Mrs. McCready

Dear Families,                                                             April 14, 2008

          Attached is homework, due by next Monday.  Read the stories “What a Sight!” and “Lost in the Museum” with your child this week.  Your child should be able to read these fluently after some practice at this point in the school year.  Please have your child read and reread these stories, if necessary.

           We hope to have some chicks hatch tomorrow! Since our incubator was accidentally turned up too high one day last week, I don’t know if any of our 18 eggs will hatch.  But, just in case they don’t, the Kindergarten classes have traded 4 eggs with us.  So, at least we will see 4 chicks hatch, if none of ours do.  This week  we will begin discussing frogs and toads.  If any of you have seen any tadpoles around, your child might want to bring some in to class to see if they will develop into frogs. 

          Twice a week our class goes to the computer lab to work on the “Success Maker” programs, which include reading and math.  The computer automatically scores the students’ progress and adjusts the difficulty level to match each student.  I can show you your child’s scores at the conferences next week.  Also once each week, on our classroom computers, your child practices phonics and reading skills on a First-Grade computer program called “Earobics.”  Other than that, when the computers are free, the children use other computer learning programs or use the “WORD” program to type and print messages and study spelling.

           We have Parent-Teacher-Child Conferences Thursday afternoon and evening, April 24th, 3:00-8:00 p.m.   The next day, Friday, April 25th, will be a full day of school.  (This has been changed from the original schedule, so please take note of this.)  Please indicate on the attached form what time will be suitable for you and your child to attend and return it to me as soon as possible.

                                          Mrs. McCready

Dear Families,                                                           March 31, 2008

           Attached is homework, due next Monday.  This week we are reading and discussing these stories in the Take Me There reading books:  “A Big Day for Jay” and “Lost!”  Please read and reread these stories with your child until next Monday until he/she can read them fluently.  As you know, your child also has another story to read for his/her reading group.  Look for a yellow “sticky-note” that tells what story is assigned.  I should get at least 3 reading slips per week.  (Only 5 students turned in that many last week, and many turned in none at all.  Please get back on track with the weekly reading.)

           Mrs. Potts was the “Mystery Reader” in our classroom Friday.  Marilyn Golla-Gass, an artist from the Tulsa Arts and Humanities Council, came this afternoon.  She helped us understand different aspects of color, using watercolors.  All of us enjoyed that.

           In math we are still measuring—discussing and doing activities with weight, length, and capacity (how much something holds).

          In science we are still discussing and doing activities with and about birds and eggs.  We have 18 eggs in our classroom incubator.  We can watch them as the egg turner moves them periodically.  We’ll have chicks in a little over 2 weeks!

           Make it a great week!

           Mrs. McCready

 

Dear Families,                                                           March 24, 2008

 

          Spring is here!   I hope you and your children enjoyed the Spring Break.  We should be able to spend more time outside now.

           In math this week we are talking about 2-D and 3-D shapes and about measuring how much something holds (capacity).   We have also been comparing lengths in our classroom, using different units of measurement, and we’ll be doing more of that.

           Thursday there will be an incubator in our room, with chicken eggs that will be ready to hatch in 3 weeks.  In that connection, we will be discussing and examining birds and eggs for the next few weeks.  The hatch dates will be April 16th and 17th, so we’ll be watching and waiting.

                    HOMEWORK – Due by Next Monday

 1.  Read these stories in the Take Me There reading book:  “A Real Gift” and “Arthur’s Reading Race”.  2. Then write a paragraph (at least 3 sentences) about something you did during the Spring Break.  Use as many of the vocabulary words from these two assigned stories as you can.  Remember to use capital letters and punctuation.  Here are some of the words to use:

           people               signs                  soft                buy

           only                   or                      right               think

           almost              paint                  curb                could

           bought              eight                  shook              prove

 3.  Use your feet to measure the length of the floor in one room of your house.  How many feet long is it?

Then ask an adult to use his/her feet to measure the length of the same floor.  Is the number of feet the same?  Why? Or why not?

