OOPS!

I just looked at my calendar and realized I sent home homework today, which is Wednesday! To make up for it, I will not send home Thursday homework this week. Sorry for the confusion!

Shining Light

Congrats Joseph! He was chosen to be our Shining Light this week! Joseph won because he follows our class rules, is always participating, and has a great attitude about school! We are proud of you!

As I Promised... More Centers

In the "Buddy Reading" Center students choose books I have multiples of to read with a buddy or group of three. The students visit one book reading center each day, so library, big books, and buddy reading often rotate through our centers schedule.

Our latest center... Smartboard! After much conversation about how to treat a smart board and how to be careful around Mrs. Woolsey's computer the students have shown me they can handle using this tool independently! Today they playing a rhyming word matching game.

In the "Math Center" the students first have to complete a task to turn into their center folders. After they complete their task they can play a math game, practice addition and subtraction problems on the wipe boards, review flash cards, practice coins, or use small clocks.

The "Writing Center" is a busy place. The student usually have to write a story to go along with a picture. When they finishing they can practice their handwriting using the wipe off boards. Today the challenge was to see who could write the most words they found in our children's dictionaries. Jeremiah won with 28 words!

More centers coming soon...

Quick Reminders

Free Dress for $1.00- Tomorrow, Friday 9/24

(Students who have 2 uniform violations may not participate in free dress.)

Book Orders Due- Tomorrow, Friday 9/24

Learning Team Plans will go home Monday 9/ 27

First Grade Centers

Each day in our class the students are very busy in their learning based centers. Each center is either literacy or math based. The students each have their own folder they bring to each center, keep their completed work in, and turn in at the end of center time. The folders are way for the students to have accountability for their centers work. Often students have to complete a task, such as writing a story, gluing or writing sorted words, or make illustrations in a specific center. Not all centers have a specific task, but all centers include choice. This way the kids can choose to so something they enjoy and find challenging, work alone, or with a partner.

While the kids are busy in centers, I meet with the small reading groups. As a class we've discussed problem solving in centers to the reading group kids can do their best work with out interruptions. On Monday I will begin meeting with reading groups on a regular basis.

As we become more used to our daily routine, I'll add more pictures and descriptions of each center.

These kids are working in our "Write The Room"center. Each kid gets a white board and marker. They walk around the room writing down the words they see. Kids enjoy copying words from our word wall, special signs, and name tags.

These kids are in the "Word Work" center. Often, our phonics lessons have activities that go along with the day's topic. Today the kids had to pull a picture out of the can and do their best to stretch out and write the word. Other times, the students will be making words with magnetic letters on the white board. When they complete their task they can play with the phonics card games provided.

These kids are at the Computers Center. This is one of their favorites. Although, we only have 3 computers, the kids are great at sharing and working together. Currently, we use the website www.starfall.com to practice phonics and reading. Soon we will add more word, math, and typing based game to the bookmark bar for them to choose from.

Library Center is another favorite. The kids can sit on the couch or use the pillows to get comfy and enjoy all our books.

More centers pictures to come...

Shining Light

Each Friday the teachers pick one student to be their "Shining Light" of the week. This week's winner was Sawyer. She was picked because all week she was being a wonderful first grade leader. She participated and helped others. We are proud of you Sawyer!

Happy Birthday Tristan!

This afternoon we celebrated Tristan's 6th birthday. We enjoyed some special treats and sang our happy birthday song! We hope you enjoyed your special day!

Back to School Night Information

Thank you to all the parents who came to back to school night today! It was great to see you and talk about our school year. I hope you enjoyed our Smartboard! Here is all the information about this school year we discussed. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Curriculum:

Everyday Math: In first grade we will be working more in our journals, but still experiencing hands-on learning.

Lucy Calkins Writing: Students will be writing and creating books just like the books in our library. We will make pattern books, informational books, and many more.

Guided Reading: Students will be brining home books in zip lock bags to read at home. We will also be writing our sight words to learn on index cards on a ring to practice on a regular basis.

Daily Oral Language: As a class we will be completing 1/2 page worksheets daily that help with grammar and word use.

Science & Social Studies: We will learn these subjects with the kindergartners next door. We will switch subjects every 6 weeks. Ms. Josephson will teach science and I will teach social studies.

Village Meeting: 1:30-2:00

Monday- Song or activity

Wednesday- Mystery Reader

Friday- Shining light

Classroom Snack: Because we received so many whole group snack donations, we will currently have whole group snack in our class. When it runs out I will let the parents know and students will begin brining in individual snacks.

Tardy

Classroom doors open @ 8:20

School begins @ 8:30

We will begin Morning Meeting at 8:30. If a student arrives late and we are already engaged in an activity the student will have to sit at their table until our game is done. Then they will be able to join the group.

