Questions to ask your first grader that will reinforce what we have been learning at school…

• What how-to book did you write this week?

• What is a centimeter?  Why might someone want to measure something in centimeters instead of inches?

• What activity did you do on with your 3^rd grade buddy?

• What kind of animals did you think of when you practiced inferring?

• Tell me about the toys Mrs. Campbell brought in to share with you from when she was a little girl.

Special Request from Mrs. Campbell

On Thursday of next week I am going to do an inferring lesson with the book Good Night Gorilla.  I would like for the children to work in partners during this lesson, but I do not have enough copies of this book.  If you have a copy of this book at home, could you please send it in with your child by Thursday?  Make sure your last name is marked somewhere on the book so I know who it belongs to.  Thank you so much for your help with this!

Cold Stone Creamery Trip

To support our How-To book writing unit, we are taking a walking field trip to Cold Stone Creamery on Monday, March 22^nd.  We are going to see how ice cream is made at Cold Stone, and then we are going to treat ourselves to some!  Information and permission forms are coming home today.  Please read over the information and send it back to me by Wednesday, March 17^th.  Please indicate on the form if you would be willing to walk with us.  Let me know if you have any questions.

March is Reading Month

On Monday, please have your child turn in:

• Any "Reading for Change" coins collected for our partner school

• The tear-off slip attached to the calendar showing total minutes read and activities completed for the week.

• Remember, we're also collecting any gently-used children's books you no longer use.

WOW Words

This week’s WOW words were day, after, saw, what & make.  We practiced making words containing the –ake chunk.  Take a peek at your child’s WOW test this week…everyone did great!  I am so glad that the children are independently remembering capital letters and periods in their sentences!

Math

This week in math we practiced our math facts using dominoes and fact triangles.  We listed the 3 numbers shown on the triangle or domino.  These are the 3 numbers we use to make the fact family.  We can make 2 addition and 2 subtraction problems from these 3 numbers.  Children were also introduced to the centimeter this week.

I am noticing a lot of growth in each child’s ability to complete more (and more!) problems during the Mad Minute.  Once your child consistently gets all 30 completed in one minute, s/he will be given a Challenge Minute during the Mad Minute time.  The Challenge Minute has addition problems with sums greater than 10.

Book It!

This is the last month that Pizza Hut sponsors the Book It! program.  Thanks for making this program a success.

Upcoming Dates

Tuesday, 3/9– No School for children

Friday, 3/12– Celebration of Diversity Night

Wednesday, 3/17- St. Patrick’s Day…wear green!  (Ask your child why Mrs. Campbell is sooooo excited about St. Patrick’s Day this year!)

April 2-11- Spring Break 

Winter Clothing

As we start to make the transition from winter to spring (yay!), please encourage your child to bring home his/her winter clothing items that have been left at school.  I have a nice assortment of gloves, hats, scarves, boots, etc. in our coatroom.

A Message from Mr. Burt

The office sends an email to parents each Friday with important school news and information about coming events. Parents need to sign-up to receive these each week through our website:

workman.pccs.k12.mi.us

You will see information on the left side of the home page about how to subscribe. If you do not have an active email account and would like us to send you a paper copy of these emails each week, please contact the school office. This email service is the main way school administration communicates with parents so if you have not yet subscribed, we are urging you to do that so you are not missing out on important information about our school. Thank you!

-Jim Burt

Back