Letters From Miss Justen
September 23, 2008
Dear Families,
Each class was asked to do a little something to promote school spirit for the Marathon. The students brainstormed
ideas and decided they wanted to do a cheer. They broke into small groups to come up with an idea to present to the
class and they then voted for the idea they liked the best. I was very impressed to see the way they worked together
and the creative ideas they had! See if your child remembers the cheer and have him or her share it with you.
Thank you to those of you who have returned your mystery bag and envelope for the Flat Stanley project. If you
haven’t returned one of the items yet, please try to have it back by the end of the week. I’m hoping to start using the
mystery bags next week.
We are in need of more boxes of tissues for the year. The school provides a few, but we go through many boxes
throughout the school year. If you haven’t already done so, please send a box of tissues to school with your child. I
appreciate your help!
We are still looking for an Art volunteer for the class. If you are interested, or have any questions about the role,
please feel free to give me a call or jot a note in your child’s planner.
The school will be taking a field trip to the Cathedral and History Center on Tuesday, October 7th. Each of the
primary grades may take one additional chaperone. If you are interested, please let me know. Should there be more
than one person interested, I will just draw a name.
A look at the next two weeks:
Reading
This week’s story is called Mrs. Brown Went to Town. Next week we will compare a fiction piece and a nonfiction
piece about hippos. We are also talking about the four components of each sentence: naming part, action part,
capital letter and an end mark (period, question mark, exclamation point).
Spelling
This week’s spelling words are long vowel words (particularly long a and long i) with a silent e. Next week’s
spelling words are a review of the words they have had so far this year.
Math
We are finishing our first chapter in Math. I must say that this curriculum has really got us thinking! After testing on
this chapter we will move on to basic addition facts. This will include: counting on, using doubles facts, adding in
any order, making10 and adding three numbers.
Religion
Last week we talked about some of the choices we make and how a well-formed conscience helps us to choose
wisely. We have begun talking about the Bible.
Social Studies/Health
We are concluding our Social Studies unit by creating our own parks. They are working in pairs or groups of three
to design a park to meet the needs of many people. When we finish with that we will move into our first Health unit
that goes through an overview of topics for the year. We will be talking about feelings, friends, germs and healthy
habits.
God Bless,
April Justen