As usual, the first grade will continue to be involved in a lot of reading. Every week a new list of sight words will be placed in your child’s agenda. These words are to be memorized not for spelling but to read on sight. I would suggest making flash cards and practicing them ten at a time with your child. Remember reading aloud to your child is one of the greatest things you can do and the more the better (20 minutes a day is recommended)! I can tell many of you are reading with your child and it shows, thank you! Make sure you child is reading AR books! The tests taken on these books will count toward the reading grade.

In mathematics we will continue chapter ten which is about measurement. We will be learning about rulers, yardsticks, cups, pints, gallons, and liters. Please practice these skills at home as well as the basic addition and subtraction facts with your child up to 20.  Wal Mart and Target as well as Dollar Stores have flashcards that will help with this practice.

The children will continue to be writing, writing, writing. Every morning they write in their journals examples that I write on the board and they copy down for later reference. They currently have 15 minutes to complete this assignment. Your child will be bringing a list of spelling words and sight words home a week.  Once again, practice, practice, practice with your child so he/she will do well on their tests which will be given every Friday. The spelling words for the week are as follows : find, kind, mind, mild, child, wild, day, play, sure, son. The reading story this week is “Fishing Bears.” Please ask questions about the story and discuss the story with your child. Make sure your child knows that all sentences begin with a capital letter and knows when to end the sentence with a period or a question mark.  This week we are studying the vowel i when it does not follow the usual rule and makes a long sound when used alone in a word.  The sight words for the week are: during, ready, both.. Please practice having your child use these words in oral and written sentences. We will be also working on contractions which may be practiced at home as well as identifying asking and telling sentences and making sure each sentence begins with a capital letter. Practicing this will improve your child’s writing grade.

We are currently studying about America in social studies.  We will also be having our health test on the chapter “Medicines and Drugs” on Tuesday. Please make sure your child reviews this chapter and is ready for the test.

I read to the students every day and they seem to enjoy gathering around my rocking chair for story time.  I ask them questions about the story after it is finished in order to enhance their reading comprehension and retention skills. I will continue reading “The Voyage of Dr. Dolittle” this week.

Remember we are in this together as a team (student, parent, and teacher) and we must all work together to ensure your child reaches his/her full potential. Please feel free to contact me at any time if you have any questions concerning your child at 863-660-8636. If you should loose this newsletter I have set up a web page with the same information on it. The web page may be accessed at Phantom4062.googlepages.com. Also, please be considering a parent/teacher conference date. If you cannot make it to the school then we can have a telephone conference.