September News #2

 We've been busy in our first grade classroom and I would like to share with you some of the exciting things that have been happening.

Reading: We're learning new words weekly and reading "fun" stories. We have also enjoyed some big books in our large group reading lessons. A word wall has also been created in our classroom. High-Frequency words practiced during our large group reading lessons have been placed on the word wall. Thanks also for following up with the "Making Words" lessons at home. The kids have done a "great" job of returning their homework. Once 10 homework lessons have been returned, they will earn a treat/prize. The habit of returning homework promotes responsibility. The extra practice will also build your child's decoding skills, and it's a "great" way to practice spelling and reading too. Do encourage your child to try and write a word in each box if possible. If parents want to help, that's great too, for learning new words is always beneficial and the process of working together promotes success! The cut-up letters do not need to be returned-just the page with the words in boxes. This is week 4 of spelling and lessons from Journeys. Our spelling lists have focused on 6 words that match our phonics skill of the week and 4 sight words. Last week, our reading goals were to read and spell words with the short o sound, our grammar skill was action words/verbs, and our comprehension skill was to sequence important events in a story using first, next, then, and last. This week, our reading goals are to read and spell words with the short e sound, our comprehension skill is text and graphic features, as well as author's choice, and our grammar skill will focus on describing words/adjectives. Check to see if your child can read the following "Words to Know": do, find, funny, sing, no, they, all, me, does, my, here, and who.

Math: Last week, we completed our lessons on 3-D shapes. The following 3-D shapes are ones your child should be able to identify: sphere, pyramid, cone, cylinder, cube, and rectangular prism. Last week, we also started lessons for Module 16, which is titled "Faction Foundations". The learning goals for this module are to identify equal and unequal shares, and to partition shapes into halves and fourths. We will also be starting Module 1 soon, which is titled "Addition Strategies". We have been working on a few addition strategies, such as; adding 0, counting on 1 and 2, and adding 10. Soon, I will introduce Xtra Math, which is a program on their chromebooks and another "great" way to work on fact fluency. Once we start the program, I will send home login information for this program if you want to try it out at home too. The kids have the opportunity to earn certificates when mastering the goals of certain levels.

Writing: Our goal has been to write complete sentences. We continue to write in our journals almost daily. My key words are: Does it start right, end right, make sense, and have good spaces? And, WOW! I have been impressed with how well the 1st graders are doing with writing their letters using lined paper. It's great to see such nice papers and I especially like how hard they are trying to do their best! Good Job First Graders!

Making Good Choices: My goal is for each student to be responsible for their own actions. All classroom rules, as well as rules for the playground, the lunchroom, restroom, locker area, and hallway have been discussed. Listed are the basic rules we all need to remember: Be Kind to Everyone, Follow Directions, Keep Your Hands and Feet to Yourself, and Raise Your Hand if you have a question or response. I do give reminders if these rules are not followed. If several reminders are given, they may have to to stay in for part of a recess to talk about it. If the same behavior keeps happening, a behavior note will be written by the child and sent home to be signed by a parent. If taking away recess and writing a note isn't solving the problem, a phone call or an email will be sent. Let's work together to promote responsibility for their actions. We've been working really hard on following directions, being good listeners, and avoiding extra talking. These are three very important work habits to be a successful student. We are also working on a class challenge of earning 10 tickets for "Show and Tell". Our challenge is focusing on "good line basics".

It's hard to believe that we are halfway through September. We are certainly enjoying the warm and sunny days. The first day of fall officially starts this week. With the changing weather brings the "Do I have to wear my coat?" question. Our recess policy for wearing no coats out to recess is 60 degrees or above. Please send a sweatshirt/coat with your child each day when the change begins. We have already experienced a few cool mornings. You may want to encourage them to keep a sweatshirt/jacket in their bookbag. 

Please make sure your child returns their green take-home folder and reading ziploc daily. Thanks!

Here are spelling words for this week (with no school on Monday, you may want to start practicing. Their list will be brought home on Tuesday)

yet, web, pen, wet, leg, hen, was, did, we, my

September News #1

  One of my goals for the upcoming school year is to communicate with you through a classroom newsletter about what is happening in our 1st grade classroom. Every two weeks, I will update the newsletter with classroom news and send a paper copy to those who requested that. My newsletter will highlight some of the interesting things that have happened in our classroom, and inform you of upcoming events.

