A HUGE thanks to those who were able to help with our
pumpkin carving activity on Friday! It was a blast! Just as a Halloween
reminder, costumes are allowed however, no masks or weapons of any kind. It’s
going to be a great day!
Monday, October 29, 2012
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Just a couple of winter reminders and requests!
Now that it is starting to get colder please make sure your child comes to school with appropriate winter clothing. Unless it is raining or snowing we still go outside for recess so please send them prepared. Also, with winter also comes runny noses. If you are able to donate our class could always use some more kleenex and Lysol/Clorox wipes to keep ourselves healthy. Thank you for all your support!
Hooray for Pumpkins!
Just in case you missed the note that went home on Monday here is a copy of it. Please let me know ASAP if your child can't bring in a pumpkin for whatever reason. I will make sure that they have one! I have 4 parents that have communicated to me that they can come, a couple more would be great, please let me know if you are able to. Thanks!
Dear
Parents,
With Halloween coming up first grade
has an exciting activity planned for this Friday (October 26). We will be
weighing, measuring, and carving pumpkins, as well as counting all of our seeds
in our pumpkins! If you could please send a pumpkin to school with your child
by Friday I would appreciate it. I apologize for not getting this note home
before UEA, our schedule got a little hectic. If for whatever reason, you
cannot get a pumpkin for your child, will you please let me know ASAP and I
will make sure that they have one. This pumpkin needs to be small enough that your
child can carry it, but large enough that it can be cut open and seeds counted.
Because we will be carving and counting
we are asking for several parent volunteers. If you are able to come Friday
morning from 8:30 to approximately 10:00 please email or send a note back to
school by Wednesday please. I look forward to this exciting fall activity!
Thank you!
-Miss Stanger
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Happy October!
I can’t believe another week has flown by and that it’s
already October! This week especially I have noticed huge improvements, they
are learning so much! Something you could be practicing at home that would
greatly benefit us in class is finding page numbers within a book. Some have
got it down, others could use some practice. Any book will do and just ask them
to open up to a page (even within triple digits through 100).
Many papers went home on Friday! Please take some time to
look through them and review them with your child. A note also went home about
picture day; it is on October 11. Finally, below is information on our reading
program for the week (We will be starting this story on Wednesday). Have a great three-day weekend!
Big
Idea/Big Question
(This is the theme of our
unit in class.)
|
Question
of the Week
(This is the theme/question
for this week’s instruction in class.)
|
Animals: How are people and
animals important to one another?
|
What can we learn about wild
animals by watching them?
|
Phonics
Skills
(These are the letters and
sounds we are learning in class.)
|
Spelling
Patterns and associated Words
(These patterns connect to
our phonics skills we are learning this week.)
|
Short
u (ŭ)
Final
consonant blends
|
Short
u with final consonant blends:
bump crust
dusk dust hunt
jump just lump
must trust
|
High
Frequency Words
(These reading words should
be practiced and memorized.)
|
Story
Words
(These reading words are
words from this week’s main selection.)
|
home many
them into
|
elephants hippos
park zebras
|
Oral
Vocabulary
(Try using these words in
your conversations at home.)
|
Handwriting
Practice
(Students can practice the
writing of these letters in manuscript this week.)
|
world forest
desert chatter silent
snort medicine poisonous
|
Uu, Qq
Letter spacing
|
Monday, October 1, 2012
Something To Look For...
A couple important notes should have made it home by today. If you didn't see them please ask your first grader and if they don't know, please email me :-)
The first note went home Friday and it was regarding our take home reading program. Your child should have brought home a note about it, as well as 5 books on their reading level. Please look for them and start reading!
The second note went home today about our 100 book contest. I have posted the note about it below. Please look for the note and the paper to keep track of the books your child has read. Let's see how quickly we can get there!
Finally, please don't forget to turn in your Road To Success reading minutes every Monday. Thank you so much for all you do and your support!
The first note went home Friday and it was regarding our take home reading program. Your child should have brought home a note about it, as well as 5 books on their reading level. Please look for them and start reading!
The second note went home today about our 100 book contest. I have posted the note about it below. Please look for the note and the paper to keep track of the books your child has read. Let's see how quickly we can get there!
Finally, please don't forget to turn in your Road To Success reading minutes every Monday. Thank you so much for all you do and your support!
Dear
Parents:
As we start the month of October, we
also start an activity that has become a tradition at Butler Elementary. This will be our 9th annual 100 Books
Contest. It will require students reading 100 books to
their parents.
We have discovered that students
make a huge advancement in reading during the course of this contest. Statistics show that the more reading a child
does, the better they become. Their
reading skills sharpen as well as their ability to use reading strategies. They consume large amounts of vocabulary as
well as learn to read new words. It has
become such a landmark for advancement, that our school uses it in its
application for funds from the district and state.
Students can count books that are sent
home from our classrooms (that includes A-Z reading books), books that are
found at home, as well as books from libraries, stores or various other
places. Students must read these books
by themselves, but can and should read to their parents or older children. Obviously, those that struggle with reading
will practice reading books on their level.
Those that are good, advanced readers, will also read books on their
level. If your child is reading a book
too easy for them, please do not count it as part of the 100 book contest. We
are encouraging students to read books on their level. Books only count as one reading. If your child is asked to practice reading
certain books a number of times, they can only count the book as one, not the
number of times they read it,
Periodically send the list of books
to school where they will be kept and recorded.
Your child will be able to see where they are in relation to the other
students in the class. Several parents
use different recording methods at home for their student to see the progress
they are making throughout the next 4 months.
As an incentive to read 100 books,
Ms. Waddell has offered herself to become an ice cream sundae. Students will bring all kinds of toppings,
syrups, candies, and nuts to decorate her.
She will only do this IF, 90%
of all first graders meet this challenge. In the past, it has been the highlight of the
year. Older students help younger first
grade students read books that can count towards this activity because they
know how much fun it is.
This will also benefit your student
in the “Road to Success” reading program.
If they are reading every night, 20 minutes each time, those books will
accumulate quickly. Yes, we need the
titles of each book read. Please keep a
list on your fridge and send it in at least once a month. Your student will receive a small sticker for
each book read. They will see the huge
challenge deplete as they watch the number of stickers on their page grow.
Please join us as we begin our “100
Books Contest”. Encourage your child to
read books at home and together we will see miracles happen.
Sincerely,
First Grade Team
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