Merry, Merry Christmas from the Thomas' and a Happy Happy New Year!

We will be traveling to Iowa and playing in the snow for Christmas.
When we return, we will be celebrating Connor's 1st birthday...my, oh, my how time flies!!!
I hope everyone has safe travels and enjoys spending time with friends and family and remembering what Christmas is all about! :)

Thank you, thank you, thank you first graders at Blount! We collected 69 pajamas!!!

Our Polar Express party was a hit! The children enjoyed the movie while munching away on homemade sugar cookies and sipped on chocolate milk through a candy cane straw!!!

What a busy week in Room 121....until next year!!!

READING

Our letter this week is "k" as in "kangaroo." We will spend some time talking about kangaroos and koalas and comparing them. Our word wall words are couldn't, wouldn't, shouldn't, and think.

LANGUAGE

We will focus on rule 11 ~ Some words take the place of names. (pronouns)

MATH

We will finish this week with Ch. 9, Tables and Graphs, and test Thursday. Look for a review sheet to come home Wednesday night.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

There are crafts to be made so we will spend this week on more fun topics to conclude our holiday season. (Santa, Elves, North Pole, etc.)

IMPORTANT REMINDERS AND DATES
Tuesday, December 13 ~ Spirit Night at Jason's Deli

Thursday, December 15 ~ Holiday Party from 1:30-2:15

Monday, December 19- Tuesday, January 3 ~ Winter Holidays!

Wednesday, January 4 ~ Students Return

*Please think about picking up some supplies for your child over the holiday break. Most of the children are out of glue sticks, crayons and pencils!

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas...

I hope everyone enjoyed their week off sleeping in, traveling, shopping, and eating. Oh, did I mention that I did manage to sneak away from the house to do some Black Friday shopping with my two sisters! It has kinda become a tradition in my family that we look forward to doing every year and we scored BIG!!!

READING

This week we will focus on the letter "r" as in "rabbit" and "ea" as in "eagle." We will spend some time learning about rabbits and eagles. Our word wall words for this week are want, wants, eat, three and ran. Remember, these words should be easily recognized alone and in text. What a difference this will make in fluency!

LANGUAGE

We will review question words and I will begin mixing the sentences this week as the children will need to be able to tell the difference between a question sentence and a statement sentence. We will continue to review ABC order along with rules 1 through 9. As always, each Friday for a language daily grade, the children will copy and edit sentences from the week so please be sure to review the sentences in their take home folder each night.

MATH

We will finish up with our chapter on subtraction and move right into graphs. Although, we have been graphing throughout the year, this can be a difficult skill for children to grasp so we may spend more time covering this skill!

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

Now that December has quickly arrived, we will spend the next three weeks completing some fun activities on the following topics: gingerbread men, reindeer, Santa Claus, elves, the North Pole and much, much more! Stay tuned...

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND REMINDERS

Nancy's Italian Ice will be available tomorrow for $1.00

Wednesday, Nov. 30~Spirit Night at Nancy's Italian Ice

Thursday, Dec. 1~Signed Papers

Wednesday, Dec. 7~Spirit Night at Applebee's

Friday, Dec. 9~Pajama Day and Polar Express Movie (note to follow)

Tuesday, Dec. 13~Spirit Night at Jason's Deli

Thursday, Dec. 15~School Holiday Party from 1:30-2:15

Friday, Dec. 16~Last day of school before holidays!

Wednesday, Jan. 4~Student's return to school

Have a warm week and enjoy the cooler weather!

FYI~With all the fun planned I have for room 121 over the next three weeks, I would love some help having things donated to help make the activities happen. If you would be interested in sending an item or two, please send me a quick e-mail or note in your child's folder so that I can be sure to let you know what you can send and when you can send it! Thanks so much :)

Happy Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank You for all my hands can hold!

Thank You for all my eyes can see!

Thank You for all my ears can hear!

What are you thankful for?

