Thursday, December 20, 2012

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

We had a great holiday party today.  Thank you to all the parents for your donations and help at the party.  A special thank you to Mrs. Mahne for planning and preparing for our party.  The kiddos had a really fun time!  When I figure out how to get the party pictures I took from my IPad to my blog, I will let you know and you can view our fun day.

Please remember to encourage your first grader to read over the winter break.  It's amazing how much progress they lose when they do not read--even when they don't read for a few days.  So, get out those holiday stories (and other books) and have them read to their hearts content! (:

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season.  Enjoy the time with your precious children and families.  I feel very blessed to be your child's teacher, and I thank you for sharing them with me.  I look forward to seeing them all in January!

Monday, December 17, 2012

DAILY REMINDERS:

• Homework:  Goods and Services--Social Studies worksheet.
• My Winter Break Journal:  I sent this journal home today (blue covers).  I encourage your first grader to read and write over the winter break, so I sent home this journal for them to write about all the things they do on their break.  This activity is optional, but I strongly urge them to spend some time writing while they are on "vacation".  This journal is not due until Jan. 3 when we return to school.
• On Wednesday we are going to have a "Polar Express" day (I think I mentioned this in one of my posts last week).  We are going to wear our pajamas to school on Wednesday (optional), read the story and do several literacy and math activities surrounding the story.  If we earn the rest of our marbles tomorrow, we will also watch "The Polar Express"movie.  We only have 4 more marbles to earn--WOO-HO0!  (:

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR FIRST GRADER:

• Our day began in the library where we were treated by a special visitor.  Cynthia Willenbrock came to Crestwood to share her book called Marshal the Miracle Dog.  She shared a very important message along with reading her book.  Her dog, Marshall, has only 3 legs and she discussed how important it is to care about people for their character and personality on the inside and not for how they look on the outside.
• Writing:  Since it is almost the end of 2nd quarter, we did our quarterly writing assessment today.  The first graders wrote a story about a time when they did something fun with their family.  Beforehand, we reviewed what all sentences must have and brainstormed ideas for a story.
• Math:  We took a tests over Chapter 7, a pretest over the next chapter, and an addition time test.
• Social Studies:  We read about and discussed the vocabulary words buy, trade, seller, buyer, cost, save, factory, and worker. 

Thursday, December 13, 2012

DAILY REMINDERS:

• Homework:  Study for the spelling test that is TOMORROW.  List 15 words are:  yes, but, want, at under.  We will NOT have spelling words next week, since it's a short week (M-TH), and kind of crazy with the winter break right around the corner.  It's harder for the little ones to focus and do as well as they normally would on a test.
• Library tomorrow
• PANCAKES with SANTA is TONIGHT 5:30-7:30 P.M.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR FIRST GRADER:

• Today we worked most of the morning on our Wish List.  We wrote a "sloppy copy" (first draft), and most of the students have conferenced,  proofread and edited their sloppy copy.  Once that was taken care of they began writing their final copy.  We also made most of our elf today that will hold our Wish List.  We still need to add the face (our face), the mittens, and the hat.
• Math:  Our lesson today was on related facts.  For example:  4 + 3 = 7 and 7 - 4 = 3 or 7 - 3 = 4.  Many struggled with this concept so we spent a long time practicing it together using cubes and white boards to show and practice related facts.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

• Next semester we will have a student teacher from Fontbonne University.  Her name is Ms. Meredith Saulka, and she will be with us Jan. 3 through the middle of April.  On Monday, December 17 she is coming to Crestwood to meet her new first grade friends.  She may even come to our holiday party on Friday.  I know her student teaching experience will be a great one for everyone!  Please welcome Ms. Saulka to Crestwood if you have the opportunity to meet her.
• Tuesday, December 18:  We are having a "Polar Express Day".  We will read the story, do many educational literacy and math activities surrounding the story and watch the movie in the afternoon.
• Thursday, December 20:  Holiday Sing Along @ 1:15 and Holiday Party @ 2:00.  You are welcome to join us for both!

Yesterday and Today: December 12, 2012

HAPPY 12-12-12!

Sorry for not posting yesterday, but I will include yesterday's learning into today's post.

DAILY REMINDERS:

• Homework:  "Brushing Bears"--students have to add the /th/ digraph to word endings and then write the /th/ words into sentences where the words will make sense.
• Pancakes with Santa:  Tomorrow night 5:30-7:30 p.m.  If you ordered tickets, they came home tonight in your student's green folder.
• Spelling Test Friday.
• Library on Friday.  

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR FIRST GRADER:

• Shared Reading:  We read the poem "The Rink" and highlighted words with the /th/ digraph (the, brother, there, than etc...).  Today we read The Doorbell Rang again and looked for words in the text that have the VCe pattern (Vowel-Consonant-Silent e) and follow the "Silent e Rule" (makes, made, etc...).
• Word Work:  Word work involved sorting and writing pictures and words with the /h/, /sh/, and /ch/ sounds.
• Writing:  We continue to work on our "Wish List".  The students have to write sentences telling something they want, something they need, and something someone else needs or wants.  Soon they will make an elf to hold their wish list.
• Math:  Yesterday we took our subtraction test over chapter 4.  We went over several of the problems today, since there were quite a few friends who struggled with these concepts.  Many need to make corrections to their test.  This test is coming home today in their green take home folder.  We began a new chapter today on counting back 1, 2, and 3, related addition and subtraction facts and problem solving. 
• Social Studies:  Ask your first grader what goods, services, needs and wants are.

