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Page Last Updated May 25, 2012
Number of Visits: 4676
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May 25, 2012 Just a reminder that the kids are invited to march in the Memorial Day parade. They will meet at 8:30 Monday morning at *Pier I. It should only take about 45 minutes. They should wear their gym t-shirt and shorts.
May 24, 2012 Homework: Spelling test tomorrow, study
May 23, 2012 The kids were very attentive during Mass today. We did a short review of past spelling words. Homework: English-Worksheet (I encourage the children to use their spelling words if they get stumped with the asking sentences.)
May 22, 2012 Field day was so much fun today! Reminder for tomorrow... it is a half day and there is a cookie sale. We will also be attending Mass.
May 21, 2012 Although we have finished our Reading Series, we will still be learning and reviewing in Language Arts. The students took their theme test today and were assigned spelling words for the week. Their test will still be on Friday. Reminder: tomorrow is field day, please dress your child in their team color shirt. We will be outside the majority of the day. Caleb Stark won extra recess for the first grade on May 31. Homework: Finish writing a sentence for each spelling word.
May 17, 2012 Homework: Spelling-Study
May 16, 2012 There is a lot going on next week. Tuesday will be field day, your child will come home with a note tomorrow to tell you what color t-shirt they should wear. All students should wear gym bottoms. Wednesday is a half-day and cookie sale. We will also see the drama club play on Thursday. It will be a busy week! Homework: Reading pg. 274-275
May 15, 2012 We read our new story today. The vocabulary words for the week are more challenging than the previous weeks, there aren't as many though. We continued to work on the rule for the week on when to use -er and -est. Room 203 talked more about the saints today. Please return any overdue library books. The bills will be sent home tomorrow. Homework: Reading pg. 271-272
May 14, 2012 Today we worked on adding -er and -est to base words. We went over the rules to know when to add each: If the words ends with y, change it to i then add the ending. If the word ends with a short vowel and one consonant, double the consonant and add the ending. If the word ends with two consonants, just add the ending. Some of the children found these rules difficult to remember. Practice at home and we will be reviewing at school as well. It's important that they know the rules, because these are the rules we are learning for our spelling words this week. We talked about some saints today. I encouraged the children to try one saint and learn about them. This is not homework, I just think it's nice to have one to pray to and feel close to. (I'm always praying to St. Anthony) We will be going to church on Thursday. No dress down passes please. Also, it was so nice to spend time with you at the Gala. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves, I had a great time. Thank you to all the parents that helped in some way, it was a WONDERFUL fundraiser. I look forward to next year's. Spelling Words: newer, warmest, highest, faster, deepest, richer, smaller, kindest, drier, saddest, cuter, widest Vocabulary Words: birthday, beautiful, delighted, giant, pleasant, smaller, sorry, eye, present, able, thought Homework: English page 62-63 (The students only need to write one sentence for each picture.)
May 10, 2012 The children really enjoyed the Silkscreening presentation done today by the Children's Museum. We have some really good artists in class! Tomorrow will be the Stuffee show. It's sounds really fun and interactive for the children. Please try to go to Max and Erma's Night tonight. Don't forget your yellow flyer! Homework: Study for Spelling Test.
May 9, 2012 Homework: Spelling Pg. 264, 267 (Do not do backsides)
May 8, 2012 We are having two special programs this week. We are using money from the Field Trip Magazine sale to have the Children's Museum come in to do a Silkscreening class on Thursday and on Friday the program is called "At the Sock Hop with Stuffee and Professor MiGooch." We traveled to Woodhaven Nursing home in the fall and found that the bus fees went up enormously this year. We also used some of the money for the Science Center program a few weeks ago along with Kindergarten. We thought it would be more beneficial to have them come to us and do two programs. You can look at these two programs on the Pittsburgh Children's Museum website. They are under the outreach/classroom programs. I'm very excited and always love working with the Children's Museum. I have started an sticker incentive program with Room 204 for May. This is just for Language Arts when 204 is in my room. They must obey all the rules for the entire time, if they do they will receive a sticker for the day. If they do not follow a rule they will loose their sticker and receive an X. The chart should stay in their folders and return each day. The classroom rules have been the same since the beginning of school. 1. Remember the Golden Rule 2. Listen the first time 3. Keep your hands and feet to yourself 4. Raise your hand to talk, only one voice at a time 5. Walk. Please check your child's chart daily and discuss with them if they did not receive a sticker. Homework: Reading pg. 157-158 and please send in a picture with your child if they did not bring one in today.
May 7, 2012 It's starting to really warm up in our room, if room 203 would like to bring in water bottles to keep in their backpacks that is fine! We are working on the /ar/ sound this week as well as sequencing events. Vocabulary Words: above, against, already, caught, begin, minute, dark, star, jar, arm, appear, beacon, favorite, journey, monarch, promises, warns, whispers Spelling Words: arm, far, car, start, dark, yard, large, jar, scarf, hardly, started, darkest Homework: Reading page 255, please send in a picture of your child that is okay to cut by Wednesday (this is for a project for Mother's Day)
May 3, 2012 We took our Spelling pretest today. Tomorrow will be our test. Tomorrow is also all school Liturgy. NO DRESS DOWN PASSES! We will also have a bike safety program. We reread Two Greedy Bears. Room 203 is on our last box of tissues. With allergies it's hard to keep them stocked. If you have any extra boxes at home, please send one in. We also worked on the sounds for /ur./ The ways we can make the sound are: -ir, -er, -ur. Homework 204: Reading page 240-241 and study for the spelling test Homework 203: Study for the spelling test
May 2, 2012 Homework 203: 242 and 248 Homework 204: We took our writing assessment and saw the Serra Catholic Jazz Band perform and were rushed at the end of the day and didn't get to write down the homework. So, 204 does not have homework. Both classes: Study Spelling words.
May 1, 2012 We worked on the new vocabulary words for the week. There are a lot of math words. In handwriting we worked on the letters "U" and "H." We are reviewing the letters of the alphabet to get ready for second grade! We worked on our Theme Test for Unit 9. The children in room 203 began our May crowning of Mary for the month. The students each volunteered a day to bring in a crown. They are bringing home a note tonight. Homework: Enjoy the nice weather!
