February Here We Come!

Can you believe tomorrow is February?  January flew by in 1st grade with lots of intentional learning taking place!  Last week was our first week with the Journeys Reading Curriculum and the students did great.  A few practice pages came home so you can see what they have been learning in school.  We have been working on the diagraph /th/, possessive nouns, and root words with -es, -ed, -s, and -ing endings in the grammar and phonics portions.  We read the stories At Home in the Ocean and Water and students determined the main idea and key details along with comparing and contrasting the texts.  They took a short, 10 question comprehension test on Friday that will be sent home on Monday.

There is a lot going on in the school and classroom right now!  I wanted to provide you with some reminders and requirements for the upcoming events.

Reading Trophy is well on its way!  We are one month into our program and three students have already earned their trophy by reading  at least 50 books.  If you haven't begun with your child, please help him or her choose, read and record books on his or her log for the program.  This is a Washington tradition, and I know that we will have some sad first graders if they do not earn a trophy at the award ceremony.  If you have misplaced your reading logs, please let me know and I can get you a new copy.  If you are having a hard time finding books your child can read, please let me know and I can pull some books at his or her level.

The 100th Day of School is on Thursday, February 4.  Thank you to all of the families that donated supplies for the day.  We have so much fun planned for the day.  If you haven't already done so, please help your child count out 100 of one small food item such as raisins, m&ms, tootsie rolls, etc. to bring to school.  The items will be on displayed on our "What Does 100 Look Like" bulletin board and then finally used for our 100th Day buffet, YUM!

Valentine's Day will be celebrated in our class on Friday, February 12.   We will have a short celebration from 2:00-3:00 that day.  Students can bring Valentines for their classmates between February 8-12.  Please remember, if a student chooses to bring Valentines, he or she must bring one for all students in our class.

Reading Month will begin on Monday.  The school library is hosting an optional reading incentive program that your child is welcome to participate in.  More information will be sent home on Monday from Mrs. Cain and Mrs. Kiser.  This incentive program involves the reading "minutes" that students read.  Don't do extra work at home for this program!  Simply set the timer when your child reads books for his or her reading trophy.

I'll leave you with a couple of photos of students playing two new math games we learned this week!  Both games require a regular deck of cards with the face cards removed.  Ask your child to teach you how to play One More, One Less or The Difference Game (requires 40 pennies too).