Friday, December 18, 2015

Newsletter 12-18-15

Mueller Moments
1st Grade * Bauer Elementary * Mrs. Holly Mueller * hmueller@hpseagles.net
December 18, 2015

Wow! Can you believe it is already time for winter break, and 2015 is coming to a close? We had such a wonderful week. Even with all of the excitement and craziness in the air, this group of children is such a pleasure to be with each day. Kudos to all of you for raising the incredible human beings!
  • Holiday Party: I would like to extend a big thank you to Jessica Noble for organizing a wonderful party for our class, as well as to the many parents that volunteered their time to help at the party, and made and/or donated treats and supplies. Hopefully those of you there were able to attend enjoyed the time with your child. I posted a few pictures on our blog.
      • Mrs. Gleason and I would also like to thank you for all for the lovely gifts and notes this week, and for the scarves we received from the class. Thank you for loving us!
  • Coming up:
    • Star Student: Chester Karasinski
    • Wednesday, January 6 - PE Day
    • February 8-9 - Winter Break, No school
  • Reading: We wrapped up unit 3 where we studies characters. We will begin a unit on informational writing in January. Your child brought home 5 WEB books today. This is to allow for extra practice over break. Please remember to having your child read, and read to your child, as often as possible in the next two weeks. You child is also bringing home their January Book-It calendar. 
  • Writing: We wrapped up our unit on opinion writing today with reading our letters to 2nd grade students in Miss B’s class. We will begin our unit on “How to” letters next.
  • Math: We began unit 4 in math which focuses on place value concepts. This week we worked on teen numbers being made of one ten and some more. If you are looking for an easy game to player break, try this one (your child should be familiar with it): the person who is “it” picks a number between 1-100 (or 1-20, 1-50, etc.). The other person or people have to try to guess the number. The person who is “it” then says GREATER or LESS, and guesses continue to be made until finding the number. It is great for number sense, and easy to do in the car or on the go! 
  • Please also have your child practice on xtramath.com over break. I sent home another sheet with passwords to everyone in their folders today. This is important practice! Each time your child completes a session, it is logged and I am able to see it. Students have an incentive for logging in often over break!
  • Data Notebooks: Due to the craziness that can sometimes occur during breaks (maybe it is just my house?), we did note send data notebooks home today. 
  • We could still use some band-aids and slider ziplock bags if you are able to donate any. Thank you to those of you that donated tissues and pencils already. And as I mentioned last week, crayons for your child would be a great stocking stuffer! 
Have a wonderful holiday and enjoy the time with your children!

Merry Christmas!

~ Holly R. Mueller

Merry Christmas!

Presents!
Writing Celebration

Party Time
Mrs. VanBergen Reads to Us

Friday, December 11, 2015

Newsletter 12-11-15

Mueller Moments
1st Grade * Bauer Elementary * Mrs. Holly Mueller * hmueller@hpseagles.net
December 11, 2015

