A Special Visitor

We were fortunate to have Mitchell's grandfather come to our classroom last Friday. Hopefully your child told you about his visit! Mr. Behler is blind. He was able to talk with our class about his experiences, read a book in braille, and each child received a braille alphabet. Students also had an opportunity to look at braille books on their own, learn braille using braille boards, and more. Many thanks to both Mr. and Mrs. Behler for their visit. Enjoy the pictures below!

Coming Up

It was wonderful to meet with all of you this week. Thank you for taking the time to do so. Fifteen minutes never seems to be enough time! If you think of any further questions or comments after you left, as always, please feel free to contact me at any time.
We have a few important updates and dates to be aware of. Please see below.

• March 20: Book Fair Preview
• March 22: Book Fair Shopping
• March 20 - 24: non-latex bandaid drive (Please see the Bauer blog for information.)
• March 24: Used books for Book Drive due. Please consider donating your previously loved books!
• March 30: Read and Feed (details below)
• March 31 - April 10: Spring Break
• April 14: Early Release Day

Addresses: Students are working toward mastering their home address. At this point, only 6 students have demonstrated mastery with this (they must write it 3 times independently for it to be considered as mastery). Please help your child practice writing it at home. Proper handwriting, comma after the city name, etc. are all essential.

Read and Feed: On Thursday, March 30th, our school we participate in our annual Read and Feed event. Our theme this year is "Going to the Beach." Your child may bring a beach towel from home to read on and any favorite books from home as well. No pajamas this year, however comfy clothes, maybe even with a beach or ocean theme, are welcomed. We also will have a snack mix. Please see the attached document if you would be willing to donate items for it. Thank you!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TiNUNnE408Yhsy9l9yCDxTJNcdoLi78LzfzRduTZIvY/edit?usp=sharing

Reading Aloud: During conferences with some of you, we discussed the importance of reading aloud to your children. Once children are reading on their own, we often lose sight of the value of reading aloud to them. I am including two links to articles that discuss the importance of this. Please take a moment to look them over. If you are looking for some good books the start with, you may want to check out some others in the American Girl series. Boys and girls like these!
http://www.whatdowedoallday.com/why-you-should-read-aloud-to-older-kids/
http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/read-aloud-to-children/

Oh, the Places We'll Go!

March has arrived, and with that we celebrate March is Reading Month. With a room full of readers, we celebrate reading each and every day here in 1st grade, however we will be involved in some additional activities this month. We kicked off the month on Wednesday with a visit from the Cat in the Hat himself!

Something else that has arrived with March are the swings in temperatures. To best help your child, layers are appreciated. Boots are often still needed, especially if there has been any rain at all. Our playground gets muddy very easily. Protecting shoes (and our rugs) is appreciated!

The following communication was sent to families, however it appears to have gone into spam for many (including myself). I wanted to make sure you all saw it.

Please check your spam email if you did not receive this, and be sure to mark it, along with any other Bauer emails, as not being spam in hopes of receiving future communication in your inbox. 

Bauer Families,
As our community continues to grow, so does our school!  Your generous support of Hudsonville Public Schools has enabled the district to add on to Bauer.  Construction will begin next week to add two classrooms on the east side of the building.  In order to work and keep our children safe, the construction company has put up a fence that encompasses the work site.  

We are so fortunate to have a very large playground.  Our students will be using more of the north end than they previously did.  Students will not be able to enter or exit the south gate.  Parents that drop off students should plan on using the front of the building avoiding the bus drop off area beginning tomorrow and continuing through the end of the school year.

We are excited to grow and realize we will need to be flexible as we do so.  Construction should be complete by the end of July!  I will keep you posted on how our project is progressing.  

Thank you for your support and cooperation!

Coming up: 

• March 10: Early Release Day
• March 15-16: Parent/Teacher Conferences
• March 17: Wear GREEN!
• March 28: Jet's Pizza Night (Please tell them my name when you order - we would love to win this month!)
• March 31: Spring Break Begins

Reading:

We have been working hard as readers! We have been working on a strategy for summarizing what we have read. We are recording the answers to who, what, when, where, why and how in our stories. Then we are using that information to write a summarizing sentences. You could have your child write these words on their whiteboard and answer them for a book they have just read. 

