Week of December 9 ~ 13

A big thanks to Autumn and Katelyn’s mom for taking the children to lunch while I enjoyed Teacher Treat Day in the library!!!

Please remember to send in $5 cash for the Christmas party scheduled for Thursday, December 19 from 1:30-2:15.  The children may also wear green that day and we will watch the movie How The Grinch Stole Christmas before our party.

Friday, December 13, the children may wear their pajamas to school and we will watch The Polar Express.  I will have a sweet treat for them to enjoy during the movie!

Reading ~ Unit 2 Week 1          Story:  A Big Fish for Max          Genre:  Animal Fantasy

Amazing Words ~ chore, cooperation, commute, downtown, household, rule, subway, display

Word Wall Words ~ catch, put, good, said, no, want

***A new spelling chart will be added to your child’s take home folder for Unit 2.

Vowel Sound in ball:  a, al                     Consonant Digraphs sh, th

Spelling Words ~ fish, with, shop, ship, then, rush, trash, shut, shell, thin

Language ~ We will focus on Common Nouns {a word that names a person, place, animal, or thing}.  Common nouns start with a lowercase letter unless they are at the beginning of a sentence.  Girl (person), classroom (place), dog (animal), and pencil (thing) are common nouns.  They are singular nouns that name one person, one place, one animal, and one thing.

Math ~ We will continue through Ch 6.  Please make sure you are reinforcing the lessons being taught in class using their practice workbook sent home at the beginning of the year.  Please refer to the yellow chart for the current lesson taught.  A review sheet will come home the night before the test. 

Reminders:

12/9 ~ Nancy’s Italian Ice $1.00

12/10 ~ Library lesson with Mrs. Morris

12/12 ~ Signed Papers

12/14 ~ Spirit Day at Tish’s Cupcakes

12/20 ~ Box Top Collecction

12/23 – 1/3 ~ Winter Break {NO SCHOOL}

1/6 ~ Children return to school

Please email me with any questions or concerns.  Have a great week ~ Kristin :)

It’s Beginning to look a lot like Christmas….

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family, friends, food and fun!  December is here and we have three weeks to hang in there until we get another nice break!!!

  On Friday, we will return to Dream Field Farms  for a celebration of Christmas in the 17th century.  Students may wear a Blount spirit shirt/sweatshirt and jeans.  We will be outside so check the weather.  You may want to send extra warm clothing for your little one.  The check-out procedure will be the same.  If you plan to take your child with you from the farm I will have a sign-out sheet.  Children that check out will not need to come to school that day with their book bag, lunch or a snack!

Our Christmas party is scheduled for Thursday, December 19th from 1:45-2:15.  Please look for a note to come home this week explaining our party fun! 

We will be having a Polar Express movie and pajama party on Friday, December 13th.  Students may wear their pajamas to school.  We will have chocolate milk and a sweet treat!  If anyone is interested in sending in either item, please let me know!  :)

WE HAVE COMPLETED OUR FIRST UNIT IN OUR NEW READING PROGRAM.  WHEW!  THIS ENTIRE WEEK WILL BE SPENT REVIEWING WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED SO FAR.  STUDENTS WILL TAKE A BENCHMARK TEST ON PAPER, NO COMPUTER OVER THE COURSE OF THE WEEK.  THERE WILL NOT BE A NEW STORY, NO NEW SPELLING WORDS, NO NEW WORD WALL WORDS, NO NEW DAILY FIX-IT SENTENCES, AND NO NEW LANGUAGE SKILLS.  THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO GO BACK AND REVIEW ALL OF THE ABOVE WITH YOUR CHILD.  RESEARCH TELLS US THAT THE BEST WAY FOR A CHILD TO ACHIEVE MASTERY IS TO EXPOSE THEM TO IT OVER AND OVER AND OVER.  :)

  MATH ~ We will begin Ch 6, Count and Model Numbers.  Please make sure you are using your workbook at home to reinforce all skills taught at school.  And remember, a review sheet will come home in your child’s take-home folder the night before the test.  :)

OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS/EVENTS

12/2 ~ Nancy’s Italian Ice 1.00

12/3 ~ Library Lesson with Mrs. Morris

12/5 ~ Teacher Treat Day

12/6 ~ Field trip to Dream Field Farms

12/13 ~ Polar Express Movie and Pajama Party

12/19 ~ Christmas Party 1:45-2:15

12/20 ~ Last day of school!  Woohoo!

