Newsletter April 9 - April 13

Welcome back after a nice long spring break.  It was nice to get first grade hugs and notes saying, "I mist (1st grade spelling) you Mrs. Armstrong". Our Easter Egg hunt before we left for break was a huge success.  Thanks for all of the egg donations and those that helped to "hide" the eggs.  Thanks also for the sweet notes and gifts during Teacher Appreciation week.   I know Spring break is a teaser for summer, but hold on tight as we still have several productive weeks of school left.

Here are this week's happenings:

• Our spelling test will be tomorrow, Tuesday April 10.  The list is on this blog if you have lost it.  If you are using your phone, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click "view web version" and then you can see the list of words and other calendar items on the right hand sidebar.  A new list of words will come home on Wednesday, with the test being the following Tuesday, April 17.
• Many of you helped your child to remember to turn in their March reading calendar.  Those are now due and I will give until Thursday, April 12 for a certificate and a little treat attached to it.  I'm pleased too as several students brought 100-book challenge lists back after the break.  I have several kids VERY close to the 100-book mark. Keep up the good work!
• On Tuesday, April 24 our class will be walking to SUU for Bard's Birthday Bash.  This is fun celebration in honor of William Shakespeare.  The students get to act out a scene, eat birthday cake, and in the past we have had jousting contests, tug-o-wars, and danced using a maypole. We will leave the school right after lunch and return by 3:00.  I would love to have volunteers walk over with us and enjoy the festivities.  Let me know if you would like to go with us.
• In math we are working on measuring with non-standard measurements.  Today we used cubes and tomorrow we will measure objects with paper clips.  This unit also explores telling time to the hour and half hour. 
• In reading we are still learning alternative spellings for sounds (ex. 'kn' spells /n/ and 'wr' spells /r/).  We are reading about Grace and her family as they have many adventures on their farm. We are finishing up our unit on Animal Habitats.  Today we learned about the Freshwater Habitat and on Wednesday we will move to the Saltwater habitat.  We will eventually write a descriptive paragraph on one of the habitats we have studied (students will choose their favorite). 
• Don't forget to practice sight words with your child and send the lists back by Friday for Sight Word Soldiers.

Easter Egg Hunt

Happy Reading!