Mrs. Shields' Weekly Update

The first ever Ireland Fun Run was a smashing success! The Fun Run itself was incredible. Personally, I had a blast running and dancing with the kids. Friday was another fantastic day to wrap up our Fun Run week! We enjoyed celebrated reaching all of our fundraising goals by eating popcorn and watching a movie, doing Art Hub, and even soaking Mrs. Bauer at recess. She was such a good sport and a great example for all of the students. A huge thank you goes out to everyone for supporting our school. Our school family is the best!

Math Homework Packet

As I stated in my email on Friday, I sent home this week's math homework packet in your child's green folder on Friday. Please tear off only the page that is due and have your child return it each day. The family page DOES NOT NEED TO BE RETURNED.

Focus Wall

The Focus Wall which sets out all of the skills we will be covering each week is on the back of our weekly homework newsletter in the sleeve inside the green home folder.

This week we will be starting Unit 1 of our Wonders Reading Series.

The High-Frequency words listed on the newsletter and focus wall should be practiced Monday- Thursday. These words will be assessed at the end of the unit. They will also appear in the story they will read and be assessed on this Friday.

Practice often or as needed

• Addition and subtraction facts 0-6 addition and subtraction, or your child's current "scoop" level if they have already passed their timed test or tests
• First 100 and 200 Sight Words (sent home in Yellow welcome folder)
• Saxon Phonics rules

Missing Homework

There were A LOT of missing and no name homework pages last week. Please remember that your child will move a token for responsibility if their homework is not turned in daily with their name on it. I ask, remind, repeat and remind again each morning and every afternoon before they leave for the day. It is so important that they get in the habit of taking care of their daily responsibilities. Trust me, this will be very helpful to them and to you as well as they continue to grow and progress through the different grade levels. Now is the time to establish this important skill. Thank you for your help in this regard.

Please contact me if you have any questions, need help, or have concerns about the homework.

Please refer to the parent help letter at the bottom of the homework and help your child by checking to see if the coding is correct,

At this time they should be able to tell you 2 rules by heart and know how to code:

1. A vowel followed by a consonant is short; code it with a breve.

2. An open accented vowel is long; code it with a macron.

It is so important to practice this at home because the rules will add up so keeping up will help them become proficient readers. Also, when they are reading and come across a word they don't know please refer to the rules and have them use them to figure out a word.

• On the top, the new letter will be introduced. Your child will need to write 5 of the capital letters and 5 of the lowercase letter. I ask that you sit down with your child and make sure he/she is forming the letter correctly according to the Zaner-Bloser printing guide I included in your open house folder. You can also use the button below to see the correct way to form the letters. All letters start from the top and your child should put a space between each letter. The circle letters like a, d, g, o, q are tricky so please help your child get the correct starting point. These letters DO NOT start at the bottom. Letters b & p start by making the stick first.

Saxon Rules covered

The more you practice the new rules with your child the easier it will be when new rules are added. They will have their 1st assessment on Friday. Your child will have to code words to show an understanding of the rules below:

• Vowel Rule 1: A vowel followed by a consonant is short; code it with a breve.

• Vowel Rule 2: An open, accented vowel is long; code it with a macron.

Lesson 2 math test was a little rough. The kids have to be able to show work for the strategies being taught. We worked on this all week. I had the test up on the panel and showed them exactly what they needed to do on each problem. I all but gave them the answer to each problem. This particular math series is all about teaching the kids strategies that will help them figure out problems. The kids must show me that they understand each strategy. Just like phonics, these strategies build upon each other.

NEW LESSON THIS WEEK:

Lesson 3 - Add and subtract in word problems.

We will be using the same strategies as in lesson 2. They can show their work using whatever works best for them. BUT, they must show their work.

1st Quarter Skills

Math:

• ordinal numbers
• Addition and subtraction facts 0-6
• Solve real-world problems using facts.

Reading:

• Recognize the components on a sentence (starts with a capital, complete thought, and ends with a punctuation mark)
• Blending Sounds to make words
• Add/delete or substitute sounds to change words. Change the i in pig to e and write the new word. pig = peg
• Distinguish beginning, middle, and ending sounds.
• Segment sounds pig /p/ /i/ /g/
• Read common word families cap, gap, map, sap, trap, clap, etc
• Read accurately and fluently supporting comprehension. Books have levels of difficulty from A-Z. Level C is considered on level 1st quarter. I will be adding level C books to Raz kids for your child to practice.
• Ask and answer key details about the main idea and details in a fiction text.
• Plot, Character, and setting
• Ask and answer questions in a non-fiction text.
• Use context clues and text features for unknown words.
• Sort words into categories.
• Write upper and lower case letters legibly.