This week is packed full of fun activities.  First, we have our Cheetah Run.  This is always an exciting day, and the kids are looking forward to it.  Parents, come cheer your kids on as they run!

Tuesday is Parent Conference Night.  I am looking forward to meeting with many parents!  If you have not scheduled a conference with me yet, please email me to set up a time so we can discuss your child’s progress.  Parent-teacher communication is the BEST way we can partner together to make school a successful experience for your child.  Thank you!

Thursday, we will travel to see the Gainesville Chamber Orchestra.  The children always LOVE this performance, and the orchestra director always does a fantastic job of engaging the kids as they enjoy the music.    It’s always a great field trip, and we’re looking forward to it!

Here are some things we’re doing in class:

Language Arts: We are learning about making inferences.  This is an extremely important skill because it teaches the students how to combine what they already know with what the author says, so they can infer meaning that’s not explicitly written in the text.  On every test and assessment, the inference comprehension questions are the most commonly missed and the most difficult.  As you read with your child at home, please help him/her to infer meaning from the text. 

In our grammar lessons, we are learning about possessive nouns.  (Example:  The cat’s kittens are cute.)  These are SO tricky!  Whenever you have an opportunity at home, please practice these with your child to help him/her understand the difference between possessive nouns (nouns that show ownership – cat’s, person’s, boy’s) and plural nouns (nouns that show more than one – cats, people, boys). If you would like examples of activities you can practice with your child, please email me.  Thank you for your support!

Math: In math, we are learning about addition with TWO digit numbers!  We are building on the foundation from our last chapter, and this chapter moves rather quickly.  We will be learning many new strategies for solving addition problems with two digit numbers, and this chapter will take us until just after the Thanksgiving holiday break.  Your kids are working hard!!!

Science & Social Studies: We are having so much fun in science!  We are finishing our Human Bodies unit this week, and we are beginning our next social studies unit… Native Americans!  This is a fun unit, because the kids will travel to different classrooms to learn about different Native American tribes.  This is always an exciting time of year as we lead into the Thanksgiving holiday!

Thank you so much for all of your support!!  You are truly amazing, and I love coming to work every day to see your wonderful children!! 

Here’s a glance at our upcoming week:

Language Arts: In Language Arts, we’re beginning our second week of Unit 2.  We’ve been learning about using context clues to gather a deeper understanding of what we read.  This week, we’re learning how to use clue words (first, next, then, last, etc.) to figure out how to sequence a story in order.  As you read with your child, please help him/her to pay attention to important words that will help him/her better understand the meaning of the text, and please help your child to pay attention to the order of the events in the story.

• We are in need of two more volunteers!  We need one volunteer to help on Wednesdays with our Literacy Work Stations.  We need another volunteer to help with fluency checks either on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday.  If you are interested, please send me an email (herrerrc@gm.sbac.edu).  Thank you!!!

Math: In Math, we took our Big Idea I test last week, and the kids did very well!  At home, please continue to help your child practice counting through the thousands, because that’s a skill the kids need to remember as the year continues.  This week, we’re beginning to learn about addition and subtraction strategies.  I encourage you to practice math facts (basic addition and subtraction problems) with your kids at home, to help those math problems to become automatic.  If you would like some math fact games to play with your kids, please let me know and I’d be happy to send some home.

Science: We are ending our Habitats unit with our Camp Crystal field trip.  We have also already begun our Life Cycles unit.  In this unit, we will be learning about plant and animal life cycles, and our human body systems.  This is a fun unit, and we are looking forward to it!

We are excited to have another wonderful week!  I look forward to seeing many of you for our Camp Crystal field trip on Tuesday!!!

Language Arts:  We are enjoying our review week!  So far this week, we’ve played a fun Jeopardy review game, started our unit test, engaged in some exciting review activities, and had a blast with our Literacy Work Stations!  In writing, we are welcoming the beautiful fall weather as we write about our favorite seasons.

• Parents, we will be finishing our unit test on Friday.  Next week, I will be sending home information about your child’s unit test score.  Please feel free to email me if you have any questions. 

Math: This week, we have been learning about 4-digit numbers.  Your children are working very hard!  One of our trickiest concepts that we’ve learned so far involves skip-counting by 100s.  This becomes pretty challenging as the numbers get into the thousands.  (Example:  1,900,   2,000,   2,100,   2,200,   etc.) To help strengthen your child’s skills of skip-counting by 100s, I encourage you to turn this into a game whenever you have a few extra minutes in the car or at home.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  Thank you for your support!!

Science: In science, we are finishing our Habitats unit.  This week, we’re taking our chapter 3 test and our unit test.  This means we are about to begin our dioramas!  Thank you so much for your generosity with the shoe boxes.  We are so excited to begin our fun project as we build land and water habitats!!

Thank you to everyone who has sent in permission forms about our photo gallery.  I will send out a notice with the password as soon as the gallery is ready.  Thanks for being such an amazing group of supportive parents!!!

Language Arts: Our first official week of Literacy Work Stations went really well!  The children all enjoyed working in their small groups.  I loved watching the kids work together and learn from each other.  Of course, this would not have been possible without our wonderful parent volunteers!  If you would like to volunteer during Literacy Work Stations or for Weekly Fluency Checks, please email me. 

