Dear Parents,

Can you believe we're half way through first grade? It seems like only yesterday I was getting to know your child and now, I think of him/her as "mine" (for a few hours a week, anyway)!

The second semester brings many changes to our classroom. For one thing, our lessons become more challenging. We'll be adding three more words to our weekly spelling list and we'll be doing a lot more writing. Watch for more homework and projects coming your way too!

Parents, please keep your child reading! Books of interest, at or slightly above your child's reading level, will help him or her to become a successful reader and will help instill a love for reading. Please take advantage of our Scholastic Book Club offers. They have a variety of books at affordable prices. By the way, January book orders are due on Friday, 1/16.

Parents, please remember to pack a nutritious snack for your child everyday. I do not always have extra snacks on hand.

Also, we are completely out of paper towels. Could you please send in a roll or two? We'd really appreciate it.

Have a great week!

Ms. Kopilchack

Homework
Read, study spelling and sight words, and the attached activities.

This week's activities:

Reading/Writing
This week will be a review and test week. Attached is a list of sight and spelling words your child should know. I'm also sending home book bags, which contain the Level 3 books from our reading series. Please encourage your child to read them to you.

We are working on a class book of First Grade Proverbs. I gave the students the beginning of a proverb and asked them to complete it. I hope to publish our proverbs on our class web site by next week. I think you'll be surprised at how "wise" first graders can be!

Phonics/Word Wall Activities
We begin learning long vowel sounds and spelling patterns this marking period. We'll also cover blends and digraphs.

We will review our word wall words through various activities.

Math
We begin a new unit on Data and Graphs. We'll be doing lots of hands-on graphing activities to reinforce this concept.

Science
We'll begin a mini Winter Theme Unit this week, which will include learning about polar animals and how they keep warm.

We continue with our Physical Science unit and will explore light and shadows.

Religion
We continue to learn how much God cares for us and will read Bible stories that teach us about God's love.