Newsletter January 23 - January 27

Welcome to our 101st day of school on a snowy, cold, blustery day!  We had a nice 100th day on Friday.  Thanks for helping with the 100th day bottle activity.  The kids were very descriptive with their clues and we had a nice time celebrating the occasion.

Here are this week's happenings:

• Tomorrow watch for the 100-book challenge information to come home.  In a nutshell, I will challenge my kids to read 100 books by the end of the school year.  They will get incentives along the way and become better readers in the process.  This is a doable challenge if you read the take-home books nightly.  If you aren't doing that, it will be more difficult to accomplish. Please reconsider your schedule and your priorities if necessary and read those books every night with your child :)
• The January Scholastic book orders will be due tomorrow, Tuesday, January 24.  The best way to order is to use our classroom code and to order online.
• SEP notices went home last Friday.  Please sign those and return them ASAP.  Remember that SEP week is next week Jan. 30 - Feb. 3) (crazy I know).  School will dismiss everyday at 2:30 that week, including Wednesday.
• Please continue to work on sight words!  We have 33 lists that can be passed off and after that my students can work on "Fry Phrases" to earn beads for their sight word soldier necklaces.  I have Mary's mom that will come in each Friday and pass those lists off.  I have had several kids say, "I've lost my list".  I had her give lists to all of those students the first time she came in, but I am still having kids say, "I lost mine".  If your child needs a list send me an e-mail and I will send another one home.  
• Today we wrote a descriptive paragraph about an animal from our reader.  I was impressed by some of the paragraphs.  This is still a work in progress and many will still need help as we navigate paragraph writing.  I was happy to hear most of my students expressing interest in writing a paragraph on a topic of their own choosing.  After we have written paragraphs on a given topic, we will continue writing paragraphs with topics chosen by the students.
• In math today we subtracted tens (ex. 70 - 40 = ).  We again recognized the number of tens (as we did when adding tens) and then modeled subtracting the tens to get the difference.  We were speedy and I think most of my students mastered this concept rather quickly.  
• In reading, we are continuing our study of the Mayans.  We learned today about King Pakal.  We learned about his tomb, about how kings were treated and about the special buildings that were built in Mayan cities.  We then made little booklets and shared those with the class (those that wanted to share).  I was impressed with the things that my students remembered and chose to share and illustrate in their booklets.  Ask to see their little Mayan book. 
• Valentine's Day will be here before we know it.  I will send home information about decorating bags and send home a list of students so that your child can deliver Valentines to their classmates by the beginning of February.  

I'd better get home before I get snowed in here at school!  Cuddle up by the fireplace (if you have one), drink hot cocoa and read with your child.

Newsletter January 17 - January 20

We missed many today--seems like sicknesses are going around or extended vacations :)  We took our spelling test and math test today.  For those that were absent, I will do my best (with aide help) to make those up this week.

Here are this week's happenings:

• I will be gone again tomorrow for a training for all team leaders.  I would much rather be here than attending a meeting :)  It was nice to be back after a three day weekend.
• We will not have spelling words this week.  As I noted above, we took our spelling test today.  I noticed that some practiced these words at home, as some students spelled the words quickly and without error.  Thank you!  I know that it extra work for some of you.  
• Today was the 97th day of school--Friday is our 100th day!  I hope that you saw the notes about our 100-day "secret bottle" activity and dress up opportunity.  The dress-up day is NOT a Halloween dress up day, but rather a day to celebrate the 100th day. Please dress up according to the note.  This is all optional of course, but I will say that those that don't have their "secret bottle" feel badly, at least that is what I have observed in years past.  I have another exciting 100 day reading goal that will start next week.  I will send home information about that next Monday.  Watch for information about our 100-book challenge!!
• We took our math test today also and will start on Unit 8 tomorrow.  Unit 8 deals with two-digit addition and subtraction.  
• In reading, we have continued to work on the /or/, /ar/, and /er/ sounds as well as the "ed" (past tense marker) for verbs and the three sounds made by that spelling (/t/, /d/, and /ed/).  My kids love our "past tense marker" rap/dance :)  We will be moving into writing a descriptive paragraph about an animal for our current reader.  We have been using our five senses to write descriptive sentences about food items (today it was marshmallows and boy, this class is full of marshmallow lovers).  We will transfer that knowledge to writing descriptive sentences about a chosen animal.  I am excited about what will come from this writing as they have loved learning about the various animals in the book--we've learning about termites, snakes, Puffins, Groundhogs, and Mandrills to name a few.  
• In the second part of our reading program (listening and learning) we have moved from Early World Civilizations to Early American Civilizations.  We have heard two accounts about the Mayans.  We have learned about the proverb "The more the merrier" as it pertains to the importance of family for the Mayan people.  We have also learned about their main crop "maize" and about the beginning of chewing gum "chicle".  I love the amount of information that my littles can soak up.  
• The January Scholastic Book Order will be sent home on Thursday, when I return from my training and will be due the following Tuesday,  January 24.  
• SEP week is just around the corner (Jan. 30 - Feb. 2).  I will send home SEP notices by this Friday. I will keep the same time that you were scheduled during the Fall SEP's.  This will be a great time to hear about your child's progress in reading as we just took our Middle of the Year DIBELS test.  
• Thanks to Mary's mom for volunteering to come in once a week and keep up with our sight word soldiers program.  If you haven't been working on those, do it now, today, tonight!  I would love to see 19 necklaces loaded with beads by the end of the year and 19 little brains loaded with 100's of sight words!!