Monday, December 10, 2012

DAILY REMINDERS

• Homework:  Math Reteach worksheet
• Support-A-Family:  This is the last week for Support-A-Family, and we are accepting any donations.  Thank you again to everyone who has donated items for this great cause!  Our Support-A-Family box was "bursting at the seams" last week. 
• Pancakes with Santa:  This Thursday, December 13.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR FIRST GRADER:

• Shared Reading:  The story we are reading this week is The Doorbell Rang.  After reading the story, we discussed the story elements (characters, setting , problem, and solution).  This information is vital when your first grader is asked to retell a story.  It is important they remember character's names and the events in the correct order also.
• Word Work:  We learned our new spelling words today (under, want, but, at, yes).  If you practice on www.spellingcity.com, these are Week 15 words.
• Writing:  We are talking about the difference between WANTS and NEEDS in Social Studies and we are incorporating this lesson into a writing lesson, as well.  We listed things we WANT and things we NEED, and then we are going to make a WISH LIST.  Our wish list must contain at least one thing we Want, one thing we Need, and one thing we know someone else Needs.
• Math:  Tomorrow we will take a math test over chapter 4.  We completed the last lesson in the chapter today.  The math homework tonight reinforces this lesson.  After reading a story problem, we learned how to draw a picture when we are trying to figure out how many are left.
• Social Studies:  Going along with our WANTS and NEEDS lesson, we made a holiday stocking with the words WANTS  and NEEDS at the top.  We are going to look at pictures in magazines and cut and glue things that show wants and needs onto our stocking.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

DAILY REMINDERS:

• Homework:  Spelling worksheet, study for the spelling test, and read.  WRR is due tomorrow.
• Library tomorrow

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR FIRST GRADER:

• Shared Reading:  After reading My Friends for the last time this week, we shared things we have learned from our friends.  Tomorrow they will write about it.
• Word Work:  Using our clickers, we took a "test" over the c, h, and ch sounds.
• Math:  Earlier in the year, we learned the meaning of the words horizontal and vertical in math.  We reviewed these definitions and completed a practice page containing vertical subtraction sentences.
• Counseling:  Ms. Stiles (counselor intern) came to our classroom and we listened to a book about a tattle tale and learned the difference between tattling, really being in danger, problem solving and M.Y.O.B. (Minding Your Own Business).  This was a great lesson for first graders! (:

UPCOMING EVENTS:

• Pancakes with Santa on Thursday, December 13.  More details coming soon.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

DAILY REMINDERS:

• Homework:  Math Practice--Subtract from 9 and 10.  Remind your first grader that there is pattern in the numbers they subtract from 9 and 10 and in the differences (answers).
• WRR:  I am so sorry!!!  I completely forgot to send home this week's WRR last week, but thanks to one of my students reminding me, it is coming home tonight. (Thank you, Sanjiv!)  Your first grader can return it on Friday.
• Early Release and Show and Tell tomorrow.  The ELL bus will dismiss at 1:20, and all others will dismiss at 1:40.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR FIRST GRADER:

• Shared Reading/Word Work:  We read the story My Friends again, and we circled all the words that have blends or digraphs. 
• Writing:  We read the story Who Will Guide Santa's Sleigh and talked about Santa needing reindeer to help him deliver packages on Christmas Eve.  Since Santa is in need of more reindeer, we filled out a job application to become one of Santa's reindeer.  We will be adding our picture to the application which will include our antlers and red nose.  Be sure to take a look at our applications next time you come to Crestwood.  They will be hanging in the hall by the end of the week.
• Math:  Since we are learning more about subtraction, we practiced taking apart 7 and 8 using cubes and taking apart 9 and 10 using cubes and ten frames.  After our math lesson and manipulatives practice we completed a practice page to reinforce the skills we learned today.
• Social Studies:  We will begin a new unit tomorrow.

Monday, December 3, 2012

DAILY REMINDERS:

• Homework:  Spelling worksheet over Week 14 words (saw, out, no, he, that).  Our test will be this Friday.  Please let me know if your first grader did not bring home their spelling list tonight.
• Math Letter:  Your child brought home a math letter explaining the math skills we are working on this week (taking apart 7, 8, 9, and 10, vertical subtraction, subtract to compare, and problem solving by drawing a picture).
• Early Dismissal/Show and Tell is this Wednesday, December 5th at 1:40 (ELL bus dismisses at 1:20).
• Support-A-Family this week:  Personal care items.  Thank you so much to everyone who has donated for this great cause!   