What a wonderful week we had together! It was wonderful to return this week and get everyone back into routine. It is hard to believe now that there is only one week until break. Time is flying! 
The Christmas program was wonderful last night. Thank you for making the effort to attend. Students are always so proud to perform for you!
  • Holiday Party: Thank you to Jessica Noble for organizing our holiday party. It will be next Thursday at 2:45pm (we have started planning them on Thursdays just in case of snow days - looks like we will be just fine this year!). If you plan to attend the party, would you please let me know? We want to have an idea of the amount of help we will have. Thank you!
  • Coming up:
    • Star Student: Autumn Huizinga 
    • Tuesday, December 15 - PE Day - Wear your gym shoes!
    • Thursday, December 17 - 2:45pm - Holiday Party and wear green and red spirit.
    • Friday, December 18 - PE Day - Wear your gym shoes! 
    • December 21 - January 1 - Winter Break, No school
  • Reading: This week we continued our study of characters. We looked at characters feelings and how they change in the beginning, middle and end of the story. We also learned how we can make connections between characters and ourselves. We started reading the second book in the Meet Addy series. (Meet Addy is my favorite read aloud, and since I was out for the majority of the book, I had to read this one with them!)
  • Writing: We continued our opinion letter writing unit. This week we worked on selecting topics that are changes we would want to see in the world, using a mini small moment in our writing, show don’t tell, and using a graphic organizer tool to include all of the parts of a letter. 
  • Spelling: We began finished unit #6 which was our assessment. These are in the writing portion of data binders. Be sure to go over these with your child. We began unit #7. Our new words are was, for, and he. 
  • Math: We took our test for unit 3, our pre-test for unit 4, and learned some math games we will practice in math workshop in the coming weeks. Please be sure to have your child practice on xtramath.com if they have not in a while!
  • Social Studies: We wrapped up our economics unit this week. Your child should be familiar with terms such as: producer, consumer, goods, services, and scarcity. Please use these words at home, especially as you think of Christmas wish lists! 
  • We are short on a few classroom supplies. If you are interested in donating any of the following, we would gladly take them: Pencils, sandwich or snack sized ziplock slider bags (these are easier for students tackles than zipper bags), band aids and tissues. And if you are looking for stocking stuffers for your child, a new box of crayons isn’t a bad idea:) 
For your children,

~ Holly R. Mueller

Christmas Program

Enjoy these precious photos from last night! 


Sunday, November 29, 2015

Newsletter 11-24-15

Mueller Moments
1st Grade * Bauer Elementary * Mrs. Holly Mueller * hmueller@hpseagles.net
November 24, 2015

Thank you for your love and support over the past few days. My brother-in-law’s journey is not over, but it will be soon. I am thankful for the thanksgiving holiday break to be with our family. Should anything arise next week, and I need to be out, I will for sure pass that along.
When I think of things I am thankful for, your incredible children are definitely one of them. I have the best job ever! And your children are such a blessing to me. I hope you enjoy your time together this thanksgiving. 
  • Coming up:
    • Star Student: Savanah K. 
    • November 25-27 - No School
    • Wednesday, December 2 - PE Day - Wear your gym shoes!
    • Thursday, December 3 - Shopping at Santa’s Secret Shop 
    • Thursday, December 10 - Holiday Music Program
  • Reading: Your child may have mentioned the new book we are reading, Meet Addy, from the American Girl series of books. This is very heavy to read, but is excellent literature, and depicts the era of slavery well. I love seeing the boys react the first day I tell them they will read an American Girl book, and within a day or two, they are completely captivated! We have continued to work on characters this past week as we think about what our characters are doing, how they are feeling, what they like and don’t like, and what they are thinking. 
  • Writing: We began writing opinion letters. We wrote a letter altogether, chose topics to write about, chose an audience, and used a graphic organizer to supply reasons. We also had some fun writing some things we are thankful for with our classmates, and wrote a persuasive letter for what we think we should eat at thanksgiving dinner. 
  • Spelling: We began unit # 4 in spelling. Our words this week were is, you, in. Next week our words will be you, that, it. 
  • Math: We continued to work on story problems, and moved into subtraction story problems. Please be sure to log on to xtra math at home over this long break. It is fun for me to log in and see which students are practicing at home. Thank you to those of you that are doing so. If you need another sheet with login information, please let me know. 
  • Social Studies: Next week we will begin a social studies unit on economics. We will be studying producers and consumers, wants and needs, scarcity, and more. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

~ Holly R. Mueller

Friday, November 13, 2015

Newsletter 11-13-15

Mueller Moments
1st Grade * Bauer Elementary * Mrs. Holly Mueller * hmueller@hpseagles.net
November 13, 2015

Well, 70 degrees last week, and our first snowflakes today! Good old Michigan weather was in full swing this week. This is a good time to make sure snow pants, boots, and the rest of your child’s winter gear is ready to go. Be sure to LABEL each item with your child’s name! Also, once we are wearing boots, please be sure to send your child with shoes that he/she can put on independently. If they cannot tie shoes yet, wait until spring to tackle that one! With 28 students, it takes a long time to tie 56 shoes each day! Thank you for your understanding and help with this. (And let’s hope we have a while before those need to be worn!)