American Education Week ~ November 13-19

On Wednesday, students are encouraged to come to school dressed in their "future career choice." On Friday, students may wear their favorite team shirt. Also, please allow your child to bring in one of their favorite books for me to read aloud to the class!

READING

This week our letter is "c" as in "cat." The word wall words are a, hasn't, isn't, wasn't, and can. Most of our reading activities will focus on Thanksgiving.

LANGUAGE
Our language rule for this week is rule 10 ~ A sentence that asks something needs a question mark at the end. We will continue to review and talk about rules 1-9.
MATH
We will begin Ch. 8, More Subtraction Concepts. I am truly amazed and how quickly the students grasped subtraction. They are always ready for a challenge, eager to learn, and never slowing down! I love it!!!
SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

We will finish up scarecrows with our yummy "Scarecrow Munch" and move right into talking about pilgrims, indians, the Mayflower, and all the things we are THANKFUL FOR. What a wonderful season!

FYI

Tuesday, November 15 ~ Spirit Night at Burger King (Chantilly Parkway)

Thursday, November 15 ~ Holiday Market at Blount, 5:30

Progress Reports to go home

November 21-25 ~ Thanksgiving Holidays (No School)

Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy spending time with friends and family!

Love, The Thomas'

Happy Happy Halloween!

We had such a fun Friday investigating our ENORMOUS pumpkin! And a BIG thanks to Mrs. Russell for cooking two delicious pumpkin pies for the children to taste!!!

READING
This week we will focus on the letter "i" as in "insect." We will spend Monday talking about spiders and how it is NOT an insect. Tuesday we will talk about insects/bugs and the children will "Build A Bug." The rest of the week we will talk about ladybugs, caterpillars and many, many more icky, sticky, creepy, crawly insects. Our word wall words for this week are did, in, it, this, and sit. Please make sure your child is able to read these word upon sight for the unannounced word wall checks we will be having this nine weeks.
LANGUAGE
We will learn rule 9 this week~Some words name things. (nouns) We will continue practicing all previous rules learned so far this year. Remember, we will have DOL daily grades on their sentences each Friday.
MATH
We will spend Monday doing some fun Halloween math activities/games and start Ch. 7, More Subtraction Concepts on Tuesday. The children will be introduced to related addition and subtraction facts and counting back on a number line. Please continue Math Facts In A Flash at home through Renaissance.
SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES
We will study lots of interesting facts about spiders and other insects along with starting some fun November themes such as scarecrows, Thanksgiving, Veteran's Day, and Career Day. What a busy, busy month we have ahead of us!

THE BLOUNT BOOK FAIR HAS ARRIVED!

Parents, the book fair is located in the library all this week. The children were allowed to preview the book fair on Friday to see what all they can purchase. They were so excited and eager to shop right then. I loved watching them make connections with some of our classroom books and chapter book read alouds!

The children will only be allowed to go this week if they have money. There are lots of great books and other items such as small toys so please talk with your children about what they can purchase. I will not be with them so they will be shopping on their own. Please remember to send their money labeled so it does not get lost or misplaced. Parents are welcome to come and take their child to the book fair. The best time to do this is right after our lunch which ends around 11:30. However, if you cannot make it then, just come when you can!!!

Have a safe night trick or treating~I cannot wait to hear about the children's costumes!

RED RIBBON WEEK

Monday ~ "We Are Proud to Be Drug Free" Our class will make a red chain and sign it to hand outside our classroom door to show we are DRUG FREE!

Tuesday ~ "Sock It To Drugs and Slip Into Good Character" Children wear crazy socks and slippers.

Wednesday ~ "Hats Off To Not Using Drugs" Children wear their favorite hat.

Thursday ~ "We Are Too Cool To Do Drugs" Children wear their sunglasses.

Friday ~ "Team Up Against Drugs" Children wear their favorite team's jersey.

Is everyone ready to start our second nine weeks of school?

READING

Our letter for this week is "w" as in "wind." We will talk about the four seasons: fall, winter, spring and summer. Our word wall words are we, was, don't, off, and right.

