Newsletter

Please remember to send in the checks for $6.00 made out to:  Scholastic News.  The bill will be in very soon and I will need to send the money in.  You will love getting the magazine 6 times a year and the children get 4 issues per month.  Thank you so much to those of you who have already turned in the money. 

Homework

Homework will begin right after Labor Day.  I will have specific directions attached to the folder at that time.  My point is not to have it take too long.  It really should take no longer than 15 minutes a night.  There will be a book included in the left hand pocket of the folder with a reading log that should be initialed and left in the folder after reading it.  I will replace it with a new book the next week.  Please try to keep up with the books and take good care of them because some of them will go to sets that I will not be able to replace.  We usually do not have trouble with it but it is important to set up a nightly routine with homework and return it to the folder.  Homework will go home on Mondays and be returned on Thursday.  Your child may have an additional day if needed and turn it in on Friday.  Try and enjoy your time together reading.  Snuggle up, read, talk about the story and enjoy!

Reading

We will begin reading group next week.  I am so excited to begin!  We have introduced the words: can, I, a, is and the to the word wall.  Practice these at home.  If your child does not yet write their name, they need to practice this nightly as well.  There are only a few that cannot write their names but nightly practice will help with this skill.  We are working hard on getting quick letter and sound recognition as well.  For those who are reading, I am excited to begin reading strategy instruction and accelerated reader books and quizzes with them.  In math we are finding things that are the same and different and explaining why, patterning and calendar concepts.   We are also learning to write the numbers correctly. 

Workshops

1.      Math- Number Poem and Number Writing Practice. Children practiced 4, 5 and 6 on dry erase boards and number pages. 

2.      Literacy- Alphabet stamp matching- children match upper and lowercase letters by using stamp pads and paper.

3.      Literacy- Writing Workshop- Children are comparing and writing about what they could do when they were a baby and what they can do now that they are in school. 

4.      Literacy/ Math- Name writing with glue and tissue paper.  The children count the letters in their names, write it on the paper and roll tissue paper squares to cover glue tracing the letters in their names.  We will make a graph Monday to compare. 

5.      Science/Math- Bean sort and seed observation.  The children observe and draw an orange and an apple cut in half to see where the seeds are then they sort through seeds and classify them on a sorting sheet.  We are learning about life cycles.  WE planted some seeds this week against a paper towel and a glass jar to observe plant development. 

Links Added to Site

I have added some new links to the site for teachers,  parents  and students to use to increase, support and practice literacy skills.  I hope these will be helpful to those helping young children become readers and writers.  I will continue to add sites as we go.

August 18, 2011 Newsletter

Reminders

No School for children August 19, 2011

Staff Development Day

Tardy bell rings at 7:45.  Try to get your children in the front door by that time.  It really helps to be able to start the day on time. 

Please remember to turn in all the paperwork you got on the first day.  I am still missing some of the paperwork.  The orange emergency card is very important to have. 

Back to school bash tomorrow night!

Remember to use the specials cycle calendar I laminated for you so you can keep up with the cycle days.  PE is Cycle day 3.  Put the strip up on the refrigerator and move a magnet across it to remember to wear tennis shoes. 

You may also send in the $6.00 checks made payable to Scholastic Books for the “Let’s Find Out” subscription.  Everyone should have gotten a sample issue of Parent and Child Magazine that comes as a part of the order.  They are filled with information about child development and learning.   Thank you so much to those of you who have already sent in the money. 

We have had a great start to the year.  We are working hard on learning the routine and getting to know each other.  The main issue we are having at this point is just remembering to be quiet during instruction and paying attention to directions.  Overall, they have done very well.  We had a practice fire drill Wednesday and they were very well behaved.  I was proud of their behavior.  We have started workshops and Reading groups should be in place in a week or so.  I am assessing them using the Early Literacy Survey which we will do three times a year.  As they begin reading more I will also be doing the DRA to get a reading level.  MAP assessments on the computer will start soon.  We will also complete them three times this year to track progress. 