We have some exciting news coming at the end of the day today - we had the greatest percentage of participation for our spirit day today! Be sure to check out our photos on the blog. Students won a candy treat. 

Coming up:
Star Student: Luc Gunnink
Through November 20 - PE Cares food drive. Send in any non-perishable food item. Any items will do. The winning class receives a bowling field trip and t-shirts! Get those donations in any day of the week. (We have not had too many yet - please consider helping with this!).
Monday, November 16 - PE Day - Wear your gym shoes!
Thursday, November 19 - PE Day - Wear your gym shoes!
November 25-27 - No School
Thursday, December 3 - Shopping at Santa’s Secret Shop 
Thursday, December 10 - Holiday Music Program

Reading: We wrapped up Charlotte’s Web this week. It doesn’t matter how many times I have read this book, I still get goosebumps as children hear this story for the first time! We enjoyed all of the emotions that are felt with this story. 
This week we started Unit 3 - Readers Meet the Characters in Our Books. We explored with Library Mouse, Biscuit, and Elephant and Piggie. We learned ways we can talk with our partners about our characters.

Writing: We began Unit 3 in writing - Writing Opinion Letters for Social Action. We focused this week on opinion vs. fact. We also talked about how to support our opinions. Thank you for playing the game I emailed home earlier this week: “What do you prefer”. Continue to do so this weekend, encouraging more detailed reasons why. Next week we will write our first letters.

Spelling: We have completed our first 2 spelling units. On Monday we will take our first dictation assessment. Students are bringing home a paper in folders that has their 5 spelling words to practice: the, and, of, a, to. Of would be an especially good one to practice!

Math: We began Unit 3 this week, and dove into story problems with unknown partners. On Tuesday a parent letter went home that explained some background that is helpful for you as you work with your child. I also posted two examples on our blog that you can look at as an example as well. Along with starting our new unit, we switched our format to math workshop. Students are split into 3 groups, and rotate among three stations: Teacher Time, Math Journal, and Math Games. It has been an adjustment for everyone as we learn this new structure and routine. 

We also used xtramath.org in the computer lab for the first time. Your child is bringing home a letter in their folder today with information on how to use this site at home, as well as their password. The neat thing is that your child can log in at home and pick up where they left off at school, and at school, they will pick up where they left off at home! It is a great resource for practicing math facts. If possible, please give it a try this weekend. 

LEAD Time: This week our lead time focused on telling the truth. We read “Ruthie and the not so Teeny, Tiny Lie,” and watched the movie, “Howard B. Wigglebottom and the Monkey on His Back.” Our quote this week was: “The truth may hurt for a little while, but a lie hurts forever.” We were able to have great discussions this week!

For your children!

~ Holly R. Mueller

Spirit Day Champions!


We headed out west today! Enjoy these cowboys and cowgirls! 

Homework

Need help in how to help your child with honework? The parent letter that went home Tuesday is helpful. And here is an example of how showing work can look. Please encourage math mountains! 

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

6 Mistakes Article

I found a great article tonight, and I wanted to pass it along to you. These are fantastic suggestions. (And yes, I was guilty of a few of these when my children were younger!) Great reminders for everyone. Enjoy reading it!

Friday, November 6, 2015

Newsletter 11-6-15

Mueller Moments
1st Grade * Bauer Elementary * Mrs. Holly Mueller * hmueller@hpseagles.net
November 6, 2015

It was so wonderful to connect with all of you this week! I appreciate you taking time out of your evenings to meet. If you have any thoughts or questions following conferences, please do not hesitate to contact me. The weather surely cooperated this week, and we enjoyed it! 

