Mystery Reader

Mrs. Borka was our second April Mystery Reader! We loved her book about the school being a zoo!

 

 

Weekly Update

Hello Families,

Spring WAS in the air! I really hope today was out last weather related school delay! The kids have done a FANTASTIC job with our new breakfast program. The clean-up part is still taking a little extra time, but overall it’s gone really well. I’m very proud of how quickly they adjusted to the new routine.

Math

Math Workshop and our money unit are up and running. The children LOVE math workshop. The shorter whole group lesson and additional small group lesson has helped with boredom and off task behavior. We are still working out a few tweaks, but overall it’s going well. Keep practicing with money at home. Be sure your child can name dimes, nickels, and pennies, and the value of each. They should practice counting half dollars, quarters, dimes, nickels, then pennies. We finished the last lesson today and will review on Monday. Our Topic assessment will be on Tuesday. Time and measurement are our next 2 units.

Reading Workshop

Great readers make inferences when they read. We make inferences when author’s clues and our schema come together to figure out what the author hasn’t told us. We practiced inferring how characters feel based on what they say and what they do. Ask your child about Little Rabbit’s Loose Tooth. We are also working on digging deeper into feelings than just happy or sad. We’ve worked on: proud, nervous, and unsure so far.

Writer’s Workshop

Our research reports are underway. We have researched all parts for our reports. Your child has found out what his/her animal eat, where it lives, and what it looks like. Each child is also looking for three interesting facts to include in the report. We will start final copies next week!

 

This Week I Really Learned!

Thank you for writing to your child each week. We really do enjoy hearing all of the letters written each week. I am only able to check some letters each week. If your child’s letter is not adequate you are more than welcome to have him/her re-write it at home and/or write a letter back to your child stating expectations for next time. J

Word Workshop

We began learning about r-controlled vowels this week. An r after a vowel changes the sound of a vowel. It is not long or short; it’s completely different. We worked with ar words this week: star, car, park, smart etc.

Grammar

We learned about antonyms and synonyms. Please try to use these words when talking about opposites and words that mean the same at home. Developing your child’s academic vocabulary will significantly enhance his/her learning.

Other

Tissues

We are out of tissues. If you have an extra box you’d like to send, we’d be very thankful! Thank you for those that have already come in! J Also, thank you to all of the families who sharpen pencils for us! I can’t tell you how much it helps us out every day. J

Water Bottles

Please remember that water bottles may only contain water. If you would like your child to drink something other than water at snack, please send a small amount (no more than 6 ounces) of a beverage that does not contain sugar. I’ve asked the students to bring their water bottles to school empty and fill them with water in the morning. I’m hoping this will eliminate the bathroom “emergencies” we’ve been having lately. Thank you very much for your help with this! J

Have a wonderful Easter weekend!

Weekly Update

Hello Families,

Spring is in the air! It’s been so nice to get rid of the boots and snow pants! Chaperone letters are being sent home today for our zoo field trip. We have 14 chaperones! This means you will have only one or two students to chaperone. It will be a great day at the zoo! J

Math

Math Workshop and our money unit are up and running. The children LOVE math workshop. The shorter whole group lesson and additional small group lesson has helped with boredom and off task behavior. We are still working out a few tweaks, but overall it’s going well. Keep practicing with money at home. Be sure your child can name dimes, nickels, and pennies, and the value of each. They should practice counting dimes, then nickels, then pennies. We will introduce the quarter next week.

Reading Workshop

Great readers make inferences when they read. We make inferences when author’s clues and our schema come together to figure out what the author hasn’t told us. We made inferences about pictures and what’s in Miss Grimes’s school bag! J

Writer’s Workshop

Our research reports are underway. Every child has an animal and at least one book to use for research. We started by researching what our animal looks like. We are doing a class animal as a model and then the students are sent off to work independently on their own animal. This is a guided research project.  Students will do most of the work independently, and will get assistance when I meet with their guided writing group once each week.

 

This Week I Really Learned!