Homework

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday: Math Home Link or Related Worksheet

Wednesday: Exhibition Prep Time, No homework will be sent from school.

Friday: Weekend Writing

Exhibition Week: November 29th- December 3rd

Our First Theme: Special Places (Any State, City, Country, Vacation Spot, World Wonder. Please do not choose a home place: ex. Grandma's house, My bedroom.)

Milestones: These are new to our floor:

October 7: Resources- Students will fill out a sheet of the website, books, places they are visiting or people they are interviewing about their topic.

October 21: 10 New Facts- Students will write out and turn in 10 new facts they learned about their topic.

November 4: Reading, Writing, Math Goal Progress Report- I will meet with the students this week and review their goals. If I have any concerns, I will send home a note to help the student achieve their goals by their exhibition date.

November 18: Complete Visual Aids- Students need to bring in a complete visual aid. The student and I will go over it together and I will send home any notes if there is something missing or if it needs to be changed.

Learning Team Meetings: Week of September 20th. Parents who attended picked their meeting time and dates. I will send home a note tomorrow (Thursday) with the remaining times.

We also discussed uniform & healthy school policy, which were posted previously.

One Busy Day!

We had such a fun day on Tuesday! In the morning my mom came in and read a story to our class. After we shared a cookie treat! She was so excited to see the kids and was very impressed with how wonderful they behaved!

In the afternoon, we celebrated Jaden's 6th Birthday! Happy Birthday Jaden! Thanks for the cupcakes!

UPA Uniform & Healthy School Policy

The UPA uniform and healthy school policies are very important to our school culture.

Please be sure your student is in uniform each day. Uniform violations will be sent home if students are missing any part. If a student has belt loops, please send them in a plain brown or black belt, no glitter belts. (To help prevent accidents, help your child practice undoing their own belt.) Socks must be black, brown, or white. Shirts must have a collar and be tucked in for both boys and girls. See these flyers for more help (Click on them to see a full sized image) and please let me know if there are any questions or concerns.

Because UPA is a healthy school, lunches from home may not contain sweets, chips, or junk food. Starting this week, any unhealthy food will be sent back home with the student. A great alternative to chips are pretzels, goldfish, baked lays, cheese-its, or crackers. A healthy alternative to sweets are granola bars, pudding, or 100 calorie packs. Over the past week, I ate my lunch with the students and we talked about what are some healthy foods to bring in school lunches. Check out this article for more tips and ideas of what to put in a healthy school lunch.

Healthy Lunch Ideas

First Grade Math

On Friday, we spent some time exploring some the math tools we will be using in first grade.

Coins

100's Charts

Pattern Blocks

Shape Templates

Hopes, Dreams, and Rules

This week we had many conversations about what we would like to see happen this school year in our classroom. First the students wrote about the hopes and dreams they have for first grade. Many students wrote about learning to read more books, doing math, or making friends.

After, we decided that to achieve our hopes and dreams, we needed classroom rules. We made a list of all the rules we thought were important to have. Then we narrowed them into 3 main ideas. These rules are posted in the class and on a sheet that travels with the students when they go other places in the school.

As a class we decided on these rules:

1. Take care of our things.

2. Be safe.

3. Be nice.

We also discussed what happens if we make a mistake and forget to follow a rule. I introduced the students to the Logical Consequences I learned about at my Responsive Classroom conference this summer.

1. You break it, you fix it. Example: If a student rips a book, they will tape it back together.

2. Loss of privilege. Example: If a student is playing during writing time, they will lose an equivalent amount of play time.

3. Take a Break. Example: If a student is still being disruptive after reminders and reinforcing language, they will be asked to sit in the green chair to take a break. We talked about how the green chair is a place to calm down and refocus on what you should be doing.

All these things are posted up on the wall in our classroom to remind us of our own goals, what is expected of us, and what might happen if we forget to make a good choice.

First Day of First Grade

We had such a wonderful day today! The kids were excited to be back and share all they've been up to. They were excellent role models today for our new kindergartners during lunch, village meeting, recess, and through out the building.

Meet the Teacher Fun!

What a great day! I saw old and new friends and family today! It was great to meet our 3 new students Joseph, Jude, and Javon. I know the students who were already in our class last year will make them feel a part of our classroom community this year! It was great to see some "old" friends and family who stopped in too! Thank you Jada & family, Jaden & family, Sawyer & family, Matthew's family and Mekhi's family. Also, it was amazing to see how much the kids grew in just a few months! I'll be ok with this as long as they don't get taller than me! :)

Thank you to everyone who stopped in to see me! It was great to catch up! See everyone soon on the first day of first grade!