Coming up:
Star Student: Ava Geissler
Through November 20 - PE Cares food drive. Send in any non-perishable food item. Any items will do. The winning class receives a bowling field trip and t-shirts! Get those donations in any day of the week!
Wednesday, November 11 - PE Day - Wear your gym shoes!
Friday, November 13 - Spirit Day - Wear your Western Gear!
November 25-27 - No School
Thursday, December 10 - Holiday Music Program

Reading: This week we wrapped up our unit on reading strategies. We practiced partner reading, as well as telling who and what in fiction stories. Next week we will dive into unit #3 which focuses on characters. We are also wrapping up Charlotte’s Web - one of my favorite reads in 1st grade!

Writing: I enjoyed sharing small moment stories with you at conferences. This week we fixed and fancied our favorite pieces, and we enjoyed celebrating by reading them to students in Mrs. Farrell’s class today. We shared our stories and played outside with our writing partners. Next week we will begin a new genre: Persuasive Writing. 

Spelling: This week we began our first spelling unit. Our words this week were: and, the, of. We explored the two sounds that /th/ makes, and we looked for words with -and in them. Next week our words will be of, a, to. The pre-assessment of all 35 words we will do this year is in data notebooks.

Math: We took our unit 2 math test this week. They are included in data binders. We also took a pre-test for unit 3. Next week we will start unit 3 which focuses on story problems. We will be switching to a workshop style for math on Monday. 

On a Personal Note: If you happen to be at the Jenison Christian School Craft Show on Saturday, please look for me. I LOVE running into students there! My sister and I make hooded towels for children, and have a booth there every year. It runs 9am-2pm on Saturday. Our booth is straight out from the gym, at the end of the hall. 


For your children!

~ Holly R. Mueller

Writing Celebration!


We celebrated our writing with Mrs. Farrell's class! 

Friday, October 30, 2015

Newsletter 10-30-15

Mueller Moments
1st Grade * Bauer Elementary * Mrs. Holly Mueller * hmueller@hpseagles.net
October 30, 2015

I wanted to share a few quick reminders, especially with conferences and report cards coming up!

Halloween: A big thank you to Erika Simpson for coordinating our Halloween party, as well as to the many families that donated food and supplies, volunteered during the party, and watched as we paraded around Bauer. It was a perfect party day! 

Coming up:
  • Star Student: Amelia Gates
  • Tuesday, November 3 & Wednesday, November 4 - Parent/Teacher Conferences 
  • Tuesday, November 3 - PE Day - Wear your gym shoes!
  • Wednesday, November 4 - Book Fair Preview
  • Thursday, November 5 - Book Fair Shopping
  • Friday, November 6 - PE Day - Wear your gym shoes!
  • November 25-27 - No School
  • Thursday, December 10 - Holiday Music Program


Book Fair: We will be previewing the book fair on Wednesday, November 4th. This will be our opportunity to see what books are there, and make a wish list of what we might want to purchase. On Thursday, November 5th, we will be shopping at the book fair. If you choose to send money in for your child, the easiest way is to send money in a Ziploc bag with your child’s name written on the outside. This allows them to bring any change home safely.   

Report Cards: On Monday,students will be bringing home report cards in take home folders. You do not need to bring these to conferences. I have a copy here for us to go over. Please note that there are many areas without scores. Due to the comprehensive nature of our standards-based report card, many scores will not be recorded until the entire standard has been presented and assessed. Many of the unmarked areas are ongoing and will be assessed and reported in upcoming terms. 

Parent/Teacher Conferences: I am truly looking forward to meeting with all of you on Tuesday and Wednesday. Conferences are one of my favorite times of the year. After spending many hours with you children each week, if is a joy to connect with each of you. If you need a reminder of your conference time, please let me know. Our time goes very quickly, and the nights are jam packed. Please arrive on time to keep the schedule moving. If we get to the end of our 15 minutes and you feel there is more to discuss, we can always set up an additional time to meet. When you come this week, be sure to take your family picture home with you. Thank you for sharing these with us!

Math Assessment: We will be taking our unit 2 math test on Tuesday. There will be a review coming home on Monday. Please take a moment to help your child practice some similar problems that evening. Thank you!

