1. Mrs. Kurth’s Classroom News January 18 th – 22 nd, 2016

2. Dates to save: January 18 th : We DO have school January 25 th : No School – Teacher workshops (in the a.m.) Conferences (12 – 8) Book Fair January 28 th : Conferences (4-8) Book Fair February 1 st : Book-It calendars due February 12 th : Valentine Party

3. The Tiger Fun Fair is fast approaching! Tiger Fun Fair February 27th from 4-­8 p.m. Each year baskets are created for the silent auction. This year’s theme for Mrs. Kurth’s class is “Star Wars”. We have placed collection bins in each classroom for donations. Parents are welcome to bring donations to conferences and drop them off with your child’s teacher at that time as well. Please turn in all your donations by Friday, February 12th If you have items to donate that do not match your child’s theme, we will find a basket to add them to. You can also donate cash or gift cards to be included as well. The Tiger Fun Fair is the largest event Delano Elementary PIE holds each year and would not be successful without the help of our parents. Thank you for donating to the Tiger Fun Fair!

4. Reading Practice This past Friday, we have started our first practice reading test with directions. Most every week, there will be a practice test. This “test” allows your child to practice their comprehension of the stories we are doing in class. This is optional.

5. Conferences are coming up soon! Schedules are listed on our class website. Please return your conference slips as soon as possible.

6. Spelling tests Please remember that we will be scoring capitalization and punctuation this trimester. Much of this score comes from the spelling test. The scores will be collected through the trimester and given a score overall. Please make note of this score on their test.

7. Outside Recess Students will not be able to play in the snow if they do not have snow pants. Please send gloves/mittens and hats! Label everything!

8. I Love to Read Month February is I Love to Read month. We will be celebrating the fun of reading with many great activities throughout the month: –February 1st - Pajama Day – Kick off, all school DEAR time –February 5th – Superhero Day –February 12th – Wacky Color Day –February 19th – Book Character Day –February 26th – Hippie Day –February 29th– Pajama Day to end “I Love to Read” Month

9. January Birthdays We will celebrate your child’s birthday here at school If you decide to send store bought treats or goodies please send 24 of them. If it's a weekend day we will celebrate the Friday before or Monday after. We will also celebrate ½ birthdays. If this doesn’t work for you we can celebrate it in May. Please let me know which day you will choose if it falls on the weekend or holiday break. ½ Birthdays: 7 th – Crosby 9 th – Brita 17 th – Alexis 18 th - Carson 24 th - Jack

10. Upcoming Academics: This will change each week!

11. Reading: Lesson 12 Main Story: Seasons and The Four Seasons Word Wall Words: down, fall, goes, green, grow, new, open, yellow Comprehension Strategy: Cause and Effect Phonics: digraph –sh, -wh, -ph; contractions with ‘s, n’t Grammar: cause and effect Vocabulary: words ending in –ed, -ing, -s Writing: subject verb agreement

12. Spelling Words: ship, shop, which, when, whip, fish, goes, new, shell, graph *Practice writing previous spelling words, other words with long a pattern (a-consonant-e), and words with “sh”, “wh”, and “ph” blend so your child is prepared to write a sentence with the skills they learned throughout the week.

13. Math Concepts for this week in class: Unit 4 Test, place value, and greater than/less than Anticipated Homework: Monday: None - Testing Tuesday: None - Testing Wednesday: No Homework Thursday: 5.1 Friday: 5.2

14. More Math…. Here is the link if you need to reprint homework pages: http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/parents/1st-grade/em-at- home/unit_4/http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/parents/1st-grade/em-at- home/unit_4/ http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/parents/1st-grade/em-at- home/unit_5/http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/parents/1st-grade/em-at- home/unit_5/ Things you can practice at home if you are looking for additional ideas: -Place value -Greater Than, Less Than -Weights -Number Stories -Addition Facts

15. Word of the Week Extra: Each week, your child can receive a sticker for their sticker book by writing down our special word/phrase of the week along with a parent signature. This word also helps me to know that you have seen the newsletter! They love stickers! Word of the week: Martin Luther King Jr.

16. Family Journals Family Journals are due each Monday. Please use the next empty page to complete your response to your child. I also encourage you to use the letter format to allow your child to see and experience that format.

17. General Homework Expectations Mondays: Spelling words and word wall words will come home (practice these words to be ready for the spelling test on Friday Wednesdays: Wednesday work: students complete the comprehension page as well as practice reading the words on the opposite side. When you feel your child is confident in knowing the words and has completed the comprehension page, please return it to the classroom. It is due by the following Tuesday at the latest. Monday through Friday: Math homework will be sent home each day, except Wednesdays. I expect each page to come back the following day.

18. Volunteering Sign Up With Students http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c4faaab2da4fe3- volunteer Sign Up Without Students www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C0C4FAAAB2DA4FE3- volunteer2

19. Volunteering The media center is also looking for volunteers to help shelve books. In the past, some parents have volunteered in the library right before coming to our room to volunteer. Please contact them beforehand to see if they have an available opening. Thank you for ALL your help! We couldn’t do it without you!!!

20. Digital Days Day of the Week Digital DaySpecialistImportant Reminders Monday1Phy. Ed.Wear Tennis Shoes Tuesday2Music Wednesday3Media & ComputerSend library books Thursday4Computer & Phy. Ed.Wear Tennis Shoes Friday5Music

21. Contact Information Angie Kurth 1 st GradeTeacher – rm. 102 763-972-6200 ext.4102, angie.kurth@delanoschools.org angie.kurth@delanoschools.org Classroom Website/Blog: http://www.delano.k12.mn.us/elementary- school/gradesstaff/first-grade/mrs-kurth