• Donations:  If you have any portable CD players that you no longer use, I would be so grateful if you could send them in.  They would be an excellent addition to our Literacy Work Stations!

Last week, we focused on finding the main idea of a story.  As you read with your child at home, please reinforce what we’re learning by helping your child summarize the main idea of what he/she is reading.  Your support is so important and appreciated!

Math: Your children are doing a fantastic job with 3-digit numbers!  We took a quiz on Friday, and the children did very well!  This week, we will finish chapter 2, and we’ll be learning how to compare 3-digit numbers.

Science: We’re having a great time with our Habitats unit!  We’re finishing chapter 2 this week, and then we’ll begin chapter 3.  For a culminating project, we are going to create habitat dioramas.  This means we need shoe boxes!!

• Donations:  Parents, if you have shoe boxes of any size, please send them in! We will need one for every child, so please send in as many as you can.  Thank you!!

Note: One of my favorite hobbies is photography.  I enjoy taking pictures of classroom activities, and I would love to post them in a password-protected photo gallery on this website for you to view.  I would like to get your thoughts on that idea.  Parents, please email me to let me know how you feel about that. 

Language Arts:  We started sampling our Literacy Work Stations, and I was thrilled to see how enthusiastic and excited the children were!  I was also impressed with the creative assignments the children turned in for their Super Spelling homework on Friday! 

On Tuesday, we will be starting our full Literacy Work Stations.  Thank you so much to all of the wonderful volunteers who have agreed to make the stations possible! 

Math: We finished chapter 1 on Friday.  Thank you for helping your child study for the test!  We are now starting chapter 2, and we’re learning about 3-digit numbers. 

Science: We have really been enjoying our Habitats unit!  The children have loved reading their new science books, and they are very excited about writing in their science notebooks.  Ask your child what a habitat is! 

We are ready for another fantastic week!  I look forward to talking to all of you at Open House on Tuesday night.  See you soon!!

Language Arts:  We started our new Language Arts classes!  I am so excited to say that not only do I have a sweet group of kids in homeroom, but I also have a group full of darling children in my Language Arts class!!  Last week, we focused on the elements of a plot, and we read a great story, Mr. Putter and Tabby Pour the Tea.  Next week, we are excited to learn about firefighters!

Homework: Every week, your child has spelling and reading homework. 

• Spelling – Your child should complete 20 points of activities from the Super Spelling sheet, and turn them in on Friday.  (Click here for the Unit 1 spelling list.)  (Click here for the Super Spelling activity sheet.)
• Reading – Your child should be reading for at least 15 minutes every night, and writing 2 sentences about what he/she read on the Reading Log.  The Reading Log is also due on Friday.

If you have any questions about these assignments, please feel free to email me (herrerrc@gm.sbac.edu ).  Thank you for your help!

Volunteers:  We need parent volunteers in Language Arts!  If you are interested in conducting weekly fluency checks or in running small groups during our Literacy Workstations, please let me know.  Thank you!!

Math:  We are having a blast in Math with our lessons, games, and small group activities!  Again, thank you SO much to the wonderful parent volunteers who are making this possible!  Last week, we continued to learn about place value and number patterns.  Next week, we are finishing chapter 1, and we will have an assessment on Friday.  Your kids are working hard, and they are doing a wonderful job!

Social Studies:  We have been having a great time as we’ve been continuing our Amazing America unit.  This week, we will learn about the monuments and symbols of our country.   Ask your kids about their rights and responsibilities at school and at home!

Science:  On Wednesday of this week, we will begin our Habitats unit.  If your child finds any neat photos of animals in their habitats at home, please feel free to send them in!

Check back soon for more updates!  Thank you for all you do to make school a successful, enjoyable experience for your child.  Have a wonderful week!! 

Language Arts:  This week, we started our Language Arts instruction in our homeroom class.  We had a lot of fun as we learned about characters and settings.  Next week, we will start switching classes for Language Arts, and I am so excited to get to know all of my wonderful Language Arts students!

Math:  We started learning about place value this week, and we are having a blast as we learn different ways to write numbers.  Special thanks to the parents who have volunteered their time to come in and work with groups of kids during math!!!

Social Studies:  We started our Amazing America unit, and I am so impressed with the kids’ enthusiasm for learning.  These are the topics we’ve learned about so far:

• The Preamble to the Constitution
• The Branches of Government

Volunteers:  I feel so fortunate to have such wonderful families this year!  Thank you so much to all of the parents who have volunteered to help in class!  I am always looking for more volunteers, so if you are interested in coming in to help, please email me (herrerrc@gm.sbac.edu ) with the days and times you are available.  Thank you!

Check back soon for more updates.  Have a wonderful holiday weekend! 

Here are some of the fun activities we did during our first week:

Who Borrowed Mr. Bear?
We explored the scene of a crime, and we conducted experiments to solve a mystery!  The children took their detective work very seriously.  They investigated the crime scene and evaluated the evidence, and on Friday, we solved the mystery!

The Lion and the Mouse
We read the fable of The Lion and the Mouse, and we had a great time as we wrote poems, created projects, and studied the moral of the story.  The moral of the story is: One good turn deserves another.  Ask your child what that means!

I am looking forward to seeing everyone for our second week of school, as we begin our Language Arts and Math lessons.  We will also begin our first Social Studies unit, Amazing America!