Newsletter March 18 - April 1

I hope that you all had a nice Easter weekend.  It seems that a storm is blowing in.  That's Utah weather at it's finest!  Thanks to those that sent candy-filled Easter eggs.  We had a great time finding 17 eggs each!  Thanks also to Jayleigh and Jaiger's mom for helping to transport all of the eggs and hiding them at the park for us!  Today begins our fourth quarter of school--we have 9 more weeks and 9 more weeks of great academic growth!

Here are this week's happenings:

• Tonight is the PTA sponsored Talent Show.  The First grade portion starts right at 6:00.  I didn't have anyone from our class sign-up to participate (that I know of), but you are welcome to come and watch and check out the art display.
• On Friday, the PTA is sponsoring a "Pops and Pancakes" event.  Bring a "Pop" (dad, grandpa, uncle etc) and enjoy a free pancake breakfast.  It begins at 7:45am and ends at 8:30am. Students need to have a "pop" to attend and remember that teachers are not at the school until 8:20.  
• Today we began Unit 6 in our Skills reading program.  We discussed three different spellings for the /s/ sound (s, ss, and c).  We also began learning about narrative writing.  We learned that to be a "good" narrative that author must include information about "who, what, when, where and why?"  Spelling words came home today and the test will be Friday, April 1.  Notice that the final consonants on the root words are doubled when the ending is added (i.e. swim=swimming). 
• We are a day behind on our math schedule.  Today we completed Lesson 9.5.  Tomorrow we will start with time.  I will move the test to April 6 with the homework packet due on April 5.
• The March PTA calendar is due this Friday, April 1.  I will send home the Kite for Flight calendars too on Wednesday.
• Since we just completed quarter 3, I will send home a quarter 3 grade printout by this Thursday.  Please watch for that, and let me know if you see any discrepancies.  
• Some students now are on take-home levels that have longer books.  I only want to have your child read for 15 minutes each school night so if rereading their take-home book requires longer than 15 minutes just count it as rereading it 3 times.  Please continue to reread the books 3 times if it fits into that 15 minute time-frame.  It's so valuable for fluency (speed, accuracy, rate) to reread text!!! I just know that kids need "free time " and don't want to overwhelm you or your child with homework, but also want to stress the importance of continuing to practice reading at home. 

Have a great week and Happy Reading!

Newsletter March 21 - 25

It's officially Spring and we're almost "officially" finished with the third quarter of school.  The quarter ends this Friday, March 25.  Please turn in any late or missing assignments by that date.  I sent home grades a couple of weeks ago if you have any issues please contact me so that I can change them before Friday.

Here are this week's happenings:

• If you want to order from the March Scholastic magazines please order online by tomorrow, Tuesday, March 22 or send your check and order form by tomorrow (it's much easier online).
• Today we started Chapter 9 in math.  This unit covers measurement and time to the hour and half -hour.  I sent home the homework packet today with "color tiles" and paper clips.  These will be used for the homework assignments and need to be returned (at least the color tiles for sure) after the packet is complete.  The packet will be due on April 5.
• We are having fun learning about Astronomy.  Today we talked about constellations.  We learned that the ancient Greeks made  up myths to explain what they believed about the stars.  We started to create our own "Big Dipper" and "Little Dipper".  The students drew realistic stars (we know that they are round and either red or blue), and tomorrow we will assemble them into the familiar star groups. 
• This week we will conclude our Skills unit #5 (phonics and reading portion).  We have learned so many things.  We have learned about  adjectives, root words and endings and when to double the final consonant before adding an ending.  We have learned that there are multiple spellings for the /j/ sound ('j', 'g', 'ge').  We learned that 'g' is slightly more common than the 'j' spelling. We planned and wrote an opinion paper and have gone on adventures with "Kate and Max" from our reader, "Kate's Book".   We have two more Skills units to go until the end of the year.  This week we will not have spelling words, but will resume with spelling words next wek when we start into Unit #6. 
• I will be sending home the Kite For Flight reading calendars that I had you sign at SEP conferences.  I guess the Lion's Club is now requiring that the calendar be in the home and delivered to the event by the individual.  I will also send home your child's January and February reading calendars so that you can fill the Lion's Club calendar out.  I will let you know if  the PTA can return the calendars to the event, so hang onto them.
• Last but not least....  I hope that you saw the note about our First Grade Easter Egg hunt.  I will not go into detail here as the note clearly explains the event.  If you haven't seen it, it's on pink paper.  Thanks to those that have already sent 12, plastic, candy-filled eggs.  I need some help that day "hiding" the eggs.  If you can help at about 1:30 on Friday, March 25 please send me an e-mail or note. 
• Rieley has now joined Rebecca!!! They have both read 100 books and they haven't stopped!  We have a couple of students who are very close!  The deadline for this challenge is May 20.  

Have a nice Easter weekend!  "Hoppy" Reading :)

Newsletter March 14 - 18

I hope that you all had a nice week long spring break!  We have two more weeks left of third quarter and 11 more weeks of school.  Please be consistent, and continue to work hard with your child until the end.

Here are this week's happenings:

• I sent home a grade print out today.  Please look it over and let me know if you have any concerns.
• The March Scholastic book order will be due next Tuesday, March 22.
• We will review Math Chapter 8 concepts starting tomorrow and test this Thursday, March 17 and finish testing on Friday, March 18.  The homework packet for Chapter 8 is due this Wednesday, March 16.
• On March 28, East Elementary will be having a Talent/Arts Night.  I sent home an information sheet the week before our break.  If your child wants to participate then the form needs to be returned by March 23. 
• New spelling words were sent home today.  The test will be this Friday, March 18. There are several words with double consonant spellings so a bit of extra practice at home would be helpful.
• I sent home a 100-book challenge book recording sheet today (sent one home with everyone) to remind you of that challenge!! Like I mentioned at the beginning of this newsletter, we still have 11 weeks left of school (10 to complete the challenge).  You are behind (since I sent home the the challenge in January) , but it is still a manageable goal.  Rebecca is the first member of our class to read 100 books!!!!  Nick isn't far behind.  
• Thanks to those that have sent clorox wipes and pencil-top eraser!   I so appreciate your willingness to donate supplies. 
• Today we started our new unit in Reading--we will be learning about Astronomy.  Today we learned about the earth's atmosphere as well as outer space.  We also learned about astronomers and what they study (astronomy).  I think this will be an exciting topic of study as my students had comment after comment about outer space. 

Happy Reading!