Polar Express Day in Room 123!

December 16 - 20

We have had a lot of absences lately. Please do not forget to send in a note the day your child returns.  We are working hard at staying healthy, washing our hands and cleaning our desks.  Please keep your sweet firstie at home if they do not feel good. I know everyone wants to be well for Christmas!

Thursday, December 19th - Christmas Party and Green Grinch Day. The children can wear green to school and we will watch How The Grinch Stole Christmas before our party.

Reading- Unit 2 Week 2

Story Title- The Farmer in the Hat

Genre- Realistic Fiction

Amazing Words- group, soothe, share, borrow, rehearsal, respect, aquarium, and lines

Spelling- We will not test on this weeks spelling words.

age  cage  cake  face  late  made  make  name  safe  take  could  old

Word Wall Words- be  of  could  horse  old  paper

Language- We will focus on proper nouns this week but will continue to review common nouns, verbs, adjectives, complete sentences, subjects and predicates of sentence, declarative sentences, interrogative sentences and exclamatory sentences.

Math- Chapter 6- We will test Wednesday. Don’t forget to use your homework book for practice.

December 9 - 13

A big thanks to Charles and Chloe’s mom for taking the children to lunch while I enjoyed Teacher Treat Day in the library!!!

Please remember to send in $5 cash for the Christmas party scheduled for Thursday, December 19 from 1:30-2:15.  The children may also wear green that day and we will watch the movie How The Grinch Stole Christmas before our party.

Friday, December 13, the children may wear their pajamas to school and we will

 watch The Polar Express.  We will have a sweet treat to enjoy during the movie!

Our copier machines at school were not cooperating today so I didn't send home any reading homework or the Family Ties sheet for reading.  Hopefully these will both come home tomorrow!

Reading ~ Unit 2 Week 1     Story:  A Big Fish for Max   Genre:  Animal Fantasy

Amazing Words ~ chore, cooperation, commute, downtown, 

                household, rule, subway, display

Word Wall Words ~ catch, put, good, said, no, want

*A new spelling chart has been added to your child’s take home folder for Unit 2.

Vowel Sound in ball:  a, al            Consonant Digraphs sh, th

Spelling Words ~ fish, with, shop, ship, then, rush, trash, shut, shell, thin

Language ~ We will focus on Common Nouns {a word that names a person, place, animal, or thing}.  Common nouns start with a lowercase letter unless they are at the beginning of a sentence.  girl (person), classroom (place), dog (animal), and pencil (thing) are common nouns.  They are singular nouns that name one person, one place, one animal, and one thing.

Math ~ We will continue through Ch 6.  Please make sure you are reinforcing the lessons being taught in class using their practice workbook sent home at the beginning of the year.  Please refer to the math chart for the current lesson taught.  A review sheet will come home the night before the test. 

Reminders:

12/9 ~ Nancy’s Italian Ice $1.00

12/10 ~ Library lesson with Mrs. Morris

12/12 ~ Signed Papers

12/14 ~ Spirit Day at Tish’s Cupcakes

12/20 ~ Box Top Collecction

12/23 – 1/3 ~ Winter Break {NO SCHOOL}

1/6 ~ Children return to school

Please email me with any questions or concerns.  

Have a wonderful week!

Hugs!

Amy

Sharing Soup in November!

It's December!!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving break! It was so nice to have time to spend with family we don't get to see as often as we would like! However, I sure did miss my sweet little first grade friends!! We have a busy, busy month ahead! Full of fun and excitement!  Oh and how did you like that Iron Bowl?  ....WAR EAGLE!!!! {I just had to!}

December 2nd ~ 6th

Reminders: 

**Field Trip money must be turned in Monday. Please make your check for $17 payable to Blount Elementary.

Friday, December 6^th ~ Field Trip

We will leave Friday at 9:30 and return at 1:30. I will have a check out sheet with me if you would like to check your child out at the end of the field trip.

Friday, December 13^th ~ The children will wear their PJ’s to school and we will watch the Polar Express. I will need a couple volunteers to send chocolate milk, cups, and cookies. If you can help please let me know. Thanks!

