Thank you Mrs. Freitag for taking time out of your busy day to be our Mystery Reader! We loved listening to you read!
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Clues 2 and 3 for our October Mystery Reader
I love to eat Halloween cookies.
I have a son in kindergarten.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Weekly Update
Hello Families,
We had a busy week! We had an All School Meeting, Vision and
Hearing Screening, and some last minute conference preparations. The kids were
very excited to decorate their conference folder for you. J
Math
Our focus is ADDING. We assessed sums of 10
today and will start our new unit on Monday. Topic 6 is all about basic facts
to 12. We have already started 1 minute fact tests. Each child will start on
adding zero and progress at his/her own pace. Flashcards will be given out at
conferences to help move students along at a quicker pace.
Reading Workshop
Our retelling unit has been lots of fun. We are
hearing many different fairy tales and identifying the characters, setting,
beginning, middle, and end of the story. We also share this information using
sentence frames such as, “In the beginning of the story ______________. We are requiring
children to speak in complete sentences and support their response with
evidence from the text. Having this expectation at home during conversations
will help their academic language and push their learning forward.
Good Fit Books
Most children at this age have trouble
identifying good fit books independently. Please be sure your child is reading
good fit books at home. If they are hard to find the little books that come
home every few days are perfect! J
***Look for the following characteristics when
helping your child find a "just right" book: It is read not too fast,
but not too slow. He/she knows all or most of the words. The topic is age
appropriate.***
Writer’s Workshop
We are working like authors during writing
workshop. Our writer’s know to start a new story, add to a previous story, or
add to a previous drawing when we begin each day. We learned that Stretchy the
Snake can help us spell as much as he helps us read. Writers should listen to
each sound in the word and write a matching letter and move on. Spelling
shouldn’t get in the way of all of our good writing ideas. J Encourage your
child to do this at home as well. Taking risks is one way to move a learner
forward.
Word Workshop
We successful finished out first official
phonics unit. This unit taught l family
blends. Students should be able to spelling any regular CCVC word that begins
with an l blend. Examples are: plot, plan, glad, clam, flop. We had our first
word work assessment this afternoon and those will be sent home next week. A
weekly spelling list will not be coming home, because the focus is about
spelling words correctly based on pattern and sounds instead of memorizing
words. A letter about our new phonics program will be given out at conferences.
This Week I Really Learned!
This week we brainstormed what we learned in a
T.W.I.R.L. web. Each student was required to write at least one sentence on
his/her own. We also are following the friendly letter format. Each week your
child’s letter should have the date, a gretting, a sentence or 2, a closing,
and a signature. We’ll work on placement later. For now we just want all of the
part of the friendly letter in the letter. J From now on the line leader of the
week will be taking our class T.W.I.R.L. chart home. J Thank you for
taking time to write to your child. Please try to write back to your child
whenever possible. They love hearing your letters during snack time.
Practice Packets
The yellow practice packet is due on Monday, and the
white packet that was sent home today will be due next Friday!
Message from the Custodial Staff:
The heat is now on! J
Enjoy your weekend!
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Weekly Update
Hello Families,
We had a very productive short week. Enjoy the
extra family time over the long weekend! I’m looking forward to seeing you at
your child’s upcoming conference. Please call or email if you need a
confirmation of your time. J
Our class tied Mrs. Grams’s class for the most
Panther Pride class cards in First Grade! Both classes earned 9 cards for
following school expectations! Way to go! J
Math
Our focus is ADDING. We are currently working on
sums of 10 and missing addends to make 10. We will finish the topic on Wednesday
and take the topic test on Thursday. Topic 3 tests will be shared at
conferences.
Soon we will be staring timed basic fact tests
to sums of 12. You are welcome to start with adding 0 and 1 at home if you
wish! J
Reading Workshop
We have officially launched our Reading Workshop
and have begun our first unit on retelling with a Fairy Tale theme. So far your
child has learned how to do a 5-finger retell and several characteristics of
Fairy Tales.
