Dear Parents,
I want to welcome you to a new school year. I am excited to be working with your children this year. Thank you to all of you that took time out of your busy schedule to attend our Meet the Teacher Night. This is such an important night for your children. Thank you also to the many people who have sent in items off of the Giving Tree wish list. I really appreciate all of your generosity.
The children are off to a great start! I have a classroom of sweet, kind, and hard working children. It is going to be a great year.
I will use this blog and email as two of my sources for communication this year. If you would subscribe to my blog page as well as the main 1st grade page, you will get an email anytime there is anything new added to the blog. This service is free to you.
Please stay tuned to our WOHE 1st grade blog and to my own blog page as we are in the process of adding links and other information.
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns; and thank you for sharing your child with me this year.
Your Partner in Education,
Debbie Newman
dnewman@willard.k12.mo.us
Monday, August 23, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
The End is Near, and Things are Getting Busy
Important News and Dates to Know About:
*Don’t forget about the 1st grade field trip on May 5th. If I have not received a permission note/money for your child, I have attached another form.
*School Book Fair April 26-29.
*Applebee’s Pancake breakfast, Sat. April 17th 8:00-10:00 (I will be there from 8:00-9:00)
*WOHE Family Dinner and Talent Show, Tuesday May 11th. This will be a fun evening of eating, playing and watching great talent. More details to come.
*Last Tiger Pride Assembly for this year, May 19th at 2:30.
*Field Day Activities, May 20th in the morning for 1st grade.
*Last Day of School, May 21st.
*Screening dates for new Kindergarten students, April 29th. Call the office for an appointment.
*Deadline for summer school enrollment, April 16th.
*Don’t forget about the 1st grade field trip on May 5th. If I have not received a permission note/money for your child, I have attached another form.
*School Book Fair April 26-29.
*Applebee’s Pancake breakfast, Sat. April 17th 8:00-10:00 (I will be there from 8:00-9:00)
*WOHE Family Dinner and Talent Show, Tuesday May 11th. This will be a fun evening of eating, playing and watching great talent. More details to come.
*Last Tiger Pride Assembly for this year, May 19th at 2:30.
*Field Day Activities, May 20th in the morning for 1st grade.
*Last Day of School, May 21st.
*Screening dates for new Kindergarten students, April 29th. Call the office for an appointment.
*Deadline for summer school enrollment, April 16th.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Welcome
I would like to welcome 3 new students to our class; Malachi, T.J., and Jeremy. All 3 boys have joined our class in the last few weeks. Welcome boys, and we are glad you are at WOHE!
We have been working hard over the month of February. Here are a few of the items we are working on: reading fluently at our levels, decoding and self checking our selves as we read, writing stories with a beginning, middle, and an end instead of just "list-type" stories, peer editing after we write, counting money, and adding and subtracting quickly and accurately.
Don't forget next Wednesday, March 3rd is the monthly Tiger Pride Assembly at 2:30. All parents are welcome to come attend our assemblies. I will hopefully send out the Apple Award notes the day before so you would know ahead of time if your child will get to stand for recognition.
Last month's the Apple Awards went to these students:
Green/Team work Apples-Hailey and Lucas
Red/Academic Apples-Taylor and Oscar
Yellow/Improvement Apples-Dominic and Mari
Orange/Character Apples-Anjelo and Brennen
Congratulations to all and great job on all of your hard work!
Thank you to Evan and R.J.'s parents for sending in glue bottles for the classroom. We could still use a few more bottles if you are able to send one. We could also use some ziplock type storage bags in all sizes. We are running very low. Thanks!
We have started a new system in our class for behavior. This time of year seems to be a hard time to keep using our self control, so I have tried to help the students with this. We have a clipboard with a list of names on it. If a student is having trouble following a rule, so therefore having trouble learning and possibly interrupting others learning, then that student goes to visit the clipboard. He/she puts an X by their name. The first X is the warning. This allows the student to realize that they have made a mistake, but they have time to fix that problem without any consequences. However, if a student has to visit the clipboard again in that day, then they must write a note home to you explaining what their problem was. The students do the writing, so hopefully they are thinking about their choices as they write and also as they show the note to you. Please talk to your child about their note, sign in and then send it back the next day.
