Mrs. Vuoso's Updates

This week in Reading our story is  Where Are My Animal Friends?.  We will focus on sequencing stories.  Remember clue words (first, in the beginning, second, in the middle, third, finally, last) to help with sequence.  This is a tested comprehension skill on TCAP in 3rd grade and knowing the clue words really helps on the test.  Don’t forget to practice the vocabulary that is found at the beginning of the story each week.  Students should be able to read these words and use them in sentences.  (before, good-bye, does, oh, right, won’t, goose, raccoon, spring, warm)

 Spelling Words: bigger, biggest, faster, fastest, slower, slowest, sadder, saddest, good-bye, before

Please have your child practice spelling the spelling words each night.  I use car trips around town to do this so that Alyson doesn’t feel overwhelmed each night with homework.  Spelling them orally is just as effective in most cases as writing them over and over, but do what you have found works for your child.

We will continue to work with contractions.  Based on what I’ve observed over the past two weeks, I can say that they have a more solid understanding as a whole of what a contraction is, but it is helpful to have them practice reading the contractions in context which is available online at www.pearsonsuccessnet.com if you would like.

In Math this week we will continue to focus on  subtraction.  Memorizing the subtraction facts is helpful, just as the addition was.  Remember that we have a weekly test on subtraction facts.  The goal is completion of 75 problems in 7 minutes with 93% or better accuracy.

In Science and Social Studies we will focus our learning on  Natural Resources and products that are made from natural resources.  this is also our theme for Think Show.  I will be asking for parent or grandparent help for Think Show.  Look for a letter to come home in the next few weeks.

The First Grade Parent Meeting will be held on Tuesday at 9:00 or 4:00 on the D hall (First Grade Hall).  If you are not able to attend the meeting please let me know.  Thanks and I look forward to seeing you!

Though this is a short week it will be a busy one for us!

We will celebrate the 100th Day of School on Wednesday of this week so don’t forget to bring in your special 100th Day Collection in the bag that was sent home last week.

We will also have a guest speaker from International Paper to speak about sustainable natural resources as we will begin focusing more in depth over the next few weeks in Science and Social Studies on natural resources that are available to us on Earth.  This is also the beginning of our research for our Think Show projects on natural resources and factories.  Our class will be learning about paper and then learning how a book publisher uses paper in their factories.  I will be asking for parent volunteers during February to help with our projects.

Please have your child read to you each night to improve fluency.  Each child should bring home his/her library book on their reading level daily or you can use the reading textbook or the leveled readers available on www.pearsonsuccessnet.com .  The point is to read something each day.  If you have questions or if you need help selecting books, please let me know.

Reading and Math skills have been updated on www.pearsonsuccessnet.com .  Please use this to practice.  You can also use Destination Reading to build Reading skills.  Most students are finishing the phonics based Headsprout, and should move to Destination Reading.  EPGY is still available for students to use also.  If you need usernames/passwords resent please let me know.  We will focus on informational text about a caterpillar and work with r-controlled vowels in phonics.  In math we will continue working with subtraction.  We had 100% mastery on last Friday’s test!!!!  This is a first for our class, but don’t quit working.

In Science we will learn why water is important in our daily lives and also learn about the water cycle.  In SS we will learn about buy and trade economic systems.  Ask your child about the class store we have been using on Friday.

Donations of the following items are needed in our classroom:  paper towels, hand sanitizer, Lysol or Clorox wipes

Children’s Museum of Memphis is hosting a contest.  See the details.  I hope you’ll participate in the writing/drawing component.  I plan to attend the celebration on 1/16.

This will be a busy week for us.  I am trying to assess students on skills this week, but I’m also trying to play catch up with others that have been absent during assessments.  While I try to spread our tests out throughout the week when possible this is not always possible for us.  Please try to come to school daily and limit early dismissals.

Behavior has improved, but don’t ease up.  We have seen more cooperation and a little less talking back which is a good thing.  Good behavior is of the utmost these last two weeks.  Thank you for your continued support when we send notes or make phone calls.

