1. MARK YOUR CALENDARS! Feb. 8 th - Mid-Progress reports are due. I am so proud of everyone’s hard work and positive attitude. Let’s keep it up! Feb. 10 th – Ash Wednesday Feb. 11 th – Valentine containers are due. Be imaginative and have fun with this project! Please refer to the guidelines that were sent home last week. I can’t wait to see your creativity. Feb. 12 th – Valentine cards are due Feb. 15 th – NO School. Teacher In- Service. Enjoy your day off from school! Always make sure to check our school website for additional news and events. Thank you! Have a wonderful week! First Grade News February 8 th – 12 th 2016 We are collecting Boxtops and Campbell’s soup labels. Let’s see if we can be this month’s winning class! Please review the dress code policy online. Make sure that your child is adhering to all of the standards. Note that sweatpants are to be worn for gym class. Fueling the body for focused learning! Nutritious snacks and healthy lunches fuel the body and mind. Suggestion - brainstorm a list of healthy food choices with your child. Friendly Reminder… February’s reading log was sent home early last week. Please keep this in a safe place and log what your child is reading to you. Also, use the attached comprehension questions as a tool to monitor your child’s understanding of what they are reading. Folders are due on March 1 st. We had a great time celebrating Catholic Schools Week! Thank you for your time and support with all of our special events. Wonderful Writing Everyone did a fantastic job on their hot chocolate writing. Way to go! These pieces will be proudly displayed in our classroom. Math Enirchment Please review reading two and three digit numbers both in word and number form with your child. Thinking ahead… Soon we will be identifying and counting coins and telling time to the hour and half hour. Math is “snow” much fun! School Supplies We are running low on tissues, paper towels and antibacterial wipes. If you did not bring in these items in August, could you please send them in at your convenience. Thank you. Happy Valentine’s Day! I truly love being your child’s First Grade teacher!

2. Daily Reading Practice Daily reading should consist of fluency practice, sight word practice, and free-choice reading. Break these into separate times to prevent them from feeling time consuming to your child. Fluency Practice – Repeated Readings Echo or choral read poems, songs or short stories together to model expression and fluency. Sight Words Don’t forget to practice the Dolch sight word booklet on a regular basis. Five minutes of daily sight word practice can make a big difference! Also, please have your child practice reading the weekly words that are attached to our spelling list. These words are in conjunction with our weekly phonics/spelling skills. Reading these words will help your child apply our phonics skills. Free Choice Reading Allow your child to select a book at their reading level to read aloud to you. When time allows, read to your child. This will inspire them and help them grow as readers. Have a book talk. Ask your child questions about what they are reading independently and/or aloud to you. This will help you to monitor their comprehension. Don’t forget to fill out this month’s reading log. Remember, our goal is to read five evenings per week for 15 minutes. We are building reading interest and stamina. This Week’s Curriculum Notes Phonics – Ending –es and Plural –es and r-controlled words (or, ore) Monday’s decodable reader will focus on r-controlled words. Please practice the correct pronunciation of these words at home. Reading & Spelling – This week, we will be reading, Jan’s New Home. The reading skill that we will be focusing on is theme. Our spelling words are generated from this story. Our spelling focus will be on words ending in es and plurals with es. Our spelling and reading test will be on Friday. Please see the attached list of spelling words. A hard copy of the attached spelling list was sent home last Thursday. Grammar & Writing – We will continue to explore action verbs. Students will identify action verbs vs. nouns within a sentence. We will continue with fun winter writing prompts and poetry. We will be writing about Valentine’s Day and President’s Day. Math – Chapter Five, Place Value We will continue with Chapter Five. Our focus this week will be on writing numbers in expanded form, identifying numbers within a counting pattern, and we will continue to have fun with estimation. We will review comparing numbers and number order. A special thank you to everyone who brought in an estimation jar. Religion – This week, we will begin to read and discuss Chapter 20, Lent. Science – We will continue to learn more about the winter season. Last week, we had a blast learning about groundhogs and penguins. Social Studies – We will be learning about and discussing President’s Day. We will also complete fun Valentines crafts as we celebrate these two special events this week.

3. Spelling Words Adding -es fixfixes class classes wishwishes kisskisses busbuses High-Frequency Words: friendsvery Challenge Words: dishescatches glassesbrushes Reading & Spelling - Next week, we will be reading, Jan’s New Home. The reading skill that we will be focusing on is theme. Our spelling words are generated from this story. Our spelling focus will be on words ending in es and plurals with es. Our spelling and reading test will be on Friday. Words to READ very car away our house school friends

4. fixes wishes kisses buses classes mixes brushes glasses catches foxes patches dishes dresses boxes cares buzzes beaches fishes matches cakes piles rules sides titles Sight Word Review Below is a list of sight words in conjunction with this week’s spelling focus. always every because enough nothing were own very our afraid again how High-Frequency Sight Words

5. Number Review Please have your child practice reading two and three digit numbers. Numbers in digit form. 75 123 543 938 52 89 98 376 210 201 103 81 18 430 305 56 65 236 632 150 Numbers in word form. forty-seven twenty-three ninety-five sixty-two fifty-four thirty-eight thirteen eighty-one eleven

6. Story Connection: After your child reads aloud to you, please select one of these questions to discuss together each evening. Take a picture walk through the story. Look at the pictures before reading the story to predict what may happen. Setting - Where does the story take place? Who is/are the main character(s) of the book? Character Traits - Describe the main characters. What was the problem and/or solution of the story? What is the theme (main idea) of the story? Draw conclusions – How do you think the story may end? If you could write a sequel to this story, what would happen? Why? What was the author’s message? How do you know? What was your favorite part? Why? What was your least favorite part? Why? Compare and contrast the characters. How are they alike? How are they different? What type of genre is this story? How do you know? Visualize – What mental pictures do you make as you are reading? What details from the story helped you make visualization? Write down 2-3 words that were challenging to read and add these to your sight word list to practice each evening. Rate the book. Tell why you liked or did not like the story. Would you recommend this book to a friend? Text–Self connection – this story reminds me of… 1.A time when I… 2. A person I know… 3. A book I read… What is the plot of the story? Summarize the story. Monitoring Comprehension Please find time to have a book talk with your child on a regular basis. Now that your child is becoming an independent reader, it is important to discuss with them what they are reading. This will enable you to monitor their comprehension and help them with book selections.