Happy 100th day of School! Today we will be doing various activities centered around one hundred. My favorite is a writing assignment with the prompt, "If I had $100.00 I would..." I think I will have some creative answers. I hope that you saw the 100-day homework assignment that I sent home last Friday. Please help your child with this. It is due anytime this week.
Remember that this week is East Elementary's Curriculum Night and Multicultural Fair on Thursday, February 2, starting at 6:00. I sent home an invitation today reminding you of this, and asking you to RSVP. If you cannot be here let me know, that way we won't be waiting for you, or like last year, some children were late and we started without them. Thank you for helping your child with their parts. I will be here after the performance to let you wander around the classroom and answer any questions you might have.
Last week, we did a science experiment where we mixed two liquids and it created a surprising result. The two liquids when mixed formed a solid. I have had several children as me for the "recipe" and I told them that I would put it on my blog, so here goes: liquid glue (Elmer's), food coloring, and Mystery liquid (two cups distilled water mixed with 2 Tb. Borax). In a plastic ziplock bag add four spoonfuls of glue, then add a drop of food coloring, knead the glue and coloring. Then add two spoonfuls of the Mystery liquid to the glue mixture. Knead this together and watch it change. The spoon size does not matter. Just add four of the glue and two of the mystery liquid, using the same size spoon. We have been having fun exploring the states of matter. I plan on finishing up that unit this week with a culminating activity of making ice cream.
Last week again, I had several students come unprepared for our Poetry performances on Friday. Please help your child with this. If you are reading with your child each night, which I hope that you are, please use a few minutes of that reading time practicing the poem.
Congratulations to Jazlyn! She was our class Catch the Vision winner for January. She is wonderful!
I will see you this Thursday, for Curriculum Night. I look forward to it.
Happy Reading!
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Newsletter January 23-27
I hope you are having a nice January. Time is flying by. We are still working on our States of Matter unit and our Water Cycle reader's theater. Thanks to those that have helped your child "memorize" their part. It helps our in class practice go much smoother. Remember that we will performing this Water Cycle Reader's Theater, on Thursday, February 2 at 6:00 in our classroom for Curriculum Night.
We completed our "If I have a Dream" writing. It was fun to see what kids can dream about. Some wished for dinosaurs to do their homework, and others dreamed of money falling from the sky.
I will be sending home a 100-day homework assignment this Friday. I will model that assignment for my students that day. Watch for it to come home.
Today I sent home a flier from SUU about a food drive. If you want to donate canned food please send it to school with your child this week.
Mr. Burton asked me to remind you that if you need an open enrollment form to pick one up from the office. They are due back by February 3.
Please keep reading with your children and help them with their poem. The poem doesn't need to be memorized, but they do need to have read it to be included in the performances.
Happy Reading!
We completed our "If I have a Dream" writing. It was fun to see what kids can dream about. Some wished for dinosaurs to do their homework, and others dreamed of money falling from the sky.
I will be sending home a 100-day homework assignment this Friday. I will model that assignment for my students that day. Watch for it to come home.
Today I sent home a flier from SUU about a food drive. If you want to donate canned food please send it to school with your child this week.
Mr. Burton asked me to remind you that if you need an open enrollment form to pick one up from the office. They are due back by February 3.
Please keep reading with your children and help them with their poem. The poem doesn't need to be memorized, but they do need to have read it to be included in the performances.
Happy Reading!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Newsletter January 17-20
I hope you had a nice long weekend. We will be doing some "I Have a Dream" writing this week to commemorate Martin Luther King's life and legacy.
We are officially half-way through the year. I plan on getting grade reports printed out this Wednesday, during my prep time. I will send them home with your child on Thursday, or Friday. If you have any questions about your child's grades let me know. I will also send home the results of our latest DIBELS testing. I will try and explain the results to you the best I can, but if you have any further questions about those please don't hesitate to contact me.
Today, I sent home a Water Cycle Reader's Theater, with your child's part highlighted. Curriculum Night is Thursday, February 2 and we are going to perform that Reader's Theater that night. We will start promptly at 6:00 so that if you have other children you will be able to make it to their classrooms also. Please help your child with this. We will be practicing in class too, but any help at home would be appreciated.
It is almost the 100th day of school, January 30th if my calculations are correct. Please watch for a fun assignment to come home for our 100th day celebration. I will also start a 100-book reading challenge. The information and the assignment will come home at a later date, I just wanted you to be aware that something will be coming home. I will let you know exactly when I send it, and will give you ample time to complete it.
You still have today (January 17) to order Scholastic books online. The online code is on the sidebar of this blog. I read A Silly Snowy Day to my students, and it is only 95 cents!
We are having a fun time learning about the States of Matter. Today we are comparing two different liquids. I love that my students are figuring out for themselves that the states of matter can change form! We will finish that unit this week, and begin the Water Cycle next week.
Please continue to read with your child. That time is precious and valuable!
We are officially half-way through the year. I plan on getting grade reports printed out this Wednesday, during my prep time. I will send them home with your child on Thursday, or Friday. If you have any questions about your child's grades let me know. I will also send home the results of our latest DIBELS testing. I will try and explain the results to you the best I can, but if you have any further questions about those please don't hesitate to contact me.
Today, I sent home a Water Cycle Reader's Theater, with your child's part highlighted. Curriculum Night is Thursday, February 2 and we are going to perform that Reader's Theater that night. We will start promptly at 6:00 so that if you have other children you will be able to make it to their classrooms also. Please help your child with this. We will be practicing in class too, but any help at home would be appreciated.
It is almost the 100th day of school, January 30th if my calculations are correct. Please watch for a fun assignment to come home for our 100th day celebration. I will also start a 100-book reading challenge. The information and the assignment will come home at a later date, I just wanted you to be aware that something will be coming home. I will let you know exactly when I send it, and will give you ample time to complete it.
You still have today (January 17) to order Scholastic books online. The online code is on the sidebar of this blog. I read A Silly Snowy Day to my students, and it is only 95 cents!
We are having a fun time learning about the States of Matter. Today we are comparing two different liquids. I love that my students are figuring out for themselves that the states of matter can change form! We will finish that unit this week, and begin the Water Cycle next week.
Please continue to read with your child. That time is precious and valuable!
Monday, January 9, 2012
Newsletter January 9-13
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!
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 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!!
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