Finally, I am long overdue in sending a Thank You on the blog to Mr. Higgins. Mr. Higgins is Kaylee's dad. He is working on security over in Afghanistan as a civilian contractor, and he was nice enough to come talk to the class when he was home for a couple of weeks over the holidays. He came in, brought many gifts for the students, and answered many questions. The children loved the visit! Thank you, Mr. Higgins.
We have been working hard over the month of February. Here are a few of the items we are working on: reading fluently at our levels, decoding and self checking our selves as we read, writing stories with a beginning, middle, and an end instead of just "list-type" stories, peer editing after we write, counting money, and adding and subtracting quickly and accurately.
Don't forget next Wednesday, March 3rd is the monthly Tiger Pride Assembly at 2:30. All parents are welcome to come attend our assemblies. I will hopefully send out the Apple Award notes the day before so you would know ahead of time if your child will get to stand for recognition.
Last month's the Apple Awards went to these students:
Green/Team work Apples-Hailey and Lucas
Red/Academic Apples-Taylor and Oscar
Yellow/Improvement Apples-Dominic and Mari
Orange/Character Apples-Anjelo and Brennen
Congratulations to all and great job on all of your hard work!
Thank you to Evan and R.J.'s parents for sending in glue bottles for the classroom. We could still use a few more bottles if you are able to send one. We could also use some ziplock type storage bags in all sizes. We are running very low. Thanks!
We have started a new system in our class for behavior. This time of year seems to be a hard time to keep using our self control, so I have tried to help the students with this. We have a clipboard with a list of names on it. If a student is having trouble following a rule, so therefore having trouble learning and possibly interrupting others learning, then that student goes to visit the clipboard. He/she puts an X by their name. The first X is the warning. This allows the student to realize that they have made a mistake, but they have time to fix that problem without any consequences. However, if a student has to visit the clipboard again in that day, then they must write a note home to you explaining what their problem was. The students do the writing, so hopefully they are thinking about their choices as they write and also as they show the note to you. Please talk to your child about their note, sign in and then send it back the next day.
Finally, I am long overdue in sending a Thank You on the blog to Mr. Higgins. Mr. Higgins is Kaylee's dad. He is working on security over in Afghanistan as a civilian contractor, and he was nice enough to come talk to the class when he was home for a couple of weeks over the holidays. He came in, brought many gifts for the students, and answered many questions. The children loved the visit! Thank you, Mr. Higgins.
Monday, January 18, 2010
A New Year!
I can not believe that it is half way through the school year already. Time really does go by quickly! I wanted to talk with you a little bit about the mid-year report cards that went home last week. Remember, our 1st grade report cards are more of a progression throughout the year. The ultimate goal would be for the children to have all "3's" by the end of the school year. Here are a few examples of that:
Reading: In reading the students are working their way through the reading levels; trying to get to a level I-K by the end of the year. Typically, a student will move 2 levels each quarter. Therefore, if a student began the year on a level C or D, then he would more than likely be at a level I-J at the end of the year. At each level, the reader is needing to be more independent and confident in his reading. He is also needing to be more fluent. At this point in the year, the students know "how" to figure out the words, now we are working on doing that on their own (without needing prompts from me), doing some self-checking as they read (noticing when something doesn't sound or look right, or make sense), and becoming more fluent so they can understand what they are reading. A way to help your child at home with reading, is to just allow them to read, and also talk to them about what they are reading. You can also work with your child on comprehension (understanding what they read), by talking to them about T.V. shows, movies, etc. Anything to get them thinking about a story.
Writing: In writing, we began the year just working on the love of writing. Then we added thinking about some of the writing conventions. Now, we are focusing on the editing process along with working on writing stories with a beginning, middle, and an end. As story writing evolves, we will focus on adding exciting details to our writing. A way you can work on writing at home, is to have your child tell you stories about what is happening in their life. Focus on having them tell you the story in order and with details.
Math: We began the year focusing on number sense skills. Now we are to the point that we are using what we know about numbers to use add and subtract along with other skills. You may have noticed a 1 or 2 grade in these areas. This is because we have not had enough time or practice to become fluent and/or accurate with our adding and subtracting. You can work on this at home by just giving your child opportunities to add and subtract. Play games, use flash cards, play games on the computer. Our school computer website has many game choices that work on adding and subtracting. Check it out.
I hope this information helps you to understand your child's learning so far this year. As always, if you have questions, please contact me.
Star Students:
The following students were awarded Character Apples at the December Tiger Pride Assembly:
Academic Apples: Dominic, and Hailey
Team Work Apples: Lucas and R.J.
