Week of January 6th

I hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas and New Year!  I am excited to see how much all the kids have grown in the last three weeks.  We will be jumping right in to our new unit on Tuesday.  I have many books and activities planned for this unit.  The students will not need to purchase any books for this unit.

Here are a few reminders for the week:
-  I will be sending home a copy of your child's lunch menu on Tuesday.
-  Report Cards go out on Thursday.

Here is a sneak peek at our week:

Math:  We will begin Chapter 8 in our My Math program.  Chapter 8 will cover measurement with nonstandard units as wells as telling time.  I will also be incorporating measurement with standard units.  This will be considered above grade level for First Grade.  If your child has a wrist watch, please allow them to wear them to school.  I will be calling on them to help me keep track of time in the classroom.

Language Arts:  We will be reading "Lin Yi's Lantern" by Brenda Williams and Benjamin Lacombe. We will also research about the Moon Festival and will read about the legend of the Moon Fairy.  The students will participate in a writing activity that will require them to reflect on a time when they really wanted something they couldn't have.  We will end the week by creating lanterns with horses on them. I will introduce how to speak and write with using the correct noun and verb tenses.  The students will begin writing sentences where their noun and verbs agree.  For example: boys hop, boy hops.

Spelling:  January, because, Asia, lantern, smile, luck, festival, long, minute, time **There will be NO pre-test this week.**

Economics:  To go along with our story, the students will participate in a discussion to determine the meanings of the following words:  producer, consumer, budget, and bargain.  Like the boy in our story, the students will have to bargain at a Chinese market for the items they need to make their lanterns.  The class will be given a list of supplies and thier costs and then will have to come up with a budget to buy the certain items.  I am anxious to see how they adapt to a bargaining environment. :)

I am really excited to see the kids embrace our unit on Asia!  I know they will come up full of information and ready to share with any willing listener.  I hope you all have a wonderful week!