Posted by kavery508 | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on May 13, 2014
Happy Mother’s Day! I hope you moms enjoyed a day where you were the star!
We had a fun and informative time engaging in the Artemas Ward presentation by Marcia and Jim Smith. We learned about Ward’s contributions to Colonial New England as the first general of the Continental Army, and about life long ago for boys and girls!
We are now practicing all of the CAFE reading strategies taught this year independently and in group reading. At this point, your first-grader should be able to ask questions and look for answers in a text; predict what will happen next (to a character or in the upcoming text of a nonfiction book); infer the meanings of words or character decisions; make connections to what they’re reading (e.g. what they already know about something) and explain how that helps them understand; monitor their own reading and use fix-up strategies when they encounter unknown words; retell books/sections of a text; and tell you the main idea of what they’ve read. At home, try asking questions about homework books or other books read based on the above strategies to keep kids thinking while they read. Here are some tips for teachers; they work equally well at home! http://www.reading-tutors.com/tips/TH_Tips_CompStrat.pdf
We continue to learn ELA skills this week as we focus on what verbs are and where they occur in sentences. If you’re looking for games to play around all things academic for young kids, ABCya.com is a fun choice: http://www.abcya.com/nouns_and_verbs.htm
Having finished Unit 9 in math, it’s time for a review of all skills from the past year that are expected to be mastered by Everyday Math (EDM). Unit 10 is a 3-week unit that pushes kids to recall information and skill work, and to extend their learning. In addition to EDM, our district has expectations of skills for mastery based on the standards, and we will be working to secure those skills next. You can find those skills on our report card at: http://schools.shrewsbury-ma.gov/egov/docs/1321971418_901275.pdf
We are starting a scientific study of shade as it affects temperature and our local habitat in preparation for Floral Goes Green on May 23. This week we will take temperature readings in sun and shade both outside the school and inside, to begin to compare and contrast and make inferences about the value of shade (and therefore the need for trees), and to learn more about the greenhouse effect.
You’re invited! Our Spring Concert/End-of-Year Celebration will be held Wednesday, June 11, 9:30-10:15 in our Cafeteria. Similar to our Winter bash, we will be performing on the stage for family and friends, and we will remain after for photo opportunities and congratulations!
There is room for more volunteers to help us set up (Thurs. after school) and clean up (Friday after school) for Floral Goes Green. If you can help, simply return the blue form sent home last week (I have copies if you need another).
