Monthly Archives: January 2016

Next Week

Dear Parents,

A couple of updates:

 

  1. We are starting math fluency practice. I send a separate email explaining the program.
  2. Tonight is the 80’s dance. Next Thursday, 2-4 is PE night. I will not be at the 80’s dance. But I will be at PE night. I hope to see you soon.
  3. Our Dojo hasn’t looked very good lately. We have been having a lot of problems in specials and lunch. Our main problem is talking. I have to give the class, as a whole points off on the dojo. Talking out of turn, and off task are our biggest difficulties. We have a lot of work to cover and we can only do it when we are active listeners. We cannot listen when we are talking and distracting others.
  4. Please read the 5 star homework. While it is optional, it does list a need for Feb. 12th, when we are celebrating Valentine’s day in our classroom. Please decorate a box and bring it by the 12th. I will also send home next week a class list so your child can start filling out their Valentines.
  5. Please read your baggie books too. It was great to see that almost everyone had their books to read to a buddy today.
  6. Please practice your sight words too. There is a direct correlation between the amount of sight words known and reading levels.
  7. This week’s phonics words are: smile, flame, blade, flake, plate, smoke, stove, stone, glove, bride, spine, slate

 

Next week’s topics:

Social Studies: Harriet Tubman/Light and Shadows

Math: Greater than, less than, Word problems

Phonics: silent e with consonant blends

Reading: Point of View

Writing: Opinion

 

I want to apologize to you and let you know that I feel every frustration with how much a First Grader needs to know these days. I will do my best to individualize, reteach and enrich my lessons. We have a lot to cover and I am very confident we can get there, but it will take a lot of hard work. I appreciate all the work you do at home and I wanted to let you know how much that means to me and to your child. If at any time you need to ask me a question, please email or call me. I hope you have a great weekend.

 

Donna Grecko

Snow!

Hi Parents,

Thank you so much for a smooth early dismissal. We did not have anyone not picked up or go to the wrong location. YAY!

I hope you enjoyed the light dusting of snow and are staying warm.

Have a great weekend,

Donna Grecko

 

This week’s tasks-

5 star homework

Baggie books

Sight words

Phonics words

tube, pipe, lake, ripe, pile, ride, bike, ate,

mile, home, tile, take,

 

Our learning standards next week-

Math- Adding and subtracting tens, Fast Facts

Reading- Main Idea/Central Message

Social Studies- Teddy Roosevelt/Harriet Tubman

Phonics/Grammar- Silent e words/Types of Sentences

Writing- Opinion

 

Our Mystery Reader this week was Zach’s mom!

Our star student was Zion. Next week’s star student is Jackson.

 

No school Monday 1-18

Dear Parents.

Wow! What a full week.  I hope you can take the time and relax and enjoy your 3 day weekend.

We have had some problems with following the rules and learning to work together this week. We have 22 students now, which is a lot of bodies in one classroom. I will continue to use the Dojo and the class has decided on some new incentives to work towards. I hope this will help us make better choices.

What are we learning next week?

Writing- Opinion

Reading- Central Message, Main Idea

Book focus- MLK theme

Math- 100 day, Make a 10, Add missing numbers

Phonics- CVCe (consonant, long vowel, consonant, silent e)

Social Studies- Continents/Oceans (test), Teddy Roosevelt

Phonic words for test on Friday- cane, cape, cube, time, plane, bite, kite, pine, cute, made, same, tape

I’ve attached the 5 star homework. Remember 5 Star homework is due on Thursday. Those turning in their Homework earn a prize.

Not all baggie books were brought back today. We are going to be checking out 2 baggie books starting next week. Every Friday we will be reading with a buddy our baggie books. Since we are reading with a buddy it is important that everyone brings back their books.

If you get a chance- practice naming the 7 continents and 5 oceans. A book went home yesterday that can be used as a study guide. There is also a continents app from ilearn that is a great review tool too!

 

Thank you to our mystery reader today! Aubree! She is Ava’s sister. Our star student next week is Zion.

Welcome back! Happy New Year!

Parents- A couple of reminders and changes

1. Lunch today had the yogurt plate so the salad choice on Thursday will be popcorn chicken. The hot lunch item will remain the same.
2. I sent home Reading a-z login information. This is a great resource. Many reading levels were changed and this is reflected in Reading a-z.
3. I sent home Login information for First in Math. This is also a great resource that is not being used by many. (If you were using First in Math you did not get another login info.) Remember, if you play First in Math you just might get to be the player of the day. Currently our First in Math Star is Jackson! Way to go Jackson!
3. Collections: We will be doing an Opinion unit and need collections to be sent in by Friday. They can come in a shoe box or gallon size bag. See the pink sheet for more information.
4. Tomorrow another Inclement Weather form will go home. Please fill this out again. Many families may have made changes to dismissal procedures and we need the most updated information. Thank you! (This is also pink)
5. Dojo: We will still be using the Dojo as our classroom behavior system, however the sticker rewards have gotten tougher. We will be adding a class team points reward at certain point levels. There will be a Dojo 100 club where they can choose their reward when they reach this level. Some rewards are eating lunch in the classroom, Bringing in a Show and Tell item, Extra recess, Extra ipad time, etc.
6. ITEMS NEEDED: We are critically low on tissues, band-aids and hand sanitizer. If you can donate we would be so grateful!