 The Report on Reports
Mrs. Thonus
Hooray for Book Reports! Next month the students will be working on their first official book report. Hopefully, the class will use their time wisely and not leave the book reports to the last minute. This would certainly cause stress for everyone! Learning how to handle long term assignments is a critical life skill. Even as adults, we occasionally need to accomplish projects on a schedule. In addition to helping the student to learn how to handle long term projects, the book report reinforces the skill of writing a summary and encourages accountability for the 20 minute, nightly reading, homework assignment. Daily reading is essential for the development of vocabulary, reading fluency, and comprehension. If you haven't done so yet, please see the WHY NIGHTLY READING? article on this website. The effect of nightly reading really adds up! This book report is due December 21, 2009. This due date gives about a month for this assignment. Please encourage your child not to wait until the last minute. To avoid stress, I recommended that the reading portion of the assignment be completed by December 17th so your son/daughter has several days to work on the report. Reports may be turned in early. Remember, you are your child's best lifelong teacher. Please contact me with any questions or concerns. My email address is dthonus@yahoo.com. If you lose the book report form you can find it on this site. Click here for Form. If you copy and paste it into a word document you can edit it for better line spacing, etc. Ryour child's best lifelong teacher. Please contact me with any questions emember, you are your child's best lifelong teacher. Please contact me with any questions or concerns. My email address is dthonus@yahoo.com. If you lose the book report form you can find it on this site. Click here for Form. If you copy and paste it into a word document you can edit it for better line spacing, etc. |     Looking for Fact Masters
Mrs. Thonus
This month we will be focusing on adding and subtracting large numbers with and without regrouping. Your child's success with this month's math focus is directly related to how well he/she knows the basic addition and subtraction facts. In class, we have learned some tricks, played some fact games, and taken fact speed quizzes for the addition and subtraction facts. Now, it's time to prove we are fact masters. The students have been recording their results on line graphs to plot their progress. The time we spend in school is NOT enough for fact mastery. There are many concepts to cover during class so the time we can devote to fact memorization is limited. It is critical to have your support. *In fact, without your support, your child has little chance to master their facts. Soon, we will be introducing multiplication concepts. Then your child will need to memorize those facts as well. The state of Massachusetts expects each child to have mastered addition and subtractions facts by the end of second grade and multiplication facts to 10x10 by the end of third grade. Thank you for helping at home with flash cards and playing “War” games with a standard deck of cards. When students know their basic math facts it makes every math concept so much easier. Remember, your support is critical for your child’s success with math facts. To practice math skills online or play some fun math games, please visit PearsonSuccessnet then click on Math "Take it to the Net", or Addition Magician,and Subtraction Action.
Dancing Alphabet thanks to:ARG! Cartoon Animation Studio |
