Dear Parents,                                October 7, 2012

Our reading strategy this week is “monitor and clarify”.  If we have difficulty understanding the story as we read, we stop and go back to reread the sections that were confusing.  We also use key words or the pictures to help the story become clear to us.  Our comprehension skill this week focuses on fantasy and realism.  Understanding the story and knowing if what is happening in the story is something that can really happen or something that is pretend can help us better understand the story.  Our phonics focus this week is the short sound of /e/ and the consonants y, k, and v.  Our spelling words this week will focus on the short sound of /e/ – unit 8.  The short sounds of /e/ and /i/ can be confusing to children.  Please focus on the difference between these sounds in your nightly reading. The short sound of /e/ sounds like the “e” in “jet” and the short sound of /i/ sounds like the “i” in “igloo”. Our grammar focus is naming words (nouns).

Math finds us continuing our practice of subtraction concepts and we should be ready for our chapter test on Thursday.

In religion, we will be discussing how God speaks to us and begin discussion about the Saints Parade. We were unable to begin our discussion last week, but we will this week. So please stay tuned for directions on the Saint Report.

The students did a great job on their unit 1 social studies test. This week we will take a break from Social Studies to focus on Science.

We had a great time visiting the science lab last week exploring different types of shelter around our campus! This week we will be in the lab again but this time observing, recording, and discussing animal body parts!

Reminders:

• Please remind your child to bring their library book to school Tuesday so that they may check out a new one.
• Please remind your student not to share snacks or items from lunch with other students. Many students have food allergies or are sensitive to certain types of food.
• Friday is Primary Centers and a Noon Dismissal as the teachers have a staff meeting.

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

Miss. Manning