Homework at School?!?!

Good Evening 1st Grade Families,

We had another great week at school building our independence and preparing for 2nd grade.  A few new word work stations were added to our Daily 5 Menu including Bead-It, Desk Write and Roll and Record. I am always on the hunt for fun and exciting ways to practice our sight words in class and this year, it is proving to be very beneficial because the students are master sight word readers and spellers!  Check out a few of the new stations in action!

Preston writes on his desk to practice his words.

Hazel builds CVC words at the roll and write station.

Olivia uses beads (teeny tine ones!) to build words on pipe cleaners and then records on a recording form.

I enjoyed visiting with many of you this week at Parent Teacher Conferences.  It is such a fun time of celebrations as we look at the year's accomplishments.  With only three months left of 1st grade, it is time to praise your child for all of their hard work and encourage them to keep working hard for the remainder of the year.  I look forward to visiting with a few more families on Monday evening.

We celebrated the students in our classroom again at this month's Character Champion Assembly.  This month's Character Champion was Olivia.  Olivia was chosen for her ability to show kindness and friendship to all students.  Way to go, Olivia!

The first graders have worked so hard this year on the nightly homework.  We will have one more week of regular homework (Days 116-119) and then beginning on March 7 (Day 120), students will be given the last 12 minutes of the school day to complete the homework independently.  I won't be able to support them on the homework, like you can in a one on one setting, but I will be available for individual questions.  If students finish their homework, they can turn it in.  If they can't quite get it done in that time, they will bring it home to finish with you.  My goal is that by Day 140, they will have mastered enough independent work skills to take with them to 2nd grade.  Then (Shhhhhh, don't tell!  It is a surprise!) on Day 140, homework is done for the year!  Their only homework for the remainder of the year is to read and play outside!  It will be just in time for spring and nice weather, so enjoy the break!

Upcoming Reminders:

February 29-March 3: Read Across America Week (Dr. Seuss Fun in Class)
March 2: Read-A-Thon in the Gym (Students may bring blankets and pillows)

Friday, March 4: No School

Conferences Next Week

Good evening 1st grade families!  I am excited to visit with all of you in the upcoming weeks!  Conferences will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and the following Monday and I am looking forward to sharing your child's progress as well as goals for the remainder of the school year.  It is hard to believe, but we only have about sixty days left of 1st grade.  Reminder notices will go home on Monday with your scheduled conference time.  If something has changed and your time no longer works, please send me a quick email and I will do my best to reschedule on an alternative day.
Last week we had a visit from the AMVETS organization.  Information should have come home with your child along with a flag for them to keep.

This week we earned a classroom celebration for good behavior in the classroom.  The students voted and decided on a pajama day with popcorn and a movie.  In true democratic form, we also voted on the movie to watch and they selected!  We had a cozy and comfy day!  Students ended the day watching the 4th and 5th grade talent show.

The school carnival is just around the corner.  Each classroom is responsible for collecting items for a basket that can be raffled off at the carnival.  Our classroom's theme is "summer fun!"  I'm hoping to fill our basket with bubbles, chalk, water toys, or anything else that reminds us of summer.  Items can be brought in during the month of March.  Thank you for your support.

We celebrated several birthdays in the past two weeks.  Unfortunately, my camera has been acting fussy and some of the photos were blurry!  Brookelyn humored me and allowed me to take a new photo a few days late.  Happy Birthday Colton, Brookelyn and Adrien!

Upcoming Reminders:

February 21-25: Kindness Week/Coins for Caring

February 21: Secret Service Dress-Up Day (Wear black)

February 23: Hat Day

February 24: Crazy Shoe/Sock Day

February 25: Spirit Day & Character Champion Assembly

Student Engagement

I wanted to share a bit about a huge component of our day, Daily 5 Reading.  In our classroom, I teach reading for about 45 minutes to the class as whole group, broken into smaller segments.  This is a time when I can cover key concepts, model fluency and phrasing, and engage students in meaningful, comprehension conversations and discussions about literature.  It is during this time that we also enjoy some great stories.  This is not the only time, however, that I teach the students the skills they need to decode and comprehend stories.  I do this, during my small group reading block which totals 60 minutes, broken into 3, 20 minute chunks.  During these "rounds" I am able to see three guided reading groups per day.  There are 3-5 students in each group, so you are probably wondering, "What is the rest of the class doing?"

The students have worked so hard all year on their Stamina, or ability to work independently while engaging in meaningful literacy activities.  They must be fully engaged and purposeful in their work, and they must have choice and ownership on what they are working on.  The students choose if they would like to dive into a good book, many are exploring chapter books at this point of the year, during Read to Self time.  Other students may choose Word Work where they can use magnets, salt tubs, beads, whiteboard, etc. to practice the weekly sight words.  In Work on Writing, which we call WOW, students can write in their journal, a short story, letter, list, or card for a friend or family member.  Students love two different technology centers: Listen to Reading and Computers, where they get to listen to stories electronically to hear a fluent reader.  Soon I will be introducing Read to Someone where students will get to share a story with a friend in the classroom. I think they are ready for it as their stamina is really strong!  Check out some photos of the kiddos in action during Daily 5!

Ella practice her spelling words at the Chart Paper Word Work Station.  David searches for new words with Boggle.

Aiden, Coby and Colton are cozy while they Read to Self.

Nico, Chace and Isaac are using Tumblebooks to Listen to Reading.

Carter uses magnets to build and then a marker to write his sight words during Word Work.

Speaking of reading...have you checked out this months Book Orders?  Wow, there are some great titles listed this month!  I encourage you to check out some of the chapter books specifically for 1st graders!  The students are always eager to read chapter books at this point in the year!  Some great series for our growing readers are:

Freckleface Strawberry

The Princess in Black (We read the first one in class and they loved it!)

Chicken Squad (A bit harder, but a fun series)

The Owl Diaries (We read the first one in class of this one too!  It is a cute comic style.)

Fly Guy

Flat Stanley

Junie B. Jones

Princess Posey

Magic Treehouse

Remember, you can order online or with the flyer that was sent home.  Book orders are due on Tuesday.

We celebrated a 1/2 Birthday on Friday for Chace!  Happy 1/2 Birthday, Chace!  You will be enjoying the sunshine on your actual birthday in August, but we hope that you enjoyed your special day in February!

Upcoming Reminders:

February 9: Book Orders Due

February 11: Field Trip to Ben Franklin for Emperor's New Clothes

February 12: Valentine Exchange (You can send Valentine's anytime prior)

February 15: No School for students

100th Day

Hip Hip Hooray for the 100th Day of 1st Grade!  We had an awesome day full of fun.  I am exhausted, so I know it was a successful day!  Some comments were: "Best day ever!" and "Epic!" which made me smile!  As the students walked out, one reminded them that "Today was fun, but it is back to work tomorrow!"  I took lots of photos and was able to grab a cute photo to put in their memory book for each of them.  Enjoy the video of our fun by clicking below!
100th Day

We will have a small Valentine's Day Party on Friday, February 12.  Students can bring Valentine's for their classmates beginning on Monday.  We will be making Valentine's for loved ones with our 4th Grade buddies next week as well!

We are just over a month into our Reading Trophy Program and still have a few students who have not began.  Please help your child record the books he or she reads at home.  Guided reading books as well as books from the library count towards their goal of 50 books by the end of April.

Upcoming Events:

Thursday, February 7 : Field trip to Ben Franklin for Emperor's New Clothes  (leaving promptly at 9:00 a.m.)

Tuesday, February 9: Book Order's Due (stock up on books to read for Reading Trophy)

Friday, February 12: Valentine's Party

Monday, February 15: No School - President's Day