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR FIRST GRADER:

• Shared Reading:  The story we are reading this week is My Friends.  After reading today, we recalled the events of the story.  Ask your student to tell you the different things the main character learned how to do from her friends.
• Word Work:  We discussed our new spelling words.  We identified the vowel sounds in the words he and she and discussed how the vowel comes at the end of the word and that pattern usually lends itself to a long vowel sound.  We talked about the ou sound in out, the aw sound in saw and how that is in the -at word family.
• Writing:  We worked on our Writing Plan web for our 5 page story.  The first box in the web is for the introduction/beginning of our story (who/what we will be writing about), boxes 2, 3, and 4 are for the middle of the story and the details about what we are writing about, and the last box is the ending of our story.  I emphasized that when we are planning and creating our web, we just jot down ideas.  We save our sentences for the story.
• Math:  Whew!  We took a lot of tests today.  We took an addition time test, chapter 3 test and chapter 4 pretest. 
• Social Studies:  Finally, we took our Unit 4 test covering the Pilgrims, American Indians, past, present, future, transportation, communication, and inventions.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

DAILY REMINDERS:

• Homework:  Spelling worksheet, practice for Week 13 Spelling Test (are, with, brown, went, eat, word family words, words with ch, sh digraphs), read (WRR due tomorrow).
• Spelling Test tomorrow
• Library tomorrow

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR FIRST GRADER:

• Shared Reading/Word Work:  Our focus was on the long a sound.  We read the story Jake and Jane's Great Race, identified the long a words, and listed many on a chart.  Then to check for understanding, I had them text me a long a word with their clicker.  If you have not heard about our clickers, ask your first grader about them.  They're so fun and we LOVE them!  After we texted long a words we sorted them by their spelling patterns.
• Writing:  We will continue our Writing Plan webs tomorrow along with the lesson on the 5 Page Book. 
• Math:  We took a math time test, and practiced writing subtraction sentences for a picture.  We learned that the first number in a subtraction sentence is the total, the number after the minus symbol is the amount taken away, and the last number (difference) is the amount that is left.
• Social Studies:  Our discussion continued about inventions since the 1800's, but we learned about inventions that help us COMMUNICATE with others.  We learned what communication means and all the different ways we can communicate now.  We finished the unit, so we will review and take the test tomorrow.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

• Early Dismissal is this Wednesday, December 5 @ 1:40.  Our ELL students are dismissed @ 1:20.  It is also a Show and Tell day.  Please encourage your student to choose something that is important to them and something they are able to tell us about.  A few rules for Show and Tell:

1. Must fit into bookbag.
2. Can not be alive.
3. Should not be valuable/expensive.
4. Student must have permission from parents to bring it to school.

Tues., Nov. 27 AND Wed., Nov. 28, 2012

DAILY REMINDERS:

• Homework:  Math pattern worksheet, read, practice spelling words and addition facts.
• Library on Friday:  Several students brought home overdue notices yesterday.  Please return books this week.  Thank you very much to those who already have returned their overdue books!
• Support-A-Family:  We are collecting cleaning supplies and paper products this week.
• Holiday Party:  Dec. 20 @ 2:00.  The only donations we still need are the felt squares and the sparkly items.  All donated items are needed by Monday, Dec. 3, please.  THANK YOU!!
• Spelling Test on Friday.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR FIRST GRADER:

• Shared Reading:  We have been reading The Lady With the Alligator Purse.   We identified rhyming words and words with the long a sound in the story.
• Word Work:  Our sorts this week are words/pictures with the c, h, and ch sound.  Along with vowel sounds, blends (st, gr, fl, etc...) and digraphs (ch, sh, th, wh) have been our main focus during word work lessons.
• Writing:  Yesterday we wrote letters to our buddies in the Buddy Notebook we share with them, and today I introduced how to plan for a 5 page story.  I modeled the web, called My Writing Plan, we will use to plan our stories.  Your first grader will soon be writing stories that include a beginning, a middle with details, and an ending.  Very exciting!  After the holiday break your student will have monthly writing assignments that will help build their writing stamina.  More details to come soon!
• Math:  Subtraction is our main focus this week.  We learned what the math vocabulary word difference means in a subtraction sentence, and we discussed the minus and equals to symbols.  In addition, we modeled subtraction stories with bears and wrote the matching subtraction sentences.
• Social Studies:  Transportation has changed quite a bit since the 1800's, and we have been talking about different transportation inventions and how they have improved how people move from place to place.  We also compared and contrasted schools from long ago to our school/education now.
• Buddy Activity:  Today we had our buddy activity.  It was a lot of fun!  We made Rudolph by tracing one of our feet onto brown paper and cutting it out, tracing and cutting our hands for the antlers.  We glued the antlers to the head (our foot) and glued on googly eyes and a red fuzzy ball for Rudolph's nose.   These Rudolphs will be given to the residents at the Bethesda Nursing Home next month.  We also colored holiday cards for the Bethesda residents.  Finally, we  ate "reindeer food" while we worked with our buddy.  Take a look at our buddy activity pictures:

 

 

 



Monday, November 26, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving (belated) and Welcome Back!

I intended to post before the holiday, but the hustle-bustle of  turkey day caused me to run out of time.   I hope everyone had a peaceful and enjoyable Thanksgiving with their family.  I am very thankful to have the opportunity to work with your precious children everyday.  I love what I do, and I feel blessed to be your student's first grade teacher!  I am also thankful for the support I receive from our fabulous first grade families!

DAILY REMINDERS:

• Homework: Spelling worksheet over Week 13 words.    

