Coles Ferry Elementary

This week in reading and language arts we have worked on the oo sound as heard in words like moon and cool.  We have been reviewing short vowel word families and changing letters in words to make new words (phonemic awareness).  We continue to practice writing good sentences and putting words in ABC order.  In reading we are practicing reading a short story and finding answers to questions in the story. Being able to retell a story is also something we continue to work on.  We have been reading about many forest animals and will be choosing an animal to research and write an informational story about. 

In math we have learned the names of solid shapes (cone, cube, sphere, cylinder, rectangular prism, and pyramid).  We have used these shapes to describe and sort and have combined the shapes to make new shapes.  The students also had to look a picture and tell which shapes were used to make it.  We have learned what a flat surface and curved surface are.  

On Monday the students will have their last DIBELS benchmark.  On Wednesday we will have our last writing assessment.  I will also be assessing students individually on reading progress and sight word lists.  All of these assessments are so important to show your child’s progress. You can help by making sure your child is well rested and ready for school each day. 

Next Friday is our day to walk to DonFoxPark.  Your child needs to wear tennis shoes and either a Coles Ferry shirt or a red shirt.  Please put sunscreen on your child before they come to school.  If you stated that you would send a lunch for your child they will be wearing a reminder sticker next Thursday.  If you would like to walk with us please let me know! We are looking forward to a fun day! 

We will be at the park until 11:30 and will be back at school for the afternoon.  To go along with our study of the forest we will have “camping day” that afternoon.  Your child may bring a sleeping bag and flashlight.  We will enjoy the rest of the day reading AR books and sharing stories in our sleeping bags. 

Attached is your child’s Children’s Progress report.  This is your copy to keep.  Please let me know if you have questions.  You want to see lots of green and blue bars on this report.  Also attached is a calendar of events for May.  Hopefully this will help you keep up with all the activities that are coming up.  May will be very busy! 

*All library books are due next Thursday, May 10.  If your child has not returned a book or paid for lost books by Field Day they will miss some activities. 

This week in reading and language arts we worked on the oo sound as in cook and hood.  We practiced reading, spelling and using these words in a sentence.  We also reviewed other ways to use o in a word (oa, o-e, o, ow, ou) and did a hard word sort with these words.  We are working hard on polishing our reading skills and being able to decode harder words. We continue to work on publishing our stories for others to read.

In math we have worked on reading and making a bar graph, picture graph and tally chart.  We have used graphs to answer questions as well as solve word problems. We have also learned the coins and their amounts.  Please work on recognizing coins and counting simple sets of coins at home.  We continue to practice addition and subtraction. 

Our final Children’s Progress test will be given next Tuesday. To help your child do his/her best please make sure they are well rested.  The results of this test will be sent home with weekly papers on Thursday.

Remember! There is no school for students next Friday, May 4.  It is an inservice day for teachers.

Have a great weekend!

This week in reading and language arts we have reviewed and practiced the bossy r sound with a and o (-ar and –or).  We also practiced sorting words as nouns, verbs or adjectives.  This was really hard for many of us.  We learned a new game that helps us build a sentence with nouns, verbs and adjectives. We continue to work on tapping out words and using what we have learned about special sounds to spell.

In math we have worked on measurement.  Our learning target this week has been to order objects by length.  We have put things of different lengths in order and have measured using paper clips.  We also had to read clues to be able to draw strings of different lengths based on the clues to make true sentences.  We continue to practice addition and subtraction.

Spring picture proofs came home yesterday.  Picture orders with payment are due by April 13.  If you do not want to order pictures please return the proof sheet. 

Remember!! Tomorrow is Good Friday and there is no school. 

Upcoming dates to remember:

May 4- Stockpile Day (No school for students)

May 1-3 Children’s Progress

May 8-10 Writing Assessment

May 11- Walk to the Park Day (see attached permission form)

Have a great weekend!

