November 9, 2012

Happy Friday Fantastic First Grade Families!

What a short, FUN week! Our School Wide Service Learning Project for Cystic Fibrosis was a HUGE success – we raised over $1,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation! Thank you to everyone who donated money to this important cause!

This morning we had our Veteran’s Day assembly and breakfast. Our celebration was filled with songs, poems, and speeches. Thank you to the family members of our students who have served in the Armed Forces!

In Writing, we continue to write stories using order words. We have started adding details to our stories to make them more exciting. We still practice capital letters, periods, and sight word spelling in our writing.

In Math, we continue to build upon our knowledge of subtraction. This week we practiced using a number line to count back – start with the BIG number and COUNT BACK!

Don’t forget:

Wednesday, November 14 is an EARLY RELEASE DAY. If your child’s transportation home is different, please send a note with them on Wednesday morning.

Have a WONDERFUL weekend!

We are working on adding details to our stories. Which story do you think is better?!

What a CRAZY Week!

Happy Friday Fantastic First Grade Families!

A HUGE thank you to Carrie's mom who planned the Halloween party and Levi's mom who took over as party planner when Carrie's mom couldn't make it! It was a GREAT time! Another BIG thank you to Sierra's dad for being our official Room 11 photographer! Below are just a few of the 70+ pictures he took! Also, thank you to all the parents who attended the Halloween party! It’s awesome to have so many involved parents!

Busting out of my mummy wrapping - pretty scary!!!

This morning Mrs. Koetting came to explain the Adopt-a-Family program that begins next week. Check your e-mails for a note from her explaining the details.

Every student at Concord participated in Kids Voting today. This morning our class went to the library to vote on the president, senator, and governor. The First Graders enjoyed the chance to cast their ballot! Prior to going to the polls we discussed voting:

Why do we vote?

Who can vote?

Who is running for president?

How long is a president’s term?

We took our Chapter 4 Math test this morning and everyone did FANTASTIC! We have now finished Unit 1: Addition and Subtraction Concepts. Next week we will begin Unit 2: Addition and Subtraction Facts to 10. We will continue to learn and practice subtraction strategies.

We also took our MONSTER Sight Word Spelling test this afternoon. It was definitely a MONSTER test – 52 words! It was long, but we got through it quickly because these are words we have been practicing over and over.

This year, Concord’s school wide service learning project will be Cystic Fibrosis. Next week we will be raising money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Each day of our short week will have a different theme. The children are encouraged to bring $1 each day to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Wednesday, November 7 – Read-a-thon Day

Thursday, November 8 – Pajama Day

Friday, November 9 – Choose your own Block Day (During our regularly scheduled Block time the students will get to choose their favorite – Art, Music, or P.E!)

Don’t forget:

NO SCHOOL MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5

NO SCHOOL TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6

ADOPT-A-FAMILY BEGINS WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7

I hope everyone has a wonderful FOUR day weekend!

Monday, October 29, 2012

Happy Monday Fantastic First Grade Families! I met with 12 parents tonight and look forward to meeting with 7 more on Thursday!

This week in Spelling we will be having a MONSTER review of First Grade sight words. In your child’s Take Home Folder you will find a list of 52 sight words. These are words we use in everyday writing so it is important that we, “just know them.” It’s important to remember that many of these sight words do not follow our rules, so it is hard for us to sound spell them.  Your child may already know many of the words, that is why this week is a review – we want to make sure everyone knows ALL of them! Today each student highlighted words from our MONSTER list they know are tricky for them. With continued practice we will be spelling these words correctly all the time! We will continue with spelling principles next week.

In Math we continue to practice using the CUBS strategy to solve word problems. We have shifted our focus from addition strategies to subtraction strategies. We will have a Math test over Chapter 4 on Friday.

In Writing we have been using order words to tell stories. Some students choose to write non-fiction stories and others choose to write fiction stories! The order words we use are:

One day…

First…

Next…

Then…

After that…

Last...

In Social Studies we continue to work on map skills and learn about our earth and where we live. We know that maps tell us more than just where things are! Maps can show us land, water, roads, and cities.

I hope everyone has a wonderful night! 

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Hello Fantastic First Grade Families! I apologize for the lack of blog posts – we've been busy, busy, BUSY in Room 11!

In math we have been practicing using the CUB strategy to solve word problems:

Circle the important numbers

Underline the question

Box the key words

Addition key words we have been practicing include: total, sum, increase, both, altogether, combined, add, plus, in all, together, join. We know that when we see these words in a word problem, we are going to ADD to solve it! (Check your child’s Take Home Folder for the WORDLES we made today during laptop time using our addition key words! Using www.wordle.net is a great idea for spelling words!) As we start subtraction this week, we will begin identifying the subtraction key words that help us figure out that we need to SUBTRACT!

These First Graders are AWESOME writers! Each day they are building more stamina and pushing themselves to become better writers! We continue to write counting up books, counting down books, days of the week books, and color books.

There is a TON of mail coming home today because it is Concord Flyer Tuesday! Please check your child’s Take Home Folder for all of the papers. One important piece is the BUZZ BOOK FORM! If you would like to be included in the 2012-2013 Concord Buzz Book, please fill out the form and send back to school by FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12! If you do not want to be in the Buzz Book, you do not need to return the form. However, only those who return the form will be given a Buzz Book.

A new Scholastic book order form is coming home in your child's Take Home Folder today. Remember, if you use our classroom code and order online our classroom receives FREE BOOKS and YOU receive FREE BOOKS! It's a GREAT deal!

Tomorrow we will be going to Powell Hall to see Green Eggs and Ham! The buses will leave Concord at 8:50 and the show begins at 9:15. The show will end around 10:30 and we will then head back to Concord for lunch. It’s going to be a GREAT field trip!

THIS Friday, October 12 is FAMILY BINGO NIGHT AT TRUMAN MIDDLE SCHOOL! Flyers were sent home last week to RSVP, but I wanted to remind all of the Fantastic First Grade Families because I WILL BE CALLING BINGO!!! Yours truly will be calling BINGO letters and numbers all night and I would LOVE to see some First Grade Friends playing and WINNING PRIZES! If you are interested in coming to Family Bingo Night, please send the RSVP in your child’s Take Home Folder. I would be more than happy to send another copy home if you have lost it.

Have a great night!

Many First Graders' favorite part of the week!

Friday 9/28

Happy 'No School Friday' Fantastic First Grade Families! I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend! We had a short week, but it was jam packed with learning!

Guided Reading is officially underway! I have been meeting with small groups for individualized reading instruction while the other First Graders are making their independent Daily 5 choices. Between Mrs. Marting and myself, each First Grader is seen anywhere between 3-5 times a week. We are learning valuable strategies to become better readers using Just Right books.

All of the First Graders were looking extra fancy for Picture Day, so we decided to take a class picture!

 We couldn't resist taking a goofy picture too!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!