November 19, Newsletter

November 19, 2009

 Dear Parents,

           We have been very busy this week! 

          In reading we have focused on letter “Mm” and its sound as in “mailbox.”  These are some of the activities we did:  My Mm Book, rainbow writing for Mm, cut & glued Mm pictures on the monkey, letter search for Mm, and wrote Mm words and drew their pictures.  We also have been working in our literacy centers and having our reading groups.  I will send home a list of sight words so you can work with your child.  I’ve spaced them apart, so you can make flashcards.  Later on, I’ll send harder words.

          In writing we have continued to practice writing the beginning letter of each word we hear.  Some students can write more.  We are learning to stretch out the word and write its letters.  We are still learning about capital letters, spacing between words, and putting a period at the end of our sentence.  This week I read the big book, Moccasins.  We learned how the Indians sewed different colors of beads on their moccasins.  We colored a moccasin and decorated it with a color(s) of beads.  Then we wrote about it.  We also wrote about the Pilgrims.

          In math we have been using various manipulatives to make patterns.  These include: cubes, pattern blocks, two color counters, and color tiles.  We have also used the pocket chart to make a pattern.  The students have to guess what is under the question marks to extend the pattern.  We will also make a pattern block snake.

          In social studies we have talked about Pilgrims and their trip to America.  We talked about the hard time they had on the Mayflower and the scarcity of food during the winter months.  The Indians helped the Pilgrims learn how to hunt and fish.  Next week we will talk about the first Thanksgiving.

Reminders:  Wear your tiger t-shirt on Friday.  Pick up your fundraising items tonight (Thurs. Nov. 19) from 4:00-6:00.  There is NO SCHOOL on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of next week because of the Thanksgiving Holiday.  School resumes on Monday, November 30^th.  Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving!

                                                                                     Sincerely Yours,

                                                                                      Mrs. Linda Shortt

November 12, Newsletter

                                                                                             November 12, 2009

Dear Parents,

           Keep sending in the canned food!  We have 12 cans, so far!  The class that brings the most will get a pizza party!  The food will go to make up Holiday Baskets for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  These will help families that are in need.  Thank you for your help!

          In reading we have been focusing on the letter “Ll” and its sound as in “ladder.”  We are still working with the other letters and sounds, also.  I am sending a baggie which contains the upper and lower case letters.  The other side has a picture with its name on it.  You can have your child match upper and lowercase letters.  Your child could also look at a picture and use the other letters to make the word.  Thanks for taking the time to work with your child.  It will pay off in the long run.  These activities were used to reinforce letter “Ll”:  My Ll Book, Ll rainbow writing, Ll letter search, lion and poem, and writing/drawing pictures beginning with Ll and etc.

          In writing we concentrated on a fall poem, “Leaves Falling Down.”  We also made motions for each line.  After I modeled the sentence, “I like red leaves.” and other colors of leaves, the students went to their seats and wrote a sentence about the color of leaves they liked.  I was looking for the beginning sound of each word they wrote.  You can do this at home, too.

          In math we have learned to play the game, “What’s Missing?”  I used the smart board to demonstrate this concept.  The students close their eyes and look again at the game board to figure out what object is missing.  Three students can play the game and one student is the “hider” of the object(s).  Then the hider plays the next round.  We also played, “Button Match-Up” and “Sorting Attribute Blocks” with the attribute cards.

          In social studies we have talked about Native Americans and their way of life.  We looked at a slide show on the smart board about Native Americans which showed their homes, food, hunting, etc. We will make our Indian headbands by patterning red, blue, and yellow feathers made from construction paper.  Then we will act like Indians.

          Reminders:  Food drive continues through this Friday.  Wear tiger t-shirts on Friday.  Fundraiser pickup is Nov. 19, 4:00-6:00 p.m.  Have a wonderful and safe weekend!

                                                                                         Sincerely Yours,

                                                                                         Mrs. Linda Shortt

November 5, Newsletter

November 5, 2009

Dear Parents,

         I want to thank you for coming to the Parent-Teacher Conference.  I enjoyed talking to each one of you!  Together, we can strive for success for your child.

        Thank you for sending candy, money and etc. for our Fall Harvest Party.  A big thanks goes to Angel Moore, our room mother, and all of you who helped with the party!  The children had a great time!

        In reading this week we focused on letter Kk and its sound as in “kangaroo.”  We colored our My Kk Book; wrote and drew pictures beginning with Kk in our My Word Book; did a letter search for Kk; colored, cut, & glued pictures beginning with Kk; and practiced writing Kk on lines.  We have been practicing our literacy centers and beginning our reading groups.  The children will go to different centers while I work with each reading group.

