Our first 100 book reader

Way to go, Jaelynn!!!

100th Day

Week 21

Our story this week is "Me on the Map." It is a non-fiction story. The sound this week is long a as in cape. The new vocabulary words are:

country

Earth

over

special

town

world

We will be finishing up time this week and moving on to number patterns.  Time seems to have puzzled a few kids.  You might work on it a bit at home when the opportunity arises.  We will continue taking timed tests to build automaticity with the math facts.  

In spelling, you child should pass List 13 this week.  We are working on spelling daily.  I am hoping we can get everyone caught up.  If you have lost your spelling list booklet, let me know.  I will send a new one.  You can also get them on the blog.  

AR keeps rolling along.  I am watching more kids get excited about it and join in the reading fun.  I can certainly tell.  The reading level jumps tremendously when they become independent readers.  I have several that are close to getting a shirt.  I hope I can give some away this week.

Have a great week.

New AR Stars

Look at these cute kids.  Congrats to Torren and Kandalyn.  I am still trying to get Shaylee to stand up straight. . .my picture not her.  She is such a wonderful worker.

Week 20

Monday is the 100th day of school. We will be doing activities that deal with 100 all day long. It should be a fun day.

We are starting a new reading book this week. It is hard to believe that we are starting book four already. This is only one more left when we finish this one. You will notice a jump in reading level in this book. It seems much harder than the last one and the stories are longer.

The book is called Time Together. Our story this week is "A Bed Full of Cats." The phonics sound is long e, made by e, ea, and ee. The new vocabulary words are:

also

anything

know

moved

only

room

should

those

write

We will continue working on time to the hour and half hour in math.  Half hour is proving to be a little challenging.

In spelling we will be on list 12.  This will be challenging for some.  I will write in each SMART book what list your child is on. Your child should be able to tell you the list.  I have caught some taking the spelling book to take the test.  Those tests will be ignored if they can not pass the written test I give them.

Another problem seems to be getting any kind of task finished.  I only have a few that regularly do all their work.  I do take morning and afternoon recess if they don't do their work.  I rarely take lunch recess.  Some are starting to have to miss special activities (like the movie we watched Friday afternoon to kick off our Penguin study) because of lack of completed work.  

AR is really moving along.  Congratulations to Torren, Kandalyn, and Shaylee for earning their shirts.  Reading fluency is certainly increasing as they read.  I am requiring that work is finished before they go to the AR boxes.  They are welcome to come in before school to read and test or stay in from recess to do the same.  

Remember that Friday is an Early Release.  We will be discussing the new Core Standards we are moving to.  You might want to google them or look them up at the AZ Department of Education website - www.azed.gov.  They are moving to a common core that will be standard across the US.  They will be the standards used in Kindergarten and First Grade next year.

Have a great week!

Week 19

We are reading the last story in this book. It is a fable called "The Fox and the Stork." A fable is a story that teaches a lesson. The new sound this week is the long o sound made by ow or oa. The new vocabulary words are:

door

kind

made

who

would

In math, we will be doing time to the hour and 1/2 hour.  If you can work in practice at home that would be great.  To the hour seems to be pretty easy but sometimes the half hour get tricky. . .especially 12:30.  We will continue to take timed tests on addition facts to build automaticity.  

I am in love with the class T-shirts.  I wish I had found that site years ago.  I am thinking we will wear them on the even numbered Fridays and some other special occasions. . .field trips, etc.  This Friday will be one to wear the shirts.  If you have other ideas please let me know.  

It is Monster Sandwich Day on Friday.  Your child will not need a lunch.  I will furnish the food.  It is a fun and special day for all of us.  They have had good behavior so they have earned it.

Reading fluency is still our main objective for the rest of the year. Progress monitoring sessions take place every other Monday to see if we are building speed. Your child will be expected to read 46 WPM by May to reach first grade benchmark.

AR seems to have taken off.  Congratulations to Tucker and Kandalyn for earning shirts.  I am seeing such growth in reading.  Practice does make for better readers.  That is my ultimate goal.  It is nice to see so many chose to stay in from recess to read.  

This is the last letter I am putting in all SMART books.  I should have done this ages ago but haven't.  If you have computer access, I will expect you to check the blog for the weekly news.  It is getting tight on paper so I am going to cut all that I can.  If you really need one on paper and have the internet, let me know.  

Have a great week.  I hope you enjoyed the long weekend.

Great Kids in Cute T-Shirts

These are our new class T-shirts.  We had doughnuts and milk to celebrate their arrival.  

Week 18

The story this week is called "Friends Forever."  It is a non-fiction story.  The phonics sound for the week is 'le' as in the word middle.  The new vocabulary words are:
   each
   great
   other
   place
   school
   talk
   together


In math, we will finish the unit on subtraction by learning about fact families.  Then we will start a new unit on telling time. We will only do on the hour this week.  We will start doing timed tests to begin building automaticity with math facts.  I would like the facts to 10 to be automatic by the end of the year.


I am pushing spelling. Your child should pass List 10 this week at the very least.  I am trying to get those that are behind caught up.  I hope you will help your child practice the spelling lists at home.  They are on the blog and also in the book I sent home with you.


I am having the kids spend more time on self selected reading. They are starting to work on AR.  My goal for them is to become fluent readers and they will only do that by reading.


Congratulations to Torren for earning his AR shirt.  I have 2 more boys who are very close. 


Our shirts should be here Monday or Tuesday.  FINALLY!!!  Hopefully your child will come home wearing one, one day this week.


I sent home new exercise logs.  Please check your child's SMART book for it.  


Have a great week.

Back from Break

I hope you all had a great Break!!! It is great to relax and spend good family time.

These few days are going to be spent reviewing and catching up on spelling. As I was doing report cards I am finding that spelling is the forgotten issue. Everyone needs to be on list 8. Not all are. We will be trying to catch some of that up this week.

The T-shirts shipped and were somehow taken to the wrong address and returned. I had them shipped to my home this time. Hopefully they will be here in the next week. Sorry this has been such a long process!!! I had hoped for something less complicated.

Hopefully the transition back into a routine won't be too rocky.

AR seems to be going well for many. Some are going to need a push and I am going to try to give that. Reading is learned by reading. That is the practice I am trying to give with the incentive program.

Thanks for all your support and help.

Happy New Year!!!

CHRISTMAS AROUND THE WORLD

The day before vacation started the first grade teachers did a 'Christmas Around the World' rotation. They learned and ate their way around the classrooms. One of my students told me that everyone served good food but me. They started with England so I took mincemeat and fruit cake. . .it did have fruit skewers for Hawaii so I think I redeemed myself. They seemed to enjoy and the day. Thanks to my first grade team for putting together such a fun day for the kids.

Nancy Davis came to teach them the Hukilau. I had wanted to accent her opera talents but that didn't happen. The kids loved it though. Thanks for being a trooper, Nancy. Hopefully this short video of the hula will work and give you a chuckle. They are such cute kids.