From the Desk of Mrs. Heideman

Welcome to 1R First Grade at Villa Madonna Academy

January 5                                            Grade 1R  News                                     Volume 30  NO.18

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Have a fine 2009!

Early Dismissal on Thurs. Jan. 7 at 2:15!!

*Religion – The Good News of our Religion Class will be about the Holy Family.  The Holy Family is Joseph, Mary and Jesus. We will learn about the life of Jesus as a young boy. The Holy Family lived in Nazareth Each person in the family was special. Each person did his/her part to make the family holy and happy .We have to do the same in our family. God wants all families to live together in love. God wants families to care for one another. The Holy Family prayed together. Jesus learned many things from his parents. They were his first teachers. God bless our families. Jesus, bless us and make us like you.

*Phonics – I will do some review and practice of the short vowel sounds. I will continue to practice contractions. I will begin lessons on the long vowels and consonant digraphs.

*Reading – I will use the Henry and Nudge Books for our reading lesson. We will use these books to learn about the parts of a story: setting, plot, character, main idea and theme. We will do lots of work on comprehension as we begin the 2009 part of our school year. Please give your child at least 20-30 minutes of time for reading each day. Reading is part of your child’s homework each and every day. The more your read the smarter you will be! Does your child read fluently? Does your child show and interest in reading? Does your child comprehend what he/she reads? Do YOU read to and with your child? It is very easy to see which children are reading at home. Reading is so very important. Learn to Read. Read to Learn. READ!!!

*Language – We will continue to practice grammar as we write in our winter journals. We will begin lessons on the parts of speech.  I will begin with nouns and pronouns. Nouns are name words for persons, places and things. Pronouns take the place of nouns.

*Handwriting –I am asking ALL students to do their very best handwriting in school and at home. Spacing between words is necessary and important.  Letter size and form are also important. WE DO NOT DO CURSIVE IN FIRST GRADE. Thanks for your support in this matter.

*Spelling – Spelling Words. The words are “Tricky Words.”  They may require some extra study and practice.

The words are: I, of, on, to, do, the, said, why, was and what.

*Math – We will work on measurement. I didn’t get to do much practice during December with all of the Holiday Happenings. We’ll see who will measure up as we begin the new  year. Please give some practice of the +7,+8, +9 addition facts  Enrichment: Find 2 things that are the same length. Find something is 6 inches in length. 12 inches. 10 centimeters. 30 centimeters. Which is longer 12 inches or 12 centimeters?  6 inches or 16 centimeters. Give your child 10 math fact problems. Can your child work the problems in less than a minute?  Can your child add 3 or 4 numbers in a column?  Can your child give an answer to a fact problem in 6 seconds or less?  Can your child count dimes and nickels? Can your child tell time on an analog clock?  Can your child do mental math problems? It will be very good for each child if he/she gets some extra practice of the addition facts each day or several times a week. I will start subtraction in 2009. We do lots of addition and subtraction fact practice in our morning meeting.  I’m giving some multiplication problems, too.  Math is Everywhere!

*Science – Please see the Science Link for the Science Lessons.

*Social Studies – Please see the Social Studies Link for the Social Studies Lessons.

*Foreign Language – Please give your child practice in learning and speaking Spanish.

*POINT TO PONDER: Would you rather live where it snowed every day or where it never snowed? Do you like to wear mittens or gloves?

HOW TO BE HAPPY ALL THROUGH THE YEAR

Keep your mind free from hate,

Your mind free from worry.

Live simply, expect little,

Give much, sing often, and pray always.

Fill your life with love, scatter sunshine,

Forget self, think of others.

Do as you would be done by.

These are the true links

In contentment’s golden chain.

PARENTS

THANK YOU  for your many and wonderful Christmas Gifts. You were so kind and so very generous to remember me in so many nice ways.  THANK YOU for your special gifts of patience, help, support, time, kindness, cooperation and generosity that you give to me each and every day of the school year. As a teacher, I treasure these special gifts and I am truly grateful for each and every one of them.  THANK YOU for your “Presence” that you give to all of us a Villa, especially to your good children.  It is your “Presence” that makes our classroom and school great places to be. Best Wishes to you and your family for a very happy, fun and peaceful year.

THANK YOU to Mrs. McBride and Mrs. Ryan and parent helpers for making our Gingerbread House Activity so much fun for the children.  We had some great houses! I know that the Gingerbread Baby would have a difficult time choosing a house! Our classroom was filled with the Christmas Spirit. It is a real joy to see the children so happy and having so much fun at our Birthday Party for Jesus/Christmas Party. I’m glad we had this time together. This was a wonderful way to end our 2008 part of the school year and to begin the holiday season. I hope that all of your holiday happenings were happy and fun for everyone.  Thanks for All that you did and for all that you gave to make all of our holiday happenings the best ever..

Friday Jan. 9 Show and Tell and What’s In the Bag – Patrick S.

Uniform Dress Code – Please check the handbook for the uniform dress code for girl’s leggings and tights. Please check for the uniform for boys pants and girls slacks. Please look at the dress code for wearing sweatshirts. You want to have your child bring long sweats for gym. This would be good especially for dismissal on Wed.  PLEASE PUT YOUR CHILD’S NAMES IN SWEATSHIRTS AND SWEATERS.

Thanks for your attention and support in this matter.

Please continue to collect and save the BOXTOPS and Campbell Soup Labels.  We will collect these items throughout the year.  Please keep the labels and boxtops comin’ in.

*Coming Events

Mon. Jan. 5 – Classes Resume   Happy New Year!

Wed. Jan . 7 – Early Dismissal Faculty Meeting

Special Classes:

Monday – Art

Tuesday – Health, Spanish, Music

Wednesday – Gym

Thursday – Spanish, Library, Computer

Friday – Enrichment Classes

You can contact me at rheideman @ villa Madonna.net