Please contact me with any questions or concerns.  Have a great week!

1/6 ~ Students return from holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving Ya’ll!

Thanksgiving….already?  I hope you are getting ready to enjoy thankful times with friends and family.  We are trying out a new tradition in room 121, Sharing Soup.  Each student was given an ingredient to bring no later than TUESDAY, Nov. 19.  :)

The Book Fair will continue through Thursday, Nov. 21.  If you send $$ please make sure it is labeled and sealed in a baggie or envelope. 

REMEMBER THERE IS NO SCHOOL THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 25TH.  I WISH EVERYONE A HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING FRESH FACES ON DECEMBER 2ND.

Reading Unit 1 Week 6 ~ The phonics focus will be the short /u/ vowel sound like in “umbrella” and final consonant blends:  first and stick.  Please make sure you are listening to your child read the sentences and words in their take home folder each night.  I cannot stress to you how important this is put “miles on their tongues.” 

Genre ~ Literary Nonfiction                        Story ~ Animal Park

Comprehension ~ Character, plot, setting, main idea/supporting details, and cause/effect.

Amazing Words ~ desert, forest, world, chatter, silent, snort, medicine and poisonous. 

Word Wall Words ~ home, into, them, many

Spelling Words can be found in your child’s take home folder {Week 6}  A new list will come home when they return in December.

Language ~ We will continue reviewing nouns, verbs, adjectives, complete sentences, subjects/predicates of a sentence, declarative {statements} and interrogative {questions} sentences.  This week they will be introduced to an exclamatory sentence which has an exclamation point at the end:   I cannot wait until we get out for Thanksgiving!

Math ~ We will not take a formal math test for Ch. 5.  I have picked out the important skills {related facts and fact families} to focus on so I will take a major grade using those skills only. 

Have a great week! Please contact me with any questions or concerns. ~ Kristin

 

What are you thankful for?

I cannot believe November is already here! 

Scholastic Book Orders are due on tomorrow.  {Monday, November 4} 

Our field trip to the Pumpkin Patch is finally here!  Children need to wear jeans and tennis shoes and I will send an e-mail letting your know what color shirt they will need to wear.  If you plan to be a chaperone and want to take your child with you after the field trip, I will have a sign-up sheet for you.  :)

Thanks so much Wendy Cayer for putting together a class directory.  A new policy does not allow for party invitations to be handed out at school, even if the entire class is invited so please use this to mail out any birthday invitations!

IMPORTANT READING INFORMATION: PLEASE READ CAREFULLY

I will be sending home usernames and passwords this week for you to access www.pearsonsuccess.net at home.  You will press login and enter your child’s username and password.  We have begun our weekly Friday testing on the computer.  The computer automatically gives them a score and targets the skills they missed by assigning them activities that can be done at home.  We do not have enough time nor do we have enough computers so please take advantage of this at home to help reinforce any skills being missed in class.

Everyone is taking the test on the computer.  However, we realize this is a learned and practiced skill, so anyone who scores below an A will be given an opportunity to take the same test on paper.  The higher score is taken and entered into INOW for their final major grade.  In signed papers, if your child made an A on the computer test you will receive a slip of paper with your child’s score written on it.  If your child had to take the test again on paper, you will receive the paper test with their grade at the top like normal.  I hope this makes sense.  Believe me, this is sooo very new for us too and we are trying our best to make this simple and fair without overwhelming you or your child while keeping you informed!!!