           Have a good week!      Mrs. McCready

Dear Families,                                                            March 3, 2008

           Friday is the last day of school before our Spring Break.  We will be back on Monday, March 24th.  So, I will not be assigning written homework this week—just the usual daily reading.  We have finished the Favorite Things Old and New reading books, and your child has received a new book today called Take Me There.  We are not focusing on a particular story this week, since we will be testing, etc., but your child may begin reading in this book now and over the break.  You will find a reading sheet attached that you can work on filling over the break.

           This week we are celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday—“Read Across America” week.  We will be doing some activities and reading relating to Dr. Seuss’s books.  The boxtop winner in each class will be receiving something related to Dr. Seuss.

           Today we had a visiting artist from the Tulsa Arts and Humanities Council doing some paper weaving with us—relating to the Native Americans of the Southwest.  She is the same artist (Nancy Berry) who helped us make paper masks and Totem Poles last week, relating to Native Americans of the Northwest.  (You can see them in the hall by our classroom.)  The children also wrote stories about their Totem Poles.

           Wednesday morning we will have a jazz program in the gym.

          Friday is the last day for the special interest clubs before the break. 

           We are also busy painting our classroom log cabin, which will become a reading area when we are finished.

           Have a good week.  See you after the break!

  

                                                     February 25, 2008

 Dear Families,  

          Attached is homework for this week—due next Monday.  This week we are focusing on and discussing the last two stories in the Favorite Things Old and New reading book:  “Riddle-Dee Fiddle-Dee-Dee” and “The Riddles”.  Please read these with your child until he/she can read them fluently.  Your child should also read and know the story or stories assigned in the book he/she has for his/her small reading group.  (If the book has several stories, there will be a “sticky-note” in the book which indicates which ones should be read for this week.)  I should receive reading slips for these stories (signed by you) first, before your child reads other books from the library, our classroom library, or from home.  I am getting lots of reading slips.  You are doing a good job with listening to the children read at home.  This is very important.

           Today, an artist from the Tulsa Arts and Humanities Council visited our classroom to explain about and help us make paper Totem Poles—inspired by those made by the Native Americans of the Northwest United States.  It was a fun learning experience.

           Wednesday the school nurse will be visiting our class and discussing ways to take care of teeth.  The children will be getting some items, like toothbrushes and floss.

           We are studying about American presidents, symbols, and history, and will be building and painting a log cabin (out of a big box) in our classroom. 

           Thanks to those of you who have contributed snacks, tissue, hand sanitizer, and wipes.  We can operate for a while now, but we can always use more.  We appreciate you!  Have a great week!

                                                 Mrs. McCready

                           

 February 19, 2008

Dear Families,

I hope you enjoyed your 3-day weekend. President’s Day was yesterday, and this week we are beginning to discuss America’s patriotic symbols—the bald eagle, the "Star Spangled Banner", the Capitol, the White House, The Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, the Washington Monument, Uncle Sam, the Flag, the Constitution, and of course the presidents.

In Math we have been working with ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.) and with multiples of ten—adding them, adding ones to tens, etc. Also, if your child hasn’t finished and brought a display of 100 items (preferably arranged in tens), please send these this week. (You may use toothpicks, pennies, marshmallows, cereal, cotton balls, macaroni, etc. Just glue them on to paper or posterboard in some kind of pattern.) One person used Legos and fit them together (not with glue).

I am also sending homework—due by next Monday. Read with your child the stories "June and the Mule" and "Slim, Luke, and the Mules". Please make sure your child can read these before other library books, etc. Also, read the assigned story for his/her small reading group. I want one of the reading slips to include the attached summary. This will give your child practice in summarizing a story he/she has read. Pictures are okay. But, I do want a one-sentence summary of what the story was about—and list some words from the story that may be new.

Also attached is the February book order. If you are ordering for your child this time, send the order form and money by Friday. You may send cash or a check made out to Scholastic Book Clubs.

Make it a good week!

Mrs. McCready