Thursday, December 19^th- Christmas Party and Green Grinch Day ~ The children will wear green to school and we will watch How The Grinch Stole Christmas before our party. The party will begin at approximately 1:15

We have a lot going on in the next few weeks before Christmas. Please check your child’s take home folder EVERY night! What an exciting and fun time of the year!!

Reading- Unit 1 Review Week

We will review all of the vowels and sounds introduced in unit 1. You can reread the last 6 weeks of homework words and sentences for review.

Spelling-

No new Spelling words this week. 

Word Wall Words ~ No new words this week. Review all old words from the last 9 weeks.

Language ~ We will review nouns, verbs, adjectives, complete sentences, subjects and predicates of sentence, declarative sentences, interrogative sentences and  exclamatory sentences.

Math ~ Chapter 6 ~ We will begin Lesson 1 Monday. Don’t forget to use your homework book. We will not have a Math lesson Friday because of the field trip.

November 18 ~ 22

Reading- Unit 1 Week 6

We will focus on short u and final consonant blends. A review sheet to use as homework will come home Monday. The front has 10 sentences that come from the main selection story and the back has a list of words to practice.

Genre- Literary Nonfiction

Comprehension- Focus on character, plot, setting, main idea and important details.

Amazing Words- desert, forest, world, chatter, silent, snort, medicine, and poisonous

Spelling- Week 4

We will have a spelling grade every Friday. Two of the spelling grades will count as major grades and the rest will be minor grades in language. We will take 1 test grade before progress reports and 1 before report cards.

This weeks words:

crust bump jump must just dust trust dusk hunt lump many into

Word Wall Words- home into them many

Language- We will continue to review nouns, verbs, adjectives, complete sentences, subjects and predicates of sentence, declarative sentences and interrogative sentences. Our new skill is exclamatory sentences.

Math - We will complete Chapter 5. I will not give a Chapter 5 test from the book for this chapter.  Last week we did a daily grade on Fact Families and everyone did great! I will use that for our Chapter 5 test grade.

Please remember to send in your item by Tuesday for our "Sharing Soup." Have a wonderful week!

Hugs!

November 12 - 15

Everyone should have their  usernames and passwords to accesswww.pearsonsuccess.net  You will press login and enter your child’s username and password. Then you will click on “to do” in the top right hand corner to access the work the program assigned them based on what they missed on their test. We will not use these worksheets in class but it will be great homework for you to print and do at home.

Everyone is taking their reading test on the computers but we realize that testing on the computer is a skill, so anyone who scores below an A is also given the opportunity to take it on paper. We will then take the higher score and enter it into INow for their test grade. In signed papers you will receive a slip of paper with your child’s test grade. If you notice a test stapled to that paper, it is because they retook it on paper and scored higher. If you only receive the one slip of paper with a test grade recorded, that means they took the test on the computer and scored well, or they took the test on paper and scored lower than the computer test. I only record the highest score.

Reading- Unit 1 Week 5

We will focus on short e and initial consonant blends. A review sheet to use as homework was sent home today. The front has 10 sentences that come from the main selection story and the back has a list of words to practice.

Genre- Realistic Fiction

Comprehension- Focus on character, plot, setting, main idea and important details.

Amazing Words- habitat, hatch, survive, chirp, croak, and moist

Spelling- Week 4

We will have a spelling grade every Friday. Two of the spelling grades will count as major grades and the rest will be minor grades in language. We will take 1 test grade before progress reports and 1 before report cards.

This weeks words:

men  red  step  ten  net  leg  jet  sled  wet  bed  saw  your

Word Wall Words-

saw  small  tree  your

Language- We will continue to review nouns, verbs, adjectives, complete sentences, subjects and predicates of sentences and declarative sentences. Our new skill is interrogative sentences.

 Math- We will pick back up Tuesday with lesson 5.5.  Please use your workbook pages at home for homework!

Pumpkin Patch Pics!!

We had a wonderful time visiting the Pumpkin Patch last week.  Our day started off with a little rain, but that didn't stop all our sweet firsties from having a great time! Thank you so much to all our sweet parents who braved the weather and joined us!! I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful day!! Please check back to see what we will be learning in Room 123 this week!
Hugs!!

Happy November!

Happy November!! I can't believe it is already November!!

Important Reading Information ~ Please read carefully!

