March goes out like a lamb . . .

I can't believe that we just finished our last full week in March. This last half of the year is flying by. Your children have grown so much over the last few months - they are readers, mathematicians, authors and illustrators. They are tying their shoes and losing their teeth. First grade is such an amazing year for growth. It is a pleasure to be along on this ride with you! Monday will be our Celebration of Reading and Tuesday we will get to visit the book fair for a preview day. Wednesday and Thursday there will be 12:20 dismissals for conferences. I have touched base with most of you and will see some next week. Please let me know if you or a family member would like to come in for Mystery Reader. Most of the students have had someone from their family visit our classroom and it has been exciting for the children. In Math the children are adding 2 digit numbers. I know that this looks very different from the way we did it in school but the children have to be fluent at decomposing numbers and this will help. They will be much better prepared for second grade math by having seen this strategy. I know that most of them cannot do this independently but we just began it this week and we will continue practicing it. We are working with words that have ir, er and ur in them. Ask your children about the game, I Have Who Has. The children are so busy writing their non-fiction chapter books. They are loving the process and are very engaged during Writer's Workshop. We will start new WYNN groups next week to address math fact computation and fluency. Most of the students are very accurate in their math facts but need to increase their speed. For those children that need enrichment, they will be put in a group to fit their needs. Enjoy the warmer weather. Get outside and play! READ, READ, READ!