Newsletter Volume 23

Math-Last week we finished up working with our plane (2D) shapes. We worked on describing them using our defining attributes, such as number of sides, corners or vertices, parallel or intersecting lines. Then, we talked about congruent shapes. These are shapes that are same shape and same size.

Daily 5- Last week we focused on “Retelling the story in sequential order” which is one of our Comprehension strategies. We also worked on “Listening to fluent, expressive reading” which is one of our Fluency strategies.

Wilson Fundations- We continued working on our new glued sounds. Our new sounds are /ang/, /ing/, /ung/, and /ong/. Have your child tell you the letter, keyword, sound for each of these four new sounds.

Martin Luther King Jr.- We learned a lot about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We talked about our schema, what we already know, and then read many books and sang songs to find out more information about this very important man. Ask your child what they learned about him.

Important Information:

-Geo Animals- Keep working on your Geo-Animals. I can’t wait to see what they look like. Try to make them look as real life and take your time. If you need some materials or assistance, please let me know as soon as possible. To see some of the pictures of Geo-Animals from my class last year go to my blog at:  http://missbethelsfirstgradeclassroom.blogspot.com/.

- Team Time- Last week we started Team Time. This is where we divide up students into differentiated groups, based on a specific area of focus they need to work on. It is very important for your child to get to school on time. We start first thing right after the bell at 9:20. See the back of this sheet for the new class schedule.

- Homework- Please make sure your child’s homework is being turned in on time, completed, and with their name on it. Each week, there are many papers without names on it and I want to give credit to the students for turning in their work. Thank you for your help with this!

Homework for the week of January 28th

Math and Geo-Animal Project	Complete attached Math Expressions page: 6-14 (Homework- front and Remembering- back) Make sure start working on the Geo-Animal Project. Try to make it look as real life as possible. If you need any materials, please let me know. The project is due Friday, February 22nd.
Spelling	Sight Words this Week: two      about     into     help     home  Your child needs to choose 2 of the 6 activities listed.  In addition, they should also read the sight words to a parent each night. Pick 2 of the choices below: *Write each sight word 3x each. *Use each sight word in a sentence. *Rainbow write your words in 2 colors for each word. *Write your sight words in ABC order. *Write each word neatly. Trace over all the vowels in each word with a blue crayon. *Write a story and use each of your sight words. Underline each word as you use it in the story.
Reading	Read your “Book in a Bag” to Mom or Dad. Parents complete the Parent Participation Sheet. Your child should continue to read their “Book in a Bag” several times throughout the week. *Use the Fiction/Non-Fiction Retelling Star.  We have been using this in the classroom to help with our retelling.  When your child is retelling the story, have them use this star to assist them.
How to Story	Have your child read the steps for “How to make a Sandwich.” Then have them cut out the steps and glue them in the correct order. Have them reread the steps to you make sure they are in the correct order and reread to work on fluency.

Geo Animal Zoo from last year!

Here are some of the pictures from last year's Geo Animal Zoo! The students did an amazing job!!!

Newsletter Volume 22

Math-Last week we worked on composing 2D shapes using triangles, trapezoids, parallelograms, and hexagons to create a composite shape and compose new shapes from the composite shapes. So we were able to put to 2 trapezoids together to make a hexagon, or 2 triangles to make a parallelogram. Have your child tell you come of the new shapes they made by combining shapes together.

Writing- We continued to work on our “How to…” writings. They began working on their own stories and we were checking for complete sentences, the correct steps to do their how to with lots of specific details and using sequential words like first, second, third, and fourth, or first, next, then, and last.

Daily 5- We have started to use our fiction and non-fiction retelling stars when are done reading the story and we use this as an aid to help us retell the story.

