Develop Disciples of Christ...
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Messages from Mrs. Phillips
November 30-December 4, 2009
Weekly Specials: Mon. - Music Tues. - Gym & Computer
Wed. - Mass,Art & Library Thurs. - Music & Computer Fri. - Gym & Spanish
Home Assignments... see assignments for this week under Home Assignments
Complete assignments & read with your child for 10 minutes each night.
Religion...Noah's Ark & Thanksgiving
•We will be studying and completing numerous activities with the bible story,
Noah's Ark this week.
•The children did an excellent job reciting the Lord's Prayer.
•Advent begins Sunday, November 29th.
Spelling... Study 10 Long i Words (CVCe) - Test Tuesday, November 24th
Ask your child about our "Letter Aerobics" we do in class. We are working on
recognizing if the letter is "tall", "short" or "long" on our handwriting
paper. This is a FUN activity and it helps the children remember where a
letter begins & ends when we are writing words. This is especially important
since they will be writing their Spelling words for their test.
Word Wall Words... Test Tuesday, November 24th
Please review the WWW to see if your child can recognize and locate these
words when reading stories at home. These are important words that are needed
frequently when reading. Your child should over-learn to read these words
by "sight". Write each week’s new Word Wall Words on note cards and use
these as a quick review to study each evening at home.
Visit Mrs. Phillips’ Webpagewww.teacherweb.com/OH/NorwalkStPaul/phillips/
I try to update my teacher webpage every Friday if you are interested in
looking ahead to see what the next week’s assignments, Word Wall Words,
Spelling words, important notes and upcoming events are. We enjoy visiting
the Spelling City website on our smart board and playing games with our
weekly Spelling words. It is an excellent site with games to help your child
learn their Spelling words. I have showed the children how to go to my
webpage and click "educational sites" and Spelling City is listed there, with
the new week’s list words ready to practice.
Math – We will learn Counting by 2's, Telling time to the Hour, and
Subtraction facts: Subtracting 0 & Subtracting a Number from Itself this
week. We will continue to review Subtracting 1 facts, counting dimes, Adding
0 & Adding 1 facts, Doubles with Sums to 18 facts (Ask your child the Doubles
Rap), counting on to find a sum, write number sentences for “Some, Some More”
stories & "Some, Some Went Away" stories, and get our next set of
flashcards. When flashcards are assigned, your child should write the answer
and their initials on the back of each card. They should practice these
facts and return flashcards back to school the next day.
First Grade Behavior
If your child seems overly excited about receiving a brightly colored note,
it’s because it’s extra special. These notes are given to individuals and/or
the entire class when they've made good choices and had a great day! The
children are all beginning to show me that they know how First graders
behave. I am seeing "First grade hands", "Eyes on the Speaker" and when
instructions are being given they "Stop, Look and Listen".
Dress Code
Please make sure your child is in dress code before they leave home in the
morning. Some children aren't tucking in their shirts or wearing belts if
they have belt loops.
(AR) Accelerated Reader Helpers Needed
The children will take (AR) tests in the morning from 8:30-9:00. If your
child has read an (AR) book, please fill out the AR paper that was sent home
and return it back to school. I now have parent volunteers for Monday (Mrs.
Ceccoli), Tuesday - (Mrs. Adelman), Wednesday (Mrs. Moffit), Thursday (Mrs.
Bleile) & Friday - (Ms. Winslow) to assist the children by locating the book
they are taking a test on and helping read the questions. Please let me know
what day you would be available to help out if something comes up and the AR
volunteer isn't available on their assigned day (Mrs. Patti Bleile is
available). Thank you for volunteering your time each week!
Veterans Day
I hope your first grader has shared with you our wonderful visit with the
veterans on Veterans Day. We have been learning about Veteran's Day in
Social Studies and I was going to have a veteran come into the classroom to
speak to the children. Mr. Schlotterer volunteered his two uncles, whom are
both veterans and St. Paul graduates to come in on Veterans Day. They
brought in their friend who is a veteran of WWII. The veterans brought in
their medals and uniforms to show the children. Each first grader received
coloring pages, an American flag and a pencil from their visit.
We viewed some pictures from our Veterans visit on the Norwalk Reflector
website. These photos may not be available to view anymore; but if you would
like to check visit www.norwalkreflector.com In Social Studies class we are
working on writing thank you notes to these kind veterans. We're so thankful
they took time out of their special day to share their experiences with us!
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Thank you for attending conferences. I enjoyed discussing your first graders
progress with you!
Writing Sentences
The children have been learning that each sentence begins with a capital,
ends with a punctuation mark, and tells a complete idea. We continue to work
on knowing the difference between an asking (?) and telling (.) sentence.
*You can orally give your child a sentence and have them tell you if it ends
with a (?) or (.) For example – That is a red light. Who picked up the toy
room? We are having pizza for supper.
*Ask your child does that end with a (?) or (.)
Word Wall Words (WWW)
*Make two flashcards of each Word Wall Word (WWW) and play a fun game of
memory with your child. This activity can be done with the 5 new weekly WWW,
all of the WWW, and/or WWW they keep having difficulty remembering.
Directions: Lay the WWW flashcards face down so the words can’t be seen.
Have your child pick up two WWW cards. They need to tell you each word,
whether they are a match or not. Children tend to see they aren’t a match,
quickly lay the cards back down and are ready to pick up two new cards. The
idea is to recognize & read each WWW and have fun doing it!
*Lay out 3 WWW flashcards for your child to choose from. Orally give them a
fill in the blank sentence or write this sentence down. They need to choose
the WWW flashcard that makes sense in the blank. We use the skill of trying
each word in the sentence until we find one that makes sense.
Replenish Supplies
It is now time to send in new pencils & a notebook (writing journal). I will
replenish the children’s crayons with the ones the school provided.
Thanksgiving Feast – Monday, November 23rd
A letter came home on Friday inviting the children to a Thanksgiving Feast
prepared by Mrs. Phillips. Students are asked to bring in a can of fruit
that will be combined in a bowl for our fruit salad and a drink (a juice
box/water) for them self by this Friday.
Upcoming Dates...
*December 7-18 - Fill the "Flyer" Van with can goods at Convocation Center lot
*Tuesday, December 8 - Immaculate Conception Mass @ 10am
*Thursday, December 10 - Christmas Movie @ Gathering Space 6:30-8:30
*Friday, December 11 - Jeans Day - pay 50 cents for Piggyback Foundation
*Tuesday, December 15 - Shopping at Secret Santa
*Friday, December 18th - Wear Jeans & Christmas Shirt!
*Monday, December 21st - 1st & 2nd grade Christmas Program
Have a Fantastic Week!!!
My Wishes to You & Your Family for a Happy Thanksgiving!
GO FLYERS!!!
Mrs. Phillips
www.teacherweb.com/OH/NorwalkStPaul/phillips/
aphillips@ncsmail.org