January 30 Newsletter

We will be celebrating a very important day in the first grade on February 4th.  As of right now, that will be Day 100.  Since the first grade of school we have been counting the days school has been in session.  We will be doing all sorts of activities revolving around the number 100.  I would like you child to bring 100 of some object that we could count here at school on wednesday.  Some ideas might be Cheerios, M&M's, buttons, toothpicks, seeds, raisins, etc.  We will be doing several reading, writing, counting and drawing activities on this day.  Be sure and ask your child about this important day.  (If we would happen to have a snow day between now and then, the day would be postponed by however many snow days there were.

In reading the last two weeks we have been working on these reading skills:  Long O and Long U (CVCe) and final clusters ft, lk, and nt; story structure, naming words for people and animals and writing to persuade.

If you have anything specific you would like to discuss during Parent/Teacher conferences please be sure and jot a note in the Friday Folder this week.

One of my goals for my first graders is responsibility and thinking for themselves.  I am trying to stress to them that they can do many things for themselves and not need an adult to do it for them.  A great way to start at home would have them be responsible for packing their own book bag in the morning or the evening before.  If they forget something, it's not the end of the world--the stakes are low and that consequences are not that severe.  this is a good way to start them being more responsible for themselves and making good choices before the stakes are higher.

I was glad to see so many people at our first Chinese Club of the year Thursday night.  After a short presentation on the Chinese New Year by our Chinese teacher, Yemin Yu, students showed their parents what they have been learning in Chinese.  Crafts were made and a Chinese snack was enjoyed by all.