        In math we have compared our name towers with each other to see which is shorter, longer, or the same as our own name tower.  We have lined up four name towers and put them order from shortest to longest.  Today, we will line up all our name towers from the shortest name to the largest name.  Thanks, for helping with the “names” homework page I sent home. We are also learning the game, “Ordering Cards.”  The child takes four cards and turns each over.  Then he/she compares the numbers to see which is the smallest and puts the rest of the cards in order from smallest to largest.  Last of all, the numbers are recorded on the paper.

        In science we have been talking about fall with the beautiful leaves.  I have let children show the leaves they have collected to the class.  We also have learned the stages of growth for the pumpkin.  I read Pumpkin Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington and the children were able to retell the story.

        Reminders:  Wear your tiger t-shirt on Fri.  You can pick up your fundraiser items on Nov. 19 from 4:00-7:00 p.m. in the cafeteria. Have a super fantastic weekend!

                                                                         Sincerely Yours,

                                                                         Mrs. Linda Shortt

 

October 23, Newsletter

October 23, 2009

Dear Parents,

         This month is going by quickly!  We are continuing to learn more skills!  I have sent your conference note back to you, so you can have quick access to the day & time of your child’s conference.  I look forward to meeting with you about your child’s progress.  The conferences are back to back, so I would appreciate you being on time.  I will set a timer, so I will be on time.  I will have your child’s portfolio on a table for you to see.  Please leave the portfolio on the table when you are finished.

        Angel Moore is our room mother and is planning our “Fall Party.”  Her phone number is 869-5578.  If you would like to know what to bring or do, please call her.  Our party is next week, Wed. Oct.  28^th.  You are invited to come!

        Next week our library will have a book fair.  It will be opened before and after school until 4:00 p.m.  The book fair will be opened during the parent-teacher conferences, too.

        In reading we have focused on letter Ii and its sounds as in “igloo” and “ice cream.”  Activities include:  My Ii Book, Ii rainbow writing, letter search for Ii, and coloring and cutting out our ice cream cone.  I read a book called Ice Cream which talked about the different places the children ate ice cream.

        In math we have played new games:  Grab & Count & Compare, the Game of Compare with a deck of number cards, and the Longer/Shorter Hunt.  Soon, we will make name towers.  I hope the math family letters are helping you with activities you can do with your child.

        In social studies we are doing activities for fall.  I read Little Scarecrow Boy and we were able to predict what would happen next.  We were able to retell the story, too.  The children are coloring and cutting out their scarecrows.  This is a coloring and cutting contest.  I will display these in the hall for you to see.  

                                                                               Sincerely Yours,

                                                                               Mrs. Shortt

October 16, Newsletter

October 16, 2009

Dear Parents,

         I can’t believe how fast the days are flying by!  Parent-Teacher conferences are upon us!  Thank you for sending back the conference notes.  I will staple them on the folders next week to remind you of your day and time.  Just a reminder that the PTO Chili Supper is on Friday, Oct. 16 from 6:00-8:00 p.m.  Also, if you are ordering books from Scholastic, please send in your order form and money or order online.  You can get online by going to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs.  (The User Name is shortstops and the Password is readit).  Thank you for ordering.  I have been allowed to get free books for our class library.

        In reading we have focused on letter “Hh” and its sound as in “horse.”  We colored and circled Hh in our My Hh Book, identified Hh pictures and glued them on a house, used markers to trace Hh, wrote and drew pictures beginning with Hh in our My Word Book.  I read On My Horse by Eloise Greenfield and showed calendar pictures of horses.  I told the children about my pony named Lightning.  We had fun making our own horse sack puppet.

        In math we have continued to use the counting jar, measurement table, and inventory bags.  These help the children to count accurately and write the number and compare objects to see which is longer or shorter.  We are practicing the correct formation of our numbers.  I will test on this.  Please practice with your child on numbers 1 through 10 or more.

        In social studies we talked about the meaning of a holiday and the significance of “Columbus Day.”  We also talked about “Fire Safety” and the importance of following the rules to help save lives.  The fire fighters came and talked to the children and they were able to get inside of the fire truck.  We appreciate the Springfield Fire Station #5 and all the hard work they do!

