Spelling Lists -

Phonetic List - R-Controlled Vowels (Bossy R)
star
corn
her
third
turn
far
born
jar
bird
torn

High-Frequency List - Trick Words - Words 91-100
long
little
very
after
words
called
just
where
most
know

Typically we have our spelling test on Friday morning.  This week we have grandparents bingo Friday morning after mass.  Our whole afternoon is already planned - Movies from 12:00 - 1:30 and a celebration in the gym from 1:30-2:30.  So...depending on the length of bingo...if it lasts all morning we won't have time for our spelling test.  If we have some time after bingo in the morning, we will have our spelling test.  If we don't get a chance to take our test Friday, we'll take it Monday morning instead.  It works out - next week we won't have a new list due to not having school on Friday, February 7th.

Reading - Our newest word work center is compound words.  A compound word is when you have two words that make up a new word.  For example - sunflower is a compound word.  Sun + Flower = Sunflower.  We of course have reading groups while we are working in our daily five centers.  Next week we are also going to start another round of running records.

Writing - The students are loving writer's workshop!  We had our fourth grade buddies help us with our first web of ideas.  From there, we have taken off!  Last week when so many kids were out sick, we spent a lot of time working in writer's workshop.  We've even published a few books!

Phonics - We are continuing to work on blends.  Blends are when two consonants are together and they make their own sound.  We are also continuing to focus on those r-controlled vowels.  (bossy r)

Math - Last week we did a lot of review with so many kids out.  We reviewed odd and even numbers, telling time to the :00 and :30, and we worked on math facts.

Science - We are moving along in our solids and liquids unit.  We made a ramp using books and a ruler.  We tested which solids would roll down the ramp, which solids slid down the ramp, and which solids didn't move.  We used our breath as to see if the solids would roll or roll further.  

Religion - We are learning about Jesus' 12 apostles.  Our Promise Paper from Friday, and our textbook, have stories that we have been reading about when Jesus met his first four apostles -  Andrew, Peter, James, and John.

This week is Catholic Schools Week!  We have been having so much fun celebration our Catholic School!

Typing - Another activity we started working on with so many kids missing - typing!  The students are loving it!  We are using a website called Dancemat. It starts with showing the students where to put there fingers.  Then it goes through different levels.  The first level is home row.  Then each level adds two or three letters and symbols.  The kids are doing an amazing job!  They have been asking to do it every day!  We have added typing into our daily five centers.  If your child wants to work on typing at home, they can get to Dancemat by accessing our school sqworl page.  The website is http://sqworl.com/hxvzhb .  

100th Day of School - Don't forget!  Monday, February 3rd is the 100th day of school!  The 100 day projects are starting to come in in kindergarten and first grade.  Here are the first grade projects we have so far -

Book Fair - It is book fair week!  If you would like to send money to school with your child, they may purchase books.  Their wish lists went home last week Friday.  The book fair will also be open tonight for family night and Friday during bingo.

Addison was busy building this huge tower!

Upcoming Dates -

Friday, January 31st - Bingo!

Monday, February 3rd - 100th day of school!

Friday, February 7th - No school - teacher inservice

Wednesday, February 26th - Weidner Center - Snowy Day

Friday, February 28th - Early dismissal

Have a great week!  :)

Spelling - Due to the short week, we will not have a spelling list.

Reading - The students have been working hard in daily 5!  Our focus the last two weeks in word work has been making words and making sentences.  (subject/predicate)  During daily 5 the students are either working in guided reading groups or one of the daily 5 centers.

Math - The students have been working on telling time to the :00 and :30.  We have also been working on odd/even numbers up to 100.

Science - In our solids and liquids unit we tested which solids roll and which solids stack.  Before we did our tests, we predicted.  Our class was very surprised to find out that all of the solids that rolled could also be stacked!

Phonics - In phonics we are continuing to work on blends.  We also learned about three more r-controlled vowels (or bossy r).  The three new sounds and keywords are -er/her, -ir/bird, and -ur/burn.

Religion - In Religion we continued learning about four types of prayer - thanking, asking, praise, and sorry.  In our Promise Paper we continued to hear stories about Jesus and John the Baptist.  We learned that the Holy Spirit is with Jesus, but it is also with us!  

We also continue to work on virtues and values.  Our current virtue that we have been learning about is gratitude.

Writing - We have started working on the writing process.  We are using the writer's workshop model.  Our steps are -

1.  Brainstorm - We make a web of ideas

2.  Rough Draft - Write the story.  There may be errors in the first writing.

3.  Edit - Meet with the teacher to go over spelling, punctuation, ideas, etc.

4.  Rewrite - Rewrite the story with corrections.

5.  Publish - The story will be typed and bound.  The student will illustrate the story.

A fun picture from inside recess

Upcoming events -

*The book fair is coming!  The students will preview books on Friday.  The book fair will be open Sunday, as well as next week.

*Catholic Schools Week - January 27th - 31st

*February 3rd - 100th day of school!  :)  Your students may bring in their 100 day projects from now until the 100th day of school.

February 7th - No School - Teacher Inservice

Have a great week!  :)

Weekly Spelling Lists -

Phonetic List - Blends -
grab
best
flip
frog
jump
crash
next
drip
block
brush

High-Frequency List - Trick Words - Words 81-90
made
over
did
down
only
way
find
use
may
water

Reading - Our word work focus is making sentences (subject/predicate) and making words.  We continue to meet in our reading groups and work in centers in daily five.  Next week Tuesday we will be taking the MAP test in reading.

Writing - We have been working on New Years writings.  This week we are going to start learning about the writing process in a writer's workshop format.

Phonics - We are learning about blends.  Blends are when 2 consonants are together in a word and they still make their own sound.  They are different from digraphs because digraphs make a new sound.  We are also starting to learn about r-controlled vowels.  So far we have learned about -ar and -or.  We also call them the bossy r.

Math - In math we worked on dimes.  We learned about how much dimes are worth, as well as what is on the dime.  We worked on counting money using dimes and pennies.  We learned about symmetry and basic fractions.  (1/2, 1/3, 1/4)  We practiced making pictures with pattern blocks that had symmetry.  We also worked on odd and even numbers.

Religion - In Religion we read from our Promise Paper each Friday.  Last week we learned about the trinity and about the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist.  We made beautiful mobiles of stained glass windows.  We are learning about different types of prayer.  The four types of prayer we are focusing on are praise, thanks, sorry, and asking.

Science - We started a new Einstein kit called solids and liquids.  We have now been introduced to the 20 solids.  We started out with a lesson with the spoon and the ball.  Then we had a sorting lesson.  We sorted the solids by color and then by shape.

Mikey's Birthday - Mikey had a birthday over vacation.  We celebrated his birthday last week.

Dates to remember -

*Monday, Jan. 20th - No school

*Friday, February 7th - No School

Have a great week!  :)