Lial Primary

Oct 13, 2009 ---Each day please know you are prayed for! We say this prayer daily, followed by The Pledge:

"Dear Jesus,

Please help me to be good today. Bless my Mother, my Father, my brothers and sisters. Keep them all well and good. Now, Lord Jesus, we ask you to hear the petitions from our hearts…. (the children offer the sweetest, most thoughtful, endearing petitions here!)

 I pledge allegiance to the flag, of The United States of America, and to the republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Oct 1, 2009

Thank you to all who attended the First Reconciliation meeting. Please look for a note to come home next week regarding a special project. We are currently working on understanding general terms of the commandments, sin, examination of conscience, sorrow, forgiveness, absolution and reconciliation.

Earlier post:

We are wrapping up our first unit in Blest Are We. As a part of our chapter review, we've played "game show" where children are contestents and have to come up with the correct answers to the content covered in class. Currently, we are reviewing basic terms such as: family, community, parish, priest, church.

Welcome to an exciting new year of school as we continue to learn and live the Gospel together! This year's school theme of C.A.R.E. serves as a platform by which we live and will be revisited throughout the year in all classes, especially religion....Christians Aware of and Respecting Everyone.

The Catholic second year children are focusing on the sacraments of Reconciliation and First Communion this year. Please look forward to the letter in the White Envelope re: important meetings and schedule for the year.

We took advantage of the nice weather and prayed out in  our outdoor classroom already! Our class always begins with prayer, intention and Our Father. Next, we say The Pledge, and get right to work. We look forward to singing, praying, learning and laughing together everyday!

God bless you!

!0/13/09

If your child has improper pencil grip, PLEASE help me help your child by reminding him/or her of this. Pencil grippers also help. I appreciate your support.

10/1/09

Currently we are working on u and w. If you don't see papers coming home daily, we are also working in the classroom on whiteboards/dry erase boards and chalkboards.

9/16/09

We have begun our formal training in cursive! Yeah! The children are very excited! The first strokes are the undercurve strokes: ie: lowercase  i, e, t, u, w...  They all begin at the baseline and rise up. You will see papers coming home. I ask the children to finish the papers in class. If they are incomplete, they may finish them at home.  During class, I circulate and assist with posture, slant, pencil grip, positioning of hands on the paper, etc. as well as formation of letters. I ask the children to self evaluate each line of print and decide which is their very best letter and circle that one. Therefore, I am teaching them independence of self correcting their mistakes. If a paper comes home incomplete in handwriting, feel free to have them complete it at home. They do not need to bring it back to school, unless indicated in the student planner.

As they have mastered manuscript, cursive is similar in that proper pencil grip, posture, spacing, size and slant are all critical.  First, the children will be taught all lower case letters in a particular order. Then, much later, we will focus on joinings. I strongly encourage the children to SLOW DOWN and pay very close attention to what they are doing.

As we progress through the cursive alphabet, please keep in mind that often times the way we were taught cursive may not be the same as the way our children are being taught in class. In addition, as time goes on, we develop our own "personalization" and writing style that may be in contradiction to proper form. I encourage you to refer to the Zaner-Blozer form. You can refer to the Zaner-Blozer cursive alphabet by click on the following link to view the format your child is learing at school.

 http://www.abcteach.com/free/z/zbfont_alphabet_cursiveplain.pdf

It's exciting for the children as they are being introduced to the new letters and they really want to experiment and practice the way they may think letters are formed.  However, I always ask the children not to write any cursive letters or words until I have taught them the right formations.  Once they have learned the wrong way, it can be very hard to reteach them the correct formations and break incorrect habits.  A paper with correct forms of upper case and lower case went home for your reference. The website is another resourse for you.

The main component of reinforcing proper cursive at this time is proper form -  including slanting the paper.  Also the downstroke needs to be at an angle. This takes time, practice and patience!

10/13/09

CONGRATULATIONS! Every child passed their spelling test this week! Let's keep it up! Thank you for helping at home! :)

10/1/09

The children are working very hard in preparing for our Liturgy on Oct 8.  All children have helped in this process from writing the petitions, selecting readings, carrying the gifts and doing readings to lead us in prayer.  If you can come, we'd love to have you join us on that special day. The children have taken ownership of this and are really getting excited!

