A big thank-you to all of you, who participated in the "Links for a Cure" project we did. The school ended up raising over $1,000.00 just with doing this fun project in the classrooms. Relay for Life was at huge success, and special thanks to all of you, who supported the event. We have Field Day coming up on April 5th. The P.E. coaches are still looking for parent volunteers to help. Please contact the coaches or myself if you would like to help. The time commitment will be from about 9:30a.m.-11:30a.m. on April 5th.
I am sending home a reading fluency assessment today. The marks on the test are as follows. The squiggle vertical line stands for hesitation, the s/c stands for self corrects, a substitution has the word said written above, an arrow means they added a word, lines under letters means they sounded out each sound, skipped or a line through the word means they omitted it entirely, or said an incorrect word. This is just another tool I use for assessing fluency and comprehension. I encourage you to discuss this with your child, and call attention to some of the miscues. I have already done so in groups and they seemed very receptive on improving their fluency. I will be assessing again this week as well.
Robust Vocabulary: hopeless, lonesome, elated, quivered, wailed, scattered
Our Math Unit 7, is taking us on a study of geometric shapes, polygons, fact platters, and symmetry. Please look for these skills in the upcoming Home Links.
We are continuing our study on Florida. We are also studying the different weather patterns as well. Florida offers a tremendous variety of weather systems.
Have a great week!

Welcome back! We have moved our desks into four new islands this time. We have three islands with five children and one island with six. The students have named their islands, to correspond with our Florida unit of study. They will remain in these islands for about four weeks. Ask your child about their island name and who are their island mates. We began our Florida unit of study today with Ponce de Leon, landing in St. Augustine. Please ask your child about the Dry Tortugas, and why that name was chosen.
In reading, our focus has been getting ready to read, and focusing in on preparing our minds to read. While we are still working on revising in writing, we will soon be shifting our writing focus, to nonfiction pieces. I am encouraging them to look closely at the cover, and to read the title with purpose. The students can learn about the contents by studying the cover, and illustrations provided. The book walks help them to figure out new vocabulary that might cause difficulty decoding, or stumbling, when reading. The students will also be bringing home a reading fluency and comprehension test later this week. We have begun reading Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White. The children have been asked to answer the question, why does a fox bark? This book is a great connection to our map skills that include parts of Canada and Montana.
Robust Vocabulary: shadowy, fondly, pale, similar, affectionate, imaginative

Here we are during our D.E.A.R. time last week. We enjoyed a week's worth, of fun reading activities that extended beyond our everyday reading lessons. I am promoting our reading time to be as special and fun as recess. Please help your child pick a special place in your home, for them to read quietly. This should be a place that they can go to or get to at anytime, if they choose to practice their reading by themselves or with a family member.
We are finishing up our "America" study and should bringing home our books this week.
The Audubon Society will be here tomorrow, March 8th to present Birds of Prey and highlight the eagles we have on campus. Please refer to ebytes if you have not seen the pictures of the eagle through the telescope. It was awesome.
Robust vocabulary: deserve, usually, peaceful, variety, incredible, typical
The reference book in Math will be our focus this week. The students will be using the same book through second grade to help clarify and practice the games and activities provided. The students will be finishing up unit 6 as well, and will be bringing home their checking progress. Please look for the unit 7 Family Letter and the Do Anytime activities. Have a wonderful Spring Break next week.