Friday, March 25, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
March 18, 2011 - Newsletter
Dear Parents,
We had another wonderful week full of learning in first grade. We used the skills we learned in our last writing unit to publish one of our stories. Each child chose a piece from his/her Author's Notebook. Then they revised and edited it. After teacher editing, each child made a picture book that will be placed in our classroom library. After all, as one of our classmates said, "That's why authors write books-for people to read them."
In math we continued to build on skills we've learned throughout the year. If your child brings a math paper home with things circled, be sure to review those concepts at home. Today in store almost everyone was able to count his/her own money.
We learned about the life cycle of a plant in science today.
St. Patrick's Day was so fun. We learned a lot of things about the life of St. Patrick. Did you know that he was actually born in England? Your child knows many things and did a great job writing about what he/she learned. We ate green cookies and drank green juice. Like many American holidays, the roots are in Christianity and the secular world changed it.
Important Notes and Reminders:
*There is a ruler in your child's Friday Folder to use for the math homework. (Just in case you don't have one at home:)
*Be sure to check the "Lost and Found" by the gym doors. There is a lot of stuff and it will be donated to Thrift over spring break.
*Please be sure your child comes to school on time each day. Several children have been coming late and it makes it difficult to have a smooth start to our day. We start at 8:10.
Our Star Student will be Carson!
Our secret word is "seedling".
We had another wonderful week full of learning in first grade. We used the skills we learned in our last writing unit to publish one of our stories. Each child chose a piece from his/her Author's Notebook. Then they revised and edited it. After teacher editing, each child made a picture book that will be placed in our classroom library. After all, as one of our classmates said, "That's why authors write books-for people to read them."
In math we continued to build on skills we've learned throughout the year. If your child brings a math paper home with things circled, be sure to review those concepts at home. Today in store almost everyone was able to count his/her own money.
We learned about the life cycle of a plant in science today.
St. Patrick's Day was so fun. We learned a lot of things about the life of St. Patrick. Did you know that he was actually born in England? Your child knows many things and did a great job writing about what he/she learned. We ate green cookies and drank green juice. Like many American holidays, the roots are in Christianity and the secular world changed it.
Important Notes and Reminders:
*There is a ruler in your child's Friday Folder to use for the math homework. (Just in case you don't have one at home:)
*Be sure to check the "Lost and Found" by the gym doors. There is a lot of stuff and it will be donated to Thrift over spring break.
*Please be sure your child comes to school on time each day. Several children have been coming late and it makes it difficult to have a smooth start to our day. We start at 8:10.
Our Star Student will be Carson!
Our secret word is "seedling".
Friday, March 11, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
March 11, 2011 - Newsletter
Dear Parents,
We started our week off with a fun pancacke breakfast. We finally beat Mrs. Fleming's class in the Reading Competition! We had plain, chocolate chip and blueberry pancakes. We topped them with more blueberries, peanut butter and syrup (not necissarily all on each one). We had a well deserved treat for reading a total of 6,535 minutes for the month of February. We'll have to do even better if we want to win in March because now Mrs. Fleming's class wants it:).
The name of the game in first grade is "Reading." Any time during the day you can come in and see noses in books. They can't wait to finish other work so they can read again. This class has truly come alive with a love for reading like I haven't seen before. Every child's AR zone has been bumped up-some by a whole grade level! I am so proud of this class and their great attitude toward reading.
We are also moving forward in math. We focused on fractions, measurement, time, money, temperature, and identifying a half dozen.
Also on Monday, we had a special missionary come to our class to talk about her work with children in Haiti. Lourdes Valaderez and her mission, Project Child is working in conjuction with "Love a Child," to build schools for homeless children in Haiti. Our kids got to see the schoolhouses (tents with wooden benches and gravel floors.) If you would like more information about this organization, I have newsletters posted on the back of our door. We learned that it only takes 23 cents to buy a bag of seasoned rice to feed a family of six. From now until the end of the school year, we will collect quarters, then present them to the mission as a love gift. I wish you could have seen your children when they realized that children just like themselves were living in conditions that we wouldn't dream of. It was an execellent opporunity for our kids to see how blessed they are and plant that seed of love for the less fortunate. I hope you heard about it...if not ask this weekend.
SAT Testing - April 18-21 (official dates- we will start some the week before)
Our Star Student will be Sydnie.
Our secret word is Shamrock.
