Wow! I cannot believe we've been together for 102 days! We're truly like family now. We learn, we laugh, we fight, we make up, and then we learn some more. I don't even want to think about how fast this school year will come to a close. It's always emotional for me . . . I've grown to love your kids so much, and it's difficult to see them move on. On the other hand I am absolutely PROUD of all of the progress they've made and will continue to make this year, and I'm EXCITED to see what they will do with their bright futures! Enough of the sappiness . . . The point was we had a great week celebrating 100 days of being together and learning together this week!
We will be giving an early sendoff however to one of our classmates. Dayeon and her family will be moving to Korea next week. Like I said, we're a kind of family . . . so your child may want to draw a special picture or make a special card for Dayeon to take with her. Please remind your child to bring those by Friday.
I am still not getting several students' book bags returned. Please send these back daily unless a due date is specifically noted on your child's reading log.
Also this week . . .
Wednesday is an early release day so that teachers can attend training. Students will be dismissed at 12:45, so please make the necessary transportation arrangements and let me know if your child will be going home with someone new.
Friday is our Valentine's Day Party from 1:00-2:00. All are welcome to attend. Hopefully you received the email from me this week with all of the details. Your child will need to bring a "mailbox" clearly marked with his/her name and with a LARGE opening for valentines. Your child should also bring valentines for each of our classmates. Nothing fancy is necessary . . . homemade notes mean a lot and are excellent writing practice! :) The class list was included in the email. If you did not receive it, please email me and I can either resend it or get you a hard copy.
And for your future planning . . . Monday, February 15th is a student holiday and Thursday, February 18th is our annual first grade Chinese New Year Parade at 2:15 followed by Multicultural Night that evening.
The rest of February is also very busy. Please check the calendar page.
Our learning:
Next week we will...
-Practice "showing", not just "telling" our feelings in our writing; i.e. "I jumped out of bed and got dressed as fast as I could so that I could be the first one to school" instead of "I was so excited to go to school." :)
-review words for "said" because "said" is tired;
-introduce quotation marks;
-read and perform "Arthur's Valentine" with fluency and expression;
-practice identifying, trading, and counting coins;
-research the Liberty Bell;
-learn about China and the Chinese New Year celebration.
I'm tired just thinking about it...