Writing:

We are back to writing small moment (narrative) stories. We are currently writing a class piece altogether. We will select our own topics next week. I am having so much fun watching these writers take off! Saying their sounds as they write is making a tremendous difference. 

Math: 

We are wrapping up our unit on place value concepts next week and will be taking our test. We will then move into a new unit, comparisons and data. 

Social Studies:

We have begun our geography unit. We are learning about our place on the map. We have started practicing writing our addresses. Students will need to show mastery in writing their address by memory. Please encourage your child to practice their address at home. Whiteboards are a great tool for this!

Book Orders: 

There is a new book order form going home in folders today. Please place your order by March 17 if you would like to order. Head to scholastic.com. Our class code is: LGVW7.  There are many books that would be great in Easter baskets! If you would like the books to be a surprise, just shoot me an email. 

Valentine's Day

Here are a few pictures from our Valentine's Day party. We enjoyed delicious cupcakes, making bookmarks, and a fun game. Later we enjoyed opening up our valentine cards from friends. Thank you to everyone for your contributions to our day!

We are 100 days smarter!

We had a wonderful 100th day of school! Thank you to all of the families that were able to food items for our snack mix. We enjoyed reading a 100th day book, drawing what we would look like in 100 years, writing about what we could be if we had 100 dollars, and making our snack mix. We also made a valentine craft as a class reward we earned last week. It was a fun way to end our week!

If your child has not returned his/her valentines yet, please be sure to send them to school on Monday.

Coming up:

• Tuesday, February 14: Our valentine party will take place at 9am
• February 22-24: Jump Rope For Heart
• February 23: Marco's Pizza Night
• February 24: Popcorn and Hat Day
• March 10: Early Release Day
• March 15-16: Parent/Teacher Conferences

What we have been up to:

• Reading: We have continued to work in the genre of nonfiction. This week and next week we are working on key components of a nonfiction retell. 
• Writing: We are wrapping up our how-to unit. We selected our piece that we are the most proud of, and next week we will head into the computer lab to start typing our stories out. Look for these at parent/teacher conferences!
• Math: Unit 4 wrapped up and we have learned some new math games for unit 5. We will begin unit 5 next week. 
• White Board Practice: We have been working on the /s/ sound. There are 5 ways to make this sound that we have learned about. Have your child write these sounds on their whiteboard, as seen in the picture (only the headings, I have included some examples for you). Then have them search through their books for words with the /s/ sound that and record under the correct spelling. Be careful to make sure the word actually makes the /s/ sound! It may make a different sound - for example, I could record house under se, however I could not record hose. In the word hose, se sounds lie /z/. Be sure to check their work for the correct spellings and as always, make sure they say as they write!

First Grade News

Somehow we are already at the end of January. How can that be?! Please take a look at what we have been up to,and where we are headed!

Coming Up:

• Thursday - Sunday, January 26-29: James and the Giant Peach at the JCA
• Friday, February 3: Early Release Day, Body Safe Presentation 
• Monday, February 6: Winter Break (No School)
• Thursday, February 9: All valentines to school by this date
• Tuesday, February 14: Valentine's Day Party at 9:00am
• February 22-24: Jump Rope for Heart

Valentine's Day:
If your child has completed his/her valentines, please feel free to send them in early.

Reading:
We are continuing our work with nonfiction. We have been learning how to track making connections, new learning, questions we have, and when we have reactions to our reading.

Writing: 
We are rolling with writing How To stories. This is one of my favorite units of the year. This week we  have been working on how to use transition words between sections (and not starting sentences with "And"), the parts of how to stories, and how to write a conclusion.

Math: 
We will be wrapping up unit 4, Place Value Concepts, at the end of next week. Our test will take place the following week.

Social Studies:
We are working our way through different periods of time. Please ask your child to tell you what is happening in our read aloud book, Meet Addy. There are many very heavy emotions that come from reading these books, and students will love sharing the books with you.
We have learned about Martin Luther King, Ruby Bridges, and Rosa Parks in the past two weeks. We will be learning about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington over the next two weeks, as well as diving more into the past, present and future.

