Happy March!

 

The year is flying by and your children are working hard and playing with enthusiasm! They are showing God how much they love Jesus with their good deeds written on our hallway Love is an Action Lenten cross. We sing our Lenten song each morning and pray for the many homebound that Sr. Sally and Fr. Mariucz visit as well all those who are sick and/or in need of prayers. They are such a special group of compassionate, bright students! I cannot believe we have less than 70 days left with each other in first grade.

 

To challenge the students this week, and in honor of Dr. Seuss' Birthday as well as Read Across America week, we will be doing a lot of rhyming and reading! And, to change things up a bit....for Homework this upcoming week: We will NOT have a Reading Log to do but rather two "My Favorite Book" sheets to do. They are attached to the Homework Packet. Your child should still be reading daily, but only two books should be chosen as favorites for these mini-book reports. Since we have been working on opinion writing in class, these two sheets are a perfect way to reflect and connect to books being read at home. Please be sure that your child hands in quality work that is thoughtful and neat with their best handwriting and coloring effort. If your child needs extra "My Favorite Book" sheets, please have your child ask or send in a note. The two "My Favorite Book" sheets are due when the Homework Packet is handed in on Friday. Thank you for your support!

 

This Friday (3/8), we will have a spelling test as well as a Religion test for Lent. Please use the review sheet that I will send home on Monday for your child to review key concepts. The chapter is a short one, but it will come home by mid week as another way to review. We talk about and have practiced Lenten actvities since Ash Wednesday in class, and many students are using the Lent pathway at home to keep track of the remaining time until Easter. Others are attending Stations of the Cross with their families and Sunday Mass to grow closer to God with prayer, fasting and giving. These are wonderful ways to show Jesus our love during Lent as we prepare for Easter. The students did such a great job at our first Stations of the Cross on Friday in the church. I was so proud of their ability to follow along in the book and reverently "walk" the stations with Fr. Mariucz as well as the other students and parents. Come join us at the remaining Stations of the Cross on Friday 3/15 at 1:00pm! 

 

Please continue to review counting coins and provide your child with mixed coins to sort and count by 5's and 10's as well as quarters to count to one dollar. I LOVE the creative ways that families are practicing to count coins at home! From playing store to restaurant and even bank, this family support is crucial to your child understanding how to count coins. In a world that does not use them often, it is still a valuable skill that does not get enough practical use. So, I greatly appreciate your participation in extra practice at home. This is quality time that is fun and productive.

 

On Monday we will start the second part of the math chapter: Time. We will continue to review coins with games, activities and worksheets while we work on time to the hour, half hour and elapsed time. Please reinforce these concepts at home with analog and digital clocks, if possible. Our chapter test for money and time will be the week of March 18th since no tests or quizzes are allowed during CoGat standardized testing next week.

 

Please continue to collect money for the rice bowls that were sent home last week and return the paper box taped/in a ziploc as soon as possible.

 

In addition, please support the St. Patrick's Coin Competition for our school. We already have our green pot in the classroom to start the collection, and are trying to fill the pot as many times as possible with coins (or dollars!) to not only support the purchase of new recess equipment but to maybe win a prize for our class! 

 

Please remember that if your daughter's hair is shoulder length or longer, it should be pulled up in a ponytail or braid. Colored nailpolish, jewelry and toys are not allowed in school. All of these are distractions and sometimes cause problems in the classroom, during Aftercare, or on the bus.

 

Also: Please EMPTY FOLDERS DAILY!!! These should not be used as a means of storage but rather as a way to transport papers back and forth to school in order to keep everyone informed. In addition, the homework packet and blue notebook needs to stay in the folder at all times...even if your child did not do the daily homework yet. (I do not check until Friday!)

 

I am very impressed with the independently stretched sentences with end punctuation and capital letters that I am seeing not only with homework but also with classwork! Many of our students stay in aftercare daily, and I am blessed to be assigned as their teacher on most days. I see firsthand how independent the students are writing with neat, properly formed handwriting as well as the quality of the thoughts being written on their own! Keep up the fantastic work, students! I am proud to be your teacher! The level of effort on the part of most students is high. Please continue to encourage your child to work to their best ability and make God smile. The weather may be gloomy outside but inside our classroom it is shining! Thanks so much for all you do to support your child's learning in first grade!

 

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns...

 

Have a most blessed week,

Mrs. Carpanzano