Great Character Apples: Angelica and Taylor
Improvement Apples: Ashlin and Quentin
Congratulations and Great Job!!
Needed Items:
We are in need of new glue bottles. If each child could bring in a glue bottle, I think we should be set for the rest of the year. Thanks so much.
The 3rd and 4th grade classes are collecting Pringles cans. If you eat Pringles potato chips and would like to help, just send your empty cans in with your child. Thanks.
Snow Make-Up Days:
Here are the dates for our snow days so far:
Monday, January 18
Monday, February 15
Monday, April 5
Upcoming event:
WOHE is having their first PTO meeting! This meeting will be held January 25th at 6:00. We would love to have everyone come.
Reading: In reading the students are working their way through the reading levels; trying to get to a level I-K by the end of the year. Typically, a student will move 2 levels each quarter. Therefore, if a student began the year on a level C or D, then he would more than likely be at a level I-J at the end of the year. At each level, the reader is needing to be more independent and confident in his reading. He is also needing to be more fluent. At this point in the year, the students know "how" to figure out the words, now we are working on doing that on their own (without needing prompts from me), doing some self-checking as they read (noticing when something doesn't sound or look right, or make sense), and becoming more fluent so they can understand what they are reading. A way to help your child at home with reading, is to just allow them to read, and also talk to them about what they are reading. You can also work with your child on comprehension (understanding what they read), by talking to them about T.V. shows, movies, etc. Anything to get them thinking about a story.
Writing: In writing, we began the year just working on the love of writing. Then we added thinking about some of the writing conventions. Now, we are focusing on the editing process along with working on writing stories with a beginning, middle, and an end. As story writing evolves, we will focus on adding exciting details to our writing. A way you can work on writing at home, is to have your child tell you stories about what is happening in their life. Focus on having them tell you the story in order and with details.
Math: We began the year focusing on number sense skills. Now we are to the point that we are using what we know about numbers to use add and subtract along with other skills. You may have noticed a 1 or 2 grade in these areas. This is because we have not had enough time or practice to become fluent and/or accurate with our adding and subtracting. You can work on this at home by just giving your child opportunities to add and subtract. Play games, use flash cards, play games on the computer. Our school computer website has many game choices that work on adding and subtracting. Check it out.
I hope this information helps you to understand your child's learning so far this year. As always, if you have questions, please contact me.
Star Students:
The following students were awarded Character Apples at the December Tiger Pride Assembly:
Academic Apples: Dominic, and Hailey
Team Work Apples: Lucas and R.J.
Great Character Apples: Angelica and Taylor
Improvement Apples: Ashlin and Quentin
Congratulations and Great Job!!
Needed Items:
We are in need of new glue bottles. If each child could bring in a glue bottle, I think we should be set for the rest of the year. Thanks so much.
The 3rd and 4th grade classes are collecting Pringles cans. If you eat Pringles potato chips and would like to help, just send your empty cans in with your child. Thanks.
Snow Make-Up Days:
Here are the dates for our snow days so far:
Monday, January 18
Monday, February 15
Monday, April 5
Upcoming event:
WOHE is having their first PTO meeting! This meeting will be held January 25th at 6:00. We would love to have everyone come.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Merry Christmas!
Monday evening was magical! Thank you so much for taking the time to bring your children back to school for them to share in the magic of this season. Everyone looked so beautiful and handsome, and they did a fantastic job singing.
Our Tiger Pride Assembly last week had a different twist. There was the awarding of the honor apples, and then there was the prize drawings from the fundraiser. Here are the students who earned an honor apple in November:
Improvement: Lucas and Anjelo
Team Work: Evan and Abby
Character: Charlie and Mari
Academics: Brennen and Keyandra
Congratulations to these students! And remember, everyone can earn an Honor Apple so keep working hard.
These students were able (because of how much cookie dough they sold for our fund raiser) to choose an envelop with money in it: Angelica, Charlie, Mari, and Quentin. The envelopes had various amounts of money. It was a fun event to watch. I wonder what they spent their money on? :)
Our economics unit is going great! The students are busy earning money this month and trying to keep it so they can spend it on items at our class store next Wednesday. Some of the students have quite a bit of money. Ask your child how much money they have.
