Weekly Update 08/30/13

Important Announcements:

*We have started our geography unit in Social Studies.  As you are visiting places in Brownsburg (restaurants, stores, neighborhoods, etc.), can you please take your child’s picture in front of them and send them to me electronically?  We will be using these pictures during our geography unit.  Thanks so much! 

*Monday, September 2^nd, 2013, is Labor Day.  There will be no school.  However, you can help raise money for the school by going to Orange Leaf in Brownsburg on September 2^nd from 12 noon – 10:00 p.m.  Yummy frozen yogurt and raising money for DT?  Sounds like a win-win! 

*Thursday, September 5^th, 2013, will be the PTSG meeting at 6:30 p.m. 

*Mr. Sinclair is in charge of the All Pro Dads program at our school.  The first meeting will take place on Friday, September 6^th.  If you would like to RSVP or want more information, check out this website: http://www.allprodad.com/3634

*There is no school on Monday, but we are still going to have our dictation test on Thursday and spelling and reading tests on Friday. 

*I believe in building relationships with the children both inside my classroom and outside the classroom.  If your child participates in any extracurricular activities (sports, dance, theater, etc.), or has any other events that he/she would like to invite me to, please let me know, and I will do my best to come! 

*Friday, September 20^th will be our annual Dog Jog event!  More information will be coming soon! 

A Look at Next Week:

Science/ Health

Solids, liquids, gases

Spelling

Consonant Digraphs

Reading

Story: The Strongest One

Skill: Facts and Details

Daily Five: Read to someone

Math

Doubles Facts; Turn Around, Doubles, and +9; Addition Facts Maze; Domino Facts

Social Studies

Geography

English/Writing

Trait of Organization

Weekly Update 08/23/13

Important Announcements:

*Students from our class that were drawn this week from the paw bucket: Ryan and Luke.  Congratulations! 

*We have started our geography unit in Social Studies.  As you are visiting places in Brownsburg (restaurants, stores, neighborhoods, etc.), can you please take your child’s picture in front of them and send them to me electronically?  We will be using these pictures during our geography unit.  Thanks so much! 

*We are reviewing for our first math test.  Unit 1 math test will be on Tuesday, August 27^th. 

*I have sent home book order forms with your child.  This is optional.  If you would like to order books, please send your order form with payment back to school by Friday, August 30, 2013.  Please make checks payable to Scholastic Book Clubs.  If you want to order online (our class gets free books if you do!), use the access code: GVCWL. 

*It was great seeing so many of you on Tuesday evening at our Open House.  Thanks for taking the time to come!  If you were unable to attend, I sent home the presentation with your child on Wednesday.  Please let me know if you have any questions about the information!

*I believe in building relationships with the children both inside my classroom and outside the classroom.  If your child participates in any extracurricular activities (sports, dance, theater, etc.), or has any other events that he/she would like to invite me to, please let me know, and I will do my best to come! 

A Look at Next Week:

Science/ Health

Solids, liquids, gases

Spelling

Inflected endings

Reading

Story: A Walk in the Desert

Skill: Main Ideas and Details

Daily Five: Just Right Books, Building our reading muscles

Math

Review for Unit 1 test; Unit 1 test; Addition Number Stories; Addition Facts

Social Studies

Geography

English/Writing

Trait of Ideas

Weekly Update 08/16/13

Important Announcements:

*Happy Birthday to Isaac!  Isaac celebrated his birthday this week on Thursday, August 15, 2013.  Happy Birthday, Isaac! 

*Students from our class that were drawn this week from the paw bucket: Kade.  Congratulations! 

*We have started our geography unit in Social Studies.  As you are visiting places in Brownsburg (restaurants, stores, neighborhoods, etc.), can you please take your child’s picture in front of them and send them to me electronically?  We will be using these pictures during our geography unit.  Thanks so much! 

*Today your child will bring home a pamphlet that will have next week’s spelling words in it, tells you what reading skill we will be learning about, and gives you daily suggested activities you can do with your child.  This is NOT homework.  However, those highlighted words are your child’s spelling words.  These are the words he/she will be tested on Friday, August 23^rd.

*Today we took our spelling test using the website www.spellingcity.com/awhisman.  However, we are still unable to print the tests.  I have recorded your child’s score in the gradebook, and if you have any questions about what words he/she missed, please contact me, and I will let you know.  Spelling City is a great resource for you to use to have your child practice his/her spelling words throughout the week.  He/she can even take practice tests, play games using the words, or practice at home!   

*Your child will have homework Monday – Thursday next week.  The homework will be in the area of reading and English.  Math homework will also start on Tuesday of next week. 

*Our Specials Rotation:

                Monday – P.E. (Wear tennis shoes!)

                Tuesday – Library or Computer Lab (Bring library books!)

                Wednesday – Music

                Thursday – Art (Bring sketch book!)

                Friday – Freaky Friday.  This Friday it will be: Computer Lab

*Mark your calendars for Tuesday, August 20^th.  That is Open House from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.  Open House is where you come into the classroom, and I will be presenting information to you about your child’s year.  I will cover a lot of information so it is important you attend if you can.  If you are unable to attend, I will send the information home with your child the next day.  Unlike previous years, teachers will only be doing one presentation this evening.  This event is for parents only; children should not attend. 

*I sent home a contact magnet with your child or gave you one at supply drop off.  My e-mail address is: awhisman@brownsburg.k12.in.us or my phone number is 317-852-1062 ext. 1332. 

