We have been so busy in room 123 and can tell that fall is here! I cannot believe that we have been in school 8 weeks! The children have already learned so much. I am so proud of them and want to thank you for your support and help at home!
I hope you enjoyed looking through your child's writing portfolio this weekend. The children were so excited to bring them home and share them with you! Writing Portfolio's will come home at the end of every month for you to see.
We are dong a great job working during our literacy block. Our small groups are working extremely hard. I have added more homework stories for red and yellow groups to practice reading at home. If you will notice I put a sticky note on the story we are reading this week. Please do not go ahead but feel free to go back and review old stories. I usually add 4-5 stories at a time. If you have questions about your child's reading please do not hesitate to set up a conference or e-mail me. I will be more than happy to sit down and talk with you.
Our Accelerated Reader (AR) testing is going great! Thank you for continuing to send in sticky notes when your child is ready to test. I hope the AR reports that I send home on Friday are helpful in showing you what tests your child has taken and how well they are comprehending. If you have any problems understanding the reports let me know I will be glad to go over them with you.
I introduced asking sentences this week. This grammar rule will be our focus for two weeks. You can help at home by talking about the difference in an asking sentence and a telling sentence. Give examples and let your child tell you if a period or a question mark would go at the end of the sentence. This can be a tricky concept so extra practice at home would be great!
We are continuing to practice addition facts in the classroom. I made each child their own set of doubles flascards. When they have memorized the doubles and can recite them "quickly" without counting on fingers, I have a special treat for them. PLEASE practice ALL your flashcards for a few minutes every night. (right after you read WITH your child for 20 minutes.;))
Monday, October 6th is a holiday. Enjoy your long weekend! I will be sending home permission slips for Charlotte's Web next Tuesday. Please return these on Wednesday. Also, our First Grade t-shirts will be here next week. The children may wear these t-shirts on spirit days, field trip days, and days when we have a guest speaker. I will let you know the days we have guest speakers. Scholastic book orders came in last Friday. I will be sending home a new book club order home on Tuesday, book orders will be due on Friday, October 10th. Thank you to everyone who ordered books, I was able to get 8 new books for our classroom library! YEA!
Thought for the week ~ No one can do everything, but everyone can do something!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
September 22-26, 2008
Happy Fall!
This week in reading our whole group focus sound is "N" as in Nightingale. The focus of our writing jobs will be all about birds this week. On Friday of this week the children will bring home their "Writing Portfolio" for you to see what they have done this month. Please LEAVE all papers in and return it to school on Monday.
Our AR testing is going really well. Please make sure you are reading with your child each night so they will be ready to test the next day. I think it's reasonable to say that all children should be able to take at least 3 tests a week. Of course some may be able to take more than that. The focus is to make no less than 80% on the test. This is a wonderful indicator of comprehension. Along with the 20 minutes of reading each night, read the latest Read Well homework sheet in the back of the take home notebook. Remember, this should be read smooth and fluent, because it is familiar text. If your child is in the green reading group, they will not have any Read Well stories in their take home notebook.
We started working on Grammar Rule 8 this week: When writing days of the week always begin with a capital letter. Please continue to go over DOL and remember it is turned in for a grade on Friday.
Addition and subtraction are still the focus in math. This week we will learn how to use a number line to add and subtract. Continue to practice your addition flash cards EVERY night! So far we have covered adding 0, 1, 2 and doubles.
We have started having math centers, but they are not as structured as Reading Centers. The time in math centers will allow me to work with individuals or small groups on skills that need reinforcing or working on math facts. The children really enjoy math centers.
Thank you all for joining Blount Elementary PTA. Our class has reached 100%!!
Book orders should come in next Monday or Tuesday. Thank you for ordering books! Our class recieved 6 new free books from book orders. Yea!
Have a great week!
This week in reading our whole group focus sound is "N" as in Nightingale. The focus of our writing jobs will be all about birds this week. On Friday of this week the children will bring home their "Writing Portfolio" for you to see what they have done this month. Please LEAVE all papers in and return it to school on Monday.
Our AR testing is going really well. Please make sure you are reading with your child each night so they will be ready to test the next day. I think it's reasonable to say that all children should be able to take at least 3 tests a week. Of course some may be able to take more than that. The focus is to make no less than 80% on the test. This is a wonderful indicator of comprehension. Along with the 20 minutes of reading each night, read the latest Read Well homework sheet in the back of the take home notebook. Remember, this should be read smooth and fluent, because it is familiar text. If your child is in the green reading group, they will not have any Read Well stories in their take home notebook.
We started working on Grammar Rule 8 this week: When writing days of the week always begin with a capital letter. Please continue to go over DOL and remember it is turned in for a grade on Friday.
Addition and subtraction are still the focus in math. This week we will learn how to use a number line to add and subtract. Continue to practice your addition flash cards EVERY night! So far we have covered adding 0, 1, 2 and doubles.
We have started having math centers, but they are not as structured as Reading Centers. The time in math centers will allow me to work with individuals or small groups on skills that need reinforcing or working on math facts. The children really enjoy math centers.
Thank you all for joining Blount Elementary PTA. Our class has reached 100%!!
Book orders should come in next Monday or Tuesday. Thank you for ordering books! Our class recieved 6 new free books from book orders. Yea!
