We reviewed 'short-vowel u'. We listened to a biography about Alexander Graham Bell. We continued to work on our Unit Project.

In math we worked on parts of 8 first with manipulatives, then with pictures. Some students have yet to finish their math pattern reports, this could largely be due to not following directions. They have had more than sufficient extra time to have completed it by this time. Of the 23 students taking the Topic 2 test, 22 passed with a score of 14 or better. The final passing score is adjusted for the difficulty of the performance assessment questions. One student got a perfect score of 28, 2 students received the next highest score of 25, 2 students earned a 23, 2 students a 22, 2 students a 21, 4 students a 20, and 5 students a 19. Tests will go home tomorrow.

For our violence prevention lessons we discussed the feeling anger and how to indentify it causes and physical traits.

First Day

Today we began to lay the groundwork for a personal narrative. We will explore personal descriptions, favorites, preferences, dislikes, and abilities in order to add depth and detail to the narrative. We reviewed the letters 'm,' and 's'. We began a 15 day review of sight words already learned in kindergarten. In our journals we wrote sentences beginning with the word 'I'. Some students were able to complete 3 sentences.

In math we discussed different ways to represent the concepts for the numbers 0-5. In your child's backpack/folder, you should find a black and grey math sheet for homework to be returned tomorrow. The colored double-page folded sheet was classwork that does not need to be returned to school but will give you an idea of what was discussed during class.

I have asked the children to return their emergency card as soon as possible. The other sheets in the school folder should be returned as they are completed.

For our violence prevention curriculum (Second Step) we began a discussion of how it may be easier to make friends and get along with others if we are able to identify how someone is feeling based on facial expression and body clues. Our first feeling was happiness.

I will again ask for your patience as your first graders learn the dismissal procedures. It will take a little bit longer at the beginning of the year as we iron everything out. Please keep in mind that the proven procedures are not in place to inconvenience anyone, but rather are used to protect the children and to establish regular behaviors. We will continue with the same procedure for the next 179 days of school in order to avoid any mishaps. Some exceptions to established procedures will be necessary on rainy afternoons and some shortened days when parents are on campus.