Keyboarding:
Your child may have mentioned a website we have been working on in the computer lab to practice keyboarding skills. You can either search "dance mat typing" or follow this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z3c6tfr. I have been very impressed by their dedication and ability to use the home row already. The more practice, the better!

Whiteboard Tip:
Time to dust off those whiteboards! The novelty may have worn off, but the value is still just as great. Students could use some accountability with making sure they are saying their sounds as they write - breaking up every single sound! Because I am not able to sit next to every child every time they write, some may be getting a bit lazy with saying their sounds. The difference in their writing when they "say as they write" is dramatic. Ask your child a simple question, such as: What is your favorite holiday and why? Or Where would you like to go on vacation and why? As they answer on their whiteboard (or a piece of paper if you have misplaced yours), sit next to them and hold them accountable to say every sound as they write it (the, for example, has two sounds, /th/ /e/). If there are any errors, stop them the instant the error is made, erase, and tell the correct spelling for the sound. Correct letter formation and handwriting as well. Thank you for your help! These kiddos are doing amazing things in reading and writing. It has been so much fun to watch their progress!

New Student:
We are excited to welcome a new student to our classroom on Monday - Lucas. He has 24 first graders excited to meet and welcome a new friend!

Have a wonderful weekend!

First Grade News

Back to reality for me this week, and nothing better than being greeted by 24 huge smiles on Monday! Our family had an amazing get away - it was everything we hoped it would be. But, as always, it is good to get back into the routine of day to day life.
Here is a little of what we are up to:

Coming Up:

Friday, February 3: Early Release Day
Monday, February 6: Winter Break (No School)
Thursday, February 9: All valentines to school by this date
Tuesday, February 14: Valentine's Day Party at 9:00am
February 22-24: Jump Rope for Heart

Library Books:
We have an increasing number of students enjoying their library books so much at home that they are forgetting to return them the next week! ;) Please be sure to have your child bring back their book to school each Thursday, or as soon as they feel they are ready to return it. Thank you!

Xtra Math and Kids A-Z:
Please remember to take advantage of these two online resources at home if possible. I can tell a few students that are regularly on Xtra Math - they are flying through math facts, and have become more efficient problem solvers. Thank you for your extra time and effort with both of these!
xtramth.org ~ kidsa-z.com

Valentine's Day: 
I am including a class list of names for valentines in your child's take home folder today. If your child wishes to give valentines to the class, please include one for everyone. You may notice an unfamiliar name on the list. We are slated to have a new student start with us the week of January 30, and wanted to be sure to include him as well.
Please bring valentines to school by Thursday, February 9. If they are done earlier, send them in as soon as they are done.

Reading:
We have started a new reading unit exploring nonfiction text. This unit is always exciting for students. Be sure to point out any nonfiction reading you are doing at home to your child. We also started my favorite read aloud we will do this year - Meet Addy, from American Girl. I absolutely love these series' of books. Addy is a young girl, growing up in slavery during the Civil War. Some of the concepts are very deep, but they make for great conversation. It correlates well with our history unit that we have just begun. I encourage you to ask your child what is happening in the book regularly.

Writing:
Our writing unit correlates well with our reading unit. We are learning how to write how to stories. These are aways a lot of fun. While pointing out nonfiction texts at home, be sure to point out how to texts as well (recipes, directions for playing a game, putting a toy together, etc.).

Math:
We are exploring tens and ones as we move into numbers through 100. We have been learning how to represent tens and ones with tens sticks and circles.

Social Studies:
We have begun a history unit, starting with learning about time lines. We will be learning about some influential figures in american history in the coming weeks.

Vocabulary word of the week: 
Draw - to take or pull apart.

Whiteboard Tip:
Time to dust off those whiteboards and put them to use again!
We have been learning about the different letters that make the a sound, like in ape, and we have been learning about all of the different sounds a can make. There are nine different sounds a can make in a word! We have focused on 5 of them this week.
We also dove into three super tricky homophones: there, their and they're.
Have your child draw each of these out for you:
there (draw an arrow to point over "there")
their (draw a house with two people inside to show it is "their" house)
they're (draw 2 stick figures to show "they're" (they are) walking together)

Then read the following sentence and have your child write it while really thinking of which form of the word to write. Remember to correct an errors!
"Their dog ran over there and they're watching her run."

Have a wonderful weekend!