Reading ~ This weeks story is A Fox and A Kit.  It focuses on ending ~s and ~ing.  Please use the homework sheet in your child’s folder to review the story {10 sentences on the front} and the decodable words on the back for fluency. 

Genre ~ Literary Fiction

Comprehension ~ character, plot {beginning, middle, end}, setting, main idea and important details

Amazing Words ~ observe, parent, wild, canopy, screech, million, reserve, and native

Word Wall Words ~ eat, five, four, her, too

Spelling Words ~ sit, sits, win, wins, fit, fits, hit, hits, nap, naps, her, too

The spelling test this Friday will count as a major grade.

Language ~ We will continue reviewing nouns, verbs, adjectives, complete sentences, and identifying subjects and predicates in sentences.  This week the children will be introduced to declarative sentences.  A declarative sentence is a statement and ends with a period.   The daily fix-it sentences for this Friday will count as a major language grade.

Math ~ We will begin Ch. 5 this week.  Children will learn how addition and subtraction facts are related.  Please look in your child’s folder for math homework to help reinforce the taught skills at home.  :)

IMPORTANT DATES:

11/5 ~ Nancy’s Italian Ice $1.00

11/6 ~ PTA meeting at 6:00

11/7 ~ Field Trip/Signed Papers

11/11 ~ Veteran’s Day {No School}

11/13 ~ Spirit Night at Zaxby’s

11/14 ~ Progress Reports

11/25 – 11/29 ~ Thanksgiving Holidays {No School}

Please contact me with any questions or concerns! ~ Kristin

October 28 ~ November 1

Nancy’s Italian Ice every Monday for $1.00.  Thanks so much for sending it sealed and labeled.  Saves me a lot of time in the morning!!!

I am sending home Scholastic Book Club order forms!  Please look over them and consider ordering a book or two for your child to add to their library at home.  Orders are due Friday, November 1st. {orders can now be made online}

The 4th and 5th grade students are collecting school supplies for Family Promise as their community spirit project.  There is a big yellow barrel outside the office if your family would like to donate school supplies.  Items will be collected through Friday, November 1st.

If you have not already sent in your permission slip and money for our exciting field trip to Dream Fields Pumpkin Patch, please do so this week.  Thank so much!  :)

Reading Unit 1 Week 3 ~ We will focus on short /o/, consonant /s/ and plural –s this week.  A review sheet will continue to come home each week with 10 sentences that come from the main selection on the front and a list of decodable words your child should be able to read within 3 seconds on the back.  Please practice both each night for FLUENCY!

Genre ~ Animal Fantasy

Comprehension ~ Character, Plot and Setting

Amazing Words ~ past, present, produce, transportation, danger, serve, snuggle, enormous, and powerful

Word Wall Words ~ blue, help, from, little, get, use

Spelling~ Children will take a spelling test each Friday.  Two of the grades will count as major and the rest will be minor.  One major will be given before Progress Reports and the other will be before Report Cards.  This weeks spelling test will count as a major!  A list of the words can be found in your child’s take home folder.  :)

Language ~ We will continue to focus on nouns, verbs, and adjectives.  What is a sentence?  A sentence  is a group of words that tells a complete idea.  It begins with a capital letter and ends with a period.  We learned that the subject of a sentence tells us who or what the sentence is about.  This week we will learn about predicates.  It tell us who or what the subject does.  Please remember to review your child’s DOL sentences that come home each day.  I take a daily grade each Friday of all the Daily Fix-Its for the week. 

Math ~ We will begin Ch. 5, Addition and Subtraction Relationships.  A review sheet will come home the night before the test. 

