Hello Families,

Hard to believe we are knocking on the door of October!  The quarter sure is flying by!  Just a friendly reminder that conferences are this week.  I look forward to visiting with you all about the progress of your child.

In reading, we will start Unit 2 this week.  We’ll spend this week learning through folktale stories, practice making predictions and understanding the moral or theme of each story.  Spelling will resume this week, so you can expect a practice list to come home on Monday.

In math, we will also start Unit 2.  This unit is more of the same, just with 6s, 7s and 8s.  If your child struggled on the first unit test (and many did!), I wouldn’t hit the panic button just yet.  Many of the skills we practice in Unit 1 will spiral in Unit 2.  This week, I anticipate homework in my class on the following nights.

Monday-No Homework (finishing the test, reteaching)

Tuesday-Homework 2-1 (I think we’ll get to this!)

Wednesday-No Homework

Thursday-Homework 2-2

Friday-Homework 2-3

Thanks for reading and have a great week!

Eric Wachter

Hello Families!

This week, the kids will take their Unit 1 Test in both reading and math.  These tests will be spread out over a few days, so hopefully they won’t be overwhelmed with too much testing.  There will be no spelling this week, so at least they will get a little break!  In my Math class, I anticipate only two review homework assignments on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.

Your child will also be bringing home a conference note with the time of your conference.  There were several families that didn’t sign up at Open House, so I slotted them in at my available times.  Hopefully the time assigned will work.  You can also find a copy of the times on the website under the “Conferences” tab.

Lastly, with the weather cooling off, I’m requesting that students leave water bottles at home, or keep them with their lunch.  They have become a bit of an issue with sooooo many covering the counters.  Don’t worry…we always have water fountains at the ready if a child gets thirsty.

Thanks for reading and have a great week!

Eric Wachter

Hello Families!

This week your children will learn all about American history through their stories in reading.  We’ll read all about the monuments at The National Mall in Washington, D.C., as well Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota.  Tuesday is “Constitution Day,” and the kids will begin to learn how our country came into existence.  As a lover of history, I love this week!  We are wrapping up the instruction to Unit 1 this week, so you can expect another spelling list to come home on Monday evening.

In Math class, we’re also nearing the end of Unit 1.  We’ll spend a lot of time this week working on fact fluency, as well as reviewing what we’ve learned about solving word problems.  I think…and I’m really not sure…I think we’ll have homework in my math class on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  But, that depends on how the lessons go, so that is subject to change.

The kids will also conclude their first Intervention this week.  They have been working hard to learn a variety of different reading genres, and will take their post-test on Tuesday.

Thanks for reading and have a great week!

Eric Wachter

Hello Families!

This week your child will learn about inventors through a variety of biographical stories.  We’ll practice asking and answering questions, learn about cause and effect, and introduce metaphors.  You can expect a spelling test to come home Monday evening, as well.  If your child forgets his/her list, remember you can always find a copy on the web site under the spelling tab.

We’ll also spend some time this week learning about the tragic events of September 11th, 2001.  I’ll read a special book in honor of that day, and we’ll end the week with a very emotional Reading Rainbow episode.

In Math class, the kids will take their Math MAP test on Thursday and Friday.  Prior to that, we’ll explore multiplication and division with 4s, and continue to practice our fact fluency.  You might have noticed I cancelled the homework assignment last Friday.  The lesson was just too tricky, and I didn’t feel it would be purposeful.  This week, I anticipate homework for my math class on the following nights.

Monday-Homework 1-12

Tuesday-Homework 1-13

Wednesday-Homework 1-14

Thursday-MAP Test/No Homework

Friday-MAP Test/No Homework

We will also begin practicing uppercase cursive letters this week.  The kids learned their lowercase letters last year, and we’ll introduce the uppercase letters a few letters at a time for the next week or two.

Thanks for reading and have a great week!

Eric Wachter

Hello Families!

I hope you all had a restful Labor Day weekend, and are ready for a new week!

This week, the class will celebrate different cultures in their reading stories.  As we learn about different backgrounds with narrative non-fiction texts, we’ll practice asking and answering questions, sequencing and compound words.  You can expect a spelling list to come home Tuesday evening, and our spelling test will of course be on Friday.

In math class, we’ll continue to work on fact fluency.  In the middle of the week we’ll begin practicing our 3s, as well as introduce area.  In my math class, I anticipate homework on the following evenings.

Tuesday – Homework 1-9

Wednesday – Homework 1-10

Thursday – No Homework

Friday – Lesson 1-11

In writing class, we’ll continue to practice writing proper sentences and paragraphs.  We’ll also continue to practice keyboarding skills with the program “Typing Club.”

Thanks for reading and have a great week!

Eric Wachter

Hello Families!

This week the kids will take their first of three reading “MAP” tests.  These tests are not based on what I will teach the kids in class, but instead are broad, skill based tests to check their overall learning progress to this point.  Most kids will take part 1 on Tuesday, and part 2 on Wednesday.  Some students will have slightly different testing times, but will likely fall sometime during the week.

