Weekly Overview - Feb. 27-March 2

HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING IN ROOM 14...FEB. 27-MARCH 2

Dear Parents:

Please note that there is one minimum day this week (in addition to our regular Wednesday short schedule) on Thursday. Report cards will be going home on Friday. There will be no progress reports until March 14. 

LANGUAGE ARTS:

Writing:  We will be learning our last two phonograms: ie (says long e, long i, but it's spelled i-e), and ought (ot).  There will be a quiz on Thursday.

pie  tie  lie   belief  field  chief  bought  thought  fought   

Reading/Writing: This week we will use our reading time to focus on narrative writing and a new genre of writing- functional writing. We will be practicing our narrative structure by writing about a vacation activity. Our goal for this story is to improve our use of the kinds of words we use by making them as varied and specific as possible. I will introduce the students to the use of a thesaurus. The goal of functional writing is for the students to be able to write the list of steps necessary to complete some activity. We will start with how to make a jelly sandwich. Through a fun activity, the children will see how important it is to be specific when writing directions for a task. They will write their own directions (steps) for an activity of their choice.

Writing (again!): In addition to our narrative and functional writing projects, each child will begin the brainstorming for a future writing project- a fictional animal story which will be put into book form on the computer and then "published" by adding the illustrations.  On Tuesday night your child will be asked to come up with three story main ideas (not writing the whole story!)  Please help your child with this brainstorming activity. We will also begin our study of Informational writing based on the study of a special mammal (marsupial)- a koala. The students and I will gather facts about habitat, food, body characteristics, babies and fun facts. There is a lot of writing this week!!

Spelling: Please check homework carefully!!

1.  There is a new bridge.              

2.  Don't touch this sharp edge!                     

3.  Is that fruit from your friend?

4.  Do you like being in first grade?

5.  Does the girl live here?

MATH: We continue to work with comparing numbers and number order. We will also work briefly with ordinal numbers (first, second, third…) and making reasonable estimates based on looking at tens.

SCIENCE: As I mentioned, we are going to begin an animal study this week. We will be working together to organize and write an informational piece based on our research. Our future science topic for FOSS will be solids and liquids.

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

Thursday – 1:37 dismissal

Friday – report cards home and Jump for Joy assembly (1:00)

March 6 (6:30pm)- Science Fair!! Students should bring their projects to Room 5 before or after school…1:37 dismissal!

March 9 (Friday)- Super Citizen assembly

March 12- Furlough Day- no school

Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Have a good week!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Pierce

Weekly Overview - Feb. 13-17

HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING IN ROOM 14...FEBRUARY 13-17

Dear Parents:

Please have your child wear red, pink, purple, or white on Tuesday to give a festive touch to Valentine’s Day. We will be having our party on Tuesday after lunch. Please have your child return is/her science fair question/form so that I can turn it in to the science fair coordinators. Friday is the last day of the trimester and a 1:37 dismissal day.

LANGUAGE ARTS:

Phonograms/Printing:  We will learn three phonograms:  dge (3-letter "j"), ui (oo as in fruit), and oe (long o as in toe).  There will not be a quiz on Thursday.

fudge  budge  edge  pledge  bridge  badge  fruit  suit  toe  hoe 

Reading: Our listening comprehension story is an American tall tale, “Paul Bunyan”. We are going to be reading the last story in our book, another tale about a famous American, Johnny Appleseed. This week we will be looking at how we can use more descriptive action words (scurry in the place of run, shouted in the place of said, etc.). Our themes 7 & 8 vocabulary and comprehension tests will be at the end of the week. Your child should review sight word flashcards and white vocab. half sheets as needed.

Phonics: We will be talking about when to use -es to make certain words plural (those ending in x, ss, sh and ch).

English: We have been working with the past tense of is and are: was and were.  The children have been taught that you usually use was when there is one person or thing relating to it in the sentence; you usually use were when there is more than one related thing or person. There will be a sentence-writing test on Tuesday. We will also be working on how to use its (the possessive form of “it”) and it’s (the contraction meaning “it is”) correctly in writing.

