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
Monday, October 31, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
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
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
Monday, October 17, 2011
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
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
Monday, October 10, 2011
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.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
Monday, September 26, 2011
Week of September 26th
This week we continue with our Daily 5. I am starting to take small groups while students are working on their Daily 5 activities. They get to choose from Read to Self, Work on Writing or Read to Someone for 20 minutes. We continue to build our stamina for Word Work.
If you would like to help your child with seeing patterns in words for Word Work, you can have them sort their spelling words into alike groups. This week we are doing word endings, so -st, -nk, -nd, -nt and "other" are group headings. You would write the group headings on a piece of paper and have your child write the spelling words under the correct group heading. You can also have students write the spelling words on note cards. You can write the group headings on cards and have your child place their word cards in a row under the correct group heading. You can extend this activity by having your child come up with other words that would fit under each group heading. Please let me know if you have any questions or need any assistance with doing this activity with your child.
Important Dates for This Week:
Early Dismissal on Wednesday, September 28th
Homework: 2.4 on Monday, 2.6 on Tuesday
Library and Check-Out: Tuesday afternoon
Spanish: No Spanish this week due to early dismissal
If you would like to help your child with seeing patterns in words for Word Work, you can have them sort their spelling words into alike groups. This week we are doing word endings, so -st, -nk, -nd, -nt and "other" are group headings. You would write the group headings on a piece of paper and have your child write the spelling words under the correct group heading. You can also have students write the spelling words on note cards. You can write the group headings on cards and have your child place their word cards in a row under the correct group heading. You can extend this activity by having your child come up with other words that would fit under each group heading. Please let me know if you have any questions or need any assistance with doing this activity with your child.
Important Dates for This Week:
Early Dismissal on Wednesday, September 28th
Homework: 2.4 on Monday, 2.6 on Tuesday
Library and Check-Out: Tuesday afternoon
Spanish: No Spanish this week due to early dismissal
Monday, September 19, 2011
Week of September 19th
This week we will be continuing with our Daily 5. We can now read to self, work on writing, and read to someone for 20 minutes. We have added our 4th component which is word work. Students are able to build words with different manipulatives to practice spelling and changing letters to make new words.
We will not be having library time this week due to our Spanish schedule. If students return books this week I will be sending them to the library before school to check-out. Please watch for books in your child's backpack.
We have started our Balls and Ramps science unit. We will be studying the different materials that balls can be made of and how different balls move. We will be observing different traits that make balls unique or similar to other types. Towards the end of our unit we will also be building ramps.
We continue to use pictures of students for our social studies unit. If you have not yet sent pictures to school, please do so as soon as possible.
Important Dates for This Week:
Homework: 2.1 on Monday, 2.2 on Wednesday and 2.3 on Thursday
Spanish: Tuesday and Friday
We will not be having library time this week due to our Spanish schedule. If students return books this week I will be sending them to the library before school to check-out. Please watch for books in your child's backpack.
We have started our Balls and Ramps science unit. We will be studying the different materials that balls can be made of and how different balls move. We will be observing different traits that make balls unique or similar to other types. Towards the end of our unit we will also be building ramps.
We continue to use pictures of students for our social studies unit. If you have not yet sent pictures to school, please do so as soon as possible.
Important Dates for This Week:
Homework: 2.1 on Monday, 2.2 on Wednesday and 2.3 on Thursday
Spanish: Tuesday and Friday
Monday, September 12, 2011
Week of September 12th
We have a busy week this week. We are now able to read and write independently for 20 minute chunks of time. We are also in the process of learning the correct way to read with someone. We are learning how to check for understanding and improve reading fluency while reading with a partner.
I would also like to remind you about sending pictures to school. You may send them in a ziploc baggie with your child's name on it or you may email pictures to me. We need these for our history unit this fall. We will start sharing these this week. I will send pictures home once your child has shared them.
Also, I want to remind you of what we do with the paper books. Your child will bring home at least one paper book every week (usually on Monday or Tuesday). Have your child read this book to you. After they have read it please sign the front somewhere. Return signed books to school so your child can get a sticker in their data binder. We will then send the books back home for you to keep in your child's library. Rereading these books throughout the year is a great way to build fluency and reading confidence.
Some of you may have heard about "The June Box" from your child. If a child brings a toy or other distracting item to school I will give them the option of putting it away in their locker and I will let them know that if they play with it anymore I will put it in "The June Box". I have a small box in our room where I keep items that have to be taken away. I put the child's name on the item and place it in the box. They will get the item returned to them on the last day of school. If your child tells you that they had an item placed in "The June Box" and you would like it back before the end of the year, I will give items to parents who come in to pick them up. The best thing is to encourage your child to leave toys and items that may distract them at home. Please let me know if you have any questions about this.
Important Dates for This Week:
Homework: 1.12 on Tuesday, 1.13 on Thursday
Library Check-out: Tuesday afternoon
Spanish: Monday and Thursday
I would also like to remind you about sending pictures to school. You may send them in a ziploc baggie with your child's name on it or you may email pictures to me. We need these for our history unit this fall. We will start sharing these this week. I will send pictures home once your child has shared them.
Also, I want to remind you of what we do with the paper books. Your child will bring home at least one paper book every week (usually on Monday or Tuesday). Have your child read this book to you. After they have read it please sign the front somewhere. Return signed books to school so your child can get a sticker in their data binder. We will then send the books back home for you to keep in your child's library. Rereading these books throughout the year is a great way to build fluency and reading confidence.
Some of you may have heard about "The June Box" from your child. If a child brings a toy or other distracting item to school I will give them the option of putting it away in their locker and I will let them know that if they play with it anymore I will put it in "The June Box". I have a small box in our room where I keep items that have to be taken away. I put the child's name on the item and place it in the box. They will get the item returned to them on the last day of school. If your child tells you that they had an item placed in "The June Box" and you would like it back before the end of the year, I will give items to parents who come in to pick them up. The best thing is to encourage your child to leave toys and items that may distract them at home. Please let me know if you have any questions about this.
Important Dates for This Week:
Homework: 1.12 on Tuesday, 1.13 on Thursday
Library Check-out: Tuesday afternoon
Spanish: Monday and Thursday
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)