After having a "spring-like" week last week, we are truly in January now. Remember that next Monday, January 16, is Martin Luther King Day, and we will not have school that day. We will though, be having regular spelling, poetry performances, and sight words that week. I will send home the spelling and sight words this Friday, so that you can get head start, but will not send home a new poem until we get back from the long weekend.
This week, the dictation sentence for spelling will no longer count as bonus points. I usually try to think of a sentence that has two spelling words in it. The spelling test, will then be out of 14 points. Most of my students are not remember to put a period at the end of the sentence. If you help them with this, remind them to end their sentence with a period.
We had a math test last week, and I don't know if it was because of the long vacation, or that one of the problems was a little tricky, or that my students were hurrying through the test, but most of them need corrections. I have my SUU student, Shayla, help with these corrections. If your child's test comes home with the words, "please fix", Shayla, has already helped them to fix the problems.
I sent home a packet of Scholastic book orders today. They will be due Tuesday, January 17. You can order online--which is the easiest way or send the orders back with one check made out to Scholastic. There are a lot of good titles to boost your at-home libraries.
Please keep reading with your child nightly. Let me know if the level of take-home book is still appropriate. Your child should be able to read that book without must assistance. If it is too hard for them or too easy, let me know and I will change it. Thanks for all you do to help your child.
Happy Reading!
Monday, January 9, 2012
Monday, January 2, 2012
Newsletter January 2-6
Welcome Back!! I was reminded again today why I love my job so much. It was great to be back with your wonderful children.
We are jumping right back into first grade work. I sent home a new spelling list, sight words, spelling homework, and a new poem for your child to practice for our Friday performances. I told you a while back, that I would soon count the spelling dictation sentence as part of the overall score on your child's spelling test. After this week, the dictation sentence will no longer count as just bonus points. During you spelling practice, it might be beneficial to have your child write a sentence or two. Remember to emphasize correct capitalization at the beginning of the sentence, make sure the spelling word or words are spelled correctly and that the sentence ends in a period. Right now that is the only punctuation that I will be using.
The December reading record is now due. I included a January reading record in your child's backpack today. Please, (I can't emphasize enough) keep reading with your child for 20 minutes each school night. Our next DIBELS testing will be on Thursday, January 12.
The end of our 2nd quarter will be Friday, January 13. I will send home a grade print out and the results of our DIBELS test shortly after that date. If you need your child's power school access code let me know and I can get it for you. That way you can check to see if they have any missing assignments.
We are going to have a fun January, full of snowman art and writing and plenty of science. We will start our unit on the States of Matter this week, followed by a unit on the Water Cycle. This is a fun unit, with plenty of experiments. Your child will soon know words, like condensation, evaporation, or precipitation, and will be able to distinguish between a solid, liquid, and gas.
We have a new student, Morgan McCallister. He comes to us from Tucson, Arizona. It was neat to see my students welcome him and help guide him around a new school and classroom. Welcome Morgan!
As always, please don't hesitate to call or e-mail me with questions or concerns. Thanks for the nice Christmas gifts and Happy Reading!
We are jumping right back into first grade work. I sent home a new spelling list, sight words, spelling homework, and a new poem for your child to practice for our Friday performances. I told you a while back, that I would soon count the spelling dictation sentence as part of the overall score on your child's spelling test. After this week, the dictation sentence will no longer count as just bonus points. During you spelling practice, it might be beneficial to have your child write a sentence or two. Remember to emphasize correct capitalization at the beginning of the sentence, make sure the spelling word or words are spelled correctly and that the sentence ends in a period. Right now that is the only punctuation that I will be using.
The December reading record is now due. I included a January reading record in your child's backpack today. Please, (I can't emphasize enough) keep reading with your child for 20 minutes each school night. Our next DIBELS testing will be on Thursday, January 12.
The end of our 2nd quarter will be Friday, January 13. I will send home a grade print out and the results of our DIBELS test shortly after that date. If you need your child's power school access code let me know and I can get it for you. That way you can check to see if they have any missing assignments.
We are going to have a fun January, full of snowman art and writing and plenty of science. We will start our unit on the States of Matter this week, followed by a unit on the Water Cycle. This is a fun unit, with plenty of experiments. Your child will soon know words, like condensation, evaporation, or precipitation, and will be able to distinguish between a solid, liquid, and gas.
