October 3, 2008

Upcoming Dates

Monday, October 6th to Tuesday, October 14th: Parent Conferences (Dismissal at 1:30 everyday – no computer lab the next 2 weeks!)
Thank you for returning the confirmation pages. I look forward to seeing you at your 20 minute appointment. During conferences, dismissal everyday will be at 1:30PM. Please remember to make arrangements to pick up your child on time!

Wednesday, October 8th: Scholastic Software Programs Order Due
Please write ONE check payable to Scholastic, Inc. if you are interested in purchasing different software programs for your computer at home. They have programs for academic areas such as reading and math, or programs for fun and games.

Wednesday, October 8th to Tuesday, October 14th: Book Fair
Today’s Friday Folder has information about the Book Fair coming up at Eaton School. You can purchase books with your student after school during this week, or during Family Night on October 14th from 6-8pm. Our class will have a special visit to the book fair on Thursday, October 9th.

Wednesday, October 15th: Fairyland Field Trip
Thank you for those of you who have returned the permission slip for Fairyland. We have our four parent chaperones: Maya’s, Naoki’s, Kinako’s, and Jhanvi’s parent. They will be coming with us on the school bus. Please send a DISPOSABLE lunch (paper bag or plastic bag) with your child because we will be throwing everything away after lunch. Remember to LABEL the lunch bag with your child’s name and dress in layers!

Friday, October 17th: Cupertino Library Field Trip
We will be going to the Cupertino Library a week earlier than planned because of the Walk-a-thon on the 24th. Please send your child’s blue library card to school and practice memorizing his or her 4-digit PIN number! Remember to return the Cupertino Library books directly!

Friday, October 24th: Walk-a-Thon
Eaton will be having our annual walk-a-thon fundraiser in the afternoon. More information will be sent home in the next few weeks.

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Dear Families,

Happy October! Time is already going by quickly. We have so much to do and this month will definitely fly by!
Poem of the Week: Fall
Song of the Week: Hello Around the World
Kindness is: making new friends

• Language Arts: We finished our alphabet dictionaries this week! All students should know their letter sounds and proper handwriting for each letter. Please remind your children to write neatly at home also so we can develop a good habit. Literacy centers this week was a big improvement. Many of us were able to finish the different activities on time! Let’s keep practicing! We had time to interview two princesses this week. We have about four more students to interview!

• Social Studies: We learned more about leaves and apples this week. We read stories and made an art project that showed how an apple tree changes in the four seasons. In circuits, Mrs. Zankich did an activity about why we are all unique or special. We wrote about ourselves and drew a self-portrait.

• Computer Lab: We spent this week learning to draw a self portrait on KidPix. It was our first illustration for our kindness website. You can see our updated journals through the classroom website under “Classwork” or directly at kindness.pbwiki.com. One area we are working on is following directions and learning to save our pictures and work in our own folders.

• PE: Mrs. Zankich had our class this week. We played a team game using hula hoops and tennis balls.

• Math: We started Chapter 3 this week on Addition and Subtraction facts to 12. This week we focused mostly on addition skills and practiced different word problems that require some logic thinking. It is really important that everyone pays attention and listens actively when we are on the carpet. I usually explain all the problems and therefore, students should know how to solve all classwork questions.

• Science: We continued our unit on Solids and Liquids. This fits with next week’s sharing topic – something solid. This week we learned some vocabulary words that are properties of solids. For example, we looked at objects and sorted them in these categories: soft vs. hard, flat vs. pointed, smooth vs. rough, opaque vs. transparent, and flexible vs. rigid. These are very difficult words, but we played some guessing games to practice learning their meanings and finding objects that fit. Later in the week, we also learned about sorting small solids such as rice, mung beans, pinto beans and cornmeal. We predicted and experimented with these different solids to find out how to make solid mixtures and how to separate solid mixtures.

• Buddies: We saw our fourth grade buddies in Ms. Allen’s class and continued our project using the book, Hooray For Me! This week, we specifically shared our dreams and illustrated a picture about what we want to be when we grow up.

I look forward to seeing all of you during parent conferences. Please remember to come on time. We will be starting and ending promptly because I have many interviews lined up one after another. I would like for us to work together to help your child this year in first grade. Thank you!