Recently I sent home usernames and passwords for you to access our reading series at www.pearsonsuccess.net at home.  You will click on login and enter your child's username and password.  We have started taking our weekly reading test on the computer.  The computer automatically scores the test and targets any skills they missed by assigning them activities they can complete at home.  Unfortunately we do not have enough time in class for this program to be utilized to its potential.  However, it can serve as an excellent resource at home! Please take advantage and allow your sweet firstie the opportunity to complete any "assignments" that are listed under the "to do" section.

Each student is taking the test on the computer.  I do realize that testing on the computer is a skill that is very new to many of our students.  Anyone who scores below an A will be given the opportunity to take the same test on paper.  The higher score will be entered into INow for their test score.  In signed papers, if your child made an A on the computer test you will receive a paper with their score written on it.  If your child had to take the test again on paper, you will receive the paper test also.  

READING ~ Unit 1 Week 4

This weeks story is A Fox and a Kit.  We will focus on inflected endings ~s and ~ing.  Please read the homework pages in your child's take home notebook to read and re-read every night.

Genre ~ Literary Nonfiction

Comprehension ~ character, plot, {beginning, middle, end}, setting, main idea and important details

Word Wall Words ~ eat, five, four, her, too

Spelling Words ~ sit, sits, win, wins, fit, fits, hit, hits, nap, naps, her, too

We will have a spelling test every Friday. Two of the spelling grades will count as major grades and the rest will be minor grades in language arts.  

LANGUAGE ~ We will continue to review nouns, verbs, adjectives, complete sentences, and identifying subjects and predicates in sentences.  This week the children will be introduced to declarative sentences.  A declarative sentence is a statement and ends with a period.  The DOL for this Friday will count as a major grade.

MATH ~ We will begin Chapter 5 this week.  Children will learn how addition and subtraction facts are related.  Please remember to look in your child's folder for math homework.

PUMPKIN PATCH FIELD TRIP INFORMATION

We will arrive at the Pumpkin Patch between 9:30 and 9:45 and leave around 1:00.  Adults will pay at the gate {$5.00}.  If you bring a sibling the cost is {$12.00} and will also be paid at the gate.  Please send the children in BLOUNT Spirit t-shirts, jeans and tennis shoes or boots.  If you plan to be a chaperone and want to take your child with you I will have the check out sheet for you to sign them out.  Also, it may be damp and/or muddy if you want to bring a beach towel that would be most helpful! The children are soooo excited and so am I!! We are going to have a wonderful time!!

IMPORTANT DATES!

11 ~ 6     PTA meeting at 6:00

11 ~ 7     FIELD TRIP TO THE PUMPKIN PATCH

11 ~ 11   Veteran's Day {No School}

11 ~ 13   Spirit Night at Zaxby's

11 ~ 14   Progress Reports

11 ~ 25 - 11 ~ 29  HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

PLEASE let me know if you have any questions or concerns!! Looking forward to a wonderful week!

Hugs!!

Amy

Red Ribbon Week!

Fun in First Grade!!

First grade is such a happy place! I love spending each day with these precious children! 

Weekly News in First Grade!

We are having a great time and learning so much in first grade!  Our first Scholastic book order should arrive tomorrow! Thank you to everyone who ordered books.  I will send order forms home each month.  Scholastic orders are completely voluntary!!

Reading- Review Unit R

We will review the word wall words for the last 6 weeks and all of the stories that we have read. 

Language- Review last 6 weeks

We will be reviewing nouns, verbs, and adjectives, statements and complete sentences.

Math- We will continue to work on Chapter 2 this week.  Please keep practicing your doubles and math facts 0-5.

Important Dates:

10/8 ~ Fall Pictures

10/10 ~Teacher Treat Day

10/14 ~ Columbus Day/NO SCHOOL!

10/17 ~ Fall Festival / Report Cards

11/7 ~ Dream Field Farms Pumpkin Patch

We will arrive at the Pumpkin Patch between 9:30-9:45 and leave at approximately 1:00. The cost will be around $20.00. This will include entry to the pumpkin patch, lunch, and the bus. For lunch we are having hot dogs, chips, fruit roll up and juice. I encourage any parents who want to attend a field trip this year to go. This will be the only field trip open to all parents. The rest of our field trips will be limited because of the number of tickets we get to the plays. The cost for adults will be $5 plus lunch if you choose to eat there. Adults will pay at the gate and meet us at the Pumpkin Patch. I will let you know when we know the exact amount for the students.

