December 8th ~ 12th

I noticed today that we have less than 10 days until Winter Break! WOW, that is no time at all! I can't believe that it is almost here.

In our classroom, we are trying to conduct business as usual. This week we are working on the sound /ar/ as in star and shark. Our work this week will be about stars, farms, barns, and sharks. We will cover lots of information. Please try to reinforce the information at home by reading books about these subjects at home. Go to the Christmas tree FARM and talk about how that is different from a farm that has cows, pigs, and goats. Next week we will try to cover /wh/ as in whale. Knowing that we will be getting out of school on Friday may make that a little harder, but hopefully we will get a little bit in before all of that kicks in.

We completed Chapter 12 in math today. We will test on Chapter 12 on Wednesday and begin Chapter 13. Chapter 13 will work on addition and subtraction to sums of 12. Keep a look out for homework.

We have started doing Daily Language Review. The daily practice pages will come home in the homework folder. These DO NOT have to be returned to school, instead you should practice at home with your student. We will quiz on these on Fridays. I am going to practice the quiz with the students this week, then in January, I will begin taking grades on the quizzes. We will continue to cover the Grammar rules in the BEE Book. We have been working on Verbs.

I hope that you have found the Reading Homework packets helpful. These should help with reading ability and sight words. Over the Winter Break, I will send home some passages to read. I will also make sure everyone has new library books for the holiday. Please read with your student over the holiday. This is the time when 1st grade students make the most progress. I would love to have lots of excited readers when we come back from Winter Break.

Upcoming Events and Dates:

Thursday, December 11th: DIBELS Testing, 10:30 am.

Monday, December 15th: Reading Homework Packets Due

Tuesday and Wednesday, December 16th and 17th: January Quilt Days
Be at the school at about 12:30. I may have more than just quilt stuff for you do to, if you want to stay and help.

Thursday, December 18th (AM): Holidays Around the World
My classroom will be about England. We will make Krackers.

(PM): 1:30 to 2:15 pm HOLIDAY PARTY

Friday, December 19th: Students may wear their PJs. We will watch Polar Express in the morning. We will also have a little snack.

As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me!

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

Ms. Messick