*  Story “The Lady in the Moon”

*  Oral Reading

Friday, Feb. 26th

*  Spelling – students need to correctly spell each word when called aloud

*Sight Word – must identify word upon sight (w/i 3 seconds per word)

*Vocabulary – must orally give the definition of word

Story:  “The Lady in the Mooon” pgs 100-119

Monday, Feb. 22nd (in back of folder)

Read:  10 Important Sentences & Fluency Passages (2 times each)

RECORD READING ON LOGS & SIGN (in back of folder)

Tuesday 23th (in back of folder)

*Read:  10 Important Sentences & Fluency Passage (3 times each)  RECORD READING ON LOGS & SIGN (in back of folder)

Wed. 24th & Thur. 25th

*Read Story:  “The Lady in the Moon?”  (in reading book)  RECORD READING ON LOGS AND SIGN (in back of folder)

Friday, 26th

Students may choose their own reading selection:  “Free Choice  RECORD READING ON LOGS & SIGN (in back of folder)

Study word lists nightly:  Spelling, Sight Words & Vocabulary.  These are found behind the purple section in the reading folder

• Current story:  “Lady in the Moon”  Please follow reading homework schedule specifically as is given on the notice.  Remember to record all reading on the log, and to sign the back.  Remember the selection test and oral reading test are on Thursday.  Spelling, sight word and vocabulary tests will be on Friday
• Report Cards will be sent home on Feb. 25th.  Please sign and return to your child’s teacher.
• Spring pictures will be sent home to proof when they arrive.  Please send them back regardless if you order them or not.
• Swamp John’s on March3rd.  We’ll send more info. as we receive it from P.T.O>

Local/National Contest Encourages Children to Write and Illustrate Their Own Stories

Alabama Public Television and PBS KIDS GO! have announced a new contest designed to let children’s creativity flow while they improve their literacy skills. The PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest, a local/national contest for children in kindergarten through third grade, invites children to write and illustrate original stories, then submit them to APT for judging.

Original stories written and illustrated by the child must be mailed to APT (postmarked no later than March 26, 2010), who will select first, second and third-place winners in each grade level. Winners will be notified of their winning status and will receive a certificate and prizes for their work at the Alabama Book Festival in Montgomery on April 17. 

Local first-place winners will be entered into the national level of the contest, where a renowned panel of judges will identify the best of the best. National contest winners will earn additional prizes including laptops, digital cameras and MP3 players.

For contest details, rules and entry forms, log on to www.aptv.org/rr. A PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest Web site, at www.pbskids.org/read, will include the winning stories in each of the contest categories as well as an archive of winning stories.

Cindy Kirk, vice president of educational services at APT  explains that developing writing and other communications skills early is important in school achievement.. “This contest also gives free rein to an active imagination for added value,” she adds.

The PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest is a part of PBS KIDS^® Raising Readers, a national program that uses the power of public media to build the reading skills of children ages 2-to-8, with an emphasis on children from low-income families.  The effort is funded by a Ready To Learn grant from the U.S. Department of Education, part of a cooperative agreement with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), PBS and The Ready To Learn Partnership. 

Now, don’t you want to get your first grader to get going on that first book? This replaces the Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators contest that APT has been part of for more than ten years. It’s so exciting to see the kid’s faces when they read or have their story read at the Alabama Book Festival! There’s tons of information at the above Web site.

Using this learning resource, parents and students can also access educational PBS programs that bring another dimension to learning, such as NOVA, Between the Lions and Cyberchase.  Tools for parents and teachers to create blogs, podcasts, multimedia assignments and quizzes to promote creative and critical thinking skills are also available on APTPLUS.

Alabama’s stories are told through the APT-produced content available in the APTPLUS Digital Library database including the story of the migrating Whooping Cranes that fly over Alabama and the array of talent displayed by Alabama craftsmen and artisans in the series entitled Alabama Craft: Tradition and Innovation, all on APTPLUS.

Just think of it as your own private library, filled with videos, still images and audio that’s at your disposal when you need it. Best of all, there’s no questionable content that you might find on a general Internet search engine. Remember, we’re talking APT, here. Trust is our middle name!

Registering for and using APTPLUS^™ is easy at www.aptplus.org. Parents should click on “Parent Registration” and scroll down the page to complete the online form to request a username and password, which will be e-mailed to them within three business days. For registration assistance or answers to other questions, go to www.aptplus.org and click on “contact APTPLUS.” Registration is not required for the other APTPLUS databases including the APTPLUS Digital Library and the APT Adult Education database. For registration assistance or answers to other questions, go to www.aptplus.org and click on “contact APTPLUS.”