LANGUAGE

Children will be introduced to rule 8 ~ The names of holidays begin with capital letters. Please continue to review rules 1-7 as they will still be expected to correct sentences with the previous taught rules.

MATH

We will finish Ch. 4 and test this week and move right along to more Subtraction Strategies.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

We will wrap up our "pumpkin" unit this week! Thanks to Reagan's mom for donating a pumpkin that we will carve and investigate on Friday! :)

REMINDERS AND IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER

Nancy's Italian Ice will be on sale tomorrow so bring in $1.00!

Library Day is Tuesday ~ don't forget to bring your book!

Report Cards will come home on Thursday ~ remember to sign and return!

Have a happy week ~ Kristin :)

Let's go picking in the PUMPKIN PATCH.

Now we're jiggling the old gate latch.

Gate swings wide and we step inside.

Pumpkins spread like an ocean tide.

You take the one like a fat balloon.

I'll take the one like an orange moon.

Hike to the house in fifty paces.

Then we'll carve out the pumpkin faces.

Just a preview of our day at the Pumpkin Patch. More pictures to come...

READING

This week we will focus on the letter "t" as in "turkey." We will share what we already know about turkeys and learn some new interesting facts! Our word wall words for the week are: at, that, open, old, many.

LANGUAGE

The children will be introduced to rule 7 this week, The names of months begin with capital letters. We will continue reviewing rules 1-6. The children have also been introduced to ABC order in their library lessons so I will reinforce that skill in the classroom each week with different activities.

MATH

We tested last week on Ch.3 and the children are ready to keep moving forward. They are catching on quickly to subtraction! We will begin Ch.4, More Subtraction Concepts. Look for a review sheet to come home the night before the test. "Zero the Hero" will be visiting this week for the fourth time this year and I am always curious to see what he brings, be sure to ask your children about this!

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

We will spend the rest of this week and next week talking about PUMPKINS. We will talk about the life cycle of pumpkins, bring in our favorite pumpkin recipes to make a class book, have an art activity, and we may even get to taste something pumpkin flavored! :)

REMINDERS

Spirit Night @ Burger King (Chantilly) this Tuesday, Oct. 18th.

This Thursday, Oct. 20th is our FALL FESTIVAL, 4:30-7:30. I hope to see you there!!!

Signed papers will go home on Thursday, Oct. 20th.

Picture money is due by Friday, Oct. 20.

Spirit Night @ Nancy's Italian Ice is Wednesday, Oct. 26th.

Report cards will go home next Thursday, Oct. 27th.

Box Tops are due Monday, Oct. 31st.

Deadline for the Just Give Campaign is Tuesday, Nov. 1st.

PTA meeting will be Tuesday, Nov. 8th.

There will be NO SCHOOL (HOORAY!) on Friday, Nov. 11th.

Happy Fall Ya'll ~ Kristin :)

It's Raining, It's Pouring!

I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend despite the rain!

Look who came to read to our Firsties Friday morning! Dr. Barbara Thompson read Llama Llama Red Pajama and the kids LOVED it!!

We spent terrific Tuesday talking about Christopher Columbus, the famous explorer, who sailed around the world looking for "treasures." The children themselves became explorers today and brought back some of their very own "treasures." Of course, the most popular treasure was GOLD, but some children brought back sea horses, swords, and silk. I love a first grader's imagination!!!

READING

We will spend this short week focusing on the letter "n" as in "nest." The children will identify characteristics of birds, particularly a nightingale. The word wall words for this week are an, and, once, or and round.

LANGUAGE

The children will be introduced to grammar rule 6 ~ The names of the days of the week begin with capital letters: marvelous Monday, terrific Tuesday, wonderful Thursday, thrilling Thursday and fantastic Friday

MATH

We will finish Ch. 3, Subtraction Concepts this week. Look for a review sheet to come home the night before the test. I hope everyone is able to access Renaissance at Home, where your child will be able to practice their Math Facts In A Flash. Memorizing these will be very rewarding for the skills to come!

