October 22, 2007

The students did a very nice job on the Frog and Toad plays during their performances for both kindergarten classes on Thursday and for parents on Friday! Besides having fun, the students were fluent in their reading and learned to use good reading expression in their voices.

This week I am sending home a lot of information but please take the time to read it all carefully. During the week of November 12^th we will be taking The Ohio Test of Basic Skills (ITBS Test). See the back side of this sheet for more information on this upcoming assessment. See the next page for information on the story we’ll read in class this week and another page for the information on our religion for the week.

In math this Friday we will take a review drill/quiz on the twos addition facts to reinforce them and let those who are learning how to memorize the facts figure it out before we move on to learning our threes addition facts. We will also do a review of zeros, ones, and tens. We learned how to do addition with three digits in one column, and how to add more than one digit across without regrouping (carrying) and will practice more this week in class and in math homework. (We will learn to carry later on when we have learned more about our “base ten” system.) We will also do more graphing problems this week and learn about counting money.

In Religion this week we will be discussing the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We will learn about “choices” and how an individual can make a wise choice or a poor choice and how poor choices can lead to unhappiness for ourselves and others. We will hear the story of Peter Rabbit, who made some poor choices and nearly became “Rabbit Stew” for Mr. McGregor and also ended up cold and sick and could not eat any of his mother’s tasty dinner. See the attached religion sheet for more information on “choices.”

In spelling we’ll learn that there is more that one way to spell the long “a” sound. One way is when two vowels are side by side such as in “ai:” “When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking.” We already know about the “magic silent “e” as in made or the “ay” on the end of a word as in May.

For those who are still interested in signing up for lunch time reading, be sure to check your calendar and sign up so that the days you would like to read are available for you. They are filling up and there may not be any left for those who decided to sign up later on. Students enjoy having Mom or Dad come to class! In the past, students have requested and even signed their parents up themselves for reading on their birthday, so if you can only read once this year, you might pick to come on that day. Sign-up on the wall outside our classroom, or send the attached sheet with your name and the dates that you can come in to read form 11:30 to 11:50.

Monday: Copy spelling words down neatly in pencil on the paper I provided. Turn these into me tomorrow morning. Read to one of your parents for 10-15 minutes and review math facts for about 5 minutes.

Tuesday: Do spelling worksheet p. 45-46. Turn these into me tomorrow morning. Read to one of your parents for 10-15 minutes and do the practice math facts.

Wednesday: Do math page 69 (Page 70 is an optional extra credit challenge page.) Read to one of your parents for 10-15 minutes and review math facts for about 5 minutes.

Thursday: Have a parent give you a "practice spelling test" and speed drill in preparation for Friday's weekly test. Read to one of your parents for 10-15 minutes and review math facts for about 5 minutes.

I enjoy working with your child!

Sincerely,