April 30, 2012 I can't believe it's the last day of April. Today Sister Carol announced that enough tickets were sold so she is keeping her promise of allowing the students to have a dress down day each Monday for the rest of the year. The class projects were turned into the Gala committee today. I loved seeing them, and I'm sure you'll love them as well when you see them at the Gala. We had a busy day and didn't get everything done as planned, but we'll be all caught up tomorrow. This week we will be working on the /or/ sound made by -or or -ore. Spelling Words: store, or, more, for, corn, morning, afford, before, sports, chore, snoring, score Vocabulary Words: began, break, divide, head, laugh, second, sure, appetite, argued/ing, bigger, equal, hungrier, journey, larger, stomachache, thirstier Homework: Phonics Page 233-234 Ho
April 24, 2012 The kids read a really cute story called The Surprise Family. It's about a chicken who thinks it's owner (a little boy) is her mother. We reviewed the suffixes and /oi/ and /o/ sounds. We also reviewed possessive pronouns. Homework: Spelling- pg. 229, Reading-pg. 230 April 23, 2012 Now that we are done with the Terra Nova tests, we are back to work. This week we will be working on the rules: -oy and -oi say /oi/ and -aw and -au say /o/. We use -oy at the end of words and -oi in the middle of words. /aw/ at the end of a word is spelled -aw and /o/ in the middle of a word is spelled aw or au and is followed by a consonant. After working on prefixes un- and re-, we have begun using the suffixes -ful, -ly, and -y. The definitions of each are as follows: -ful is full of, -ly is in a way that is, -y is having or full of. In Religion we are learning to appreciate and care for all of God's creations. There is a half day on Thursday, NOT WEDNESDAY. Spelling Words: coin, soil, boy, oil, toy, point, moist, destroy, choice, voice, spoil, enjoy Vocabulary Words: baby, only, edge, sharp, enough, together, garden, watched, built, chicken/s, danger, expected, feathers, gathered, gizzard/s, taught, vacuum cleaner Homework: Phonics Worksheet
*****Please dress your child in their gym uniform tomorrow, Monday the 23rd. We have planned a special program for Kindergarten and First grade students. ********************************* April 16, 2012 Terra Nova testing this week. Get lots of rest and eat a good breakfast. No homework this week, but please make sure your child has two sharpened number two pencils each day. April 12, 2012 Today we talked about how God is a good friend and very loving, so loving that he always forgives us. The children love hearing about God's infinite love. In English we worked on when to use "is" and "are." Use "is" when talking about one noun, and use "are" when talking about two or more and when using "you." We took our Spelling pretest and will have our test tomorrow. A few notes: Next week we will be taking the Terra Nova Tests. Please make sure your child comes to school rested, well fed, and on time. We will be starting the test promptly daily, and children are not permitted to enter the room once we begin. There will be no homework next week. We are completely our of hand sanitizer in our room. If you could spare a bottle we would appreciate it. I'm hoping to see all of you at the Gala on May 12. It will be a wonderful event. *Tickets are on sale until April 24th *It's a great way to meet other parents and socialize with other members of the school and parish, especially if you are new. *All the proceeds of the Gala will go towards either reducing or eliminating the fundraising budget for the families of the school. *You could win a lot of incredible prizes. *If we sell 75 additional tickets, Sister will designate Mondays as dress down days. *You can bid on our quilt that room 203 has handmade!!!!!!! Homework: Spelling pages 202 and 205 only, Study for test tomorrow April 10, 2012 Happy Easter! We talked about risen Christ today and about how the church continues to rejoice through the season. In handwriting we worked on letters "J" and "S." We are working on the same y as a vowel rule this week. We will continue on with the same vocabulary and spelling words. Homework: Phonics pg. 261-262 April 2, 2012 We practiced picking out details in a story. We learned a new rule for our secret sound books- y can say long i in short words (like sky, by, dry) and long e in long words (like sleepy, puppy, muddy). We reviewed good handwriting with the letters "C" and "G." We will continue on with our weekly theme next week, but here are the spelling and vocabulary words a head of time. Spelling: by, my, cry, try, fly, why, pry, multiply, butterfly, spy, dry, shy, buy Vocabulary: dance, around, open, ocean, talk, though, ever, else, canoe, cards, cedar, field/s Grandaddy, imagine, mind, remember, tired, any, my, by, try, cry Homework: Reading- Worksheet on -ed and -ing endings March 29, 2012 We completed our Theme Test today for Theme 8. Tomorrow we will have our Spelling Test. Room 203 watched a video today about the Easter Story. The kids enjoyed it and they were able to identify Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. Just a reminder that there is no school on Wed., Thurs., and Fri. We will return to school on Tuesday, April 10. Homework: Spelling- study, Reading- study vocab words March 28, 2012 We are learning about Holy Week in Religion and Fr. Tony talked a lot about it today in Church. We are continuing to review the endings -ed and -ing. Tomorrow will be our Spelling pre-test. We will have our Spelling and vocabulary test on Friday. The words are the same from last week. Please continue to encourage your child to hold their pencil correctly and write neatly. Homework: Spelling pg. 189 and Reading pg. 190 March 22, 2012 We are learning about Pentecost and the meaning of the Church as a whole. Both classes worked very hard on their theme tests today. I know it's hot and hard to concentrate, but they're doing a great job. I am excited to meet with you and review your child's progress. I will meet with room 203 on Monday. Remember, no school for grades K-2. There is no homework tonight, but it would be good to review the spelling words for the test next Friday. I'm hoping for all stars since the kids will have two weeks to learn them! March 21, 2012 I have been busy trying to wrap things up for report cards, theme tests and evaluations. I am checking each child's DRA as well. So, we are going to split the weeks work up between this week and next. Just like we did a few months ago, the students will not have their spelling test until next week. This will give them extra time to learn the spelling words and vocabulary words and spend some time playing outside in this beautiful weather. There is no homework tonight! March 19, 2012 This morning we went to mass and talked about St. Joseph and how he was the foster father of Jesus. We compared him to ways that are like our fathers. In Reading we learned the -ed and -ing rule. If a word ends with e, drop it and add the ending. If the word ends with a consonant, double it and add the ending. Because this is a more difficult rule, I am only giving 10 spelling words this week: checking, missed, filled, sleeping, landed, telling, bluffing, planted, clapping, coming. We also talked about tall tales. Vocabulary Words: butter, put, carry, saw, kind, were, person, work, apple, bread, cider, clothes, river, stories, years, young. Homework: Phonics page 273-274, sign yellow conference papers. March 16, 2012 I know I don't usually do notes on Friday, but I wanted to send out a reminder about Monday. It is St. Joseph Day and the children are allowed to bring a kite in to fly at recess. It's better if it is already put together. I will be placing the book order tomorrow around 3, so if you would still like to order you can do it on-line. Our class code is H7PLW. Have a Great Weekend! March 12, 2012 Today 203 began a week long program entitled Journey with Jesus. It's a great way to show children how all over the world different families celebrate Jesus' love. Only 203 will have to find out a family tradition to share tomorrow. This goes along with our lessons on Lent. We are working on the /ou/ sound, we added it to our secret sound books. The pairs that make this sound are ow and ou. Please, please, please have your child refer to these when reading at home and stuck on a word that has a sound we have learned. Spelling Words: cow, house, out, down, now, found, pouch, crowded, bounce, ground, count, loud Vocabulary Words: always, ready, arms, seven, body, warm, eight, butterfly, caterpillar/s, changing, chrysalis, danger, enemies, nectar, orange, suit/s Homework: Religion (203) Find out a family tradition, Reading: pg. 168, English: Simple Solutions Lesson 77 March 8, 2012 Spelling Test tomorrow. Please try to send in donations for the basket bingo. March 7, 2012 We are working on categorizing while reading and working on ending -s, -ed, -Inga. We are continuing to work on our fictional St. Patrick's Day stories. The kids have been very creative. We attended Liturgy and Fr. Tony did another fabulous job of reaching the children. We also had a special performance this afternoon from an acrobatic group from Beijing. They were amazing! Homework: Spelling pg. 157 and 162 (Do not do the back sides) March 5, 2012 Spelling Words: cup, cups, frog, frogs, tree, trees, gloves, birds, they, because, trying, about Vocabulary Words: acorns, beautiful, branches, careful, different, interesting, poisonous, types, about, because, draw, happy, part, teacher, tiny, added, loves, planted, tells The students are working on wonderful make-believe stories about leprechauns and St. Patrick's Day. Homework: Reading page 149-150 March 1, 2012 Today we practiced reading recipes. First, we read the ingredients. Then, we read the directions. Last, we reread the directions. I introduced pronouns today, most of the kids understood the concept. We are also learning how to write invitations. Tomorrow is all school liturgy. Please no dress down passes. We took our spelling pretest, tomorrow will be our test. Homework: Study for spelling February 29, 2012 203 drew pictures of each station today. Each child was assigned a different station and they did a beautiful job. I will be hanging these up. We also watched a 4 minute video about the stations. We reread If You Give a Pig a Pancake. We talked about which parts were realistic and which ones were make believe. Homework: Spelling pages 141 and 144 do not do back sides. February 28, 2012 We read If You Gave a Pig a Pancake today. It had plenty of our vocabulary words in it. Room 203 finished talking about the last station today. See if your child can name all 15. We have church tomorrow, so no dress down passes. Homework: English-Simple Solutions 75-76 (Just a reminder that these are lesson numbers and not page numbers. Both front and back of each lesson is to be done.) February 27, 2012 Spelling Words: zoo, food, too, moon, soon, room, moose, balloon, afternoon, goose, tooth, scooped Vocabulary Words: build, shoe, very, old, start, wear, piece, under, born, bubbles, closet, favorite, maple syrup, music, piano, probably, remind, glue, might, too , through, you We are working on the /Io/ sound this week. Homework: Phonics pg. 181-182 February 22, 2012 We began talking about the Stations of the Cross today. We will be doing a few each day and your child should be able to tell you about each. We will be going to Stations tomorrow with our 6th grade buddies. Please join us at 2:00 if you are available. We took our spelling pretest today and will have our test tomorrow. We reviewed proper nouns today and practiced reading descriptions in non-fiction texts. Book orders are due tomorrow if you are interested, we already have enough to place an order so we will definitely be placing the order. Homework: Spelling page 127 ONLY, and study for the test tomorrow. February 21, 2012 We began talking about Lent today and how we should all choose to find something we can do to be more like Jesus, this is more important than giving something up. We will go to Church tomorrow and receive ashes. Tomorrow is also an early dismissal at noon. We read words with the /oo/ sound today and made lists of compound words. Homework: Phonics page 157-158 (This is due Thursday, so it can be done tonight or tomorrow night.) February 16, 2012 Our story this week in Reading was pretty challenging, so we spent another day on it and reviewing the vocabulary words. I thought it was a good idea, especially since I was out one day. The kids took their spelling pre-test today. We will have our test tomorrow. Today I introduced Proper Nouns as special people, places, and things. We will work more with this. We are completely out of Clorox Wipes, if you could spare a container, we would greatly appreciate it. This is the season that we are all sharing germs, we have enough tissues, we just need the wipes for our desks. Thank You. We have no school on Monday and on Tuesday we will be going to Fifth Grade for Mardi Gras. Please send in some change for your child to play the games and win candy. Usually 50 pennies is plenty. The money goes to charity and the older students put so much time in their games and planning. Wednesday is an early dismissal. Homework: Spelling page 115 and study for test February 15, 2012 Spelling Words:boat, slow, coat, grow, show, toad, boast, throw, road, glow, coast, know Vocabulary Words: both, turn, agree, book/s, candy bars, crayons, fault, toad, hoptoad, lemonade, share, toys, again, or, gone, want, hard We are working on the long O sound this week. We learned that oa and ow can make the long O sound. Thank you for all the Valentine's Day treats. I was so sorry to miss the party, but feeling much better. Homework: Spelling Page 112 Only February 9, 2012 Tonight is Max and Erma's Night. Please try to attend. St. Bernadette School receives 20% of your bill. It's a great fundraiser. We took our spelling pretest today and will have our test tomorrow. We are also working on plural words with s endings. Homework: Study for Spelling Test
February 8, 2012 Homework: Spelling Page 93 February 7, 2012 We read a wonderful non-fiction story today about the Rain Forest. It had great photographs in it, as well as many of our vocabulary words. Tomorrow we will attend Liturgy.