We started our week off with a fun pancacke breakfast. We finally beat Mrs. Fleming's class in the Reading Competition! We had plain, chocolate chip and blueberry pancakes. We topped them with more blueberries, peanut butter and syrup (not necissarily all on each one). We had a well deserved treat for reading a total of 6,535 minutes for the month of February. We'll have to do even better if we want to win in March because now Mrs. Fleming's class wants it:).
The name of the game in first grade is "Reading." Any time during the day you can come in and see noses in books. They can't wait to finish other work so they can read again. This class has truly come alive with a love for reading like I haven't seen before. Every child's AR zone has been bumped up-some by a whole grade level! I am so proud of this class and their great attitude toward reading.
We are also moving forward in math. We focused on fractions, measurement, time, money, temperature, and identifying a half dozen.
Also on Monday, we had a special missionary come to our class to talk about her work with children in Haiti. Lourdes Valaderez and her mission, Project Child is working in conjuction with "Love a Child," to build schools for homeless children in Haiti. Our kids got to see the schoolhouses (tents with wooden benches and gravel floors.) If you would like more information about this organization, I have newsletters posted on the back of our door. We learned that it only takes 23 cents to buy a bag of seasoned rice to feed a family of six. From now until the end of the school year, we will collect quarters, then present them to the mission as a love gift. I wish you could have seen your children when they realized that children just like themselves were living in conditions that we wouldn't dream of. It was an execellent opporunity for our kids to see how blessed they are and plant that seed of love for the less fortunate. I hope you heard about it...if not ask this weekend.
Upcoming Dates:
Everyone can wear GREEN on Thursday for St. Patrick's Day!
Spring Break - March 28-April 1
SAT Testing - April 18-21 (official dates- we will start some the week before)
Our Star Student will be Sydnie.
Our secret word is Shamrock.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
March 4, 2011 - Newsletter
Dear Parents,
As we near the end of another week in first grade, I'm reminded of how little time we have left together. As your sweet little babies start even looking like second graders, I know that they are all working hard every day to be ready! AR (Accelerated Reading) time has become everyone's favorite time of the day. Every student has taken several tests and has increased their grade level zone. I hope you are hearing the difference at home when they read to you!
We started a new reading unit called, "Games." This will be a fun way to practice all of those reading strategies we've been learning this year.
We had fun writing "Dr. Seussish" stories this week. Sometimes you've just got to let your silly side show. Some of us are more comfortable with that side than others:). I hope you get a chance to come in and read all of our stories on our March board.
We had a fabulous Store today. Thanks so much for rewarding all our kids for working hard to earn the money and count it too! They were very excited.
We also had fun celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday by reading lots of his books and eating red and white cupcakes!
SAT testing is coming up after Spring Break. You will start seeing some review papers coming home. We will be going over corrections together. If your child brings home a page that has a lot of corrections on it, take a minute to review that skill with them.
Our class won for the most minutes in first grade. It was very close. We only won by around 300 minutes. Everyone in our class turned in his/her minutes! We will celebrate with a pancake breakfast Monday morning!
Our Star Student will be Breana!
Our secret word is "Seuss".
Have a wonderful weekend!
Dawn Newland
As we near the end of another week in first grade, I'm reminded of how little time we have left together. As your sweet little babies start even looking like second graders, I know that they are all working hard every day to be ready! AR (Accelerated Reading) time has become everyone's favorite time of the day. Every student has taken several tests and has increased their grade level zone. I hope you are hearing the difference at home when they read to you!
We started a new reading unit called, "Games." This will be a fun way to practice all of those reading strategies we've been learning this year.
We had fun writing "Dr. Seussish" stories this week. Sometimes you've just got to let your silly side show. Some of us are more comfortable with that side than others:). I hope you get a chance to come in and read all of our stories on our March board.
We had a fabulous Store today. Thanks so much for rewarding all our kids for working hard to earn the money and count it too! They were very excited.
We also had fun celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday by reading lots of his books and eating red and white cupcakes!
SAT testing is coming up after Spring Break. You will start seeing some review papers coming home. We will be going over corrections together. If your child brings home a page that has a lot of corrections on it, take a minute to review that skill with them.
Our class won for the most minutes in first grade. It was very close. We only won by around 300 minutes. Everyone in our class turned in his/her minutes! We will celebrate with a pancake breakfast Monday morning!
Our Star Student will be Breana!
Our secret word is "Seuss".
Have a wonderful weekend!
Dawn Newland
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