Centers in Room 123......So.Much.FUN!

Weekly News!

Yea for Fall!! I hope everyone had a great weekend! 

Our new lunchtime is from 11:10-11:30. You may wait for us by the front office!

Everyone should know their lunch number!
Please make sure to label ALL money with your child’s name and what it is for. 

I hope you are checking your child’s take home notebook daily and taking out all papers on the “keep at home” side.  Please make this a habit!

Library Books- Please make sure your child is bringing their book back everyday.  There are several times throughout the day that the children are encouraged to read their library book. Also, when your child is ready to take an AR test please be sure and write the name of the book in their AR log.

Tomorrow you will receive your first Scholastic Book Order form.  Book orders are strictly voluntary.  If you would like to order books this month you may do so online or fill out the order form and return it to me by this Friday with a check made payable to Scholastic.  Remember each time you order books we also receive books for our classroom!!

Reading ~  “Family Times” went home on Friday. On the back you will find optional homework to reinforce what is being taught at school.  We will read different genres this year and will focus on Realistic Fiction until mid October.

Word Wall Words- he  is  to  with  three

Amazing Words ~ Each week the children will be introduced to some "amazing words".  These are not words students will be expected to read or spell, but increase their oral vocabulary.  

This weeks words are: classmates, education, polite, principal, recess, science, applaud, complicated, and success.

Language ~ {Adjectives} Students are writing sentences daily as they learn that each sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a punctuation mark.  Are your children bringing home correctly written sentences?  I hope so!  This means they are paying attention in class and taking pride in their work.

Math ~ Ch.3 Please check your child’s folder daily to know what lesson to do for homework. I hope you are doing flashcards to practice doubles. It would also be a good idea to make flashcards for addition facts 0-5. We have been practicing them at school but reinforcement and practice is needed at home! 

Important Dates: 9/27~ Box Tops Due  10/3 ~ Teacher Treat Day10/8 ~ Fall Pictures10/14 ~ Columbus Day/NO SCHOOL!10/17 ~ Fall Festival/Report Cards

Thank you for sharing your greatest treasure with me! I am blessed!

Amy

Class News!

A HUGE THANKS TO PTA FOR PROVIDING US WITH AN UNEXPECTED APPRECIATION LUNCH FROM CHAPPY’S.  WE LOVE OUR PTA!!

I have a lot of housekeeping to go over so please make sure to read everything carefully!

We have some changes in our day to accommodate our new first grade teacher.  Our specialist is now everyday from 12:30-1:00.  The children are going to Mrs. Brand for computer. 

Tuesday is our library day so your child should be bringing a new library book home.  Also, library books should be brought to school each day as the children are always given multiple times throughout the day to look over it.  I will be sending a note home with information pertaining to Accelerated Reader along with a log the students will keep in their take home notebook so be on the look out for that this week. 

Please make sure your child knows their lunch number.  Numbers were sent home the first week of school.  Please let me know if you do not have one for your child so I can resend it.  Lunch numbers are also used to take Accelerated Reader {AR} tests and Math Facts In A Flash.

Are you wondering what I did with your child’s “All About Me” project.  I have placed them in a notebook that will start going home with each child this week.  Please look over it with your child the night it comes home and return it the very next day.  I hope you enjoy getting to know all your child’s first grade friends!  :)

Thanks for being patient with us as we transition to a smaller class and learn our new reading program.  I will try my best to answer any and all questions pertaining to the new reading program. 

READING ~ Oops!  I forgot to send home the “Family Times” newsletter about this weeks Reading story.  I will REMEMBER to send it home tomorrow, promise!  Reading tests are given every Friday morning during Reading.  These tests cannot be studied at home except for knowing their high frequency words.  Every other skill on the test is taught in class.  