Homework: Phonics Page 187-188
February 6, 2012 Last week was so much fun, but it is nice to get back on track with learning. Today we are working with the long A sound again. We use ai and ay to make long A words. 203 thought about our own Baptisms in Religion. We also reviewed abc order. Spelling: spray, playing, today, Ray, day, may, play, say, stay, way, away, holiday Homework: Phonics page 159-160 February 2, 2012 The kids had tons of fun bowling today. Thank you to Mrs. North, who went with us. Tomorrow is crazy hat day and we will have our spelling test.
February 1, 2012 This has been such a fun week. Tomorrow we will continue celebrating Catholic Schools Week by wearing our favorite team jersey and bowling at Miracle Lanes. Thank you for returning the slips so quickly. Any student wishing to purchase pizza Friday for lunch must return the slip and money tomorrow. 203 is talking about the Sacraments and we are concentrating on Baptism. We will have total school liturgy on Friday, please try to join us if you are able. Homework: Phonics Page 227-228 (Please be viewing the vocabulary words and spelling words) January 31, 2012 The students are allowed to wear any sweatsuit tomorrow. We will have our Inflatable Party. If your child did not sell any magazines they must send in $5 tomorrow. I had those children write a 5 next to the extra section on their homework sheet. Also, please return the bowling permission slips and the yellow pizza forms if your child is planning on buying Fox's pizza on Friday. Remember: no warm lunch served, the kids will eat in the room. Don't forget about Gala donations. Homework: Phonics Page 225-226 January 30, 2012 Today Mrs. North came in and did J.A. Day. She did a great job and the kids had lots of fun. This will be a fun week, we are celebrating Catholic School's Week. Tomorrow the children are allowed to wear crazy socks. We are accepting donations for our class basket for the Gala. $5- 10 would be great! There is no homework tonight. Thank you to everyone that came and visited yesterday. I enjoyed seeing everyone. January 26, 2012 The kids took their spelling pre-test today, even though the test won't be until next Thursday. We worked on our vocabulary words today. They're pretty challenging, so I'm glad they'll have until next week to practice. We read a new story in reading. The kids thought it was funny! In religion we have been learning about the sacraments and today we read the story of The Good Shepherd. Sister Carol came and joined us for Religion and the kids liked having her in our room. Again, we invite you to the opening of Catholic School's Week on Sunday at Noon mass in church. Please take a look at our bulletin board outside of the office. We will be putting it up tomorrow and please send in any pictures you have from throughout the year. We have lots of projects hanging the halls, please take time to look at them with your child. I'm so proud of all their hard work!
January 25, 2012 I have decided to spread out the Reading lesson for this week into next week. So, the children will not be tested on their spelling or vocabulary words until next Thursday. We've been very busy working on projects for Catholic Schools Week. It begins on Sunday at noon with a mass in church. We're hoping to see everyone. Please visit the classrooms to see all the hard work your children have been doing throughout the year. This is also a great opportunity to visit Mrs. Mathius and Ms. Sowa's classrooms. They are the second grade teachers and are wonderful. The kids are very used to seeing them around school, but it's nice for them to glance into the classrooms as well. Reminder: If any child in room 203 has a lamb or sheep figure, please bring it tomorrow. I have a few extras. Also, if any parent from either room has pictures from throughout the year, could we please borrow them for the bulletin board in front of the office. First grade is doing a special board, it would be great if we could have them by Friday! There is no homework tonight. January 24, 2012 I'm sure your child has told you we have been without a computer for about a week now. For some reason it's not allowing anyone to log on, so please forgive me for not posting each night. I'm trying to get to other rooms to use the computers throughout the day, but that doesn't always work. It was wonderful meeting with parents last night. I always enjoy getting to know you after spending so much time with your child each day. We are working on ways to make long E this week. Today we went over e_e, ea, ee. Spelling Words: eat, feet, he, me, mean, see, maybe, sheep, teeth, seals, please, treat Vocabulary Words: cow, there, horse, wall, now, table, through, door, barn, dancing, elephant, laying, marched, mercy, mouse, tangled. We are also working on a descriptive writing on Arctic Animals. Homework: Phonics Page 217-218 also room 203: we will be doing an activity on Thursday in religion, if your child has a plastic or ceramic lamb or sheep could you please allow them to bring it in. A small one from a manger would be perfect. I have a few extras but not enough for the whole class. January 12, 2012 We worked on cause and effect in Reading. We took our pre-test in spelling. We will have our test tomorrow. In English we are learning when to use I and me in a sentence.