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

We will finish October with some fun Halloween/pumpkin related activities and be ready to start November with some more fun fall related themes!
MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

Oct. 17~Fieldtrip to the PUMPKIN PATCH

Oct. 18~Spirit Night at Burger King (Chantilly Pkwy)

Oct. 20~Blount Fall Festival at Thompson Park 4:30-7:30

Oct. 26~Spirit Night at Nancy's Italian Ice

Nov. 1~Deadline for Just Give Campaign

Have a Happy Happy Week!

October is finally here!

A BIG THANKS to all our mom's that came on Thursday to take the class to lunch while I enjoyed Teacher Treat Day! What a treat!!!

LANGUAGE

We will begin learning rule 5~The names of specific places begin with a capital letter. We will also continue reviewing previous rules. Daily grade on Friday so make sure you are going over the sentences that come home each day.

READING

This week we will learn the letter pair "th" as in "the." The children will work on some activities related to their name. The word wall words are the, now, ask, every, and how.

MATH

We are finishing up Ch. 6 this week. Look for a review sheet to come home the night before the test. This is the last chapter practicing addition facts. We will continue to review throughout the year. Our next chapter begins subtraction and we will spend the next few weeks on this skill and then we will move on to mixed addition and subtraction.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

We will spend most of October talking about pumpkins and other fall related themes.

REMINDERS

October 6 ~ Signed papers

October 10 ~ No school for the children!

October 11 ~ Spirit Night @ Jason's Deli

October 17 ~ Fieldtrip to the Pumpkin Patch (info coming home soon)

October 18 ~ Spirit Night @ Burger King (chantilly location)

October 20 ~ Fall Festival from 4:30-7:30

October 25 ~ Spirit Night @ Nancy's Italian Ice

November 1 ~ Deadline for "Just Give Campaign"

Have a great week and enjoy the weather! Fall is here!!!

We had fun tasting the red and green apples that were brought in last week. After we ate our apples, we graphed our favorite and 12 children liked the green apples while 6 children liked the red apples. I am so sorry that I do not have pictures. My camera broke so I am patiently waiting for my new camera to arrive!!!

A glance at this week in Room 121:

READING

We will focus on "d" as in "dinosaur." We will learn interesting facts about dinosaurs and talk about the word "extinct." We will review the word wall words that have been introduced so far this year. Please remember, these words should be recognized and read within three seconds. We will have two more unannounced word wall daily grades before the nine weeks is over. A blue Read Well Assessment chart has been added to your child's take home folder along with their homework stories. Please read and re-read these stories as research has shown that repeated readings is one of the BEST ways to improve fluency and comprehension. These stories should be read smoothly and accurately.

MATH

We will begin Ch 6, Addition Facts Practice on Tuesday. The children will continue practicing addition facts through 10 and committing them to memory. They will also use addition rules to complete function tables through sums of 10. This week I will introduce Math Facts In A Flash to the children. This is a computerized program that quizzes the children on their math facts starting at the lowest level (additon of 0,1.) The children are given two minutes to answer 40 addition problems and must accurately answer them within the two minutes before advancing to the next level (addition of 2,3.) The Home Connect letter you received a few weeks ago will allow your child to practice this at home. This is a great way to help your child memorize their facts!

LANGUAGE

The children will continue to edit sentences in the morning using rules 1, 2, and 3. Rule 4 will be introduced tomorrow: The names of people and pets begin with capital letters. A daily grade will be taken on Friday using all 4 rules. Please practice the sentences that come each day as these are the EXACT sentences chosen on Friday. You may begin to notice letters, words, and sentences on the back of the DOL paper. This is our write well lesson that is a part of Read Well and may sometimes be used as a daily reading grade.

LIBRARY/AR

Please make sure to send your child's library book with them each day. There are opportunities during the day for the children to read independently at their desk or in a cozy "reading spot." Almost the entire class has become self-motivated to take AR tests, which require their library book so it is very important that it comes to school each day. I am very proud of their AR scores!!! I hope you have signed up to receive e-mails each time your child takes a test so you are aware of how they are doing. :) This information was sent home a few weeks ago in a Home Connect letter. If you need another one, please let me know.