This week in reading/language arts we have worked on the long i sound spelled -i, -y and -igh (child, fly, night).  We continue to practice being able to read words with long and short vowel sounds by looking at the vowel pattern.  We have practiced identifying nouns, verbs and adjectives in sentences.  Reading fluency is also improving.  Keep reading over the break!  In writing we are learning how to write an opinion story (also called persuasive writing).  Soon we will be publishing our stories.

In math we continue to work on adding two digit numbers.  This week we have learned several strategies for adding such as drawing a picture (making a model), using a hundreds chart and making a ten.  This is pretty difficult for most of us.  Please look at your child’s weekly papers to see how they are progressing with this.  Practice those math facts!

Our field trip will be March 30 which is the week we come back from spring break.  If you have not returned your child’s permission form please send it right after the break.  Also, if you sent the form without money please remember to send that as well.  The cost for students is $8.25 (parents is $6.00). 

Spring Pictures will be taken on Thursday, March 29.

Have a wonderful, safe, relaxing Spring Break!  See you in two weeks!

In reading and language arts this week we have worked on the long o sound spelled -o, -oa, and -ow (no, boat, snow).  We have practiced being able to read and sort words with long o and short o.  To do this we had to be good word detectives and look for evidence to prove what the o says. We also reviewed nouns and adjectives. We learned that verbs are action words and we practiced finding them in sentences.  We continue to practice ABC order and writing a good sentence with a capital letter and period.  I have been assessing the student’s individual reading progress this week.  They have really grown as readers!

In math we have reviewed and practiced addition and subtraction with sums to 20.  We revisited what to do when we see a plus or minus sign.  We also began learning how to add and subtract tens and the steps to adding and subtracting two-digit numbers.  We continue to review and practice recognizing numbers to 120, greater than/less than, and counting by 10s from any number.

Today was the end of the grading period.  Report cards will go home next Wednesday, March 7.  Our Awards Program will be Friday, March 9 at 8:15.  If your child is getting an award there will be a note attached to papers today. 

First grade is going on a field trip on Friday, March 30.  Attached is a permission note that has to be returned in order for your child to go.  If you would like to go with us please let me know.  I can only let 2 parents ride the bus with us (no younger siblings).  Whoever asks first will be who goes on the bus with us.  Anyone else who wants to go can drive themselves and meet us there.

Have a wonderful weekend!

This week in reading and language arts we have worked on the long e sound spelled as –e, -ee and –ea.  Examples include: be, she, meet, beak.  We have practiced reading these words, sorting words and using them in sentences.  We continue to review and practice ABC order.  We have also continued to practice recognizing and using adjectives.  We have learned that a biography is a story about a person’s life and have read several biographies about famous Americans from history.

In math we have worked on greater than/less than with numbers to 120. We have also worked on problem solving with numbers to 120.  We continue to practice addition and subtraction.

There is no school next Monday, February 20 for President’s Day.  Jump Rope for Heart donations are due by next Friday, Feb. 24. Thanks for the snacks that have been sent for our class!

Please continue to check your child’s papers each week to see how they are doing. Also look for the AR weekly report to see the tests taken and scores.  Keep reading each night!

This week we have worked on long a spelled -ai and -ay.  We learned that -ai is found in the middle of a word such as chain and that -ay is found at the end of a word like day.  We have practiced reading the words, spelling the words and sorting the words.  We continue to practice ABC order and writing sentences with our words of the week.  In writing we have been reviewing and writing a how to story and using our rubric to evaluate our writing.  We have learned about many kinds of stories such as fiction, nonfiction, realistic fiction and fantasy.  We’re working on comprehension as we read.  We know how to use our schema (background knowledge) and what the text tells us to infer meaning.  We are learning how to tell the main idea of a story.

In math we have worked with numbers to 120.  We have learned how to find which number is greater than and which is less than.  We learned that sometimes the number in the ones place helps us and sometimes the number in the tens place helps us.  We learned the symbol for greater than and less than ( <   > ).  We know that the sign (alligator or monster) eats the greater number.

Our Valentine’s Day party will be Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 2:00.  Please have your child make a Valentine card for each child in our room (you got a list of names last week).  We will decorate bags to use for collecting our Valentines.

Have a great weekend!