                                                                                         Sincerely Yours,

                                                                                         Mrs. Shortt

October 9, Newsletter

October 9, 2009

Dear Parents,

         I want to thank you for helping your child on the skills I mentioned last week in the newsletter.  Please continue to work with your child on these things.  I will still do testing next week and more if necessary.  Also, please fill out the conference times and I will try to accommodate you the best I can.  I need to know as soon as possible. Just a reminder that the PTO Chili Supper is on Friday, October 16 from 6:00-8:00 p.m.  Hope to see you there!

        This week we focused on letter Gg and its sound as in “goat.”  We read our big book, The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Janet Stevens.  We had practice predicting what would happen next and later, retelling the story.  Then we made our goat sack puppets.  We are developing our fine motor muscles by coloring, cutting on the lines, and being able to make glue dots and not puddles on our projects.  Please practice this at home, too.  We did other activities, too, to reinforce letter Gg.  We practice all the other letters, too.  Keep doing this at home, also.

        In math we have continued to work on our counting and writing our numbers  using the Counting Jar, Build It , and Roll & Record.  I showed them how to use the Inventory Bags for counting objects, drawing them, and writing the number to represent the quantity.  I will introduce the “Measuring Table” where the students will measure objects to a tower of ten cubes.  Then they will divide the objects in two groups:  things shorter and things longer than the tower of cubes.  You can see if your child can do this at home using a measuring standard as cubes, a pencil, etc.

        This week in social studies, we have talked about community helpers such as the vet, farmer, police officer, fire fighter, and doctor.  We listened to a former veteran and he talked to the children about his job in Iraq.  We will listen to a dentist, too.

Next week we will talk about “Fire Safety.” The firefighters from Station 5 will speak to our students and show their equipment. The students will be able to see the fire truck, too.

                                                                                          Sincerely Yours

                                                                                          Mrs. Shortt

October 2, Newsletter

October 2, 2009

Dear Parents,

         The time is passing by quickly and we are learning as much as we can!  In reading we focused on letter “Ff” and its sound as in “fox.”  We did activities to reinforce this letter such as reading our My Ff Book.  We are learning sight words such as “can, the, see, I, a, the, and is.”  Have your child find these words as you read easy books to them and your child reads to you.  Other activities were rainbow writing for Ff, tracing and writing Ff’s on lines, coloring pictures beginning with Ff, doing letter searches for Ff words, and coloring, cutting, and gluing feet next to our “Feet” poem.  In math we played “Roll & Record” on the smart board and on our papers.  The children used their dot cubes by rolling them, counting the dots, and writing the number in the correct column.  This gave practice in writing the number.  Please practice with your child the concepts of recognizing and writing numbers from 1 through 10.  Some children can go farther.  I will also teach your child the game, “Build It,” where your child picks a number card and places that number of counters on the Ten-Frame.  In social studies I’m continuing to talk about our class rules and treating others the way they want to be treated.  I’ve also read some “Fall” books to them.  I will continue with Fall, but next week I want to talk about “Community Helpers.”  Reminders:  Fundraiser money & orders due tomorrow (Fri.).  McTeacher’s Night at McDonald’s on Chestnut Expressway to raise money for our school.  I’ll be working from 4:00-5:00.  Wear Tiger t-shirts every Friday.                                                                                             I will be testing your child for report cards, so I need you to practice these skills with your child.  I will test on these things:

 1. Letters and sounds for Aa to Zz 

 2. Printing correctly first name  

 3. Locating a letter, word, and first & last letters of a word   

 4. Locating capital letters 

 5. Identifying shapes:  circle, rectangle, triangle, square  

6. Counting to 25 or more out loud;counting objects  to 30 

7.  Recognizing numbers to 10 and more; writing numbers to 10 or more                                                                                                                                       

  I will check on “Work Habits/Behaviors” too.  Thanks for your help!    

                                                                             SincerelyYours,

                                                                             Mrs. Shortt

September 24, Newsletter

September 24, 2009

Dear Parents,

         Since this is a four day week, we have been learning as much as we can!  I really appreciate all of you working with your child at home on letters, sounds, and recognizing and writing numbers to 10.  I will be testing before long.

        In reading we have focused on “letter Ee” and its sounds as in “egg and eagle.  We have practiced reading My Ee Book, using our pointer finger to move left to right under the first letter of each word.  Other activities we did were:  finding Ee words in a puzzle, rainbow writing for Ee, make an elephant sack puppet, and practice writing our Ee’s on lines.  We will also think of words beginning with Ee to write in our word book.  Then we will draw a picture for each word.  This will help when we write stories.

