I am still deeply saddened about the recent events at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut. As a first grade teacher, it hit me especially hard. Those wonderful teachers and beautiful students are my colleagues and babies too. As we approach this week of learning and excitement, my mind will reflect on the brave teachers and administrators and my heart mourns with the families that lost their child. I know that I will be giving "my kids" (your kids) extra hugs this week. Those who lost their lives this past weekend will be on my mind as we go forth in our First Grade classroom.
Thank you to those that have sent $1.00 for our "secret gift". I will send those home with your child this Wednesday. They are fragile so I will warn your child of that potential breaking hazard. They are so excited to share their gifts with you! Thanks also to those that have sent items for our Gingerbread houses. If you still haven't sent your item, please send it with your child by Wednesday, December 19th. Remember that we will be making our Gingerbread houses this Thursday, December 20th at 1:00. Thanks to Kaden's dad, EZ's dad, Cason's mom, Dalton's dad, and Kody's uncle for volunteering to help out that day. I could still use volunteers so if you would like to come and help let me know. I could use volunteers that day from 1:00 - 2;30. After the Gingerbread houses, the whole school will congregate in the gym for our annual Christmas Sing. On Friday, December 21, East Elementary is privileged to have a "special visitor" visit our classroom. We are lucky here at East Elementary. I think this is the only elementary school where he makes a stop :) He will stop by sometime after the "Christmas movie". This year the children will be watching "Horton Hears a Who".
I sent home new spelling words this week. We will have the spelling test right at 9:00 on Friday so please have your child here on time! I only assigned math homework for Monday and Tuesday. We are finishing up Topic 5 on Tuesday and I will test on Wednesday. Please continue to read with your child--I know it's tough to squeeze in this time of year, I have a 4th grader myself, but it is so beneficial! Remember that I will only require these three weeks in December for full credit on the December Reading Record. Of course you can read over the break though :) Today we logged in and started the computer program "Ticket to Read". The kids were excited about it. This will be one more method to help my students become better readers! We will go to the computer lab twice a week now to use this program.
We have one more Gingerbread book to read and then we will write about our favorite one. We will also have a Gingerbread cookie tasting day and Gingerbread math on Thursday. My students have loved these books. They are understanding things that are the same in each book and things that are different. They also know what the characters are in a story, the setting, and the plot. I am impressed that they use transition words like: first, then, last etc. to explain their thinking concerning the plot.
My hope for you all is that you will have a wonderful, Merry Christmas. Enjoy your break and your child! School resumes on Monday, January 7th.
Happy Reading!
Monday, December 17, 2012
Monday, December 10, 2012
Newsletter December 10-14
Thanks for those that looked over their child's grade print out. A few if you contacted me with changes that needed to be made, and those have been taken care of. Remember that the quarter ends on the Friday that we return home from Christmas break. Our class DIBELS test will be Tuesday, January 14. I will contact parents after that date, if your child needs some more reading intervention according to that test.
Some of you have asked about the math Quick-checks and also our math tests. They come home with a score, but all of the answers are correct. Let me clarify what happens. The quick-checks, I call them "mini-tests", are graded and then some of my SUU practicum students help the students correct their errors. It is one-on-one, immediate feedback. I have the students take those home, but keep the original grade. The same for Math Topic tests. I grade them, but have corrections made, and keep the original score. Next semester, I may not have as many SUU students helping out, so this may not be occurring as often. Thanks for helping your child with their math homework each night. I will finish up topic 5 in math early next week, and test next Wednesday before Christmas break.
Today I sent home a note about our Gingerbread house party on Thursday, December 20. Please read that and let me know if you can help out that day. It is impossible for me to carry that off without help. Thanks also to those of you that have sent $1.00 for our "secret" Christmas gift. We will work on those this week.
We have read and mapped out The Gingerbread Man and The Gingerbread Cowboy. In the next couple of weeks we will also read The Gingerbread Girl and Gingerbread Boy Goes to School. The students will then write an opinion paper about their favorite Gingerbread story. Today we finished our Christmas Tree poems that go along with our Christmas tree art that is displayed outside of our classroom.
Today we will also finish our moon phase unit by creating the moon phases out of Oreo cookies. I will take some pictures of the event and post them next week.
One more thing, now that it is getting colder, we have many coats or jackets that are left at school. The lost and found is overflowing. If your child is missing a coat, please have them check in the lost and found. Sometimes a grown-up is needed to help find the missing coat. Our lost and found is in the lunchroom and right now it is spread out on the stage steps. You are welcome to come and help your child find their coat before of after school.
I love being surrounded by your wonderful children at this exciting time of year!
Happy Reading!
Some of you have asked about the math Quick-checks and also our math tests. They come home with a score, but all of the answers are correct. Let me clarify what happens. The quick-checks, I call them "mini-tests", are graded and then some of my SUU practicum students help the students correct their errors. It is one-on-one, immediate feedback. I have the students take those home, but keep the original grade. The same for Math Topic tests. I grade them, but have corrections made, and keep the original score. Next semester, I may not have as many SUU students helping out, so this may not be occurring as often. Thanks for helping your child with their math homework each night. I will finish up topic 5 in math early next week, and test next Wednesday before Christmas break.
Today I sent home a note about our Gingerbread house party on Thursday, December 20. Please read that and let me know if you can help out that day. It is impossible for me to carry that off without help. Thanks also to those of you that have sent $1.00 for our "secret" Christmas gift. We will work on those this week.