January 10, 2012 We worked on our vocabulary words today and read a new story with lots of long I words. We added a new sound to our secret sound books: y can say I in short words and ie say I. We also started some projects for Catholic Schools Week beginning the last week of January. Homework: Phonics Page 169-170 January 9, 2012 Today we added one secret sound to the long I page: i_e. For practice you can practice writing short A and I words and then add the e to the end and have your child read them to you. For example: fin, fine, bit, bite, mad, made, hat, hate. We will be doing our DIBLES and DRA testing this week. One test that we do that some children have trouble with is nonsense words. These are short words that the children sound out and should be able to read smoothly, an example of this activity would be reading the words: mag, lan, nin, feg, sog. The kids are allowed to say each sound, but then must blend the sounds to make a word. Spelling words: five, nine, kite, prize, ride, like, time, shine, life, dime, bike, smile Vocabulary words: give, little, try, anywhere, beautiful, convinced, easy, news, perfect, raining, weather, our, good, her, was, fly Homework: Phonics page 165-166 January 6, 2012 Thank you to all the children in the class that surprised me with a birthday gift today after recess. They were so cute, they walked very quietly in the room then gathered in a circle and yelled, "Happy Birthday!" I will keep the beautiful card that each child signed with their best handwriting. Also, a special thank you to Mrs. North, who always seems to know exactly what I like and reminds me I have the best "rockin class" ever! January 4, 2012 We reviewed the sounds from yesterday and also learned the sound of ng, nk, and nd. We read a story titled Me on the Map. In Religion we are talking about how Jesus taught us how to pray. We now have the Gina Jugs in our classroom. We are raising money for the Mitochondrial Disease Foundation. Gina Mohan was a student here at St. Bernadette School 17 years ago. Please donate what you can. Homework: Phonics Pg. 153-154 January 3, 2012 It was so good to be back with the children today. I loved hearing all the stories about the holidays and break! Today in reading we learned some new "secret sounds." We began with learning the first long vowel sound this year: long A and one way to hear the long a is by a_e (a consonant e.) We also learned that the letters GE can make /j/ and CE can make /s/. The kids began to make secret sounds books. Please keep these in their return to school sides of their folders. They will refer to these in school and please feel free to have your child refer to these while reading at home as well. We will be adding to them throughout the rest of the year. We will go to church on Friday. Spelling Words: make, came, take, name, gave, game, place, skate, state, wave, plate, cage. Vocabulary Words: world, house, could, over, own, how, so, ball, country/countries, Earth, giant, special, street/s, town/s Homework: Have your child tell you the three secret sounds (they can use their books if they forget) and Phonics page 147-148 ***Also, the children may wear jeans tomorrow for $2 for the Gina Jug December 21, 2011 I was so proud of all the children last night. They did a fabulous job, and it was so nice to see all of you. Tomorrow is an early dismissal. Mrs. North will be coming in for our Christmas party, all treats are provided by the PTG, so no other things should be brought in by the students. Have a wonderful Christmas, I will miss the kids and will be anxious to see them in the new year! December 19, 2011 Spelling Words:she, fish, much, chin, shell, chop, shoe, chair Vocabulary Words: light, other, these, fancy, heavy, hide, inside, plain, rough, smooth, wait Reminder: Tomorrow is the Christmas concert in church at 7:00. The children are to wear their uniform bottoms and Christmas shirts, if they do not have a Christmas shirt, a white or red uniform shirt is fine. Please have your child in Biedenbach Hall by 6:45, keep their coat with you. They should not have them on when we meet. Homework: Reading Page 7 and 15 December 16, 2011 Please look in your child's folder for the spelling and vocabulary words for next week. The test will be on Wednesday, I only gave the kids the eight words since they don't have a full week. Have a great weekend! December 15, 2011 We took our spelling pre-test today and will have the test tomorrow. We began our theme test today as well in Reading. 203 and 204 watched a short 6 minute video on the story of Christmas. Both classes practiced phonics on the SmartBoard. Our school Christmas concert is Tuesday night at 7:00 in Church, hopefully the new sound system will be working. Thursday Mrs. North will be coming in for the Christmas party. Please do not send in any treats, PTG will provide them. I am going to give the kids their spelling and vocabulary words tomorrow for next week (because it is a shortened week.) Please keep them for next week, our spelling test will be on Wednesday. Homework: study for Spelling Test December 14, 2011 We had mass and went to the band concert today. Surprisingly, we still got a lot of academics done too. We worked on sequencing events in a story. In English we worked on telling the difference between telling and asking sentences. Homework: English pg. 208 ONLY. Do not do the backside. December 13, 2011 We will be going to church tomorrow, so please no dress down passes. We are finishing up our Simple Solutions 1st Semester Books. As I correct them, I will be sending them home. Please go back through and check if there are any missing lessons. If there are, please have them complete them. You can also review any missed questions. This is a great review. Homework: English-Eddie Elf worksheet December 12, 2011 We continued to learn the story of Christmas today, tomorrow we will talk about the fourth part. Ask your child to tell you what they learned. In reading we read a story about the Caribbean, and we are working on triple clusters scr, spl, spr, and str along with the short u sound. Spelling words: up, but, fun, run, us, cut, jump, plum, just, must, muff, struck Vocabulary words: car, down, hear, hold, hurt, learn, their, walk, would, chase, day, face, leash, school, stay, street December 8, 2011 December book orders are due tomorrow. Your child will be bringing home their spelling pretest tonight. Our test will be tomorrow. We worked on complete telling sentences today. Please send in gloves and a hat if your child does not have a hood on their coat. The children go outside everyday for recess, unless it is raining. Continue to encourage your child to hold their pencils correctly. Homework: Spelling Page 194 and study December 7, 2011 Today we talked about the Annunciation. We were given wonderful books on the story of Christmas and are working in them. We read a story about two friends. One had to move away. The kids are reading orally very well. Continue to encourage fluency. Tomorrow we will be going to church, no dress down passes. Homework: Phonics page 247-248 December 6, 2011 Today we visited the Santa Shoppe and St. Nick paid us a visit and left us treats. We worked on our new vocabulary words and read a new story. We are working on a new writing about what is special about the ways we celebrate Christmas. We will attend mass on Thursday not tomorrow. Homework: Simple Solutions Lessons 66-67 December 5, 2011 Today we learned about St. Nicholas and watched a movie about his life. We're hoping that if we leave our shoes out tonight we might get a treat. Tomorrow we are going to see if he sneaks in while we're learning. In reading we learned the clusters with s: sc, sk, sl, sm, sn, sp, st, sw as well as the silent letters kn, wr, gn. Spelling Words: get, men, ten, yes, red, pet, tent, bell, desk, nest, yellow, sled Homework: Phonics Pg. 283-284, 203 will Santa Shop tomorrow December 