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR FIRST GRADER:

• Shared Reading:  We read The Lady With the Alligator Purse.  We discussed the story elements of the story (characters, setting, problem, solution).  These elements are important parts of a retell when your student has finished reading a book.  Encourage them to tell you the story elements after you read a story together. 
• Word Work:  Week 13 spelling words (went, with, are, brown, eat).  Don't forget your first grader can practice their words on www.spellingcity.com.  It's a fun way to study the words every week.  Test is on Friday, Nov. 30.
• Guided Reading/Daily 5:  I introduced some new activities for the word work and work on writing centers.  They will be sorting words with the long and short a and e sounds.  Another activity is to write a book about a food and write a story about a sailing ship.  In our reading groups we are focusing on words that are in the same family (-ame family) and retelling the stories we read.
• Math:  This week we are working on subtraction.  We took the chapter pretest today.  We also took an addition time test.
• Social Studies:  Our unit on the Pilgrims and American Indians continues this week.  We should be ready to test on Friday or early next week.

Monday, November 19, 2012

DAILY REMINDERS:

• Homework:  Your first grader brought home a math workbook page to complete and return tomorrow.  This homework will help prepare them for the chapter 17 math test we're taking tomorrow.
• No School November 21-23.  We return from the Thanksgiving break on Monday, November 26.
• Next week we are collecting CLEANING SUPPLIES and PAPER PRODUCTS for Support-A-Family.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR FIRST GRADER:

• Shared Reading/Word Work:  We read The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss and identified and listed all the long e words in the story as well as other long e words spelled /ee/, /ea/, /y/ like in turkey, and /e/ like in me.
• Math:  We did 2 math lessons today, so we can take our test tomorrow before the break.  We learned how to find a mistake in a pattern and correct it.  We also learned how to transfer patterns.  For example, if I make an AB pattern (red, white, red, white etc..) with red and white colored cubes, I could follow the same AB pattern with shapes (circle, square, circle, square etc...).
• Writing:  A few of us are still working on our Thanksgiving stories.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

DAILY REMINDERS:
• Homework: spelling worksheet and study for spelling test.
• Jingles for Jammies: Your student may wear their pj's to school tomorrow and a coin donation for support-a-family is greatly appreciated.
• Library tomorrow.
• Last day of school next week is Tuesday due to Thanksgiving holiday. We will NOT have spelling words next week.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR FIRST GRADER:
• We spent our shared reading and word work time writing our stories about why we're thankful. These stories will be displayed on a turkey they are going to make.
• In math we practiced making new patterns using the same shapes from an existing pattern (+ # + # to + + # + + #).
• Most students brought in something for show and tell, so we were able to wrap that up today.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

DAILY REMINDERS:

• No homework tonight due to early dismissal today.  Please remember to read, practice spelling words, and addition flashcards.
• We will continue Show and Tell tomorrow for those students who did not have time today or remember to bring their show and tell item to school today.  I forgot to remind my class about Show and Tell last night, so I have extended it to tomorrow.
• Jingles for Jammies on Friday.  Your first grader may wear their jammies to school and a coin donation is appreciated for Support-A-Family.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR FIRST GRADER:

• Morning Meeting:  After our usual morning meeting routine, we wrote a thank you letter together to Mrs. Jardon for teaching us about the Lewis and Clark expedition.  Your first graders are really good letter writers!  I was very pleased with the thank you letter they composed together as a class.  Tomorrow they will draw pictures for Mrs. Jardon.
• Writing:  We will  be making a turkey this week, and we brainstormed the things we are thankful for.  I modeled how to organize our ideas for writing on a web, and then our students began working on their own web about the things they are thankful for.  Tomorrow they will organize their web ideas into a story.
• Daily 5 Centers/Guided Reading:  We have several different activity choices in the Word Work center and Work on Writing center which include building weekly spelling words, sorting words in different word families and building words with word family cards and beginning consonant letters, writing in handwriting books, writing in our first grade journal, listing 15 things that remind us of Thanksgiving, a sequencing activity, and writing an answer to an open-ended question about a picture.  In our reading groups we continue to work on our reading strategies, word work, writing in journals, reading with expression and reading fluently, and thinking about what we are reading in order to comprehend the stories we read.

We did not have time for math or social studies today due to Early Dismissal.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Hi!  Here are pictures from our Veteran's Day Assembly....

DAILY REMINDERS:

• Homework:  Math worksheet on patterns, read, and practice Week 12 spelling words.
• Early Dismissal and Show and Tell:  If your child is going home a different way than they normally do on Early Dismissal Days, please send a note to school with them tomorrow.  Please remind your first grader that tomorrow is Show and Tell, and they need to pack an item they are prepared to talk about. 

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR FIRST GRADER:

• Morning Meeting:  Our character word of the month is PEACE, so we discussed ways we can show peace at school.
• Shared Reading:  We compared and contrasted the On Top of Spaghetti book and video.

• Word Work:  We read a story called Shoe Man and discussed the /sh/ digraph.  Then we did an /sh/ word sort in our Word Work book.
• Math:  Since we are learning about patterns, we discussed the math vocabulary word pattern unit and circled the pattern unit in different rows of patterns.  The first graders also practiced completing patterns on the computers, and they made patterns with stickers. 
• Social Studies:  We started a new unit that covers settlers, transportation, history, present, future,  and communication.
• 
  

Monday, November 12, 2012

Welcome to the new week!

