MCGHEE'S MESSAGES
AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 2
IMPORTANT DATES AND INFORMATION
Fine Arts:
9/6 Music
9/7 Art--library time at 2:00, please send in their books to return
9/8 Science
9/9 PE
9/5 Holiday-No school
9/14 International Dot Day--wear dots!
10/10 Holiday-No school
10/14 Walk for Diabetes
10/19 PTA Reflections Contest Entries are due
10/21 Early release 12:15
10/24-10/28 Red Ribbon Week
We had such a good week! The kids are settling into a nice routine. We celebrated Simon's birthday. Just a note, I love to celebrate their birthdays! I have found that cupcakes are always easier than a real cake-so please keep that in mind. Another great alternative to cupcakes would be donuts. They are easy to eat in the classroom and not messy.
We had our first Shine Time. We will be going to Shine Time every other Wednesday at 2:00. We also went to the library and checked out books for the first time this school year. We will be going to the library every Wednesday at 1:00.
I sent home the first spelling words of the year. Our first test will be on Friday, Sept. 9. You are free to choose which list best meets your child's needs and your family's schedule. The point of the spelling is to learn the spelling pattern and be able to use it in many words. I highly suggest the web site Spelling City as a study aid. You can type in their word lists and it will create games and tests to help them learn the words.
I sent home the information on how to log into Istation. Please be sure to have your child get on it a few times a week. I will be checking logs and will be keeping track of their usage. It is an excellent program and has proven results.
I will be sending home Education Galaxy website information. This is a super fun website that has customized educational games to match your child's ability. We will use it at school, but I would love to see them on it at home as well.
I will also send home Reflex Math and FastMath information. I like Reflex Math alot and I think the kids will too. It should really help them become very fast with their math facts.
So, look for all of that information to come home soon.
I hope you have an awesome 3 day weekend and enjoy some family time.
April McGhee
WHAT WE ARE LEARNING
Reading-We read A Bad Case of Stripes this week. We learned how to write a summary and all about main characters. We did alot of partner reading of both fiction and nonfiction books. We practiced checking for understanding with our partners after each page. We read Germs! and took it home to read to you.
Langauge-We began Tapping with Tiles. We learned that the ck will be used at the end of a 1 syllable word, with a short vowel. We also learned about nouns and adding an s to words to make them plural. We did alot of writing in our journals. They especially loved when I put up a crazy picture as their prompt. So much creativity!
Science-We learned about science tools. We found out that there are a large variety of tools and there are many, many fields in science. We also began to learn about the scientific process and the vocabulary that goes along with that.