1st Grade Update

We have enjoyed the amazing weather we have had this week. It is hard to believe we had a snow day 2 years ago today! If it does snow tomorrow, stop and take a moment to truly look at the joy in your child's face when he/she sees the first snowflake. The first time of the season that it snows it seems that kids are usually at school. I am not a fan of snow by any means, but I always love the first snow at school! It is truly a magical moment to watch your child experience!

Coming up: 

• Box Tops - Please continue to send your box tops in each day! 
• November 23-25 - Thanksgiving Break
• November 29 - Christmas Program - 6:45pm arrival
• December 2 - Early Release Day
• December 20 - Christmas Party - 9am
• December 21 - Last Day of School Before Break
• December 22 - January 2 - Winter Break

Reading: We began a new unit in reading focusing on characters. As your child is reading at home, if it is a book with characters in it, have your child explain what they notice about the character(s) in the book. We finished James and the Giant Peach and began our next book, Charlotte's Web. 

Writing: We moved into our new writing unit - opinion writing. We will be working in this unit to write letters to others thinking of a problems, stating reasons for the problems, and a solution. See the game below that you can play to help with stating reasons. 

Math: We have been busy working our way through story problems. This week we moved from unknown partner story problems into subtraction. Today we started solving mixed addition and subtraction problems. Have your child practice writing and solving some story problems on their whiteboard at home!

Game - What do you prefer?:Students learned a little "game" this week that you can easily use at dinner, while driving in the car, etc. to practice giving an opinion and reasons. 

You will ask your child, "What do you prefer - ____ or _____?" (For example, summer or winter).

Your child then answers, "I prefer ____ because _____." 

Your entire family will be able to join into this game. As your child becomes more skilled in answering, have them supply two or three reasons instead of just one. Your child could also write their answer out on their white boards. 

There will not be a newsletter next week with our short week. I would like to take a moment to share my thanks and gratitude to all of you for being such incredible families to work with. I appreciate your partnership and dedication to your child's success!

I also would like to give an extra thank you to the many volunteers that have been instrumental in our classroom. Between math workshop volunteers, computer lab, reading fluency practice, copies, sorting and filing, and so much more, I could not imagine this year without every one of you! Thank you!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Spirit Day Success!

Many of you asked last night if I was crazy adding in pajama day on top of crazy hair day, popcorn day, and book fair preview. Yes, it was a bit of a crazy idea, but...what an incredible day we had! Believe it or not, they were the best they have been all week. Everyone worked hard today, and we had an awesome day. Such a perfect way to end our week!

Thank you to everyone for making the time to attend conferences this week. I truly value our time together, and love celebrating each child's successes. It was so much fun to look at their growth together. Thank you for being such a great, supportive group of parents to work with. You have been outstanding!

We previewed the book fair today. Students wrote down book titles they are interested in purchasing. On Monday at 9:30am we will shop at the book fair. If your child will be shopping, please send in money in an envelope, LABELED WITH YOUR CHILD'S NAME. Thank you!

There is a box tops classroom competition starting next week. Please send your box tops in! Each class will be collecting them, working toward a class reward. We would LOVE to win this one. What a great, easy way to raise money for our school!

Coming Up:

• November 14: Book Fair Shopping Day
• November 23-25 - Thanksgiving Break
• November 29 - Christmas Program
• December 2 - Early Release Day
• December 20 - Christmas Party - 9am
• December 21 - Last Day of School Before Break
• December 22 - January 2 - Winter Break

And with that, I am going to call it a day. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend! Enjoy celebrating your child's accomplishments with them. Just think - we are only 10 weeks in! So much more learning to do in 1st grade. It is truly exciting!

First Grade News

I hope those of you that had the opportunity to spend the afternoon with your children enjoyed it. The sunshine looks lovely!
I truly look forward to seeing all of you at conferences. The time goes quickly, but I value it immensely. Thank you for making the time to be here. I will be setting your family pictures out for you to take home. Thank you for sharing them with us!

Coming Up:
Star Student: Sophia Gates
Monday, November 7: Report Cards go home
Wednesday and Thursday, November 9-10: Parent/Teacher Conferences. If you need a reminder of your time, please let me know.
Friday, November 11: Book Fair Preview
Monday, November 14: Book Fair Shopping Day
November 23-25: Thanksgiving Break, No School

Report Cards: These will be going home in folders on Monday. Please keep in mind this is a standards based report card. Some items are left blank due to not covering or assessing those standards yet. By the end of the year those items will be marked. Some areas are marked now and will be marked again in later trimesters. These scores may fluctuate. A score of a 2 is not uncommon, especially in November. The goal is 3 by the end of the year.