I hope you had a wonderful long weekend with your children! I look forward to hearing their stories on Monday when we share “good things” with each other!

For your children!

~ Holly R. Mueller

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Happy Halloween!

A big thank you to the many families that helped to put our party on today! Students enjoyed a fun craft, game, and treats. Have a wonderful long weekend together! 


Friday, October 23, 2015

Newsletter 10-23-15

Mueller Moments
1st Grade * Bauer Elementary * Mrs. Holly Mueller * hmueller@hpseagles.net
October 23, 2015

We had a great week growing as 1st graders! The weather continues to be on our side. Outdoor recess allows us to move our bodies, which helps us learn in the classroom. It is hard to believe Halloween and just around the corner. 
HALLOWEEN Party: Our party is coming up next week on Thursday. If you would like to watch the parade, please head to the gym at 2:30pm. PLEASE do not come to the classroom before. We will be getting changed for the parade. The excitement on this day is fantastic, but with 27 students, there are already a lot of bodies in here while we put on costumes. It is a bit much to have parents in during that time. If you plan to come to the party, please join us AFTER the parade. Thank you to Erika Simpson (Kaleb Roof’s mom) who will be running our party. For those of you that signed up to help, she will be connecting with you for donations or needs. Looking forward to a fun, busy day!

HALLOWEEN Costumes: Please make sure costumes can fit in your child’s backpack, and can be easily put over clothing. Students will not be able to use the bathroom to change. We just don’t have enough bathrooms at Bauer to do so. All costumes need to follow the Bauer guidelines. 

Star Student: Savannah Garvelink
Wednesday, October 28 - PE Day - Wear your gym shoes!
Thursday, October 29 - Halloween Parade @ 2:30pm and Party @ 2:45pm
Friday, October 30 - NO SCHOOL
Tuesday, November 3 & Wednesday, November 4 - Parent/Teacher Conferences 

Reading Workshop: We continued to work on reading strategies. This week we practiced using Eagle Eye, Lips the Fish, Chunky Monkey, and Stretchy Snake. We were introduced to our reader’s notebooks this week (a composition book). On Thursday, students decorated them with pictures of their favorite books, and on Friday, they used them to record reading strategies. We will use them often throughout 1st grade.   

Writing Workshop: We continued to work on making our writing better for readers. We started learning about a 5 Star Sentence. We learned the first two points and practiced them in our writing: using capitals letters and finger spaces. Next week we will learn about that other three. 

Math: This week we went from addition strategies to subtraction strategies. This is a big jump for students, and we will continue to work on these strategies throughout 1st grade. We will wrap up our unit next week, and will take our test. 

Science: We finished our study of Properties of Matter this week. We learned that we can describe matter in terms of a solid, liquid or gas, things that sink or float, attributes, and we also learned about magnets. Students really enjoyed being scientists! We will take a little break from science and social studies as we dive into spelling in the next few weeks. 

LEAD Time: We had our first habit assembly on Friday which focused on synergizing. Ask your child to tell you what it means to synergize. We also talked about being proactive with bullies - you may have heard the saying: “Be brave. Be bold. A teacher must be told.” This was a chant from the book/movie: Howard B. Wigglebottom and the Bully. 

For your children!

~ Holly R. Mueller

Be the Leader!


Friday, October 16, 2015

Newsletter 10-16-15

Mueller Moments
1st Grade * Bauer Elementary * Mrs. Holly Mueller * hmueller@hpseagles.net
October 16, 2015

Those teeth continued to exit mouths in our classroom! Such excitement! It is hard to believe we are six weeks into the school year already, and getting ready for our first report card and conferences in just a few weeks. There is nothing better than stepping back and looking at the growth these amazing learners have made in such a short time! 