Good Fit Books
Most children at this age have trouble
identifying good fit books independently. Please be sure your child is reading
good fit books at home. If they are hard to find the little books that come
home every few days are perfect! J
***Look for the following characteristics when
helping your child find a "just right" book: It is read not too fast,
but not too slow. He/she knows all or most of the words. The topic is age
appropriate.***
Word Workshop
We reviewed short vowels and will begin our
first unit next week. The first unit focuses on l blends. Be on the lookout for
words with l blends and see if your child can identify them. Examples: flag,
glad, slip…
This Week I Really Learned!
This week we brainstormed what we learned in a
T.W.I.R.L. web. Each student was required to write two sentences that started
with “I learned ______________. Students could take ideas from our web or
finish the sentence on their own. From now on the line leader of the week will
be taking our class T.W.I.R.L. chart home. J Thank you for taking time to write
to your child. Please try to write back to your child whenever possible. They
love hearing your letters during snack time.
Social Studies
We are wrapping up our mini unit on communities.
See if your child can tell you all of the communities that he/she is part of
starting with Earth and ending with the city your family lives in.
Practice Packets
The blue practice packet is due on Monday, and the
yellow packet that was sent home today will be due the following Monday, due to
no school this Friday.
Message from the Custodial Staff:
With the weather beginning to change in the next
couple of days, dipping to a high of 52* by Sunday, I urge all of you to dress
for the weather. This may mean layers as
the temperature in the buildings will not be that of the outdoor air.
As in years past, the boilers are not
functioning at this time as we are making necessary repairs and code
requirements so they remain in safe operating condition.
Keep an eye on the weather and temperatures and
please dress accordingly.
Enjoy your weekend!
Friday, October 11, 2013
Friday Update
Hello Families,
October is underway and we’re preparing for
conferences in a couple of weeks. Final conference times were sent home on
Thursday. Please let me know as soon as possible if you are unable to make your
time. Most of my evening slots are full, but I have many options on Friday if
you need to reschedule.
Math
Our focus is ADDING. We are getting it, but the
concept is still tricky to some. Using everyday examples of adding would be
very helpful if your child is struggling. We use adding in the morning when we’re
counting hot and cold lunches by counting the number of lunches and then adding
the 1 or 2 that forgot their lunch stick. We then say the number sentence: (EX.
18 + 1 = 19)
We took our Topic 3 check today on making 6, 7,
8, and 9 from two parts. We will begin Topic 5 on Monday which focuses on sums
of 5 and 10.
Soon we will be staring timed basic fact tests
to sums of 12. You are welcome to start with adding 0 and 1 at home if you
wish! J
Reading Workshop
This week learned to share our thinking about
texts. Students used post-its with a
heart, exclamation mark, a smile face, and a question mark to identify parts of
text that we loved, had strong feelings about, made us laugh, or wondered
about. This would be a great way for your child to discuss a book at home with
you too!
We also reviewed identifying good fit books and
the three reading strategies we’ve learned so far: Stretchy Snake, Lips the
Fish, and Eagle Eye.
Good Fit Books
Most children at this age have trouble
identifying good fit books independently. Please be sure your child is reading
good fit books at home. If they are hard to find the little books that come
home every few days are perfect! J
***Look for the following characteristics when
helping your child find a "just right" book: It is read not too fast,
but not too slow. He/she knows all or most of the words. The topic is age
appropriate.***
Word Workshop
We are reviewing short vowel (CVC) words. First
graders should be able to decode any regular CVC word. Even for First Graders
that are reading, phonics review is very important. The little books are great
practice for fluency. The students can choose to leave them at school in their
books boxes or take them home for practice. Our review will continue next week,
and we will begin our first non-review unit which will focus on l-family
blends: fl, sl, bl, gl, pl.
This Week I Really Learned!
This week we brainstormed what we learned in a
T.W.I.R.L. web. Each student was required to write two sentences that started
with “I learned ______________. Students could take ideas from our web or
finish the sentence on their own. From now on the line leader of the week will
be taking our class T.W.I.R.L. chart home. J Thank you for taking time to write
to your child. Please try to write back to your child whenever possible. They
love hearing your letters during snack time.
