Hello Bell-Bannon Crew! 
In the past few weeks we have been working hard on literacy skills– using the “read-on” and “look for useful parts” strategies, as well as finding and creating words with the consonant digraphs: ch, th, and sh.  We have also been working to identify and write word families: -at, -all, and -ing.  We have been so impressed with everyone’s progress! 
Thank you for all of your continued work at home.  Consistent practice with sight words and daily reading is helping them to grow so much as readers!  Next week we will be reviewing sight words 1-40, so get a start on the review at home! First Grade is an exciting place to be! 
Last week, we were fortunate enough to attend the Lula Washington dance performance.  We were amazed by the beautiful dancing and learned from the stories of African American history.  Thank you to our drivers and chaperones– Maria Snideman, Megan Scott, Stacey Carr, Kerri Flaherty, Brooke Landis, and Anna Demm.  We are very grateful!
We have been working on wrapping up Case Study 2, “My Sierra Nevada.”  The students worked hard to learn to identify their local mountain peaks.  We developed a pneumonic device – ‘Tigers Always Like Jumping Down Cliffs’ – to help us remember our peaks – Tinker’s Knob, Anderson, Lincoln, Judah, Donner, and Castle.  The first graders were excited to learn a new technique for memorizing something difficult.  Hopefully they will point out the peaks to their families and friends as they drive, play, and ski about town.  As we mentioned at Back to School Night, they are developing a sense of place that will further connect them to the Tahoe area. 
We are beginning to work on Case Study 3, “Weather or Not I’m Prepared,” in which we will be learning about weather and how it effects us.  Our two long-term learning targets are:
  1. I can determine how the weather will affect my outing in the mountains.
  2. I can explain how the mountains affect the local weather.
We are also beginning work on our final product for this expedition which is a mural of our local Sierra Nevada Peaks that will be displayed at our school.  “Ms. Lobo”, our art teacher, is going to be helping us with this product.  Already, the first graders have worked in teams to draw the contour of individual peaks.  Jim Begg, a SELS parent and craftsman, will cut out our peak profile, and we will begin the mosaic process in early December.  Thank you to those of you who have already donated materials for the mural! We can’t wait to see all of the beautiful objects everyone brings in.  We are very excited about beginning this work and that it will help our SELS community to learn about our local geography.
We have been having technical difficulties with the website and have not been able to post our photo albums.  However, photos will be coming to you all soon either on the website or through email. We apologize for the delay.
We hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving vacation and we look forward to seeing you next week!