November 14th Newsletter

We have been working very hard on fluency for the last few weeks, but this past week we marked one of our poems in phrases of two to four words.  We read the lines in different ways to see what sounded better.  When we were all done, we read the poem, paying attention to the phrases we had marked.  What a difference it made!  Our first graders are starting to really understand how reading should sound.  We are also working hard on this in guided reading.  When you read the take home books with your child, be sure prompt him or her to "read it like this," as you model it, in a few places.  Remember that reading picture books to your child is still very important.  They need to hear you model that phrased, fluent reading!  Keep up the great work!

This week in math we will be practicing finding the values of collections of pennies, nickels, and dimes.  We will continue to explore domino/dot patterns to provide practice for basic addition facts.  This week’s homework will include Home Link 3.12 and an addition practice sheet.  Also look for the Unit 4 Family Letter to come home this week.

We will continue working on our Communities unit in Social Studies.  Thank you in advance to all of the parents that are coming in to talk about your jobs!

Special Points of Interest

• Winter is quickly approaching.  Now is the time to start thinking about packing an extra pair of socks and mittens in your child's backpack.
• Please continue to remind your children to bring their take-home books back to school.
• Scholastic Book Orders are due Friday, November 18th. Flyers will be coming home sometime this week.  Shop Online: scholastic.com/readingclub Class Activation Code: JBVLX
• Parent-Teacher Conferences are this Thursday, November 17th and the following Monday, November 21st.  I am looking forward to meeting with you to talk about your wonderful children!
• No School next Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday