Just a few notes for this week.  There is no school for the kiddos this Friday October 20th.  This is a teacher workday and the end of the first 9 weeks.  Next week will be Red Ribbon Week

Monday- Wear Red

Tuesday- PJ’s

Wednesday – College shirt/crazy socks

Thursday- Super Hero Day

Friday – Neon

The kiddos can wear a costume on Halloween as long as it follows dress code.  No masks or props please.  Also, please keep in mind they will be in these costumes all day so they need to be comfortable.  We will be going to the playground that day as well.

Spelling words:  be, this, from, I, have, or, not, by, one, had  We will have a spelling test this week.

Writing:  We are continuing beginning-middle-end of stories.  We are working on a class Halloween story to create a book.  We are starting to focus on punctuation.

Math:  We will be working on shapes while continuing to spiral around with addition and word problems.  Mental math is so important.

Science/Social Studies:  We are learning about nocturnal animals.  Bats, Owls, and spiders are what we focused on.  We will be having fun dissecting owl pellets to find out what other animals are nocturnal.

Hey everybody!  Hope everyone is doing great!!!  Just wanting to give a little update on our work in progress:)

We will be having a spelling test tomorrow over these words: he, for, was, on, are, as, with, his, they, at   In the future we will doing a spelling preview the day before a test so you can see what words your kiddo really needs help with.  I apologize that it didn’t happen today.  I thought I made copies of the preview and I did not so…we modified.  We do not get new spelling words the week of the test, instead, we work on the most missed spelling words so we can get better.

I will always TRY to send graded papers home on Tuesdays so you can see how your sweet Firstie is doing.  I will be sending graded papers home tomorrow.  I will also be sending some important notes home tomorrow about Red Ribbon Week and Fall Festival at the school.  Please remember early dismissal on Wednesday for teacher training.  We will dismiss at 11:30.

We have no new spelling words this week but the next set of words we will work on are-be, this, from, I, have, or, by, one, had, not- just in case you want to get a heads start.

Phonics- We have been working super hard on long and short vowels and will be assessing off of those this week.  We will begin working on consonant blends (bl, sl, sp, sc, sk, cr, etc…)  These are so important for the kiddos to understand that we no longer break these sounds up but say them together.  (EX: s-p is now sp)

Guided Reading is in full swing so your kiddo should be bringing home a new book every day but Friday.  On Fridays, I allow them to “choose” whether or not they want to read.  They can choose a book out of our library (which may be too hard for them so please read it to them because they have shown an interest) or out of there book boxes.  I do give them a break if they do not want to read over the weekend as long as they have read every night during the week.

Math- We are working on combinations of numbers as well as one-to-one and combing sets.  Combinations of numbers is simply how many different ways you can get to a number.  For example: 10   9+1+10     8+2+10     7+3+10

Writing- Still really focusing on penmanship, capital letters at the beginning of sentences, punctuation, and what makes a story.

Science/Social Studies- We finished learning about our 5 senses and are moving on to seasons and nocturnal animals.  What fun we are going to have with this!!!

Please don’t hesitate to call or e-mail me with any questions you may have!  It’s going to be a great week in our room!!!

Hi everyone!  Hope y’all had a great weekend.  Just a little reminder about the Parent Orientation coming up tomorrow, Tuesday night, at 5:30.  We will meet in our room to go over how our room runs on a daily basis and academic expectations for our First Grade year.  It is sooooo important that you come if at all possible.

Our new spelling words for the next two weeks: he, for, was, on, are, as, with, his, they, at    The kids did great on their first spelling test this week!  I will be sending graded papers home tomorrow.

Math:  We continue to work on adding sets of numbers.  We have learned how to use pictures, number path, and tens frames to help us with our addition.

Writing:  Our focus is on what makes a story.  The kiddos are working hard on learning that a story has a beg/mid/end.  If you have your kids tell you a story remind them that that is what they can write.

Science/Social Studies:  Our science station is in full swing this week with a “walking water” experiment.  We are also learning about our 5 senses.

Guided Reading has finally started this week so your kiddo should be coming home with a book close to their level.  I try to take it slowly at first until they learn the procedures of how we do things.  Please make sure you are reading with your student every night and signing their reading log.  It is important for them to know that there is a connection between home and school.

Thank you so much for all the support you give each day to your kiddo and to me!!!

Hey guys!  Hope everyone had a great long weekend with family and friends.  It sure has been a great start to our First Grade year.  I am so in love with these kiddos and their amazing personalities!!!  I will post every two weeks what our goals and objectives are in each subject.  I will also post pictures of your kids in action throughout the day.  Please always feel free to e-mail me with any questions or concerns you may have.

Spelling and Phonics:  Our spelling words for two weeks are: the, of, and, a, to, in, is, you, that,it    Please practice these words in a fun way each week with your sweeties.  It is so important for them to know these words.  A few suggestions might be: write them with shaving cream, create them with rocks-in sand-or salt, create a hide-and-seek game with them, do a sight word chart with stickers and small rewards when they master them, etc…  We will have a spelling test every two weeks and you will see a spelling preview come home the night before a test so you can see words you may need to focus on.  We are working on vowel sounds which is also soooo important for these kiddos.  Please talk to them about long and short vowel sounds.  Again, make it fun like McDonalds, what vowel sound do you hear, how many vowels does your name have in it and is it long or short-what about my name-favorite color, etc…

Math:  We are working on just basic number sense right now.  Counting, picturing word problems in our heads, and just joining two sets of numbers (addition).  I am introducing them to different ways to solve problems.  This week we worked on drawing a picture, next week we will work on using the number path.  I flash dots to them and we talk about what they see and how they saw it.  We also worked on greater than and less than with number cards this week.  They played “war” with dot cards to see who had the greater number.

