Weekly Overview - Nov. 28-Dec.2

HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING IN ROOM 14...NOVEMBER 28-DECEMBER 2

Dear Parents:

Please make sure that you have read the note and emails about the Family-to-Family giving opportunity. I hope that you are able to help your child to find a way to earn $5 (or more!) to help a family in need. Learning to give to others is such a valuable life lesson. Donations are due Monday, December 5.

LANGUAGE ARTS:

Phonograms:  We will learn ng and nk. There will be a quiz this week.

sing   bring   long   hung   bang   thank   blink   trunk   drink   think

Reading: We will be reading a story about a rain forest animal, the red-eyed tree frog. Please help your child to review the vocabulary that is being sent home on Monday. Our discussion will focus on story summary.

English:  We will continue to work on punctuation, capitalization, adding s to nouns and verbs and adding ‘s to a word to show that something belongs to someone. We will review the practice of adding -ed to show that something has happened in the past. There will be two skill quizzes (Wed. and Fri.) for punctuation, capitalization, and adding s and ‘s.

Spelling: Spelling homework accuracy has improved J, but there continue to be students losing homework points for not using correct punctuation and not underlining the spelling word in each sentence L.

1. song         2.  thing         3.  think         4.  thank         5.  it’s   (means “it is”)                           

        

6.  water         7.  bring         8.  bank         9.  to             10.  we

MATH: We will finish up our related facts topic and have our topic test on Tueday. This test includes using pictures and number sentences to solve story problems. Students should continue to review their math facts, as MANY students still do not know their facts and strategies (doubles, near doubles, related facts…). On Wednesday we will begin an entirely different math strand-geometry. Our study this week will focus on definition and recognition of plane shapes (flat) with respect to sides and corners.

SCIENCE: This week we will have a science lab to explore some of the different properties of air, as well as some of the tools that scientists and others use to measure air.

*********************SPECIAL NOTES***************************

LOOKING AHEAD:

 *Dec. 12 – Holiday Program – arrive by 6:00 - program

                   begins at 6:30- Millikin cafeteria

*Dec. 16 - Holiday party and 1:37 dismissal

*Jan. 3  (Tuesday!) - school resumes- Happy New Year!

There will be a progress report this week for Nov.14-22.

Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Pierce

Weekly Overview - Nov. 21-22

HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING IN ROOM 14......NOVEMBER 21-22

Dear Parents: 

Thank you to those of you who were able to support the Book Fair and get to Barnes & Noble last Thursday and also come to Armadillos Willy’s and the Multicultural Fair! We are also very proud of our Millikin students for earning approximately $675 toward the purchase of hand and foot-warmers for our soldiers. Thank you for your generosity! After Thanksgiving students will have another opportunity to practice the joy of giving as we raise money for our adopted family for Family-to-Family. Ana’s mom has sent out information about this and I hope that we can once again reach out to others in need. Thank you!!

LANGUAGE ARTS:

Phonograms/Printing: We will do a phonogram review.

Reading: We will listen to different versions of the classic story, “The Little Red Hen” and then we will do some comparing and contrasting. The students will write their own simplified versions.

MATH: There will be a related facts quiz on Monday and then the students will play a partner game to practice subtraction.

SOCIAL STUDIES: We will continue to discuss important people from the past as we explore the question, “Who Came Before Us?”.

SCIENCE: Weather permitting, we will explore some characteristics of air. Ask your child about the fun experiment they did last week with the vial, the paper towel and a basin of water. They should be able to tell you that they learned that air takes up space and can be trapped and let out.

HOMEWORK: There is no spelling this week. The students will have a reading coupon for homework on Monday.

**************************SPECIAL NOTES****************************

Please return the signed report card envelope if you have not already done so.

Family-to Family collection- Nov.28-Dec.2

Looking Even More Ahead: Holiday Program- Monday, Dec. 12 @ 6:30pm at Millikin-since only K-1 are performing it will be very short!… Friday, Dec. 16-classroom party and Minimum Day dismissal (1:37)

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Pierce :)

Weekly Overview - Nov. 14-18

HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING IN ROOM 14...NOVEMBER 14-18

Dear Parents:

Please send back the signed (empty) report card envelope. Also, even with the signed note that came back about spelling homework, there were 5 students who had to miss recess due to errors in spelling homework on both nights of homework. There were other students who had errors on either Monday or Tuesday. I can’t stress enough the importance of carefully going over your child’s homework, not just on spelling nights, but EACH homework night. This daily one-on-one time with you is important for your child’s academic growth-with 30 students in the classroom I just can’t get to everyone each day.

LANGUAGE ARTS:

Phonograms:  We will learn one phonogram this week- ea (long e,short e, long a). There will be a quiz this week.

dream   meat   flea   tease   bread   head   breath   steak   great           

                 

Reading: Our story this week is a circle story (it ends up where it began) called, “EEK! There’s a Mouse in the House!”. Please review the vocabulary with your child for Monday’s homework.

Writing: We hope to finish up our Hidden Villa stories this week!

 

English:  We will continue to work on punctuation, capitalization, and adding s to nouns and verbs.  This week's new skill is learning how to add 's to a word to show that something belongs to someone.  There will be a review quiz on Thursday (adding s to nouns and verbs).

