Good Morning,

Please excuse my absence.  I am home recovering from 2 recent, unexpected surgeries.

I plan on returning 2/26.  Have a wonderful break.  For those traveling, be safe.  For those staying close to home, enjoy your family time together…so precious.

I miss each and every one of you and can’t wait to see you.

Mrs. Smith

Check out these pictures…  We had such a great time and the kids were sooooo proud to show others what they had brought in to share.  Most knew the country too.  Thanks again parents.  These are the moments in life that they will remember about school.

Beginning Monday, I will be sending home a weekly packet.  Please look for it and have your child complete the packet.

Mrs. Smith

What a wonderfully productive week!  Thanks for all your help at home.

Next week…

READING: We will be starting a new unit about ANIMALS.  We will begin with Polar Bears.  We will be exploring facts about their APPEARANCE, HABITAT, FOOD, etc.  We will be doing a lot of writing facts about the animal, which will be used to compare and contrast with a different animal next week.  Stay tuned.

SPELLING:We will begin weekly SPELLING TESTS.  The words for next week are from the “at” family.  (We’ll start very slowly.  🙂  )  at  bat  fat  rat  come  said  Please start working NOW on the words at home.

WRITING:Polar Bear facts and discoveries.

MATH-We will begin piloting a new MATH program.  I am pleased with what I see and am really looking forward to working with this new program.

SCIENCE-Weather and Sky

SOCIAL STUDIES-I am a person.

Looking ahead…

Monday-International Food Day for my class.  A note was sent home yesterday.  This will be such fun!!

Thursday-NWEA Math Assessment  Please make sure your child is well rested, has a good breakfast and is here in school.  Thanks

Friday -NO SCHOOL FOR KINDERGARTEN

Enjoy your weekend.

Mrs. Smith

Homework due tomorrow.  Students know what to do.  I told them that when they get their Library Book for backpack for tomorrow to be sure to include the Phonics homework.

Reminder that students need to wear boots to school.  Snow is getting tracked in on their shoes and onto our carpet.  Students then sit on a wet carpet.  Please make sure your child wears their boots to school ( and shoes are in their backpack.)  Thanks!

REMINDER-Tomorrow is LATE START.

Mrs. Smith

Welcome back and HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Can you believe that we are half way through the year?  It’s always so amazing to me how quickly the year goes and how much they grow every month.  I missed them so much…glad to see them and hear all of their news!

Yesterday they took the READING portion of the NWEA test.  This is the same test that was given in September and will be given again in the Spring.  I am thrilled to report that ALL OF MY STUDENTS went up in reading!  I am so proud of them.  Thanks for your help on the home front.  It’s a team effort, isn’t it?  Next week we will take the Math portion of NWEA.

This week I have met with each reading group.  Next week, due to NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY and district assessments, I will not be meeting with the groups.  Reading Groups (Book Bags will resume the week of January 22.   However, please continue reading the books at home with your child.

Next week:

READING-We will continue our unit about FOOD.  We’ll read a story from our Anthology book about a Grandfather Bear who is Hungry.

LETTERS/SOUNDS  long i and long o    This week we worked with long a  and e.  There were work papers that went home this week with words on them, indicating words with long a and e.  

WORDS-look   make

We also have been working with different ways to connect texts (books) to things.

ie  Text to Text -When reading a new story, does it remind us of another book we have read?

     Text to Self-When reading a new book, does it remind us of something about ourself, an experience that we’ve had, something we’d like, a trip, vacation, new sibbling, etc?

Text to World-When reading a new book, does it remind us of something we’ve talked about in class, in our community, on TV, etc

Have a casual discussion with your child as you read together or at the dinner table, riding in the car, just time together.

MATH-Assessments and Partner story problems.  Students should be able to add and subtract fluently from 0-10.  Practice at home.  Doesn’t have to be written down, mentally is fine.

Remember that WEDNESDAY is LATE START.

Have a glorious weekend.  Enjoy the beautiful weather.  Appreciate life and each other.

Mrs. Smith

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to each of my families. Be safe, rest, and above everything else, love each day with your loved ones.

Mrs. Smith

Our final week before break and here we go….

READING-We spent some time today learning some FACTS about reindeer.  When I first asked them what they already knew about reindeer, they said things like-“they are magical” “they can fly”  “they have a red nose” etc.  So we went on a fact-finding mission.  After reading some information about reindeer, I typed up some facts and non-factual thoughts and had them place the information accordingly.  That’s coming home tonight.  (Ask your child about a reindeer’s nose.)

We also made a big chart about reindeer.   Reindeer     can     have     are

WRITING-Informational

WORDS-run   find  

LETTERS-We will be working with short vowels this week.  Today’s vowels are a (as in apple) and  i (as in igloo).  Tomorrow we will make a chart using words with those letters in the words.  We need to read carefully!!!

For example, fat     fit     tan   tin

MATH-We will practice and review counting on up to 10.

For example, :

1. Count out 10 spoons and put them all behind your back.   10

2. Reach back and pull out some of the spoons.                         3

3. Have your child tell you how many are still behind your back.   7

4. Then have them tell you the number sentence that goes with the problem.     3+7=10

On Thursday, students from our STAND (Students Taking A New Direction) group will be selling personalized Santa hats for $2.00.  If you would like your child to purchase one, please send in $2.00 on Thursday.  They will probably want to wear their hat on Friday for our All-School Sing-a-Long.

I am glad to be back with “my kids.”  I missed them so much.

Have a good rest of the week.

Mrs. Smith

My mother passed away last Thursday, Dec.7, 2017. My parents met at the old Dearborn High School, where my Father taught Business and my mother taught Advanced High School English.  My father then moved on to become the First President of Henry Ford Community College and my mother stayed home to raise 5 daughters. She later returned to teaching English at all 3 Dearborn High Schools. With all that my parents had going on, they never missed a concert, Open House, Conference, dance recitals, private music lessons, sporting event, etc.  We always had our instruments, lunch, were early “(so were were on time”) and you KNOW that we always had our homework finished, spelled, and  punctuated correctly, and  using correct grammar was a MUST! (Spoken and written)  One night when I was in 3rd grade I was writing a paper.  I told my mother that I was the only student in 3rd grade to write with a semicolon.  Her response was, “It doesn’t matter.  You know how and when to use a semicolon. Keep going.”

My sisters and I were their world.  My mother left quite a legacy and now my sisters and I have a huge responsibility to carry on her legacy.

Thank you for your understanding.

Mrs. Smith

With snow and cold weather upon us, students will need to wear boots to school every day.  Even if the walks look shoveled, some snow always seems to get tracked inside and so does salt.  The snow and salt then gets tracked into the room and carpet, where it melts.  The carpet is where we meet first thing every morning and I don’t want them sitting on a wet carpet–(it’s a mom thing!)

So, please have your child put their shoes into their backpack (Responsibility for them AND then they know if they have their shoes or not)  and wear their boots to school.  I will help them get on their shoes.  This might be the perfect time to work on shoe-tying skills at home.

Let it snow!!!

Mrs. Smith