I hope everyone enjoyed their long holiday break!
We had a very exciting two days back to start off 2020. We discussed what a resolution is as well as the things we hope to accomplish in this year! I did share my exciting news with our class, I am expecting a baby boy in the spring! I will still be teaching the majority of the school year and when we have more information about when my leave will start and who will be teaching the last couple weeks of school, I will make sure all families are updated! The first graders were very sweet with the news and some had some "advice" that made me smile. We had our school Spelling Bee by grade, and our class representative, Mary, won for first grade! She will go on to compete against the winners of all of the other grades! Our whole class was so excited and proud to see her do so well! We also learned about the Invention Convention. A packet came home on Friday with lots of information after the students learned about it. This is an opportunity for kids to create something that solves a problem. They complete this at home and compete in school in February. If you did not get the packet and want more information just let me know! This week we are back to routines, and the kids are ready for it! Today (Monday) was a very normal day! We had our math and reading rounds. We are learning about non-fiction in reading and writing. We are starting to learn about what animals do in the winter such as hibernate, migrate, and adapt. Our class did finish earning our "class cookies" and were able to vote on a reward. They selected to bring stuffed animals to school. This will take place on Friday, January 10th that students are allowed one stuffed animal. If it is too big to fit on their desk as they complete work, please pick something else.
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We have lots of fun days planned this week!
Monday is reindeer day! We will learn about caribou, make reindeer food, and read reindeer stories. Tuesday is Grinch day! We will compare and contrast the book and movie. We will work with adjectives to describe the Grinch. Students are encouraged to wear green and try out some Whooville hair! Wednesday is Polar Express day! PJs are allowed, but please no slippers, we still need school safe shoes! We will be reading the book and watching the movie as well as drinking some hot cocoa. Thursday is Gingerbread day! We will read gingerbread books, do some graphing, and have our party! If you would like to contribute, please help by singing up to bring in something to decorate our gingerbread people! Families are welcome to join us for the party at 12:15! Friday we will wear our best Christmas sweater as we talk about elves! First grade will be hosting the All School Meeting at 2pm, families are allowed to come watch! On Friday, December 6th two important things will be coming home with your child.
The first one is a report card. This is the first trimester, so there are a few things I want to point out. First of all, not all areas are yet graded, because they have not been introduced. Also, some areas are still new. We have more to introduce and learn about that area. That means your child probably has not been able to earn all 3s. When a child is still learning about an area and has room before they have mastered it, they are still a 2. This is okay!!! It is not cause for alarm, we have 2/3 of the school year still to go. Also, our sNOw day folders will come home. These include activities for your child to choose from if there is a day called a "sNOw School Day". There is a lot of information about these days IN the folder coming home. I encourage you to look at the folder when it arrives. I arranged it so the information about sNOw School days is all together on the left and labeled "info", all the activities are sorted by subject on the right. Looking over this information will help alleviate confusion and concern, if you still have questions about the tasks I am available on the sNOw day (or beforehand of course!) It seems like winter may be creeping in early this year! It has been getting quite chilly for November! I just want to remind families that we still go outside to recess every day! The only exception, is if it is actively raining or if the "feels like" temperature is below 15 degrees. If it is snowing, we still go outside. If it feels like 20 degrees out, we still go outside! Please remember to send in the right gear for your first graders to enjoy being outside and not get cold.
When the snow arrives we will have some school rules in place about when students can go into the snow. They will need ALL snow gear: jacket, snow pants, mittens or gloves, hats, and winter boots. If they do not have the right gear, they will still be outside but they will only be allowed on the black top and not in the snowy areas. Also, when it comes time for the snow gear to come in, it is especially helpful for each student to have one re-usable bag to keep their own belongings in. This helps keep our classroom organized because there will be a lot of snow stuff that arrives! Parent teacher conferences are just around the corner! In the month of November we offer conferences to check in with each parent about how your child is doing so far in the school year. I will show you some assessments that have taken place, talk about how your child is adjusting within the classroom, and will give you ways to keep pushing your child forward to continue progress. If you have questions about anything in school this is a great time to bring them to me in a one on one setting.