Wilson Fundations- We finished up our unit where we tap out the baseword or root word and then blend in the suffix “s”. Then we started our new unit where we are working with the glued sounds: “ung, ong, ing, and ang.” I sent home a parent letter last week with more information about this new unit. Since these are glued sounds, they cannot be tapped out separately. Instead they are tapped with 3 fingers together. So for the word “rang” it would be /r/ to the index finger and then /ang/ would be tapped with the middle, ring, and pinky fingers together.

100^th day of school! -Our 100^th day of school was last Thursday. Everything we did that day involved the number 100! We first saw how long 100 seconds really was and did 100 jumping jacks. We even read 100 books that day! WOW! We did lots of fun activities like finding things that were shorter, longer, and exactly 100 centimeters, wrote about how we are 100 days smarter, made a cool picture using the numbers 1-0-0 and even made a self portrait of what we think we will look like when we are 100 years old. It was a very fun day! Check out some of our 100^th day activities in the hallway!

Important Information:

-Geo Animals- There will an information sheet coming home on Wednesday about the “Geo Animal Project.” This will be a project that you and your child will complete and make the project at home, using 3D shapes. We will do the research and type up the report at school.

Homework for the week

Math	Do the math worksheets: 2D Shape Hunt and Snowflake Problem Solving. For the 2D Shape Hunt, students should look around their house and outside for real world examples for all of the shapes listed. For example: The kitchen table would go under circle, if it is a circle. For the Snowflake Problem Solving, students need to show their work and use complete sentences to explain their thinking of what they did to solve the word problem.
Reading	Read for at least 10 minutes each night.  Write the title on this sheet. Tuesday ________________________________ Wednesday _____________________________ Thursday ________________________________
Wilson Fundations	Complete the Wilson Fundations sheet.  We have been working with the glued sounds /ang/, /ing/, /ong/, and /ung/. These glued sounds are marked with a box around it. They get tapped out as one sound, with 3 fingers together. *Please make sure this sheet is turned in on Friday with all of the other homework.

Newsletter volume 21

Math- We have continued to work on describing shapes using defining attributes. This is such things as: number of sides, number of corners (or vertices), straight lines vs. slanted lines, the number of angles, is it an open or closed figure, how many sets of parallel lines does it have, how many sets of interesting lines does it have, and is it a solid or plane shape. The plane shapes that we have been focusing on are: square, rectangle, circle, triangle, trapezoid, hexagon, and parallelogram or rhombus.

Writing- We worked on brainstorming our own activities that we can write how to stories about. Then together as a class, we did “How to carve a pumpkin.” We made sure that our details were in the correct order and were very specific. With this writing, we still need to make sure to write in a complete sentence and put capitals and periods where they belong.

New reading and word study groups- Based on assessments and observations from the first half of the school year, some of the students changed reading or word study groups. This is so I can best meet each student’s needs. Ask your child if they switched their reading or word study group.

“Soil Rocks!” Field trip- Last week with our in house field trip from “Science Fun for Everyone” we got to become scientist. We had Scientist Kristin lead us in lots of fun different activities. We learned about the 3 parts of the Earth: the crust, mantel, and core. We got to become geologist and find our very own rocks, minerals, and fossils. Then we got to use a classification chart and figured out what each item was. We also learned about different parts of the ground and got to explore some soil, looking for earth worms, humus, sand, and clay. We had a great time!

Important Information:

- Scholastic- Scholastic book orders will be due by Tuesday, January 22^nd. If you would like to order online, our class access code is G229M.

- Yearbooks- If you would like to order a Yearbook they will be $15.00 each and checks need to be made out to Lifetouch. They will be on pre-order till Friday, February 1^st.

- 100^th day of school- 100^th day of school is Thursday.  Make sure your child has their 100 items of something brought to school by Thursday!

- Book Fair- Banks will be having a book fair in the library. Families are welcome to attend on February 7^th from 6:00-7:30. If you are not able to make book fair night at Banks, your child will have to opportunity to buy books during the school day on February 7^th at 10:45. Last week in Friday Folders, a permission slip came home. This is if you want to give your child permission to read with the therapy dogs during the Book Fair Night.

