Happy New Year and Quick Update

Hi Everyone!

Happy, Happy, Happy New Year!  I have had Hot Chocolate, cookies, and too many carbs.  I have decluttered my house, played with my children, spent endless days in my workout clothes (even if I never got around to working out!),  and went to see  the Zoolights and the National Tree in DC with friends.  I suppose now  it's time to return to routines, wear pants with buttons, and cook something with vegetables.  Can I get an AMEN?  :)

This week, school will also be about reestablishing routines, reminding the kids about rules and expectations, and reconnecting as a classroom family.  
Here's the rest of your classroom news:

Mid-Year Literacy Testing:
Over the next month, I will administer the mid-year Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA).  Remember, the DRA tests a student's ability to decode words, read fluently, and retell / comprehend a story.  In preparation for our mid-year testing, please ensure your child is reading each night at home.  Please use the discussion guidelines on your child's weekly homework sheet to talk about his/her nightly reading.

No Written Homework :
We will not have new sight words this week, so there will be no written homework.  Please get back into the routine of reading every night for 20 minutes.  Please remember to record your child's reading in his/her agenda.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will be reviewing our good reader strategies for our mid-year literacy testing.
• Writing:  We will write about our New Year's goals and resolutions.
• Math:  We will begin our Fact Families unit.  A fact family is made up of 2 addition sentences and 2 subtraction sentences.  All 4 math facts are related (thus the term fact "family") because each fact uses the same 3 numbers.  For example, the fact family for 2, 3, and 5 looks like this:
• 2 + 3 = 5
• 3 + 2 = 5
• 5 - 2 = 3
• 5 - 3 = 2
• Social Studies:  We will begin our Economics unit.  We will discuss the differences between wants and needs, goods and services, and consumers and producers.  We will talk about the importance of saving money now for future wants and needs.

As 2017 begins, I remain thankful for the blessing of your sweet children, you, and the support you offer each day.  Please let me know how I can assist you!