        In math we continued to sort people by a common characteristic, such as those wearing pink, earrings, etc.  We looked on the smart board to see how we could fit the pattern blocks together to make a design.  Then the students made designs on paper with various pattern blocks.  We learned how to play “Grab and Count” in which a student grabs objects and counts to see how many.  He/she writes the number of objects and writes the number.  We will continue this for several days.  We are working on our counting book, too.  We will work with the counting jar and record the number of objects we count.  The students will make their own set using different objects.

        In social studies, we continued to talk about making friends and how to be a good friend.  I read Making Friends by Fred Rogers.  If all goes well, we will draw a picture of our “Fantastic Friend.”  I will make a class book out of this.

Reminders:  No school on Friday (Sept. 25).  Have your child bring back the library books every Wed.  Wear the blue tiger t-shirts every Friday to show school unity.  Thanks for your help!

                                                                                  Mrs. Linda Shortt

September 18, Newsletter

September 18, 2009

Dear Parents,

        This week in reading we focused on letter Dd among the other letters, too.  We know Dd sounds as the beginning of “dog.”  Several activities we did include, My Dd Book, Dd letter search, Dd color/cut/glue dog, finding the Dd pictures, thinking of and writing words beginning with Dd and drawing their pictures.  We also practiced writing the Dd correctly.  Have your child practice writing Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd at home.  Next week we will study Ee and its sound as in “elephant” and “eagle.”  Keep reading to your child and letting your child read the letter books to you.

        In math we have practiced counting to 25 and more, counting objects in the counting jar and recording the number on a sticky note and making a set with the same number of objects using tiles.  We have answered “Today’s Question” by signing our name in the right column.  An example is “Are you a boy or girl?” and “Are you the oldest child in your family?”  We learned how to sort attribute blocks using a variety of cards.  We have continued to explore the geoblocks, pattern blocks, connecting cubes, in addition to the attribute blocks.  Next week we will begin Chapter 2.

        In social studies we talked about “Where Families Live.”  We talked about the different homes we live in:  houses, apartments, duplexes, and mobile homes.  I read the big book, A World of Homes by Kari Gold.  Next week we will talk about having friends, and how to be a good friend.  We will also begin our “fall” unit.

        I am sending out a letter, asking you write a letter to your child for his/her portfolio.  No due date.  Just when you can.

Reminders: NO SCHOOL ON FRIDAY, SEPT. 25!   Send in the quilt square and baby picture.  Thanks for being great parents!

                                                                  

September 11, 2009 Newsletter

 

September 11, 2009

Dear Parents,

 I hope all of you had a wonderful Labor Day weekend! It went too fast! We are reviewing each day of making good choices and treating others the way we want to be treated.

This week we have focused on the letter “Cc” and its sound as in “cat.” We also say the letters and sounds for the whole alphabet. You might practice with your child at home. We colored and circled the Cc’s in My Cc Book. Please have your child read this to you. We also did activities like Cc rainbow writing, finding pictures that begin with Cc, writing Cc words and drawing their pictures, and coloring our birthday cakes.

In writing we have continued to practice our first names and practice writing letter Cc correctly. We are still learning about a new friend each day, if possible, and writing their name, also.

In math we have made our “attendance stick” together with cubes. Today I made an attendance stick with a number on each cube to represent each student in our class. We practiced our counting by looking at each numeral on the cubes. Please practice counting at home to 25 or more. We also learned how to play “Button Match -Up” and Attribute Blocks Match-Up.” Ask your child to explain this to you. We are continuing to count objects in the counting jar and make our own sets using cubes.

In social studies we began our unit with “All About Me and Families.” The children know what a family is and how families love each other and work together. We drew the family members and wrote how many are in our family. The children listened to the big book, The Birthday Cake. Aferwards, the children colored a picture of a cake and put the right number of paper candles on top to represent their age. I will hang these pieces on the wall. Keep sending in the baby pictures and quilt squares! The baby pictures are adorable and I am hanging them on the wall for everyone to see. I am making a class quilt to hang on the wall for your quilt squares. I will put these in the portfolio when our unit is completed. Reminders: You can join PTO ( Parents, Teachers, Organization) by sending $3 for and individual, $5 for a family, or $10 for a business. Note: I am using the notebook you sent to make a “portfolio” of your child’s work. It will be divided into five sections. Your child will get to take it home at the end of the year. There will be photos of different things we have done.

I will have it available for you to see, what we have so far, at conference time in the last part of October.

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely Yours,

Mrs. Shortt