1. MARK YOUR CALENDARS! 2/26-3/4 – Terra Nova Testing 3/1 – February's Reading Log is due. Please make sure to have a book talk with your child on a regular basis. Questions can be found in your child’s reading log folder. 3/2 Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! Hats Off to Reading! Please bring in your favorite Dr. Seuss book to share. 4/13 Daylight Savings Time to “spring” ahead! 4/14 Stations of the Cross project is due. Guidelines will be sent home early this week. 4/17 Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Always make sure to check our school website for additional news and events. Thank you! First Grade News February 22 nd -26 th 2016 Remember to make time for additional family prayer and acts of kindness during Lent. Terra Nova Testing 2/26-3/4 Testing will begin at 8:25 each morning. It is important that your child is present each day. Please allow plenty of time each morning for a hearty and healthy breakfast. Make sure your child is getting a good night’s sleep. Students will need to bring in a water bottle and a morning snack each day. Supplies Needed: In a labeled zip- lock bag, please bring in the following items by Thursday. 1. 3-4 sharpened #2 pencils 2. 1 large eraser Religion We have been learning about and discussing the Stations of the Cross. Please talk with your child about how they are like Simon (boys) or Veronica (girls). Discuss examples and ways they could be more like them. Students will complete a writing assignment on this early this week. MATH We will complete Chapter Five this week. Please review your child’s recent classwork and homework assignments. The following skills will be assessed on this test. 1. greater than/less than 2. odd vs even numbers 3. counting patterns to include 10- more/less, before, between, after 4. place value 5. expanded form 6. basic addition and subtraction We had a blast celebrating the 100th Day! 100 days of learning and 100 days of friendship and fun in first grade! Let’s keep it up!

2. This Week’s Curriculum Notes Reading & Spelling – This week, we will be reading, I’m a Caterpillar. The reading skill that we will be focusing on is drawing conclusions. Our spelling words are generated from this story. This week, our spelling and phonics focus will be on r-controlled er,ir,ur words. Our spelling and reading test will be on Friday. Last week, we read Frog and Toad Together, The Garden. The Frog and Toad books written by Arnold Lobel are a great first grade reading series to explore. Next week, we will explore and celebrate Dr. Seuss. Happy Reading! Grammar & Writing – We will continue to explore verbs and review contractions. Students will identify verbs am, is, are, was and were. We will continue with fun winter writing prompts, poetry and idioms. We are having a ball exploring these sayings and I encourage you to continue to discuss them at home. Continue to encourage your child to explore writing. Creating stories, responding to a prompt, and keeping a journal are all excellent ways to reinforce letter formation and sentence structure. If you notice that your child is forming letters or numbers incorrectly, please find time to practice them. Developing correct letter formation is critical. Practice writing on a white or chalk board or try writing in shaving cream. Math – Chapter Five, Place Value We will complete Chapter Five this week. We will review writing numbers in expanded form and identifying numbers within a counting pattern (before, between, after, 10 more, 10 less). Use your 100s chart to practice these counting patterns at home. We will review odd and even numbers and we’ll put on our thinking caps to solve word problems. Religion – We will continue to learn about and discuss Lent. As a family, I encourage you to discuss what sacrifices you can make during Lent to grow closer to Jesus. We will complete a writing piece on how we are like Simon/Veronica. In addition, we will complete Chapter Eight – We are Followers of Jesus. Science – February is dental health month. In recognition, we will have a dentist speak with our class this week on the importance of dental hygiene. In conjunction with this week’s story, we will learn more about caterpillars and butterflies.

3. 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. A good night’s sleep, hearty breakfast and healthy lunch will help fuel the body for learning! Please continue to pack nutritious morning snacks. Math Enirchment Please review counting patterns (before, between, after, 10 more, 10 less) and reading 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. We are collecting Boxtops and Campbell’s soup labels. Let’s see if we can be this month’s winning class! "You're off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So... get on your way!" 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. "Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!" Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! March 13 th is Daylight Savings Spring into a good book!

4. Spelling Words r – Controlled er, ir, ur herwere first shirt birdfur girlhurt burnsir High-Frequency Words: visitdone Challenge Words: chirpcurb everyswerve We will be reading, I’m a Caterpillar. The reading skill that we will be focusing on is drawing conclusions. Our spelling words are generated from this story. Our spelling focus will be on r-controlled er,ir,ur words. Words to READ know done push wait visit

5. servebirth burn longer dirt fur burstgirl hurtplayer third shirt purr reader stir curl wereturn nursewhirl twirlshower fernblur clerkgerm senderflower bird skirt r – Controlled sight words