Coming Up: 
Star Student: Ainsley DeBoer
Tuesday, October 20 - PE Day - Wear your gym shoes!
Wednesday, October 21 - Holiday Posters are due for contest (candle poster - coming home today in Take Home Folders). This is optional. 
Friday, October 23- PE Day - Wear your gym shoes!
Thursday, October 29 - Halloween Parade and Party
Friday, October 30 - NO SCHOOL
Tuesday, November 3 & Wednesday, November 4 - Parent/Teacher Conferences 

Reading Workshop: This week we wrapped up Unit 1, and began Unit 2: Tackling Trouble. In this unit we will focus on strategies to use when we get stuck, as well as retelling our stories. We will be reviewing animal strategies (stretchy snake, lips the fish, etc.). There is a bookmark in your child’s WEB book bag that you can use to remind your child of these strategies when reading at home. 

Writing Workshop: We finished up Unit 1 with our writing celebration on Monday. We read our stories to some friends on Monday. Students are bringing home their stories today in Take Home Folders. On Tuesday and Wednesday we completed an On Demand writing assessment to see how students have grown as writers. WOW! I was truly impressed with this group of writers as a whole. They have some so far in such a short time! These stories, along with a rubric, are in Data Notebooks in the writing section. I also included their very first On Demand assessment piece. Have fun looking at their progress! We began Unit 2: Writing for Readers on Thursday. Ask your child the difference between a seed story and a watermelon story. 

Math: We continued finding strategies for solving addition equations. We learned the Counting On strategy, and counting on from the greater number. We also learned how to play the Number Quilt game to practice solving equations. 

Science: We wrapped up our social studies unit on citizenship, and moved on to science. We will spend the next two weeks studying the properties of matter. This week we discussed what science is and what a scientist does. We learned about attributes, and experimented with sinking and floating. 

LEAD Time: This week we dove a little deeper into habit #1, Be Proactive. We read a poem, watched a short video, and read the book, “Alexander, Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday.” We also talked about being proactive and things in our control, and things out of our control.  

A Quick Shout Out: When you come into our classroom, you will notice that we have two wonderful rugs for whole group learning and activities. These were graciously donated by Columbo’s Floors to Go on Port Sheldon. These would have cost me hundreds of dollars out of pocket. Thank you Columbo’s for supporting our schools! 

For your children!

~ Holly R. Mueller

Friday, October 9, 2015

Newsletter 10-9-15

Mueller Moments
1st Grade * Bauer Elementary * Mrs. Holly Mueller * hmueller@hpseagles.net
October 9, 2015

Things were really rolling in first grade this week! We loved working with partners, diving into a new math unit, and fixing up a writing piece. First grade is definitely the year for loose teeth, and it seemed just about every child had a loose tooth this week. I love their excitement over the idea of loosing a tooth (and it usually makes for a great small moment topic to write about)! We even had two finally fall out today!

Coming Up: 
Star Student: Jesenia Brouilette
October 12-15 - Coin War (see Take Home Folder)
Monday, 10-12 - PE Day - Wear your gym shoes!
Thursday, 10-12 - PE Day - Wear your gym shoes!
Friday, October 16 - Parent/Teacher Conference Forms Due
Thursday, October 29 - Halloween Parade and Party
Friday, October 30 - NO SCHOOL
Tuesday, November 3 and Wednesday, November 4 - Parent/Teacher Conferences 

Reading Workshop: We had such a fun week meeting our reading partners, and learning 3 different ways to read together: taking turns, echo reading, and choral reading. At the end of reading workshop I always ask our readers, “What went well for you as a reader today?” When a student raised her hand and said, “I had so much fun reading today,” it really made me smile! Thank you for helping your child with reading their WEB books at home. Remember, the goal is for them to be easy reads. A hard one every now and then is okay, but if they are hard too many days in a row, be sure to let me know. 

Writing Workshop: This week we wrapped up our first writing unit. We worked on adding dialogue and endings to our stories. We selected one story we were most proud of, and we “fixed and fancied” our story. We used writing partners to help up fix our stories, and we were able to color the pictures with crayons to fancy them. You child is bringing home all of the other stories they have written throughout our first unit today. Enjoy reading them! On Monday we will celebrate our stories by reading them to each other.   