Homework for the week of January 14th

Math and the 100th day of school	Do the math sheet “Which does not belong?” and then on the next sheet of paper write in a complete sentence and explain why that shape does not belong with the other 3 shapes. Our 100th day of school is Thursday.  I would like for your child to find 100 of something and bring it to school in a paper bag with their name on it.  We will practice grouping and counting it by 10’s, 5’s, and 2’s. Be as creative as you would like.  The possibilities are endless! *This assignment is due Thursday, since that is our 100th day of school!
Spelling and Writing	Sight Words this Week: out     so       are      going      away 1.       Practice writing each word 5 times in your best handwriting. (Use the blue handwriting sheet in the back of the homework folder to make sure lines are being used correctly.) 2.      Write a short story using all of the sight words for the week using the topic If I had 100 dollars (in honor of the 100th day of school).  Make sure the story makes sense and has complete thoughts, in addition to capitals and periods. (Please underline the sight words in the story.)
Reading	Read your “Book in a Bag” to Mom or Dad. Parents complete the Parent Participation Sheet. Your child should continue to read their “Book in a Bag” several times throughout the week.
Wilson Fundations	Complete the Wilson Fundations sheet.  We have been working with the “baseword and suffix /s/.” Read the directions and complete the sheet. We never tap out a suffix. We tap out the baseword, then blend it once, then blend it a second time with the suffix added to it. *Please make sure this sheet is turned in on Friday with all of the other homework.

Newsletter volume 20

Math- Last week we started our study on shapes. We were sorting shapes by different attributes, like lines vs. no lines, corner vs. no corners, symmetrical vs. non-symmetrical, straight lines vs. curvy lines. This week we will continue our study on shapes.

New Year’s Resolutions- We have been working on writing our New Year’s Resolutions.  Many of the students have some great resolutions that I am interested to see if they can be held to all year long.  Ask your child what they wrote for theirs.  We also have been working on making sure to include lots of details in their writing.  We talked about how we can take a boring story, that is lacking details, and how to make it more interesting and exciting. 

Writing- Peanut Butter Bird Feeders- The day we tracked in we read the book, “The After Christmas Tree.” With this story, we were able to do an interactive writing for a “How to make a peanut butter bird feeder”. Today, we followed our very specific steps and each student made a bird feeder.  We found that we are pretty good at giving directions on how to make this unique bird feeder.  We will continue working on “How to Writings.”

Important Information:

-Field Trip info. - This Thursday will be our in-house field trip. We will not need parent volunteers for this trip, but we will for our field trip in March. We will be having lunch as normal, so the lunch order for bag lunches was for our March trip. If you turned in money for both, I will get that back to you ASAP. Thanks!

- Thank you to all of the parents who donated items for our Peanut butter bird seed feeders. They turned out great and I hope the birds and squirrels enjoyed their winter snack!

- Accidents Happen!  They happen all the time, in many different places throughout the day.  Please make sure your child has an extra change of clothes in their book bag.  Make sure these clothes are appropriate for the winter weather and not the same ones from the beginning of the year in the summer time.  Thanks for helping out!

- Scholastic- Scholastic book orders will be coming home tomorrow. Check and order form will be due for all orders by Friday, January 22^nd.

- Yearbooks- Information about yearbooks went home in last week’s Friday Folders. They will be $15.00 each and checks need to be made out to Lifetouch. They will be on pre-order till Friday, February 1^st.

- 100^th day of school- 100^th day of school is right around the corner (next Thursday to be exact).  We will have fun 100^th day homework going home next week!  Be on the lookout!

- Book Fair- Banks will be having a book fair in the library. Families are welcome to attend on February 7^th from 6:00-7:30. If you are not able to make book fair night at Banks, your child will have to opportunity to buy books during the school day on February 7^th at 10:45.

