Spelling Lists -

Phonetic List - Vowel Teams -ai, ay, ee, ea, ey, oi, oy
main
say
paid
tree
seat
key
green
join
toy
foil

High-Frequency List - Trick Words - Words 101-110
get
through
back
much
go
good
new
write
our
me

Math - This week we worked on identifying pairs, using pattern blocks to cover a shape and then graphing the shapes used, and math facts (+2, -2, doubles).  We had an assessment. We worked in centers and on the website Math Playground.  I did an individual check up with everyone on being able to recognize time on the clock and the ability to make the time on an analog clock.  (Everyone was checked on :00 and :30 - some kids were checked on :15 and :45)

Reading - We continue to work in small guided reading groups and work in daily five centers.  Last week we finished up compound word centers.  This week we will be starting contraction word centers.  The students will have many choices for word work - plastic eggs, matching games, contraction caterpillars, and contraction puzzles to name a few.  Last week work on writing during daily 5 was a huge hit - they are loving the writer's workshop model!

Phonics - In phonics we learned about closed syllables.  A closed syllable is one syllable with one vowel, a short vowel sound, and it is closed off at the end by a consonant, a blend, a digraph, or a digraph blend.  We learned how to mark closed syllables by scooping the syllable, putting a breve above the vowel, and putting the letter c underneath the scoop.  Examples of closed syllable words are cat, shrub, kick, bed, mop, and lunch.  We are also learning about vowel teams.  The vowel teams we are currently working on are ai, ay, ee, ea, ey, oi, and oy.  The letter-keyword-sounds are:

ai - bait

ay - play

ee - jeep

ea - eat

ey - key

oi - coin

oy - boy

Writing - As I just mentioned, writer's workshop has been a bit hit!  The steps that we are working on are 1. Brainstorming (prewriting) 2.  Rough Draft 3. Editing  4. Rewriting, and 5. Publishing.  The students are in all different places.  Some students have already published a book, some students are writing a rough draft, some students are illustrating, etc.  It is amazing to think about how far they have come with their writing since the beginning of the year!  

Science - Our last property of solid that we tested was hardness.  We felt each solid and put them in the order we believed to go from the softest to the hardest.   The next property we will be testing is buoyancy.  We will find out if each solid sinks or floats.  On Friday we got to mix science and math together.  Miles brought in his gum factory and we made watermelon gum!

Ordering the solids from soft to hard

Posing with Luke's famous pose!

Owen and Eli sorted their solid in three different categories - hard, medium, and soft

Religion - This week we finished up our generosity virtue cards.  We'll be picking a new word this week.  We read our Promise Paper on Friday and worked out of our text book a lot this week.  Here is my favorite story from Religion this week. Please read this page -

The first line says, "The parish family likes to pray and sing together."  When one of our students was reading this to the class this week, he read it as "The parish family likes to party and sing together."  I thought that was adorable and worth sharing!  :)

For our wake up work we have been building with blocks.  They are loving it!  These bristle blocks are quite old - they were mine when I was a child.  

Another Calla creation

Luke working hard

Luke with his famous pose!

100th Day of School - The 100th day of school is coming up!  We will be celebrating the 100th day on Monday, February 4th.  Your child may bring in their 100th day project any time between now and February 4th.  We can not wait to see all the creations!  The 100th day is so much fun!  Hooray!

Here's a copy of the 100th day project letter -

Happy 100th Day of School

January 17, 2019

Dear Parents,

    Today is the 90th day of school.  The children are exactly half way through the school year.  That also means that there are only 10 days left until the 100th day.  This year it works out that the 100th day of school is on Friday, February 1st.  However, Friday, February 1st is the last day of Catholic Schools Week.  We have CSW activities planned for that day. So, we will celebrate the 100th day on Monday, February 4th - day 101!  :) We will spend the entire day working on things that have to do with the number 100. For the 100th day of school, the kids will be making 100th day projects.  They can bring the projects in any time from now until the 100th day.  We will hang them in the hallway to display them.

    The 100th day projects are a collection of 100 things.  It’s a family project. Have your child decide on 100 of something and then decide how it will be displayed.  We have had so many interesting and creative projects over years. Some examples are goldfish crackers, small marshmallows, Legos, seeds, pennies, candy, stickers, pictures, feathers, nails, googley eyes, and even fake fingernails!  (Check out Pinterest - There are so many ideas!)

    Have fun with this project!  We look forward to seeing all of them!

Have a great week!  :)

Spelling - This week we will not have a spelling list.  We do not have school this Friday.

Reading - We continue to work in guided reading groups and daily 5 centers.  We usually get through 3 of the 4 groups every day.  We are continuing to learn about compound words in our word work center. 

base+ball = baseball

Math - This week we worked on adding 2 to a number, writing out number words, comparing and ordering objects by length, using non-standard units to measure and having an introduction to measuring in inches.

Using wrap-ups to add +2 equations

Using cubes to go from wall to wall in the classroom.  It was over 400 cubes.

Science - We have been working out of our Einstein Kit called Solids and Liquids.  We are currently doing experiments with the properties of solids.  We sorted the solids by color and shape.  We tested which solids would roll and which solids would stack.  We then took the solids that rolled and tested which one rolled furthest and which one rolled best.  We built a ramp with books and a ruler.  

Figuring out how to get the balls to stack

Religion - Our current virtue card is generosity.  This week we worked out of our textbook. We finished up our chapter about the Holy Family.  On Friday we worked on our Promise Paper.  We learned about Baptism.  We also had adoration on Friday.  This last week our fourth grade buddies walked up to the altar with their first grade buddies to pray.

Writing - We finished our New Years writings.  We are also learning about writer's workshop.  The steps in writers workshop are 1. Brainstorming (prewriting)  2. Rough Draft 3. Editing 4. Rewriting, and 5. Publishing.  

Last week we used different types of blocks for wake up work.  The students loved creating with the blocks!

Reminder - There is no school on Friday, January 18th.

Have a great week!  :)

Weekly Spelling Lists -

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

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

Reading - Our word work center is working on compound words.  Compound words are words that have 2 smaller words inside of them.  For instance rain+bow=rainbow and foot+ball =football.  As always, there are a lot of choices.  The students have puzzle games, matching cards, making compound word flap books, and compound word snowmen just to name a few.  During daily 5 the students are either meeting with me in small reading groups or working in one of the five centers.

Making compound word snowmen

Work on Writing

Compound Word Snowmen

Matching words on eggs to make compound words

Science - We are starting a new Einstein kit.  It is called solids and liquids.  Last week we investigated the first two solids - the spoon and the ball.  This week we are going to investigate and observe all 20 solids.

Writing - We worked on a New Years writing sheet.  I'll have to snap some pictures to show are great they turned out.  This week we are also going to add to our writing.  We have been working on writing numerous ways in daily 5.  We're going to add writer's workshop into the mix this week.  I'll explain more as we get into it later this week.  It's going to be so much fun!  :)

Religion - We will be starting a new virtue card - Generosity.  This week in our Religion book we'll be learning about Jesus' apostles.

Read-Aloud - We have been reading from The Magic TreeHouse series.  We just finished book 1 - Dinosaurs Before Dark.  We are now starting #2 - The Knight at Dawn.

Thank you again for all of the cards, Scrip, notes, gifts, etc. at Christmas.  I am truly blessed here at Holy Cross!  Christmas and vacation went by so quickly!  It was a relaxing and fun break!  This week we'll get back into the swing of things.  Have a great week!  :)