April 1, 2010

Dear Families,

         Thank you so much for helping yourchild return his/her homework when it is due. The reading bags, Fundationshomework and math pages are coming back to school regularly.  The children should be reading the books they’veread in reading group with you at home. After your child reads to you, pleaseask your child to talk to you about his/her book.  It’s good to make some personal connectionswith the books we read.  This promotesbetter comprehension of the story.  Youcould ask your child if he/she is like any of the characters in the story.  Or, you could ask if the story or thecharacters remind your child about something or someone in his/her life. Goodfamily discussions about the books we’re reading will help your child gain adeeper understanding of the stories.  Yourchild could ask you the questions to see if you were paying attention to thestory!  That would be fun!

I amvery proud of the children for reading daily and returning their “Book It” booklogs to school each month.   We only haveApril and May to go!  So, please continueto encourage your child to fill out the Book It calendars for the next fewmonths!  It’s amazing how fast this yearhas flown by!  If you haven’t sent theMarch “Book It” calendar back to school yet, please send it back as soon aspossible.  Remember if you misplace yourcalendar you could write me a note stating that your child has been reading atleast 10 minutes a day.

Center School will be celebrating Earth Day on Wednesday, April 28th.  (Rain date: April 29^th)  We havesome wonderful activities planned for the children to do. 

Ourspelling tests for April will be on Friday, April 16^th and Friday,April 30^th.  Our spring recessis April 19^th –April 23rd. 

We continueto work on vertebrates in science.  Thechildren should know characteristics of birds and fish quite well.  We recently began the study of mammals andwe’ll study reptiles and amphibians soon.   When your child brings science or socialstudies papers home with him/her, please go over the papers together.  The science and social studies assessmentsare based on the information we present in class which is included on thepapers going home. 

Thechildren received the list of the first 100 high frequency words in their Aprilhomework packs.  Please review all ofthese spelling words withyour children during April and May.  Wewill have a test on the entire list during the last week of May. (One hundredwords!)   It’s a lot to review but it’s so important forthe children to have these words down pat as they enter into second grade.  If you practice three or four words a nightfrom now until the end of May, your child should do fine!

Onceagain, please call me or write me a note if you have any questions or concernsabout your child’s school experience.

                                                                   Thankyou!

                                                                 Connie Wilde

                                                                     And

                                                             Ms. Martin