Happy New Year!

Welcome Back to School!

We are halfway through the year and making progress on learning all of the first grade Common Core Standards!

Last Friday, 1/11/13, the kids took the STAR Reading test. Overall the class did quite well and made huge gains in their reading levels. Your child now has AR Reading Folders where they will record all of the AR tests that they take along with the score. Your child's reading level and 9 weeks goal is recorded in the folder as well. Please encourage your child to read and take AR tests. I have tried to stress to the kids that it is more important to read carefully than to read quickly just so they can take a test. These scores count!! In order to attend the AR party at the end of the 9 weeks, each child must have met the point goal assigned to them by reading books on their reading level and achieving an overall average score of 85% or higher.

Reading
We are continuing to work on Reading Comprehension. We have just begun reading the book Lulu and the Brontosaurus. We will be working on picking out the important details and then writing summaries in our Reading journals on each chapter.

I am also still testing kids weekly on their Reading fluency. This is a short 1 minute test where the kids read a passage as quickly and accurately as they can. I record the correct words per minute which we then track on a weekly basis. If a child scores less than 20 words per minute, I will retest them on Friday. If the reading passage comes home attached to your child's behavior sheet, it means that your child scored less than the required 20 words per minute so please practice it with them nightly. It really does make a big difference!

Math
In math, we are finishing up our fraction unit. Next week, we will be starting our next unit which is on measurement.

Science
The current unit in science focuses on plants and animals. We will be looking at the different parts of each and what each need to be able to live.

Social Studies
In Social Studies, we are still learning about American Heroes. Last week, we spent some time talking about Sacagawea. This week, we take a look at Lewis and Clark and their journey out west with Sacagawea. And since Martin Luther King day is next week, we will definitely spend some time learning about his contributions to the civil rights movement and the freedoms that ALL Americans enjoy today.