Welcome back! We had a wonderful and memorable Thanksgiving week and 'filmed' our first whole group Reader's Theatre on the ABC's of Thanksgiving. Thanks to Mrs. Matallana for the help with the camera. We also enjoyed our Grade Level Thanksgiving program with our Italian students and teachers, hosted by our Italian Immersion teacher, Mrs. Flaherty. Thanks for your support and participation. We had an amazing audience, support from our VES administration, and the military community as well.

We have four full weeks of instruction remaining before Winter Break occurs. We'll press forward in all areas of the curriculum and encourage homework participation, especially in the home-reading partnership and use of the reading log that is found in your child's reading bag. Once again, thank you for your support and involvement.

Mrs. Petty

Check out my Slide Show!

Check out my Slide Show!

Hope you enjoy the slide show!!
Welcome to Thanksgiving Week! Best wishes for a memorable holiday. As I contemplate this season of gratitude and thanksgiving, I am overwhelmed with how fortunate we are to be Americans. Have a wonderful week and I hope you're able to make it to our Thanksgiving Program at 2 p.m. in the small gym at VES. Please be seated prior to 1:50. Our class will be the first class to enter the gym, so sit near the secondary entrance (OTHER than the MAIN ENTRANCE DOOR)and we'll be right in front of you!

We will not have a spelling list this week, we just don't have enough time. We will extend our work on the same list as last week, so the links will reflect that. We will take a spelling 'test' on Wednesday.

We are currently working on addition strategies, especially counting up and on to add. When practicing this skill at home, your child should be finding the greater number, then count on and up with the other addend. Some of us use a number line to help, others of us are transitioning into a bit of mental computation by using fingers, or thinking about counting on and up. We will begin Addition Facts Drills in December and it will help us improve quick recall of addition facts. If you have addition flashcards to use at home, that would really help, so encourage working on these at home. I've been meeting individually with your child for the past week and listening to their oral reading. Many of them are beginning to orchestrate the use of 'cues' (another word for information)in their reading. They can use the meaning, structure, visual and phonics information to confirm whether their prediction (on an unknown word) is correct. When they get 'stuck' on a word, they need to use their finger to monitor their predictions, so then confirm that it matches, sounds right and makes sense. They are improving and I look forward to more growth during the month of December. Please continue monitoring their home reading by signing the reading log daily. We will continue this over the holiday and throughout the month of December.
Can't wait to see you at the program. The students have worked hard and do a great job. Homework links will change throughout the week, so keep up with it daily. If you're travelling for Thanksgiving, be safe and once again, have a great break.
Mrs. Petty

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!!! Our Thanksgiving Program is scheduled for Tuesday, November 20, at 2 p.m. in the small gym closest to the main office of VES. Please come and enjoy the students' efforts to show what they've learned about this American holiday. We will host Italian students and a few of their teachers on this occasion. Please bring your cameras, and be seated before 1:50 if you're able to do so!
November 12-18, 2007 This is the poem that we recite immediately after our National Anthem and the Pledge each morning. Have your student recite it for you on Veteran's Day (observed) on Monday. A huge "Thank you for serving!" to all our veterans and active duty family members. We are so proud of your sacrifice, service, and your commitment to freedom and democracy around the world.


Even though last week was an interestingly scheduled week, we all came together and accomplished some of the most important work of your child's 1st grade year; a conference in which we discussed their progress, and work toward the goal of preparing to be life-long learners. I was impressed with your insights and desires for each of your children, and hope to make certain it continues to be a productive year. Thank you so much for meeting with me, and remember that you're invited to come back anytime. We look forward to a lot of learning and continued improvement over the time ahead prior to winter break in December.


Please send in a family picture for our FAMILY Bulletin Board. We just finished our "My Family" writings using the creative software/mind-mapping tool Kidspiration. They look amazing and many were able to record their descriptive sentences independently. I'll add a slide show later in the week, so that you can see their work.

We are preparing for our annual Thanksgiving Program, which includes the songs and poems from the slide show posted on this blog last week. Please assist your child in re-visiting the slide show located below in the November posts, as much as you can. The students are doing a great job of preparing and rehearsing, so thank you for all your efforts with them on this endeavor. We're working on our costumes and expect a visit by some Italian students and teachers this year. You will receive a formal invitation this week. Bring your cameras to the event.

HOMEWORK NOTE: There are many links on the left of this post. Don't miss the links as you scroll down. I am adding these links and changing them weekly, so that there is a lot of choice and variation in their activities related to the classroom activities. Please add these links to your computer's favorites bookmarks, if you find them especially helpful. Making your own list of favorites in a folder for use later, is a helpful tool in strengthening academic performance, and most are paperless and can be repeated for fluency, whether in math or reading. Some of you have been returning the homework to school. This is fine, but your 'star' or sticker at the top of the page is also providing feedback to them from home. Post their work at home in a special place and enjoy their pride in a job well done.

Looking forward to growing our collection of family photos. If you want this photo returned to you, please include a note with that request. We'll post them at school for the remainder of the year. Thank you and have a wonderful week.
Mrs. Petty

Check out my Slide Show!

Weekly Schedule:

Monday: Host Nation Computer Lab 2 p.m.
Tuesday: Host Nation Computer Lab 2:30 p.m.
Wednesday: No School for Students: Parent Teacher Conferences
Thursday: No School for Students: Parent Teacher Conferences
Friday: Art & Back to School (Please bring in an old, larger T-shirt for painting projects. Place in a zip-loc bag w/your child's name on the outside.)

No Spelling Test this Week: Review lists from Week 1-9 and we'll play/participate in Word Wall games and writing simple sentences with all the review words. When viewing the Complete Spelling List, you can choose one of the many red rhyming words, and let your child write another word with a different beginning sound or blend. Use your mini-office alphabet to make as many as you can. Then, have them write a sentence using some of the words they made. They should be using the onset (beginning sound or blend), and then rime (end rhyming chunk of the word) to spell many words, and visualize how it looks, then confirm or correct. You can also copy off a small word wall list to hang up where they do their homework to help them refer and remember. They are using this method of write and check in the classroom with our own rhyming and regular word walls in the classroom.
We will begin our November seasonal activities, including a health unit on nutrition and making good food choices. The first grade classes will be preparing, then performing our annual Thanksgiving performance which will include poems and songs. More information about that will be coming a little later.

Now on to the news of the week. When you scroll over the link to the school calendar, one can see how November is full of days-off ! It always ends up that way, since we have conferences, Veteran's Day, and Thanksgiving Break all scheduled during the month. We will return to reading 1-2 books each night and place a new reading log to record their efforts.
Thank you for all your continued efforts with your child.
Mrs. Petty