Fire Prevention Week

This week in school we learned about fire prevention. We read many books, completed worksheet, made crafts, and had discussions about fire safety. The students also learned about preventing forest fires when we read the story of Smokey the Bear. Our fire dogs turned out to be very cute. Allison is demonstrating her great cutting skills and Hunter is holding the finished project! I would encourage you to talk with your child about fire safety at home. Enjoy the weekend and I look forward to seeing many of you during parent visitation next week!

Reading Reminders

Each week your child will receive a tan booklet. Your child reads the book with me at school and I would also encourage you to have your child practice reading the book at home as well. Remind your child to use their pointer finger to follow along as they read each word. Noah and Lucas are doing a great job demonstrating this! Also continue to practice the Unit 1 sight words at home. You will notice that the tan books consist of many of the sight words. You will be receiving the Unit 2 sight words next week when we begin the next unit. If your child is have difficulty remembering some sight words you could have them write the words a few times. Another way to practice the sight words is by having your child pick out the words as you read books to them at home. The better they know their words the easier reading will be! Thank you for your support and cooperation!

Be A Phanatic About Reading

This week you received papers regarding the Be a Phanatic About Reading Program that our class is participating in. Remember that all you have to do is read with your child each night for 15 minutes. After you read, record the date and book that you read on the "reading recording sheet" that was sent home. Once that sheet is filled up send it to school with your child's name on it and I will send home a new sheet. I am hoping everyone participates in this program because reading with your child is very important! Who knows maybe we will be one of the lucky winning classes to get a visit from the Philly Phanatic!

Decorating for Fall

Today we were very busy working on some fall decorations for the hallway. We made bats out of black construction paper. We practiced our tracing, gluing, and cutting skills for this project. The students practiced teamwork when they traced their partners hands. Madelyn and Tristan are working together in the picture on the left. They put their cutting skills to the test when they had to cut out their hands. Evelynn did a nice job cutting very neatly on the lines. Alex is holding the finished project and it looks great!

A Few Reminders

The following are some important reminders:

* Homework is sent home every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night. It should be completed neatly and in pencil and returned the following day.
* Please send in a snack each day with your child.
* Practice sight words each night (they were sent home last week, if you have misplaced them please send a note into school and I will send home a new pack)
*Take a look at the bottom of your child’s math worksheet each night. There you will find some ways to practice the lesson at home with your child to reinforce what they were taught in school.
*Practice letter recognition with your child. You can use the blue flashcards that I sent home in the Friday Folder. We have also learned the sounds for letters A,B,C,D,and E so please practice that at home as well.
* Your child should be able to correctly write his/her first name by the first week of October. You can use the name strip that was sent home to help your child write it correctly.

Fun With Patterns

This week in Math we began Chapter 2, patterns. We have been practicing movement and sounds patterns. In the picture Vai and Joshua are using instruments to demonstrate an AB pattern. Today we practiced making simple AB patterns using snap cubes. Within the next few days we will be learning about AAB, ABB, and ABC patterns. Patterning will be assessed on the report card. Remember to look over your child's Math worksheet each night as it contains some at home activities you can do to reinforce skills learned in class.

We Are Off To A Great Start!

I am happy to say that the first few weeks of school are going very well! The students have adapted to the daily routines and they seem to be adjusting well to the full day of school. In Language Arts, we have been working on the letters A-O. We are also learning the sight words “a”, “I”, “am”, "the", and "little." Please continue to practice the sight words each night. Once your child knows all of the words from Unit 1 please return them to school so your child can be tested. We are also learning about rhyming words, syllables, characters and setting. In Math, we are talking about the words: top, middle, bottom, above, below, over, under, in, out, right and left. We have just finished Chapter 1 and we will begin Chapter 2 tomorrow; patterns. In Writing, we are practicing correctly writing all of the letters in the alphabet and first names. We are also practicing holding pencils/crayons correctly, coloring inside the lines, and cutting. The picture above is Olivia practicing her cutting skills.