Weekly Newsletter

Devlin R. Ready
devlin_ready@roundrockisd.org
512-428-3623
Personal cell phone: 512-940-5734 

February 5, 2010

Dear Parents,

Where did January go? I can hardly believe that it is February and 
Valentine's Day is around the corner. We have started the Chocolate craziness 
in first grade. This week we read the book, The Chocolate Touch. The children 
enjoyed the story about a young boy who had the experience of turning 
everything he touched into Chocolate!

Next week, we will follow up with a new book, Chocolate Fever. It is a First 
Grade tradition to have "Chocolate Fever" on the same day the school 
celebrates Valentine's Day, Friday, February 12th. There is a special letter 
in the Take Home Folder today that will detail this special time and how to 
have your child prepared. I have attached a class list and the names of all 
the adults who work with the class for Valentine's Day.
 
You will also find a note about providing 3 small boxes of candy valentine 
hearts on Monday for your child to use during Valentine math which will be 
occuring next week. Please let me know if you are not able to provide this 
extra and I will be happy to help.
 
February Literature Response packets are in the Take Home Folder. These are 
due on or before the last day of February. The idea is to complete one 
assignment each week. Please take time to discuss a schedule with your child 
so they are prepared and not rushed. As parents, we want to set good examples 
of time management and making due dates.

We are almost out of the woods in regard to Lice. Thank you for your 
continued support and watchful eye. You can be assured your little one has 
learned all about keeping as healthy in the classroom. 

We will be finishing up money in math and beginning to learn about the term, 
zone, in math. Estimating is always fun and teaching reasonableness to kids 
is something that would make the best seller list!

In Daily Five the children are becoming well trained using reading strategies 
for accuracy. This week we have begun to learn about comprehension strategies 
and fluency strategies. After I have introduced each I will send home a list 
to you for reference. Using the same terms and strategies at home and school 
is very valuable. I am pulling children for individual reading and writing 
conferences and assigning goals for them to work on before our next 
conference.

We will completing our POI, How the World Works, next week. The children have 
enjoyed the unit of study and have really thought about how cycles and 
systems occur around the world all around them.


Dates to put on your calendar:
February 10th: Early Release/12:45
February 12th: Chocolate Fever Day/ Infomation in the Take Home Folder
February 15th: Holiday for the children. Staff Development for teachers
February 26th: February Literature Response Packets due
March 5th: First, second and third sight word spelling test


Thank you to all who are working on our Silent Auction Class project, 
Chocolate Fever Day,and keeping our classroom supplied and healthy! Have a 
nice weekend.

Fondly,
Devlin Ready

Raise your Child's Self Esteem: 
Make a feelings chart with your child. List all the emotions your child can 
think of on a big piece of paper. Each day, ask your child to tape her/his 
picture next to the way he/she feels. Talk about what makes her/him feel that 
way.