| Here are some changes of dates that you might like to know.
The DRA/PAPI reading report on your child's reading level, that was to come
home this week, will be postponed a week. It will be coming home on
Oct. 8th.
Nanna Puddin presentation has been rescheduled for January. The individual
pictures are now going to be taken on Oct. 20th. The 9 weeks will now end on
Oct. 24th and report cards will go home on Oct. 31st
With Clinefest gearing up, we will be busy the month of October. Remember
that Second grade will be reading books about Pirates the week of Halloween,
so we have requested that the students in 2nd grade dress up for Halloween as
pirates or something to do with pirates. This is so it will go along with our
Reading that week.
Looking forward to a busy and fun month!
Mrs. Karen Kirkpatrick
OCTOBER fun in...
READING: We will be reviewing our sight base words as we begin reading in the
classroom. I will be doing DRA2 testing the week of Sept. 8th on each
student to see the progress that each child has made over the summer and to
find out what level your child is reading on. One way you can help your child
have success in reading is to practice reading aloud at home to work on
fluency in reading. Ask your child to retell what they have read. This works
on comprehension. DRA/PAPI testing reports will come home on Oct. 8th.
LANGUAGE: We will be working on writing good complete sentences at the
beginning of the year. This will progress to writing a paragraph. We will
learn what a noun is and how to identify a noun in a sentence. Please remind
your child to always begin each sentence with a capital letter and end the
sentence with correct punctuation when writing.
SPELLING: A spelling list will come home every Monday and the test will be on
Thursday. Your child is to keep the word list at home and begin studying each
night. On Tues. night there will be some type of spelling homework that needs
to be completed and returned on Wed. On Wed. night, please help your child
study for the spelling dictation test to be given on the next day, Thursday.
This test will not be a calling of a list of words. Each word will be used in
a sentence which your child will write. The test will be graded on correct
spelling of every word in the sentences, correct capitalization and
punctuation of each sentence, and neat handwriting. The first list will come
home the second week of school and will only be 10 words. After that, there
will be 15 words each week. Please help your child study these words.
MATH: We are working in a brand newly adopted math book this year. It begins
the year learning different strategies to problem solve. We spent the first
week working on problem solving. Next, we will be working on all kinds of
patterning and then place value.
**We will work hard on memorizing our math facts (addition & subtraction) up
to 18. Beginning the 2nd 9 weeks our timed facts tests will be on Tuesdays and
then on Thursdays each week the tests will be graded. We will begin grading
everyone on the red test for 10 minutes. I will take a grade at each level at
10 minutes for 5 weeks. Then, I will not take a grade until the 3rd 9 weeks.
During the 3rd 9 weeks a grade will be taken at each level for 7 minutes. And,
then, I will grade the 4 minute tests the last nine weeks. PLEASE remember to
work on math facts each night for at least 5-10 minutes. You can do this by
using flash cards, playing board games, playing computer programs, rolling
dice,etc.
We will enrich our daily math by writing and solving a word problem each
day. Problem solving is a way of thinking & reasoning. It can be connected
to the real world by solving problems at home, as well. Have your child try
to add the total at the grocery store or clothing store, do some cooking
activities, measure things around the house, etc! Have fun because Math IS
FUN!
SOCIAL STUDIES / SCIENCE: We are finishing up our Communities Unit in Social
Studies and will begin learning about How Animals Change and Grow in Science.
This year we will alternate studying Social Studies 1/2 of the 9 weeks and
then Science the last half of the 9 weeks.
HANDWRITING: We will begin reviewing our printed letters and practice writing
neat and legibly on all our classwork. Later in the year, we will begin
learning how to write cursive. PLEASE do NOT teach your child cursive. If
they learn letters incorrectly, it is hard to break that habit.
We will have so much FUN this year in my classroom!
Thank you,
Karen Kirkpatrick
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