Week of January 17th

This week was a bit of a wrap up week. In math, we took our Topic 7 assessment. Topic 8 is Time & Money. In this topic, students will be learning to write and tell time to the nearest 5 minutes using a.m. and p.m.. They will be finding the total value of a collection of coins and bills. We are going to take our time with this unit as these are vital life skills. Money is the focus of the first part of the topic.  Before we begin to count coins, students need to be able to identify the coins and their values. There are many activities, games and hands-on lessons we will be using throughout the topic. At home, you too can review the counting of money by asking your child to show a certain amount of money. And challenge them by telling them the number of coins that can use. i.e. Show me 37 cents using 3 coins. Here are some games to practice online:                                                                                                                         Counting Money    Learning Coins     Identifying Coins

In reading, we spent some time reviewing the comprehension skill of main idea & key details. Main idea being what a story is ALL about. This idea should be seen all throughout the story. Students are encouraged to underline the main idea as they read to see if it does indeed occur ALL throughout the story. Then, the details are what tells you more about the main idea. The example of a table was used as the main idea is the top and it is held up by the legs which are the key details. We used a hamburger to illustrate what the main idea should look like in writing.

We are continuing to work on our biography reports. An invitation is coming home with students that has important information including when students must arrive the night of Thursday, February 16th. Once the written reports are complete (Our goal is the end of January, fingers crossed!), students will be bringing home a copy to practice reading at home. Students are NOT to memorize the report but be comfortable with reading it. We will also be practicing reading it here at school. Costumes are only needed the night of. Homemade costumes are great! Previous years students have made their hats out of paper and worn their grandparents suit coats. This is a great night that I am excited for!

Things To Know:

* COSI is coming on February 8th and we need your help. Sign-up here to volunteer. Our class will be going in the morning session.

* Report cards will be coming home on Wednesday, February 25th.

* The winter months have hit us hard and we are in need of tissues. If you could donate a box, it would be greatly appreciated.

* Also, we are looking for a few shoes boxes for nest week if you have any laying around the house.

Thanks so much!
Marissa Wilhelm