Math: We began Unit 2 this week - Addition and Subtraction Strategies. We learned how to represent and solve addition equations using a circle drawing, as well as the meaning of the equal and not equal signs. 

Social Studies: We continued to learn about citizenship, and that good citizens are responsible, help solve problems, and honor the United States. We made posters as teams about what to do if they see someone being a bully as we learned about solving problems. We will take our assessment on Monday. On Wednesday we will begin a science unit: Properties of Matter. 

LEAD Time: Now that we have learned all of the 7 Traits of Happy Kids, we will begin LEAD Time. This is a time of day that is dedicated to further understanding the 7 traits, and developing leaders. This week we read the book, “Mr. Peabody’s Apples,” as we discussed Habit #5 - Seek First to Understand. We also combined a lesson with social studies when we made our posters about bullying. 

For your children!

~ Holly R. Mueller

Good Citizens Help Solve Problems

Students worked together to make posters this week about what to do if they see someone being a bully. This went along with our citizenship lesson - good citizens help solve problems. 


Thursday, October 8, 2015

Book-it!



Last Friday your child brought home their October Book-it form from Pizza Hut. Store this somewhere safe and mark off each time your child reads for 20 minutes. This can be your child reading to you, or you reading to them. If your child completes at least 20 days of reading, he/she will receive a free pizza certificate. 


Here are two free kindle books you may take advantage of:


Friday, October 2, 2015

Newsletter 10-2-15

Mueller Moments
1st Grade * Bauer Elementary * Mrs. Holly Mueller * hmueller@hpseagles.net
October 2, 2015

We had such a fun spirit week! I loved seeing students in their pajamas, creative hats, crazy socks, and more. They handled their special days so well. We capped it off with a pep rally this morning. Lots of energy was shared! We live in such an amazing community, and it was fun to celebrate it here at school. 

Coming Up: 
Star Student: Silas Bear
Wednesday, 10-7: PE Day - Wear your gym shoes!

Reading Workshop: This week we worked on building better reading habits by looking at the cover and the pictures in a book, and thinking of what kinds of words might be in the story. We also talked about retelling a story across our fingers (first, next, then, after that, finally). We used this strategy when we were writing our small moment stories, and we learned it helps us in reading too! We finished reading The Chocolate Touch this week. Ask your child how the book ended and what lesson John learned (you can prompt them with the word greedy or selfish if they need a reminder). Ask your child what chapter book we are reading now - it is a classic tale I am sure you remember from school! Also, please note that Book It calendars are coming home today. Monday students will be bringing home their first WEB books. Look for information on this by Monday on the blog. 

Writing Workshop: This week we worked on stretching out words to write all of the sound we hear, just like stretching out a rubber band. We also learned there are some words we can’t spell out, and we just have to know them in a snap (snap words). We learned about including the 3 w’s in our stories: who, what and where. We met with writing partners for the first time, and learned the routine of how to work with a writing partner.   

Math: We took our Unit 1 math test this week, as well as the Inqwizit online math assessment. We learned two new math games that will come in handy for math workshop in Unit 3. I was very pleased with the results on our first math test overall. There tests are in data binders. Please take a moment to look at your child’s results. 

Social Studies: This week we started our first social studies unit: Citizenship. We learned what a citizen is, that a good citizen follows rules, is fair, and shows respect. We learned we are citizens at home, school and in our community. Talk with your child about how they can be good citizens at your home. 

Data Notebooks: You will notice a few additions in data notebooks. You will see math tests are in their binders, as well as your child’s current reading level.

7 Traits of Happy Kids: This week we learned about the final 2 traits:
6. Synergize. (Together is better.)
7. Sharpen the saw (Take care of you!) 

For your children!

~ Holly R. Mueller

Writing Partners

We worked with writing partners this week. Here are a few of them (some friends were off writing already!)

Spirit Week Fun!

Enjoy these photos from spirit week! 
Hat Day:
Crazy Sock Day:

Eagle Pride:







Sunday, September 27, 2015