February is the shortest month but the most busy month. The Groundhog saw his shadow, Cupid shot his arrow, we celebrated President’s Day with a vacation day from school, and by the end of the month the students will learn about good dental health. Wow!

This week and next week, the students will read, discuss, and research important facts of presidents and their job. Our writing will be focused around this as well.

Math will continue to dive into addition and subtraction a bit deeper. This includes problem solving, finding all combinations of numbers, and computation. Time, coins, skip counting, and place value continue to cycle around during number corner.

Guided Reading groups will continue and new spelling words will come home on Tuesday. Our word work this week will consist of putting together and taking apart contractions and applying those to our writing and reading.

Here are some upcoming events to plan for:

Feb. 19 Chocolate Bunny Sales begin

Feb. 25 Early Release at 11:30 for Teacher Training

Thank you for everything you do.

Mrs. Benson

Last week, the students began delivering mail within our in-school mail system, Wee Deliver. This is a wonderful opportunity for the students to practice their writing skills and learn letter format; as well as, letter etiquette. The students are expected to only write kind, considerate letters to each other. Letter writing will continue until the end of the year.

The students learned and used antonyms (opposites) last week and this week they will be using synonyms in their writing as well as word work. Guided reading will continue next week, as this past week was a week of testing. We concluded our unit of measurement and are continuing to problem solve with combinations of numbers and solving for “How many more/less/fewer/greater…?” This is a difficult concept and will spiral throughout the year.

This Friday we will celebrate our Valentine’s Day Party. The party will be at 11:30 and will last about 45 minutes. Each student needs to have his/her valentines at school by Thursday so that we can have them all delivered for the party on Friday.

Also, on Friday at 8:00, our class will be hosting the Champs Assembly. You are welcome to come and watch. Just be at the cafeteria before 8:00.

I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Mrs. Benson

Our 2nd semester CHAMPs Assemblies have begun. We have these every Friday promptly at 8:00. If your child has told you, “I can’t be late!,” then they are right. Try not to be late for the assemblies. Each week a single classroom from the primary school will host the assembly, but some from every class will receive an award. Our class will be hosting the assembly on Feb. 13th.  This is the same day as the Valentine’s Party.

This past week, in our word work, we combined words to make compound words and took them apart to analyze them. We will continue finding more compound words in our reading and in our centers for the next couple weeks. This week singular and plural nouns will be our focus, as well as nonstandard plurals.

Last week in math the class began learning about and applying measurement skills. They are using nonstandard units such as: cubes, 1 inch tiles, paperclips, and popsicle sticks. They are learning proper measuring techniques as well as comparing lengths- “How much longer is A than B?”.

Guided Reading groups continue and in writing the class is learning how to write a friendly letter to mail in our in-school mail delivery program, Wee Deliver, that begins Monday.

This week, on Friday, will be the 100th day of school. We will do some activities on this day to recognize the number 100 as well as in some of our centers.

Upcoming Dates to Remember:

Jan. 28 Early Dismissal at 11:30

Jan. 30 100th Day of School- We will share our 100 Collections

Feb. 13 Our Class CHAMPs Assembly 8:00

Valentine’s Day Party

Thank you for everything and remember to keep sending the BoxTops!

Mrs. Benson

It’s been a cold week and it looks like it’s not getting a whole lot warmer.  We have been cooped up in the classroom for a few days now, so if the weather allows, we will take advantage of it and go outside. Please make sure your child has a coat each day.

We had a GREAT beginning to the new year! No one moved off of GREEN last week and several even moved to BLUE. I know good behavior is important to all of us. Keep it up!

Last week, the class began to identify adjectives in their reading and writing.  This week we will continue using adjectives to elaborate our writing. Action verbs will also be introduced. Identifying and using adjectives, nouns, and verbs will be our focus for a couple weeks.

Middle of the year TPRI testing is required now in reading. Take home reading levels have been changed according to these results so be sure to note on your child’s reading log if a book is too difficult.

Last week and this week, in math, the students are analyzing data taken from class surveys. They will use cubes, tallies, graphs, and pictures to represent the information gathered. As always, addition, subtraction, problem solving, and now time and money always spiral through our math lessons.

Upcoming Dates:

Jan. 19  School Holiday

Jan 28  Early Student Release @ 11:30

Feb. 13  Our Class Champs Assembly @ 8:00

Valentine’s Day Party (more information later)

Thank you,

Mrs. Benson

This week the students will participate in one of the most valuable lessons of Giving. The Primary School will be raising money for Brinnlee Schroeder, a sick little girl whose family belongs to our White Oak Community. I hope that we, as a school, can raise a lot of money to help this family during this Christmas season and thereafter. Please read the note sent home with your child to find out more about Brinnlee and the different activities we will be participating in this week in her honor.

This week our word work will be defining, listing, and using Nouns in our reading and writing. End of the marking period testing will be done in reading and math along with some reteaching and enrichment activities. Telling time to the hour has been introduced as well as identification of coins and their values. These are great skills that can practicied at home.

Th Christmas season often brings on “festive” behavior. Please discuss with your child about maintaining self-control and to continue to do his/her best work. Thank you for this.

Upcoming Dates:

Dec. 12-Last day to turn in BoxTops for this semester

Dec. 18-Early Release 11:00

Dec. 19-Christmas Party 9:00 and Early Release 11:00

I hope you all had a happy, blessed Thanksgiving with your families. I enjoyed my family but ate too much! December is upon us and because Thanksgiving was so late, we only have 3 weeks to complete the work that needs to be done by Christmas Break.

