And we're back!

"Hi ho, hi ho, it's back to school we go. We are are learning all day long, hi ho, it's back to school we go." We are back and the kiddos have been amazing! It's like we haven't even been away for 3 weeks, they have not skipped a beat. Here's a quick low down of what we are learning this week...

Language Arts:
In writing, we have continued our unit on non fiction texts by creating an "All About School" book. The book incorporates non fiction text features we have been talking about including, sub-headings and photographs. They have had a lot of fun creating these books, since they are the experts on school. Of course, we continue to focus on using capital letters at the beginning of each sentence, spacing between words, spelling sight words correctly, using beginning, middle, and end sounds to spell unknown words, using a punctuation mark at the end of each sentence, and writing 2-3 sentences on one topic.
In reading, our skill focus is on retelling a story (have you seen a theme here?). As you can see, we are including our focus of not just reading the words, but also understanding what we have read (critical thinking skills, anyone??). This includes being able to retell the characters, setting, and problem with fiction books, and knowing the main topic and the sequence of events with non fiction text. As always, you can 'sneak' these skills in at home when you are reading to your kids.

Math:
In math, we continue to work on addition and subtraction, with this week's focus on being able to decompose numbers 7-10 using a tens frame. For example...
X X X X X
X X
We would use a 'fast 5' to count the number of Xs. "5, 6, 7). Then, we would create an equation and say
5 + 2 = 7

PTA Family Bingo Night this Thursday

Please join us for a FUN night filled with lots of prizes and chances to win BIG! You

are welcome to bring your dinner with you and eat in the Banks Road Cafeteria while

playing Bingo, and there will be drinks and snacks available to purchase.

Along with playing FREE Bingo, there will be items to be raffled off such as:

*KINDLE FIRE

*$100 Gift Card to Great Wolf Lodge

*NC Symphony Tickets

**Must be present to win!**

Raffle ticket prices: 1 for $5 or 5 for $20

Family Fancy Dance
BRES 1st Family Fancy Dance! Friday, May 24th, from 5:45pm-7:45pm. All Banks Road students are invited to come with their families to this FREE event. Come in your Sunday best to the Multi-Purpose Room and dance with your BRES family to celebrate another successful school year. Diane McKinney Photography will be on hand to take family pictures that will be available for purchase after the dance. The DJ will keep the fun going all night. Light refreshments will be available. Do not miss this exciting event which is possible due to the efforts of our teachers, staff, amazing PTA, and fantastic student council!