Wednesday, August 29, 2012

News from our Classroom


Dear Parents,                                                                                                 August 2012

            This week, your child brought home  his/her first Homework folder.  I will talk more about this and answer any of your questions at the Back to School Night next week.  However, here are a few basics.  The Homework folder will always come home on Monday (or the first day of the week).  It should always be returned on Friday (or the last day of the week).  Your child should spend just a few minutes a night working on one or two assignments.  The entire packet should not be completed in one sitting or even in one night.  We really want the children to start to learn the basics of time management and learn to do a little bit at a time.  We don’t want students who race or rush to complete their work, and we also don’t want students who wait until the last minute to complete everything.  Besides any assignments that are stapled together or other sheets in the folder, your child is expected to read for about 15 minutes a night (and/or be read to), and practice reading the story words and spelling the spelling words each night.
So, in the Homework folder was the first spelling list for our first test this coming Friday.  You will notice that there are Story Words at the top of the page. Those are words your child should practice READING.  Then there is a list of 10 spelling words below that.  Please help your child practice spelling those words for a brief time each night (5-10 min.).  As the weeks go on, I will begin to add challenge words to each child’s list.  These will be words he/she has misspelled in writing, had trouble with a previous week, or words that follow the same spelling pattern/rule.
            The 10 spelling words are our focus words for the week that review short vowels, long vowels, and some consonant rules. Every child in first grade is expected to learn to spell these words automatically.  We understand that most of the words are easy for the children to learn to spell.  This is because we want all of the first graders to be successful and to learn the routine of studying for and taking a weekly test.  Your child will have a few other words added to his/her list as the year goes on.
            From now on, we will have a weekly test on Friday unless you are notified otherwise.  You can expect to receive all the new spelling words in your child’s Homework folder at the beginning of the week. 
           
On a different note, just a reminder, our first book order deadline is Friday, August 31st.  If you would like to order books from the flyers I sent home (or other things on the Scholastic site), feel free to do so until Friday.  Our class code is GZ49Q.  The website address is: www.scholastic.com/bookclubs

I think that’s all I have for you right now.  Hope your week is going well.  

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