October 28 ~ November 1

Nancy’s Italian Ice every Monday for $1.00.  Thanks so much for sending it sealed and labeled.  Saves me a lot of time in the morning!!!

I am sending home Scholastic Book Club order forms!  Please look over them and consider ordering a book or two for your child to add to their library at home.  Orders are due Friday, November 1st. {orders can now be made online}

The 4th and 5th grade students are collecting school supplies for Family Promise as their community spirit project.  There is a big yellow barrel outside the office if your family would like to donate school supplies.  Items will be collected through Friday, November 1st.

If you have not already sent in your permission slip and money for our exciting field trip to Dream Fields Pumpkin Patch, please do so this week.  Thank so much!  :)

Reading Unit 1 Week 3 ~ We will focus on short /o/, consonant /s/ and plural –s this week.  A review sheet will continue to come home each week with 10 sentences that come from the main selection on the front and a list of decodable words your child should be able to read within 3 seconds on the back.  Please practice both each night for FLUENCY!

Genre ~ Animal Fantasy

Comprehension ~ Character, Plot and Setting

Amazing Words ~ past, present, produce, transportation, danger, serve, snuggle, enormous, and powerful

Word Wall Words ~ blue, help, from, little, get, use

Spelling~ Children will take a spelling test each Friday.  Two of the grades will count as major and the rest will be minor.  One major will be given before Progress Reports and the other will be before Report Cards.  This weeks spelling test will count as a major!  A list of the words can be found in your child’s take home folder.  :)

Language ~ We will continue to focus on nouns, verbs, and adjectives.  What is a sentence?  A sentence  is a group of words that tells a complete idea.  It begins with a capital letter and ends with a period.  We learned that the subject of a sentence tells us who or what the sentence is about.  This week we will learn about predicates.  It tell us who or what the subject does.  Please remember to review your child’s DOL sentences that come home each day.  I take a daily grade each Friday of all the Daily Fix-Its for the week. 

Math ~ We will begin Ch. 5, Addition and Subtraction Relationships.  A review sheet will come home the night before the test. 

Please contact me with any questions or concerns ~ Kristin

In your child’s take home notebook you will find the Spelling List for Unit 1.  There are six weeks in each unit.  You will find it in a page protector.  Make sure to leave it in their notebook for the full six weeks.  Each week focuses on words that have specific sounds that the students are learning for the week in their story.  Week 1 focuses on the short /a/ sound and the /ck/ ending sound.  We will have a spelling test each Friday that will count towards their Reading grade.  Please make sure your child can spell these words for the test.  At the end of the unit {in six weeks} I will add the new Spelling List and we will begin the process all over again.  :)

You will also notice a homework reading sheet that has sentences on the front and isolated words on the back.  Please have your child read these sentences to you and the words each night.  This will be very important as it will reinforce the sounds for the week and help them with fluency.  The words are decodable and your child should be able to use the appropriate skills to decode them.  :)  Each week a new homework sheet will be added for practice. 

We have completed our first nine weeks of school!  What a great group of smart kiddos!  They are soaking up everything like little sponges.  I hope they are filling your ears with new and exciting things!  :)

The students are now allowed and encouraged to check out two books instead of one.  So get ready to READ READ READ there two library books.  They also will be allowed to test on both books as long as you feel confident they are comprehending each story separately. 

Thursday is a big day!  Report Cards will come home and it’s our exciting Fall Festival that PTA has worked very hard to put together.  It is such a fun time for friends and family!  I hope you make plans to attend. 

Have a great week and contact me with any questions or concerns!  Kristin :)

Fall is Finally Here!

Sorry for the delay, but enjoy all of the first graders in room 121!

Nancy’s Italian Ice is every Monday for $1.00 {keep labeling with a name}

Library is every Tuesday from 2:00-2:30 {keep those library books coming everyday}

Fall Picture Day is Tuesday, October 8.  Your child may dress out of uniform but must still adhere to the MPS dress code {no open toe sandals, flip flops, clogs, no spaghetti strap shirts or dresses and all clothing must be the appropriate length}

Thursday, Oct. 10 is the deadline to get “early bird wristbands” for the Fall Festival.  Wristbands are $10 for children ages 3 and up and $1 for adults.  Children 2 and under are FREE!  If you miss the deadline, please still make plans to attend.  Prices at the gate will be $15 for children and $2 for adults. 

Reading ~ This week is a Review week.  We will review all our word wall words for the past six weeks along with all of the stories we have read.  Students will take a cumulative test of all material they have been exposed to up to this point in the school year. 

Language ~ We will review nouns, verbs, adjectives, statements, questions and complete sentences.  We will also review our Daily Fix It sentences each morning as part of our DOL.

Math ~ We will continue through Ch.2, Subtraction Concepts.  Don’t forget that a review sheet will come home the night before the test and it will also be noted in their homework page located in their take home notebook.  Please continue reviewing math facts and doubles.  We are beginning to make the connection that addition and subtraction facts are related. 

Other Important Dates:

10/10 ~ Teacher Treat Day and Signed Papers

10/11 ~ End of the First Nine Weeks

10/14 ~ Columbus Day/No School!

10/17 ~ Fall Festival 4:30-7:30 and Report Cards

10/21 ~ Spirit Night at Texas Roadhouse

10/24 ~ Signed Papers

10/25 ~ Box Top Collection

11/2 ~ Spirit Night at East Chase Cookie Company

11/7 ~ Fieldtrip to Pumpkin Patch and Signed Papers/Progress Reports

*We are planning to arrive at Dream Field Farms Pumpkin Patch between 9:30-9:45 and leave around 1:00.  The cost will be around $20.00.  This will include entry to the pumpkin patch, lunch, and the bus.  Lunch will be hot dogs, chips, fruit roll up and juice.  This is a great fieldtrip to attend with your child because this is the ONLY fieldtrip that will be open to ALL parents.  Our remaining scheduled fieldtrips will be limited on who can attend.  The cost for parents will be $5 plus lunch if you choose to eat there.  Parents will meet us at the pumpkin patch and also pay at the gate when they arrive.  Another letter will be sent home with the exact amount for students in the next couple of weeks!  So go ahead and mark your calendar.  The other two scheduled fieldtrips will be on Jan. 30 and Feb. 21.  We will be attending plays! 

Thanks so much for all you do for our school!  Please contact me with any questions or concerns.  We are already learning so much!!!

kristin.thomas@mps.k12.al.us