WORD WALL WORDS ~ {are that they have too}  Please make sure your child can recall these words within a minimum of 3 seconds.  They will be assessed on knowing these words at random times throughout the nine weeks as a daily Reading grade.  I will place a “word wall list” for the entire year in your child’s take home notebook on tomorrow.  Please DO NOT REMOVE this.  It will need to stay in their notebook all year as a reference.  The students will simply look at a list of these words and recall them to me.  They will receive a (+) for words read correctly and a (-) for words read incorrectly.  They will only be responsible for knowing the words wall words up to that date.  Hope this makes sense!

AMAZING WORDS ~ Students are introduced to amazing words each day.  Students will not be assessed on these words.  The purpose is for the words to increase oral vocabulary.  By the end of the year your child will have been exposed to… drum roll… 281 amazing words!!!  This weeks words are amusing, neighbor, trouble, porch, introduce, corner, deliver,  and squirrel.

LANGUAGE ~ Students have been introduced to several new language skills so far.  They have learned about nouns {words that name people, places, things, animals} verbs {action words} and ABC order.  This week we will continue to focus on simple sentences {capital letter at the beginning and period or question mark at the end} 

DAILY ORAL LANGUAGE {DOL}  ~ Part of your child’s morning work is copying and editing sentences.  Each day your child is introduced to a “daily fix-it” sentence that they are given the opportunity to fix and write correctly.  This sentence should come home everyday for you to look over and praise or re-visit.  Each Friday, the students will be expected to fix each of the sentences for a daily language grade.  Remember, the sentences should not be unfamiliar to them since we have practiced them together in class.  Here is an example of a  sentence for this week:     Incorrect ~ Dot gat the doll        Correct ~ Dot got the doll.

MATH ~ Ch. 3 continues with Addition Strategies.  We will learn to count on, doubles, and doubles plus one.  Please check their yellow Math Practice page in their take home notebook to know what lesson to reinforce each night at home.  A review sheet will continue to come home the night before the test.  I cannot express to you how important it is for your child to memorize their addition facts.  MPS has provided us with goals per nine weeks that students are encouraged to reach.  For the first nine weeks students will be encouraged to know their addition facts 0 through 5.  We will begin practicing this daily as well as using Math Facts In A Flash {computer based program associated with AR} to help us learn our basic facts.  Please practice these at home on flashcards!  What a difference this will make down the road!!! 

Important Dates:

9/17 ~ Spirit Night at Chappy’s

9/27 ~ Box Top Collection Day

10/2 ~ All $$$ for Discount Cards is due!

10/8 ~ Fall Picture Day

10/14 ~ No School! {teacher professional development day}

10/17 ~ Blount Fall Festival

Enjoy your week and contact me with any questions or concerns.  

~ Amy

News in Room 123!

Please make sure all money is labeled with your child’s name and what it is for. Place all money in your child’s take home folder.

**Check your child’s white take home folder EACH NIGHT! You will need to review anything that is on the return to school side and return it to school. Please take out anything on the keep at home side to leave at home. I have noticed that a lot of people are not checking folders because these things keep coming back to school.

**Signed Papers will come home this week. They will be in a manila envelope. You must sign the outside of the envelope and return all papers inside. We have to keep the papers on file at school. Thank you!!

**Grades- You can come to the office this week and request a password for STI. This will allow you to check your child’s grades online at any time. Do not rely on signed papers because they only come home every two weeks!! You will need to come in person and bring your ID. They will not give passwords over the phone.

 Word Wall Words: like  one  the  we

  last week our words were:  a green I see

Each week I will post words that the children will need to be able to read. I will test these words randomly every week or every other week. They will build on each other so once they have been introduced they will be tested on. The first six weeks of words are review words from Kindergarten so they should not be hard. This means that Friday I will probably test on this weeks words and last weeks words.

Language- Nouns

The children will also be using writing tablets to learn how to write correctly on the lines. We will learn how to write sentences correctly using capital letters and periods at the end of telling sentences. I will usually give the children one sentence that they will copy correctly from me and one sentence that they need to edit on their own. Sentences should be correct when they come home because we go over them together. Please reinforce this at home!

Reading- 

We will be reading different genres in reading this year. We will focus on Realistic Fiction until mid October. A Family Times news letter will come home each Friday explaining what we will learn the following week in reading. It was sent home on a pink sheet of paper this past Friday.

