September 22-26, 2008

Happy Fall!

This week in reading our whole group focus sound is "N" as in Nightingale. The focus of our writing jobs will be all about birds this week. On Friday of this week the children will bring home their "Writing Portfolio" for you to see what they have done this month. Please LEAVE all papers in and return it to school on Monday.

Our AR testing is going really well. Please make sure you are reading with your child each night so they will be ready to test the next day. I think it's reasonable to say that all children should be able to take at least 3 tests a week. Of course some may be able to take more than that. The focus is to make no less than 80% on the test. This is a wonderful indicator of comprehension. Along with the 20 minutes of reading each night, read the latest Read Well homework sheet in the back of the take home notebook. Remember, this should be read smooth and fluent, because it is familiar text. If your child is in the green reading group, they will not have any Read Well stories in their take home notebook.

We started working on Grammar Rule 8 this week: When writing days of the week always begin with a capital letter. Please continue to go over DOL and remember it is turned in for a grade on Friday.

Addition and subtraction are still the focus in math. This week we will learn how to use a number line to add and subtract. Continue to practice your addition flash cards EVERY night! So far we have covered adding 0, 1, 2 and doubles.

We have started having math centers, but they are not as structured as Reading Centers. The time in math centers will allow me to work with individuals or small groups on skills that need reinforcing or working on math facts. The children really enjoy math centers.

Thank you all for joining Blount Elementary PTA. Our class has reached 100%!!

Book orders should come in next Monday or Tuesday. Thank you for ordering books! Our class recieved 6 new free books from book orders. Yea!

Have a great week!