Next Friday is our school wide Christmas party. First grade is having our party at the same time as the Kindergarten like we did for the Fall party. Our time will be 9:30-10:45. Everyone is welcome to come. If you would like to come help at a station, or help by sending in supplies, please let me know and I will get you in contact with our room mom, Amanda Givens. This day, we will also have a school wide pajama day and we will be watching Polar Express and having hot chocolate. It should be a fun day!
Don't forget, we have our winter vacation starting Monday, Dec. 21 and going until Friday, Jan. 1st. We will come back to school on Monday, January 4th.
Our Tiger Pride Assembly last week had a different twist. There was the awarding of the honor apples, and then there was the prize drawings from the fundraiser. Here are the students who earned an honor apple in November:
Improvement: Lucas and Anjelo
Team Work: Evan and Abby
Character: Charlie and Mari
Academics: Brennen and Keyandra
Congratulations to these students! And remember, everyone can earn an Honor Apple so keep working hard.
These students were able (because of how much cookie dough they sold for our fund raiser) to choose an envelop with money in it: Angelica, Charlie, Mari, and Quentin. The envelopes had various amounts of money. It was a fun event to watch. I wonder what they spent their money on? :)
Our economics unit is going great! The students are busy earning money this month and trying to keep it so they can spend it on items at our class store next Wednesday. Some of the students have quite a bit of money. Ask your child how much money they have.
Next Friday is our school wide Christmas party. First grade is having our party at the same time as the Kindergarten like we did for the Fall party. Our time will be 9:30-10:45. Everyone is welcome to come. If you would like to come help at a station, or help by sending in supplies, please let me know and I will get you in contact with our room mom, Amanda Givens. This day, we will also have a school wide pajama day and we will be watching Polar Express and having hot chocolate. It should be a fun day!
Don't forget, we have our winter vacation starting Monday, Dec. 21 and going until Friday, Jan. 1st. We will come back to school on Monday, January 4th.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
We are Thankful for So Much
Long Ago and Today: We have just finished up our November Social Studies unit. We compared and contrasted times long ago with today. We learned about the Pilgrims and the Indians and the struggles they faced during that time. We had fun and learned a lot during this unit. We also decided we have much to be thankful for; our lives are much easier than in times long ago.
Thankful Quilt: During November, we also worked on making a Thankful Quilt. This amazing quilt is hanging outside our classroom. We used our writing skills to write about what we are thankful for. We also used our math skills to design our very own quilt blocks. Then we worked together as a team to "sew" our quilt together. This was a big project that we are proud of.
Penny Drive for Holiday Baskets: The school has just completed a penny drive to raise money for Holiday Baskets to help many families within our school. Because of your generosity, we were able to raise over $1100! Thank you so much for all of your support!
Mark Your Calendars: There are several important dates coming up.
December 7th - Holiday Music Program - 6:30-7:30pm. This is an evening for the whole
school to come together to celebrate the Holiday season. Each grade level will
have songs to sing. Plus, there will be trees decorated with ornaments made
by the children. You will be able to remove your child's ornament to take
home (donations for the ornaments will gladly be accepted).
December 9th - November's Tiger Pride Assembly - 2:30pm
December 21-January 1 - Winter Holiday Break
January 6th - December Tiger Pride Assembly - 2:30pm
Morning Times - Mrs. Bishop has asked us to remind parents that the earliest students are able to enter the building in the morning is 8:15 (unless they are eating breakfast, 8:05). Thank you.
Recess - Since we are beginning to see some winter weather, please remember to send your child to school in a coat appropriate for the temperature/wind chill at around noon. We go to recess after lunch, and it hasn't usually hit the high temperature of the day by this point. We will go outside if the temperature is 32 degrees or above (wind chill of at least 25 degrees). We want the children to be able to enjoy recess. Thanks.
Economics Unit - We will be beginning our Economic unit after Thanksgiving break. In this unit, we will be learning about needs/wants, goods/services, scarcity/demand, and producers/consumers. The students will get paid each day for coming to work/school; and they will be able to earn bonuses for extra effort/behavior (along with fines enforced for late work or problems with behavior). At the end of the month, we will finish up our economics unit with a class store. The children will be able to spend the money they have earned on goods and services. This is always a fun way to learn economic terms and practice identifying and counting coins.
