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!

Week: January 16th

Dear Parents,

Thank you for your support at home with homework. We have been very proud of our students. They are doing a wonderful job on their homework, and I know it is strengthening their learning here at school.

Spelling Tests: Starting next week, students will have a short word list attached to their spelling homework. Students should review these words over the week, and will be tested on Fridays.  There will not be more than six words. Thanks for your help with this!

Note: We have a field trip coming up on Tuesday, January 24. We will be going to the Lebanon Opera House to see a performance of Duck for President.

Reading: Students have been practicing their reading skills: envisioning, predicting and making connections.

Students are doing a wonderful job on their reading assessments. We have a strong group of readers in 1C!

We are reading Mr. Popper’s Penguins as our class read aloud.

Writing: Students have been working on writing assignments about our theme this week: penguins!

Spelling: Words with –at and -an

Math: Students are learning addition facts, as well as reviewing previously learned concepts.

If you have the chance, please review telling 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.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Week: January 9th

Dear Parents,

Friday, January 13th is the end of the marking period. However report cards will be distributed on Friday, January 27^th.

Reminder: No school on Monday, January 16^th due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Reading: Students have been practicing their reading skills: envisioning, predicting and making connections.

We are in the middle of reading assessments, as I mentioned last week. Next week we will have a substitute teacher coming in to help out for a few periods as the 1^st and 2^nd grade teachers continue the assessments.

We are reading Mr. Popper’s Penguins as our class read aloud.

Writing: Students completed a sentence dictation writing assessment this week. They did a very good job of identifying sounds and writing the corresponding letters to form sentences.

Our students seem to love handwriting work. If you would like to suggest your student practice handwriting at home, please go for it!

Spelling: Patterns –ug, -un, and –ut sounds and word identification

Math: Students completed a mid-year assessment this week and everyone did very well.

We are learning about telling time to the quarter hour.

Science: We have been learning about penguins, the south pole and related topics.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Craft

Week: January 2nd

Dear Parents,

Winter is here and we want to be sure the students are prepared. Students are not allowed to play out in the yard if they do not have snow pants, boots, jacket, hat and gloves. Please make sure you are sending your child to school prepared. If there is an item you do not have at home, let us know and we will find a replacement. Thank you for your help with this!

Reminder: Noon dismissal on January 13^th.

Reading: Students are practicing reading skills such as envisioning (imagining the story in our minds as we read) and predicting (on the word, sentence and plot levels). We are administering formal reading assessments this month, which will help to inform our reading instruction and students’ learning.

We are reading Magic Treehouse #8, Midnight on the Moon for our class read-aloud, and talking about the solar system.

Writing: We have been focusing on handwriting work this week while we get back into the swing of things after the break. Students have also been writing about their vacations, and practicing their editing skills to improve their writing.

Spelling: Patterns –ed, -en, and

-et sounds and word identification

Math: Review of time and temperature, introduction to measurement: the inch

Math you can practice at home: Telling time to the half-hour, counting coins

Science: Continuation of where food comes from/growing our food 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Craft