If you have not already, please sign up, I look forward to talking with you! Just wanted to share a couple important dates for everyone! First of all our Halloween party is just around the corner! You are all welcome to join us for the party if you would like. Immediately after we have a school parade that many families attend. If you would like to take your child home right after, you are welcome to as long as you sign them out! Want to contribute to our party? Sign up on our list! Also, school pictures are coming home today! Due to high number of absences, we will retake our class picture. All school retakes will take place on November 6th. This is different from what was originally sent home! Mark your calendars if you want retakes or were one of the students who missed our picture day.
On a lighter note, today we wrapped up our Pumpkin Unit! We talked about what we would do with the biggest pumpkin. We had an investigation where students measured, weighed, and counted the seeds of their own group pumpkin! All students were able to bring a small bag home of pumpkin seeds as well. We ended the day making Pumpkin Pie in a cup! It was a sweet way to end the week together! In first grade we do use technology in different ways that is developmentally appropriate for students. I know some students really thrive and can be highly motivated when it comes to technology so I do like to find sources that are good for all students. You will often see different sites as homework options for the students who prefer it. Here are some sites are students are already familiar working with! The first site is RAZ kids. This is a site where students can read leveled books. They can listen to books, read them themselves, and answer comprehension questions. You are able to go on and connect a parent account, this will give you feedback such as the type of comprehension questions that are difficult for your student. They can earn points and make things like rockets, so the more they read the more fun things they can build. To get there, go to the RAZ kids site, our classroom code is smarzinzik, and the first graders have user names with picture passwords. These went home several weeks ago, but if a student forgets what their picture is, email me and I can look it up. Another site we have used is ABCya. The online website is free, the app is an extra charge. If you have a laptop or desktop this is the easiest way to use it. There are all types of games, however I especially like the math games. The newest game was introduced this week and is a popular favorite among my first graders. It is called Teach Your Monster to Read. This site is excellent for this place in your child's learning. It helps to solidify letters and sounds as well putting together words. There is no password set for this game, but you need to go to the special link that includes our classroom star code. The username is your child's first name, you just type it in with the first letter capitalized (for example "Bob").
Last week was our first homework assignment! So many first graders were ready to turn it in. Each week you will get a yellow folder and the new assignments on the tic tac toe board. You are always welcome to do more than 4, but 4 is typically the expectations, (if it is a short week I may change the number). I do ask that students complete three in a row, because I specifically place the assignments in a certain order.
Some things will be consistent, counting collections will always be an option. I ask that if you continue to select this, that your child counts DIFFERENT things. This week I sent home an article for the adults of your household to read. It demonstrates WHY counting collections is so meaningful. Have your students do this independently and watch how their counting grows throughout the year! I also like to send games home. This week is Top It. Save the game pieces if you enjoy it, because it will show up as an option again. I do not send the pieces to the games each time if they have already been sent home. ABC ya is a free online game. If you try to play on a tablet, it will become a paid game. If you go on to the website from a desktop of chrome book, this is a free program. RAZ kid passwords went home a couple weeks ago, most first graders have signed on independently by now and know their own password. Our classroom code is smarzinzik. If you have questions, please let me know! I hope you are using these options as a fun engaging way at home! Remember, first grade homework does not need to be painful! If it becomes a battle please let me know! We are really starting to get into some routines!
This week we started talking about our writer's workshop. Many students brought in their inspiration pages for writing, if you did not bring one in, feel free to bring it in next week! We will use this to inspire our "small moments" we will be creating. Our first graders completed the reading portion of our iReady assessment. This shows us what their strengths are and what areas to work on! We will take the path section next week. You will get to see the results at our parent teacher conferences in the fall. Students have started our reader's workshop! I am so impressed by so many of the first graders' reading stamina already! We learned about taking a "sneak peak" to learn about the book before we read. When you read with your first grader, try sneak peaks at home! After guessing what the book is about, we "check our sneak peak" by reading it. We have also been given reading partners. This is someone we practice reading with, and establishing our good habits together! We celebrated our butterflies today! We let a few go and said goodbye, and read some of my favorite butterfly books! We still have many chrysalis in our room to watch the progress! Some exciting things: Next week is Open House! I will be here and hope to meet each one of you! Also, we have the book fair at school, if you wanted to look at the books with your child, you can do that: Before School Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday 8:10-9:00 After School Monday-Thursday 3:00-3:30 Open House Thursday 9/19 6-7pm I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! |