Homework

We will begin sending homework home after Labor Day.  I wanted to give them a chance to get used to being in school all day before we started.  In the homework there will be small reading books and a reading log which belong to the school and me.  Please keep them in the folder so they are not lost.  They are to be read each night to you by your child.  This will help with concepts of print, print tracking, text memorization, fluency and sight word recognition.  Thank you in advance for your work on homework.  It should take no more than 15 minutes each night.  I will send the folders home on Monday and they are due Thursday.

Baby Pictures

Please send in a baby picture of your child.  I promise I will take care of them and send them back to you when we are finished.  We are learning about life cycles in science and “All about me” in Social Studies and in the reading series.  They are also doing a writing piece about how they have changed over time.  I really do appreciate being able to get them.  If you don’t mind, I would love for you to also write a little story with them about something they did or liked as a baby that was so sweet, unusual, funny or cute.  I want to read those to the class. 

Reading

Even though we have not started reading groups we are working on literacy skills.  We are singing and using hand signs for the phonics chants and letter sound songs.  We have begun writing instruction and are writing in our journals.  We are learning about writing the sounds we hear and are building a word wall for the classroom.  We have added the words I, a, and can.  We are also learning the front cover, back cover, spine and title page on a book as well as the title, author and illustrator.  We are learning to rhyme and learning about the punctuation marks called a period.  We have been busy.  They are great at listening to me while I read.  They really attend and remain engaged during read aloud time. 

Math

We are still waiting on our new math workbooks but we have begun learning to identify the numbers 1 through 5 as well as write them.  We are learning number writing poems to help us with formation.  We are also looking at things and deciding if they are the same or different and tell why.  We are grouping objects into categories based on attributes. 

Workshops

1.     Math- Number formation and recognition.  The children are using dry erase boards to write the numbers 1, 2 and 3.  They are reading number poems and practicing correct formation.  They will bring the book home once they complete the number 10. 

2.     Literacy -Dry erase boards.  Children are using the boards to practice writing letters and words. 

3.     Writing Workshop- The children are making fish for the classroom door and writing about themselves using the sentence stem I am ____. 

4.     Literacy- Pasta with Numbers and Letters to sort.  The children are sorting through dried pasta to find letters and numbers.  They record the letters and numbers found on a recording sheet.

5.     Science- Living and NON- living sort- The children cut pictures out of magazine of living and non living things to glue on a sorting chart.  They are learning about the basic needs of organisms and life cycles. 

Have a wonderful weekend together!!

Guided reading

http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=191107

First Day!

We had a great start to the new school year.  Overall, it went very well.  In a few weeks our routines will be set.  Make sure you send in folders everyday and it is very important that they have their backpacks with them daily.  We introduced the word I to the word wall and wrote and found it in the morning message.  We practiced our dismissal routines and we were able to go to centers for a little bit.  We have a special poem for you to read with a surprise inside!  We also did some "I like" writing so I could begin to get to know their personalities. 

Kid Writing Lesson

Kid Writing Lesson

Kidwriting

These videos are just a small glimpse of a sample kidwriting lesson.  I use these techniques in writing instruction and you will hear about the kid crowns we use like the wiz of is, king of ing, star of are, and the and of hand.  You will be getting a small version of these crowns to use at home for homework writing and I would like to have a night where I could teach you all some of the techniques we use at school.  These videos are also helpful and I want to take some of our classroom so you can see our class writing in action. 

Almost here!

The first day of school is almost here. Make sure your little one gets lots of sleep and is ready to go. Also be prepared for them to be very tired and possible grumpy for the first few weeks of school in the afternoon. They must learn to build up stamina as they take on the task of learning and staying focused for so long. I also forgot to mention anything about snacks in the newsletter. Your child is more than welcome to bring a small snack that does not require any assistance to open or eat. I will let them eat their snack during literacy centers, while I have reading groups. This would be between 9 and 10. We have specials at 10 and lunch at 11:30. Also, if the weather is very hot, they can bring a small bottle of water to keep inside their cubbies. They can get a drink of it after recess and with their snack. Just label the water with their names so I know who brought it. Thank you so much and I look forward to getting to know you all this year.