REMINDERS:

• 
  
  Nancy's Italian Ice will now be served EVERY Monday, so please send in $1 if you would like for your child to enjoy a sweet afternoon treat!


• 
  
  Please consider joining the PTA if you have not already. It is a great way to support our wonderful school!!!


• 
  
  If you are new to Blount, please stop by the office to sign up for INOW. This is the website we currently use for grades and attendance. You will be able to log on at any time to check grades and averages.

What a busy week we have ahead! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. I look forward to spending another fabulous week with my fabulous first graders.

Apples, apples, what a treat,
sweet and tart and good to eat.
Apples green and apples red,
hang from branches overhead,
and when they ripen,
down they drop,
so we can taste our apple crop!

*Please send an apple with your child by Thursday. We are going to enjoy them outside while we learn a few facts! We will also get to know all about Johnny Appleseed.

READING

Our whole group reading focuses on the letter "a" as in "ant" and "apple." The word wall words for this week are am, new, out, walk, and put. On Friday, students will recall all word wall words up to this week for a reading daily grade. Also, please note the homework reading stories that have been added to your child's take home folder. These need to be read each night to help prepare them for the unit assessment.

LANGUAGE

We will continue to work on language rules 1 and 2. Please refer to the list in your child's take home folder. This week the children will learn rule 3: The word I is always capitalized. A daily grade will be taken Friday.

MATH

We started Ch 5 today, Addition Strategies. The children will learn how to add using a number line. Look for a review sheet to come home the night before the test. This does not have to be returned; it is simply to help prepare your child for the test.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

We are learning lots of fun facts about ants and apples during our Reading time.

HELPFUL REMINDERS:

If your child is absent please call the office at 244-0078 to let our secretary know or send me a quick e-mail. We have a new absentee policy and teachers are required to call and document each absence. This helps me out tremendously as my time during the day is very limited. Thanks so much for your help.

Nancy's Italian Ice will be back on Monday, September 26th. If you would like for your child to purchase a YUMMY little owl, please make sure to send $1 with them.

Thanks for all our wonderful Scholastic Book Orders and being so patient as the online orders got a little confusing. We should not have any future problems with this. I can already tell I have a class full of eager little readers. What a JOY!!! We were also able to get lots of new books for our classroom library. They should arrive within two weeks.

Today you received a Connect to Renaissance at Home letter explaining how you can create an account that will allow you to check your child's progress with AR tests and Math Facts In A Flash. If you have any questions, please let me know and I will do my best to answer them.

On tomorrow, I will send home a STAR report that will give you an idea of where your child is mathematically. It is very similiar to the STAR reading test.

On Thursday, progress reports will be sent home to let you know how your child is doing academically up to this point. Please keep in mind that if you are not satisfied with their grade or know they are capable of doing better, we still have four more weeks to go. I am so very PROUD of how hard they have worked and how much PRIDE they take in completing their assignments.

My apologies for updating late Monday night, but my little one takes up soooo much of my time on the weekend and by Sunday night I am exhausted!

EEEK!!! Signed papers were to go home on last Thursday, but I was absent unexpectedly with a stomach bug. We played catch-up on Friday and I have been playing catch-up ALL weekend long. Signed papers will come home tomorrow with lots of important information. Included in the signed papers will be a scholastic book order (completely optional), a DIBELS report (to be signed and returned with signed papers), and a STAR Reading Report (for you to keep). If you have any questions about this information please do not hesitate to ask me!

We will begin our small groups and I will also explain the Reading Stations to the children. We will most likely spend Monday and Tuesday practicing our rotations and making sure everyone knows where to go and what to do while I am working with small groups. Please look for Read Well homework stories to come home on Wednesday. Remember, there will be one homework story (front and back) for each unit and it should stay in your child's take home folder to be read every night.