We have a new student, Morgan McCallister. He comes to us from Tucson, Arizona. It was neat to see my students welcome him and help guide him around a new school and classroom. Welcome Morgan!
As always, please don't hesitate to call or e-mail me with questions or concerns. Thanks for the nice Christmas gifts and Happy Reading!
Friday, December 9, 2011
Newsletter December 12-16
I am composing this newsletter on our new classroom iPad. I am excited to explore all of the possibilities that this will bring to our class.
We were given the opportunity to attend a performance of The Christmas Carol at SUU on Thursday, Dec., 15. I put a permission slip in your child's backpack today. Please sign and return this by Wednesday. To help cover the cost of the play, we are also asking for a $1.00 donation.
Thanks to those who have already sent supplies for our gingerbread houses. If you can please send your supplies by Dec. 14. Remember that we will be constructing our houses on Thursday, Dec.,15 at 1:00. If any of you would like to help I would definitely welcome it. Thanks too, for those of you that have helped your child earn $1.00 for a "secret gift". Send the $1.00 to school with your child. Your child will bring the fragile gift home on Wednesday.
The school librarian and the take home librarian have asked us to encourage all of our students to return all of their books before the Christmas holiday. We have library on Thursday. Please help your child to remember to bring their books back then. Please return your take home books too.
We will have spelling words this week, but not poetry performances. I will also test on the sight word list on Friday.
Our next DIBELS test will be on January 12. Try to squeeze some reading time in over the break!
I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! School resumes on January 2.
We were given the opportunity to attend a performance of The Christmas Carol at SUU on Thursday, Dec., 15. I put a permission slip in your child's backpack today. Please sign and return this by Wednesday. To help cover the cost of the play, we are also asking for a $1.00 donation.
Thanks to those who have already sent supplies for our gingerbread houses. If you can please send your supplies by Dec. 14. Remember that we will be constructing our houses on Thursday, Dec.,15 at 1:00. If any of you would like to help I would definitely welcome it. Thanks too, for those of you that have helped your child earn $1.00 for a "secret gift". Send the $1.00 to school with your child. Your child will bring the fragile gift home on Wednesday.
The school librarian and the take home librarian have asked us to encourage all of our students to return all of their books before the Christmas holiday. We have library on Thursday. Please help your child to remember to bring their books back then. Please return your take home books too.
We will have spelling words this week, but not poetry performances. I will also test on the sight word list on Friday.
Our next DIBELS test will be on January 12. Try to squeeze some reading time in over the break!
I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! School resumes on January 2.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Newsletter December 5-9
Congratulations to Kanden! He was our Catch the Vision award winner for November. He is very deserving of this award. He is a wonderful first grader!
We have two more weeks until our Christmas break. We will have spelling words and poetry performances for the next two weeks. This week we will construct a "Gingerbread Noun Town" and compare and contrast several different versions of the Gingerbread Boy story. We will also do an opinion writing on our favorite version of the story. Hopefully, after reading How Santa Got His Job, we can squeeze in our "Elf job application" and make a cute elf to go along with it.
On Thursday, December 15th at 1:00 we will be making Gingerbread houses. I am sending this information home also because I realized that we have such a little amount of time until that date. I will need help with several items, such as: graham crackers, stick pretzels, small candy canes, foil wrapped Santas, Christmas-tree shaped marshmallows, and any other type of Christmas candy to decorate the houses. Last year, I had things like, green and red M&M's, Christmas Dots, gum drops, gummy bears,starlight mints, Necco brand candy, etc. I will send home a list with your child and ask for specific items, but you can also send something additional if you see something that you think would work well. If you could please help by sending items to help decorate by next Tuesday, December 13th, I would so greatly appreciate it. If any of you would like to help, I would welcome you that day at 1:00.
Next week, we will be making a "secret" Christmas present. I have talked to my students about earning money for these gifts. Could you please help your child earn $1.00 for these secret gifts? You can send the $1.00 with your child anytime during the next couple of weeks.
Please send your child dressed for the weather! Unless it is snowing or raining profusely we go outside, especially during lunch break. Please have your child bring a coat, gloves, boots, hats etc. It is so hard to send cold little kids back outside for break.
