Weekly Update ~ 12/4/11

The holiday season is upon us!  We had an exciting week as we returned from our Thanksgiving break and welcomed the month of December!

To kick off December festivities, we celebrated excellent student behavior throughout the month of November, with lunch with Mrs. Swisher!  Once again, we had 100% participation!  A special “thank you” to the children for continuing to make good choices in class and following rules and expectations.  This group of students use such wonderful manners and kind words on a daily basis, and I know that comes from what they learn at home.  “Thank you” parents for your ongoing support! 

In Language Arts, we discussed famous folktales, as we read Little Red Hen.  The students discovered that a lesson is usually learned in a folktale.  We stressed the importance of cooperation, and working together to help get a job completed.  We practiced retelling stories noting the beginning, middle, and ending.  When you read a story or watch a movie with your child, practice retelling the main parts.  This is an excellent exercise for developing summarizing skills.

Activity 1: http://activities.macmillanmh.com/OralLanguageActivities/main1.php?activityID=362

Activity 2: http://activities.macmillanmh.com/OralLanguageActivities/main1.php?activityID=364

Folktale Fun:

http://www.starfall.com/n/folk-tales/little-red-hen/load.htm?f

http://pbskids.org/lions/stories/                                           

Spelling Practice:

http://www.starfall.com/n/level-k/song-se/load.htm?f

http://www.starfall.com/n/make-a-word/en/load.htm?f

http://www.mhschool.com/mmh_games/content/reading/gr1/unit02/week2/s1/game1_type4/index.html

http://www.mhschool.com/mmh_games/content/reading/gr1/unit02/week2/v1/index.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/cvc/whirl/game.shtml

Our Grammar lessons focused on plural nouns.  We discussed rules for adding –s and –es to make nouns plural.  If a word ends in –sh, ch, ss, s, or x, usually you must add an –es to make it plural. 

Try making these nouns plural:

cat	bush	box	rabbit
fox	tree	bench	dog
pet	kiss	pet	dish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9-L1rETVxY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc-ukN1Rvb8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6COqkRp9s9c

In Math, the students completed chapter 7, Subtraction Strategies.  Please continue to work on addition and subtraction facts each night.  We will begin to do skill drill practice in the classroom, and the more facts your child has memorized, the better he/she will perform. 

Chapter 7:

Count Back Number Line Practice your subtraction skills using a number li http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/count_back_numberline/

In Science, we are about to wrap up our unit on Earth, Land, and Water.  We have been classifying rocks based on texture, size, shape, and color.  We will continue to explore the hardness of rocks.  Finally, we will end our unit by discussing the importance of recycling. 

We also had our first Mystery Reader visit of the year!  After reading clues, and narrowing down our guesses, we welcomed Mrs. Longwell and Mini-Mystery Reader, Thad, into our classroom.  I think we all heard bells ringing as we listened to the infamous, Polar Express, and enjoyed nibbling on homemade cookies!

*If you would like to be a Mystery Reader, please contact Mrs. Swisher is you have not already done so.