Dear Parents and Students,
November 17, 2009
Field Trip
The children had a wonderful time on the field trip to Historic Oakview.
They were able to pick cotton, make butter, and wash clothes with a wash
board. They learned about life back in the 1800s. Be sure to ask your child
about what he or she learned. Thank you to our chaperones!
In-house Field Trip for Science
On Monday, Nov. 23, the children will have a lesson on Matter (solids,
liquids, and gases). It will be at school in their classroom. We have begun
our science unit on Matter and Changes. The in-house field trip should be a
very enriching experience to go along with our unit.
Math
We are busy learning about numbers to 999. We just finished the unit on
problem solving and are now focusing on making numbers in many ways as well
as double digit addition. In small groups, the children have been practicing
counting money and making change. Please work with your child to make sure
that he or she can accurately count coins. This takes practice.
Reading
This quarter we are focusing on Non-fiction texts in class. We are learning
to identify key concepts and the main topic of the texts.
Book Fair
Thank you to those who bought a book for our classroom library. The children
love getting new books to read!
Interims
Interims are sent home this week to indicate any area in which your child may
need to be supported. Not all children will receive a report. If your child
received one, please sign it and return it.
Writing
We have been learning how to write a paragraph to report information. As we
learned about the pioneers, we also learned how to write a topic sentence, at
least three supporting sentences, and a closing sentence for the paragraphs
that we wrote. The paragraphs were about pioneer food, clothes, travel, fun,
and school. These are hanging on the wall at school.
We have also discussed various types of poetry. The children wrote a
wonderful acrostic poem for Thanksgiving.
The children are learning to go through the Writing Process. They are
prewriting first with a sketch and then drafting from the picture. We have
begun to practice revising by using questioning to help us add more details
to the picture. We are also working on sustaining the time on task for
writing for twenty minutes uninterrupted.
For the writing grade, the children will be required to write a personal
narrative that has at least ten sentences on topic. The piece will need a
beginning, a middle, and an end. It will need to contain some details and
elaboration.The writing piece will need to show that the child is using
punctuation and capitalization effectively. We are practicing these daily
during writing workshop.
Reading
At the end of each week, the children take a comprehension test over our
weekly story. If your child doesn't have any errors, I am attaching a Chili
Award. I will do this until I run out of them. Also, the child's name goes
up on the chart (the Comprehension Corral). They are doing a very good job
on their comprehension tests.
We now have our class pets! We have two African frogs! Great job, everyone
for earning money to buy them. Thanks again to Mrs. McCabe for going to buy
them for us!
Classroom Volunteers
Mrs. Vaughan and Mrs. Burns have volunteered to be our grade chairs. Thank
you so much! We will have our first learning experience coming up September
18. When you receive your class roster, please let these parents know if you
would be able to help with the learning experience by working with the
children or sending in materials.
Mrs. Seaboch has already done our class roster. Thank you, Mrs. Seaboch.
Mrs. Albin has volunteered to be our Character Ed. teacher. Thank you, Mrs.
Albin.
If you volunteered for other jobs, you will be notified soon.
Reminders:
• PE day is Friday. Please make sure your child has running shoes.
• Please remember to send a water bottle with your child.
• Please remember to send a sweatshirt for our cold classroom.
• Please remember to send in a healthy snack. I could use extra snack
if you are able to send in extra occasionally. Some children forget
frequently.
Mystery Readers
I will call or email you a few days before your visit. I will post a
schedule on the Teacherweb soon. Those of you who want to add your names may
email me. If you cannot read on a day that I wrote you in, just let me
know. Thank you to everyone who signed up to read!
Specials Schedule
Monday - Music
Tuesday - Media
Wednesday - Art
Thursday - Technology
Friday - P.E.
Your Teacher,
Mrs. Barr
Please read my short biography that is located under Teacher.