We had our first visit to the library on last Tuesday and each child checked out a library book. The children are reminded each afternoon during pack-up to take their library book home as part of their twenty minutes of reading and bring it back the next day. Everyone will get a new book each Tuesday during our class library time. The children were also STAR tested last week in the computer lab and I will be sending those reports home tomorrow. This report will tell you exactly what level books will help your child become a better reader. With this being said, the children will begin checking out books on their appropriate level to begin taking AR tests. AR tests are not required this early in the year but later on I will require that the children take a certain number of tests per week depending on their reading level. For those who would like to begin taking tests, you must read the book at least three times with a parent. Right now the children will be assisted by myself or a parent volunteer until I feel they can do it independently. After they take their test I will let them go to the library to check out another book.

READING

Our letter and sound for this week is "Mm" as in mouse and monkey. Our word wall words are me, our, pretty, going, and ate. In Science, we will focus on monkey facts and in Social Studies we will continue talking about The Five Senses.

LANGUAGE

We will continue working on capitalization at the beginning of a sentence. This week the children will edit sentences that do not have a period at the end. On Friday, the children will need to be able to copy the sentences correctly by using a capital letter at the beginning and a period at the end.

MATH

We will finish Ch.2 this week, which is more Addition Concepts. Please look at your child's homework page in their take home folder as to what lesson was completed each day. Remember that the night before our math test I will send home the review sheet from their math notebook. The homework pages along with the review page should not come back to school; it is simply to prepare them for the test.

MORE BLOUNT NEWS

This week we will rotate our specialists. For the next three weeks, our class will go to Mrs. Brand for computer. Our specialist time is from 1:25-2:00. The children will need headphones so please be sure to send them in if you have not already.

Tomorrow is our first day for the children to purchase Nancy's Italian Ice as a refreshing sweet treat. This is optional for the children. A variety of flavors will be sold for $1.00. This will be sold every other Monday and it is a school fundraiser, not a PTA fundraiser.

IMPORTANT DATES:

PTA membership drive will end on October 7th.

Spirit Night at Jason's Deli is September 13th.

Spirit Night at Burger King on Chantilly is September 20th.

Spirit Night at Nancy's Italian Ice is September 28th.

Our Fabulous First Graders in Room 121!

Welcome back from the long weekend! I hope you were able to spend some time relaxing with your family. Most of our time was spent inside, out of the RAIN!

If you were not able to attend the small group meetings last week, I will be sending home a math workbook with a letter attached briefly explaining it's purpose. Here is a quick look at our short week!

READING

We will focus on the letter "e" as in "emu" and "ee" as in "bee." We will learn different facts about emus and bees. Our fun words for this week are "emu" and "enormous." Be sure to ask your children what they know about our fun words. Our word wall words for this week are see, down, find, good and please. We are still learning routines and procedures for our Reading block so we are not quite ready to begin our groups. However, I will be sending home a letter explaining your child's reading group placement.

LANGUAGE

The children have begun correcting sentences this week. We have learned that all sentences are a complete thought that have a capital letter at the beginning and a period at the end. The children are given sentences and need to be able to identify that each sentences is missing a capital letter at the beginning. We are correcting our work with a red crayon so you will be able to easily recognize the mistakes and reinforce the skill that I will take for a daily grade each Friday. So make sure to spend some time this week writing and correcting sentences. We will have our first grade this Friday.

MATH

We begin each math lesson with our new "Calendar Companion" notebook. Many skills are covered during this time and will be reviewed daily to help stretch our thinking! We finished Ch. 1 and have moved onto Ch.2 this week, which focuses on more addition concepts. Remember when a review sheet comes home the test will be the very next day.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

We will spend this week and next talking about our "five senses."

*Signed papers will go home on Thursday along with their DIBELS report and a Scholastic Book Order. Please carefully look over them, sign and return promptly to school.

WISH LIST for ROOM 121

clear page protectors

washable ink pads

colored copy paper (no cardstock)

watercolor paint sets

We survived our first week....way to go First Graders!

