Sept. 4-7

This week Ms. Yurek will begin assuming teaching responsibilities.  She will begin with our Health curriculum and small math and reading groups.  I am so excited for this transition.  She has made a positive connection with the children the first two weeks of school and the students are responding to her teaching role in the classroom with excitement.

We will have our first "Spelling Test" on Friday.  I use the first few weeks of school to establish proper handwriting skills and expect the children to continue with this throughout the year.  On Friday I will assess all the capital letters.  If a letter is not formed correctly or within the lines, the letter will be marked wrong.  This criteria will continue in ALL of their spelling assessments.

We will begin our "Patriotic Unit" this week.  We will learn the meaning of the pledge, study the Constitution, and discuss the symbols of our nation.  If you or any member of your family is in the military I would love to hear from you.  Please call to schedule a visit to our class or send in their address so we can correspond.

First grade is still collecting and evaluating student data.  We hope to begin our Reading Intervention groups on Thursday.  These reading groups are 40 minutes, four times a week.  They are "fluid" groups, which means that a child can move to different groups throughout the year depending on what skills they are needing help on.

Homework looks different this year.  These skills should be reviewed nightly:  sight words (5-10), reading (bookrings), spelling words and counting.  I will send home suggested activities for you and your child to participate in.  Please don't expect your child to "sit" down to homework for more than 15 minutes.  Be creative in reviewing these skills, i.e. write spelling words in the bathtub with shaving cream, place sticky notes with sight words around the house, read in the car on the way to practice or the store, count out food items or silverware while preparing dinner.  Homework can be fun!!  Finish the night by playing a game with the family and snuggling together for a bedtime story.

Thank you for those parents that have offered to help in the classroom.  If you have not been contacted and would like to help, please call and leave me a message or email me.  I would love to have you in the classroom.