March 3, 2010

Dear Families,

It’s amazing that March is here already!  We’ve been very busy!  I hope we’ve had all the snow we’re going to get this year.  Spring should be just around the corner……

We have finished our dental health unit.  Miss Martin is doing a wonderful job with the children.  It’s nice to have another teacher working in our room!  Our next science unit will be about vertebrates.  Miss Martin has some exciting activities planned for this unit! Our math unit is focused on working with numbers and operations.  We are working on strategies like doubling numbers, finding the missing addend, and subtraction.  This should be fun too!

We will have our “Read Across America” Day next Monday, March 8^th!  If your child has any Dr. Seuss books he/she may bring them to school to read for this occasion.  Make sure your child’s name is in the book(s).  The children will do some special “Seuss” activities.  We will be making a class book called Our Foot Book.  We’ll talk about verbs being action words. Then we’ll generate a list of things our feet could do.  We’ll be sending the completed book home daily with the children.  When your child gets to take our class book home, please make sure he/she returns the book on the following day so the next child can take it home!  I’d appreciate your help with this.  We’d like every family to see our beautiful book!

All of the first graders will be attending a production put on by THEATRE WORKS USA.  This presentation will be at the University of Hartford’s Lincoln Theater in West Hartford.  The production we will see is, Click, Clack, Moo.   It is always a thrill for the students to see some of their favorite stories performed on stage!  The permission slips were sent home yesterday.  The cost for the performance and bus is $11.00per person.  We will have two teachers per class going on the field trip.  We cannot have any chaperones attend because the theater is booked for this event.Please send in your money and your child’s permission slip  for this trip by March 12^th.

Thanks to all of you for helping your children study the monthly spelling words.  Please review the previous months’ words occasionally.  I’ll attach a list of the monthly words to this letter.  We will have a cumulative spelling test with all the spelling words in late May or early June. Our March spelling tests will be on Friday, March 26^thand Wednesday, March 31^st. 

 I appreciate your help with the “Book It”calendars each month. It’s so important to read to and with your child daily. Our March Book It calendar should be returned by April 1st. 

 Please keep practicing the 200 high frequency words with your child.  I have seen such an improvement as the year progresses!  Many of the children are very close to being able to read all of the 200 words!  First graders should know how to read most of these words by the end of the year.

Some March dates to remember:

March 8^th: Read Across AmericaDay

March 13^th: Permission Slip and Money due for theater field trip

March 17^th: St. Patrick’s Day (Wear green. Try to bring in a 

green snack.)

March 19^th: Minimum Day, Report cards go home.

March 22rd:  No school, Staff Development Day

March 25th: Theater field trip

March 26^th: Spelling test

March 31th: Spelling Test

Once again, please call me or write me a note if you have any questions or concerns about your child and his/her school experiences. 

Thanks!

Connie Wilde