shapes. We reviewed the shapes and their attributes, compared how they are alike and different.

Daily 5- Last week we focused on skipping the word, reading the rest of the sentence, and using the context of the sentence to figure out the word. This is part of “Accuracy” for our CAFÉ board. This also goes along with the strategy “Skippy Kangaroo”.

Writing- Last week we started during an Author Study on the children’s author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats. Have your child tell you some of the details we learned about this Caldecott Award winning author.

Wilson Fundations- We finished up our unit with the glued sounds: /ank/, /ink/, /onk/, /unk/, /ang/, /ing/, /ong/, and /ung/. Last week we were working on tapping out words that had one of these glued sounds and then add the suffix /s/. So if we had the word “think”, they would tap out the digraph /th/ with their thumb and index finger and then the glued sound /ink/ would be tapped out with the middle, ring, and pinky finger coming together with the thumb. Blend it once, and then the second time add the suffix s. Remember- we never tap out the suffix /s/.

Important Information:

- February Scholastic Book order- This Tuesday February Scholastic is coming home. If you are interested, orders are due by next Thursday, February 21^st. Remember you can order online as well!

- Things due this week- Valentine’s for each student and Valentine’s bags or boxes can start coming in. Parents- a special project came home for you. Please let me know if you need any materials, cards, etc. or have questions.

- Box Top celebration- Friday we got to have our celebration for bringing in more than 1,000 Box Tops the first part of the school year. We ended up in 4^th place, behind three track 4 teachers. So far for the March Madness contest, our class is in 1^st place, along with N.C. State in the lead. Keep on clipping the Box Tops and turning them in!

-Geo Animals- Keep working on your Geo-Animals. If you need some materials or assistance, please let me know as soon as possible.

- Boosterthon- The PTA has joined forces with the Boosterthon Program in organizing and supporting our main school fundraiser this February.  We will use the funds raised from the Fun Run to purchase large outdoor umbrellas and technology, such as Smart Boards and Apple products for our student use.  Follow this link to learn more about the Boosterthon program:  http://www.boosterthoncoach.com/. 

Homework for the week of February 11th

Math and Geo-Animal Project	Complete the math sheets. On the front are 3-D shapes, where they circle the shapes that roll, slide, or stack. On the back is a review of time. Continue working on the Geo-Animal Project. Try to make it look as real life as possible. If you need any materials, please let me know. The project is due Friday, February 22nd.
Spelling	Sight Words this Week: some      could     want     made     red     Your child needs to choose 2 of the 6 activities listed.  In addition, they should also read the sight words to a parent each night. Pick 2 of the choices below: *Write each sight word 3x each. *Use each sight word in a sentence. *Rainbow write your words in 2 colors for each word. *Write your sight words in ABC order. *Write each word neatly. Trace over all the vowels in each word with a blue crayon. *Write a story and use each of your sight words. Underline each word as you use it in the story.
Reading	Read your “Book in a Bag” to Mom or Dad. Parents complete the Parent Participation Sheet. Your child should continue to read their “Book in a Bag” several times throughout the week. *Use the Fiction/Non-Fiction Retelling Star.  We have been using this in the classroom to help with our retelling.  When your child is retelling the story, have them use this star to assist them.
Wilson Fundations	Complete the Wilson Fundations sheet.  We have been working with the glued sounds /ang/, /ing/, /ong/, /ung/, /ank/, /ink/, /onk/, /unk/ and then adding the suffix /s/. These glued sounds are marked with a box around it. *Please make sure this sheet is turned in on Friday with all of the other homework.

Newsletter volume 24

Math-Last week we started working on our solid, 3-D shapes. We are working with the shapes: spheres, cube, rectangular prism, cone, and cylinder. We worked on describing each shapes with its attributes, talking about the edges, vertices, faces it has, and if it can roll, slide, or stack.

Daily 5- Last week we focused using the picture to help decode words. This is part of “Accuracy” for our CAFÉ board.

Wilson Fundations- We continued working on our new glued sounds. Our new sounds are /ank/, /ink/, /unk/, and /onk/. Have your child tell you the letter, keyword, sound for each of these four new sounds. Since these are glued sounds, they cannot be tapped out separately. Instead they are tapped with 3 fingers together. So for the word “pink” it would be /p/ to the index finger and then /ink/ would be tapped with the middle, ring, and pinky fingers together.

Science- We have started on our Pebbles, Sand, and Silt science kit. So far the students have had a chance to observe and describe the rocks and talk about the characteristics they have.

Groundhog Day-Well, we had a great day and learned a lot about the furry weatherman!  We found out that Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow which means spring is on its way. But our local groundhog, Sir Walter Wally, did see his shadow and is predicting 6 more weeks of winter.  So I guess only time will tell, to see which groundhog was correct As a class, the majority of us were hoping that he did not see his shadow and were hoping for an early spring.  Ask your child which groundhog we were hoping was correct.  It may surprise you.

Important Information:

-Geo Animals- Keep working on your Geo-Animals. I can’t wait to see what they look like. Try to make them look as real life and take your time. If you need some materials or assistance, please let me know as soon as possible. To see some of the pictures of Geo-Animals from my class last year go to my blog at:  http://missbethelsfirstgradeclassroom.blogspot.com/.

- Boosterthon- The PTA has joined forces with the Boosterthon Program in organizing and supporting our main school fundraiser this February.  We will use the funds raised from the Fun Run to purchase large outdoor umbrellas and technology, such as Smart Boards and Apple products for our student use.  Follow this link to learn more about the Boosterthon program:  http://www.boosterthoncoach.com/. 

- Book Fair- The Book Fair is under way and we have had a chance to visit it to make a wish list. If your child would like to purchase a book, they have time to go in the morning before the bell rings or they will have a chance to go on Thursday. There will be no book circulation until the Book Fair is over on February 14^th.

- Purple on the clip charts- We now have a new color on our clip chart. For students that are doing an “Outstanding job” can move their clip to purple, which is now the best color! The colors are as followed: Purple-Outstanding Job!, Green-Way to go!, Yellow-Oops! Extreme Caution, Blue- consequences 1 and 2, Orange-Call Parent, and Red-Loss of all privileges. All students start the day off on green and a thinking plan will be filled out by the student if they get to Consequences 1 or 2.

Homework for the week of Februar 4th

Math and Geo-Animal Project	Complete attached Math Expressions page: 6-15 (Homework- front and Targeted Practice- back) Continue working on the Geo-Animal Project. Try to make it look as real life as possible. If you need any materials, please let me know. The project is due Friday, February 22nd.
Spelling	Sight Words this Week: only    new    other   house    long  Your child needs to choose 2 of the 6 activities listed.  In addition, they should also read the sight words to a parent each night. Pick 2 of the choices below: *Write each sight word 3x each. *Use each sight word in a sentence. *Rainbow write your words in 2 colors for each word. *Write your sight words in ABC order. *Write each word neatly. Trace over all the vowels in each word with a blue crayon. *Write a story and use each of your sight words. Underline each word as you use it in the story.
Reading	Read your “Book in a Bag” to Mom or Dad. Parents complete the Parent Participation Sheet. Your child should continue to read their “Book in a Bag” several times throughout the week. *Use the Fiction/Non-Fiction Retelling Star.  We have been using this in the classroom to help with our retelling.  When your child is retelling the story, have them use this star to assist them.
Wilson Fundations	Complete the Wilson Fundations sheet.  We have been working with the glued sounds /ank/, /ink/, /onk/, and /unk/. These glued sounds are marked with a box around it. *Please make sure this sheet is turned in on Friday with all of the other homework.