newsletter September 16

Mrs. Smith’s Class                         September 16, 2011

A peek at our week:

This week, we have studied the ending sound blends of –nd and -nk.  We have read nonfiction books this week and discussing the author’s purposes for writing the story.  In writing, we wrote “What am I?” riddles.  The students described a noun and the rest of our class will try to guess what they have written about.  We are working on writing descriptively.  In math, we are continuing to work on addition.  We have been discussing turnaround facts.  An example of a turnaround fact is 2+4=6 and 4+2=6.  We are also learning about the symbols and holidays of our country.  For example, we are learning about our flag, Labor Day, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

Upcoming Events

September 19 – How you grew timeline due

September 22 – Book order due

September 28 – Early dismissal (we will dismiss at 11:50, there will be no breakfast, but we will eat brunch at school)

September 30 – September homework due

October 10-14 – Fall break

Sticker Chart

Occasionally on Fridays, your child will proudly bring home a sticker chart.  The sticker chart is a small colored piece of paper with stickers on it.  Every time I catch your child doing something good, they get a sticker on their chart.  I often tell the students that the best time to earn a sticker is to be doing the right thing when others are not.  Also, students can earn stickers with good answers, supporting their answers with solid reasons, good scores on spelling tests and good scores on math tests.

Wilmore Elementary Parent-School Learning Agreement

Yay!  All of the parent – school learning agreements have been returned.  Thanks for sending those back!

Spelling Words for 9/23

Land, very, sand, fast, list, sink, help, ant, grass, trip

Bonus words:  symbol, president

Email addresses

I would like to create an email distribution list.  If you would like me to send this newsletter and other information via email, please write your email address below:

Parent name:   _________________________________________

Student name:  ________________________________________

E-mail address:  _______________________________________

September 9 newsletter

A peek at our week:

This week, we are studying the short I sound and practicing –in and –ig word families.  We have read “How I Grew” and learned about how kids grow.  The timelines you are working on at home will be a perfect extension of what we are learning at school.  We have started the “word work” portion of our day.  We are continuing to work on checking for understanding when we read a page.  We are also working on our thinking stem “I am thinking…”  I am so proud of what great thinkers our first graders are!

Reminders and news

·        We have filled up our 4^th SMART chart!  Yay!

·        If you haven’t sent in the orange parent compact, please do so as soon as possible.  Most of you returned it on our parent learning night.

·        Our blog address is www.wilmorefirstgrade.blogspot.com

Upcoming Events

September 19 – How you grew timeline due

September 22 – Book order due

September 23 – Early dismissal (we will dismiss at 11:50, there will be no breakfast, but we will eat brunch at school)

September 30 – September homework due

Reading Log

I am very flexible with the reading portion of the homework because my goal is for you to read books that are interesting and a good fit for your child.  Please let me know if you need help finding a book that is on your child’s reading level and I will be happy to help.

There is more information on the back!

Our Classroom Blog

Our weekly classroom newsletters are on our classroom blog.  Please write down our blog address so that you can find information and dates if you lose your newsletter.  Also, on snow days, I will use the blog to let you know any changes in due dates (for homework) or changes in spelling test days.  Our classroom blog is: 

http://www.wilmorefirstgrade.blogspot.com/

Spelling Words: crib, crab, grab, grass, trap, trip, hit, win, that, good

Bonus Words: America, eagle

newsletter September 2

A peek at our week:

This week, we have learned to “read to others.”  During this time, the students pick a partner and read to each other.  The students take turns reading and checking for understanding.  They have also learned to “coach” their partners when they come to a word they do not know.  In reading, we have been learning about short a words.  We have also been learning about the word families –ack, -ag, and –at.  In math, we are working on counting using ten frames, counting on and simple addition. 

Grandparents’ Lunch

Unfortunately, I will be out on September 8 for some doctor’s appointments.  I am so disappointed to miss getting to meet our grandparents.  Don’t forget, if grandparents are unable to come, please feel free to send a “substitute.”

Upcoming Events

Sept. 6 – fundraiser is due

Sept. 8 – first grade grandparents are invited to join us for lunch from 11:10-11:35

***please plan to be there 5-10 minutes early

Spelling Words: pin, win, hit, sit, miss, kiss, sad, map, be, ride

Bonus Words: September, autumn

August 26 newsletter

Mrs. Smith’s Class       August 26, 2010

A peek at our week

We are settling into a routine.  This week, we have learned about the short a families of –at and –an.  We have sorted pictures and words and practiced writing these words.  Also, we are working on metacognition. This means that we use what we read in a book plus our own thinking to create real reading.   We are finishing our “All about me” unit and I am very excited for you to view your student’s work at our “Parent Information Night.”

Clothespins

We use clothespins as our warning system.  Students get three clothespins each day and every time I give a reminder I take a clothespin.  I do this because it is a visual clue for me and the students about how many warnings the students have had.  This system has helped a lot with behavior.  My advice is to not worry about warning clips.  They are truly the children’s warnings and expecting children to keep them all day every day is unrealistic.  My goal is for the students to learn from the reminders they are given and not repeat the behavior.  When they aren’t learning from their warnings, their color is changed.  That is reported to you in the STAR folder.

Parent Information Night

I hope you can make it for our parent information night on September 1.  This night is designed to help you to know what we do in school, why we do it and how you can help at home.  I plan to show you in pictures what our day consists of.  Please come prepared with questions you may have about homework, spelling tests, reading logs, etc.

There is more information on the back!

Smart Charts

Woo hoo!  We have filled up our 3^rd smart chart.  When our entire class gets caught doing something right, we get a smart sticker on our chart.  When we fill up our smart chart, we get our name announced on the morning announcement and a small reward (such as a pencil or a picnic for lunch).

Grandparents Lunch

Our grandparents lunch is coming up on September 8 from 11:10 until 11:35.  I understand that some grandparents will not be able to attend.  If that is the case, you are welcome to have another adult (ie. Mother, father, aunt, friend) come to lunch that day as a “substitute” grandparent.

Upcoming Events

Sept. 1 – First grade parent orientation meeting (6:30-7:30)

Sept. 6 – fundraiser is due

Sept. 8 – first grade grandparents are invited to join us for lunch from 11:10-11:35

Spelling Words:

dad, sad, back, nap, tap, sack, man, mat, too, over

Bonus Words: 

because, think

no lunch numbers

I did not send the lunch numbers home to practice because the cafeteria staff told me the numbers might be changing.  Have a great weekend!

newsletter August 19

A peek at our week:

We have had a wonderful week.  We have been learning “All about me.”  We have been talking about what makes us special and our roles in our families.  We will continue this unit next week.  We are learning to choose just right books.  We are also practicing being independent readers and writers.

Lunch numbers

Your child’s lunch number is on the attached paper.  Please practice the lunch number at home!

Upcoming Events

Sept. 1 – First grade parent orientation meeting (6:30-7:30)

*note:  the time was wrong on the behavior calendar, this is the correct time

Sept. 8 – grandparents lunch are invited to join us for lunch from 11:10-11:35

First Spelling Test

Your child will have their first spelling test on Friday, August 26.  We will start a reading log and monthly homework next week along with our weekly spelling test.  Here are our words for next week’s spelling test:

man, hat, ran, cat, mat, can, up, down, jump, not

bonus words:  fantastic, gnat