1, 2011 We will attend Mass tomorrow. The kids will be bringing home their spelling pre-tests tonight. Tomorrow will be the test. We are continuing to work on writing complete sentences. Homework: Spelling: Study, Page 177 and 179 only November 30, 2011 We talked a lot about Advent and how it is a season of waiting. We do a short prayer service along with the 2nd grade, it's really special and the kids look forward to it. We practiced our vocabulary words today. Homework: Simple Solutions 63-64 November 29, 2011 I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. The kids came back refreshed and ready to learn! We began learning clusters with l: bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl. We also reviewed the short o sound. Spelling Words: on, box, not, hot, got, top, pond, doll, cross, flop, drop, plop Vocabulary Words: children, come, family, father, mother, love, people, picture, your, pillows, sorry, clean, visit Homework: Phonics Page 245-246 November 22, 2011 Tomorrow is an early dismissal. There is no homework tonight or tomorrow. We will go to Mass tomorrow, so no dress down passes. Happy Thanksgiving! November 21, 2011 There will not be any spelling words or vocabulary words this week. You can use this time to review previous words. We will be finishing up our unit and reviewing this week. Wednesday is an early dismissal day and we will be attending Mass. In religion we are talking about the church year and ordinary time. We began a writing today about what we are thankful for. Homework: Simple Solutions Lessons 50-51 November 17, 2011 The students will be taking their spelling pre-test home tonight. They will take the test tomorrow. I hope I will see you tonight at Max-N-Erma's, don't forget your green slip. We worked on categorizing today as well as writing complete sentences. Tomorrow there will be a short writing quiz on descriptive writing. Homework: Study for spelling test November 16, 2011 We attended mass today. We read a wonderful non-fiction story today that contained all our vocabulary words. We practiced our spelling words and began our theme test. It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces the past two days at breakfast. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. Tomorrow we will have our spelling pre-test. Homework: Reading Pg. 158 and English-Simple Solutions 43 November 15, 2011 Vocabulary words: blue, also, brown, color, funny, like, green, many, some, breathe, dolphins, fish, otter, sea, sea horse, tails We read a story with lots of blends this morning. We practiced building r blends with our letter cards. 203 has been working on learning about the commandments as laws and the greatest commandment God gave us. Tomorrow we will go to mass. If you did not make it to breakfast this morning, we would love to see you tomorrow at the same time. November 14, 2011 We began r blends today- cr, br, dr, tr, gr, pr, fr. We also worked on 's contractions. Spelling Words: trip, grab, crab, drip, grin, trap, crack, brown, grass, brick, track, free Homework: English Simple Solution 36, 37 and Reading Page 154 November 10, 2011 The kids took their spelling pre-test today. It did not count as a grade, but there is a handwriting grade up in the top. Tomorrow will be our test. We worked on naming and action parts to day as well as predicting. Homework: Study for spelling and spelling page 151 November 9, 2011 We worked on adding apostrophe s onto a word to show possessives. We read a new story today. Please review the vocabulary below, I think a few strips may have gotten confused. Homework: Spelling page 149 and Simple Solutions Lesson 30 November 8, 2011 It was wonderful meeting with you all yesterday. Here is the ENTIRE spelling word list:big, in, did, it, him, sit, dish, milk, picked, gift, lick, dip. Here is the ENTIRE vocabulary word list: why, all, call, first, every, eat, never, paper, shall, cone, dish, green, ice cream, kind, napkins, shop, try , wish. Tomorrow we will attend the book fair.The scholastic book order is due Friday the 11th. Homework: Simple Solution Lessons 27-28 November 3, 2011 We have been working on stories about our Thanksgiving traditions. We have been using the writing process. So far we have done rewriting and drafting. Tomorrow we will work on revising and publishing. Reminder-Conferences are on Monday. Please see the purple sheet for your time. Conferences will be limited to 15 minutes each. I'm sorry for any confusion on the simple solution homework last night. I assigned it in class, but posted the wrong lesson on line. Tomorrow we will be going to mass, please no dress down passes. Homework: Simple Solutions-Lessons 25-26 November 2, 2011 I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween and day off. Today we worked on a poem on what we are thankful for. We also began rewriting on a story for Thanksgiving. Please take a look at these when you visit for conferences. Ms. Luann from the Monroeville Library visited today and shared two books on bullying. The children enjoyed her visit. Homework: Phonics Page 63-64 and Simple Solutions 24 October 31, 2011 What a busy day! I met each group quickly met with each group. In religion we read the story where Jesus helped the blind man and talked about how we were going to help the residents at Woodhaven when we visited. The children put a smile on all the faces of the people there. They were perfectly behaved and made me very proud. A big thank you to Mrs. North and Mrs. Stalnaker for a wonderful Halloween party. The kids had a snack, did a craft and played a unique game. Ask your child to describe it. It as so cute. In reading we worked on verb endings -s, -ed, and -ing. I am splitting the reading theme into two weeks; with the party, field trip, one day off this week and next, I thought it would be easier. So, your child will not receive their spelling words until Wednesday, but will not have a test until next Friday. Vocabulary will be given out on Wednesday as well. Reminder, no school tomorrow and conferences are next Monday. Homework: Reading pg. 140 and English Simple Solution Lessons 17 and 18. I know tonight is Halloween but the kids can work on these tomorrow and tomorrow night. If there are any lessons not complete in Simple Solutions, please make sure all lessons up to 18 are complete. October 26, 2011 We're still awaiting the winners of the walk-a-thon. In my heart first grade won. We took our spelling pretest, please look to see if your child needs to review any words. We took a short reading quiz on comprehension. When reading with your child, ask them questions about the main idea, characters, and predicting. We worked more on naming and action parts of a sentence. I am beginning to check to see if the children can correctly write a sentence using both, while remembering capitalization and punctuation. We will be going to Woodhaven Monday afternoon. You may want to talk with your child about nursing homes if they have never been to one. We already talked in school about it. The children should bring their costumes on Monday. They should not wear them to school. They should just be able to slip them on over their clothes. They should not wear shoes that could make them fall. Please do not send weapons or props. Label everything, and please don't send anything you would not mind being broken or lost. I try to remind the students of this rule, anytime they bring something into school. We will have our party when we return. PTG will be providing the treats, extra treats or snacks are not allowed. Homework: Spelling-study, page 136, English-Simple Solutions Lesson 14 (remember it's front and back.) October 25, 2011 Tomorrow is the big day! Tomorrow is the walk-a-thon, the kids are sooooo excited. Mrs. North came up with the theme of "first graders are rock stars." Tomorrow she will come in with some things for the kids, but if they have play instruments they may bring them