February Friends!

Field Trip Fun!

First Grade News!

Please remember we will be going to the Let’s Pretend Hospital tomorrow.  Wear your green first grade shirt and jeans or khakis.  We are looking forward to a fun time.  Also, remember tomorrow is Monday if you would like to purchase Italian Ice send your money in a envelope or baggie (labeled).

Now on to some fun learning!

This week our focus sound is /g/ as in gorilla. 

Word wall words ~ big, so, saw, go, tells, there, got, them, no, white

Please read each night with your sweet little firstie! Each friend should be taking at least 3 AR test each week. 

We will begin Chapter 21 on Fractions tomorrow.  The students will learn how to identify parts of a whole with two, three, or four equal parts.  Please also continue to practice Math Facts in a Flash.  The children are really doing a great job.  The Blount Math Store will open soon and each student will receive money (Blount Bucks) to spend at the store.  I will send home a letter explaining how the children earn their Blount Bucks soon.

We will be working on Rule 15 contractions this week.  We have already done a lot with contractions this year, so this is not a new skill.  Remember to look at your child’s DOL on Monday and Wednesday nights.  Friday’s grade will be some of the exact sentences.

Thank you for joining us for Muffins for Moms.  Donuts for Dads will be Tuesday, March 6 and Wednesday, March 7. More information is on the front of February's Blount Newsletter.

Class picture money is due this Friday. Checks made payable to Capitol Filmworks.

I will be out of the room on Tuesday.  I will leave detailed plans so the day should go as smooth as if I were there.

Thursday, February 29 ~ Wear a Silly Hat (or a regular hat will do) to school.

Friday, March 1 ~ The Book Character Parade at 9:30. Come dressed as your favorite Book Character. Please make sure you  have a sign to tell us what character you are! Or better yet, if you  have the book, just bring it!

The sign for the Character Book parade is simple. Wear one around your neck or you may carry the book if you have it. The sign must have the character and the name of the book.  The parade starts promptly at 9:30. parents will go to the lunchroom so be sure to allow time to sign in at the office.

Have a great week and let me know if you have any questions!!

Valentine Fun in Room 123!

Hugs!

February Fun!

Whole group sound is /b/ as in bat. This week’s word wall words are: black, by, little, does, first

Be sure to look over word wall words from January 23 through February 27. We will have a word wall assessment this week.

Continue to read homework stories and help your child be ready to take at least 3 AR tests this week with 100% correct.

We will continue to work on verbs this week. We’ll have sentences on Tuesday and Thursday and Morning Message on Wednesday. DOL will continue to be a grade using the sentences taken from Tuesday and Thursday.

We will test on Chapter 18 Wednesday and Work on parts of Chapters 19 and 20. You can begin practicing those chapters in the Practice workbook. Continue also with Math Facts in a Flash at home. I encourage the children daily to take Math Facts tests. I would like for everyone to have passed enough levels to earn Blount Bucks in order to purchase something from the Math Store at the end of the month.

FIRST GRADE COMMNUNITY SPIRIT PROJECT

 

The Community Spirit project for the Kindergarten and First Graders this year is the Montgomery Humane Society. A representative from the Humane Society will be here tomorrow for a presentation to kick off our project. Students in all grades are encouraged to donate to this project. We will begin collecting Tuesday February 21 thru March 2. A list of needed items can be found on Blount PTA’s website (www.blountpta.org). Thanks so much for helping out with our Community Spirit project.

Muffins for Moms –Tuesday, Feb. 21 for last names A-L and last names M-Z, not to worry, your day is Wednesday Feb. 22. Come join your child for a yummy way to start the day. I’ll be there to take pictures. More information is found on the front page of the Blount Newsletter that went home last Friday.

February 27 - Field Trip to Let’s Pretend Hospital. Permission slips will be coming home tomorrow. Due to limited room we will not need any chaperones for this field trip.  However, I promise to take lots of pictures!!:)

Read Across America

{February 27 - March 2}

Monday - Door Decoration

Tuesday - D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read)

Wednesday - Volunteer Readers (If you would like to read a book to the class, please let me know. It can be any day not just on Wednesday. I am very flexible during the week and I know your schedules are busy so we will work with your schedule.)

Thursday - Silly Hat Day (Wear a silly hat ~ if your child doesn't have a silly hat, just wear any hat)

Friday - Character Parade at 9:30 We would LOVE for our parents to watch the parade in the cafeteria. We will walk across the stage so you can get pictures. Students will dress as a character from their favorite book. They also need a sign - or the book - to carry in the parade.) Please try to be creative with costumes and avoid, Halloween type costumes.

Looking forward to a wonderful “short” week!

Hugs!!

Looking forward to a “sweet” week of learning!

 

This week - /o/ as in otter

Be sure to check your child's progress on the Read Well Assessment Check sheet located in the take-home folder. Please make sure you’re reading over the homework stories every night. Also keep up with the Word Wall calendar and review those words each night. If your child is able to read the words with ease, then they should practice spelling them correctly.

