Back to School!

Hello 1C Families,

I hope that all of you had a wonderful and restful Thanksgiving break and had the opportunity for some much needed downtime and fun!

With only three weeks left in this quarter (and semester!!) we will be hard at work as we finish the year strong.

I cannot believe it, but we will be completing our Singapore 1A Workbooks in a couple of weeks! We have just finished measurement and will be closing this quarter with graphing and charts. This is always a fun unit for the students as we can graph and chart almost anything. We will be reviewing some of the concepts that we have learned this semester, as well as some basics such as odd/even, number sequence, etc. Although, these concepts seem easy, it is important that we revisit these often in the younger years, so that they are solidified and easily accessible as they are faced with more complex operations later on.

We have started Frog and Toad and the children are enjoying it. If you haven't already, please send this piece of literature in so that we can read together, as a class. We have a literature/comprehension packet to go along with it and we will be completing it as we read.

We are still wrapping up the Food Chain in science and Ancient Civilizations in history. We are very excited as we will be moving into the study of the human body in science and our history studies will take us to Colonial America. We have a lot of fun things planned for these exciting units.

Please be sure to check your child's folder tonight as I sent home their materials for Project Week. I sent it home a little early so they are able to get a jump start. The packet contained three sheets of paper with a paper clip. Included were the instructions, grading rubric, and actual report questions. Also attached was their animal they are to report. Your student chose their animal, randomly, out of a jar. Everyone seemed to be happy with their pick. I explained to them that even if they wanted something else, they may find their new animal very interesting once they start their research. That is why we are always learning new things. We never know what wonderful things we might discover. If you have questions about this or need any clarification, please do not hesitate to contact me. I'm looking forward to learning all about their animals!!

We are very excited and looking forward to our first field trip to see The Snow Queen performance on Dec. 6th. An email was sent home last week with information and instructions to sign up your child for the trip. I need a total of four parent volunteers to ride with us on the bus. I have received several emails from those interested. I will be putting names into a hat and picking four. If you would still like to ride on the bus please email by noon tomorrow as I need to draw names by tomorrow afternoon. Please note that if you will be joining us on the bus you do need to have a fingerprint clearance. If you are just meeting us there, at the performance, no clearance is needed. Also, if you do plan to meet us there, please let me know so that your child is able to see you!

Quarter two conferences are just around the corner. A sign up will be going out December 5th. Please be on the lookout for this.

You might notice a lull in the amount of classwork your child brings home over the next couple of weeks. This is because I am compiling work samples to show during conferences. We will still be sending home spelling and math tests. All other work, unless it's a craft, will be kept in their blue folders and organized for conference time.

We have our class Spelling Bee winners!
First Place went to Julia Lanza and runner-up went to Beatrix Nance. Congratulations!! They will now move forward and compete with other classes, our school and other academies. Miss Pape is heading up our Spelling Bee so if you have questions please direct them to her. We do have a class full of great spellers!!!

I want to give a huge thanks to the parent volunteers who helped with our friendship chain and small celebration before Thanksgiving. To Mrs. Aberouette for cutting and preparing the materials and to Mrs. Wilson, Ms. Pixler and Mrs. Rahimi for volunteering to help with our little celebration.
Many thanks to all of you. You are appreciated!!!

Below are the phonograms for this week. I hope your (almost) December is off to a wonderful and festive beginning!

Phonograms for week 12/28

g, o, s, qu, b, e, h, i, I, j, ph, ough, oe, ey, igh, kn, gn, wr, ie, dge