in to carry for it. The children are allowed to wear jeans and we thought it would be cute for the kids to wear BRIGHT colored shirts to go with our theme. Hopefully we'll have nice weather. Today we reviewed our new vocabulary words and read a new story. We wrote a class description of the view from our classroom. Tomorrow the children will write their own short descriptions. We worked on using "an" and "a" in sentences, an before words that begin with vowels, and a before words that begin with consonants. We also finished learning the Joyful Mysteries. I am hopeful the children can recite them independently. I am proud of the reverence the children have when praying the rosary. Homework: Spelling: The children already wrote their spelling words once. They need to write them two more times. English: Simple Solutions Lesson 10. Remember the lesson is front and back. October 24, 2011 This Friday will be the first spelling test. The words were assigned today. We will have a pretest on Thursday. This will just be to see what words need to be studied. The test will be Friday. Thank you very much to Mrs. North, she came in on Friday and made posters with the kids for the Walk-a-thon. It's on Wednesday and our theme is first grade rocks! Our posters are so cute! Homework: Simple Solutions Lesson 8, Reading page 126 Spelling Words: an, had, at, man, can, cat, catch, add Vocabulary Words: animal, bird, cold, fall, flower, look, full, see, of, bear, insects, leaves, rain, south, spring, summer, trees, winter October 20, 2011 Today we began identifying action words (verbs) in a sentence. We also read a story with short u words. Tomorrow we will work on story structure. Homework: Phonics- Page 107-108, Reading-Lunch In a Jug October 18, 2011 Tomorrow there will be a cookie sale and an early dismissal at 12:00. We will go to Mass. This week we are working on the short U sound, nouns and the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. Vocabulary Words: pull, are, where, does, they, pool, quit, leaf, away, he, live Homework: finish worksheet, return Duquesne Light paper in Tuesday Express October 17, 2011 We are on our last short vowel sound of o. We review the letters q,z,and j. We practiced summarizing also. Please be looking for the form from Duquesne Light in the Tuesday express. Please sign and return. You do not need to purchase anything. For every form that is returned St. Bernadette's will receive $25! And the first classroom to have all forms in will receive a pizza party! Homework: Reading page 111-112 October 13, 2011 There is no written homework tonight, but please be reading and reviewing vocabulary words. We will have a small quiz tomorrow on beginning and ending sounds. October 12, 2011 I was out this morning for an in-service, so I did not see 203. Therefore, there will not be any homework tonight. I'm sure the students were very upset about that (ha ha.) Both classes did review the vocabulary words and read a story. We have been talking about the difference between fantasy and realism. I will post the vocabulary words weekly (on Tuesdays.) There will be additional words that are not on the red strips they bring home. It is important to check these on schoolnotes. Last week they were not posted, however we go over them daily in class and they are posted in the room for reference when reading. If you have index cards you could cut them into strips and add these words to the baggies. Soon, you will be receiving a letter attached to a book order that will indicate your child's DRA (Diagnostic Reading Assessment) level. This is what I use to assess each child's growth for oral and independent reading. I attach this to the book order so you are able to order books on your child's DRA level. Most books on the order form will indicate the level. It is in small print so look closely. Just be sure to look at that, as there are other levels for other assessments and they do not correlate. Some libraries can also recommend books according to the DRA level. My own classroom books are leveled on the back on a sticker, you are always welcome to come in and take a look. The readers that come home in the baggies will not have this sticker on the back, they come with our reading series. You can also go to Scholastic's website and there is a link for "Book Wizard." You are able to type in almost any title and it will tell you the DRA level for that book. Just be sure to check the DRA box at the top, not Lexile or any other form of levels. I think that is enough information for one night. As always let me know about any questions or concerns! October 11, 2011 Vocabulary Words: do, I, me, is, said, for, my, you, Bear, bunnies, bunny, little, snow, window, woods Please remember to review these words nightly. Also, review from previous weeks. Sometimes I throw in words from other weeks when testing. We did a short lesson on bats and how they find their food. Then, we did a writing project in which the children wrote about how they find their food. We are working on the short E sound this week. 203 is working on praising Mary and we are slowly learning the rosary. I don't expect the children to have it memorized of course, but I would like them to know each prayer and be able to name the mysteries. Homework: Phonics page 131-132 October 10, 2011 We will be working on the short E sound this week. Today we used our letter cards to build and read those words. Please let me know by note if your child is not feeling well in the morning. Please do not to tell them you will come pick them up if they start to feel worse. Without fail the first thing they will tell me is that they do not feel well and would like to go home. I always ere on the side of caution but unless a child is not vomiting there is no way in telling if they are sick. We do not have a thermometer to check temps. We are beginning to focus on all caps and punctuation at the end of sentences as well as ABC order. Homework: Reading Pg. 97-98 October 6, 2011 We finally had field day! Today we reviewed the short o sound. and took a short quiz on using capital letters for names. Although room 203 knows the Our Father, this week we have been taking apart each verse and put motions with it to remind us of the meaning. The kids have really liked this. Tomorrow we will attend Mass. Homework: Phonics Page 123-124 and Read In the Tub October 4, 2011 Field Day was canceled again and rescheduled for Thursday. Please continue to review vocab cards nightly. Homework: Phonics Page October 3, 2011 October already! We read a new story today about children all over the World. We reviewed the sounds for x,d,l,w. We built, spelled, and read short o words. We had a special presentation from the Windy City Players of Tom Sawyer. Tomorrow field day is scheduled. Please dress your child with an orange shirt and gym bottoms. Homework: Page 83-84 September 29, 2011 We reviewed our new vocabulary words and read a cute story about pigs today. We continued to work with short i words. We also did board work on using capital letters at the beginning of all sentences and using periods at the end of telling sentences. Field day has been rescheduled for Tuesday. Please wear an orange shirt that day with gym bottoms. Homework: Finish English worksheet and phonics page 94 September 26, 2011 Today we worked on cause and effect while reading Charles Tiger Introduced the short i sound today and we worked on identifying it and used our letter cards to build short i words. We reviewed the b,g,h,r sounds in initial and ending positions. In religion we are continuing to talk about the Holy Family. Just a reminder that Wednesday is a half day and there will be a cookie sale. We will also attend church. Homework: Reading page 67-68 (ONLY 203 needs to complete page 84) September 22, 2011 204 started the day by visiting the library. We read some short poems about school. We spelled short a words independently. 