Just as a reminder Spelling assessments are Wednesdays unless there is a schedule conflict. We thank Mrs. Zirbel for helping out with this!

9/16/09

All children have been assessed in Spelling. Look for the spelling list to come home in binders. The spelling list directions will be in the binder. Please keep them there for your reference. The children may practice spelling at home in sentence form. We will slowly dictate the sentence to your child, and he/she is to write the entire sentence.  Please work with your child at home to help support success.  The children will be graded on spelling of all words in the sentences as well as capitalization and punctuation.  In order to pass the test the child must have five or fewer mistakes.For some extra Spelling fun try the website http://www.spellingcity.com

If your child doesn't complete assignments in class, it will beassigned as homework. He or she is to mark it in the planner and take it home that evening. This way we will all stay caught up with our assignments.

Each day we will begin our Total Language class by gathering to discuss our work plan and agenda for our time.  Then our routine looks a lot like this:

1.  Read Aloud: Typically I read a book or chapter of a book to the children each day. We've introduced a Read Aloud sign up sheet. Those who wish to read a short book to the class, may sign up, practice the book, read to a teacher/adult and then finally to the class. One reader per day on a first come/get approval first serve basis.  Has your child signed up? Many have already!

2.  DEAR: Drop Everything And Read-  Research shows that allowing TIME for the children to silently read each day improves reading interest and ability. We spend at least 10 minutes each day doing this together. It's important for the children to be able to independendly choose a quality book of interest that is at the appropriate reading level.

3.  Journal: Each day the children have a journal response assignment. I typically meet with them each Friday to individually confernce on their journal progress.

4.  Meet in groups to continue out of the Houghton Mifflin series or trade books. This is guided practice with independent activities to support ongoing grammar, vocabulary, comprehension, phonics, decoding, fluency and study skills.

5.  After daily meetings and assingments are complete, the children may chose from a vast array of Literacy Centers that support their individual reading goals.

 The Houghton Mifflin website companion that supports vocabulary for each story in the text can be found on line.  To try this at home, simply visit http://eduplace.com/rdg/hmr06/  Then click on Reading for Kids. Select the Grade and current story.  Next, click on 'eWord' games. The children enjoy the tic tac toe on skateboard game: which features current vocabulary words and definitions.  The children seem to enjoy this fun and reinforcing activity using the SmartBoard in the classroom. 

In addition to the Houghton Mifflin series, throughout the year, at times we will have book clubs, studies and author reviews. We will read trade books in a small group setting and meet to monitor comprehension, share out thoughts and do a variety of activities for enrichment. It's a fun departure from the series and offers something fresh for the children to keep them on their toes!

 Reading is also a daily homework assignment, but more importantly READING IS FUN! My goal for every child is not to become just a great reader, it's larger... I want them to WANT TO READ FOR PLEASURE as a child and for life!

 10/13/09

I have gotten a lot of positive feedback on the Math websites. I appreciate the communication! I'm happy to offer alternatives to flashcards (which can get mundane after a while.)  Also, many handheld games have Math skills programs--- Brainage (facts, money etc..)

Look for a pack to come home soon that is another way to do short and simple activities to enrich what is already going on at school.  Math Phonics is a program that offers quick tips and alternative techniques for Math mastery.  This program is not an expectation, just something to do with your child if you choose.  

10/2/09

Some alternatives to just the ordinary flashcards, try some of these websites I found! (I use them with my own kids at home too!) Click on these websites and customize them for your child's needs, interests and particular level.

funbrain.com (math fact baseball game)

mathfactcafe.com (time tests you can print and practice at home)

wildmath.com (a row of 10 problems that your child can complete and be timed)

10/1/09

Study! Study! Study! Math facts are being assessed in our room on Wednesdays.  We just took a pretest to get a baseline to where each child will begin. All children should have flashcards at this time. Please help your child be aware of the function/sign to each problem as we do testing with both +/-.  Keep in mind that learning by studying fact families is a great way to help strengthen understanding: 2+1=3, 1+2=3, 3-2=1, 3-1=2.

I will be sending home a book that is to stay at home as a tool for you to use to help with homework. Many strategies/vocabulary words that we use or will be using in the classroom this year are in this book (as well as the workmats the children use at school). This is a great home-school link for your child to utilize. I encourage your child to use this over the course of the year.

