Reading Buddies with Mrs. Ziegler's 5th grade class

Week: February 6th

Dear Parents,

As a reminder, our February break is the week of the 20^th through the 24^th.

In the week leading up to break we have several fun events planned. On Tuesday, February 14^th 1C will have a Valentine’s party at the end of the day. We will also be celebrating Mardi Gras at the end of the week with a special dessert from New Orleans, along with Mardi Gras beads. We will be discussing President’s day as well through reading and writing.

Finally, on Friday, February 17^th the first grade will be going on a field trip to VINS nature Center. We will leave at 9:30 am and return by 1pm. If you would like to join our class, please let me know.

Reading: Students are learning strategies around monitoring for comprehension (catching ourselves when we are confused).

For read-aloud, we completed Magic Treehouse #40, Eve of the Emperor Penguin, and we are excited to begin our first Laura Ingalls Wilder book, Little House in the Big Woods.

Writing: Students are putting the final touches on their penguin reports! On Tuesday, we had a school-wide “Everybody Writes Day.” Students wrote for 7 minutes on a topic of their choosing (as did teachers and parent-helpers). 

Spelling: Words with –og

Math: Students have been learning about place value (tens and ones), number relations (greater than, less than, equal to), and subtraction through number stories

*Science: As a culmination of our penguin unit, the students are hoping to watch Happy Feet. However, it is rated PG. I know many of the students have already seen it, but if you object in any way to your child viewing this film, please let me know by Monday. Thank you!  

Have a wonderful weekend!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Craft

 

Alpacas and Nigerian Dwarf Goats: 1/31/12

Week: January 30th

Dear Parents,

With the month of February approaching, we have a few things to celebrate. First of all, we are coming up on 100 days of school next Thursday, February 9th. In honor of this, we will be having a party at snack time. My hope is that some students will bring in 100 small snacks to share with the class (such as 100 pieces of cereal, 100 raisins, 100 mini pretzels, etc.). If this is something you are able to help your child with that would be wonderful! 

We will also be celebrating Valentine’s Day on February 14^th. I am attaching a class list to the newsletter if you choose to do class Valentine’s cards. Thank you!

Note: We went on an awesome field trip on Tuesday to visit alpacas and Nigerian Dwarf goats. Ask your child about it! Check out the pictures on the blog!

Reading: Students have been practicing their reading skills: envisioning, predicting, making connections, and monitoring for understanding. We started reading groups this week, and we are continuing with reading partnerships. Both arrangements strengthen students’ fluency and comprehension, and most importantly, enjoyment of reading.

We are reading Magic Treehouse #40, Eve of the Emperor Penguin, as our class read aloud.

Writing: Students have been working on nonfiction reports about penguins. Their work will be displayed on our bulletin board next week.

Spelling: Words with –op and -ot

Math: Students are beginning to learn about place value: tens and ones

If you have the chance, please review time to the hour, half-hour, and quarter-hour at home.

Science: We have been continuing to learn about penguins, the south pole and related topics.  Students created a map of the seven continents, which indicates the habitats of various penguin species. We have an ELF lesson this Friday. 

Have a wonderful weekend!