In a few weeks, the kids will take round 1 of the math MAP tests.  Basically, they will take the reading and math portions in the fall, again in the winter, and lastly in the spring.  Again, these tests are not based on what we’re teaching in class.  Therefore, there really isn’t anything you can do to study or prepare for them in advance.  All the kids can do is give their best effort each test day!

When we’re not testing this week, we will have our regular reading curriculum, including a spelling list.  We’ll learn from a variety of realistic fiction stories, practice sequencing, context clues and review visualization.

In Math class, we’ll review multiplying and dividing with 2s and 5s.  Then, later in the week we’ll explore 10s, 8s and perhaps 9s.  In my math class, I anticipate homework on the following evenings.

Monday-Homework 1-6

Tuesday-No Homework

Wednesday-No Homework

Thursday-Homework 1-7

Friday-Homework 1-8

Thanks for reading and have a great week!

Eric Wachter

Hello Families!

I hope you all had a nice, relaxing weekend, and are gearing up for a new week!  I’m excited to start this week and get into our normal routine with our regular curriculum and full-length school days.

This week, we’ll begin our regular reading curriculum.  Each Unit is six weeks long, with a Unit test given during the sixth week.  The first five weeks we will have spelling lists, and those begin tomorrow.  Please be on the look-out for a practice list coming home on Monday.  Nightly practice is always helpful, even if just for 5-10 minutes here or there.  Each Friday we will take our spelling test.

On weeks 2 and 4 of each unit, we’ll have a reading quiz.  This week we’ll do a practice test, and most of the time during weeks 1 and 3 we’ll do some review activities.  Some of the skills we’ll practice this week come from several fantasy stories we’ll read.  From them we’ll practice character traits, visualization and learn about synonyms.

In Math we’ll continue to learn about multiplication, and introduce division, as well.  For those kids in my Math class, I expect to have homework on the nights listed below.  If your child is in another room for Math, their assignment list might be slightly different.

Monday-Homework 1-3

Tuesday-No Homework

Wednesday-Homework 1-4

Thursday-No Homework

Friday-Homework 1-5

Thanks for reading and have a great week!

Eric Wachter

Hello Families!

Welcome to the 2019-20 school year!  I’m so excited to be your child’s teacher, and I can’t wait to crank things up tomorrow!

I will be sending out weekly emails on Sunday or Monday in an effort to keep you in the loop with regards to your child’s learning.  This week, our main focus will be getting to know each other!  We will engage in several fun activities in an effort to build a strong school family.

Our Reading program technically begins in week two, but we will spend several lessons this week reviewing the basics of sentence structure and punctuation.  In Math, we will dive right in with Multiplication and Division.  Those concepts will be our main focus for both Units 1 and 2 in Math.

I will serve as your child’s homeroom teacher.  But in Math and Writing, your child may attend class with another teacher.  We will all teach the same core instruction, but have attempted to group your child with a teacher than can best meet his/her needs.

You can expect homework this week in Math.  In my class, I’m anticipated homework on the following evenings.  However, please note these are subject to change, especially if a lesson runs long or a I don’t feel they kids are ready for the assignment.

Monday-No Homework

Tuesday-Homework 1-1

Wednesday-All About You!

Thursday-Homework 1-2

Friday-No Homework

Thanks so much for reading, and again, I couldn’t be more excited for the new year!

Eric Wachter

Hello Families!

Thanks for stopping by your chid’s class web page!  Please take a tour, click on the tabs, and see what resources this site has to offer.  I will do my best to update the site weekly throughout the year, so you might consider bookmarking it for quick reference.

Enjoy the last few days of summer, and I look forward to seeing your kids next week!

Eric Wachter

Hello Families!

It’s always so bitter sweet to me when a school year comes to a close.  I’m always excited for the next step, but it’s so hard to say goodbye.  Spending the last 10 months with your kids is so rewarding!  Yet, the end of school is such an abrupt stop to our time.  I just hate endings.  I guess we better savor the next few days!

The kids will receive their “School Days…” portfolio tomorrow, as well as a DVD of pictures set to music.  It’s one of my favorite days of the year to see them look through their yearbooks, and reminisce as we watch the DVD together.  I will also send out a link to the video that you can download to your home computer.  I always tell the kids if they save nothing else from the year, please don’t lose their portfolios or the DVD.  They will enjoy them more and more as the years slide by!

Hopefully our fishing trip Thursday will not get interrupted or cancelled by rain.  Ugh!  We’re still scheduled to fish from 12:30 to 2:15ish.  Let’s cross our fingers for some nice weather!

Thank you all so much for allowing me to be your child’s teacher this year.  Hopefully they have learned as much from me as I’ve learned from them!  It’s been an amazing journey this year, and one I will not soon forget.  Best of luck to your kids and your family going forward, and I hope our paths will cross again!

Since I hate goodbyes, I will leave you with my favorite saying from my favorite school show Reading Rainbow, “I’ll see you next time.”  🙂

Eric Wachter