Welcome to the third quarter!

I've said it before and I will say it again: this year is passing at warp speed. I can't get over the fact that we are at the halfway point of the year. The curriculum will continue to get more challenging, to prepare the students for first grade.

In reading, we are focusing more on fluency--reading words and sentences correctly, quickly, and with understanding. The students have learned about setting, characters, and the plot of a story. We will continue to review these concepts, as they are essential for quality comprehension.

This week, we focused on the book "Farfallina and Marcel." With the book, we studied how animals change. Farfallina changed from a caterpillar to a butterfly and Marcel, the gosling, grew into a goose. The two became unlikely friends and looked out for one another.

In math, the students have enjoyed playing "Top It." We divide a deck of cards into 2 stacks--diamonds/hearts and spades/clubs. The students select a card from each stack and the child with the hightest numbered card "wins" the pair. It is a fun way to compare numbers--the students ask to play each day! We are also practicing counting back. This skill is essential for basic subtraction, which we will be starting soon!

January 22

Hi all! Hope you are all safe and sound after the lovely ice we had yesterday. With the bizarre weather we are having, please be sure to dress your child in layers for school. It may be awful at the beginning of the day, but by recess we may be able to go outside and enjoy some fresh air. If it is above 32 degrees, we will go outside, weather conditions permitting. Also, the temperature in our classroom fluctuates, but it is usually one of the warmest classrooms in the building. By 10:00, most of us are wearing short sleeves! Thanks for your help in keeping the students comfortable.

The third quarter begins on Wednesday! This means that the content will continue to get more difficult to ensure that the students are ready to start first grade in the fall. Some of the tasks that can be practiced at home include: Writing first AND last names correctly, counting to 100, counting back from 10-0, and writing numbers from 1-20.