203 talked about Mary and the Holy Family. We compared them to our families. Tomorrow is Field Day in the afternoon. First grade is to wear orange shirts with gym bottoms. Homework: Phonics page 77-78 and read Bats September 21, 2011 We attended church today. The magazine kick-off sale was this morning. The students can get a prize tomorrow if they bring back the filled out postcards. Every student should sale one magazine to attend the field trip at the end of the year. We reviewed our vocabulary today and read a new non-fiction story A Day at School. We also practiced compare/contrast by using a Venn Diagram. Homework: Phonics page 75-76 and Magazine Sale September 20, 2011 The children worked extremely hard today. We read our new vocab words then practiced them on a few sheets. We read Cam and Pat as a class. We practiced Ff,Tt,Nn,Cc,Ss,Mm in handwriting. We reviewed -an and -ap words. Today in small reading groups the kids were given stories to take home and read. These were books that we worked on in small groups last week so they should be very easy for them. Please keep these books in their baggies and return each day. This is part of their homework, so even if for some reason they do not get to read please be sure to send it back the next day. I stressed to the children how important it is to take care of the books: they are to stay in the bag and in the return to school side of their folder except when their being read. Any books that are lost or damaged will cost $5.00 to replace, regardless of the size, level, or age. Church tomorrow. Vocabulary Words for the Week: school, teacher, read, not, sing, we, jump, here, and, too, add, playground (please add these to the bag you started at home last week and review frequently.) Homework: Read baggie book, Phonics page 69-70 September 19, 2011 The kids all took such beautiful pictures today. We finished our chapter on the Holy Trinity. I really wanted the children to understand that they are one, and reminded them to think of a triangle. In reading we reviewed the sounds for f,n,p. We are working with -ap and -an words this week. We used our letters to build and change words with those bases. Tomorrow the children will get their vocabulary words to add to their baggies at home. We are continuing to recognize capital letters at the beginning of sentences, when using I, and words that stand alone. I hope to see everyone at the PTG meeting tonight at 7:00 in the cafeteria! Homework: Finish page 51-52 (We began both sides in class.) *Just a reminder that Monday is picture day. September 15, 2011 I am so proud of all the hard work the students are doing. Today we read a non-fiction article about cats. The students also worked on their first independent writing assignment, they had to write about a silly animal. Each class wrote a message to the other and then we went through and circled all the capital letters and told why they were capitalized. In religion we talked about God's greatest gift of Jesus. Homework: Please read again with your child. September 14, 2011 There is no written homework tonight, but please be sure your child is reading nightly. September 12, 2011 Today we began building and reading short a words. The children used phonics cards to spell the words. We reviewed initial sound in words and ending sound. Tomorrow we will begin our reading groups. Gym tomorrow! Homework: Reading Page 39-40 September 8, 2011 We began to talk about when to use quotation marks. Although the children are not expected to use these yet in their writing they should be able to identify them while reading. Today I finished doing each DIBBLES assessment for each child. I think the children and myself will be excited to start our small groups next week! We worked on the letters t,u,v in handwriting. We completed the chapter on creation and all the good things God gave us.The children may wear red, white, and blue tops tomorrow with their uniform bottoms. Homework:Reading: read "Play!"Said the Bear, Phonics: Page 39-40 September 6, 2011 We read The Amazing Porridge Pot in reading. In handwriting we worked on letters "Ii-Mm." We also reviewed their sounds. We have been talking all about the wonderful things God has created. We will attend Liturgy tomorrow. Homework: Reading: Read booklet, Phonics: Workbook page *****New****** 9-1-11 The school notes do not seem to be notifying right away. I'm not sure why this is happening??? Until it starts to notify quicker, maybe just check nightly. I usually have them posted before 4:00. September 1, 2011 Today in reading we read The City Mouse and The Country Mouse we compared and contrased both characters. In phonics and handwriting we worked on the letters c, d, e. The children will bring home their first handwriting grade tonight. Tomorrow is computers, if you have not sent in the earphones, you might want to try so the kids have them for tomorrow. Homework: Page 43-44 (PLEASE SIGN ALL HOMEWORK) August 31, 2011 We had another great day! The kids are all working hard. Tonight your child has brought home a highlighted list of any supplies they still need. This is just for your information, you still have until Tuesday. Some of you have asked for a schedule list: M&W-Music T&R- Gym R-Art F- Computer Library for 203 will be Wed., and 204 will be Thurs. Today we read Caps for Sale and used our own experiences to compare and contrast. In handwriting we practiced writing Aa, Bb at the chalkboard and on paper. I reminded the children that it is important to hold their pencils correctly. I always tell them that the daddy (thumb) and mommy (index finger) sit up front (top of pencil) and the kids (the other three fingers) sit in the back (bottom of pencil). If your child is not holding their pencil correctly it's very important to correct this habit now. I will keep reminding them. Tomorrow their paper will come home with a handwriting grade, with 10 being the best. In order to get into the skinny pencil club they must hold their pencil correctly and earn multiple 10's on their papers. In phonics we reviewed the sounds for A and B. We also reviewed the words I, see, my. I know this is a review, but we will soon be getting into more advanced work and I will begin to test (look at) each child's individual reading level next week. This will help me to place them into small reading groups. I use the DIBBLES and DRA assessments to help me place them. Again, this is such a wonderful group and as always please contact me with any questions or concerns: nicoleduq@yahoo.com. If you didn't get my phone number at open house please let me know and I will be happy to send it home with your child. Homework: Phonics-pg. 14, Reading- read "I See My" (Please remember to initial ALL homework) August 30, 2011 It has been so wonderful getting to know both classes. They are a great group of kids and are so enjoyable! Today we began our Language Arts year. We read a story about best friends and talked about all the activities we like doing with our friends. While we read, I introduced some strategies to use when reading a new story: predicting, evaluating, and summarizing. In phonics we reviewed partner letters. (This is a skill taught in kindergarten and all the children have mastered it.) Thank you all for sending in supplies. If you haven't gotten to everything, don't worry! There is a lot and you have until Tuesday. Tomorrow your child will come home with a highlighted list of what they still need. This is just to help you keep track. Remember that all communication folders and green notebooks must be purchased at school. Also, just a reminder that gym is on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We will begin homework tomorrow night. Please sign all homework so I know you have taken a look at it. Have a great night! P.S. The children all have great manners. I can't believe all the please and thank yous I'm hearing. I'm already so proud to be their teacher! |
