Dear Parents,                          September 16, 2012

In language arts this week, we will work on the consonants n, f, p, and we will keep working on short /a/.  Since we are still working on short /a/ there will not be any new spelling words this week.  Our reading strategy this week is summarizing and our comprehension skill that will help with summarizing is compare and contrast.  Paying attention to how things are the same (compare) and how things differ (contrast) in a story can help us summarize the story.  Our phonics focus this week is the sound of n, f, and p as both initial and final sounds in words.  We will continue with the short /a/ and will practice blending our letter sounds together.  Our grammar focus is on uppercase letters for the beginning of sentences and for character names. We will not be having a spelling test this week so that we may review the short /a/ and begin writing these words in simple sentences. We will begin testing for sight words this week. If your child knows the previous words then a new set will be going home this week. As a reminder these are sight words, to be recognized by sight within 3 seconds- they are not to be sounded out.

In math, we begin Chapter 2! We will start off learning about subtraction. Social studies, has us focusing on classroom rules. In science, we will be wrapping up our work on plants with an activity book that reviews the parts of a plant.  In religion, we are beginning our first lesson from our Family Life Series titled “What Families Do”.

I am implementing a new incentive for positive behavior in our classroom. As you know, in First Grade we have a clip up/clip down chart in which everyone begins at “Ready to Learn”. At the end of the day, the behavior of the students will be recorded. For the students who were at “Ready to Learn”, “Great Job” or “Outstanding” by the end of each day throughout our week will have a set amount of “free-time” on Fridays. The “free-time” will vary from week to week with activities such as reading in our library with pillows, to time to free draw with markers, to playing with Play-Doh, Legos, or other fun activities. This will be a wonderful addition to our classroom and will be a rewarding activity for the students who are indeed “Ready to Learn”.

Reminders for the week:

• Please remind your child to bring their library book to school on Tuesday so that they may check out a new one.
• Please remember PE uniforms on Tuesday and Thursday.
• Wednesday is $1 Free Dress day.
• Wednesday: Parent Meeting in Biedermann Hall from 6:30pm until 7:30pm.
• Please work with your child on tying their shoes. If your student cannot tie his or her shoes, our handbook asks that they please wear Velcro shoes until they do know how. Thank you.
• Schoolwide Centers is on Friday and therefore will be a noon dismissal. (Teachers have a meeting!)
• It is “All About… Elizabeth” this week.  Congratulations!

If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.  Have a wonderful week!

Miss. Manning