Your help is needed with our Boxes of Joy. This is a special program where we work together as a class to provide a Christmas box for a boy and a girl in another country. For some, this is the first Christmas gift they will ever receive. If you can help, donations are due on Friday, November 1st. Here are some of the items we need…

socks (for a boy or girl)
toothbrush and toothpaste
gloves and a scarf
hard candy
playing cards
wash cloths
mini soap and shampoo
prayer cards
Rosary / Saint cards / religious medals
small toys
jump rope
crayons / markers / colored pencils
books

Halloween Information: Students are allowed "Halloween" free dress for the day and may wear orange & black, but no costumes. We will celebrate with our Halloween carnival, but there will not be any class parities for Halloween. Please do not send in any special Halloween snacks or candy on this day. Halloween is a noon dismissal, with no aftercare available. Please note that Halloween is NOT an open carpool day. Thank you for understanding.

Religion: Our new unit in religion is title Jesus Saves Us. In this unit presents Jesus as a model of love and goodness in our lives.

Reading: Our story in reading this week is called Birdhouse for Rent by Harriet Ziefert. In this story, a birdhouse tells about the number of creatures who have taken shelter inside it. This week’s comprehension skill is to talk about the author’s point of view and identify who is telling the story.

Vocabulary: This week’s vocabulary words are rent, vacate, tenants, deserted, examined, pleased, completely, eager, snug, and cheeps.

Phonics: This week we learn about the long e sound with the spelling patterns ie, y, and ey. We wil also review the long e sound spelled as ee, ea, e, and e_e.

Spelling: Our spelling words focus on the /s/ sound spelled as ce and ci and the /j/ sound spelled as ge and gi.

Grammar: In grammar we focus on capitalization rules, proper nouns, titles and initials.

Social Studies: We are learning how to use a globe. If you have a globe at home, ask your child to show you what he or she has learned.

Math: Our unit on measurement continues. What can you measure around your house?

Computers: This week we completed our typing lesson on the U, R, and K keys and reviewed the J and F keys and space bar. See if your child can show you correct hand position on the keyboard and demonstrate how to find the home keys.

AR Reading Update: This week’s class AR story was Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White. Students had the opportunity to take an AR quiz on this book and earn 0.5 AR points.

Please remember that next Wednesday, November 6th, is the last day to take AR test and meet your AR reading goal for the first trimester. Your child’s AR goal is 20% of his or her reading grade. You can check your child’s green AR Reading Journal to see how many points your child has earned to date.