Lial Primary

October 6, 2009

As we celebrated Spirit Week, it gave us a wonderful opportunity to remember and thank God for the two remarkable foundresses of the Sisters of Notre Dame, Aldegonde and Lisette.  It is a great time to think of our own  personal gifts, and how God wants us all to utilize them. 

The beginning of October brings many special feast days, in addition to the celebration of Spirit Week.  On October 1, we read and learned about St. Therese of Lisieux (Little Flower), another incredible woman of faith.  The third years and I talked about her motto of doing "little" things for others, and what a difference that can make in others' lives.  We will continue to try to remember to do little things for others.

October 2 was the feast of the Guardian Angels, and we discussed how our guardian angel can help us with choices that we may have to make.

October 4 was the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, one of my own favorite saints.  We saw a video about his life.  On Monday morning, Oct. 5, we went to the outdoor classroom space and celebrated nature.  The children heard a story about St. Francis and the Wolf; then we had an outdoor prayer service.  Once inside, the children and I completed a crossword puzzle about St. Francis - they amazed me with how much they knew about him!  We are doing our best to promote peaceful relationships as St. Francis did.

Wednesday, Oct. 7, we will celebrate the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.  The children are asked to bring a rosary from home, if they have one.  Please do not go out and buy one  if you do not have one. 

On a totally different subject, this week begins Scantron testing for your third year student.  They took Scantron tests in the spring, and so they have been acquainted with the process.  They will have a Math test on Wednesday, Oct. 7, Language test on Monday, Oct. 12, Science test on Friday, Oct. 16 and will conclude with a Reading test on Monday, Oct. 19.  I encourage the children to simply do their best, try to be as relaxed as possible, and to take their time.  The test is not timed and usually involves quite a lot of reading, so they really do need to take plenty of time to ensure that they do their personal best. 

October 4, 2009

The third year students have begun learning capital cursive letters.  We have completed A and O, and are looking forward to C and D.  We utilize the Smartboard for instruction, and then they come up to the Smartboard to demonstrate their technique for me.  They really enjoy that!  I continue to emphasize correct formation of letters, as well as connecting the letters properly.

October 5, 2009

The students are moving right along in Total Language!  Most of them have adjusted nicely to our routine, and are working well on their independent activities or assignments.  We do meet in reading groups to go over directions, teach new skills, introduce new vocabulary for each story, or read stories aloud.  We have four reading groups in our family room, so there is little time to waste!  That is why our parent helpers are so vital to our success.  I also appreciate the children being able to follow my directions that are posted on the board, and then moving independently through the assignments and activities.  They are really amazing!!!

Spelling assessments will continue to be on Fridays with Mrs. Oppenlander.  Please be sure that your child studies their spelling sentences several times during the week, so that they are well prepared for the test on Friday.  Of course, the goal is for the children to retain the spelling of the words that they work on each week, so that we see that carry over into their writing assignments.  Thank you for your help with their study of Spelling!

Also, please be sure that your child continues to read and record for their October Reading log.  Many of them did an unbelievable job in August/September!!  Beginning with this month, they will be awarded a Pizza Hut coupon when their Reading log is complete.  I usually allow them to only miss 2 days out of the month to receive a free coupon.  Remember, reading their story from their reader CAN count toward their Reading Log. 

During Spirit Week, the children wrote a paragraph detailing what they liked about Lial School.  After the editing process is completed, they will begin to type their paragraph on our Alpha Smarts (Neo's), which are word-processing devices that allow us to save and print the students' work.  The children love to use the Alpha Smarts because they look like laptops, and they're just plain COOL!  We are so fortunate to have 30 of them in our Primary unit for the children to use.

Please remember that you can always go to the Houghton Mifflin website, www.eduplace.com for activities that correspond with each story.  There are also grammar activities on the website.  Another website that is a good one is www.scholastic.com. 

Thank you so much for all your help!  We are blessed to have such dedicated parents and students! 

October 6, 2009

The students in my Math classes are adjusting well to our routines.  Thank you for your help with homework assignments and drilling flashcards!

Math 2 is currently working on Subtraction in their Math books.  They are learning how addition and subtraction are related, and will also be working with fact families.  Please continue to drill addition and subtraction facts with them, primarily with their flashcards, but you can also use some websites for review.  One website for fact drill is www.mathfactcafe.com and another one I might suggest is www.aplusmath.com.  For extra practice with math concepts, you might try www.harcourtschool.com/thinkmath/ and click on Operations.  Our next chapter will deal with graphs and probability, which is always popular!

Math 3 is just finishing up with place value and rounding.  After their chapter test, they will enter the exciting world of money!  That can be fun, but challenging for some.  You might just ask your child to count money for you, or have them look through the grocery store ads and count out how much money might be needed for a particular item.  We will also be working with making change, so eventually they could make change for you!  Thank you for your help with drilling addition and subtraction facts with them.  Please continue to drill their flashcards, or feel free to use www.mathfactcafe.com or www.aplusmath.com for a different type of drill.  For more practice with place value or rounding, you could go to www.funbrain.com and use Place Value Puzzler, or One False Move.  The children really enjoyed One False Move!!

Math 4 is also working with place value and rounding, as well as money and making change up ro $20.00.  They have done an awesome job with those concepts!  Please continue to drill multiplication and division facts with them - and don't forget those addition and subtraction facts!!  They also enjoy Place Value Puzzler or One False Move at www.funbrain.com.  Our next chapter will be addition and subtraction of whole numbers.

Thank you for all that you do to help your child achieve success with Math!  I am so grateful for the parent helpers who work with the children while I am teaching another small group of children.  They are so important to our program!