Hi Team Ward Parents,

We had a great time at Rivershire on Tuesday.  Thank you to the parent volunteers who helped us explore and observe habitat trees!  

We worked hard in our classroom this week, especially building stamina for "read to self," which is what we call independent reading in first grade.  Our goal is to read for 12 minutes without stopping, and we got to 10 minutes on Friday.  Very exciting!  

Students are also working hard on a daily basis to fill up their reading logs at home. Children get to pick a small prize when they fill up the first one!  Please remember to record books from school that you and your child are reading nightly.  

Some students are proudly reporting that they are "in charge" of packing their backpacks each day.  This is great news!  When children learn at ages 6 and 7 that they have certain responsibilities, like packing their HOOT folder, book pouch, and snacks in the morning, it instills a sense of ownership and pride in them. Most first-graders will still need support from parents, especially when first developing the daily routine.  Sometimes a checklist can be helpful.  Please remember that library books should be returned each Monday.  

Team Ward used iPads this week to practice math and spelling.  They became familiar with IXL, Spelling City, and Absolute Board to practice spelling and math skills.  Each week we will integrate the iPads into our daily routines more and more.  We are still waiting for the district to install the next round of apps.  

We will begin chapter 2 in our math curriculum next week.  This chapter is all about number bonds, the foundation for understanding addition, subtraction, and the relationship between them.  Please review the school-home connection letter when it comes home on Monday.

Lastly, I will submit our Scholastic order on Monday.  If you have not placed an order already, please consider doing so by Monday.  You can send in a paper order with a check or place an order online.  Scholastic has a great selection of affordable books that are great for first-graders.  When you place an order, our class earns bonus points, which allows me to order many books for our classroom library!  The website is https://clubs2.scholastic.com and our class activation code is H7DRJ. 

Thanks for all of your support of our team!  Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Mrs. Ward

Team Ward had another great week! We have been getting to know each other a bit more each day. Everyone loved teddy bear day on Friday:-) We also had our first Makerspace in Mrs. Wylie's room. The children had a wonderful time exploring, tinkering, and building together. As a reminder, please have your child bring his/her HOOT folder and book pouch back to school every morning:-). Thanks so much for your support. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!