Spelling Update - There is a slight change to the way we will be doing spelling for the rest of the school year. We will still have a list of spelling words that will be introduced with our Word Preview paper (and the list sent home), but this will not necessarily be a weekly list with the test always being on Friday. The 1st grade teachers have decided in order to teach these words more thoroughly, we need more time for most of the list of words. From now on, we will begin a new list with the Word Preview, then spend as many days as we feel needed to do word work activities for the words in the list, and then give the written test. As parents, you can help us by just continuing to have your child practice the same list of words until they come home with a new list. Here is the next list of words (we will begin it on Monday): want, was, some, said, do, doing.
Thankful Quilt: During November, we also worked on making a Thankful Quilt. This amazing quilt is hanging outside our classroom. We used our writing skills to write about what we are thankful for. We also used our math skills to design our very own quilt blocks. Then we worked together as a team to "sew" our quilt together. This was a big project that we are proud of.
Penny Drive for Holiday Baskets: The school has just completed a penny drive to raise money for Holiday Baskets to help many families within our school. Because of your generosity, we were able to raise over $1100! Thank you so much for all of your support!
Mark Your Calendars: There are several important dates coming up.
December 7th - Holiday Music Program - 6:30-7:30pm. This is an evening for the whole
school to come together to celebrate the Holiday season. Each grade level will
have songs to sing. Plus, there will be trees decorated with ornaments made
by the children. You will be able to remove your child's ornament to take
home (donations for the ornaments will gladly be accepted).
December 9th - November's Tiger Pride Assembly - 2:30pm
December 21-January 1 - Winter Holiday Break
January 6th - December Tiger Pride Assembly - 2:30pm
Morning Times - Mrs. Bishop has asked us to remind parents that the earliest students are able to enter the building in the morning is 8:15 (unless they are eating breakfast, 8:05). Thank you.
Recess - Since we are beginning to see some winter weather, please remember to send your child to school in a coat appropriate for the temperature/wind chill at around noon. We go to recess after lunch, and it hasn't usually hit the high temperature of the day by this point. We will go outside if the temperature is 32 degrees or above (wind chill of at least 25 degrees). We want the children to be able to enjoy recess. Thanks.
Economics Unit - We will be beginning our Economic unit after Thanksgiving break. In this unit, we will be learning about needs/wants, goods/services, scarcity/demand, and producers/consumers. The students will get paid each day for coming to work/school; and they will be able to earn bonuses for extra effort/behavior (along with fines enforced for late work or problems with behavior). At the end of the month, we will finish up our economics unit with a class store. The children will be able to spend the money they have earned on goods and services. This is always a fun way to learn economic terms and practice identifying and counting coins.
Spelling Update - There is a slight change to the way we will be doing spelling for the rest of the school year. We will still have a list of spelling words that will be introduced with our Word Preview paper (and the list sent home), but this will not necessarily be a weekly list with the test always being on Friday. The 1st grade teachers have decided in order to teach these words more thoroughly, we need more time for most of the list of words. From now on, we will begin a new list with the Word Preview, then spend as many days as we feel needed to do word work activities for the words in the list, and then give the written test. As parents, you can help us by just continuing to have your child practice the same list of words until they come home with a new list. Here is the next list of words (we will begin it on Monday): want, was, some, said, do, doing.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Apple Awards
Here are the winners of the Apple Awards mentioned in the next entry. These are the awards earned each month and recognized at the Tiger Pride Assembly.
The Apples for Academics went to: Ashlin and R.J.
The Apples for Improvement went to: Kaylee and Blaine
The Apples for Teamwork went to: Taylor and Oscar
The Apples for Character (Responsiblity) went to: Hailey and Quentin
Congratulations to all of the students who earned an Apple Award for October!! You worked hard for this. Everyone else, keep working hard!
One other news item, Mrs. Bishop has asked for us to remind parents to use the parking lot if you are going to be getting out of your car or parking for a minute or two; but use the parent drop off lane if you are just letting your child out of the car (in the morning) or in the car (in the afternoon). This will help with the traffic flow. Thanks for you help.
The Apples for Academics went to: Ashlin and R.J.
The Apples for Improvement went to: Kaylee and Blaine
The Apples for Teamwork went to: Taylor and Oscar
The Apples for Character (Responsiblity) went to: Hailey and Quentin
Congratulations to all of the students who earned an Apple Award for October!! You worked hard for this. Everyone else, keep working hard!
One other news item, Mrs. Bishop has asked for us to remind parents to use the parking lot if you are going to be getting out of your car or parking for a minute or two; but use the parent drop off lane if you are just letting your child out of the car (in the morning) or in the car (in the afternoon). This will help with the traffic flow. Thanks for you help.
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