In honor of our “American Hero” of the week, Alexander Graham Bell, our STEM challenge this month was a challenge to create our own telephones!  Enjoy these photos of our inventions!

For this week, there are 7 components required for weekly homework:

1. Reading (20-30 minutes every day!)
2. Spelling
4. Math
5. Timed Reading: Fiction
6. Timed Reading: Non-Fiction
7. Record Reading Minutes for Library Reading Challenge by clicking on the “LIBRARY READING CHALLENGE” tab at the top of our blog (as pictured below):
Print the NEW HOMEWORK FORM (CLICK HERE) which is found here or under the “Homework Form” tab above.   

• This form does NOT need to be printed or turned in for credit during weeks that we are doing only READING homework.  Simply initialing the form that comes home with your child’s Book Buddy is sufficient during those weeks.

A Reading for All Learners (Book Buddy) leveled book will be sent home with your child DAILY. Please have your child read the book (or one story from the books in which there is more than one story) at least two-three times and then sign the included form. You may supplement your child’s reading using books at home, library books, etc. to fulfill the minimum requirement of 20-30 minutes of reading per day. 

• Study the following spelling and phonics words using any method you wish in order to prepare for the weekly spelling test on Fridays.
• There is a list of recommended spelling study activities that you can access BY CLICKING HERE for Spelling Word Activities, but, again, you may use any method you wish.  
• Please write the spelling words (7 words) in alphabetical order on the Homework Form.    

The spelling words will sometimes repeat:
water
from
very
my
down
make
way








1.)  Complete this week’s My Math homework pages and staple them to the homework form. The assigned pages are: 
CLICK HERE for My Math Chapter 7, Lesson 2
CLICK HERE for My Math Chapter 7, Lesson 4
CLICK HERE for My Math Chapter 7, Lesson 6


2.) Practice math skills for 20 minutes (in total for the week – you don’t need to practice for 20 minutes per day) using any “Math Activity” listed here: CLICK HERE for Math Activities

3.) Complete the math facts fluency timing each day, Monday-Thursday, and record the scores for the week on your homework form.  

We are reviewing “Subtracting From 7.”

• With the fluency timing in the plastic sheet protector, use a dry-erase marker to practice repeatedly.  Record your time (number of minutes and seconds) and number of correct answers each day on your Homework Form. (No need to calculate a percentage score.)

• The target goal is to finish all 25 problems in 1 minute and 15 seconds, with 90% accuracy (23 out of 25 problems correct).

• To print timing sheets, CLICK HERE: Addition & Subtraction Fluency Timings

Time your student for one minute each day, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and record the number of words he/she was able to read in one minute.  Ask your child to “re-tell” the story back to you, trying to include as many details as possible (see re-tell guidelines at the bottom of this post).

This week: use the “Lesson 8” page. 

Fill out the daily score on the Homework Form and submit.  **There is no need to print out the passage unless you would like to; printouts do not need to be turned in for homework credit.  

CLICK HERE for LEVEL 2 FICTION PASSAGES

For this week, there are only 4 components required for homework, and they are all reading!:
1. Book Buddy Reading
2. Timed Reading: Fiction 
3. Timed Reading: Nonfiction 
4. Record Reading Minutes for Library Challenge

Homework will be due on FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24TH.

1. BOOK BUDDY READING (20-30 minutes every day!) There is no need to turn in a Homework Form this week.  Simply signing off on the Book Buddy sign-off sheet each day is sufficient.

2. TIMED READING: FICTION PASSAGE
Time your student for one minute Monday-Thursday and record the number of words he/she was able to read in one minute.  Ask your child to “re-tell” the story back to you, trying to include as many details as possible (see guidelines below).

This week: use the “Lesson 7” page (we are now on Level 2). 

Please print out the page, fill out the daily score area, and submit this page (no need for a Homework Form) on Thursday.  Be sure to write your name at the top of the page! Thank you!

