This Week in Room 108
Weekly Happenings in Miss Quaresima's First Grade Class
Week of March 31 - April 4, 2014
Dates that Rate
April 4 - Early Dismissal @ 11:55am - Don't forget to pack a snack
April 11 - Young Author's Day - Brian Floca visits Titus!
April 11 - Guys and Dolls Dance 7:00 PM
April 17 - Early Dismissal @ 11:55 am - Don't forget to pack a snack
April 18 - No School for Students
April 16 - April 23 Portfolio Conference Days - Check our sign up sheet for your date and time!
Portfolio Conferences
Thank you for signing up for your child's portfolio conference. The sign- up window will remain open for any last minute changes until next Tuesday, April 8th.
I will be sending home the final schedule in your child's Wednesday folder next Wednesday, April 9th.
I look forward to discussing your child's progress with you at his/her conference!
Request for Tissues
We are down to our final 4 boxes of tissues!
If you are willing to donate another box of tissues to our classroom, we would greatly appreciate it!!
In School this Week...
Word Wall
The Word Wall is a great writing tool in our classroom. I do not expect the students to memorize each word wall word, but they do need to be aware that the words are on the wall, so they can use them as a reference when writing in the classroom.
You will see a sheet of word wall cards come home in your child's homework folder every Monday. Please practice these words with your child at home. Check the Word Wall section of our classroom website for a list of our word wall words.
For the remainder of the year, our weekly word wall words will be included on our Friday spelling tests. The words will always be available on the wall; the children will need to locate them and spell them correctly.
This week's word wall words are:
family, once, read, soon, together
Spelling
A list of spelling words came home today in your child’s homework folder. There will be 6 new spelling words each week and 2 challenge words. The spelling words are chosen based on our Word Sort focus for the week.
Check the Spelling section of our classroom website for a list of our spelling words.
This week's spelling words are:
stay, away, page, date, gave, tray
The challenge words are:
crayon, blame
If you have an iPhone, iPod or iPad, there is a Spelling City app, too! Check out www.spellingcity.com/app for more information!
Shared Reading
In reading this week, we are reading the story Way Out West Lived a Coyote Named Frank. While reading, we will use self-correcting reading strategies to help us figure out words. We will ask ourselves, “Does it look right? Does it sound right? Does it make sense?” Our phonics focus this week will be long vowel sounds. Our fluency focus this week will be alliteration. We will learn how authors make sentences more fun by using rhythm and pattern in alliteration.
Everyday Math
This week we have been practicing counting the fewest number of coins. To show a value, we are learning to start by counting quarters first, followed by dimes, then nickels, then pennies. After we find the correct amount, we double check to see if we can exchange any coins.
We have also started counting a combination of dollars and cents this week. We learned how many quarters, nickels, dimes, and pennies are equivalent to 1 dollar. We also practiced writing money amounts using dollar and cent notation.
Writing
Happy April!
This week in writing, we creating acrostic poems using the word SPRING. The students brainstormed a list of spring topic words, and made a poster for their poem. Be sure to check them out the next time you visit Titus!
Writing - Sentences
We are continuing to focus on writing complete sentences. This week we answered the question, "What do sentences need?"
Sentences need to be a complete thought. This means our sentences must have:
1 - A capital letter
2 - Good spacing
3 - A subject or noun (who or what the sentence is about)
4 - A predicate or verb (the action word or "being" word - is, was)
5 - Ending punctuation
We have also been checking our five star writing:
1 - My sentences are written neatly.
2 - All sentences start with a capital letter.
3 - I use finger spaces between my words.
4 - I spell word wall words correctly.
5 - My sentences having ending punctuation . ? !
When your child writes at home, remind them to use a complete thought and 5 Star Writing!!
In the Computer Lab...
Microsoft Word
Over the past few weeks in the computer lab, the first grade students have been learning how to use Microsoft Word. The students have been practicing the following skills:
- capitalizing the first letter in their name
- typing spelling words
- using the 'enter' button to move to a new line
- using the 'backspace' button to remove mistakes
- formatting of the text including color, size, and font
- printing their finished work to the appropriate printer
We will share our technology skills, during your child's spring conference.
Miss Jennifer Quaresima
First Grade
Titus Elementary School
Email: jquaresima@cbsd.org
Website: www.cbsd.org/domain/1469
Location: 2333 Lower Barness Road, Warrington, PA
Phone: 267-893-7635