- Principal’s Blog- If you have questions about school assignment for next year, safety measures at our school, or important dates. See Mrs. Graf’s blog at http://banksprincipal.blogspot.com/ for more information.

Homework for the week of January 7th

Math	Complete the 2 sheets on time and the Math Expressions page 5-3 Homework (front) and Targeted Practice (back)
Spelling	Sight Words this Week: been       by        who      mom    when   *As the year progresses, we will be creating a list of sight word activities that your child can choose from each week. Your child needs to choose 2 of the 6 activities listed.  In addition, they should also read the sight words to a parent each night. Pick 2 of the choices below: *Write each sight word 3x each. *Use each sight word in a sentence. *Rainbow write your words in 2 colors for each word. *Write your sight words in ABC order. *Write each word neatly. Trace over all the vowels in each word with a blue crayon. *Write a story and use each of your sight words. Underline each word as you use it in the story.
Reading	Read your “Book in a Bag” to Mom or Dad. Parents complete the Parent Participation Sheet. Your child should continue to read their “Book in a Bag” several times throughout the week.
Wilson Fundations	Complete the Wilson Fundations sheet.  We have been working with the “baseword and suffix /s/.” Read the directions and complete the sheet. We never tap out a suffix. We tap out the baseword, then blend it once, then blend it a second time with the suffix added to it. *Please make sure this sheet is turned in on Friday with all of the other homework.

Reminder:  Please return your assignments completed, including name on all of the homework, in your Homework Folder on Friday morning!  J

Newsletter volume 19

Welcome Back!  I hope everyone’s 2013 has started off with a bang.  I trust that everyone had a safe and peaceful winter holiday and a wonderful New Years!  I can’t wait to get back into the swing of things this week at school.

Important Information:

- Our specials will be as followed for the 3^rd quarter: Monday is Music, Tuesday is Art, Wednesday and Thursday is PE and Friday is Media.

- I know some people’s schedules change with the New Year.  Please let me know if you are interested in volunteering in the classroom.  If you are interested, please let me know what day(s) and time(s) and how many times a week/month you would like to come.  Thanks so much for everything you do!

- It’s COLD outside! Make sure your child is coming to school appropriately dressed with coats, gloves, scarves, etc. They will have to sit in a Kindergarten classroom during our recess time if they are not appropriately dressed.  Thanks for your understanding with this.

- Report cards went home the day we tracked out in November.  Please return the envelope as soon as possible.  Also, please let me know if you would like to schedule a conference to discuss your child’s progress.  I will be holding 3rd quarter conferences around mid February.

- Happy Birthday to Jacob McLamb(December 18^th) and Sammy Prout (December 27^th) who had December birthdays over our Track Out!  We hope you had a super one over Track out!

- Book-IT!- If you kept track of your books read over Track Out and filled out the December Book-It! please turn that in as soon as possible. January Book-It! will be coming home on Wednesday with all of the homework. The goal for January is to read 45 minutes a week. This will be due on Friday, February 1^st. 

Items needed for class this week:

This week we are reading the book “The After Christmas Tree” and we are going to be making peanut butter bird feeders.  Each child will need to bring in a pine cone in a gallon sized. Please put your child’s name on their bag with a sharpie marker. Please have this brought in by this Friday. We will also need a couple of jars of peanut butter and plastic knives to spread the peanut butter. Please write a note in the Home-School Connection if you are willing to donate either of these items.  Thank you so much in advance!

Homework for the week of January 2nd

Math	Complete Math Expressions page: 5-1 (Homework- front and Targeted Practice - back)
Writing	Write at least a 5 sentence story about your favorite thing you did over Track Out. Make sure to have capitals at beginning of sentences and for proper nouns, periods at end of sentences, and tap out the sounds for the words. Make sure to have your child reread over their story when they are done, to make sure they did not leave out any words and that it makes sense.
Reading	Read for at least 10 minutes each night.  Write the title on this sheet. Wednesday _____________________________ Thursday ________________________________