April 27,2008
Where has the month gone? Our year is quickly coming to an end! Four more weeks, and they will be busy for all of us. Get your calendar out and get ready to put some important dates down for May.
Time to celebrate!!! The CRCT is over for 1st grade. Your little ones did GREAT! It was so hard to watch them sit there for 2 and 1/2 hours all 3 days with only a 10 minute break. They worked hard but it was very tiring. The children lit up everyday too when the "Test Fairy" came to visit! I had to keep them from racing down the hall after lunch on Thursday and Friday. They were so excited to see if the "Test Fairy" came again.
This week will be very busy!
Monday and Tuesday we will be rehearsing for our PTA performance on Thursday. Then on Wednesday will be having our dress rehersals for the school at 8:30 and 9:30. Thursday night is the performance. Be sure to have your child in my classroom by 6:15 P.M. dressed in the requested outfit and ready to go.
Social Studies Standards: We will be continuing our unit on Mexico. The children will finish up a flip book Monday to bring home as a study guide. All test questions are covered in the flip book. Review nightly with your child for the TEST ON THURSDAY.
Writing Standards: The children will be writing an informational paper on Mexico. We have already webbed the details and organized our thoughts. This week we will write our rough draft, edit with a peer and the teacher, then publish our final copy. They will be displayed on the wall outside of our classroom. Come by and see them.
Science Standards: We are learning about animals. How are they similar, what do they all need, how are they different, etc. To make it a little 
exciting we have our in school field trip this week. Thursday the Zoo To You comes to Garrison Mill. Be sure to ask the children about the different animals they saw, touched and learned about.
Math Standards:
We will continue working with double digit subtraction and addition. Just a reminder we do not regroup in first grade.
Reading... I will be testing the children individually during the next two weeks. This DRA test gives me an idea of their reading level and the progress they have made this year. These DRA scores go in their portfolios 
for their next years teachers. Before I even start testing, I can say to each of you, that I am very proud of the hard work and progress each of your children have made. It has been a GREAT year!!!!!!!!
Character Word: Patience and Moderation
Patience can be very hard but is a wonderful trait to develop. I think it is something we can start working on when we are little and keep developing it through life. When we are little we have little challenges that need our patience. As we grow older and wiser we have bigger challenges that need our patience. Let's help our children to learn to have patience.
Moderation can be hard to explain to little ones. Teaching our children that going to the extreme is not always the best. Not enough isn't good either. We have to help them understand doing certain things in moderation is the best.
Have a GREAT week!
Mrs. White