Spelling: Beginning this week, the spelling sentences will have one new criterion: at least one of the sentences MUST end in a question mark. There can be more than one question mark. Also, your child should not change the spelling word to fit his/her sentence; the sentence should fit the spelling word.

1. eat       2. steam     3. bread       4. each    5. great

6. snowman     7. make     8. gift    9. with       10. said

MATH: This week we will work on a great subtraction strategy for 1,2 and 3 – counting back. This is similar to our counting on strategy except that instead of counting on from the larger number, a student will count backward. We will also be using addition to help with subtraction. This is called using “related facts”. For example, if I want to know 14-7, I can think of the related addition double (7+7=14) to know that 14-7=7. We will first practice the concept of related facts with doubles and then we will move on to other facts up to 12.

SCIENCE:  We will begin our Air and Weather science unit by exploring air and what we know of its properties and what it can do.

SOCIAL STUDIES: This week we will begin Unit 5, Celebrate Cultures. The question to explore this week is “How are we alike?”.

***************************SPECIAL NOTES****************************

BARNES & NOBLE NIGHT THIS THURSDAY- NOV. 17 –The PTA has been working very hard to make our Barnes & Noble Book Fair evening a huge success. Please come on out, listen to some stories (I will be reading a story or two) and do some holiday shopping for books and treats. A portion of your purchases helps to support our school!!

Friday, Nov. 18 – Social Studies Fair- Celebrating the US and its regions

Nov. 23-25 Happy Thanksgiving holiday!!

Nov. 28- Family-to-Family outreach opportunity begins

The students have a wonderful opportunity to take part in a Student Council sponsored fund-raiser (just $2.00- That’s less than a Starbucks!) for hand and foot-warmers for our troops overseas. Your child can do an extra chore and bring $2.00 (or more!) to support our soldiers. Thank you!

SAVE THE DATE-- MONDAY, DECEMBER 12 - HOLIDAY PROGRAM AT MILLIKIN.  More info. (about dress, time, etc.) to come!

 Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Pierce

Weekly Overview - Nov. 7-11

HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING IN ROOM 14......NOVEMBER 7-11

Dear Parents: 

     On Thursday report cards will be given out. Please sign and return the (empty) report card envelope. There will be no progress reports until after Thanksgiving. There is no school on Friday as we observe the Veterans’ Day holiday.

LANGUAGE ARTS:

Phonograms/Printing:  Two new phonograms will be introduced: oy (says oy at the end of the word) and oi (says oi in the middle of the word). There will not be a phonogram test this week.

boy   toy   enjoy  boil   oil   join  moist

Reading: Word cards will go home for homework tonight. We will begin a new theme, “Animal Adventures”.  Our story is called “The Sleeping Pig”.  We will be working with story structure as an aid to comprehension.

English: We will continue reviewing the skills that we have covered so far: capitalization rules, ending punctuation, and adding s to nouns. A new (and challenging!) skill will be presented this week- adding s to verbs (action or doing words).  There will be a quiz on Thursday. So that you can help your child at home, here are the rules that I will be sharing with the children:

1.  Add "s” to a verb when one person or thing is doing the action.    Ex.   A dog barks.

2.  Do not add "s” when more than one person or thing is doing the action. 

      Ex.  The plants need_  water.

3.  "I" does not follow the rule.   Ex.  I rake the leaves.

Spelling: The final test will be given on Thursday.

1.  boy     2.  toy     3.  coin     4.  soil     5.  boil

6.  sister     7.  brother     8.  went     9.  as     10.  asked

Writing: We will work on a complete narrative for our Hidden Villa trip. This is an incredibly detail-rich topic and should be fairly easy for your child to come up with ideas to use as we work through the entire structure (intro, event, details, event, details, event details, closing).

MATH:   We will be working with a 10 frame to practice facts using 5 and we will learn a challenging, but useful strategy for addition- making a 10s and ones fact. For example, if you have the fact 9+5, you can take 1 from the 5, give it to the 9 and make the 10s fact, 10+4. 10+4=14, so 9+5=14. We will also continue to work on problem solving using pictures and number sentences. Please remember that whenever your child has a story problem to solve, s/he should draw a picture and write a number sentence to go with it. Just a reminder: the ONLY time a t-chart is used for a picture is if it is a comparing problem. These types end with the question “How many more…?” or “How many fewer…?”. T-charts are not used for regular subtraction problems. Our topic test for addition strategies and a problem-solving test will be on Thursday.

***************************SPECIAL NOTES**************************

Thursday- Super Citizen assembly

Nov. 17 - Barnes & Noble Bookfair (5:00-?)- a portion of the proceeds supports our school!

Nov. 18- Social Studies US fair- read more about it in the Millikin newsletter online

Nov.23-25-Happy Thanksgiving!!

Nov. 28- Our Family-to-Family giving opportunity sponsored by our PTA will be starting. Please work together with your child to show a spirit of love and giving as we bring gifts and money to share with a family in need. Thank you for supporting another way of reaching out to those in need.

Save the evening of Monday, December 12, for our annual Holiday Program at 6:30 in the Millikin cafeteria. The children have been working hard! This program will feature only the Kinder and 1^st grade students so it should be fairly short- but great!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Pierce