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

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

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

Week of August 29th

I hope that all of your children have had a great first week of school.

A reminder that we are having our 1st Grade Parent Information Night on Tuesday from 6-6:30. We will be meeting in room 116 and combining parents from all 3 classrooms. I hope to see you all there.

I've been very impressed with the students as they've begun to learn our Daily 5 routine. We have been working on learning to do "Read to Self". Your child now knows 3 ways to read a book and can sit quietly and independently read for 10 minutes. We will keep practicing until they are reading independently for 20 minutes. This week we will also be introducing the Daily 5's "Work on Writing" over the course of the week.

We've also been working on story problems in math each day. We're working on being able to explain the thought processes used when solving a story problem. We will be doing this all year.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me by phone or email. Have a great week!

Welcome to First Grade

I want to take this opportunity to welcome you to our classroom blog and to the beginning of a great first grade year.

This blog will serve as my monthly newsletter and main format for getting information to parents. Please look for a message from me with a link to this blog in your email inbox, or a printed copy in your child's blue folder, every Monday.

Never hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns by email or by calling my classroom phone number. I will have my contact information available for you to take at our open house next week.

I am busy preparing our classroom for our school year, and I look forward to meeting everyone at the open house next week.

Mrs. C

Week of May 23rd

This is our last full week of school and our last blog update. This will be the last week for spelling also, so after the test on Thursday there will be no more spelling tests.

Reminder that all library books were due back last Friday. If you have not already returned your child's library books, please do so as soon as possible.

We will not be having any more math homework this year. I know that things are busier with ball games and practices and all of the other summer activities. The only thing I will send this week is paper books.

Reminder that there is no school on Monday, May 30th and that our last day of school is Thursday, June 2nd with an early dismissal at 1:30.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

Week of May 16th

This week we will have homework 9.8 on Monday and 10.3 on Thursday.

We will be checking out library books for the last time today. All books are due back to the library by this Friday, May 20th.

Reminder that we have an early dismissal on Wednesday.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.