Have a great week!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
September 15 - 19, 2008
I hope everyone had a nice weekend! We are going to be busy, busy in room 123 this week. Tomorrow we will have a guest speaker from the Montgomery Humane Society come and talk to us about Bite Prevention and Animal Safety. I think the children will really enjoy her presentation. We will also be talking about our "Names" this week and how we got our names. I can't wait to read the book "Chrysanthamum" to the children! It is one of my favorites! After reading the book the children will have a special homework assignment to do at home this will not be due until Thursday. I hope you are continuing to read each night as well as working on memorizing addition facts. We finished Chapter 3 in Math and will begin Chapter 4 tomorrow still working on Subtraction. In Language we will be focusing on Grammar Rule 7 ~ The names of specific places begin with capital letters. Please continue to go over your child's DOL each night. Also if you have noticed several units of Read Well homework in your child's notebook it is because so often we go through a Unit quickly and I don't always have time to put each unit's homework stories in the notebooks. You will know what unit to study by looking at the sheet that tells what the last unit your child passed was. I will continue to put 5 units or so at a time in the notebook. As always go back and re-read old units. Re-reading not only helps increase fluency and comprehension, it is so motivating for the children. If you have any questions or concerns about your child's reading or anything at all please don't hesitate to contact me!
I will be sending Scholastic Book Club orders home on Monday the 15th. If you would like to purchase any books you may do so online or by filling out the order form and returning it to me by this Friday, September 19th. If you send your order in to me please include a check for the correct amount made payable to Scholastic. There is no obligation to order books from book clubs!
Have a great week! I will post pictures from the Arboretum and the Humane Speaker sometime this week!
I will be sending Scholastic Book Club orders home on Monday the 15th. If you would like to purchase any books you may do so online or by filling out the order form and returning it to me by this Friday, September 19th. If you send your order in to me please include a check for the correct amount made payable to Scholastic. There is no obligation to order books from book clubs!
Have a great week! I will post pictures from the Arboretum and the Humane Speaker sometime this week!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
September 8-11, 2008
I want to begin by thanking everyone for attending Open House. I hope when you left you felt it was time well spent. I know it was a lot of information to go over in such a short time period. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns about anything we went over or anything at all concerning your child. Again, thank you for attending!
Our mandatory MPS field trip is to the arboretum on Tuesday. And then in October we get to see Charlotte's Web!! We are all so excited and have started our book study. I think after reading the book together and completing our book study the children will see so much more about this classic than just the basics. If you have not sent in your money for Charlotte's Web please do so by this Wednesday, September 10. We must send all money in to the ASF to hold our reservations. This trip is non-refundable.
If you have not joined PTA, PLEASE join. We want our class to be at 100%! Remember that friends, grandparents and even aunts and uncles can join. The cost is $10.00 per membership. Help our class reach our 100% goal. Thanks!!
We will continue our Reading Groups this week. We will focus on Grammar Rule 6 for our DOL sentences. In Math we will begin Chapter 3 (Subtraction) I will send a parent letter home tomorrow. Continue to practice flashcards!!! Also, please read your child's AR book with them, ask them questions and then read it again. When they are ready to test, send a sticky note saying ready to test.
Also, I will be out on Wednesday, September 10. Mrs. Lynn Higgins will be the substitute. She has worked in my room MANY times and is very familiar with my classroom procedures and routines. I am sure the children will love her just as much as I do. I will be attending a Debbie Miller workshop on Reading in Birmingham......and I am soooo excited! I love Debbie Miller and her books. I can't wait to meet her and listen to her speak. I promise I will come back with tons of wonderful ideas!
Mid Term Progress reports will come home on Thursday. Please sign these and return them to school on Friday.
Have a great week.
Our mandatory MPS field trip is to the arboretum on Tuesday. And then in October we get to see Charlotte's Web!! We are all so excited and have started our book study. I think after reading the book together and completing our book study the children will see so much more about this classic than just the basics. If you have not sent in your money for Charlotte's Web please do so by this Wednesday, September 10. We must send all money in to the ASF to hold our reservations. This trip is non-refundable.
If you have not joined PTA, PLEASE join. We want our class to be at 100%! Remember that friends, grandparents and even aunts and uncles can join. The cost is $10.00 per membership. Help our class reach our 100% goal. Thanks!!
We will continue our Reading Groups this week. We will focus on Grammar Rule 6 for our DOL sentences. In Math we will begin Chapter 3 (Subtraction) I will send a parent letter home tomorrow. Continue to practice flashcards!!! Also, please read your child's AR book with them, ask them questions and then read it again. When they are ready to test, send a sticky note saying ready to test.
Also, I will be out on Wednesday, September 10. Mrs. Lynn Higgins will be the substitute. She has worked in my room MANY times and is very familiar with my classroom procedures and routines. I am sure the children will love her just as much as I do. I will be attending a Debbie Miller workshop on Reading in Birmingham......and I am soooo excited! I love Debbie Miller and her books. I can't wait to meet her and listen to her speak. I promise I will come back with tons of wonderful ideas!
Mid Term Progress reports will come home on Thursday. Please sign these and return them to school on Friday.
Have a great week.
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