October 3, 2017

Grandparents Day is this week!

We've been working hard on our reports in class.  We can't wait for them to show off their writing skills!  We will finish them up just in time for Grandparent's Day on Friday, October 7 at 11 am.  Our celebration will be in the MPR so we can fit everyone.  The kids will be serving grandparents snacks, singing songs from the "olden days," sharing their reports and other fun things.  Our celebration will end around 12.  Students may be checked out by you or grandparents after our party.  If you havent' already, see the Sign Up Genius that Kristy Lico created (BTW...thanks, Kristy!) to see how you can help/contribute to Grandparent's Day.

STAR HOMEWORK/Spelling

Everyone did so well on their first spelling test last week!  You will find the student's new spelling words in their homework folder on Monday.  We gave the wrong username/password info last week.  The Spelling City username is their first name, first letter of their last name and acs (jessicawacs) and their password is their first name (jessica).  The Homework menu will be the same as last week.  I'm hoping to add some variety to the math packets this week and in the future.  The worksheets will continue to  compliment the math we are doing in class as well as review previous learned skills.  I'll also be including some other game ideas that will go with what we are working on in class.   Remember, these are all just options.  See more about math below...

Math

We are continuing to work on different subtraction strategies in math this week.  We will wrap up this chapter this week and will have a test early next week.  You will find the Chapter 1 and 2 test in your student's Monday Folder.  As you know, tests give us an idea of what concepts and skills need to be worked on.  One thing that would benefit most students is quickly recalling simple math facts by memory. Flashcards would be a great way to practice (and can be used as a homework activity). We suggest starting with a few math facts and once they have those memorized, add a few more. Take it slow and build confidence.  You can start with +1 math facts (1+1...10+1), doubles (1+1...10+10), doubles +1 (2+3...8+9), and so on.  If you need suggestions, feel free to connect with us.  Overall, the students are doing great and will continue to build on these skills throughout the year. 

Book Orders

In the future we are hoping to do all Scholastic book orders online. We'd like to do a trial run this month.  The book orders will be in the Monday Folders. Check out the books and if you want to order, follow these instructions:  
Go to Scholastic.com
Click on the "Shop" tab
Select "Reading Club"
Select "First Time Parents" 
Follow the prompts to create an account.  Our classroom code is MHNCP.  
Please let us know if this is easy enough or if we should continue the way we've been doing things.

Achieve2.com info

I had a great parent question last week about games students were playing linked to our class website.  The games linked are great!  Sugar, sugar and piksels are really cool.  However, I haven't checked out all of the other games listed on those sites.  At school students are only allowed to play games linked to my website.  If you are at home, you will want to make sure you know what they are looking at.  In other words, I have only verified the games, not the entire sites.  Be sure to talk to your kids about online behavior!  More resources to come.