Spetember 7, 2007

We enjoyed meeting all of our parents at open house.   Thank you for coming.  We also appreciate you sending your t-shirt orders and payments so quickly.  If you have not had a chance to do this, please send it in the first of next week.

We have been very busy these last two weeks.  Kindergarten has focused on the letters m, h and i.  Please review these letters and sounds with them.  We are also learning how to sound out words when writing.  Please do not spell words for your child.  Have them use their best guess spelling.  First grade has focused on blending sounds together, isolating different sounds in a word, and listening for short and long vowel sounds.  We have also looked at how we can spell  /s/, /h/, /t/, /a/, and /m/.

In kindergarten math, we have been exploring the different ways to sort items.  We have also been discussing positional words such as:  above, below, behind, and between.  Please review these skills at home.  Next week we will  be exploring patterns.

First graders have completed their introduction of addition.  They should be able to tell you what the commutative property of addition and the zero addition property.  They understand the meaning of sum, equal, addition, and addend.  We have also taken our base line skills test.  We will use this as one of our tools to measure growth.

Together the class has learned the difference between natural and human resources.  We have looked at various jobs and how they contribute to our society.  They should be able to tell you the difference between jobs that provide a service and jobs that provide a good.  They had a good time discovering the differences.

Next week will start exploring the weather and what influences the various types.  We will continue to write in our journals.

Dates to remember:

9/19/07 - Early release

10/17/07 - Early release

10/22/07 - Report cards are distributed

10/30/07 - Field trip to the pumpkin patch

10/31/07 - Fall Centers - more information will come