Word wall words for this week: not do well they before

We will continue Chapter 19 this week. This chapter includes doubles, and doubles plus 1 along with addition of sums to 20. Continue practicing math facts at home, this will become important when the Math Store opens in February. I sent home a note about the store last week. The children will earn Blount Bucks for levels passed on Math Facts in a Flash and other activities, for example, making an A on math tests. {More info on that later.} The children will use their Blount Bucks to shop at the math store once a month. Their bucks can be saved or spent all at once. We have a preview day Thursday for the children to see what they can buy with their bucks.

We will continue the format of DOL sentences on Monday, Wednesday and a grade on Friday. Morning Message on Tuesday and Thursday allows the children to put in practice the skills we’ve been learning and practicing all year. Next week we will learn about verbs.

We will rotate tomorrow to Coach Rader for the next three weeks.

Nancy’s Italian Ice – Monday ~ Money needs to be labeled and cannot be accepted after 8:10.

                            

Valentine’s Party – Tuesday 1:30-2:15. Thank you so much for helping by sending in items for our ice cream party, it’s sure to be a fun time. Please be sure to send in your item by Tuesday morning. The children are VERY excited about this party.

February 21 – Humane Society Speaker will speak with us and kick off our First Grade service project. Details to come home soon.

 February 27 -  Field Trip to Let’s Pretend Hospital. Permission slips will be coming home soon. Due to the limited space at the facility this field trip is only for students, but I promise I will take lots of precious pictures!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend! I want to leave you with these adorable pictures from our fun and exciting 100th Day of School!

Have a great week!
Hugs!

Hip! Hip! Hooray…….Tomorrow is the 100th Day of 1st Grade!

We have been counting since day 1 and have finally made it to 100!

I must say this is probably one of the most anticipated days of the school year! We will be celebrating the 100th way, all day long in Room 123!

Many thanks to everyone who sent in items to help make our celebration fun! (and tasty!)

Take a look at these 100 year old portraits……I only wish I had audio for you to hear the discussions among the children as they were creating their masterpieces.  Just imagine….

Firstie:  “Mrs. Wright, can we put glasses on him?”

Me:  “Sure!”

Firstie’s Friend:  “He doesn’t need glasses when you turn 100 your almost blind.”

Firstie’s Other Friend: “No, that’s not right, your almost blind when your about 50.”

Firstie: “I’m not going to use anything for hair, when your 100 you really don’t have any.”

Firstie’s Friend:  “Yea you do, my Maw Maw gets her hair done all the time and she is past 100. I know cause we have to pick her up every time.”

Oh friends I could go on and on! This is only one of the reasons I love these children and my job.  There is never a dull moment!

Now on to learning…….

Can’t wait to read all of our 100th Day Books!

Our focus letter this week is /l/ as in letter. (Our poem has to do with “Letters in the Laundry.)  Our writing jobs will be about all things February…… love, Abe Lincoln, writing letters.

Word Wall Words ~ let, likes, said, like, ride, wanted, will & who.

At this point in the school year all word wall words should be read without hesitation.  If you have not already now is the time to start practicing spelling sight words.  Also, please make sure your sweet little firstie is reading each night.  They should be taking a minimum of three AR tests each week.  It is their responsibility to let me know when they are ready to take a test.  I am always available to assist any who may need some additional help reading questions and answer choices.  It is also their responsibility to let me know when they need to go to the library.  Sometimes they “forget” until 10 minutes left in the school day and it is too late.  Please help me by encouraging your little one to read their book three times and take an AR test.  If you have any questions I will be glad to answer them. 

We will finish up Chapter 13 tomorrow (if everything goes as planned) and test on Tuesday.  This chapter has included sums to 12 as well as adding 3 numbers.  Please make sure you are using your practice workbook at home and reviewing the day’s lesson that comes home in your child’s take home binder.  At this point in the school year simple addition and subtraction facts should be memorized.  Be sure you are continuing to practice using flash cards each night, especially if your little one still wants to use their fingers.   Math Facts in a Flash seems to be back on track, let me know if you are experiencing any problems at home.

We will begin Chapter 18 on Wednesday.  This chapter includes doubles, and doubles plus 1 along with addition of sums to 20.  As you can tell we are moving right along that is why I want the children to have a solid foundation of their simple addition and subtraction facts.

No new rule this week. The children really seem to enjoy our new format of DOL.  On Monday and Wednesday we continue our DOL as we have all year.  On Tuesday and Thursday we complete a morning message together.  It is like a letter that I am writing to the children and they complete parts of it.  The message always has to do with what we are learning in school.  After they complete the message they illustrate part of it.  This week we will begin doing these in our Morning Message notebooks, so they will remain at school.  The children will bring them home monthly to share with you.  On Friday we will continue to have DOL taken as a grade.  The sentences will come from Monday and Wednesday.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Nancy's Italian Ice is Monday for $1.00.

PTA is this Tuesday at 6:00. Come attend the "Around the World" at Blount.

In Friday's folder yearbook information went home. Please be sure and label any money you send in.

Information about our “lovely” Valentine Party will be coming home this week along with a list of all the “Sweeties” in our class.

Have a wonderful week!

Hugs!!