I hope your children were not too terribly worn out that they could not share with you all that took place in Room 121 last week. We stayed extremely busy learning class and school expectations, procedures and routines. We walked the hallways over and over and had many "carpet time" talks that included several picture books that helped us to understand the importance of having a classroom where learning can take place. The children were so pleasant as they soaked up every bit of our expectations and showed how quickly they can adapt to their new expectations!

I hope you have made plans to attend our small group conferences that we will have on Tuesday and Thursday of this week. The First Grade Team feels this is the best way to explain to you how we do things in our classroom, what the expectations are, and give you a glimpse of what our day is like. We will also cover in detail the curriculum your children will be learning. This is an informal meeting that I hope will answer and/or clarify questions you may already have. You will only need to come to one; they will both cover the same things. The small group meetings will take place in our classroom. We will begin on time and finish on time. Please remember that this meeting time if for parents only. Also, this is not the time to discuss your child specifically, we can schedule a conference to address those questions and concerns separately. If for some reason your schedule does not allow you to attend either of the meetings, please let me know so we can work out a time convenient for you.

We will continue this week practicing our expectations, procedures and routines. However, on Wednesday I will be out of the class for the first part of the day. I am a member of the DIBELS Testing Team and will be pulled from my class three times a year. The children will be divided among the remaining first grade teachers and my promises that they will be just fine!

READING

I am in the process of looking over our Read Well data to begin placing children appropriately in their reading group. We will also begin learning about the different centers in our classroom and what our behavior should look like while engaging in the centers. I hope to begin Reading groups after Labor Day!

WORD WALL WORDS

Please begin practicing the word wall words found in your child's take home folder. If you child can read them within three seconds, you may want to begin writing them. We will review them daily during our morning work. A daily reading grade will be given three times each nine weeks so it will be of importance that they know them.

LANGUAGE

The children are completing DOL (Daily Oral Language) sentences each morning as part of their morning work. Last week they were introduced to our first grade lined paper and we learned how to head our paper starting with our name then our date. We also learned that a sentence is a complete thought and it begins with a capital letter and ends with a period. They began copying sentences from the board onto their paper. We will continue copying sentences this week. Starting next week, the children will be expected to edit the sentences from the board. The sentences will not have a capital letter at the beginning and the children will have to copy the sentence correctly. The paper will come home each day for you to reinforce the skill being taught as it will be taken for a grade each Friday. The children will be encouraged to correct their papers using a red crayon so you will be able to identify their mistakes.

MATH

We begin our math each day with a calendar lesson. There are so many skills and concepts that are taught from this so we usually spend 20 minutes of our math time on the calendar. After Labor Day, the children will receive a notebook to record the calendar information I have been modeling for them.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

Science and Social Studies will be covered in class mostly during Read Well. However, we do have several guest speakers waiting to come and talk with us on different topics each month. Of course, we love having our very own AVIATOR moms and dads share with us their jobs that always interest the children so please do not be shy about sharing with us! We would LOVE it!!!

REMINDERS:

• 
  
  I am still missing some paper work from some children. Please check through your stack and make sure you have not left anything out. Once I receive the Media Release From from everyone I will be posting pictures of all the fun learning that has taken place so far!


• 
  
  If you have not already joined our wonderful PTA, please consider doing so. They do so much for our children and our school.


• 
  
  Also, I know times are tough, but our JUST GIVE campaign is a wonderful opportunity to help support Blount. And the best part is that fundraisers will not take place during the year if our goal is met! Yahoo!!!

When I'm not teaching...

...I am spending time with my family. My husband Heath and I have been married for three years and have the most precious eight month old son, Connor. He keeps us extremely busy and we LOVE it. Connor enjoys the water, so we spent several days this summer splashing around in the pool. Of course, this worked out well for me because I love being in the sun! I also love shopping around for a good bargain! So, when I'm not teaching I am a wife and a mother. I am looking forward to a wonderful school year getting to know all of my students. I cannot wait to find out what you do when you are not learning...