Letters From Miss Justen
October 21, 2008
Dear Families,
I enjoyed seeing each of you at conferences. Thank you for making the time and working with our schedule.
We were finally able to start Centers this week. This is something the children tend to enjoy. They are able to work on skills either independently or in pairs in a more hands-on way. This class does such a good job of working independently and in small groups!
A look at the next two weeks:
Reading
We are beginning our second theme: Nature Walk. This theme has more nonfiction than most of the themes. Our first story is Henry and Mudge and the Starry Night. Next week's story is Exploring Parks with Ranger Dockett. Last week we began writing our silly stories. They have each planned out the story that they wish to write and are beginning the first draft. We will continue our Reading-Writing Workshop into this week and until their stories are completed.
Spelling
This week's spelling words are words with the vowel-consonant-e pattern. As you practice at home, see if you can focus in on the sound/spelling pattern. Next week's words are those with consonant clusters.
Math
We will be continuing our chapter on basic subtraction. Yesterday we worked on problem solving using the guess and check strategy. This is a bit abstract for some who would rather have a clear method for determining the outcome.
Religion
We have been talking about the sacraments and the Ten Commandments.
Science/Social Studies
We'll be wrapping up our unit on habitats after exploring the differences between the Arctic, rainforests, the woodland forest and deserts. Upon completion of this unit we will move on to Social Studies. The unit we will be in focuses on citizenship. It seems the perfect time with the elections coming up. They will read about our federal and local governments, a little about voting and our freedoms as Americans.
Let me know if you have any questions or I can help you in any way.
God Bless,
April Justen