Every child will have a chance to be the student of the week. As the student of the week, your child will have a class book made about him/her. He/she will be able to bring in important items to share with his/her classmates. He/ she will have their �information shapes� displayed on a large class poster (info shape sheet will be sent home the week before to be filled out). He/she will also receive special privileges such as a �Student of the Week� chair, calling tables, and giving out stickers.
Addition and subtraction
Ones and tens
Two digit addition and subtraction
Estimation
Money
Time
Measurement
Geometry
Fractions
Problem solving & Strategies
Computers
Social Studies
Communities/Homes/ Neighborhoods
Understanding families & their Histories
Holidays We Celebrate
Our Country, Our Heros
People around the World
The Land We Live On
Maps and globes
Communication
Language Arts
Reading strategies & Reading for meaning
Sentence structure, capitals & periods
Word knowledge
Introduction to Parts of Speech, plurals & contractions
Phonics awareness (vowels, letter sounds, blends)
Increasing spelling awareness (High Frequency Word Wall)
Introduction to paragraph writing, the Writing Process & Letter Writing
Science
Matching and grouping
The Scientific Method
Hands-on Exploration
Characteristics of plants and animals (Life Science)
Properties of common objects (Physical Science)
Environment (Earth Science)
The Human Body (Health, the 5 Senses
Children will be graded by the rubric on the report card. The rubric will be discussed at the parent-teacher conferences. When checking homework and class assignments, I usually give a star or a happy face for acceptable work, and I circle any errors. Please be sure to review your child�s errors with him/her when work goes home.
Our class mascot is �Fuzzy Bear�. He�s a small brown bear who loves to make new friends and go on fun adventures. Each weekend, Fuzzy will be going home with one child in the class. The children are encouraged to make Fuzzy feel �like one of the family� by taking him wherever they go. Sometime during the weekend Fuzzy needs someone (child or parent) to write his adventures in his journal. (Pictures and drawings may be included as well.) On Mondays, the child will share what Fuzzy �wrote� in his journal with the class. It might be a good idea to let Fuzzy have a ride in the washer and dryer once in a while in order to cut down on germs.
Homework will be given every day except Friday. Homework will go home on a daily basis in their �homefun� folder. Mondays and Wednesdays are �Journal writing� nights in addition to some type of worksheet. Your child should be reading 10-15 minutes a night, five days a week (and recording it on their �At Home Reading Record� in addition to his/her regular homework assignment(s). Keep in mind that reading is the most important homework, not the worksheets. All homework will be checked by me during the week and sent home on Friday along with a "Weekly Communication Report" attached. This report will keep you aware of how your child is doing. These reports should be signed by you and returned to me on Monday.
Journals
On Monday and Wednesday nights, children are asked to write in their journals. I will give them a topic to write about. I will be responding to the children�s entries. I feel a journal is a great way for children to express themselves and I encourage the children to use inventive spelling when writing in their journals. I ask that you do not �correct� any incorrect spelling and only help them when they can't spell words that can be "sounded out." You�d be surprised - I can read anything!