Newsletter
Happy New Year! I hope you all had a restful break. I am excited to see everyone bright and early tomorrow morning!
With the new year comes new things! With that being said, we are making the switch from "learning to read" to now "reading to learn."
There will be a change for homework this semester. Students will now receive a weekly reading passage in their homework folder tailored to their reading level. Each night the students will practice reading their passage with fluency. Fluency does not mean speed! I don't love that we measure it with words per minute, but that is the way it is measured unfortunately. I always tell the students that the goal with reading fluently is to read how we speak--it should flow naturally. Students will also be required to answer the comprehension questions on the back of their reading passage at their own pace throughout the week and turn it in, completed, on Friday morning. I will explain all of this in class tomorrow. It should only take a few minutes each night if managed in chunks. The remainder of the 20 minutes reading time can be a book of choice! If you have any questions, please let me know.
Upcoming:
Math - We will be starting out with "mental math." This will be tricky! The students will be manipulating numbers and trying different ways to come up with the answers. It can come naturally to some students and to others, not so much. I would like the students to try the new way first and if it doesn't work, then they can finish the assignment in the way they know how.
Literacy - No regularly scheduled spelling quiz this week as we will be building up our new words. We will have lots of phonogram reviews and quizzes as well as reviews and quizzes on English spelling rules.
Cursive! - We will begin learning cursive, yay! I am excited for the students to learn this because it is a new beginning for all. I will put a great focus on practicing nice, neat handwriting. Practice makes permanent! Please help me help your students by reiterating that how we represent ourselves in writing is just as important as other aspects of our lives.
Literature - We will dive into Peter Pan! Students may be assigned to finish a chapter for homework if it is not completed in class. Always have your child read for 20 minutes and if it takes longer, you can take over reading. Please let me know if you have any concerns.
History - We are starting out with American history! We will be discussing the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the beginnings of our country.
Science - We will be learning about the oceans and undersea life!
Volunteer:
We would love to have you during reading groups! If you are available, please sign up here. Thank you!
Have a great week!
Links:
For Parents | Access Literacy In the FAQ section of this website, it explains why we do not send spelling lists home to parents. There is also some great information on phonograms and how our reading program works.
Dimensions Math® Resources for Teacher’s Guides – Singapore Math Inc. This will direct you to some additional math resources you can use at home to reinforce math concepts we are learning at school.
Thanks,
Ms. Hintze