Lunch

Many of your children buy lunch every day.  I have seen several of the students purchasing extra items including ice cream and chips.  This is a discussion you and your child need to have. 
Here are a few things to remember:

* There are some great features on My Lunch Money:

• Recurring payment options
• E-mail reminders for low balances
• View student meal purchases
• Set daily and weekly spending limits

* Your child's lunch ID is on the inside pocket of their take home folder

*When writing a check, please include your child's ID number in the notes section

If there's something I can do to help, please let me know!

Scholastic Book Order

Today in your child's folder you will see a letter about our first Scholastic Book Order for the year.  Depending on interest from the parents, we will do a few more orders throughout the year. 

The bright pink letter details how the program works.  Simply log onto www.scholastic.com/readingclub and enter our class activation code: GVG88


Although I sent two club flyers home, you have access to order from any catalog you choose.  All orders will come directly to the classroom and sent home with your child unless you want to make other arrangements with me (books make great gifts!!).
The more you order, the more points we get for our classroom to buy books and other classroom resources.  There are some steals including books for only $1!!

If you would prefer not to enter your credit card information on the secure site, you can also send in your order with a check written out to Scholastic Book Clubs.

Orders are due on Monday, September 16.

Scientists at work

Students were introduced to the scientific method. We put it to work by answering the question: how many hand claps can we do in a minute?

Reading

For the next two weeks we will be focusing on sequencing during our reading lessons.  1st graders are expected to retell familiar stories with a beginning, middle, and end using details from the story.  We are utilizing different graphic organizers to identify the elements of the story (characters, setting, problem, plot, solution).  Transitions words like first, next, and last are great indicators for major events in the story.  Students are learning to identify them and use them to retell the story.

HOW CAN I HELP?:
As you read stories with your child, ask them questions.  Here are some examples:
-Where did the story happen?
-What happened before...
-What happened after....
-What was the problem? 
-How did they TRY to solve the problem?  Did it work?

Sunshine Math

Sunshine Math is a volunteer-led program consisting of 20 math worksheets with grade-level appropriate problems of varying complexity.  The program is optional, but are typically rewarded for attempting the problems (right or wrong).  Students and parents are asked to read and sign an information form stating that worksheets should be completed by the student without assistance (except for younger students who may need help reading the problems).    

Each math problem is assigned one to four stars, depending in its difficulty. Classroom volunteers grade the worksheets, review them in class with the students, and track the number of worksheets completed and stars earned.  Students who attempt at least 15 worksheets throughout the school year will be invited to attend a special event.  Those who earn a certain number of stars are eligible to compete against other students in the same grade in a Sunshine Math contest, with first, second and third place winners in each grade receiving trophies.  First place winners represent Loretto in district-wide competition.

While not intended to replace any aspect of the standard math curriculum, Sunshine Math provides an opportunity for students to be rewarded for their extra efforts.

Character Education

Twice a month we will dedicate a lesson to character building. Today we discussed different feelings and how we know when someone feels that way. We even got to do a little role playing.

25 Ways To Ask Your Kids How Was School Today

http://www.simplesimonandco.com/2014/08/25-ways-ask-kids-school-today-without-asking-school-today.html

This is a great article. I love some of the questions let me know which ones solicited the best answer!

Reading and Writing

READING

We have been focusing on characters in stories.  Specifically trying to look at the characters actions to better understand them.  We have worked on filling out graphic organizers to help organize information show a characters feelings and their corresponding actions.
We will continue this week on our study of characters. 
HOW CAN I HELP? As you read books at home with your child, please ask them about the characters (WHO are the characters? WHAT type of behaviors are they showing? DID their feelings change?, etc...).

WRITING

We are continuing to establish the basic routines of writing before delving into the narrative genre.  I will begin marking this incorrect on spelling tests if they add capital letters where they don't belong.  We have also worked on nice handwriting, spaces, and punctuation for our sentences. 
HOW CAN I HELP? Please hold your child accountable for capitals in the correct places. 

Most recently, students have learned there are two parts to a sentence: a subject (WHO or WHAT) and a predicate (what they are DOING or IS).
HOW CAN I HELP? Have your child dictate sentences aloud to see that they are expressing complete thoughts.