Homework:

Monday: 25th

*Read:  10 Important Sentences and Fluency Passages for:  “An Egg is an Egg” & “Ruby in Her Own Time” (2X each)

Tuesday:  26th

*Read  10 Important Sentences and Fluency Passages for “Jan’s New Home” & “Frog & Toad Together”  (2X each)

Wednesday:  27th

Read 10 Important Sentences and Fluency Passages for “I’m a Caterpillar” & “Where Are My Animal Friend?”  (2X each)

Thursday: 28th

“Free-Choice”

Friday:  29th

No Homework

*Lupton Calendars are currently on sale for $5.00.  You can pay cash or check.  Checks should be made payable to Lupton School and include drivers license number and phone number.  Please put any money in a separate envelope with child’s name and calendar written on the envelope.

First semester Award’s Day on Jan. 29th.  We will send a note next week with the correct time.  You’ll receive a notice next if your child is receiving an award.

Monday, January 18th is King/Lee Day = No School/No Homework

Homework:

Tuesday 19th (in back of folder)

*Read:  10 Important Sentences & Fluency Passage (3 times each)  RECORD READING ON LOGS & SIGN (in back of folder)

Wed. 20th & Thur. 21st

*Read Story:  “Where Are My Animal Friends?”  (in reading book)  RECORD READING ON LOGS AND SIGN (in back of folder)

Friday, 22nd

Students may choose their own reading selection:  “Free Choice  RECORD READING ON LOGS & SIGN (in back of folder)

Study word lists nightly:  Spelling, Sight Words & Vocabulary.  These are found behind the purple section in the reading folder

***********************

Where Are My Animal Friends?

1.  Where is caterpillar?

2.  He became a chrysalis.

3.  Then we won’t see Caterpillar until spring when he’ll be a butterfly.

4.  He must fly away to where it is warm.

5.  Yes, we’ll be back in the spring.

6.  I will see if Bear is at home.

7.  I will sleep a long time.

8.  All my friends are going away.

9.  I will stay here all winter.

10.  I have a warm nest and lots of friends.

Play Date

     Jan woke up.  It was a beautiful day!  She wanted to run outside and lay.  But she had to eat.  Next she had to do some chores.  Then she had to feed her fish.  At last, Jan went out to play.  She saw a friend down the block.

     “Hi, Pam!”  Jan yelled.  “Do you want to play with me?”

     Pam looked up.  “Yes, I do!”  Pam yelled back.  Then Pam gave Jan a big hug.

Questions/Answers

How are Pam and Jan the Same

1.  They both want to play

2.  They both feed their fish

3.  The both have chores

What did Jan do first?

1.  She ran out to play

2.  She yelled to Pam

3.  She woke up and ate.

What did Jan do next?

1.  She fed her fish

2.  She did her chores

3.  She saw her friend

What did Jan do after she did some chores?

1.  She ate

2.  She fed her fish.

3.  She woke-up.

What is the last thing that happened in the story?

Pam gave Jan a hug.

*****************************

Tests:

Thurs. 21st:

*Story: “Where Are My Animal Friends?”

*Oral Reading

Friday 22nd:

Spelling Tests – students need to correctly spell each word when called aloud

Sight Words:  must identify word upon sight (w/i 3 seconds/per word)

Vocabulary:  must orally give definition of word

************************

Spelling Words:

1.  bigger

2.  biggest

3.  faster

4.  fastest

5.  slower

6.  slowest

7.  shorter

8.  shortest

9.  sadder

10.  saddest

11.  good-bye

12.  before

Sight Words

1.  different

2.  move

3.  us

4.  home

5.  try

6.  kind

7.  hand

8.  picture

9.  again

10.  change

Vocabulary Words

1.  migrate – Migrate means to move from one place to another

2.  bitterly – Bitterly means in a sad or painful way

3.  weary – When you are weary, you are tired

*  Lupton calendars are currently on sale for $5.00.  You can pay cash or check.  Checks should be made payable to Lupton School and include drivers license number and phone number.  Please put in any money/check in a separate envelope with the child’s name and calendar written on the envelope.

*  No School Monday, January 18, 2010 in observance of King/Lee Day

*  Please be sure you’ve signed your child’s report card and sent back to the teacher.

*  First semester Award’s Day on Jan. 29th.  We will send more information at a later time.

The idea of a southern snow tends to bring shoppers out looking for the necessities.  And in many cases, instead of looking for the best shopping deals and instead looking to find the products that can sustain you during a power outage, especially since snow usually means ice in the south and the ice generally means a sense of confinement. 

With that, you can still take part of compare shopping prices while you look for some food that can be prepared without the use of power and possibly you want to find some games that you can play with your children that, unlike the Wii or other massive battery eaters, can be played as the family hunkers down in one of the house. 

One thing I don’t recommend, if purchasing and stocking up your freezers right now because the loss of power definitely means the loss of your perishables.  So, think ahead but try not to get too greedy with stockpiling anything that you don’t want to lose in case of a power outage.

I do suggest buying some card games suitable for your children, maybe some dominos, or the old standby of monopoly or what about trivia games.  And, of course, make sure you grab that habitual loaf of bread, or two or three depending on how many mouths you have to feed and then grab the peanut butter and maybe a few other things that don’t require any use of electricity.  All I can say, is good luck and hang in there!

Now, let’s get this New Year started and get these kids back to learning!