Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend.
The first picture is at town meeting. A student shared how many books she read throughout the summer. How impressive, that 200 book accomplishment was. Many of the students shared in the classroom and earned special stickers for their hard work.
In Writers Workshop we have talked about stretching out words to spell. We begin with the first sound and letter then stretch it out from there. We have talked quite a bit about how words do not always look like the sounds they make. I give them the standardized spelling by simply saying, those are the sounds you hear but when you see it in a book it looks like________.
In reading, I am continuing to assess their reading level, so they can read just right books for themselves. I sent home book order forms today that are due back to school by Friday. Please send in one check for the entire order. They are all owned by the same company now, so I do not need separate checks.
In science, we are discussing weather and focusing in on clouds. We have them hung in the hallway. We learned all about cumulus, cirrus, stratus, and nimbus. In Math, we have discussed where we find numbers and what they are used for.
The other photos show our new design of desks, in the classroom, and how we take our spelling tests. I use study corals that we call honor boxes to help us focus in on our own papers. I encourage them not to look at other papers for the answer, but rather what they can do to help themselves. Please notice where in the room they sit and who they are next to. I will continually change the formation each month. On the one hundredth day of school we will change to a different community structure altogether. We are working hard earning compliments for our chain, and they are enjoying earning Love Jar rewards as well.
My parent schedules for volunteers are attached. I know my library volunteer schedule was sent to you directly. I am trying to assemble Tues. morning games, but I have not received enough volunteers to do so. Please fill out the bright yellow paper for parent games. It is Tuesday mornings from 8:45- 9:30ish. You will be playing Math Games with small groups of students. Your child will enjoy having you participate with this activity. This will begin in October.
Have a great week. We will!

Art Parent Volunteer Schedule

Friday afternoons 12:00-12:45p.m.

If you cannot make your designated time, please find a replacement or let me know….. Thank you and have fun!

September- Dusty Palmer (all four Fridays in Sept.)

14-

21-

28-

October- Katie Healy (three Fridays in Oct.)

5 –

12 – No School – Prof. Day

19 –

26 –

November- Mandy Rutledge (three Fridays in Nov.)

2 –

9 – No School – Prof. Day

16 –

23 – Thanksgiving Break

30 –

December Lynea Kelly- (two Fridays in Dec.)

7 –

14 –

January- Sonia King ( three Fridays in Jan.)

4 –

11 –

18 –

25 - Grandparents Day

February- Patty Ann Hamblen ( three Fridays in Feb.)

1 –

8 –

15 – No School – Prof. Day

22 –

March Dusty Palmer (three Fridays in March)

1 –

8 – No School – Prof. Day

15 – Spring Break

22 –

29 –

April- Many Rutledge ( four Fridays in April)

5 –

12 –

19 –

26 –

May Sonia King ( three Fridays in May)

3 –

10 – First Grade Program

17 –

24 –

Parent Reader Schedule

2012-2013

If for some reason you are unable to come in on your designated time, please attempt to find a replacement as the children look forward to your visit! I will have you out of here by 8:30 a.m.

Aug. 31^st- Eddie Evans

Sept. 7- Patty Ann Hamblen

14- Elaine Levitz

21- Lynea Kelly

28- Sonia King

Oct. 5- Katie Healy

12- No School; Professional Development Day

19- Molly Davis

26- Dusty Palmer

Nov. 2- Mandy Rutledge

9- No School Prof. Dev.

16-Christy Wlborne

30- Elaine Levitz

Dec. 7- Patty Ann Hamblen

14- Lynea Kelly

Jan. 4- Sonia King

11- Katie Healy

18-Molly Davis

25-Dusty Palmer

Feb. 1-Mandy Rutledge

8- Christy Welborne

15- No School; Professional Development Day

22- Eddie Evans

Mar. 1-Elaine Levitz

8- No School Prof. Dev. Day

22- Lynea Kelly

29-Sonia King

Apr. 5- Katie Healy

12- Molly Davis

19- Dusty Palmer

26-Mandy Rutledge

May 3- Christy Welborne

17- Eddie Evans

24- Elaine Levitz

31- Patty Ann Hamblen

Welcome to First Grade. I had a wonderful time at Back to School Night seeing everyone. I would be happy to fill you in on any questions you may have.
The Homework Calendar will begin on Tuesday night, and will be sent home with the students. Coach Wolfrath is our P.E. coach everyday for first trimester. He will have his blog up and running shortly. I will link it to my blog.
Please send to school one sock to be used as an eraser on chalkboards. This will help us to practice letter strokes for Handwriting Without Tears.
I am sending home their spelling practice words. These words are review words from the Kindergarten List, learned last year. All of the students read them fine, but missed some of the spelling. I have added the Kindergarten words to their Word Card ring for added practice. The Word Card ring will be sent home each Monday and returned each Thursday. Please use them as flash cards, and make sure they can spell the words as well. Please refer to the information letter for more ideas on how to help your child learn them.
I am in the middle of launching our reading and writing workshop. My focus is to approach reading and writing with an eager attitude. I want to build their confidence, and have them think of themselves as a good readers and writers. I am building on what they learned last year, and scaffolding skills to help them succeed. We purchased a new Word Work program, Fountas and Pinnel. We will be working on high frequency words as well as phonemic awareness, and learning spelling rules through word families.
We have begun our daily class meetings and our working on our classroom as a community, reading many stories.