A Look at Next Week:

Science/ Health

Solids, liquids, gases

Spelling

Consonant blends

Reading

Story: Henry and Mudge and the Starry Night

Skill: Character and Setting

Daily Five: Introduce Read to Self

Math

Counting Patterns; Relations (<, >, =); Exploring Temperatures, Base-10 Structures, and Dominoes

Social Studies

Geography

English/Writing

Sentences

Weekly Update 08/09/13

Important Announcements:

*Exciting news!  Today our class was drawn from the paw bucket.  This means we get to eat lunch on the stage in the cafeteria next week!  Yippee!  How do you earn entries for the paw bucket?  Classes can earn entries when everyone is working hard and doing what they should be doing.  This can be awarded anytime, anywhere by any adult in the building.  Individuals can earn entries by clipping up.  Each clip up = 1 entry.  I will be talking more about this at Open House.  As a school, we are working very hard on showcasing positive behavior! 

*Today your child will bring home a pamphlet that will have next week’s spelling words in it (we highlighted them today in class to show you where to look), tells you what reading skill we will be learning about, and gives you daily suggested activities you can do with your child.  This is NOT homework.  However, those highlighted words are your child’s spelling words.  These are the words he/she will be tested on Friday, August 9^th. 

*Today we attempted to take our spelling test using the website www.spellingcity.com/awhisman.  However, we ran into technical difficulties and were unable to print the tests.  I have recorded your child’s score in the gradebook, and if you have any questions about what words he/she missed, please contact me, and I will let you know.  I am hoping these issues will be resolved next week, and the students will not have a problem with printing.  Spelling City is a great resource for you to use to have your child practice his/her spelling words throughout the week.  He/she can even take practice tests, play games using the words, or practice at home!   

*Your child will have homework Monday – Thursday next week.  The homework will be in the area of reading and English.  There will be no math homework yet. 

*Our Specials Rotation:

                Monday – P.E. (Wear tennis shoes!)

                Tuesday – Library or Computer Lab (Bring library books!)

                Wednesday – Music

                Thursday – Art (Bring sketch book!)

                Friday – Freaky Friday.  This Friday it will be: P.E. (Wear tennis shoes!)

*Smile!  August 14^th will be picture day! 

*Mark your calendars from Tuesday, August 20^th.  That is Open House from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.  Open House is where you come into the classroom, and I will be presenting information to you about your child’s year.  I will cover a lot of information so it is important you attend if you can.  If you are unable to attend, I will send the information home with your child the next day.  Unlike previous years, teachers will only be doing one presentation this evening.  This event is for parents only; children should not attend. 

*I sent home a contact magnet with your child or gave you one at supply drop off.  My e-mail address is: awhisman@brownsburg.k12.in.us or my phone number is 317-852-1062 ext. 1332. 

A Look at Next Week:

Science/ Health

Solids, liquids, gases

Spelling

Words with long vowels

Reading

Story: Exploring Space with an Astronaut

Skill: Main Idea and Details

Daily Five: Introduce Read to Self

Math

Finish Grouping by Tens - $1, $10, $100;  Math Boxes; Working in Small Groups; Number Grids; Equivalent Names for Numbers

Social Studies

Geography

English/Writing

Sentences

Welcome Back to School! / Weekly Update 08/02/13

Important Announcements:

*Welcome back to the 2013-2014 school year!  I am so excited that I have had a chance to meet all of you either at Supply Drop Off or on the first day of school. I know this year is going to be a fantastic one! 

*Today your child will bring home a pamphlet that will have next week’s spelling words in it (we highlighted them today in class to show you where to look), tell you what reading skill we will be learning about it, and gives you daily suggested activities you can do with your child.  This is NOT homework.  However, those highlighted words are your child’s spelling words.  These are the words he/she will be tested on Friday, August 9^th. 

*Next week we are jumping right in to academic subjects.  We will be taking a reading and spelling test on Friday and a dictation test on Thursday.  The reading test will cover phonics, vocabulary words, and applying the reading skill.  The dictation test will be graded for correct capitalization, punctuation, and spelling words spelled correctly. 

*Dibels testing will take place next week.  I will be testing your child in the area of nonsense word fluency, reading fluency, and reading retell. 

*Your child will have homework Monday – Thursday next week.  The homework will be in the area of reading and English.  There will be no math homework yet. 

*Smile!  August 14^th will be picture day! 

*Mark your calendars from Tuesday, August 20^th.  That is Open House from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.  Open House is where you come into the classroom, and I will be presenting information to you about your child’s year.  I will cover a lot of information so it is important you attend if you can.  If you are unable to attend, I will send the information home with your child the next day.  Unlike previous years, teachers will only be doing one presentation this evening.  This event is for parents only; children should not attend. 

*I sent home a contact magnet with your child or gave you one at supply drop off.  My e-mail address is: awhisman@brownsburg.k12.in.us or my phone number is 317-852-1062 ext. 1332. 

A Look at Next Week:

Science/ Health

Solids, liquids, gases

Spelling

Words with short vowel sounds

Reading

Story: The Twin Club

Skill: Characters and setting

Daily Five: Introduce Read to Self

Math

Math Message and Number Sequences; Tools and Coins; Calendars and Clocks; Partner Study Routines; 

Grouping by Tens - $1, $10, $100

Social Studies

Dibels testing

English/Writing

Sentences