We Made It To Fall!

Dear 1C Families!

Fall is upon us and I can feel the cool weather setting in to give us some well deserved relief. We have had a very busy month and things continue to be very busy, both inside and outside, of the classroom.

We have finished our unit on Subtraction. I was very impressed with students' scores on both addition and subtraction units. We will continue to work with these concepts as we move into more complex mathematical thinking. Our next unit will be on ordinal numbers. Please continue to work with your child at home, to master basic math facts. This can be done using simple flash cards, or there are several free apps that you can get to help facilitate this review. I will also be sending home the timed math fact review drills. These are strictly optional and do not need to be returned to school. They are just an added resource for you to use at home. We will continue our Rocket Math in the classroom.

We finished up Owl at Home and the students should have brought home their books and corresponding booklets, on Friday. We are now reading about Cinderella and the many different stories about Cinderella that are read around the world. We read the Cinderella story that the children are most familiar with and the story about Egyptian Cinderella on Friday. We spent time comparing and contrasting these two beautiful fairy tales. We will continue reading these wonderful works.

In science we are still concentrating on habitats found on our earth. We are now focusing on the ocean and have many fun activities planned to supplement the children's learning of this magnificent habitat and all that call it home.

Spike continues his adventures with the students! He is having a wonderful time and has had a lot of exciting adventures. I am so glad that the children are enjoying this activity. He will continue to make his journey through our class. Stay tuned for your turn!

Parent-Teacher conferences are fast approaching. Our wonderful parent liaison has set up my conference sign ups. You should have received a separate email from her with the link as well as some other sign up links. Conferences are mandatory so please be sure to sign up for your slot. For your convenience I have the link listed below. We look forward to meeting with you and discussing your child's progress. This is a PARENT ONLY conference, so please plan accordingly.

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/20F084CA9A829A7FE3-class 

Literacy week begins today. The PSO have planned many exciting events to celebrate the importance and enjoyment of reading. You should have received information on these events. A flyer will be going home today which explains the week's activities.

We will be re-instating the book bag process this Friday. Your child will be given a book on Friday to read over the weekend. We chose this format since the children do not have weekend homework. They can read over the weekend and if they have mastered the book they may bring it back anytime after Monday of the following week but before Friday. Please fill out the log enclosed and send back with the book. They will then be given another book on Friday and the process begins again. Those that have been given a chapter book may keep that book until it is finished. Please check in with your child, as they are reading, to verify comprehension. 

Our DIBELS Reading assessment data is in and you will be receiving a letter in the mail, this week, explaining your child's results. I will also have a copy available at your conference and we can discuss them more in detail at that time. 

As you may already know, our nurse has left for a different position. We will miss her greatly but wish her all of the best. The school is actively looking for a new nurse. In the meantime, please be assured that those with persistent health conditions and severe allergies, will still receive the attention that they require. Please explain to your student that unless they are vomiting, have a fever or have had an accident that has caused them significant injury, then we do not have a nurse to visit. We can take care of minor scrapes and scratches in the classroom. Scratchy throats, headaches, and tummy aches without vomiting will be handled with frequent drinks of water, a rest on their desk, bathroom breaks and snack and lunch. If you feel that your child is sick or is running a fever then please keep them home. 

Below are this week's phonogram list and some important dates.                 


Have a wonderful week!

Phonograms for week of Sept. 26-Sept.30

a, c,d ,f ,g, o, qu, b, ar, ay, ai, oy, oi, er, ir, ur, wor, ear, ng, ea, aw

Important Dates

Fall Break- NO SCHOOL  Oct. 10-14
Parent/Teacher Conferences-  Oct. 17-18  (NO SCHOOL)
Picture Retakes- Oct. 20 

Falling Into Week 7!

Hello 1C Families,

We are closing in on the completion of the first quarter! I can't believe how fast the year is going. Your little scholars have been hard at work and are accomplishing so much. Our class has come together and we are a true community of learners.

We have been hard at work in all subjects. We are in the middle of our subtraction unit in math and have been using manipulates to help understand the many ways in which we can subtract. The children love using the whiteboards to work through problems and show their answers. We play games with basic math fact flashcards, use Dice in Dice to form a variety of number bonds and they created their own subtraction word problems, complete with pictures.

We will be finishing up Owl at Home this week. The children have really enjoyed this book. Ask your scholars what types of "adventures" Owl has had. We have used our literature to learn more about nouns and the different types of nouns and have discussed the structure of sentences. We will be using the information that we have learned to improve writing in complete sentences and conveying complete thoughts.

We continue to discuss habitats in science and are finishing up our unit in Mesopotamia. Our next big unit in history will be Ancient Egypt.

Thank you for all of those who have sent in the book bags from last year. Our plan was to send home a new book every Friday for the students to read over the weekend and return to school. We were not able to send books home this past weekend as we are still trying to increase the size of our leveled readers supply in our classroom. With many of the students on the same level, we don't have enough books to send home each weekend. We will be doing this every other weekend until we have increased the size of our library. We still encourage reading with and/or to your children every night. These minutes can be logged using the reading log form that was sent home today with the homework packet. We will keep you updated on the reading bag procedure as our supply of leveled readers increases.

We have volunteer opportunities coming up soon. Mrs. Aberouette, our wonderful classroom liaison, will be sending out sign-ups for these events and also organizing classroom and grade level communication among parents in our class, as well as with the other first grade liaisons. The PSO have some wonderful events coming up for our students. Please watch your email for updates and notices regarding these and other exciting opportunities to volunteer within our school and classroom.

As always, please feel free to contact me anytime with any questions or concerns. Your children are a joy to teach and I feel very lucky to be their teacher!

