Happy Friday

It has been so great to get back in the routine of things here at school and the kiddos have done a great job transitioning back to school from a restful and fun Winter Break!

What We Will Be Working on This Month:

• Math: We have started to work on stacking and adding 2-digit numbers without regrouping.  Our next step will be to add 2-digit numbers with regrouping (or carrying).  We have finished up our geometry unit today with a quiz.  There are still some misconceptions about some of the geometry vocabulary.  Please continue to help your child keep these terms fresh in their head & to help reinforce what we have learned at school at home.
• Polygon: closed shape with only straight lines
• Quadrilateral: polygon with 4 sides and 4 angles
• Parallel: 2 lines that go on & on but never cross
• Parallelogram: a shape that has 2 sets of parallel lines
• Rectangle: a quadrilateral with opposite equal with right angles
• Square: a quadrilateral with all sides equal with right angles
• Reading: This week, we have focused on self-assessment of our reading responses.  An example of this will be coming home in next week's Friday Folder - please look over this with your child.  This month in reading, we will be focusing on reading nonfiction texts and taking notes on what we have read in an organized way.  It is important when taking notes to not directly copy from the book but put in our own words.  
• Word Study: Our word study focus will be switching from vowel patterns to how we make words past tense.  Many students add a "t" to the end of a word instead of an "ed" so over the next few weeks we will be looking at specific words and how to change their tenses.  Next week's spelling words are: picked, jumped, liked, hoped, hopped, melted, camped, looked, wanted & rained.  Please reinforce these words with your student at home.
• Writing: We started our Informational Writing unit today.  The students were able to choose 3 animals that they were wanting to learn more about.  We started writing down questions that we wanted to know more about on our topics by using our spelling words from this week (who, what, when, where, why and how).  

Six Flags Read to Succeed

Coming home in your child's Friday Folder today is the Six Flags Read to Succeed Student Reading Log.  Please remember that the Six Flag Read to Succeed is reading that is completed at home that is not a part of your child's homework.  The log needs to be completely filled out with Parent Initials and turned in by Tuesday, February 28.

Weather & Dressing Appropriately

This week the weather turned extremely cold & next week it is supposed to get warmer again.  It is so important to check the weather each night/morning to make sure that your child is coming to school with the appropriate clothes.

Box Tops
Please keep sending in Box Tops!  We had our first collection today & we had several, but we need to keep bringing them in!  If you would like an additional Box Top Collection Sheet you can go here or send in any loose Box Tops that you have! :)

Upcoming Dates:

• January 10: PTA Meeting (6:00 pm) in the Media Center
• January 16: No School - Martin Luther King Jr. Day

I hope that you have a wonderful weekend!