<p style="text-align: left">Dear Parents/Guardians,</p>

HAPPY 2010!!  I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday break with your children!  During these two weeks I did many things.  I caught up on things around the house, visited family and friends, and went to New York City to watch the ball drop in Times Square!  I thoroughly enjoyed my break!  I also worked on literacy activities to help your child improve their skills and become prepared for the ISAT that is in two months.  I hope you got a chance to work on the practice test with your child.  If you would like more practice with your child to prepare her/him for the ISAT, please use the following link:

<a href="http://metacat2.com/iltestlinks.html">http://metacat2.com/iltestlinks.html</a>
<p align="center"><em><strong>Instruction for the Week</strong></em></p>

<strong>Literacy: </strong>

I am currently assessing students on their reading levels for the new semester.  Before the break, I assessed half the class.  This week, I will continue assessing students and you will receive their new levels with their next report card.  During my assessing, students will work on the Daily 5.

During Phonics instruction this week, students will work on recognizing consonant letters with different sounds.  We will focus on the letters, c, g, th, and ch.  Children also work on sorting activities that focus on words that contain silent letters and words that have double consonants.

During Writer’s Workshop, we will continue to work on expository writing.  Students will learn how to write attention-grabbing introductions.  Students will review topic sentences and be given writing prompts to practice using these new skills.  By the end of the week, your child should be able to tell you at least two ways to write a great introduction.

Mathematics:

You will receive your child’s Unit 4 Math Assessment by Friday.  Unit 5 focuses on Place Value.  We will continue to practice our addition, subtraction, and multiplication facts.  Students will be assessed on their 4 and 5 facts this week.

Science:

We are beginning our new unit in Science that focuses on Earth Materials.  This unit features activities where we learn about rocks and make observations on how rocks are formed.

Please feel free to email me any time you have questions or concerns.
Thank you to all the parents who have helped out in 2009!  I love the volunteers that have come in before, during, and after school!  If you would like to help, please let me know what days you are available and what you would like to do.