Dear Parents of All-Star First Graders,

     Well, I'm recuperating fine from the procedures on my foot, when like a ton of bricks I'm hit with fever and stomach "bug"/flu-like symptoms. So I apologize if this weekly letter does not seem as fluid or "peppy" as usual since I fear this will be type and run, type and run. (I'm really grateful that I've had a good health history because I do not have much patience for feeling sick and make a ROTTEN patient…just ask my husband! LOL)

     On Monday our reading workshop focused on the Chinese New Year. We read and discussed the book Dumpling Soup and the Scholastic News magazine "Happy Year of the Dragon." We incorporated some science, too, as we explored our year of the sun vs. the meaning of lunar and Lunar New Year. We talked about the effect of the moon on tides. Then we had fun with some legends about the "influence" of full moons on behaviors: "loony", "Loony Tunes" cartoons, etc.  Then I took a risk and quizzed the students on the meaning of lunar and Mrs. Bonacquist was mighty impressed that the students not only knew how to pronounce lunar, but also knew it meant about the moon! During our reading workshops this week we continued our work on features of nonfiction books and ways to use these features to make reading nonfiction books easier. We read nonfiction books to go along with our science weather unit. We also worked on long u words and chunks. The students learned a new long u poem and song called "Tuba Tunes." We brainstormed and developed our anchor chart with many long u words and read books like Dune Bug, Jules the Mule, Sue and June, etc. which are chock-full of long u words. When the students read their just-right books I continued to assess reading levels as individuals read Rigby stories, did retells, and answered comprehension questions. (Mrs. Rowland, our graduate student-teacher, is a big help working with the students when I am working with individuals! Thanks, Mrs.
Rowland!)

     During Writers' Workshops this week the students continued writing their own "how to" books. We did "status checks" at the beginning of each writing period to see what stage students are on and what are next steps for the day. The students shared some of their "finished" pages to help others that may be confused and also to get feedback from classmates that may help them improve their work with revisions. It sure makes me smile when after feedback from classmates I hear students say, "Oh, you're right: adding that WOULD make it better!" I think they're finding that writing is hard work, but made easier and more fun with input and "assists" from their peers. (Of course, Mrs. V. and Mrs. R. get more than their share of input, too! LOL)

     Our spelling work this week also focused on long u words. We practiced the long u spelling words with such activities as "Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check", "Spelling Tic-Tac-Toe" on white boards, and the students quizzed their classmates on spelling words. You will NOT receive a new spelling list on Monday. The coming week will be spent on a review of and practice with all the long vowel sounds. We will work on all the long vowel sounds each day in class and some optional practice sheets will go home. Our "test" will be success with classwork and a fun spelling bee on Friday.

     On Monday during math the students took the second B.C. interim test. The rest of the week we continued our work on subtraction skills. We started our math lessons with some new math story books: more from Subtraction Action and One Hundred Is A Family. Mrs. Bonacquist was able to come and see our kiddos in action during math. I must tell you a little story just so you don't think I'M the only one impressed with the students. At the end of our math period I kind of put Mrs. Bonacquist "on the spot", (Sorry, Mrs. B.!), and asked her how many gold coins she thought the students earned for their math work. Mrs. Bonacquist thought and thought and then said THEY ALL deserved a gold coin for their hard work in math! So…24 coins it was! (You should have seen the proud students beaming!) The students have shown tremendous growth in understanding exactly what subtraction means and with subtraction skills and processes! I'd say they are definitely ready for the end-of-chapter test next week!  (Please practice those + and – facts a little at home, too, so we gain more and more "snap facts". Thanks.)

     We continued our weather work for science. We read that bigger rain drops fall faster than smaller rain drops. The smart students were able to deduce that the bigger rain drops had more water and therefore weighted more. Then I challenged the students to think of what else besides weight might influence how fast something falls. The students were stumped with this question, so we went to an impromptu science experiment. The students took two pieces of paper exactly alike, one stayed flat and one was crumpled. They then stood on their chairs and let the 2 pieces drop at exactly the same time. (First graders standing on chairs and NOT ONE student was fooling around! Don't you LOVE science?!) We then discussed why the crumpled paper fell faster than the flat paper for EVERYONE. Again the smart cookies came through with awesome connections to parachutes, gliders, etc. Wow! We also had a class experiment predicting and measuring the temperatures of hot water, cold water and mixed water. Some students even tried the paper "surface area" experiment and water-temperature experiment at home, too! Way to go, super scientists!  We also continued our class line graph for daily outside temperatures.

      Thanks again for all your help and support! 

           Mrs. V.