Pick Ups: If your child has a change of transportation home, please try to contact the office that day. If I have a sub, or if I have a meeting during my planning time, there is a chance I may not see the email before the end of the day. A note in your child's folder (as long as they know it is there so they remember to pull it out) should also work.

WEB Books: We have completed our first month with WEB books. Many students have changed levels in the past week or two, or will change in the coming week. Please only mark the calendar on nights when your child has read. Several students had calendars filled for everyday, even though the child did not read their WEB books each night. Children notice these things, and I would rather we are honest with them. It is an important life lesson they will pick up on.

Kids A-Z: Every Monday I am sent an email of which kids have logged into kids a-z in the past week. It gives me updates too as to how many stories are read, quizzes are taken, etc. I am thrilled with the amount of reading our class is doing! More practice definitely equals more reading growth. It has been exciting to see some students take off. If your child ever forgets his/her WEB book at school, this is a great alternative. I will be adjusting some levels for students next week.

Whiteboard Tip: This week's tip is more of a reading skill than a writing skill. But it's also a very important one for the students to be doing. As readers our words can get pretty long and tricky. While saying each sound and blending them together is important, it is only the groundwork for a much more efficient skill. When we read multi-syllable words, we split up the word by "mouthfuls." Mouthfuls are actually syllables, but it's easier for the kiddos to remember. ;) When a large word is broken up into mouthfuls, it's easier for a reader to tackle one part at a time. (see picture below). 

Our process for teaching this reading is to say the sounds in the first mouthful, sound by sound (putting a dot under each one letter sound and a dash under each 2+ letter sound). Then we blend that first part together. Next, we move on to the next mouthful, saying each of those sounds and blending it together. Finally we go back and thread both mouthfuls together and say the word. This process can be done with any multi-syllable word- see if you can think of words your child has some interest in. Write that word on the left side of the whiteboard. On the right side, split it up by mouthfuls and then have your child go through those sounds with you. 

First Grade News

I hope those of you that had the opportunity to spend the afternoon with your children enjoyed it. The sunshine looks lovely!
I truly look forward to seeing all of you at conferences. The time goes quickly, but I value it immensely. Thank you for making the time to be here. I will be setting your family pictures out for you to take home. Thank you for sharing them with us!

Coming Up:
Star Student: Sophia Gates
Monday, November 7: Report Cards go home
Wednesday and Thursday, November 9-10: Parent/Teacher Conferences. If you need a reminder of your time, please let me know.
Friday, November 11: Book Fair Preview
Monday, November 14: Book Fair Shopping Day
November 23-25: Thanksgiving Break, No School

Report Cards: These will be going home in folders on Monday. Please keep in mind this is a standards based report card. Some items are left blank due to not covering or assessing those standards yet. By the end of the year those items will be marked. Some areas are marked now and will be marked again in later trimesters. These scores may fluctuate. A score of a 2 is not uncommon, especially in November. The goal is 3 by the end of the year.

WEB Books: We have completed our first month with WEB books. Many students have changed levels in the past week or two, or will change in the coming week. Please only mark the calendar on nights when your child has read. Several students had calendars filled for everyday, even though the child did not read their WEB books each night. Children notice these things, and I would rather we are honest with them. It is an important life lesson they will pick up on.

Kids A-Z: Every Monday I am sent an email of which kids have logged into kids a-z in the past week. It gives me updates too as to how many stories are read, quizzes are taken, etc. I am thrilled with the amount of reading our class is doing! More practice definitely equals more reading growth. It has been exciting to see some students take off. If your child ever forgets his/her WEB book at school, this is a great alternative. I will be adjusting some levels for students next week.

Whiteboard Tip: This week's tip is more of a reading skill than a writing skill. But it's also a very important one for the students to be doing. As readers our words can get pretty long and tricky. While saying each sound and blending them together is important, it is only the groundwork for a much more efficient skill. When we read multi-syllable words, we split up the word by "mouthfuls." Mouthfuls are actually syllables, but it's easier for the kiddos to remember. ;) When a large word is broken up into mouthfuls, it's easier for a reader to tackle one part at a time. (see picture below). 

Our process for teaching this reading is to say the sounds in the first mouthful, sound by sound (putting a dot under each one letter sound and a dash under each 2+ letter sound). Then we blend that first part together. Next, we move on to the next mouthful, saying each of those sounds and blending it together. Finally we go back and thread both mouthfuls together and say the word. This process can be done with any multi-syllable word- see if you can think of words your child has some interest in. Write that word on the left side of the whiteboard. On the right side, split it up by mouthfuls and then have your child go through those sounds with you.