Richardson Review January 7-9, 2009

Welcome back! I hope you and your family had an enjoyable holiday break. It is a new year and we have much to do before our time together ends.

READ to SUCCEED

Your child has the opportunity to earn a free ticket to Six Flags by becoming a member of the Six Flags Six Hour Reading Club! You can read books, magazines, comic books, or newspapers. Your AR books also count towards your reading goal. You will need to start reading very soon! Record what you read and the time you spend reading. Please see the form in your child’s folder. The last day to turn in forms is February 25, 2009. No late turn in will be allowed. Please note the change in date! I made a mistake on the newsletters sent home. Sorry :(

January Book It

In addition to the Read to Succeed program, we will also continue our Book-It program. This does not mean you have to read more than usual. You can write down any books you read for both programs. Our goal for January is 10 books! The deadline is January 31.

This Week at a Glance

Here’s a peek at what we will be learning this week!

Math Workshop
Procedures & Routines
Geometry Review

Writer’s Workshop
Procedures & Routines

Phonics
Review

Reader’s Workshop
Procedures & Routines

Important Reminders

• We have P.E. on Wednesday and Friday of this week. Be sure to wear tennis shoes on these days!

• Send in Box Tops and Campbell’s Soup labels. We would love to win the contest again!

• We will have ice cream on Friday. Please send $0.50.

• Report cards will be sent home on Monday due to school being closed on Wednesday!

AR Congratulations

• Ethan Haney 10 Point Club
• Camden Neal 25 Point Club
• Trystan Smith 25 Point Club
• Kai Lucas 50 Point Club



For a printable copy of this week's newsletter click here!

AR really ADDS UP!

Wow! I am so proud of our Accelerated Reader accomplishments.

Check out these statistics!

1st Nine Weeks
716 Books Read
627 Quizzes Passed
Goal = 153 Points
Earned = 274.1
Words Read = 251012

2nd Nine Weeks
976 Books Read
836 Quizzes Passed
Goal = 220 Points
Earned = 369.5 Points
Words Read 378948

Totals to Date
1692 Books Read

1463 Quizzes Passed
655.6 Points Earned

Christmas Photos

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to school! It's great to be back. I can't wait to see you all. It's been a long break!

We are halfway through our year together. We have 90 days of school left and lots to learn. We will be using this three-day week to re-establish routines and procedures in and out of the classroom. There will not be assigned spelling words or word wall words for this week.

Speaking of word wall words, your child should be able to read at least 110 sight words at this point in the year. First graders are expected to recognize with automaticity (read within 3 seconds) all 220 Dolch sight words by year's end. I will be sending home the entire list with those students who have not yet mastered the 220. This will be for your use at home. Students will only be required to read 10 words per week as part of our assessment program.

More Reading Congratulations!

Congratulations to the following students who met their
December reading goal for Pizza Hut's Book-It Program.

Camden Neal

Isaiah Harris & Chris Burse

Chyanne Avans & Bailey Noles

Jarrod Rape

Character Cafe Congratulations

This month's character trait is kindness. What a wonderful choice for the holiday season!

It just so happened that this week our school's Student Council was collecting items for area nursing homes. Students were asked to bring in toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, lotion, toothpaste, etc.), puzzle books, house shoes, warm socks, and other small items to be distributed next week. I am proud to say we had several students bring items in for this endeavor. Trystan and I both brought in puzzle books (find a word & crossword). Hope brought in a box of chocolate truffles and lots of warm socks. Today in class, we created Christmas cards to accompany the small gifts from our school.

Also this week, we welcomed a new student, Franklin Fortner. He comes to us from North LaFayette. We were happy to have this addition to our classroom. Jarrod, Chyanne, and Bailey demonstrated kindness by showing Franklin around our school and helping him to feel welcome. They shared our rules and routines.

I was very proud of the kindness shown by all of my students this week. Thus, choosing one student for the Character Cafe was difficult. It is my pleasure to announce, Hope Moore as our Character Cafe student for this week! Way to go, Hope!

Geometry is SHAPING UP!

Last week, first graders were introduced to an area of mathematics called Geometry. We reviewed circle and square from the Kindergarten curriculum. We added triangle, rectangle, pentagon, hexagon, and even octagon. These plane figures are just "plain" fun!

Reading Congratulations!

The following students have met their Book-It goal for December!

Trystan Smith

Alexis Keown

Tyler Sprayberry

Friends

My fellow first grade teachers and I attended the annual Christmas parade in LaFayette on Friday, December 5th. We saw several first grade students, past and present, riding in the parade. Did you catch the parade? It was very cold out. We were all bundled up in coats, hats, and blankets. We had a great time! Mrs. Epperson and Delaney caught lots of candy!

First Grade Enjoys First Snow!