Thank you for writing to your child each week. We really do enjoy hearing all of the letters written each week. I am only able to check some letters each week. If your child’s letter is not adequate you are more than welcome to have him/her re-write it at home and/or write a letter back to your child stating expectations for next time. J

Word Workshop

We learned about y as a vowel this week. We know that y can act as a vowel by itself and it can partner up with another vowel to make a vowel team and say the sound of the other vowel. They know that reading more will help identify the correct spelling by how the word looks when tried a variety of ways. J

Grammar

We reviewed number words as adjectives. Students should be able to read and spell number one through ten.

Other

Tissues

We are out of tissues. If you have an extra box you’d like to send, we’d be very thankful! Thank you for those that have already come in! J Also, thank you to all of the families who sharpen pencils for us! I can’t tell you how much it helps us out every day. J

Water Bottles

Please remember that water bottles may only contain water. If you would like your child to drink something other than water at snack, please send a small amount (no more than 6 ounces) of a beverage that does not contain sugar. I’ve asked the students to bring their water bottles to school empty and fill them with water in the morning. I’m hoping this will eliminate the bathroom “emergencies” we’ve been having lately. Thank you very much for your help with this! J

Report Cards

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about your child’s report card. I would be more than happy to answer them. J

Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Birthday!

Isaac!!

 

Weekly Update

Hello Families,

We made it without another snow day! Hopefully this will be the last snowfall this year. We had a great week and are getting excited for our zoo field trip coming up. We will be sending more information about chaperones soon, but you can assume if you paid the chaperone fee you will be able to come with us! J Only one chaperone per child is able to ride the bus and enter the zoo for the $10 admission fee.  

Math

We finished the week with our Topic assessment on comparing and ordering numbers to 100. Please keep practicing this skill at home. Monday, we are starting a unit on money. I am also going to change out math model and begin teaching with a workshop approach. This will be very similar to our reading workshop. We will begin each day with a 15-20 minute whole group mini lesson. During the next 45 minutes your child will meet with me for 15 minutes in a small group, complete a 15 minute math station and a 15 minute literacy station. Students who need extra support or enrichment will get that each day in their small group.

Reading Workshop

Great readers make inferences when they read. We make inferences when author’s clues and our schema come together to figure out what the author hasn’t told us. We will be working on inferring for the month of April.

Writer’s Workshop

We are starting to talk about our first grade research project. Each child will be researching an animal of his/her choice. If we do not have books at school on the chosen animal a different animal needs to be chosen or resources may be brought from home. These resources need to be for children, because they will be doing the research independently. We will complete an animal research report as a class before they will begin their own project.

 

This Week I Really Learned!

Thank you for writing to your child each week. We really do enjoy hearing all of the letters written each week. I am only able to check some letters each week. If your child’s letter is not adequate you are more than welcome to have him/her re-write it at home and/or write a letter back to your child stating expectations for next time. J

Word Workshop

We learned about the long i sound spelled with ye, ie, ind, int, and igh.The children know that there aren’t rules for many of these patterns. They know that reading more will help identify the correct spelling by how the word looks when tried a variety of ways. J

Grammar

We reviewed color words as adjectives. Students should be able to read and spell all basic color words: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, black, and pink.

Other

Tissues

We are on our last 3 boxes of tissues. If you have an extra box you’d like to send, we’d be very thankful! Thank you for those that have already come in! J Also, thank you to all of the families who sharpen pencils for us! I can’t tell you how much it helps us out every day. J

Water Bottles

Please remember that water bottles may only contain water. If you would like your child to drink something other than water at snack, please send a small amount (no more than 6 ounces) of a beverage that does not contain sugar. I’ve asked the students to bring their water bottles to school empty and fill them with water in the morning. I’m hoping this will eliminate the bathroom “emergencies” we’ve been having lately. Thank you very much for your help with this! J

Report Cards

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about your child’s report card. I would be more than happy to answer them. J

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

 

Birthday Girl's Mystery Reader Surprise!

It was Baylee's birthday and her mom surprised her as our April Mystery Reader... a fun surprise for all!

 

 

Mystery Reader

Our April Mystery Reader will be here tomorrow! Here are all three clues:

 

 

I have naturally dark, curly hair.

I wear multiple hats at my job, I’m a medical assistant (similar to a LPN), draw blood and have worked at the hospital.

I love to go for long walks (when it’s not hot and humid outside!).