We've been working very hard on story problems and drawing and writing to explain our work. All students will have a chapter test/review on Friday, October 2. 

I ask that please do not have your child work ahead in the homework book. It can be confusing for the children when I'm assigning homework, yet it is already done, and they are then unsure how to communicate in their assignment planners. I don't want them getting mixed messages from adults on their assignments.  Not to mention, I may have a different expectation for homework on a given day.  I appreciate the children wanting a further challenge or if they feel confident in moving along, however I don't want this to be the venue. It's not intended to be a workbook, rather a support to classroom instruction and it also serves as a communicator as to what's happening in Math that day.  If you're looking for additional work in Math, have your child continue to work on the math facts, feel free to do the cumulative test prep for the unit of study or activities  on the website (the Brain Teasers are fun and challenging!) I'd be happy to share other suggestions if you're interested.  Thanks!

9/16/09

WOW! We are busy!!! We've come to an end of Chapter 1 with a test on Friday, 9/17. Your child has had a pretest, as well as worked with the cumulative test prep on the web at school and at home! They are really starting to catch on to our routine! YEAH!

We will begin our assessment of math facts next week.  All children will participate in Math Fact assessments via timed tests on Tuesdays. Expect for the test to be returned on Wednesdays. If your child progressed to the next level, additional flashcards will be in his/her binder. Be sure to practice all cards in the binder (not just the new cards).  Our flashcard program is individualized so the children will move at their own pace.  All returning /2nd year students should bring back their flashcards.

 Each day, your child will be expected to come into math, settle into a routine of meeting. I will work will all children everyday in a small group setting, reviewing learned concepts, introducing new concepts and then offering time for independent work that supports these skills. Once the parent volunteer schedule is in place, volunteers will be utilized to support these lessons and help monitor and support the children who are independently working. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP! 

Math homework:  In addition to children having flashcard study each night, often their is another assignment. This year all primary children will have a homework book. When they have math assignments from homework, your child should bring home the book as well as list in their student planner for that day.  Please check the assignment book each night for given homework.   Also, frequently an assignment may be on the web. Further instructions will be provided when that begins.  Regardless of the nature of homework, once completed, please review the assignment with your child. The, please  initial every assigment at the top of each side of the page in their homework book so I know you saw it.  (If it's  online work, just initial the student planner.) This will indicate that your child has successfully completed assigned material.  Feel free to jot down a note or comment as to how you think they did. I welcome this communication! And offers valuable information when we assess our successes and areas that may need reteaching.

I appreciate your assistance in helping the children get back in full swing of school and the homework routine. Feel free to call me at the school if you have any questions about this process! I'm here for you!

I look forward to a great year together!

I'd like to introduce to you our new student teacher, Ms. Weiss, who will be joining us daily for four consecutive weeks from October 13 through November 6. She will be under Ms. Yeager's supervision and working with all students in Ms. Yeager's classes. 

A message to you from Miss Weiss:

My name is Miss. Weiss and I am currently a student at Lourdes College 

in Sylvania, Ohio. I am working towards my Bachelor’s degree in Early

Childhood Education. I will be in your child’s classroom for a minimum

of four weeks starting October 12 while I complete my early childhood 

field experience requirements in preparation for my student teaching 

experience in the fall of 2010. I believe not only can your students learn

something from me but I will also be learning valuable lessons from them.

I am eagerly looking forward to working with the and learning from Ms. Yeager 

and the children in her class at Lial.

Sincerely,

Miss. Weiss

Thank you for helping make Miss Weiss' experience a positve one. 

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Parent volunteer schedule for October:

Martha C. Oct 2 and 16 pm Math

Beth Swift Oct 5, 19  am TL

Meghan B, Oct 5, 19 pm Math

Jennifer K, all Tuesday pm Math /time test prep

Karen P all Wed pm Math/time test day

Maria Z all Wed am TL/Spelling tests

Julie J Oct 15 pm

Laura L Oct 1 & 8 Math pm

Martha C. Oct 2, 16 Math pm

Stephanie C. Oct 9, 23 Math pm

Sherry B Oct 9, 23 am TL

Thank you to all who volunteer. Please let me know if you're unable to come on your day. :)