Week 3 Recap

Week 3 was such a great week!   The kids are really getting the hang of the routines and procedures.   It is fun to see them come together as a class.   This is really a sweet bunch of kids.  We are going to have such an AWESOME year!  Hey...we already are!!!

I know some of you have kids that haven't quite make the transition from summer into all day school.   This transition is even harder for some than Kindergarten was.   Being away all day is a big step and being away all day and having to work hard all day is an even bigger one!   These sweet kids just need the gift of time.  I feel confident saying that only because I have been doing this so long...:)

We continue to trek through those Letter People.   We are already through N and plan to be finished by our break.   We use the letter people as handwriting practice during our literacy rotations.  The students are getting very good at both working independently and knowing where to go and what to do during stations.

We started our "All About Me" theme and they are working on a really cute book that will make a fun keepsake for you when they are finished.

Mrs. Taylor put together our volunteer schedule.   I meant to send it home Friday but will send it home today (Monday), please look over it to see if your day and time works.   She worked very hard trying to coordinate it all.  Thank you so much fpr all of you!   It looks like we are going to have a lot of help in the classroom this year.  I am so happy for the kids.   We are able to do so much more with additional hands in the classroom.

If you are out and about, please pick up a pink pearl eraser for your child.   That item never made it on the list and we could really use them.   The erasers on the pencils  usually are the first to go!   Also, if you can send in cap erasers for our class supply, that would be GREAT!

A few things I forgot to say about homework, I think I said Week 3 homework but it's really Week 4 homework on the portal.  Please have your child bring it FRIDAY (not early, please) labeled with their name AND number.   Again, for EVERYONE, fluency work and math work.   For those who read over 55 words per minute and those kids who WISH too, please also have your child work on the comprehension sentences.   For those kids who LOVE homework, please have him/her complete the bonus homework also.

Thank you so much for sending me your awesome, smart, and healthy kids each and every day!
Carin

Second Week of First Grade

Many of you may be wondering why I choose to use a blog to post newsletters.  I have found that when I email out information it can get lost in the shuffle.    Sometimes I know that I like to go back and see what a teacher said and can't find the particular email.   This blog is a central place for you to find information about our class.   Also last year, we had some grandparents reading our blog.  It's a fun way for your extended family to feel a part of our class.

So WEEK 2 is in the books...:)  It was a great week packed with a ton of learning.   We are getting most of our procedures and routines worked out.  We still have a few kinks in a couple of routines because it's hard to realize that school means listening more than talking (sound familiar?...:) )  It's a hard pill to swallow for some after a summer of chatting to their hearts' content.   We will keep working on being quiet and efficient when making transitions into the classroom and between activities.

We continue work on the Letter People.  You can always type in, for example, "Mr. H  letter people" on youtube and the ancient video will pop up.   This program was from a very long time ago...well, maybe not that long I was still a kid...lol.   The quality of the videos is very poor but the kids just totally dig them for some reason.   The music is snappy and the lyrics are often quite humorous.   Mr. H is an example of a funny song!   It's a fun review of the letters and a good handwriting exercise.

Speaking of handwriting, Mrs. Taylor and I have noticed that many kids have a very unusual pencil grip.  I was just reading a fun way to have kids learn to grip correctly is to take a tissue and rip it in half.  Now take that piece of tissue and roll it into a ball.    Have your child hold the tissue with their ring finger and pinkie and keep it in place when holding a pencil.  If they do this, they HAVE to hold the pencil correctly because they can't start to wrap those last two fingers around the pencil.   You may want to give it a try to see how your child grips the pencil.

We started stations this week and they have done an excellent job.   Working independently is a difficult skill and can only be learned by working independently and therein lies the difficulty.   Some kids come by it very naturally and use their time wisely during stations, others are still learning the nuances of working independently, and still others are just dipping their toes in the independent waters.   By the end of the year, my goal is to have all the kids working at a very high independent level.   Our expectations are high and kids usually always rise to the occasion.

It was so fun to see so many of you at Back to School Night.  I think we had 17 out of 30 families represented.   I know many of you had other kids' rooms to visit or other plans so I sent home the power point information home with your child.  If you did not receive a packet that had our daily schedule on it, please let me know and I'll get you one ASAP.   The information should be in your child's STAR binder.  Please check the star binders DAILY but especially on Fridays.   On Fridays, usually you will find your child's work from the week as well as any school flyers.    

The last page in the packet is the parent volunteer form.  Please try to get those back by Friday and we will begin to put together a schedule.

Also you will find our book orders for this month.  This month is a GREAT time to order books.  Kids LOVE getting books and building reading excitement is what we are all about in first grade.   Our class earns free books when you order so it's just a great program all around!   Book orders are due on September 21st.  The date is stamped on the back of the book orders.

Have a wonderful weekend!   See your sweet gems back on Monday!

Mrs. C

FIrst Week of First Grade

Well...we did it!   We made it through the first week of first grade....and what a fantastic, amazing week it was!

I can tell you already that I'm going to have so much fun with this SUPER AWESOME group!  

The first week is always filled with learning routines and procedures.   The first big routine involves entering the classroom.  At North Star, we enter the rooms without talking.   At this point, we haven't worked out all the kinks...:)     Ideally (and it will happen soon!), the kids enter without talking, they hang up their bags and they get right to work.   They work on their Mad Minutes on the practice side.  After about 10 minutes, we test on the test side.   The expectation is that they get 30 correct in a minute.   The unfortunate part is that backwards numbers are wrong numbers in first grade so some of the kids are getting 30 but their numbers are backwards.

Right now, the ONLY homework they have each evening is to practice their Mad Minute.   In order to do that, they must bring their STAR BOOK home each night.  Please encourage this responsible habit.

We will ease into homework.  I would like to give them a little break when they get home.  I remember my daughter last year being completely exhausted after a long day of first grade.   Your child may be experiencing the same phenomenon.  He/She may also be more emotional than normal.   I have seen children break into tears at the slightest misstep.  I'd like to give them another week of just coming home and recuperating from the long day without a homework obligation besides Mad Minutes.

If you have not gotten a magazine rack for your child, I encourage you to do so at your earliest convenience. They start gathering their reading materials that they will use during our reading time.  

Thank you again for sending happy and healthy children to school!
Carin