February 2010

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Math

Please continue to help your children with mastery of multiplication. Please help them to become Multiplication Masters! Quiz them on trips in the car, while you are preparing dinner, etc. We have completed our weekly individual fact tests and will be taking Friday quizzes on them, all mixed up! Review subtraction problems with regrouping, as the children still seem to have issues with this skill.  Continue to emphasize the importance of using their math vocabulary terms and practice repeated math skills using the Drops in a Bucket worksheets.  

We will have finished our unit called, "Fair Shares" on fractions, in the last week of January. This entire month will be devoted to FCAT preparation and review. It is extremely important that the children are in attendance each day. It is equally important that they are focused and come to school with a positive attitude over the next few weeks.

Please conitnue to use studyisland.com as it is a useful tool to help support what we are doing in class. It is the most similar to what the FCAT test will be like. The more the children use it, the more comfortable they will be on testing day.  The following children have been recognized for the month of January as the top ten blue ribbons earners in math. Congratulations goes to: Amber B., Derick F., Austin H., Logan O., Talaia M., John P., Catie B., Christopher M., Jada S., and Albren P. Keep up the great work!

Science and Social Studies

We are currently in our Social Studies rotation. We have been learning all about the early explorers and the original colonists. We will continue learning about how the early settlers moved west and how the early immigrants adapted to life in America in Chapter 5.

Reminders

The children will be going on a field trip to the Cummer Museum on January 28. They will need to bring a bag lunch if they are not going to eat the bagged cafeteria lunch.

The dates for FCAT are March 9-12.

Just a reminder that Friday is the day we have scheduled for weekly tests. Please help your child review and be prepared when Fridays roll around so that they do not become overwhelmed. Likewise, encourage them to record a little bit each day about their nightly reading in the chapter book for their 25 book goal, so that each Friday their book reports are complete and ready for Mrs. Crabtree to review.