Weekly Newsletter Volume 10

Welcome back! I trust everyone had a wonderful track out and is ready to get back into the swing of things. I really enjoyed meeting with everyone for conferences. It really is amazing how involved all of you are in your child’s lives. They are lucky to have such wonderful parents. Thank you for all of the support you give them and me! * We will meet again in the 3rd quarter or beginning of 4th quarter, but please let me know if you ever have questions, concerns, and/or comments and we can most certainly meet when needed! For the 2nd quarter, our specials will be as followed: Monday is Art, Tuesday is PE, Wednesday is Music, Thursday is Technology, and Friday is Art for the first 3 weeks of track in. Starting the week of October 21st- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday will stay the same and then Fridays we will go to Media.*Students will have a chance to get new library books in the morning before the bell rings on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Important Information: - Scholastic book order- October Scholastic book orders will be coming home this Thursday. This of course is completely optional, but it is a great opportunity to order some books for your child. If you are interested, check and order form will be due to me by Friday, October 18th. If you would like to order online, our class activation code is: G229M. You can access that at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs. - Book-It!- Starting Tuesday, October 1st we will begin doing Book-It! This is an optional reading program that runs from October 1st to March 31st. There will be more information coming home about this on Tuesday. - Fall Festival- Thank you to everyone who came out, volunteered, and donated items to our awesome Fall Festival. I am so happy to announce that my four legged child, Bootsie, is the new owner of the fabulous cat basket that our class and Mrs. Rodger’s class did! - Spirit Week- Spirit week will be October 16th through the 23rd. The days will be as followed: o 16th- Favorite Sports Team Day o 17th- Crazy Sock Day o 18th- School Spirit Day o 21st- Favorite Book Character Day o 22nd- Career Day o 23rd- Pajama Day

Homework for the week of September 30th- October 4th

Reading: (DAILY) • A new “Book in a Bag” will be coming home this week. This is a book that is on their level. Your child should continue to read their “Book in a Bag” several times throughout the week, but they can continue to read other books throughout the week. Once your child has completed their time, initial below to show that they have read each night. Monday: 10 minutes Tuesday: 10 minutes Wednesday: 10 minutes Thursday: 10 minutes • Writing- Write at least a 5 sentence story about your favorite thing you did over Track Out. Make sure to have capitals at beginning of sentences and for proper nouns, periods at end of sentences, and tap out the sounds for the words. Make sure to have your child reread over their story when they are done, to make sure they did not leave out any words and that it makes sense. Math: (due Friday) • Workbook page 3.7 (Homework- front and Targeted Practice- back) • Workbook page 3.10 (Homework- front and Remembering- back)

Report Card Information

Dear Parents, This letter is to inform you that first-quarter report cards will be delayed for all year-round elementary school students. Students in tracks 1, 2 and 3 will receive report cards on October 11. Track 4 students will receive report cards on October 25. Report cards are delayed because of required software modifications to our new student information system, Home Base. The new system uses software called PowerSchool to track attendance, grades and assignments. The new software requires a change to accommodate the report card format. This issue affects elementary report cards only. We are currently working with the vendor to resolve the issue, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Teachers remain committed to keeping you informed regarding your child’s progress. If at any time you have questions regarding your child’s progress, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher.

Weekly Newsletter volume 9

In math, we took our test working with story problems and finding the unknown partners. We also started working with “Math Mountains” using subtraction word problems. Since we know the total, that goes at the top, then we know how many were eaten, taken away, lost, etc. so that goes at the bottom. So we get that number in our head and count up to the total. So, if we have the word problem: “I had 7 pennies and spent 3 pennies on a pencil. How many pennies do I have left?” We would get 3 in our head and count up to 7. So it would be 3 in our head- and now count on with our fingers 4, 5, 6, 7. So the answer would be 4 pennies left. In Daily 5, we focused on a Comprehension “C” strategy of asking questions before we read, during reading, and after reading. We also worked on an Accuracy “A” strategy of cross checking. That is where we ask ourselves “Does it look right? Does it sound right? And does it make sense?” If the answer is no to any of these, we need to try a different strategy to decode the word. In Letterland, we learned the letters “u and the other sound for s, which makes the /z/ sound when it is added as a suffix s.” We worked with the word families –un, -ug, and -ut. Our tricky words for the week that have been added to our word wall are “helps and two”. This week in writing, we worked on editing our stories. We know when we are done writing our story, we need to read it over and correct any mistakes. We have a checklist that we keep in our folder and refer to when we are done. Our Small Moments Checklist is looking for capitals at the beginning of sentences and when “I” is by itself, correct spacing between words, correct punctuation at the end of sentences, word wall words spelled correctly, and unknown words stretched out and their sounds recorded. A good first grade story should have all of these items correct in their story. Important information: Spirit Day- Make sure to wear your Banks Road t-shirt or school colors (green and blue) every Friday! - Conferences- I will be holding conferences next Monday, September 9th and then on Wednesday, September 11th. I have sent conference confirmations to everyone. If something comes up and you are unable to keep your conference time, please email me at cbethel@wcpss.net or call the school at 890-7333 as soon as possible and we can reschedule. Please make sure to be on time, since conferences are schedule back to back. Thanks and I look forward to meeting with you! - Track Out Packet- Not sure what to work on during Track Out? I will be sending home a Track Out packet for students to work on during Track Out. This is completely optional, but will keep skills fresh during our time out. - Spirit Week- Starting this Friday will be Banks Road spirit week. The days will be as followed- Friday: wear your school colors or Banks Road t-shirt, Monday: Hat day, Tuesday: Dress to Impress day, and then we will be tracked out for the rest. We will also be collecting money for our Coin Drive. You can bring any loose change that you have. Thanks! - Book Buddies- We have started Book Buddies with Mrs. Torrey’s 4th graders. Ask your child who their buddy is and what they have read together!

Homework for the week of September 3rd to 10th

(Homework is Due- Tuesday, September 10th!!!) Reading: (DAILY) • A new “Book in a Bag” will be coming home this week. This is a book that is on their level. Your child should continue to read their “Book in a Bag” several times throughout the week, but they can continue to read other books throughout the week. Once your child has completed their time, initial below to show that they have read each night. Tuesday: 10 minutes Wednesday: 10 minutes Thursday: 10 minutes Monday: 10 minutes Letterland: (Daily Activities) Practice the Tricky Words, List A, and New Sentences for Unit 7 See Step by Step Worksheet for more detailed directions! • Tuesday – Read circled words and sentences (Make sure to practice the review words from previous weeks) • Wednesday– Look Say and cover Activity • Thursday – Write 5 sentences • Monday – Practice Spelling Test Math: (due Tuesday, September 10th) • Workbook page 3.4 (Homework- front and Remembering- back) • Workbook page 3.6 (Homework- front and Remembering- back)