CLICK HERE for LEVEL 2 FICTION PASSAGES

3. TIMED READING: NONFICTION PASSAGE
Please click on the link below and print out the following reading passages:

Level 1: 111 The Roaring 20’s: The Age of Jazz

CLICK HERE for LEVEL 1 NONFICTION PASSAGES

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday: Please time your child reading for one minute each day. Ask your child to “re-tell” the story back to you, trying to include as many details as possible (see guidelines below).  Write Wednesday’s score on the bottom of the page. Please submit the page, along with the Fiction Fluency passage page, for homework.  Be sure to write your name at the top of the page! Thank you!
Re-tell the story with as much detail as possible, and in your own words, to a parent, using the guidelines described below:














If you are able to read the entire passage in less than a minute: start again at the top of the passage and read as many more words as you can until the one-minute timing is over.  For scoring, include the total words read during the entire minute. For instance, if you read the entire passage (137 words) and then read part of it again (39 words) before the one-minute timing was over, your score would be 176 (if you had no mistakes).

4. RECORD READING MINUTES FOR LIBRARY CHALLENGE by clicking on the “LIBRARY READING CHALLENGE” tab at the top of our blog (as pictured below). Every minute counts, whether it’s Book Buddy reading, timed reading, or any additional reading done during the week! 🙂 

There have been a few sad kiddos in class because they haven’t received an “orange train” from the library to color in class.  Students earn the orange trains by submitting their reading minutes via the “Library Reading Challenge” tab above, so don’t forget this step! Thank you! 

We have a cat coming to our classroom for Show and Tell on Friday afternoon (February 10th) and another on Monday afternoon (February 13th).

Please e-mail me to let me know if your child has allergies so that he/she can join another classroom for a few minutes, if necessary. You may specify how severe the allergy is; no need to e-mail if you feel that your child will be fine being in a classroom with the cat – not near the cat or touching the cat. If we have any allergies, we will not be petting the cat.
 
Thank you!

Just a reminder: as per Quest’s Wellness Policy, we ask that you please not have your child bring treats or edibles of any kind to school for Valentine’s Day.  Thank you!

There will be two long parent teacher conference days this February 21st from 4-8pm and February 23rd from 4pm-8pm. Conferences will be every 15 minutes. Please sign up for a slot. I would really like to meet with everyone especially if we have not met yet this year. If you signed up in December or January, you do not need to sign up unless you would like to.

To sign up for a conference time, please click on the link below:

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C0848A4AE2AA0F85-february

We are smack in the middle of double-digit addition, and it is proving to be very difficult for those who do not have their math facts memorized.  Next week we’ll be starting double-digit subtraction, which seems to be doubly difficult when math facts are not memorized!

If you find that your child doesn’t know his/her math facts, please work with him/her at home to achieve memorization.  We are not at a point in the year where we can continue going back to re-teaching memorization strategies during class – we have much, much more to learn!  

You may choose to memorize math facts as your “math activity” practice for the upcoming weeks of homework.  Please utilize the following links to create flashcards and work on memorization of facts up to 20:

• Printable Addition Flashcards: http://www.memory-improvement-tips.com/support-files/addition-0-12-vertical.pdf
• Printable Subtraction Flashcards: http://www.memory-improvement-tips.com/support-files/subtraction-0-12-vertical.pdf
• Addition Strategies Flashcards: http://qacblogs.org/ronda.hills/files/2015/01/Addition-Flash-Cards.pdf

Our Valentine’s Party will be Tuesday, February 14th from 1:30-2:45pm.  

Valentine’s Helpful Hints:
1- We have 25 students in our class.
2- Only write who the Valentine is FROM. Do not address Valentine’s to each student (this will help the students distribute their Valentine’s in a more orderly manner).
3- Your student is welcome to decorate a box from home and bring it to school on the day of the party (February 14th). Please note: This is not mandatory.
4- To follow Quest’s wellness policy, only nonfood Valentine’s. Thank you. 

Per Quest’s Wellness Policy, all food in the classroom must be preapproved. Furthermore, parental permission is also required for students to consume food during class parties. Due to this policy—as in years past—student Valentines cannot contain edible items. Suggestions for nonfood Valentines include pencils, erasers, bubbles, stickers, etc. Please note that such items, including Valentine cards, are in no way required.