Below is a list of this week's phonograms.

Have a wonderful week! I feel coolness in the air. I think that fall is coming!!

Phonograms for Sept. 19-23  

r, t, u v, x, y, z, dge, er, eigh, ti, si, ci, sh, ee, th, ow, ou, oo, ch

Heading Into Week Six!

Hello 1C Families!

I can't believe that we are starting week six of school! It's hard to believe that we have been hard at work for almost two months. Fall break is just around the corner!

As you have already realized, your children brought home their book bags this last Friday. We were able to level your readers and get their book bags started. Inside of the bag you will find a book and a log. Please have your child read the book and log the minutes they have read. Once they are fluent in this book then it can be changed out. It is important that not only are they reading the words but they are also comprehending what they are reading. So feel free to ask simple questions about what they've read, in order to solidify and strengthen those comprehension skills. If your child had a book bag last year, and it has not been sent in, please do so during the next book exchange. New students should have come home with a book bag on Friday.

We are reading Owl at Home and the children seem to be enjoying it. We have started our subtraction unit in math and will be working on those concepts. Our unit on Mesopotamia is coming to an end and will conclude on Friday. We will then be moving on to Ancient Egypt. This will begin next week. A very exciting unit that will take us up until the end of the semester.

Spike, our classroom dragon, made the journey home with our first student this weekend! I will showcase his first adventures on next week's Blog.

I hope that the new homework routine is working and is more manageable. Please keep the copy of the week's spelling words at home or safely in their green folders. This will be needed all week so that the words can be dictated and practiced.

I will be implementing my tutoring hours, beginning next week, September 19th. Tutoring is by invitation only. If I feel that your child could benefit from some extra time working on phonograms, Spalding, etc. then you will be receiving a note/email from me sometime this week. I have not solidified my days or times but I will provide tutoring two days per week, after school. If your student is invited, I will let you know the days and times. This tutoring is free of charge.


A few housekeeping items:
~ Please keep toys and stuffed animals at home. When brought to school they tend to interfere with the learning process and run the risk of getting lost or broken.
~ Please be sure that your child is getting a good night's sleep. We realize that, for some, this is their first time attending a full day of school. We work very hard and we have found that some are very sleepy in the afternoon. If possible, an extra hour or two at night, may help with the afternoon sleepiness.
~ Please empty your student's green folder as we send completed work home. If they aren't emptied on a regular basis, they tend to get too full and then papers start falling out and get mixed in with homework, etc.
~ The nurse is very busy and we cannot take children to her office for minor things like small cuts, consistent tummy aches without vomiting and general aches and pains. She has given us strict guidelines as to when it is appropriate to send children to her office. We have instructions on how to handle small issues in the class. This frees up her time to take care of children who are truly sick and need her attention. Children who require regular medications are sent without problem.
~ Now that the school year is calming down and we are getting into a nice routine, I hope that everyone is feeling comfortable and confident. If you do send me an email I will answer within 24 hours. I will check my email on Fridays before 4. In order to preserve my time with my family, any emails received after 4 on a Friday, will be read and answered on the following Monday.

Please see the weekly phonograms and a list of important reminders below.

Thank you and here's to a great week!

Phonograms for 9/12-9/16
e, h, I, j, k, l, m, n, p, oa, gu, ph, ough, oe, ey, igh, kn, gn, wr, ie

Important Reminders:
9/12- Spalding Information Night~ 6-7:30pm (Adults Only)
9/22- Singapore Math Information Night~ 6-7:30pm (Adults Only)
9/23- EARLY RELEASE

Back To Work!

Hello Wonderful 1C Families,

I hope that you and your families were able to enjoy a much needed long weekend. I think the rest was good for everyone. Your students came back to school today, ready to work.

We started reading our first literature book, Owl at Home. We will have a comprehension packet that we will work on as we read. The students will have several opportunities to read this piece. Today we read out loud, as a class. Tomorrow we will read the chapter again, but they will buddy read. This gives those children who might be a little shy, the chance to read out loud, in a less intimidating situation. They seem to be enjoying it already and are participating in discussions about the content.

We are finishing up our unit on addition 0-10, in math. We will be reviewing over the next day or two and then will do a practice or pre-test and then the unit test. We will then dive into subtraction, using numbers, 0-10. As mentioned in my letter, we have added a nightly math fact drill to homework. I feel this is very crucial, as it is so important that the students know their math facts as we are faced with more complicated math problems. These math facts should be recalled almost instantly and the only way to do that is practice, practice, practice. We will be be doing our fair share of practice in class with some fun games and our Rocket Math. The re-enforcement at home, only helps to solidify these valuable facts.

We are hoping that the new homework procedure is a bit easier. We found that the entire packet, going back and forth, each day was too much travel time. Simplifying the homework to daily assignments, helps with completion and also reinforces responsibility that our students will return their homework to school on a daily basis.

I have had many requests to post the weekly phonograms on the Blog. I would be happy to do this and I hope that it helps you and your students as they learn new phonograms and study for upcoming quizzes. I have also requested to post spelling words. I am waiting for permission from administration to do so. I will keep you updated on that matter.

In other exciting news Spike, our classroom dragon will be traveling home with our first student this weekend for his first adventure!! I am so excited to launch this fun and educational activity. Every student will have their chance to take home Spike and will be chosen randomly. When it is your turn to participate, please follow the directions that accompany Spike.


That is all for this short week of school!

Phonograms for week of 9/6-9/9

ear, ng, ea, aw, au, or, ck, wh, ed, ew, ui, a, c, d, f, g, o, s, au, b