I love this time of year and being surrounded by 20 First graders at Christmas time makes it even better. Spend your reading time reading some great Christmas books together.
Happy Reading!!
We have two more weeks until our Christmas break. We will have spelling words and poetry performances for the next two weeks. This week we will construct a "Gingerbread Noun Town" and compare and contrast several different versions of the Gingerbread Boy story. We will also do an opinion writing on our favorite version of the story. Hopefully, after reading How Santa Got His Job, we can squeeze in our "Elf job application" and make a cute elf to go along with it.
On Thursday, December 15th at 1:00 we will be making Gingerbread houses. I am sending this information home also because I realized that we have such a little amount of time until that date. I will need help with several items, such as: graham crackers, stick pretzels, small candy canes, foil wrapped Santas, Christmas-tree shaped marshmallows, and any other type of Christmas candy to decorate the houses. Last year, I had things like, green and red M&M's, Christmas Dots, gum drops, gummy bears,starlight mints, Necco brand candy, etc. I will send home a list with your child and ask for specific items, but you can also send something additional if you see something that you think would work well. If you could please help by sending items to help decorate by next Tuesday, December 13th, I would so greatly appreciate it. If any of you would like to help, I would welcome you that day at 1:00.
Next week, we will be making a "secret" Christmas present. I have talked to my students about earning money for these gifts. Could you please help your child earn $1.00 for these secret gifts? You can send the $1.00 with your child anytime during the next couple of weeks.
Please send your child dressed for the weather! Unless it is snowing or raining profusely we go outside, especially during lunch break. Please have your child bring a coat, gloves, boots, hats etc. It is so hard to send cold little kids back outside for break.
I love this time of year and being surrounded by 20 First graders at Christmas time makes it even better. Spend your reading time reading some great Christmas books together.
Happy Reading!!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Newsletter November 28-December 2
Welcome back! I hope that you all had a restful Thanksgiving holiday filled with love from family. We are going to dive right into Christmas activities since it is already that time of year. Today we started writing notes to Santa. We talked about the elements of a note and what they should include in their letters to Santa. I told them that I have a Santa "hook-up" I know right where to send the letters so that they will receive one back. On Friday, we will be doing a literature, writing/art activity based on the book, Santa's Stuck.
Today I sent home Christmas poems for our Friday performances. Please help your child with these at night. I also sent home a new spelling list, sight words, and spelling homework. The spelling homework remember is due on Friday. Please make sure that you have your child put their names on that homework. I have had several children forget lately. Most of the time I can figure out whose handwriting it is, but sometimes it's tough. The November reading record is due on Thursday, December 1. I will send home the December Reading record on that date.
I sent home December Scholastic book orders today. They will be due this Friday, December 2 so that the orders can be back before our Christmas break. If you would like me to save your order for Christmas presents let me know. You can use the online code which is the easiest way to order or you can send the order back with a check made out to Scholastic.
On Wednesday, look for your child's grade printout. Please sign and return the grade print out. If you have questions about missing assignments please let me know.
Happy Reading!
Today I sent home Christmas poems for our Friday performances. Please help your child with these at night. I also sent home a new spelling list, sight words, and spelling homework. The spelling homework remember is due on Friday. Please make sure that you have your child put their names on that homework. I have had several children forget lately. Most of the time I can figure out whose handwriting it is, but sometimes it's tough. The November reading record is due on Thursday, December 1. I will send home the December Reading record on that date.
I sent home December Scholastic book orders today. They will be due this Friday, December 2 so that the orders can be back before our Christmas break. If you would like me to save your order for Christmas presents let me know. You can use the online code which is the easiest way to order or you can send the order back with a check made out to Scholastic.
On Wednesday, look for your child's grade printout. Please sign and return the grade print out. If you have questions about missing assignments please let me know.
Happy Reading!
Sunday, November 20, 2011
November 21-25
We will not have spelling words or a new poem this week because of the Thanksgiving holiday. I have also arranged it so that your child will not have math homework this week. Please continue to read with your child (at least on Monday and Tuesday), I know it's hectic, but if you can squeeze in some reading time that would be great!
Tuesday, November 22, at 1:00 we will have our little classroom Thanksgiving party. A big thanks to those of you that signed up to help and have sent items for the "turkey cookies". If you would like to come in and help with the cookie assembling, we will start around 1:00 that day.
