Weekly Update

Happy Friday!

I couldn't resist this meme on our first delay day.  My boys are surely grateful for the extra sleep, and I am grateful for an extra cup of coffee in my jamas!

Meantime, we are settling back into our normal classroom routines.  As much as I love to spend endless days in my workout clothes, I have to admit it feels really good to see the kids (they always grow so much over a break!), reestablish procedures, and get back to business!

We had fun in math this week.  We started our Fact Families unit with a story about 3 numbers named Wee-Little 2, Cool Cat 3, and Big Daddy 5.  We had SO much fun saying "Big Daddy 5" with lots of attitude.  In fact, we're still saying it around Room 9.  Ask your kiddo about it.  (*fingers crossed* they remember!)

In other news...

Mid-Year Literacy Testing
Over the next month, I will administer the mid-year Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA).  Remember, the DRA tests a student's ability to decode words, read fluently, and retell / comprehend a story.  In preparation for our mid-year testing, please ensure your child is reading each night at home.  Please use the discussion guidelines on your child's weekly homework sheet to talk about his/her nightly reading.

Vocabulary Parade:
I sent home a letter about our school-wide SOL Vocabulary Parade in yesterday's Thursday folder.  Please review this information, sign the slip at the bottom, detach it, and return it to school.  The parade will be Tuesday, January 31st, with a snow date of Tuesday, February 7th.  I have assigned your child a vocabulary word related to our 1st grade curriculum.  Your child should create a visual representation of this word to help convey its meaning...a poster, a t-shirt, a costume.  The sky's the limit on creativity, but your child's word must be displayed on the front of his/her project. During the parade, classes view each other's projects, and each student says his/her word.  I expect all students to participate in the vocabulary parade.  Please do not send your child's poster, t-shirt, or costume until the day of the parade.  If you have any questions, please email me.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will talk about point of view in stories we read.  We will answer the questions:  Who is telling the story?  A character?  A narrator?  Someone inside the story?  Or outside the story?
• Writing:  We will write stories with a beginning, middle, and end while focusing on editing our writing for capital letters, punctuation, spacing, and properly spelled sight words.
• Math:  We will finish our Fact Families unit and begin our Place Value unit.
• Social Studies:  We will continue our Economics unit.

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.

It's going to be cold this weekend!  Time to make soup in the slow cooker, and curl up on the couch with a blanket and coffee.  I hope you have a relaxing weekend planned after the intensity of the holidays.