Social Studies
We have been learning about communities. We described
a community as a group of people that could be very large or very small. So far
we’ve identified communities we’re part of from largest to smallest: Earth,
North America, United States, and Minnesota. We’ll talk next week about our
city/town communities.
Fire Safety
The Glencoe Fire Department visited Helen Baker on
Tuesday. Your child is bringing home a Fire Safety care package today. The
message from the fire department is to be sure to change your smoke alarm
batteries twice a year and have a family meeting place in case of a fire in
your home.
Message from the Custodial Staff:
With the weather beginning to change in the next
couple of days, dipping to a high of 52* by Sunday, I urge all of you to dress
for the weather. This may mean layers as
the temperature in the buildings will not be that of the outdoor air.
As in years past, the boilers are not
functioning at this time as we are making necessary repairs and code
requirements so they remain in safe operating condition.
Keep an eye on the weather and temperatures and
please dress accordingly.
Enjoy the Homecoming festivities this weekend!
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Monday, October 7, 2013
Friday, October 4, 2013
Friday Update
Hello Families,
We successfully made it through the first month
of school, and have officially welcomed fall and October! We are busy learning
a lot every day. I hope all of our new reading and math skills are evident at
home! J
Math
Our focus is ADDING. This is a challenging concept
for some. We talk about adding in terms of two parts. We have studied the ways
to make 6, 7, 8, and 9 from two parts. This week we really dug into the
academic vocabulary of adding. Please use these terms at home when talking to
your child about math: Sum (answer to an addition problem), Addends (the two
numbers that make the sum), plus sign, equals sign, and number sentence. (2 + 5
= 7)
We had a little fun with a song about addends and sums.
Soon we will be staring timed basic fact tests
to sums of 12. You are welcome to start with adding 0 and 1 at home if you
wish! J
Reading Workshop
We are reading like crazy during reading
workshop. This week we practiced reading with a partner. Ask your child what
E.EK.K. stands for and how a book should be held when reading with a buddy. We
also review concepts of print. Our new learning was checking for understanding
with a reading partner. We used sentence frames, “I noticed________________.” And
“I heard ________________.” Please encourage your child to use complete
setneces like these at home and explain why.
Good Fit Books
***Look for the following characteristics when
helping your child find a "just right" book: It is read not too fast,
but not too slow. He/she knows all or most of the words. The topic is age
appropriate.***
Word Workshop
We are reviewing short vowel (CVC) words. First
graders should be able to decode any regular CVC word. Even for First Graders
that are reading, phonics review is very important. The little books are great
practice for fluency. The students can choose to leave them at school in their
books boxes or take them home for practice.
Our new sight words are: small, will, bull, and
duck. Please practice with the flashcards that were sent home daily. Knowing
these words in 3-5 seconds is so important in their reading development.
Writing
Writer's Workshop
We began Writer's Workshop this week. We learned that we are all authors and we should write about things that matter to us. Here we are working hard as authors.
This Week I Really Learned!
Today your child will be bringing home his/her
T.W.I.R.L. book for the fourth time. This week we brainstormed what we learned
in a T.W.I.R.L. web. Each student was requried to write one sentence that
started with I, We, or Miss Grimes, and then finish the sentence with an idea
from the chart. Thank you for taking time to write to your child. We were able
to enjoy some of the letters during snack break this week. They loved hearing
your written words.
Message from the Custodial Staff:
With the weather beginning to change in the next
couple of days, dipping to a high of 52* by Sunday, I urge all of you to dress
for the weather. This may mean layers as
the temperature in the buildings will not be that of the outdoor air.
As in years past, the boilers are not
functioning at this time as we are making necessary repairs and code
requirements so they remain in safe operating condition.
Keep an eye on the weather and temperatures and
please dress accordingly.
Have a fabulous and relaxing weekend!
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