DAILY REMINDERS:

• Early Dismissal/Show and Tell-Wednesday, November 14 @ 1:40 (ELL @ 1:20)
• Spelling Test-Week 12-Fri., Nov. 16
• Support-a-family-Food items
• Library-Friday
• Dance-a-Rama-Friday

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR FIRST GRADER:

• Today was a special day. We had our Veteran's Day Assembly in the morning and a special visitor after lunch.  Mrs. Marge Jardon, a retired 1st grade teacher, presented to all of our first grade classes about Lewis and Clark and Sacajawea.  It was a very interesting and informative journey we took with Mrs. Jardon along Lewis and Clark's expedition to the Pacific Ocean!

I will post pictures tomorrow from the Veteran's Day Assembly.

Friday, November 9, 2012

HAPPY WEEKEND!

DAILY REMINDERS:

• Monday, November 12--VETERAN'S DAY ASSEMBLY @ 9:30--Please remind your first grader to wear red, white, and blue (or one or two of the colors).
• Support a Family begins next week--collecting food items.
• Wednesday, November 14--EARLY DISMISSAL & Show and Tell.  If your child is going home a different way than you informed us about at the beginning of the year, please send a note to school with your child by Wednesday. 
• Friday, November 16--Jingles for Jammies:  Your child may wear their p.j.s to school and a coin donation for Support a Family would be greatly appreciated.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR FIRST GRADER:

• Word Work:  We took Week 11 Spelling Test today.  I actually had time to grade them before your student left today, so you should find their graded test in their green folder.  MANY first graders missed the two words in the -ack family, so we will spend more time practicing that word family next week.
• Library:  Mrs. Justus, our librarian, did a lesson with our class today.  We also checked out library books.
• Social Studies:  We took our test over Unit 2 (suburbs, neighborhoods, countries, maps, map keys, etc...).  I will send the graded test home next week.
• Officer Ed came to our class today for his last DARE lesson.  Your first grader will participate in DARE again when they are in 5th grade.  I think the first grade classes thoroughly enjoyed the lessons with Officer Ed, and they learned a lot!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Hello!  Sorry to be posting so late!

DAILY REMINDERS:

• Homework:  Study spelling words--TEST tomorrow.
• Library tomorrow.
• Monday, November 12-Veteran's Day Assembly @ 9:30 a.m.
• Support-a-Family--Next week we are asking for food product donations.

A Day in the Life of Your First Grader:

• Shared Reading:  We read the story On Top of Spaghetti and watched it on YouTube.  After that we compared and contrasted the book and the video.
• Word Work:  We learned how to use the Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check folders for practicing spelling words. This is another activity they can do at the Word Work center during our Daily 5.
• Math--After we looked for patterns in our classroom environment, we worked on a pattern flip chart together.  Then we practiced what we learned about patterns by completing a pattern practice page.
• Social Studies:  To review for our social studies test, we played a game by dividing the class into 2 teams and took turns answering questions that will be on the test. 

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Good evening!  Welcome back from the long weekend.  I hope everyone enjoyed the extra time with family.

DAILY REMINDERS:

• Homework:  Spelling worksheet. 
• PTO Meeting tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m.
• Spelling Test on Friday, November 9.
• Weekly Reading Record due on Friday, November 9.
• Library on Friday, too.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR FIRST GRADER:

• Shared Reading:  We read the story On Top of Spaghetti, and we highlighted all the words with the long e sound.
• Word Work:  We learned our new words (Week 11) and discussed that some of them have a word family chunk at the end.  The words are will, am, black, do, have.  It is likely that our Friday test will also have words in the -ill, -am, and -ack family on it.
• Daily 5/Guided Reading:  We continue to read books on our level and move to the next level when appropriate.  Along with reading new books every day, we also write in our journals about the stories we read and do word work using magnetic letters, dry erase boards and markers.
• Math:  Our new chapter covers patterns.  We will be learning how to identify patterns and pattern units.  We will also learn how to extend patterns and continue patterns with different shapes or colors.  Your first grader should have brought home a yellow math parent letter tonight.  Please let me know if you did not receive this, and I will send another letter home.
• Social Studies:  Today we worked on map skills.  We know what a MAP KEY and COMPASS ROSE is used for on a map.  We can identify the directions (North-Never, East-Eat, South-Soggy, West-Waffles) and map key symbols on a map. 

Friday, November 2, 2012

Happy Friday!  It's been a long and busy week (conferences and Halloween), but we made it!  Thank you to all the parents who were able to attend their conferences last night.  I enjoyed talking with each and every one of you!  Thank you to all of my families for sharing your child with me.  It's a privilege and an honor to work with them every day.

DAILY REMINDERS:

• Please encourage your first grader to read over the long weekend.  I will collect their WRR on Friday, as usual.
• No School on Monday or Tuesday next week.
• I emailed our November calendar today.  Please let me know if you did not receive it or could not open it, and I will send you a hard copy next week.
• I sent home our 2nd quarter spelling words today.  They are printed on pink card stock, and are for your "studying enjoyment".   They should be in your child's take home folder on the home side.  Please let me know if the words did not make it home, and I will send home another set.  Don't forget that Spelling City is a fun way to study the words too.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR FIRST GRADER:

• Word Work:  We took our spelling test today.  I will send the graded test home next week.
• Shared Reading:  Mrs. Justus (Crestwood's librarian) came to our classroom today and taught a lesson on Fiction and Non Fiction books.  Soon, your child will have a larger selection of books to choose from when they check out.  The students also checked out new books today.  If they did not, it is because they have overdue books at home.  Please encourage your son or daughter to look for library books over the weekend, and remind them to put them in their book bag before Wednesday. 
•  Math:  We made our addition time test flashcards.  These also came home today in a zip lock bag, and they are on green card stock.  Please let me know if you don't have them, and I will send another set home.
• We participated in Kids Voting with our buddies today.  Your first grader had the opportunity to vote for the president, the state senator, and the governor.  We will have the "official" Crestwood results next week.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

• PTO Meeting next week on Thursday, November 8th @ 7:00 p.m.  The PTO Board would like you to join them for dessert while sharing your ideas and opinions.  Child-care is provided.

Enjoy the four day weekend with your kiddos!  Get outside and play and don't forget to READ too!  See you next week! (:

Thursday, November 1, 2012

HAPPY NOVEMBER!

It's hard to believe that the holidays are right around the corner! 



DAILY REMINDERS:

• HOMEWORK TONIGHT:  Spelling worksheet to help your child practice the words for the TEST TOMORROW.  They will  be tested over words:  ran, so, our, this, well and words from different word families such as -op, -ug, -in etc....
• NO SCHOOL on Monday, November 5th and Tuesday, November 6th due to conference compensation day and Election Day.
• Please remember to send your child to school with a jacket or coat labeled with their name.
• Please remember to send a healthy snack to school every day with your child.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR FIRST GRADER:

• Shared Reading:  We reviewed the story Listen to the Desert and discussed the facts we came up with about cities and deserts.  We put our facts in a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast them.  Ask your child to explain to you what a Venn Diagram is used for.
• Word Work:  We brainstormed short u words.  We have now covered all the short vowel sounds.  Ask your first grader to tell you the sounds all the short vowel letters make.
• Writing:  We are finishing our Halloween riddles and we talked about how to write a letter.  We are writing letters to a soldier in Afghanistan.
• Math:  We took an addition time test, reviewed Chapter 16 concepts by playing a game, and took the test for Chapter 16.

Have a great evening!  I'm looking forward to seeing many of you at Parent-Teacher conferences tonight!  Thank you to all the parents I talked to on Monday night!  I appreciate your support of your child and their learning experiences in first grade...SO IMPORTANT!!  (:

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

A special thank you to all the moms and dads who donated items (in a pinch) for our Halloween party, moms and dads who helped out at the party, and to Mrs. Blaskeiwicz for planning and setting up our party!!  You all are incredible and the kids had a wonderful time at their party!  They all looked so good in their costumes!



 NO REMINDERS TONIGHT!

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR FIRST GRADER:

• Shared Reading:  We read Pumpkins and then the students made their own jack-o-lantern out of orange and black construction paper.
• Word Work:  We read Scary, Scary Halloween and identified the rhyming words in the book.
• Centers:  We worked on Halloween centers today while meeting in our reading groups.
• After lunch we went to Art, recess, changed into our costumes, walked in the parade and then had our Halloween party--WOO-HOO!

Have a safe and fun Halloween, and don't eat too much candy!! (:



Tuesday, October 30, 2012

WELCOME BACK TO OUR BLOG!

I apologize for not posting to our blog in soooooo long!  I have been sick and out several days over the course of the last 2 weeks.  But now I'm back to blogging again! (:

Daily Reminders:

• HOMEWORK TONIGHT--Math worksheet on following directions.
• Halloween parade and party tomorrow.  Please see my earlier email for the details.

A Day in the Life of Your First Grader:

Shared Reading: We read Listen to the Desert and brainstormed facts about cities and deserts.  We will compare and contrast them later this week.

Word Work:  We read Billy Bug's New Jug and brainstormed words in the -ug family and discussed how the words are the same and different.  We also observed that the -ug words all have the short u sound.

Writing:  We continue to work on our Halloween Riddles.  Many children shared their riddles with the class today.

Math:  We took an addition time test and reviewed our current chapter.

Social Studies:  The students shared their city buildings with their classmates.  They explained what they made their building out of, how they put it together, and why they chose to make the building they constructed.  They are all very impressive!

Below are some photos from our p.j. day last week:

How do you like Mr. Taylor's jammies?

P.J. Day and Terrells' birthday!  Fun!

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Hello!  We had a spectacular time on our field trip to the Crestwood Fire Station today!  We took a tour of the fire station, learned about different parts of a firetruck, went inside of a firetruck, and  we even got to shoot water out of the fire hose!  SO COOL!!



Friday, October 12, 2012

Happy Friday!

DAILY REMINDERS:

• Homework:  Practice tying shoelaces.
• Field trip to Crestwood Fire Station on Wednesday, October 17.  Please remind your student to wear comfortable shoes for walking.
• Half day next Friday due to Records Day for teachers--Dismissal at 11:50--NO LUNCH served.

 DIARY OF A FIRST GRADER:

• We took our spelling test. 
• We checked out books at the library.
• We went to our Daily 5 Centers.
• Since we have been learning about PLANE SHAPES, we made a "Shape Monster" today.  Our first graders were VERY creative.  You can check out their creations when you come to Parent/Teacher conferences.
• Officer Ed came today to talk about what children should do when they are in a stranger danger situation:  Know, No, Go, and Tell.   Ask your first grader to explain to you what those mean.
• We had another visitor--a special firefighter--today too, in honor of Fire Prevention Week.  (It's really Mr. Taylor). 
• Health:  It is Fire Prevention Week.  Since we were wrapping up our Seasons unit, we did not discuss Fire Prevention in our class yet, but we will next week.



HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND FABULOUS FIRST GRADE FAMILIES!!!



GO CARDS!!!

Thursday, October 11. 2012

Hello!

DAILY REMINDERS:

• HOMEWORK tonight':  Please study Week 7 spelling words--Spelling Test tomorrow!
• Library tomorrow--please remind your first grader to pack their library books in their bookbag tonight.
• A permission slip for our field trip to the Crestwood Fire Station  came home yesterday.  Almost everyone turned theirs in today! (:  If you did not see your child's permission slip in their take home folder yesterday, please contact me, and I will send home another one.  It is also available on "Digital Backpack".

DIARY OF A FIRST GRADER:

• Shared Reading/Word Work:  We reread Pumpkin, Pumpkin and reviewed the short i words in the text.  Next we looked for words in the -in family (pumpkin) and brainstormed a list of more -in family words.
• We took a "Spelling Inventory".  This will help me pinpoint the specific word work areas my students need to learn and practice the most for word work. 
• Writing:  We continued working on our Days of the Week stories and our Question/Answer pattern book. 
• Math:  After reviewing our solid figures, I introduced the math vocabulary term Plane Shapes (circle, square, rectangle, triangle).  We discussed how plane shapes are different from solid figures and how we can find plane shapes on solid figures. 
• Science:  We took a test over our Seasons unit.

A few more reminders:

• Since the temperatures are dropping, please send  your child in a jacket, sweater, or hoodie every day.  Also, please label your child's outerwear with their first and last name.  Thank you!!
• If you have not confirmed your conference time, please shoot me a quick email letting me know whether or not you are able to attend on the date and time I sent home with your first grader.  Thank you!

Have a great evening! 

GO CARDS!!!!!!

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Good afternoon!

DAILY REMINDERS:

• Homework: Math worksheet--addition facts practice.  Please encourage your child to get in the habit of putting their finished homework inside their take home folder as soon as they complete it.  I have several students that forget their homework and say, "My mom/dad forgot to put it in my folder".  I remind them that it is their responsibility, not mom or dad's.  THANK YOU for your help and support with this at home!  You will be so glad they do this on their own when they are older!! (:
• FIELD TRIP TO POWELL HALL TOMORROW!  Please remind your child not to wear jeans to school for this trip.  If you have not turned in your field trip money ($8 covers cost of bus and concert), please send it tomorrow.  Thank you!
• We are going to the Crestwood Fire House next Wednesday, October 17.  Be on the "look out" for another permission slip in your son or daughter's folder this week.  Good news...this trip is FREE!! (:

UPCOMING EVENTS:

• Friday, Oct. 19:  Half Day--Dismissal at 11:50--NO LUNCH SERVED
• Thursday, October 25:  After school Inflatables for for first graders
• Monday, October 29 and Thursday, November 1: Parent/Teacher conferences 3:30-7:30
• Wed, Oct. 31:  Fall parade @ 1:30 and Party @ 2:00
• Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 5/6:  NO SCHOOL--Conference Comp Day/Election Day
• Thurs., Nov. 8:  PTO Meeting
• Fri., Nov. 9:  Veteran's Day Assembly @ 9:30
• Mon., Nov. 12:  Fundraiser orders due
• Wed., Nov. 14:  Early Dismissal Day/Show and Tell (1:20 ELL/1:40 )
• November 21-23:  Thanksgiving Holiday

Diary of a First Grader:

• Shared Reading:  We read Pumpkin, Pumpkin again and reviewed the vocabulary words from yesterday and discussed words with the short i sound.  We then highlighted the short i words in the text.
• Writing:  I asked your first grader to write a story about a time they have done something fun with their family.  I use this writing piece as an end of the quarter writing assessment and score it using a writing rubric.  I will share this piece with you at your conference in a couple weeks.
• Daily 5/Guided Reading:  We are very engaged at our Daily 5 Centers and making good progress in our reading groups.
• Math:  We reviewed the solid figures we learned about yesterday and learned about the faces, vertex and vertices on these solid figures.  Ask your first grader to explain face, vertex, and vertices to you.  You can show them a box of cereal, and they should be able to identify the faces and vertices on the box. 
• Science:  We learned about our last season of the year--WINTER!  We discussed what happens to the weather, the plants, people, and animals during this season.  If time allows, we will be taking a test tomorrow over the seasons.

Sorry for this lengthy post, but I wanted to share the upcoming events with you, so you can mark your calendars.  I will also include these in next month's calendar!  Have a great evening!

Monday, October 8, 2012

Good evening!  Happy Columbus Day!  I apologize for being behind on my blogging! ):   This is a busy time of  year (report cards, conferences, etc...), so I apologize now for my intermittent blogs.

DAILY REMINDERS:

• Homework:  Spelling worksheet--write each new spelling word with the consonant letters blue or black and the vowels red.
• Field Trip this Wednesday, October 10 to Powell Hall.  Please turn in your child's permission slip and/or $8.00, if you haven't done so already.  THANK YOU!   Also, Mrs. Gerdel has asked our first graders to not wear jeans to school on Wednesday.

