O is for Opposites!

Week of February 2-4

Sound of the Week - O

Book of the Week - The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge

Habit of the Month - Thinking

Moms of the Month – Tammy Thomas

Thank you, Jennifer Stephens, our January Mom of the Month for bringing cooked and uncooked Noodles for us to use making letters on N week!  This is a fun thing to try at home!

We enjoyed our guest readers, Kirk Stephens and Emily Truong!

This week is O… and you may wonder what O has to do with lighthouses and bridges! The topic for the week is OPPOSITES – the little lighthouse and the great bridge.  We’ll discuss that though opposite in size and different in design, each had a unique plan and purpose … just like God has for each of us!! 

I hope you’ve enjoyed having your child read his/ her “books” to you as much as they’re enjoying writing them.  I am so proud of the determination, joy and satisfaction they’re finding as they enter this new world of reading, writing, and illustrating! 

THIS WEEK’S BOOK

 The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Grey Bridge by Hildegarde Swift

Constructed in the 1920s, the Jeffrey’s Hook Lighthouse aided navigation of shipping up the Hudson River.  After the George Washington Bridge was built in the 1930s, it was determined that the lighthouse was no longer needed.  It was deactivated and scheduled for demolition in 1947.  This children’s book renewed interest in the lighthouse and it has remained open to the public as a reminder of our country’s past.  If you want to take your own “tour” of the lighthouse, go to www.hudsonlights.com/littlered .  This book will guide us as we discuss opposites, lighthouses, our differences and similarities, and celebrating God’s unique plan and purpose in each of our lives.  

Thank you again for your understanding as we schedule our Poetry Recital.  There are many things that go into that schedule involving Mrs. Crist and other classes.  We are on the calendar for Tuesday, March 10.  We will start working on our individual poems this week! 

N Week - Storm in the Night

January 26-29

Sound of the Week – NBook of the Week – Storm in the NightHabit of the Month – Self-Control
Mom of the Month – Jennifer Stephens

We enjoyed M week and our book of the week Owl Moon.  We were grateful to have Whit’s grandparents visit us and have his grandmother read our book of the week! 

It was great to see you at our parent meeting on Tuesday.  I am so thankful for the bonds that are forming in our covenant family and I am also thankful for the wonderful leadership of our room parents, Bill and Meghan Grubbs.  This class is truly a blessing!

This week we will celebrate "n" week with the book Storm in the Night by Mary Stolz and Pat Cummings.    This is a delightful story of a little boy and his grandfather during a thunderstorm.  When the power goes out, they sit on the porch and talk about all kinds of wonderful things.  One night, turn out all the lights, light a few candles, sit together and talk.  We love those kinds of nights!   Or have the kids ask their grandparents about when they were kids!  We'll look at what God says about grandparents - Proverbs 16:31 and 17:6 and Psalm 103:17, and read verses about the voice of God thundering - Job 37:4-5, Psalm 29:3 and John 12:28-30.  We'll learn a little about storms...and turning to the Lord when we're afraid.  

We are going to practice writing our full names this week.  I would like to spend some time talking about each child's name.  Please send me a brief email letting me know the origin of your child's name, whether they were named after a friend or family member, or if theirs is a name you particularly liked the meaning of, etc.  We will talk about how parents love us and carefully choose names for their children and how God loves us and made us His children.

M Week and Owl Moon

January 20-22

Sound of the Week – M

Book of the Week – Owl Moon

Habit of the Month – Self-Control

Mom of the Month – Jennifer Stephens

In spite of the dreary weather we had a wonderful week last week!

We celebrated Faith’s birthday!

And Mrs. Stephens brought mussels to show us!

We loved writing and reading our own book about Pat's fat cat! I hope you enjoyed reading it at home too!  We will continue to focus on ending sounds this week with the letter m.  

Our Book of the Week this week is Owl Moon by Jane Yolen.  This is a beautifully written and illustrated book about a father taking his child out in the woods on a snowy evening to "go owling."  When the book comes home, please be sure to read the author's note about her own childhood and similar experiences.  (Jane Yolen also wrote All Those Secrets of the World, our "V" week book.)  This week, we'll be talking about relationships with parents (Colossians 2), the beauty of God's creation (Psalm 136:1-9, 25-26) and overcoming fear (Joshua 1:6-9).  

John James Audubon is our artist for the year.  We'll look at his Great Horned Owl and compare it to Mrs. Yolen's.  On Thursday, we'll be doing our second Picture Study.  We'll study and create our own reproductions of Audubon's Great Horned Owl.  

To "Celebrate M" this week we will be measuring, marching, sorting money (coins) and even M&Ms!  

I look forward to seeing you at our parent meeting and campus meeting Tuesday night!

T Week, Ending Sounds and The Very Last First Time

January 12-15

Sound of the Week – T

Book of the Week – The Very Last First Time

Habit of the Month – Self-Control

Mom of the Month – Jennifer Stephens

Happy New Year!  I was so excited to see your children this week!  As I said in the email earlier, they were so excited to see each other!  This week we reviewed the letters and sounds we have studied to date as well as number activities.  Along with our book, Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening, we talked about rhyming words and began our study of poetry in preparation for our Poetry Recital to be held in a few weeks. 

As we continue in January, we will be doing many learning activities that encourage reading readiness.  The students grow so much in January-May!  Please celebrate your child’s growth and desire to learn!  It is going to be fun! 

We really begin homework this second semester.  Believe it or not, your student will be excited!  Two to Three nights a week your child will bring home a page or activity to be completed at home. The assignment will be something familiar and should take no more than about 10 minutes.  There will be no more than one assignment on any given day.  Please sit down with your child as they work on this.  Encourage them to do their best and please watch to make sure they are using a proper pencil grip and forming any letters correctly.  Practicing incorrectly is more detrimental than not practicing at all!  Please return their work in their yellow folder the next day.

Our book of the week for next week, The Very Last First Time, is a book about a young Inuit girl, living in northern Canada, who climbs under the ice of the frozen sea to gather mussels alone for the first time. The author, Jan Andrews, creates a very emotional story of this first time under the ice alone.

If possible, please watch the following brief BBC documentary. We will watch it as a class on Thursday.  You may wish to preview it before showing it to your child.  No one thought the book was “scary” but some children in the past have felt the video was a little tense.   The documentary shows the Inuit people actually harvesting the mussels in the same way as described in the book.  Very interesting!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12241053

First Semester Narrative Reports will be available Tuesday, January 13 at noon.  You can pick these up in the Elementary Office.  

Parent Meeting Tuesday evening, January 20 in our classroom 6:15.  Campus meeting following at 7:30.