Dear Parents,
The students finished up MAPS testing last week! Great job everyone:) We
had a total of 4 sessions and the students did a great job of taking their
time and following the directions! You should receive more information
regarding your child's scores closer to conference time!
______________________________________________________________________________
Fire Prevention Day was today! We spent some time with the West Grove Fire
Company and even got to check out their trucks! Cool! Please discuss fire
prevention practices in your home! Designate a family meeting place to
insure all members of your family know where to go in the event of a fire!!!
Activity books will were sent home for you to read through/complete
with your child. These do not need to be sent back to school!
______________________________________________________________________________
We read a realistic-fiction story, Todd's Box, about a boy who is
very curious and observant about the world around him. Know anyone like
that??? :)
Although the boy and his mother are in a hurry to get to their destination,
the boy is able to teach his mother about taking time to stop and "smell the
roses." He saves things from their "run" through the park and hides them in
a box, which he later shares with his Mom.
In all of our rushing to get to sports, do homework, make dinner, AND trying
to find time for ourselves, we lose time with our families. Slow down this
week and spend some quality time with your little ones, as they grow way too
fast! They are very observant and although they question everything, they
will never question spending time with you:) Enjoy reading this story
together!
**On Friday we will have our own box sharing day! Please allow your child to
bring in a small box with 2-3 items they cherish from home. We will share
our items with our classmates and discuss why they are so important to us!**
**Copies of our stories will be sent home on Tuesdays, as that is the day we
introduce and read the stories with the students!**
Our word family this week is the "-ot" family. See if your child can add
various letters to -in to create new words!
Previous Word Families include: -at, -am, -an, -ack, and -ick
______________________________________________________________________________
In Math we have been really focusing on our number sense. In conjunction
with teaching Fact Families, I have also encouraged the students to learn how
to make numbers in various ways. At this time, we are working on doing this
with addition only, but I do expose them to subtraction as well. Playing
little games like Peas and Carrots allows the students to see various number
sentences used to make one number. For example: If I have the number
8, I could do 1 pea and 7 carrots OR 1 carrot and 7 peas! The students have
used various manipulatives to show the many combinations of a number (when
adding there is one more combination than the number itself...9 ways to make
the number 8.) We use the word "FLIP" when creating Math sentences with
Number Combinations and Fact Families...the flip of 1 + 0 is 0 + 1! I like
to tell the students that, with the FLIP, you actually have 2 number
sentences when you thought you only had 1! Give your child an addition
sentence and see if he/she can give you the FLIP!
The students have also enjoyed learning about Pictographs and Bar Graphs!
They love to conduct class surveys to find out more information about their
classmates. You may not know this about the kids in our room but...we have
LOTS of students who like Lobster, Mushrooms, and Peanut Butter and
Jelly...obviously not all at once:) Many of them prefer gum over candy,
yellow apples, and there was a nice even split for chocolate vs. vanilla
items! This class has had completely different results from my previous
classes...and all in a great way! I wish my girls would eat this well:)
I will continue to review graphs with the students and will later expect them
to be able to analyze data from a class survey and create their own Picto and
Bar Graphs independently, using graph paper!
______________________________________________________________________________
Please remember to send your child to school with a small, healthy snack each
day! They do not eat until 11:45 and are rather hungry by 10:00!
______________________________________________________________________________
I am looking for more parent volunteers to help read and review with the kids
each day! Morning hours include 9:20 - 10:30ish daily. If you have your
clearances, please let me know what days you are available and I will add you
to our calendar! Thanks so much!
______________________________________________________________________________
We continue to review the rules of the classroom and school, however I think
the calendars that come home each night give away the fact that I have a
great group of students! They are constantly earning color sticks and leaves
for their wonderful behavior! Please give your child a big hug each and
every time he/she comes home with a green colored calendar box! Reinforcing
what we do at school will help your child see that you and I are always
working together;)
Thank you for sharing your children with me each day! We are having a blast:)
Have a wonderful week!
Mrs. Russell