To start, I'd like to tell you a little about myself. This is my 33rd year of teaching and my 31st year teaching first grade at Fairview. Before teaching in Carroll, I taught 2 years in Spencer. I am also a graduate of Carroll High School. I thoroughly enjoy the teaching profession, and I look forward to working with your child. Besides teaching, I enjoy spending time with my family. My husband Mike and I live on a farm north of Carroll, he is a grain and livestock farmer. We have 3 boys: Brett, who just turned 28, he graduated from ISU with a degree in Ag Studies and Agronomy, and has joined the family farm operation. He and his wife Anna live in Carroll. Garrett is 25 and graduated from Kirkwood College with degrees in Ag GPS and Ag Business, and has also joined the family farm operation, and Adam, who is 20 and a sophmore at Iowa State. Besides teaching and being a mom, I enjoy my morning workouts and reading. 

I'd like to extend a big thanks to all of you, for getting your child organized for first grade and returning required forms promptly. Thanks!!! During the first 9 days, the kids have adjusted to getting back into a routine, and having to sit more than they've been used to. We have learned classroom rules, as well as expectations for the lunchroom, bathroom, hallway, playground, and locker area. PBIS (positive behavior in school) is implemented in all classrooms at Fairview and all students have the same expectations for all areas listed above. 

 Reading: We've been busy jumping right into the "Journeys" reading series. Last week, our learning goals were to read and spell words with the short a sound, our comprehension skill was to identify the main idea, our grammar skill was identifying nouns and our writing focus was to write a complete sentence. This week, our goals will be to read and spell words with short i, our comprehension skill is to identify characters in stories, our grammar skill is possessive nouns and we will continue working on writing complete sentences. Each week, we will also have a set of "Words to Know". Check to see if your child can read the following "Words to Know": and, be, help, you, play, with, for, he, what, have, he, look, too. We have done most of the written activities together to start the year. I will start to have them become more independent with these activities soon, so I can see what they can do. I wanted to start the year doing most together, so they get used to what the expectations may be.

 Math: The first grade team decided to start with the geometry modules for math. Our math program is called "Into Math". We felt these concepts would be more familiar to the kids and a good way to start the year with something they are somewhat familiar with. We will complete module 15 this week, which focused on "Two-Dimensional Shapes". This week, we will also start module 14 which focuses on "Three-Dimensional Shapes". The goal of these two modules is to identify the shapes and their attributes. Your child is expected to know the following 2-D and 3-D shapres: circle, triangle, rectangle, square, hexagon, trapezoid, sphere, cylinder, rectangular prism, cube, and cone. During our math time, we also have daily practice with identifying the shapes, telling time, counting sequences, identifying coins and counting money, problem solving, and place value. This is done using projected slides. These are our essential first grade skills and ones on the first grade report card. Number Work is also part of math. During the past two weeks, we have worked on addition facts using the counting on strategy of adding 1 and 2 more. This week, we will focus on adding zero. The students use whiteboards for this portion of math. The goal for addition in first grade is to be fluent with facts to 10, although, we will be working on facts to 20 this school year and learning a variety of strategies, and will work especially hard on being fluent with our addition and subtraction facts to 10. 

Writing: The students received a journal, which will be written in almost daily. A sentence starter is written on the board and their job is to complete it with their own ideas. We have also started a quick handwriting review and will review each letter and proper formation on lines. Handwriting is on the first grade report card. Printing letters and numbers correctly will be encouraged on all classroom work.

Guided Reading: This will be a time when your child is placed into a small group at their instructional level. I have done a 1 minute fluency timing. The FAST assessment will be administered soon. You may remember this assessment from kindergarten. In first grade, we assess the following skills: segmenting, nonsense word fluency (decoding), sight words, and fluency (words per minute). I will send your child's FAST scores home once the test is administered. 

We have designated the "green" folder as our take-home folder. Please have your child return this folder daily. A big "Shout-Out" for encouraging your child to complete their "Making Words" homework. I have been impressed with their dedication. When returning the homework, you do not need to return the letters. Having your child use a marker or pen is acceptable too. After every 10 returned "Making Words" homework, your child will get to pick a prize. Guided reading bags have been sent home almost daily, please make sure your child returns their reading ziploc daily, so they have their book for the reread part of group. I realize how busy families are and how little time you may have after school and in the evening, so if you do not have time to read the book, still have them return it. THANKS! I will send home a class list and classroom schedule sometime next week. If you ever have a question or concern, please send me an email at knees@carrolltigers.org 

Picture Day is Friday, September 17th. More information to come once the date gets closer.