. MS. SASTRE’S DECEMBER NEWSLETTER Try this Letter Generator Activity Letter Writing For the month of November and December, the Grade 1’s and 2 have been focusing on letter writing skills. The students are learning to start their letter with a salutation (e.g., Dear Mom), include multiple ideas in their letter, and end their letter with a closing and a signature (e.g., Love, Aviva). With the holidays coming up soon, there are many great opportunities to write letters at home. Here are some different letter writing activities that you can try with your child: or friend in a holiday card. Go out with your child and buy some special cards together. Try drawing some lines on the inside of the card to help your child visually organize his/her information in the card. Encourage your child to write about what he/she is doing at school or what he/she hopes to do over the winter holidays. Mail this card together for a meaningful writing activity. -mail to a family member or friend. E-mails are the modern day letters, and while many people do not follow letter writing conventions in an e-mail, there is no reason that you cannot encourage your child to do so. Not only will sending an e-mail help your child improve his/her keyboarding skills and letter writing skills, but e-mails also tend to produce fast replies, so your child will get a quick response too. (http://readwritethink.org/materials/letter_generator/). Your child might need some help reading the instructions, but he/she can write the letter independently. Your child will likely enjoy the game format of this activity too. When writing at home, encourage your child to use familiar words and letter sounds to complete the writing activity. Giving your child a picture dictionary to use might help too. Have fun writing together! Your child can bring their letters to class to add into their writing folders. We have presently started procedural writing – to be continued into January. Reminder About Indoor Shoes This is just a reminder that it is now the season for indoor shoes. If your child does not already have a pair of indoor shoes at school, please make sure to send one in with your child. These shoes can be kept at school in their lockers. Be sure to label your child’s shoes please, as some students have the same ones. Thank you! HAPPY BIRTHDAY Happy, happy, happy birthday Luca – we will celebrate, your birthday, when we see again in January. SHOW AND TELL DAY 2’s Show and Tell is a big deal in Grades 1 and 2! Approximately once a month, your child will be the classroom “Special Helper”. It will be their job to bring in “show and tell” that day as well. This is an important part of the curriculum, and students will be assessed on their Presentation and Communication skills. There will be a copy of the instructions in the “blue bag” that your child will bring home the day before his or her Show and Tell day. The assignment will be printed on the side or bottom of the monthly Calendar. January’s Show and Tell is about “My Favourite Book or Activity I Did On My Winter Break”. Remember, that instructions will be in the “Blue Bag”. Learning Goal # 1 Students will “use one or more appropriate visual aids to support or enhance oral presentations.” Success Criteria: *I brought something to show every-one. *My item helps people understand what I did last summer. *I remembered to hold it up (or dis-play it on the board) so that everyone could see it clearly while I was talking. Learning Goal # 2 Students will “communicate ideas and information orally in a clear, coherent manner, using simple but appropriate organizational patterns.” Success Criteria: *I told everyone about something fun I did last summer. *I spoke clearly and loud enough so everyone could hear and understand me. *I used the “W” chart to help me remember who I was with, what we did, where we went, when it took place, and why it was so much fun. (See attached sheet) Mr. Monkey can’t wait to hear your stories!!! TIPS FOR TEACHING READING AND WRITING Always applaud your young reader and beginning story writer! The tips below offer some fun ways you can help your child become a happy and confident reader. Try a new tip each week. See what works best for your child. ■ Tell family tales. Children love to hear stories about their family. Talk about a funny thing that happened when you were young. ■ Create a writing toolbox. Fill a box with drawing and writing materials. Find opportunities for your child to write, such as the shopping list, thank you notes, or birthday cards. ■ Be your child’s #1 fan. Ask your child to read aloud what he or she has written for school. Be an enthusiastic listener. ■ One more time with feeling. When your child has sounded out an unfamiliar word, have him or her re-read that sentence. Often kids are so busy figuring out a word they lose the meaning of what they’ve just read. ■ Create a book together. Fold pieces of paper in half and staple them to make a book. Ask your child to write sentences on each page and add his or her own illustrations. ■ Do storytelling on the go. Take turns adding to a story the two of you make up while riding in a car or bus. Try making the story funny or spooky. Point out the relationship between words. Explain how related words have similar spellings and meanings. Show how a word like knowledge, for example, relates to a word like know. ■ Use a writing checklist. Have your child create a writing checklist with reminders such as, “Do all of my sentences start with a capital? “Yes/No.”