Check out www.pearsonsuccessnet.com for Reading and Math skills and support.  You will find additional practice here.  If you are having trouble, please email me.

In science we will wrap up our studies of seasons with winter.  In social studies we will begin learning about goods and services, producers and consumers.

Study sight words.  I began testing last week and some words are causing trouble for some students.

I hope that all of you have enjoyed your break with your families.  We now have three weeks left in the first semester and it will be busy as we wind down before our next break.  Please try hard to stay on top of assignments and be sure to practice reading daily to build fluency.

Remember Wednesday,11/30 is the last day to make the 10 point AR Club with 80% accuracy.  Many students have already made this club and several more will by Wednesday.  READ!  READ!  READ!

Thursday, 12/1 is our field trip to the Pink Palace Museum and Sharpe Planetarium.  Students should wear their school uniform and should bring a sack lunch if they do not want one from the cafeteria.  Parent chaperones should meet at the school by 9:20.  We plan to leave the school at 9:45 and will not be able to wait.  We must enter the Museum at the same time and enter through a special entrance.  Please do not block the bus circle.

Check out www.pearsonsuccessnet.com to view skills for the week in Reading and Math as well as find additional practiced designed to meet your child’s individual needs.

In Science we will continue learning about the four seasons focusing on fall.  In Social Studies, our topic is US Heroes and we will focus specifically on George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Benjamin Franklin, and Sacagewea.  You can find additional information about these and other famous Americans at www.heroes4us.com.

Keep working hard!  Your work is showing as your children continue to show growth each day.

A letter went home in today’s Wednesday Folder giving information about how the trip to the farm has been reschedule/changed to December 1st at the Pink Palace Museum and Planetarium pending final approval from the district.  As soon as we get final approval, a new permission slip will be sent home.  There will be no additional fees for this trip.

Germanshire will hold a Pep Rally to motivate students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades to do well on the Formative Assessments next week.  Each Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade class has adopted an older class to cheer for at the pep rally.  We are the Arizona Cardinals and are cheering for Ms. P. Brown’s 4th grade class.  Your child can wear either the Arizona Cardinals jersey or a red or black shirt on Friday with uniform pants.

This week will be a busy week skill wise so please do as much as possible to practice at home in addition to what we are doing at school.

Last Friday, I did a timed fluency passage with each child to get an idea of how many words per minute each could read accurately.  Your child’s passage will be sent home in the Wednesday Folder.  A ] is where they stopped.  A circled word is one that they really had to work on to sound out and slowed down the reading for that sentence.  A line through the word indicates that they did not read the word or letter correctly.  If you have questions, please let me know.  The passage came from the reading series and while I do not want to send home a passage specifically for practicing fluency as these tend to become memorized, it is a good idea to make sure that you listen to your child read each day.  If they are struggling to sound out every other word or so, more practice is needed.  In early January, your child will have to perform for a benchmark test on AIMSweb.  They will be given a passage and will be given one minute to see how many words are read accurately and fluently.  Try setting a goal for now of 40 words per minute.  The goal by the end of the school year is closer to 80.  They will have fluency passages in 2nd and 3rd grades to so practice, practice, practice as these goals will change.

Visit www.pearsonsuccessnet.com to find reading stories and additional online math practice specifically for your child’s needs.  The story in the textbook this week is Life in a Forest.  We will identify the author’s purpose for writing the story and will work on long U, long E, and adding -ed to the end of words.  In writing we will work on nouns that are one and more than one by adding -s.  This is a lot for young children to swallow and we will practice, practice, practice.

In math we are going to continue to work on comparing numbers and using a hundreds chart or number line to solve problems.  You can find specific practice online at www.pearsonsuccessnet.com.  EPGY can be use at home as an additional resource, but will likely be working on other topics as it is designed to challenge your child to work at their current math level.

In science, we will talk more about the sun.  We will do an experiment with water to observe how it evaporates in the sun when compared to a dark area.  You can also try this at home.

In SS, we will learn about our rights and responsibilities as US citizens.