March 1, 2016
Dear Parent(s),
We can’t believe March is here already. We look forward to visiting with
you during conferences. Information about the month of March follows.
Religion
We have started our study of Lent in the classroom. The children will
participate in activities that will help them better understand the Stations of the
Cross and also experience prayer, sacrifice and the giving of alms. Students met
as Spirit Groups and then acted out the Stations of the Cross. Students will also
be attending liturgies on March 2nd (prepared by Mrs. Weig’s class), 9th, and.
16th. Please note that there will not be an all school liturgy on the 23 rd. Children
will attend the Mazzuchelli Mime at church on the 21st. We hope you can join us.
Reading
The children have started Theme 7, which also means they have started a
new book. During Reading class this month we will work on the following
phonics skills: vowel pairs oa, ow, oo, ew, ue, ou and u_e, long i spelled ie and
igh and compound words. The following comprehension strategies will also be
covered: how to monitor and clarify as one reads, sequence of events, fantasy
and realism. In addition to work on high-frequency words, we will also work on
words with multiple-meanings and syllabication.
In addition to the stories read in their reading book, students have also
been given the opportunity to read many other books during small group
instruction time. We will also continue to send home a book in a plastic bag.
This book may be returned as soon as it is finished and another one will be sent
home. Students continue to work hard to reach their AR goals. March 23 is the
ending date for their current goals.
Math
We have started work in chapter 8 working on 2-digit addition and
subtraction. Regrouping to add will be introduced. In order to be successful with
this concept, it is important for the children to be fluent with their addition and
subtraction facts. Before the month is over we will work on measurement and
telling time to the hour and half hour.
Writing
We have been spending time working on writing sentences and
proofreading, checking to see if sentences make sense and if capital letters and
ending marks have been used. We also talk about the importance of leaving
space between words in a sentence to make it easier to read. The children have
finished writing a personal narrative and will soon begin writing stories about
leprechauns. The children will use the writing process to brainstorm ideas and
write a rough draft. Once this is done they will proofread their rough draft, edit it
and then produce a final copy.
Social Studies / Science
We have almost finished our Social Studies Unit on ‘Where Do I Live?’.
The children will be creating a flowchart on their laptops showing what they have
learned in this unit. We are beginning to work on our weather unit, studying
different types of weather and the weather tools that are used.
Thank you once again for all your help and support.
Mrs. Burke and Mrs. Weig