Spelling: Spelling homework is still being returned with errors!

1.  Have you had your eighth birthday?

2.  They told her to stop.

3.  Will he come over soon?

4.  That boy worked when he got home.

5.  Who will be the next girl to go?

MATH: Topic 13- Comparing and Ordering Numbers to 100 is our next topic. This week we will be working on 1 more, 1 less, 10 more, 10 less of a given number. The students will be quizzed on being able to express these relationships between numbers on Wednesday. After that we will review the meaning of the comparison signs (< = >) and apply them to numbers up to 100. There will be a quiz for this application of comparisons on Thursday. On Friday the students will be introduced to using a number line to estimate a number’s position based on the closest 10.

SCIENCE: We have a science lab this week with a mystery topic!

LIBRARY: Our library day is Wednesday and children are expected to have 2 library books to turn in on Tuesday. Many children are not remembering to bring books back Tuesday. Please make a note on your calendar for Monday evenings to check that the library book is in your child’s backpack (only one book is allowed to be brought home at a time).

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

Tuesday, Feb. 14^th – Talent Show at Santa Clara High Theater – 6:30-8:30 pm

Next week: Mid-winter break- Have a wonderful week! Do something fun so that your child can write a narrative about it when we return J!

LOOKING AHEAD..... March 1-early dismissal (1:37)…March 2 – report cards home…March 6 – 1:37 dismissal and Science Fair- 6:30…March 9 – Super Citizen assembly

Have a great week! Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Pierce

Weekly Overview - Feb. 6-10

HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING IN ROOM 14...FEBRUARY 6-10

Dear Parents:

Thank you to all of the families who brought in canned and boxed goods for our food drive, and thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Penjarla for coordinating this effort!

LANGUAGE ARTS:

Phonograms/Printing:  We will learn two phonograms this week: eigh (4-letter long a) and ph (2-letter "f").  We will have a phonogram quiz on Thursday.

eight  weigh  sleigh   weight  neighbor   phone   elephant   graph      

Reading: I will be finishing up reading level testing. The target level for this trimester is level G. I will also assess the entire class on the “word write” task- a student’s ability to write known words in a 10-minute period with some prompting. The goal is at least 40 words. Our story this week is a nonfiction selection about the development of the butterfly as it changes from a caterpillar to a butterfly. We will be working on the idea of topic, main idea, and supporting details, as well as continuing to notice and learn about nonfiction features.

Phonics:  We will review phonograms, ar, er, ir, ur, and or.  

English: There will be a review of how to use is and are correctly.  We will have a graded creative writing sentence test on Tuesday. We will also have an introduction to the use of was/were. The usage is similar to is/are- these are just the past tense words.

Spelling: Please check your child’s homework for mistakes - points are being lost for any errors!

1.  Did the baby try her first step?

2.  The phone was ringing.

3.  What did the graph teach us?

4.  Her friend lost eight teeth!

5.  Who saw the little butterfly?

MATH: We will finish up our topic of tens and ones. This week we will explore patterns on the 100 chart. We will also review the meaning of numbers with respect to tens, ones and how to write the number. There will be a test on Thursday for tens and ones and writing numbers from 1-100.

SCIENCE: February is dental health month and so we will do a brief overview of teeth structure and basic dental health care.

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

I will be sending home a name list for valentines. Students MUST write either a student’s name or work number (or both) on each valentine-no blank valentines please to aid in distribution. If your child is bringing valentines, she/he must have a valentine for each classmate. Bring completed valentines to school on Monday, if possible.

Looking ahead:

February 14- Valentine’s Day party (after lunch) and Talent Show at the SCHS theater- 6:30

February 17- 1:37 dismissal- end of trimester

February 20-24- Mid-winter break

March 1- 1:37 dismissal

March 2- report cards go home

Have a great week!  Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Pierce