Hello Parents! We are into our first week! Things are going pretty well, I think! The kids are slowly learning how things might be a little different in my room. I think we will all be tired by Friday from our busy week and this heat!
Calendar Dates
Sept.2- No School/ Labor Day
Sept. 4- Back to School Picnic 5:30 pm
Sept. 6- Spirit Day Hats and/or Sweats for $1
Sept. 9-FAST Testing begins
Sept. 25- 5th grade mass
Car-line Pick up- I know this is a slower process this year. That is due to two things. We don't have the trolley in town right now. We also have new sod that has been put down so the kids have been instructed they cannot walk or stand on it. Please remember that if you're picking up your child or a grandparent is that you cannot leave the car line until all the cars in front of you move. Once your child is in the car, you wait for the cars ahead of you to get theirs. Once the first car starts to move away and back on to the road, the cars behind it can follow suit. It is for the safety of the other cars and the children still loading into other cars . Please be patient. In a few weeks it will run more smoothly.
Reading- We started our first story this week. We haven't really gotten our routine down yet because some days I am still teaching something new to them and the process takes longer than I remember! Once we get our groove going, things will flow more smoothly.
They had their first spelling test on Tuesday. I gave them a copy of their words to study for the post test. I don't know exactly when that will be yet because we are out of sink. Some kids got a shortened list- I highlighted their words. Those are the ones they need to study. I really suggest having them practice with you at home and writing them in cursive. Writing in cursive is what takes them the most time because they aren't used to it. The list is in print, but I rewrite their words in cursive on the pretest if they want to see how to connect letters. I also explained I get picky. N's should have 2 humps, M's have 3. T's should be crossed. Your E's and L's shouldn't be the same size. All words are written in lowercase.
Math- our first chapter is working with decimals and learning the place value names of those. We work with tenths, hundredths, and thousandths. We also learn how to say those fun words! One of the first lessons I let them use calculators... so there will be a little instruction on that too if needed.
We will do time tests. I do those on Wednesdays because then I don't have to worry about switching classes or specials. You will see their tests in their folders. They will color in a bar graph for me so they can see their progress.
Assignment Books- I told the kids we aren't going to worry and stress about NOT having one just yet. For now those who don't , can write on scratch paper. I will still sign it. I told them they don't need to worry about returning that to me unless we have a lot of homework one day. I just want you to see it, so you know what they did. I do really work to give them time to work in class so they don't have much to take home. If they are choosing to do other things like look around the room or visit or go to the bathroom during that work time...they might have stuff to take home at night.
Religion- Mrs. Ramsey and I met with the Catholic kids in grades 4-8 to train them to be servers at our school masses. Father Patrick also allows non-Catholics to do this job! We had a full chapel! I was excited to see so many kids. I am proud of the non-Catholics who want to help out! We are just in our books. The beginning of the year is all about locating Bible verses in the Bible. That will be their first activity.
Welcome Back Picnic is set for Wednesday, September 4 at 5:30. Even Classrooms bring a cold dish. Odd Classrooms bring a hot dish. If you have one of each- choose one!
I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend! Enjoy the extra day! I am planning on going to my sister's house in Waverly. We are trying to collect our stickers for the Iowa Independent Book Store tour. We plan on hitting the ones on the Eastern side of Iowa. Safe travels to any of you who are traveling this weekend!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
