I loved seeing everyone's teddy bear today! We had a great time working with them all day! The Peeps have had a great week!
Next week is Read Across America week. We're celebrating Dr. Seuss, and all of the work that he did during his lifetime to promote literacy. Please see the "Peek at Next Week" section to see the themes for each day. Spring Picture Day is Friday; if you don't want your child to wear green/gold that day due to pictures, that's perfectly OK.
*Parent/Teacher conference sign up:
*Upcoming field trips:
Please note that there may be changes for our Museum of Transportation trip. We found out today that the train will not be running on the day of our visit. We would really like to ride the train, especially since the trip is so expensive. I will let you know as soon as I know what we're going to do. At this point, we're looking into rescheduling the trip.
I LOVE hearing the children read! They are building their confidence and their fluency every day. We've been working towards our goal of reading and writing CVC words. During our morning meeting, we've been having fun playing the CVC Game: I write a word on the whiteboard, and choose a "contestant" to read it. This is a fun game to play at home--all you need is a piece of paper. (Of course, you could also use scrabble tiles or magnetic letters.) See if your child can read words like:
map, cap, sat, hat, ran, nap
set, bet, den, leg, wet, yes
big, pit, pin, kid, rig, dig
log, not, job, bog, pot, rob
cut, hum, bug, gum, fun, pug
You can make nonsense words, too!
We've continued to work on "writing mechanics." The Peeps like correcting my work when I make mistakes on the whiteboard. We've also set the goal that "I only use capital letters when I have a reason." We know that we use a capital letter to start a sentence, or when we write a name. Did you know that authors also use capital letters when they're yelling in the story?
We've had LOTS of fun with subtraction this week. We're working in our Chapter 6 workbooks, but the best part our lessons has been "Live Action Subtraction" where the children work in teams to tell subtraction stories. The tricky part of subtraction is that you start with the whole amount, and some are taken away. That's exactly opposite of what happens in addition, when you put two smaller amounts together to make a whole. In their subtraction stories, the Peeps are showing that they really understand! Of course it makes it even more fun to stand on the low table--we like using that as a stage for our live action subtraction.
We are also starting to build our math fluency. We've noticed that subtracting one is just like counting down. When you take 1 away from any number, the answer is the number that comes before the number you started with!
We've enjoyed reading subtraction stories this week, too. We love Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, and 10 Minutes Till Bedtime.
Presidents are pictured on our United States money. The Peeps each have a bag of coins coming home in their binders (in the math pouch). Please take time at home to play with these...you can let your child sort them, and identify them. Knowing the name and value of each type of coin is important! In class, we worked with pennies and quarters this week. We even know how to play "heads or tails"!
Here are some of the important things we've learned about presidents this week:
*There have been 45 different presidents. They are all very different, but they have the important job of leading the country.
*Books that are written about people's lives are called biographies. A biography is a type of non-fiction, but all of the facts may not be exactly true.
*You don't have to be a famous person--like a president--to be a very important person. We learned about Abraham Lincoln's best friend, Austin Gollaher, who saved Abe from drowning when he was eight years old. (We read Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek.)
*There are some crazy facts you can learn about presidents! Sometimes it's hard to know exactly what's true, or when something happened. We know that Abraham Lincoln was very tall and thin, but president William Howard Taft was so large that he got stuck in the bathtub! (We read President Taft is Stuck in the Bath.) Even though getting stuck in the bathtub is one of the things he's most remembered for, President Taft also was a Supreme Court Justice, and started the federal income tax.
Monday is B Day - Music
It's Red, White, and Blue Day for Read Across America Week! Dr. Seuss was born on March 2. He was a big advocate of literacy for everyone. It took a while for his books to be successful. He was rejected a lot at first! We will read The Cat in the Hat, and And To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.
Tuesday is C Day - P.E.
Please have your child wear tennis shoes.
It's "Silly Socks" Day! (We'll read Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss!)
Wednesday is D Day - P.E.
Please have your child wear tennis shoes.
It's "Wacky Wednesday," so you can wear something wacky! We'll read Wacky Wednesday.
Thursday is E Day - Library/Technology
Please remember library books today.
It's Pajama Day! We'll read I'm NOT Going to Get Up Today, and Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book.
Friday is A Day - Art
It's Green Day/School Spirit Day! We'll read Green Eggs and Ham, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Hooray For Diffendoofer Day!
Friday is also Spring Picture Day. There is no money or order form at this time...proofs will come in, and if you like them, you can order at that time.
Click here to view our lunch menu.
Dates to Keep in Mind:
IMPORTANT DATES:
3/3 – Spring Pictures
3/10 – Third Quarter Ends & HALF DAY OF SCHOOL
3/16 – Parent/Teacher Conferences
3/17 – HALF DAY OF SCHOOL
3/20 – 3/24 – NO SCHOOL: Spring Break
3/27 – School Resumes
Enjoy the weekend!
