News from the Jungle

We had a fun week this week as we began our ocean unit! The children are excited about our learning and I am too!

The scholastic book order for this month is due on Tuesday, April 17th. Our last order will be in May. No order for the month of June. If you need books for the summer, I would be happy to give you your child’s current reading level and suggest levels for the summer. It is important to continue reading all through the summer in order to help them stay prepared for first grade!

Upcoming Events

4/16 Picture Day

4/17 Scholastic Book Order Due

4/17 Oceans in Motion assembly

4/20 -3 Math Facts Quiz

4/20 Spelling Test: little, have, us, dog, log, jog, hog, blog, frog, clog

4/25 First Grade Market Day

4/26 Field Trip to Domino Farms

4/27 -4 Math Facts Quiz

4/27 Spelling Test: from, went, him, cub, rub, sub, tub, club, stub, shrub

4/30 PBIS Celebration (Art in the Park)

5/4 -5 Math Facts Quiz

5/4 Spelling Test: they, come, his, good, jam, yam, ram, clam, slam, swam

5/11 -6 Math Facts Quiz

5/11 Spelling Test: jump, down, her, eat, tag, wag, bag, rag, flag, brag

5/18 -7 Math Facts Quiz

5/18 Spelling Test: first, next, last, will, grin, crab, clip, shark, twig, flat

5/24 -8 Math Facts Quiz (This is the last Math Quiz!)

5/24 Spelling Test: king, sing, wing, ring, ding, sting, thing, bring, swing, spring (This is the last spelling test!)

Agenda for the Week

Spelling Words for our next spelling test on 4/20: little, have, us, dog, log, jog, hog, blog, frog

Plus a bonus word which will be one of the following words: bog, clog

These words will be in the homework which will come home on Monday after break!

Reading and Writing: This week we focused on decoding words by using letters and letter sound which make sense. In addition, we used picture clues to help us read unknown words. Sometimes the children look only at the first word in a letter and then guess at what it is, rather than using their reading skills to look at the entire word and sound it out. Please make sure your child is trying words on their own before you help them with the word while reading at home.

Math: The children took their – 2 math test today! Next week, we will focus on learning -3 math facts. Our test will be on Friday, April 20th.

Science: We began our ocean unit by learning about the ocean zones. We learned about each zone and the animals which live in each zone. Then we began learning about animals. The children are especially interested in the creatures which live in the midnight zone such as the blob fish and the angler fish. We made an angler fish craft and read a story about the blob fish and other creatures from the midnight zone. We also began learning about sharks. One of my students from last year came down and shared his passion for ocean animals since learning about them last year and read shark stories to the children. He also shared his report from last year and the model he made. It was great for the children to get pumped up about ocean animals from another child.  We also made an octopus craft and have begun turning our classroom into an ocean!

Social Studies: This week we reviewed rules and what it means to be a good citizen.

Housekeeping Items:

Money: Please make sure to send money in an envelope or baggie labeled with your child’s name and what the money will be used for. Thank you for your help!

Spelling booklets: Please be sure to return these promptly on Tuesday!

Snack Time

**** Due to a peanut allergy in our room, please do not send in any snacks that contain nuts.*****

Folders

Please make sure to empty the green folders each night! It is very difficult and time consuming to locate homework or important notes when the folder is full of papers from the day before. Remember to initial the communication log and feel free to add any notes to me!