Happy Reading--please e-mail, text or call or write an "old-fashioned" note with questions or concerns. 

Newsletter January 9 - January 13

We will not have reading intervention groups for the next two weeks due to DIBELS testing (basically a reading test).  I continue to have small group reading groups in my classroom though and did that today with my students so they aren't missing out on small group reading instruction for two weeks.  Our test time is scheduled for this Thursday morning, January 12 at 10:00 a.m.  Please make sure your child is well-rested and has a good breakfast that morning.  If you child is sick though, please don't send them because of the test, they will be taken individually sometime during that two-week window for testing.

Here are this week's happenings:

• I was hoping that I would get another high school helper this semester, but I haven't received one yet.  That means I need help with our "Sight Word Soldiers" program.  I had my high school helper last semester keep up with that.  I need a parent volunteer to come in and test my students, help them choose a bead for their necklace and get them another list to take home.  I could use you in the morning or the afternoon, but weekly would be helpful.  If you feel that you could spare some time in your week and help with this please let me know.  Mastering sight words is crucial in creating fluent readers.  I think this program is motivating and helpful, but I need some help implementing it.  
• I didn't get the Power school grade print out finished yet.  I will send a remind text when I get it done.  I am almost finished, I just need to get the points in for reading take-home books. I am crossing my fingers that I will get that sent home by this Wednesday.  I am sorry for the delay.  
• The math unit that we are on (Chapter 7, Comparing Numbers) is relatively short.  We will finish up our last lesson in the chapter tomorrow (ten less and ten more), review and will test on Friday.  Sometimes the ten less, ten more concept is a bit difficult for some to grasp.  If I find that the case with this class, I will review one more day and test on Monday.  
• We just finished up with our last informational "story" about King Tut.  My kids were very entertained with learning about what was found in King Tut's tomb.  Ask them what was found and who found it (hope they use the word archaeologist). 
• We are almost to the 100th day of school.  This year the 100th day falls on Friday, January 20.  I will send home a little 100th day "homework project" and information about dressing up that day.  Watch for that note and homework assignment.  This will be a  fun day in first grade!  
• The PTA is asking for Box Tops to be collected and turned in by January 31.  You can, of course, turn them in anytime during the year, but the class that has the most turned in by the end of January will win an ice cream party.  
• Remember our brief First Grade awards program will be tomorrow, January 10 at 3:00 in the cafeteria.  I sent e-mails out to those that will be receiving an award at that program.  You are welcome to attend, but be on time because, like I mentioned, it's brief and I wouldn't want you to miss your child's award.  
• Spelling words will be sent home tomorrow.  This time they will included the past-tense marker /ed/ that we have been learning about.  These words are not "easy" and may require some extra study at home.  The test will be on Tuesday, January 17.  
• Don't forget that next Monday, we will not have school in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  Next week we will have some learning discussions and activities centered around Dr. King.  

Happy Reading!!!

Newsletter January 3 - January 6

Welcome Back and Happy New Year!  It's always so hard to wake up the first day back after a break (at least it is for the teacher), but as soon as we/I get here it's like we haven't missed a beat.  Since it is the time of year for goal setting, and we still have 1/2 of the year remaining, consider making some goals to continue or resume reading with your child faithfully each night.  I say this all of the time and will say it again and again; reading with your child benefits them so much and sets in motion a lifetime of learning.

Here are this week's happenings:

• I will attempt to get a Power school printout sent home by this Friday for the second quarter.  Power School on our end has been very slow and frustrating this year (new program) and I still have a pile of assignments to put in.  I have taken them home and plan to have them done by this Friday.  I will send a remind notice when I have sent those home.  If you have any questions about those grade printouts you can send me an e-mail or send back the printout with the questions highlighted.  
• The December Reading calendar is now due.  I sent home the January calendar home today.  I will issue a certificate and a treat to those that have the December calendar returned by this Friday, January 6.
• I sent home some "take home" sheets from our CKLA reading program.  One is a Chimps story that your child can reread and the other is a list of words that can be cut up and practiced.  Those words have the /ar/, /or/, and /er/ spellings that we have been working on.  You don't have to do those things, but if you decide to do those they can count for part of your child's ten minutes of reading.  Sometimes "mixing" things up like that helps with the motivation factor :)
• Spelling words were sent home today.  The test will be next Monday, January 9.  You will notice that these words are getting more difficult--these words are all two-syllable words.  That may mean that some may have to spend a few minutes studying these words at home--again if you spend time studying spelling words you can count that towards the ten minutes of "reading" time.  
• We will take our mid-year DIBELS test next Thursday, January 12.  Reading intervention groups will be reassigned after that assessment.  If your child is not currently in a reading intervention group and after the assessment could benefit from a group I will inform you of this change via e-mail.  If your child's placement remains unchanged, I will not send you an e-mail.  I will also contact you if your child after the assessment falls in the "at risk" category--we can then decide to get together and figure out how to best meet your child's needs. 
• SEP week is coming up--it is scheduled for January 30 - February 3. 
• We are still learning about Ancient Egypt--my plan to finish before the break did not come to fruition.  Today we learned about the Great Sphinx and will in the following days learn about King Tut.  In math we started Unit 7--Comparing Numbers.  Today we learned the symbol for greater than and less than and  that we look at the tens place first when comparing two-digit numbers. 
• Take-home books resumed today.  I will send home notes tomorrow with those that have not returned their books in a long time.  

This is such a great time for growth for first graders!  I am always amazed at what happens the last half of the year.  I think that 2017 in our classroom is going to fly by and be filled with lots of learning.

Happy Reading!