April 30th Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As our texts get more and more challenging at this level, we are starting to see students face some new challenges with reading at this point of the year.  As words become less regular and are made up of more syllables, they also tend to be words that aren't in our first graders' vocabularies.  The good news is that reading is one really great way to build that vocabulary.  

The students need to know what to do when they either don't know the meaning of the word, or they can't even tell what the word is.  First, they need to slow down and think about it, and the context of the sentence or the paragraph.  Pictures or photographs can often be helpful.  Thinking about what is going on is also very helpful.  If the book has a glossary, checking that is a great idea!  Looking for a familiar part of the word, or even the base or root word helps a lot.  Lastly, sometimes asking an adult, or even a sibling/friend can work.  We always want to emphasize that the point of reading is to understand the author's message.  This week, we are working hard on noticing when something doesn't look right, sound right or make sense, and then what to do about it!   

In math we will be working on fractions.  We will begin to explore fractions by partitioning circles and rectangles into equal shares.  We will also describe the shares using the words halves, fourths, and quarters.

This week we will continue learning about the life cycle of a plant.  We will learn about the parts of a plant, what they need to grow, and the importance of the plants leaves.

A special thank you goes out to Miles mom for coming in to plant a variety of vegetables and seeds with our class!  We are so excited to watch them all grow!

Our ABC Countdown will begin next week!  Thank you to all of the families that have volunteered to donate items for this fun countdown to summer!  I truly appreciate your generosity!

• May 8: Awesome Art Day
• May 9: Baby Picture Day - Please email me a baby picture if you haven't done so already!
• May 10: Crazy Socks Day
• May 11: If you Give a Dog a Donut Day

Special Points of Interest

• May 5th - Father Daughter Dance
• Our final Scholastic Book Order of the year is due Friday, May 18th. Shop Online: scholastic.com/readingclub Class Activation Code: JBVLX

April 23rd Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

 In literacy this week the students will be learning about consonant digraphs (-ch, -sh, -wh, and -th).  They will be listening for the digraph sound at the end of words.  During shared reading, we will be reading a book called "Leaping Frogs" which has amazing photographs!  This is a great introduction to informative writing, which we will begin next week.

In writing we will finish up our realistic fiction unit and spend the rest of the week writing friendly letters.  The kids are doing a great job adding more details to their stories by showing what the characters and setting look like and also adding dialogue to their writing.

In math we will continue counting combinations of coins to find their values.  We will also continue working on making change from $1.00 or more.  The students will be doing this independently when they choose items they would like to buy from the school store.  They are very excited to begin our classroom store later this week!

This week we will begin learning about seeds and the plant life cycle.  Miles mom will be coming in later this week to plant a variety of seeds with the students.  Thank you to Miles mom for taking the time to give our students this wonderful opportunity!

Special Points of Interest

• May 5- Father Daughter Dance
• May 14- PTO Meeting

FIELD TRIP TOMORROW!

Tomorrow, April 19th, we will be going to Riveredge Nature Center. We will be outside most of the morning.  Please remember to send ALL winter gear!  Also, we will be eating lunch in our classroom after we return.  Please send a COLD LUNCH to school tomorrow as well.

Thank you!

Nature Ninjas TOMORROW

Tomorrow, April 17th, we will be going outside for Nature Ninja Days. Please remember to send ALL winter gear!

April 16 Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This week we are exploring sentence structure in our centers and work work time, as we learn about how to make the sentence "sound right" by adding -s or -ing to certain words.  For example, I like to read. vs. She likes to read.  We are also working on past, present, and future tenses in our pocket chart center.  We will continue writing realistic fiction stories.  We are also learning how writers/illustrators tell more about their story with details in the illustrations and in the text.  You can discuss the details of the picture books you read at home with questions like, "Look at her face; how do you think she feels?"  and "How can you tell?"  "What did the illustrator include to help us understand this?"  Connecting those details back to the words in the text is even better!

In math, we will learn about the value of quarters and counting by 25 We will also make change from a dollar with pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. We will play a game called "Race to 100" to help us make change for a dollar.  Make sure to ask your children how to play!

This week in science we will be finishing up our social studies unit Our Country by picking a symbol or president and creating a presentation on it.  The students will be able to choose their symbol and the way they will be presenting (30 Hands, poster, or writing about it).  The kids are very excited about this final project!

Our field trip to Riveredge Nature Center is Thursday, April 19th.  Please send a cold lunch to school with your child and make sure they are dressed for the weather!

Special Points of Interest

• Scholastic Book Orders are due this Friday, April 20th. Shop Online: scholastic.com/readingclub Class Activation Code: JBVLX
• Walk to School day is this Friday, April 20th.  Meet at 8:20 at one of the three starting points.

April 9th Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Welcome back!  I hope you had a wonderful spring break with your children!

This week in literacy, we will learn that a vowel can stand for a sound that is different from its name, then it's a short vowel sound.  We will also learn that a vowel can stand for a sound like its name and then it's a long vowel sound.  This week we will be reading realistic fiction stories during our read aloud time.  The students will continue working on realistic fiction stories by writing with a lot of detail, creating realistic characters, writing in complete sentences and combining sentences.

In math, we will identify pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters as well as their values.  We will count coins to find the total value of a combination of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters.  Students will also make the same value of a given group of coins using fewer coins and solve word problems involving money.

We will continue learning about Our Country in social studies.  This week we will learn more about a few of our presidents including Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.

We are still in need of a parent volunteer who would be willing to teach Junior Achievement.  The unit is Our Families and it would be taught in either April or May.  This unit is five consecutive days for about a half hour each day.  All of the materials will be given to you.  Please let me know if you are interested!  Thank you!

Your child will be bringing home a field trip permission slip today for our field trip next week, April 19th, to Riveredge.  Thanks to the PTO for paying for this field trip!  Please return the green permission slip as soon as possible!  Thank you!

Special Points of Interest

• April 10: Dining for Dollars (Stilt House)
• April 12: Tornado Drill (1:30 watch/1:45 warning drill)
• April 16: PTO Meeting
• April 20: Walking School Bus

Chinooks Reading Program!

We are so excited to share with you that we will be doing a reading program through the Chinooks baseball organization.  We are hopeful this will keep the kids excited about reading throughout the remainder of the school year!  Please look for a note to come home in your child's red folder today with more information.

The student goal is to read for 100 minutes before moving to the next base. 

When students reach the first 100 minutes of reading, they move to 1st base and receive a Chinooks ruler.

When they reach the second 100 minutes of reading, they move to 2nd base and receive a Chinooks notepad.

When they reach the third 100 minutes of reading, they move to 3rd base and get admission to the Kid Zone.

When they reach home plate they get a voucher for a ticket to a Chinooks baseball game!!

Reading calendars can be turned in every Wednesday in the children's book bags.

A baseball diamond bulletin board will be outside the first grade classrooms so children can check their progress.

Families can take as long as they need in order to reach the 100 minute goals, but all calendars should be turned in by June 1st.

The Chinooks mascot, Gill,will visit the students on April 26th to continue rooting them on as they approach the "7th inning stretch" of the program.

Any other questions, please let me know!!