January 5, 2010
Dear Parents,
Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful holiday with your children.
Thank you so much for the lovely gifts. They are very much appreciated.
With a new year, we have a new schedule. A copy is enclosed in this week’s
Take Home Tuesday envelope. Please keep in mind that while the specials will
remain the same, the rest of the schedule is subject to change.
We will wrap up Unit 5 in Math by identifying and drawing lines of symmetry
and then by assessing our progress in the whole unit. We will begin Unit 6 as
we develop strategies to add 3 or more numbers. We will also solve comparison
number stories.
Reading and writing instruction will be different for the month of January.
Students will continue to read and write, but the focus will be on word study,
reading comprehension, handwriting, and grammar skills. Students have been
placed in groups for word study and each group will work on different skills.
The groups met today and named themselves. This week, the Jaguars will focus
on short vowel a as they identify, manipulate, and write words with that
sound. The Power group will focus on long vowel sounds, specifically on
writing ones with a final e. The Firebirds will focus on compound words and
answering questions about selected reading passages.
In writing, we will practice forming capital partners Cc, Oo, Ss, Vv, and Ww
correctly, practice forming lower case letters correctly and then apply those
to writing words and sentences. We will also identify nouns and capitalize
proper nouns in sentences, add -s or -es to nouns to make them plural, and
identify and write irregular plural nouns.
We will catch up on Science this week as we turn our attention to weather.
We will identify the relationship between air and weather, measure air
temperature and identify commonly used words to name different temperature
ranges, and become cloud watchers as we categorize clouds by the 3 main types.
Students have been charged with the task of keeping track of the weather for
the next three weeks. They prepared their weather calendars in class and
should have brought it home along with some weather symbols. Students should
choose a time of day to observe the weather and record it by pasting the
appropriate symbol. This should be done around the same time every day,
including Saturdays and Sundays. The data they collect will be used to create
graphs and to make some basic predictions about future weather. I will not
check the calendars everyday as I do the math homework, but I expect to see
the completed calendar on January 22nd.
A few reminders/announcements:
- Speaking of the weather, please make sure that your child comes to school
dressed appropriately to go outdoors. We go outside every day (unless it is
actually raining), even if it’s just for a few minutes to get some fresh air.
- The Z-ville store is running low on merchandise. Any donations are
greatly appreciated.
- Toilet paper and paper towel tubes continue to be popular items during
indoor recess and choice time. Save them from the landfill and send them in!
Cereal boxes and empty yogurt containers are also welcome.
Have a great week!
Sincerely,
Shana