Please contact me with any questions or concerns ~ Kristin

In your child’s take home notebook you will find the Spelling List for Unit 1.  There are six weeks in each unit.  You will find it in a page protector.  Make sure to leave it in their notebook for the full six weeks.  Each week focuses on words that have specific sounds that the students are learning for the week in their story.  Week 1 focuses on the short /a/ sound and the /ck/ ending sound.  We will have a spelling test each Friday that will count towards their Reading grade.  Please make sure your child can spell these words for the test.  At the end of the unit {in six weeks} I will add the new Spelling List and we will begin the process all over again.  :)

You will also notice a homework reading sheet that has sentences on the front and isolated words on the back.  Please have your child read these sentences to you and the words each night.  This will be very important as it will reinforce the sounds for the week and help them with fluency.  The words are decodable and your child should be able to use the appropriate skills to decode them.  :)  Each week a new homework sheet will be added for practice. 

We have completed our first nine weeks of school!  What a great group of smart kiddos!  They are soaking up everything like little sponges.  I hope they are filling your ears with new and exciting things!  :)

The students are now allowed and encouraged to check out two books instead of one.  So get ready to READ READ READ there two library books.  They also will be allowed to test on both books as long as you feel confident they are comprehending each story separately. 

Thursday is a big day!  Report Cards will come home and it’s our exciting Fall Festival that PTA has worked very hard to put together.  It is such a fun time for friends and family!  I hope you make plans to attend. 

Have a great week and contact me with any questions or concerns!  Kristin :)

Fall is Finally Here!

Sorry for the delay, but enjoy all of the first graders in room 121!

Nancy’s Italian Ice is every Monday for $1.00 {keep labeling with a name}

Library is every Tuesday from 2:00-2:30 {keep those library books coming everyday}

Fall Picture Day is Tuesday, October 8.  Your child may dress out of uniform but must still adhere to the MPS dress code {no open toe sandals, flip flops, clogs, no spaghetti strap shirts or dresses and all clothing must be the appropriate length}

Thursday, Oct. 10 is the deadline to get “early bird wristbands” for the Fall Festival.  Wristbands are $10 for children ages 3 and up and $1 for adults.  Children 2 and under are FREE!  If you miss the deadline, please still make plans to attend.  Prices at the gate will be $15 for children and $2 for adults. 

Reading ~ This week is a Review week.  We will review all our word wall words for the past six weeks along with all of the stories we have read.  Students will take a cumulative test of all material they have been exposed to up to this point in the school year. 

Language ~ We will review nouns, verbs, adjectives, statements, questions and complete sentences.  We will also review our Daily Fix It sentences each morning as part of our DOL.

Math ~ We will continue through Ch.2, Subtraction Concepts.  Don’t forget that a review sheet will come home the night before the test and it will also be noted in their homework page located in their take home notebook.  Please continue reviewing math facts and doubles.  We are beginning to make the connection that addition and subtraction facts are related. 

Other Important Dates:

10/10 ~ Teacher Treat Day and Signed Papers

10/11 ~ End of the First Nine Weeks

10/14 ~ Columbus Day/No School!

10/17 ~ Fall Festival 4:30-7:30 and Report Cards

10/21 ~ Spirit Night at Texas Roadhouse

10/24 ~ Signed Papers

10/25 ~ Box Top Collection

11/2 ~ Spirit Night at East Chase Cookie Company

11/7 ~ Fieldtrip to Pumpkin Patch and Signed Papers/Progress Reports

*We are planning to arrive at Dream Field Farms Pumpkin Patch between 9:30-9:45 and leave around 1:00.  The cost will be around $20.00.  This will include entry to the pumpkin patch, lunch, and the bus.  Lunch will be hot dogs, chips, fruit roll up and juice.  This is a great fieldtrip to attend with your child because this is the ONLY fieldtrip that will be open to ALL parents.  Our remaining scheduled fieldtrips will be limited on who can attend.  The cost for parents will be $5 plus lunch if you choose to eat there.  Parents will meet us at the pumpkin patch and also pay at the gate when they arrive.  Another letter will be sent home with the exact amount for students in the next couple of weeks!  So go ahead and mark your calendar.  The other two scheduled fieldtrips will be on Jan. 30 and Feb. 21.  We will be attending plays! 

Thanks so much for all you do for our school!  Please contact me with any questions or concerns.  We are already learning so much!!!

kristin.thomas@mps.k12.al.us