This week, the students will resume guided reading groups, so look for the blue folder to come home. In our word work we are analyzing and applying the r-controlled vowels in our reading and writing. These include /or/- corn, /ar/- star, /er/-her, /ir/- stir, and /ur/- turn.  New spelling words were sent home today and the test will be Friday. Be sure and go over the spelling words at home several times during the week. The students are also practicing syllabication. This helps tremendously in their writing of more difficult words.

In writing this week, we will be writing letters to Santa by following a plan, revising, and publishing. The students will be held accountable for all spelling words covered up to this point. These are displayed in the room. They also will be applying capitals, punctuation, spacing, and penmanship.

In math this week, the students will continue to problem solve using addition and subtraction, but they will have to determine which operation to use. They will also use manipulatives to assist them in computation of each.

Anytime the students are out of school for several days, it’s always difficult for them to get back into the swing of things. I need you to encourage good CHAMP behavior and good work habits. Thank you for your support in this.

A couple of upcoming dates to remember:

Dec. 18th is an early release day

Dec. 19th is Christmas Party day and early release

Always read and initial your child’s planner for weekly notes.

Thank you,

Mrs. Benson

Our class has read and discussed fiction as well as non-fiction books based on the first Thanksgiving as compared to Thanksgiving today. This has been and will continue to be the center of our writing and the basis of our Thanksgiving Readers’ Theater. I hope everyone can attend next Monday at 11:45 in our classroom. It will only last for about 20 minutes and if you plan on checking your child out early you can do that with me following the presentation.

We continue to practice for the readers’ theater and we will continue practicing adding suffixes onto the end of familiar words. Subtraction and addition will continue to be the focus in math. Not simply computation but with problem solving, finding the missing addend and adding multiple addends.

This Thursday, the first grade will have their annual Thanksgiving feast. This is simply eating our lunch all together by candlelight. We have done this for many years. I wish that parents could join us but obviously there is not enough room. This is not the best day for parents to come eat with their child. Thank you for understanding.

Also, I will be out of the classroom from noon this Tuesday through Friday. I will be at a workshop in Dallas. Please write down any notes of bus changes, etc. in the planner. Also, encourage good behavior in my absence. As always, if you need me, email is the best way to reach me quickly.

Thank you,

Mrs. Benson

This week we will observe Veteran’s Day. Last week we read and discussed American symbols and will continue this topic of symbolism and American pride and heritage through our discussion of veterans and their important role in our history as well as  present-day America. This will be our topic in our writing this week as we write “thank you” letters to a group of veterans. Let me just say, if any of you are veterans or have family members who have served our country; thank you for your service.

Last week and through the next couple weeks, the students will be using and applying suffixes to words to change the usage. Last week, we looked at adding /s/ and /es/. This week we will be concentrating on adding /ed/. This suffix makes three different sounds: /d/-named, /t/- liked, and /ed/- wanted.  In guided reading, I will be doing mid-year testing to monitor each student’s progress. So no blue guided reading folders will be sent home this week.

In math this week we will explore problem solving by introducing and using subtraction and discussing the differences in subtraction and addition.

Our Social Studies this week will be filled with non-fiction readings of the first Thanksgiving and this will be the time set aside for us to practice for our Thanksgiving Readers’ Theater coming up on November 24th.

Upcoming Dates to Remember:

Nov. 11 Early Release for needed Parent Conferences 11:00

Nov. 12 Picture Retakes

Nov. 24 Thanksgiving Readers’ Theater 11:45

Nov. 25 Early Release for Thanksgiving Holiday 11:00

Nov. 26,27,28 Thanksgiving Holiday

I hope you all have a great week!

Mrs. Benson

This week the school will recognize Drug Awareness Week. We will have discussions on making good choices and consequences of the bad choices. This will be linked to safety for Halloween. I hope everyone enjoys a safe and happy Halloween and/or Fall Festivities.

Our word work this week will extend alphabetical order by putting words in order to the second letter. Guided reading groups will continue. All students are progressing in their reading and working on different skills. Please make sure you watch for the blue Guided Reading Folder. Always read this book, check and see if there is an activity, and log the book on the reading log. Some weeks their blue folder doesn’t come home. Don’t be alarmed. Either testing is being done or the students did their work in class.

This week we are concluding our work on 2-dimensional shapes. As I have said before, other math skills are spiraled through and always continue.  Currently, we are really examining the 100s chart and becoming familiar with where to find the numbers quickly and how to find numbers greater than and less than a given number. Finding the number patterns helps.

These are some upcoming events to be aware of:

Oct. 29 Early Release 11:30 Teacher Training

Oct. 30 Report cards go home with Conference Notice

Nov. 3-7 Elementary Food Drive

Nov. 11 Early Release 11:00 Parent Conferences

Thank you,

Mrs. Benson

After today’s cooler weather, and wet weather, we are reminding our students to make sure that they wash their hands and sanitize as often as possible. The cooler weather often brings unwanted germs that get spread easily. Talk to your child about proper ways to sneeze and cough- into their elbow- and washing those germs away after restrooming and blowing their nose. Hopefully we will all stay healthy!

This week is some of the same. We are continuing our study of digraphs and I will assess these on Friday. New spelling words came home today. Practice the ones that your child missed for the test on Friday. Guided reading groups will continue but the blue Guided Reading folder will NOT go home this week due to some testing. In math we will continue to see how shapes work together to form other shapes. In writing, the students are writing an interactive “Spooky Story” and illustrating it. With this we are revising, editing, conferencing with peers, and publishing.

Here are some upcoming events:

Oct. 21–End of 9 Weeks

Oct. 27-31–Red Ribbon Week

Oct. 29–Early Release Day for faculty training

Thanks for everything you do to support what we do.

Mrs. Benson