Thursday, October 29, 2015

Week of November 2

Mrs. Borden & Mrs. Jones Newsletter - Week of November 2, 2015
Math- Our next topic is: Topic 3, Six to Ten.  We will learn how to read, write, and count numbers 6-10.  We will also learn how to show those numbers in different ways.  We will continue to review how to write numbers 0-20 in random order and counting to 100 by 10s and 1s.  We will also continue to work on days, months, and seasons in Math Meeting.  Our new pattern will be AABB pattern and we have also introduced a dime to our coins. 
Science- Our Weekly Reader topics for the month include: Veteran’s Day, Pilgrims and Mayflower, bear cubs, and holiday workers.  We will be discussing hibernation and migration as the weather begins to turn much colder!  We have been looking at the weather each day to track it on our weather chart.  We also have been comparing and contrasting how activities are different in each season (ex. swimming in summer, but playing in the snow in the winter).
Reading: Our new story is called: “Animal Babies in Grasslands” and our amazing words are: calf, cub, joey, grassland, pup, foal.  This is a story where we are identifying the main idea.  We will also be using colors for adjectives.  We review our large group rules for discussion. 
Phonics/Grammar-We will review all letters of the alphabet and this week’s letter is Pp and we will be identifying initial and final Pp in words.  We have been reviewing letter names in class and their sounds and sight words.  We have been reviewing nouns for more than one (1 grape, several grapes) and that verbs are actions. 
Important Information
 Please remember to practice your letters, letter sounds, and sight words along with your written homework each night.  Thank you!           

Important Dates
November 6th- Report cards will be sent home.

November 9th- Parent/Teacher conferences from 12:00-6:00. No school for students. Once I have received your time selections, I will send home a half sheet with conference time. Please cut off the bottom portion, sign and check that you are coming to confirm. I will not be able to meet with you at this time but Mrs. Jones will be here to answer any questions and to go over your child’s data. If you would like to meet at another time, I am more than happy to schedule a meeting.

Friday, October 23, 2015

week of October 26, 2015

Week of October 26, 2015

Math- We will be continuing our topic of Comparing and Ordering 0-5.  We will be comparing as many, more, and fewer.  We will also be using ordinal numbers and we were previously introduced to ordinal numbers in our Reading story, This Is The Way We Go To School.  We will continue to count by 10’s and 1’s in our Math Meeting and will be finishing up our ABC pattern for the month of October.

Science- We are starting our weather chart for the week.  We will graph the weather daily and compare and contrast the different weather features.  We are also talking about bats this week and comparing them to other flying animals.  This is also the last week for our Pumpkin investigation.  Fall is in full swing!

Reading: Our new story is called: “Nature Spy” and our amazing words are: discover, spy, pod, nature, acorn, pattern.  This is a story where we are identifying setting.  We will making a list of nature facts.  We will be listening for directions, especially in a large group. 

Phonics/Grammar-We will review all letters of the alphabet and this week’s letter is Ss and we will be identifying initial and final Ss in words.  We have been reviewing letter names in class and their sounds and sight words.  We have been reviewing nouns for more than one (1 grape, several grapes) and identifying proper nouns for people, places, and things, as well as the fact that verbs are actions. 

Important Information
*Please remember to practice your letters, letter sounds, and sight words along with your written homework each night.  Thank you!           
*If you get a yellow slip from the cafeteria with a balance, please pay it as soon as possible.

Important Dates
Week of October 25- Red Ribbon Week
Monday, October 26- Day 9
Friday, October 30- School wide Fall Festival


Monday, October 19, 2015

week of October 19, 2015

Week of October 19, 2015

Math- We just started Topic 2, Comparing and Ordering One to Five.  We will be: using more, fewer, and same as, showing 1 and 2 more, 1 and 2 fewer, using the number 0, showing as many, more, and fewer, and ordering numbers 0-5.  We are adding more and more topics to our daily Math Meeting.  We have been identifying the names and values of penny and nickel, counting to 80 (and working our way to 100), counting by 10’s, making a 10-frame, and problem solving to find out our mystery number.   

Science- After beginning our Earth and sky unit, we have been identifying what landforms make up the Earth.  We will discuss how the sun seems to move and what we see in the day sky and compare it to what we see in the night sky.  We have been looking outside daily to observe our weather and we will track it for one week to see what kind of weather happens the most.  Our Pumpkin observation unit was super successful with the students making a Pumpkin flip book of many facts about our classroom pumpkins.

