Week of October 31st

We have a busy week this week.

I will be sending home conference times on Tuesday. Please check to see if this time will work and return the sheet to school as soon as possible.

We have homework every night this week. I realize that this is a lot more than usual, but this particular unit has a lot of homework that provides really good practice for the skills we are learning. Please return homework as soon as you can. I understand that with it being Halloween, homework may not get done tonight. Please do your best and get it done and back to school as soon as you do get it done. A couple of homework assignments this week are more than one page, so please check for that when you sit down to complete it.

I will be sending home brown paper sacks on Friday for those students who have said that they will be bringing a lunch from home for our field trip. You will need to send this to school with your child's lunch in it on Monday. Reminder that students need to bring a drink and to send only things that can be thrown away.

Important Dates for this Week:
Homework:3.7 on Monday, 3.8 on Tuesday, 3.9 on Wednesday and 3.10 on Thursday
Library and Check-Out: No Library this week due to Spanish, we will send kids to check-out each morning
Spanish: Tuesday and Friday

Week of October 24th

This week we have our Reading Night on Tuesday at 6:00. Our guest author will be here to present to us. In preparation for his visit tomorrow we have decorated our door. If you come tomorrow, please stop by to admire our outdoor scene.

We also ask that you dress in camping, fishing, or hunting attire for his visit during the school day. Of course, we do not want kids to bring any of their equipment, but simply dress in clothes that they would wear if doing outdoor activities.

Important Dates for this Week:
Early Dismissal Wednesday, October 26th at 1:30
Homework:3.5 on Tuesday, and 3.6 on Wednesday
Library and Check-Out: Tuesday
Spanish: Monday and Thursday

Week of October 17th

Your child will be bringing home a yellow sheet today about our upcoming field trip to the Iowa Children's Museum. The trip is scheduled for Monday, November 7th. We would like these yellow sheets returned to school by Friday, October 21st.

This sheet is where you will indicate whether your child will need a school sack lunch or will be bringing their own lunch from home. If you choose to send a lunch from home then I will give you a paper bag to put their lunch in on the day of the field trip. We also ask that everything included in the bag can be thrown away so we do not have to keep track of silverware, cups, etc.

On this sheet you will also be able to indicate if you are interested in coming along to help with our field trip. Parents that come along are asked to take responsibility for one of the classroom groups (6-7 students) during free play time, and for leading the activities when in the Notion of Motion exhibit. All parents are given instructions for what to do by the museum staff. Parents who come along will also need to bring a lunch if they would like to eat with our class. If you would like me to provide a paper bag for you, please let me know.

I also want to let you know that I will be gone from school this week on Tuesday and Thursday. I will have access to my email, but please understand that I may not get back to you quite as quickly as usual. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Important Dates for this Week:
Homework: 3.2 on Wednesday, 3.3 on Thursday
Library and Check-Out: Tuesday
Spanish: Wednesday

Week of October 10th

I want to start by apologizing for not sending out the blog last week. Somehow it missed my to-do list.

Our class has had a student teacher since the beginning of the school year. She will be ending her student teaching early and moving to a new school. The students did not get a chance to say goodbye to her. Most of the students seem to be handling it fine, but please let me know if your child is troubled by her sudden absence.

This week we will be working on reviewing our math for unit 2. We are going to spend time working with clocks, money and number models (1+2=3). These are all difficult concepts for our first graders throughout the year. We only have one homework assignment this week. On the other days it would be great to have your child practice these three difficult concepts.

1. To practice with the clock: You can get out the paepr clock that we made and sent home a few weeks ago. Ask your child to show you times at the hour. You can also show them times to the hour and ask them to identify the time for you.


2. To practice with money: If you have pennies and nickels at home, you can ask your child to count various combinations. You can also ask them to practice trading 5 pennies for a nickel. I have a top-it game that I will be sending home on Tuesday. It willhelp with counting combinations of pennies and nickels. It won't be homework that needs to be sent back to school, but I would like for students to play at least one game a night. It's a quick fun way to practice counting money.


3. To practice number models: Make up story problems for your child while you are doing things at home. For example, if you are having chicken nuggets for dinner you could make up the problem: "I have 5 chicken nuggets and (student's name) has 4 chicken nuggets. How many chicken nuggets do we have?" or "(Student's name) has 6 chicken nuggets and he eats 2 of them. How many chicken nuggest does he have now?" Then, ask them to write the number model that goes with the problem. Such as 4+5=9 or 6-2=4. I will have some other ideas and games that you can use to help with number models in the weeks to come. Please let me know if you need or want more ideas before that.

I appreciate all of the help and support that you give your child. Please let me know if you have any questions about the suggestions I made above, or if you would like some more ideas. Any extra practice students can get at home will help with making them successful in school.

Important Dates for this Week:
Early Dismissal Wednesday, October 12th at 1:30.
Homework:2.12 on Monday, Top-It game Tuesday-Friday
Library and Check-Out: We will not have library class this week due to check-out. Please send books to school and I will let students go check-out as they bring books back throughout the week.
Spanish: Tuesday and Friday