I continue to be thankful for this wonderful bunch of first graders that I am lucky enough to teach this year. I hope that you all have a nice and safe few days off. Remember school will resume on Monday, November 28.
Happy Reading!
Tuesday, November 22, at 1:00 we will have our little classroom Thanksgiving party. A big thanks to those of you that signed up to help and have sent items for the "turkey cookies". If you would like to come in and help with the cookie assembling, we will start around 1:00 that day.
I continue to be thankful for this wonderful bunch of first graders that I am lucky enough to teach this year. I hope that you all have a nice and safe few days off. Remember school will resume on Monday, November 28.
Happy Reading!
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Newsletter November 14-18
Tomorrow (November 15) the November Scholastic book orders are due. If you want to order online the code is JFVMJ. I am going to put this code and Scholastic's website on a sidebar of this blog for your referral. If any of you want me to hold on to your book orders for Christmas presents let me know. I will send the December book order home with your child when we get back from our Thanksgiving break.
I sent home another poem today for our Poetry performances on Friday. It was apparent to me this past Friday that a few children did not practice their poems at all. It is hard for the group to perform well, if some of the students don't even know the words, or even the poem that was in their folders. A couple of my students have never returned their poetry folders. If they don't bring it back and don't recall the poem then I have them just observe as their group performs. Please take a few minutes, during your nightly 20 minutes of reading, to go over the poem. The first time, you can read it to them if necessary. You can also, read a line, and have your child read it back to you.
I am going to start giving our "morning work" a grade. They will be worth 5 points. Morning work has been our "ticket to break", but now it will also count towards your child's overall grade. If they are absent I will send the sheet home for homework.
We are going to finish up our unit on the moon this week with a culminating activity of making moon sand and showing the phases of the moon with Oreo cookies. I have enjoyed the moon bag activity and so have the kids. Thanks so much for helping your child bring it back the very next day! I will give a "Moon test" before we break for the holiday. We are continuing to talk about gratitude and will especially concentrate on the First Thanksgiving this week. We will do an art/writing project about the pilgrims this week as well as list the things that we would bring on the Mayflower if we had to take that long voyage. I am also introducing "nouns" to the children by going on a "noun walk" around the school. Ask your child to name some nouns around home as extra practice.
Next Tuesday, November 22, we will be having a little class Thanksgiving party. We will be making "turkey cookies", playing Thanksgiving bingo, and watching Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving. If any of you want to come and help with the cookie assembling I would love your help. We will start at 1:00 that day.
Happy Reading! Progress in reading directly correlates with progress in all academic areas!
I sent home another poem today for our Poetry performances on Friday. It was apparent to me this past Friday that a few children did not practice their poems at all. It is hard for the group to perform well, if some of the students don't even know the words, or even the poem that was in their folders. A couple of my students have never returned their poetry folders. If they don't bring it back and don't recall the poem then I have them just observe as their group performs. Please take a few minutes, during your nightly 20 minutes of reading, to go over the poem. The first time, you can read it to them if necessary. You can also, read a line, and have your child read it back to you.
I am going to start giving our "morning work" a grade. They will be worth 5 points. Morning work has been our "ticket to break", but now it will also count towards your child's overall grade. If they are absent I will send the sheet home for homework.
We are going to finish up our unit on the moon this week with a culminating activity of making moon sand and showing the phases of the moon with Oreo cookies. I have enjoyed the moon bag activity and so have the kids. Thanks so much for helping your child bring it back the very next day! I will give a "Moon test" before we break for the holiday. We are continuing to talk about gratitude and will especially concentrate on the First Thanksgiving this week. We will do an art/writing project about the pilgrims this week as well as list the things that we would bring on the Mayflower if we had to take that long voyage. I am also introducing "nouns" to the children by going on a "noun walk" around the school. Ask your child to name some nouns around home as extra practice.
Next Tuesday, November 22, we will be having a little class Thanksgiving party. We will be making "turkey cookies", playing Thanksgiving bingo, and watching Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving. If any of you want to come and help with the cookie assembling I would love your help. We will start at 1:00 that day.
Happy Reading! Progress in reading directly correlates with progress in all academic areas!
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