Writing:  We are really just starting writers workshop, talking about what a great writer does, what makes a sentence, what makes a story, why we write, etc…

Science/Social Studies:  We are focusing on being good friends and what that looks like.  I haven’t started our actual Science/STEM station yet until we can really listen to directions and follow them closely.  We will talk in detail next week about what makes a great Scientist.

Guided Reading will not start for a short while so I can finish assessing.  Please understand that your student is bringing home a self-choice book right now.  It may be too easy/hard for them so bear with me until I can get their correct level and begin sending home a great book that they can read for sure!  If it’s too difficult please read it to them and sign their reading log to let me know you read it to them.  I will do my best to be double checking their choice but it’s just not always possible right now.

I am so excited to start a new school year with all of my sweet Firsties and their families.  We had a great turn out for meet the teacher last night and I enjoyed putting sweet faces to the names I have written a hundred times.  I have worked extremely hard to get our room ready for a successful year.

Just want to let you know a few things for the next couple of weeks.  We only do snacks for the first 2 weeks of school.  I know you are use to snacks every day in Kindergarten so I wanted to give you the heads up.  We try to keep them from getting too hungry those first couple of weeks so we squeeze in snacks at 2:00.  After we get going though, it really just doesn’t make sense to keep giving them a snack at 2:00 when they will be home by 3:00.  Our schedule is just so different.  Lunch ends at 11:15, we go to special classes (P.E., Music, etc…) at 1:15 and our Science and Social Studies time is at 2:00.

First Grade is so jam-packed so it is sooooo important that our littles get here by 7:45 if at all possible.  Our day starts in full swing at 8:00 and we don’t stop until 2:45!  I understand there will be times that mornings get crazy, believe you me, but try because if you could see their little faces when they come in even 1 or 2 minutes late it would break your heart.

We will have a Parent Orientation soon to explain how our room works, reading levels, grade level expectations, writing, etc… please try your best to come to that.  It will make a huge difference in how you view your kiddos education and our classroom.

I am so looking forward to loving on your sweeties this year.  Thank you for trusting me with them!!!

Hey guys just a little reminder that we will begin using our imaginations tomorrow and becoming inventors.  The kids are really getting into this and this is a great way to keep them engaged to the end of school.  Today they drew their intentional plans (which we all know could change) and wrote what they thought they might need for supplies.  I have a lot of the materials they will need but we are still needing a few things that you may have just laying around the house.

Tape all kinds of tape, plastic trash bags that can be cut (for kites), wrapping paper, bottle lids, balloons, wooden dowel rods (like what you make kabobs with), and any little things your kiddos are saying.

I am still in need of some vegetable oil and alka-seltzer of aspirin for lava lamps.

I appreciate each and everyone of you for EVERYTHING you have done and are willing to do!

Just a few friendly reminders about our field trip tomorrow.  We will leave school around 9:00 to go to Penick Park.  Please make sure your kiddo has a SACK lunch (we don’t want to have to keep up with lunch boxes) with 2 drinks.  Please write their name on their drinks and lunches.  I keep the drinks in a cooler and their lunches in a box.  We also want them in tennis shoes and comfortable clothes.  If they want to bring a towel to sit on at lunch time that is fine but they will be responsible for making sure it gets back on the bus.  They can wear hats, sunglasses, etc… but again they will have to keep up with them.  If you are bringing your child lunch PLEASE let me know because I have to know they have lunch.  If they do not come to school with a lunch and I haven’t heard from you I will send them to the cafeteria to get a sack lunch!

Hey guys!  I can’t believe I’m making this post but here goes.  We have 3 weeks of school left and it is all about some fun. I try to keep our kiddos engaged and learning at this time of year so we shake things up a bit.  We will become inventors and explorers over the next few weeks.  I am going to ask for a few things from you, if possible.  We will be in need of many things for the kids to be able to get creative and invent things.  We will also be making lava lamps and learning about density.

Things needed:  empty water bottles, big rubber bands, large containers of cheap vegetable oil, tape, alka-seltzer, balloons, string, shoe boxes, empty vegetable cans, and anything your kiddo comes home and says “I need this for my project”.  I will try to supply as much as I can but there may be things that I just don’t have that they need.

Do I have a parent that would be willing to drill holes in some vegetable cans so the kids can make “phones”?  If so, please text or e-mail me.

Lets finish this year strong and with some FUN!!!!

Just a reminder that tomorrow will be class picture day.  Please consider purchasing a class picture for $10.  This is the only class picture that we get with us all together.  You get an 8×10 class picture and a 5×7 fun picture.

We will  just begin reviewing all of the no-excuse words and the spelling grades will come directly from their writing so no more new words!!!!l

I am doing a final benchmark on reading this week so the kiddos are coming home with self-choice books or chapter books for their book clubs.