Dear Parents,                                                     September 19, 2011

Our reading strategy this week is evaluation and our comprehension skill that will help with evaluating a story is cause and effect.  Paying attention to what causes something to happen can help us understand the story and evaluate whether we enjoyed the story or not and why.  Please practice this comprehension skill when reading nightly with your child.  Ask why certain events happened in the story.  Ask if they enjoyed the story and why.  It is fine if they did not enjoy the story as long as they can tell you why.  Let them explain their favorite part or the funniest part and ask them to tell you why they feel that way.  Our phonics focus is the sounds of the consonants b, h, r, and g and the short sound of /i/.  Our new spelling words are from unit 5.  The words have also been posted on spellingcity.com.  Please go on line and practice the spelling words by taking a test and playing the games.  Our grammar focus is on using an end mark at the end of a sentence.  We will be completing our first theme in reading this week and will be taking our assessments on Friday.

We are starting a new chapter in math today – subtraction concepts. Social Studies, finds us learning about time lines and choices that families make.  We visited Multipurpose Room 1 last week and “planted” some seeds.  We were very careful to record exactly what we did in the lab and now we are waiting for our plants to grow so that we can examine the parts of a plant under a microscope.  In religion, we continue to learn how God is Our Good Father.  At our school assembly last Thursday, the first graders performed a poem about the Creation Story.  They were amazing – and just too cute!

Thank you for recording your child’s nightly reading on the reading log.  What a wonderful activity to partake in with your child. They are learning so much by reading with you and practicing the skills learned in class.

Please remind your child to bring their library book to school tomorrow so that they may check out a new one.

Water bottle sales continue on Tuesday and Thursday.  Thank you for your support!

It is “All About…Grace Bracamontes” this week.  Congratulations!

Please remember to attend the Fall Parent Meeting in Biedermann Hall on Wednesday at 6:30.

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

Mrs. Manning