Hi everyone, so sorry I have been out of touch over the past few weeks. The children are doing great and working really hard. I am working on their report cards for you to preview when Dr. Bianco tells you they are ready. I loved seeing the dress rehearsal on Wednesday last week, and I know you all enjoyed the show tremendously. I know you have read the update on my condition so I won't go into that. Really, I am sick of talking about it. I am getting stronger everyday. I have loved all of my cards that the kids have made me. I enjoy reading them over and over. I am pleased with their progress in writing. I look forward to coming back to work in August. I am sick of sitting here not doing much. Take Care and have a wonderful summer. Thank you for all of the support you have given me throughout the year.

Happy Monday!
The spelling has changed this week. I will be testing the students on their word card words only.
We have begun our Ocean Unit and this week we are studying Sea Turtles. Their word card words are related to sea turtles. We started to trace images onto their shirts. All of the boys will need to bring in a red handkerchief. They are lobsters. Please continue practicing their poems. I will be sending home their speaking parts on Wednesday in their Reading Journal bags. Please keep everything in a safe spot, so they can practice daily. They will be bringing home their Sea Turtle book to read on Wednesday with an activity to complete in their Reading Journal. Our reading and writing is now focused on nonfiction throughout the remainder of the year.
In Math, we are working on fractions. They are bringing home a spring fractions book. We have talked about the denominator being how many parts make the whole. The numerator is the number that tells how many of those parts you are talking about. Please review the pictures. We have not talked about reducing the fractions. Some of the pages, they have to look at to tell that 1/2 is what is being asked.
Don't forget Celebrate the Arts on Friday. Our performance begins at 11:00. The students have been asked to wear green shirts with their jeans or jean shorts.
A few Reminders: snack needs to be sent to school daily. All papers returned to school must have your child's name on it.
Have a great week. We will!

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a nice weekend.
These photos show our new island formations. The students are working very hard on earning pennies for their collective penny banks. They are really learning how to work in a group, rather than just being accountable for themselves.
I sent home the last book order on Thursday. It is due back to school by Thursday, April 19th. One check for the total amount is fine, since all book clubs are now owned by one company. Please look over them carefully and think about books that your child may be interested in reading throughout the summer. They are still expected to read daily throughout the summer. We have been working on our Florida study. So far, we have learned about Ponce De Leon, alligators, peninsula's and our capital Tallahassee. I will be sending home by the end of this week, a challenge homework that will require the students to look up even more information about Florida.
In Writer's Workshop, we have begun learning about writing "How To" books. This is their chance to share their knowledge. They are sharing their expertise with each other.
In Reader's Workshop, they have compared the character traits and continue working on the various graphic organizers in their Reading Journals.
In Math, we have begun Unit 8. They are learning how to buy more than one item at a time. They are adding up the amounts,(below one dollar) to see how much money they need to purchase those items. For example; a pencil costs 23 cents and a candy bar costs 68 cents. How much money do both items cost? Have them write out the coins needed for each item then add the coins all up. 91 cents. Then ask them, if they paid $1 how much change would they get?
We are really working on place value and solving number riddles. If I have 3 flats, 7 longs and 8 cubes, what number am I? 378...... Practice these riddles at home.
There has been some confusion over the lunch form for Celebrate the Arts on Friday, April 20. The only sack lunches being ordered will be for students. Parents are checking "joining for lunch" for head count purposes only - not lunch. You may want to clarify to those parents who think they are ordering lunch that they will need to bring in their own. Thanks!
Have a great week, we will!

Happy Monday! What a busy week we had last week. Relay for Life, Dali Museum, and Writing Celebration. Enjoy the pictures. I am sending home the unit 7 Math Assessment today. Please pay close attention to the coin amounts and being able to show the coins needed. the students were quick to draw coins without thinking about their value. Unit 8 is completely independent. They will be required to read and follow the directions independently.
We began our nonfiction writing unit today. The students were shown about writing HOW TO books. Teaching others the specifics on how to do something.
My Teacher's Appreciation Day was fabulous. Thank you for my beautiful flowers and cards. My door is terrific, and I do believe I could pull off a mustache if necessary.
The principal of the day next Monday, April 9th has challenged the lower division to all wear hats. So next Monday is officially Hat Day.
Enjoy the American Symbols Book. We are now studying about Florida for the next couple of weeks.
Have a great week. We Will!

Happy Monday! I hope you had a good weekend. We looked at the baby eaglets through a telescope, thanks to Mr. Schiaparelli. We studied about the bald eagle and created a page about them in our American Symbols book.
In Math, we have a giant number collection box on the floor that we practice putting all different
kinds of names in. A great activity at home is to get a small empty notebook and use each page for a different number collection box. Practice, Practice, Practice writing and thinking of different addition and subtraction number models, coin combinations, number stories and Tally marks.
In Reader's Workshop, we are focusing our studies, on the characters. What are we learning about them and how are they adding to our understanding of the story. We are studying Marc Brown as our Spotlight author. We learned how he has used the same character throughout many of his stories. Arthur has many adventures and situations that we are learning about.
Spelling Word families this week are: _unny, _urry, _urried, _ies(endings after you change the y to an i and add es)
In Writer's Workshop we are finishing up our Revision Unit. We will be celebrating Thursday March 29th at 2:00, if you would like to join us. Come and look at our messy revisions and the power of the purple pen.
This is Relay for Life week. All students may wear purple shirts all week. Our purple paper chains will be collected on Wednesday. So bring in those quarters, to contribute, before Wednesday. Friday will be our special day and night to support the Relay.
Our Celebrate the Arts Dali field trip is on Friday March 30th. We will begin our tour at 12:00 noon if you would like to meet us. The cost is $21.00 for adults.
Have a great week. We will!