Question of the week- Who is in our family?

We will also have Amazing Words each week that go along with our story. The amazing words will be used to increase oral vocabulary.

Amazing Words- adult   depend  gallery   scurry   childhood   portrait   entertain

Math- We are still working on Ch. 1- addition. I will begin lesson 1.6 Tuesday and finish with a test on Ch. 1 Friday. I sent home a workbook last week for you to use for homework to reinforce skills learned in the classroom for the year. There is a page in your child’s take home folder that tells you what page to work on each night. Please make sure you keep up! You will not need to return these pages to me. They are only used for extra reinforcement at home. I do not have any extra workbooks so please do not lose it!

We love to READ!

                       Library = One of my favorite places in the world!

We checked out books last week for the first time! My heart was so full as I watched each little firstie choose their book!  Looking forward to a wonderful year teaching these children the enjoyment of reading!!

New Beginnings!

What a joy it has been to get to know all of the new firsties in Room 123! We had an amazing first week of school! Please check our blog often to get an inside look at what's going on in First Grade! I am looking forward to a wonderful year! Thank you for sharing your child with me!

Sally Rippin, Australian Author of {Jack} & {Billie}

A huge thank you to Tamela Cocke who arranged an amazing Skype visit with Australian author Sally Rippin! What a cool experience! Sally wrote the Jack and Billie books that have become a HUGE hit in Room 123! I must say the books are wonderful! And so age appropriate! If your little firstie is still interested in them, I can get you in touch with Tamela if you would like to purchase any.  They would be great for summer reading! Thanks again Tamela!!

Sally Rippin

LOVE this group of firsties!!

A special thank you to Matthew’s mom for coming and doing an exciting science experiment about color with us! And I must say I am pretty excited to have these sweet Valentine Party pictures posted before Easter!! We will have our First Grade Easter Egg Hunt on Wednesday, March 20th.  Details coming home Monday!  Have a wonderful weekend! Big hugs!

Read Across America

We had a wonderful week celebrating our love of reading! Thanks to everyone who came and read to us!  Enjoy!

Thankful……..Everyday!

As I was doing a little photo organizing and uploading I came across these precious pictures from Thanksgiving that I never shared with you.  It made my heart smile! For many reasons……..I get to spend each day working with these children! Watching them grow and learn! As I look back to November I realize just how much they have all grown and learned in so many different ways.  I was also reminded how much I have to be thankful for, not just at Thanksgiving, but everyday!  Thank you for sharing your greatest blessings with me! I love each one of them!

Just a few reminders!

Wanted to make you aware of a few important events coming up!

Our Valentine's Party will be this Thursday, February 14th from 1:30-2:15.  Please note the time change from the first note I sent home.  You are welcome to join us if you can.  Also, we will exchange Valentine Cards that morning so please be sure your firstie has their cards no later than Thursday. (already addressed)


                          Mornings with Mom Sponsored by {Blount PTA}
             
Tuesday, February 19 (last name A-L) 7:30 - 8:00
Wednesday, February 20 (last name M-Z) 7:30 - 8:00

Bring Mom (or another adult if Mom is not available) for a special treat before school

Donuts with Dad is scheduled for April 16th & 17th!

                     Read Across America Week  ~  February 25 - March 1

This is a special week that we will celebrate the birthday of Dr. Seuss and our love for reading!  On Wednesday, February 27th we would love for you to come and read one of your favorite books to Room 123.  Let me know if you are interested and we can work out a time that will work best for all of us.

On Thursday, February 28th the children should wear a "SILLY" hat in honor of Dr. Seuss and his great book "The Cat in the Hat."

Friday, March 1st is our Blount Character Parade.  This will take place at 9:30 a.m. and parents are invited come and see all the creative characters! Parents should go to the lunchroom to see the Character Parade. More details to come about the Character Parade.

Have a "lovely" week!

Hugs!

More sweet pics!

I bet you thought I was done ~ after this set I think I am all caught up! Enjoy!

More Catching Up!

 

 

Catch Up Time!

Oh my!  Look how fast these precious firsties have grown just this year!! Not only have they grown but they have turned in to some amazing readers and writers! They just make my heart oh.so.happy! Enjoy!