We have read and mapped out The Gingerbread Man and The Gingerbread Cowboy. In the next couple of weeks we will also read The Gingerbread Girl and Gingerbread Boy Goes to School. The students will then write an opinion paper about their favorite Gingerbread story. Today we finished our Christmas Tree poems that go along with our Christmas tree art that is displayed outside of our classroom.
Today we will also finish our moon phase unit by creating the moon phases out of Oreo cookies. I will take some pictures of the event and post them next week.
One more thing, now that it is getting colder, we have many coats or jackets that are left at school. The lost and found is overflowing. If your child is missing a coat, please have them check in the lost and found. Sometimes a grown-up is needed to help find the missing coat. Our lost and found is in the lunchroom and right now it is spread out on the stage steps. You are welcome to come and help your child find their coat before of after school.
I love being surrounded by your wonderful children at this exciting time of year!
Happy Reading!
Monday, December 3, 2012
December 3-7
It is December already! I have 29 excited little students. It is fun to be surrounded by first graders this time of year. We will have spelling words for the next three weeks. I was pleased with the students that were able to get 100% on their spelling tests last week with two dictation sentences. I will continue with two sentences for the remainder of the year.
The November reading record is now due! I sent home the December reading record home with your child today. Please read with your child for the remaining three weeks of school, and do your best to squeeze some in over the break. I am sending home the Scholastic December book orders today. The best way to do it is by using the online code. If you order online you will receive a $5.00 coupon that you can use for the next order. Those book orders will be due this Friday, December 7. The orders should be back before Christmas, so if you would like me to save any books as gifts let me know.
In first grade, our Christmas party will be a Gingerbread house making extravaganza! We make them out of graham crackers. I will need your help to accomplish this. I will send home a note with your child this Wednesday explaining what we will need to make these houses. Some of you I will specifically ask to bring graham crackers or white icing, but others I will just ask to bring something to help decorate the houses with. Some great things that have been brought in the past are: small candy canes, foil wrapped Santas, red and green gumdrops or M & M's, Necco wafers, pretzel sticks, coconut etc. Please watch for the note, and thanks in advance for the donations. We will build our houses on Thursday, December 20th at 1:00. I could use some parent helpers that day also. If you would like to come and help please let me know! I would love it and NEED it!!
I am in need of one more little donation. We will be making a "secret" Christmas gift this year and if you could help by sending $1.00 with your child to help cover the cost of that "secret" gift, I would appreciate it. You can start sending the donation tomorrow, and I will take it until we leave for our Christmas break.
When we get back from our Christmas break we will almost be done with our second quarter of school. I will get grades printed out this week on Wednesday and will send a copy home with your child on Thursday. Watch for these grades, and check them over to see if your child has missing work. We will also have our second DIBELS test after the break, so that is one of the reasons that squeezing in a bit of reading over the break would be helpful :)
This week we will finish our Santa letters and start our Gingerbread Boy stories unit. We will read and discuss several Gingerbread Boy story variations and then the students will write an opinion piece about their favorite story. We will also be creating a Christmas Art project and writing a poem about Christmas trees. Your child should be working on Sight Word List #5 this month. If they have not passed off through List #4 they are behind. In math, I am reviewing for Test #4 today, and will test tomorrow, Tuesday, Dec. 4. We will start on Topic 5 this Wednesday.
Happy Reading!
The November reading record is now due! I sent home the December reading record home with your child today. Please read with your child for the remaining three weeks of school, and do your best to squeeze some in over the break. I am sending home the Scholastic December book orders today. The best way to do it is by using the online code. If you order online you will receive a $5.00 coupon that you can use for the next order. Those book orders will be due this Friday, December 7. The orders should be back before Christmas, so if you would like me to save any books as gifts let me know.
In first grade, our Christmas party will be a Gingerbread house making extravaganza! We make them out of graham crackers. I will need your help to accomplish this. I will send home a note with your child this Wednesday explaining what we will need to make these houses. Some of you I will specifically ask to bring graham crackers or white icing, but others I will just ask to bring something to help decorate the houses with. Some great things that have been brought in the past are: small candy canes, foil wrapped Santas, red and green gumdrops or M & M's, Necco wafers, pretzel sticks, coconut etc. Please watch for the note, and thanks in advance for the donations. We will build our houses on Thursday, December 20th at 1:00. I could use some parent helpers that day also. If you would like to come and help please let me know! I would love it and NEED it!!
I am in need of one more little donation. We will be making a "secret" Christmas gift this year and if you could help by sending $1.00 with your child to help cover the cost of that "secret" gift, I would appreciate it. You can start sending the donation tomorrow, and I will take it until we leave for our Christmas break.
When we get back from our Christmas break we will almost be done with our second quarter of school. I will get grades printed out this week on Wednesday and will send a copy home with your child on Thursday. Watch for these grades, and check them over to see if your child has missing work. We will also have our second DIBELS test after the break, so that is one of the reasons that squeezing in a bit of reading over the break would be helpful :)
This week we will finish our Santa letters and start our Gingerbread Boy stories unit. We will read and discuss several Gingerbread Boy story variations and then the students will write an opinion piece about their favorite story. We will also be creating a Christmas Art project and writing a poem about Christmas trees. Your child should be working on Sight Word List #5 this month. If they have not passed off through List #4 they are behind. In math, I am reviewing for Test #4 today, and will test tomorrow, Tuesday, Dec. 4. We will start on Topic 5 this Wednesday.
Happy Reading!
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