Mrs.Alvarado’s Class News

Friday, Aug.15th

Dear Parents,

     What a great first week of school. The class is sweet, smart and very energetic!  We are starting to really get to know each other and the students seem to be making new friendships. 

     This week I focused on the class getting to know each other and on beginning assessments. 

     We will be having an Open House on Thursday, August 21^st at 6:30.  This is a great time to ask questions as it is a time the students are not present.  I will be going over curriculum and classroom procedures. If you cannot attend I will send home a packet of information.  Just let me know if there are any questions.

     Take a look at what we are learning:

Math- We are beginning a unit on place-value and basic math facts.  I will be sending home timed tests to help your child review the basic facts.  Mrs.James and I will be splitting our classes up based on ability.  So part the class will have her for a teacher and part of the class will have me.  I will send another letter home to tell you who your child will have for Math for this unit.  We use pre-tests and post-tests to monitor progress.  I will share these test results.  Please review the basic multiplication and division facts with your child.  Thanks in advance for your support.

Spelling- I will be sending home a list of spelling words on Mondays and the spelling test will be each Friday.  I gave a practice test this Friday that will not count in my grade book. I will send it home so you can see the format of the test. There will be a homework assignment each week for parents to help students with.  The skill covered in the homework is the skill that will be on the spelling test on Fridays.

Grammar- We began talking about nouns this week.  We took a noun walk around the building to write down as many nouns as we could see. We reviewed common and proper nouns.  Next week we will learn about plural and singular nouns and the spelling changes with plural nouns.

Writer’s Workshop- We will begin learning about “Ideas and Content”.  We will be writing and talking about things we know because good writers write about what they know.

Social Studies- We will begin a unit on map skills next week.  We have new Nystrom kits with maps, globes and atlases.  The Nystrom kit allows each student to do real hands on learning with maps.  Should be fun.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!  I am looking forward to seeing everyone on Thursday night.   Mrs.Alvarado