Diary of a First Grader on 10-8-12:

• Shared Reading:  We read pumpkin and talked about the vocabulary words sprout, scooped, and carved. 
• Word Work:  Today I introduced Week 7 spelling words.  Your child should have brought home their yellow list of 5 words today.  You can also go to www.spellingcity.com to study and practice their words.  Keep in mind that they need to study words 1-5 on the list. 
• Daily 5/Guided Reading:  Most reading groups are reading about 1 new book a day, writing in their journal about the story they read, and doing word work.  Currently we are learning about ending chunks and how we can change words by adding a different letter at the beginning of word family words (fin, bin, tin).
• Math-We started a new chapter today, and we're learning about solid figures and plane shapes this week.  We learned new math vocabulary words (sphere, cube, cylinder, rectangular prism, pyramid, and cone).  We also learned which solid figures can roll, slide, and stack.
• Science/Social Studies:  We discussed the importance of Christopher Columbus and watched a short video about his voyage to the New World.  We also learned about our last season--winter.  We will be taking a test over the seasons later this week.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Goodbye Averie!  We were very sad to say goodbye to our friend Averie Crnko.  Averie is moving to Kirkwood and will be attending Westchester Elementary School.  ):  We wish Averie all the best at her new school and new home!

DAILY REMINDERS:

• Homework:  Math workbook pages 95-96.
• Field Trips:  We have another field trip planned for Wednesday, October 17.  We will be walking to the Crestwood Fire Station to reinforce Fire Safety.  Permission slips will be sent home next week.

In first grade today we:

• read Jumping Jill Went Down the Hill again and then worked on an -ill activity.  We circled -ill words in a story and put -ill words in ABC order.
• finished our book for Averie.  Our first graders had many nice things to write to her for her book.
• worked in our Daily 5 Literacy Centers and met with our guided reading groups.  In our reading groups we read a story, do word work, and/or write in our journal about the story we just read.
• practiced reading math stories and then learned how to find the information we need to solve the problem.  We wrote addition sentences to match the story and drew pictures to check our answers.
• read about the fall season in our online science book.  We also watched a  BrainPop Jr. video about fall.  We discussed what happens to plants and animals in the fall.
• After our 2nd recess we celebrated Averie.  She brought yummy cupcakes to share with our class, and we had a little free time to spend with her.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Good evening!

DAILY REMINDERS: 

• NO HOMEWORK (except to read, of course!!)  (:
• A few first graders are bringing home another green conference letter tonight confirming their conference time.  If your son or daughter has one in their take home folder, please sign it and return it to school tomorrow.  THANK YOU!

 Diary of your first grader:

• Word Work/Shared Reading-After reading The Chick and the Duckling we brainstormed and listed as many short i words as we could think of.  We also read Jumping Jill Went Down the Hill and discussed the words in the story that are in the -ill family (Jill, Bill, hill, still ...).  We also listed many -ill words and reviewed that these words also have the short i sound.
• Writing-We are making a book for our friend Averie.  Tomorrow is her last day at Crestwood ):, so we are writing why we will miss her, why she is a good friend, or telling a memory we have about her. 
• Math-We learned how to follow a rule on a table.  The top of the table may say "Add 3", so we add 3 to every number on the left side of the table to find the sum we write on the right side of the table.
• Science-Our focus today was the summer season.  We watched a short BrainPop Jr. video about summer, read about the season in our online science book, discussed how spring and summer are different, and sorted pictures into different seasons.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Happy October!  I hope your first grader enjoyed their 3 day weekend!

DAILY REMINDERS:

• Homework tonight:  Spelling worksheet
• Parent-Teacher Conferences:  A green letter is coming home today in your child's Take Home folder.  Please complete the bottom portion and return it to school ASAP.  Thank you!
• Our field trip to Powell Symphony Hall is next Wednesday, October 10.  If you have not turned in your child's permission slip/money, please send it with your first grader this week.  Thank you!  If you are not sure whether or not you already sent it in, please send me an email, and I will let you know.

A day in the life of your first grader:

• Shared Reading-We read the book The Chick and the Duckling.  I introduced the short i vowel sound, and we highlighted words in the text with the short i sound.
• Word Work-I introduced Week 6 spelling words, and your first grader wrote them 2 times each.  They should have brought them home in their folder today.  IMPORTANT:  If you use www.spellingcity.com to practice the words each week, please note that words 6-10 listed under Week 6 are not necessarily going to be on Friday's test.  The lists on spelling city are my lists from last year.  So from now on, remember that words 1-5 on each list are the words on the test.  The other 5 words will always come from past weeks and word family words.  Eventually, I will also test them over words that I notice them consistently misspelling in their writing pieces.
• Daily 5/Guided Reading- I met with my guided reading groups today while the rest of the students went to their Daily 5 Centers. We discussed the rules and procedures for guided reading time.  We also talked about the Beanie Baby Reading Strategies.  I will be sending home these same strategies at our conferences.  I was VERY pleased with how well our first graders did on this first "real" day of Daily 5/Guided Reading.
• Math-We practiced making 10 today with different combinations of numbers.  We also used the order property at our math centers.
• Science-In our online science book we read about the 4 seasons and focused on spring.  Then we labeled and colored different trees showing the 4 seasons.