It is hard to believe that this is the last week of February! Friday is March 1st, and the calendars that were sent home at the beginning of this month for Teeth Brushing are due. On Friday I will also send home a March Reading Log for your first grader to record all the interesting things he/she is reading during this month. Remember you can log books, stories, articles, etc....whatever is being read, and don't forget to include all that you read as a family as well.

Friday is also Cowboy Day! Western attire is permitted (jeans, cowboy hats, etc.), but if your student wears boots, please send his tennis shoes in his backpack to be used for PE. Lunch will be hotdogs, so if that is not a favorite, please pack a sacklunch for that day's lunch.

Since I was out for a couple of days last week, work on the North America maps was not completed. We hope to be sending those home this week. All astronomy projects will be completed this week and coming home as well. Please enjoy your student's narrative about what she has learned. Tonight (Monday) is a full moon. There are only a set number of these you will be able to see in your life time, so don't miss a single one, and make a point to share them with your children!

Spelling Words for the Week:
February, I'll, he'll, she'll, we'll, you'll, it'll, super, silent, tiny, tiger, table

Synonym Pairs for the Week:
backbone...spine                          yellow.....amber                  picture......illustration

Blessings,
Mrs. E

This week in geography, the students will finally be putting together their North America maps. When these maps find their way home, please display them in a prominent place…..a lot of learning went into this  project, and the first graders are very proud to demonstrate what they know.

To celebrate this week of Presidents Day, your student will hear the biographies of the four presidents honored on Mount Rushmore. We have already made a little booklet about the life of Abraham Lincoln, and the other presidents are very interesting also. Ask them to tell you about our science experiment …..shining dull pennies.

Thank you all for helping to make last week's Valentine party so special. The children enjoyed sharing their treats with each other and with me. Thank you to Mrs. Sellers for giving me the afternoon off so that I could have an anniversary evening with Mr. E! I am truly blessed with such wonderful CCS parents. The other teachers expressed their gratitude as well for the super breakfast you provided on Friday. Muchas Gracias!

Spelling Words for the Week:
he's, she's, it's, I'm, we're, you're, even, music, pilot, pony, baby, paper

Synonym Pairs:
surprised……astonished            brave……….courageous          galaxy……..star group 

Blessings,
Mrs. E

P.S. Please don't forget to send in worn out blue jeans if you have any to donate to our Texas Unit. I have already started to prepare our Texas Books.

Lent: Growing Closer to God!

Here in the Episcopal church we are getting ready for the season of Lent. Today in my class we did a little preparation so the children are prepared for Ash Wednesday. During Lent, we do things to help us to know God better and the life of God's son, Jesus. Sometimes we spend extra time in prayer or in reading the Bible. Some people make the choice to give up something like television or chocolate. Years ago, people did not eat rich foods such as butter, eggs, or sugar during the Lent season. This brought about the tradition of Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday as some call it, to eat all those things you wouldn't allow yourself to eat during this season.

The children and I also talked about the story of Jesus in the Wilderness from Matthew 4:1-11. See if your child remembers the 3 temptations of Christ.

All the children are coming home with a little pipe cleaner pretzel. If you would like to see the story and tradition they learned about, you can retell the story below to your child or have them tell it to you.

Angelo and the Pretzel

A long time ago, there was a monk in Italy named Angelo. Angelo worked in the monastery kitchen baking bread.

One morning, Angelo began to bake the day's bread. Since it was Lent, he didn't put any butter, eggs or sugar into the dough.

While the bread was in the oven, Angelo sat down to think and pray. The children in his parish didn't seem to be learning their prayers. He wished he could come up with a clever way to help them remember. As Angelo thought, he rolled a leftover piece of dough between his fingers.

In his day, the children were taught to fold their arms across their chest when they prayed. Angelo kept on thinking as he rolled that piece of leftover dough.

Suddenly, he had an idea! Angelo twisted the rolled piece of dough into the shape of praying arms.

He put the dough on a pan and baked it. Angelo got busy cleaning the kitchen and let the dough bake too long. But when he tasted it, he decided it was delicious.

"I will call this treat a 'pretiola' (preh-zi-o-la) which means 'little reward,'" he said. "My treat will be a reward for the children who learn their prayers."

That afternoon, Angelo baked an entire batch of pretiolas. When the children came to the bakery to visit him, he gave the pretiolas to those who knew their prayers.

Before long, all the children began to remember their prayers, and they ate batch after batch of pretiolas.

And that's the story of a monk named Angelo and the very first pretzel.

We had a great field trip to the rodeo last week, and several students expressed an interest in learning how to do an event they saw there. Our class book about the Rodeo has now been published, so the next time you are in the classroom, be sure to ask to see it!

In science we are continuing our unit on Astronomy. This week your student will be taking home a Solar System mobile and maybe even a Star Gazer showing several constellations. We tried to find the most up to date information about space exploration, since new discoveries are being made every year, so your first grader may have some new info to share with you!

In History we are learning interesting facts about US presidents. The presidents depicted on Mount Rushmore are of special interest as well as the coins and bills representing them. Did you know that special pennies were minted in 2009 to show the periods of Abraham Lincoln's life? You are in for a treat…listen to your student share all he/she is learning about presidents.

Spelling Words for the Week:
always, because, been, penny, pennies, candy, candies, bunny, bunnies, dry, dries, dried 

Synonym Pairs for the Week:
cry….weep                   friend……..companion                freedom……emancipation

Happy Valentine's Day!
Mrs. E

In two weeks we will be having our spring semester Parent/Teacher Conferences. I always enjoy these moments with the parents of my students, to share insights and compare notes about how our little ones are developing and growing right before our eyes. Please be on the lookout for an email from me to sign up for your conference times. Hope to see each of you on February 18, Presidents' Day.

February is National Children's Dental Health Month, so on Monday, February 4th, I will send home a chart for my students to log every time they brush their teeth during this month. Scientists tell us that it takes about three weeks to form a HABIT, so if your first grader does not yet have the habit of brushing without being reminded, maybe this month of "dental homework" will do the trick!

February is also National Black History Month. Throughout the month, we will be reading the biographies of various very courageous African-Americans who stood for what was right during their lifetimes. Hopefully, these lessons will initiate some good conversations at home about what it means to stand for righteousness when the majority of people around you are unwilling to. How to stand alone is a very important lesson that will serve our students all of their lives.

Play is the work of childhood. I have shared that statement with many parents over the years, since early childhood development has been a fascinating area of study for me for the last 25 years. I have found a twelve minute YouTube video that summarizes my philosophy on the benefits and importance of childhood play. Please take a few minutes to watch this video before our conference on the 18th, because I would like to discuss it with you.
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=oiDV6uOY9QI&desktop_uri=%3Fv%3DoiDV6uOY9QI

Spelling Words for the Week:
       their, now, angry, angrier, angriest, windy, windier, windiest, hay, gray, away, clay
Spelling Rule: When adding the endings -er and -est to words ending in "y," the "y" changes to "i" first, then the endings are added. The "i" will have the same sound the "y" does in the base word.

Review Week for 12 Synonym Pairs: (matching quiz on 2-8-13)
      genesis…………...beginning               smart…………....clever             travel……..migrate
      red………………..crimson                 forever……...…..eternal            sleep………hibernate
      warm-blooded……endothermic         underwater….....submerged     cold………frigid
      cold-blooded……..exothermic            trail…………….passage            blue………azure

Blessings,
Mrs. E