Reading: Our new story is called: “Flowers” and our amazing words are: seeds, buds, bloom, fruits, stem, petals.  This is a story where we are sequencing and comparing and contrasting.  We have also been identifying labels when we see them in pictures or illustrations.

Phonics/Grammar-We will review all letters of the alphabet and this week’s letter is Aa and we will be identifying initial and medial Aa in words.  We have been reviewing letter names in class and their sounds and sight words.  The students are able to identify a noun (person, place, or thing) and we have introduced verbs (actions).  In our fall poem about candy corn, we were able to find the period, exclamation point, and comma. 

Important Information
 Thank you for sending in your party money.  If you did not send it in yet, please do so as soon as possible.
Please remember to practice your letters, letter sounds, and sight words along with your written homework each night.  Thank you!           

Important Dates
October 19- Parent shopping night for the Book Fair

October 19- Day 4 

Friday, October 9, 2015

week of October 12, 2015

Week of October 12, 2015


Math- We will start Topic 2, Comparing and Ordering One to Five.  We will be: using more, fewer, and same as, showing 1 and 2 more, 1 and 2 fewer, using the number 0, showing as many, more, and fewer, and ordering numbers 0-5.  Each day in our Math Meeting, we have been counting by 10s to 100, counting by 1s, and continuing an ABC pattern.  We have also introduced counting on from 10 and have been identifying a penny and will be identifying other coins shortly. 

Science- We will be introducing our new topic: Earth and Sky.  Our essential question for the topic is: “What are the Earth and sky like?”  We will be talking about weather, seasons, and landforms as well.  We have also just finished our Fire Safety unit and will be working in pumpkins and fall with our Weekly Reader series. 

Reading: Our new story is called: “Dig, Dig, Digging” and our amazing words are: scooping, squelching, spinning, swooshing, gobbling, rumbling.  This is a story where we are classifying and categorizing and we will start identifying nouns for places and things. 

Phonics-We will review letters Aa-Zz and this week’s letter is Tt and we will be identifying initial and final Tt in words.  We have been reviewing letter names in class and their sounds and sight words.  We did also start making the initial sound in words.  For example, if the word is “dog” the class responds with /d/ and if the word is “fish” the class responds with /f/.


Important Information
 If you ordered from the book order, they will be in shortly.  Book fair information was also be sent home.  Please refer to the calendar for the parent night if you are interested.
Thank you for signing and returning the assessment in a timely manner.  We appreciate all of your support and cooperation.
                                                                             
Important Dates
October 12- Columbus Day- no school for students
October 13- School Picture day (please return picture forms with picture money)

October 13- Day 10 

Friday, October 2, 2015

week of October 5, 2015

Math- We have just started Topic 1, One to Five.  We will be: counting 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 as well as counting those numbers in different arrangements and reading and writing those numbers.  Each day in our Math Meeting, we have been counting by 10s to 100, counting by 1s, and continuing an AB pattern. 

Science- We will be finishing Chapter 2 on Solving Problems.  Great job everyone on the Chapter 1 assessment and thank you families for signing and returning it so quickly! Also, thank you for your participation in the Apple Theme Unit, it was a big success.  We have our apple graph, apple comparisons, apple writing, and apple parts on our bulletin board.

Reading- Our new story is “Smash Crash” and our amazing words are: signals, proper, perfect, dud, pirates, fabulous.  This is a story where we are identifying character and we will start identifying nouns for people and animals.  We will talk about announcements and messages and the importance of both.

Phonics-We will review letters Aa-Zz and this week’s letter is Mm and we will be identifying initial and final Mm in words.  We have been reviewing letter names in class and their sounds.  Also, we have been clapping out the syllables of words and putting syllables together to make words.  We are also identifying initial sounds in words. We are also identifying rhyming and non- rhyming pairs.


Important Information
 *Please review your child’s 4 digit number.  They need it for lunch, computers, and to check out books from the library.
*Wear a blue shirt on October 5th to support bullying prevention in Schuylkill 
County.


                                                              Important Dates          
October 5- Deadline for the Children’s Book Drive
October 5- PTO meeting

October 9- Act 80 Half Day

Hello Spartan Family,                     I loved speaking with all of you on the phone! I sent an email with everything we talked about ...