:)

Phew! It's been quite a week here in first grade!

First of all, I'd like to thank all the families that came out to the movies with me on Wednesday!  It was such a fun night and the movie was great!  If you weren't able to make it on Wednesday, we missed you!  You should definitely see the film!  It's fun for all ages!

This week we completed Topic 5 in Math.  We will have our Topic 5 test on Tuesday after the long weekend.  After that, we will start Topic 1.  These next few topics will be less intensive than the previous topics.  This will be a chance for us to see how independent your child can be in Math.  A lot of the skills covered in Topics 1 and 2 are skills we have gone over before.  I am very excited to see your child show what they know and apply the skills we have learned so far in Math all by themselves!

We have also finished our first unit in Reading!  This means that next week we will have our testing week.  The students will be individually assessed on their ability to READ all the story words from our first unit.  These words were sent home on blue cards every Tuesday to be cut out and practiced like flash cards.  I also sent home a yellow page with all the words being assessed yesterday in case the cards were misplaced.  Keep in mind, the students are not expected to spell the words for this assessment.  The students will also be assessed on the skills we have learned throughout this unit.  These skills include phonics/spelling, listening, sequencing, telling vs. asking sentences, and naming parts (subjects) of sentences.

I also want to express my excitement about our "Batty Readers" reading incentive program!  So many students have brought in bats to fill their moons on the bulletin board!  It is looking pretty batty up there!  Just a reminder, please only fill out one bat per day.  I will only put up one bat per day, so if your child brings in more than one, they are disappointed when I don't put them all up.  We are close to our first students earning their certificate and small prize!  Keep up the good work!  If you haven't started, you still have time!  The last week of the month you are allowed to bring in an unlimited amount of bats to ensure you meet the goal!  Read, read, read!

Well that's all I have for now!  Remember- there are no new spelling words next week!  Have a wonderful long weekend!
Ms. Petrucci