Welcome back! We are back in the groove with narrative writing in the works. The kids are excited to share stories in book form, and I am excited to see them working so seriously. Getting a beginning, middle, and end to a story is a big step in writing. Creating a rough draft is where kids begin to see where those parts separate. Today we will work on getting those thoughts into book form, then making sure pictures match the words on that page. Being able to stretch words to get the on paper, then to be able to stretch them again to read the story is hard. That’s where our popcorn words are so very useful. Those busy little words help put the bigger pieces together. We are also working on word families. Words ending with -at and -ip have been taught. Kids learn that if they can spell “ship”, they can spell “flip” because they know the ending letters already. Our next word family is -et. You will see think pages coming home at least once a week with these lessons.
Everything we do in reading and writing is gearing us toward your child reading books independently. Reading levels will be assessed for third quarter. I’ve started reading groups based on the level your child is reading. I will send home information about reading levels and what to look for when choosing books. What can you do? Exactly what you have been! Read to your child, practice popcorn words, talk about books you are reading. Writing traits scored on the report card are items that your child learns from listening to others read and think about reading. These writing items – learned from reading – roll into the book level your child achieves. By May every child should be able to pick up a level C book and read it alone. Several of my kids can do this with level D right now. I am proud of what I am seeing in groups – and I didn’t do this by myself.
We’re about to start a graphing unit in math. Kids will be creating graphs themselves and comparing information gathered. A letter will be sent Tuesday asking for you to prepare information about the number of eyes in your house. Please aide your child in this activity. The kids always have fun with it because information focuses on them and their friends.
An orange paper from the office is being sent home today. Please complete this sheet and return it Monday. It asks for after-school transportation should the weather turn bad during the school day and we have to dismiss early for the safety of the kids. We haven’t had to do this in several years, but we have to be prepared. Usually the dismissal is 12:30 or 1:00 and aired over radio and television. Sometimes internet goes down in rainy/icy weather or we find out with very little time to prepare, but I would email you if possible. If I don’t have the paper on-hand and we dismiss early, I will have to send your child home as usual. I don’t want any of my kids going home to a locked house. Please make arrangements for a neighbor or family member to be your backup if you can’t be there. Enrolled Tiger Tales kids will be allowed to attend Tiger Tales as usual.
McDonalds has a sign in their window that South McTeacher night is January 23rd. I don’t have any details for it yet. Watch for details in Mrs. Crighton-Smith’s newsletter. I will be there when it starts (usually 4:00) and stay for about an hour.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is observed January 16th. If we do not have a day missed due to snow before that day, students are not in school. I am though – in meetings! Learning never stops.
I’m excited to share fun news: Our grandbaby is a girl and due in May. I didn’t have my heart set on either gender, but it makes me happy to know she looks healthy in every way!
Hugs,
Mrs. Bailey
