Important Dates . . .
September 13 -- Magazine Sale Kick-off
--Beginning Band Parent Meeting - 7:00 p.m. - Multi-Purpose Room
September 17 -- 1st Magazine Sale Turn-in
September 21 -- 2nd Magazine Sale Turn-in
September 22 -- PE Soccer Test (Look for study guide on Friday, September 17)
September 24 -- Teacher Institute -- No School
September 28 -- Final Magazine Sale Turn-in
September 30 -- Picture Day
FYI... The magazine drive will begin with the kickoff celebration on Monday, 9/13. Look for an information packet to be sent home with your child that day.
Reading
This week we will continue vocabulary skills with Lesson 17! Your child will be coming home with 7 words that will be studied during the week in class and should be reviewed at home. On the page I will be sending home each Monday there will be suggestions on how you can work with your child & have them get extra practice.
Once again the children had done a great job with their fluency poem last week! They will continue to be introduced to a new poem this Monday and be responsible for practicing reading a poem at home during the week to focus on reading fluency. This poem is always introduced on the first day of the week and they are to read it to me on Friday for a grade without any assistance. It is important to keep practicing nightly! The poem this week relates to our Science curriculum we will be reading.
Please keep reading 20 minutes a night for the Independent Reading Program! You may just note the time read in increments of 20 minutes in the pages read section. Please sign on the date the reading was accomplished. This red folder should be turned in every Friday to make sure they are staying on track. The Independent Reading Folder should be turned in for a grade on Thursday, September 30th, to ensure they can attend the lunch reading party the next day. Keep reading!
Science & Spelling
In order to jump into the 1st graded Science unit, we need to begin with a review of science concepts. We will do this by reading through some chapters in Science. Last week we read and discussed Chapter Two: Animals. The next Chapter is Plants, Chapter Three. To maintain a consistent understanding of the spelling words, I have been sending a copy of definitions to the spelling words studied.
Once again the spelling words this week will reflect the third chapter science terms. They will be receiving a spelling practice page daily as an assignment. A test over the lesson will be given Friday. Please try to help your child study daily. One strategy you can use to help with spelling words this week is utilizing this website: http://www.kidsspell.com/ Students can learn spelling words, practice spelling tests, and play fun spelling games.
Math
We continue reviewing basic math concepts this week.
Daily Homework
Reading - 20 minutes and complete Independent Reading Folder Log - turn in on Friday
- study lesson 17 vocabulary words (quiz on Friday)
- practice reading poems given to work on fluency (read to teacher on Friday)
Spelling - Practice Page nightly & study words for test on Friday
*Please check your child's homework and sign assignment notebook when complete.
**If your child is having difficulties with their homework please send a note and I will help them during free time.
Information about the picture above:
Rafflesia Flower
This incredible flower, found primarily in the shady lowland tropical forests of Indonesia, has by far the largest bloom of any flower and is one of the world's rarest and most endangered plants. Almost one meter wide and weighing over 6 pounds, it is a fleshy, malodorous plant, I have highlighted here since it is a symbol for all other endangered rainforest plants.
The flower is an excellent example of how fragile some components of the tropical forest are, for its very survival is totally dependent on one particular vine called Tetrastigma, related to the grapevine. The Rafflesia is a disembodied flower. A rootless, leafless and stemless parasite, it drains nourishment and gains physical support from its host vine. Its only body outside the flower consists of strands of fungus-like tissue that grow inside the Tetrastigma vine. It first manifests itself as a tiny bud on the vine's roots or stem. But over a period of 12 months, it swells to a cabbage-like head that bursts around midnight under the cover of a rainy night to reveal this startling, lurid-red flower.
