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.
Monday, February 22, 2010
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.
Monday, November 9, 2009
New Calendar Dates
We had a wonderful Fall Party on October 26th. Mrs. Bishop is working hard to blend 4 elementary school building traditions together, but at the same time establish new WOHE traditions. She asked the teachers if we would like to try a new version of the classroom parties. With this version, we all celebrated together. Kindergarten and first grade all joined together to rotate through games and craft activities in the commons area. The children all seemed to have a great time. I would like to thank all the parents who sent in items and/or came to our party. I would like to give a big thank you to Amanda Givens who organized our part of the party. Be watching for news of our Winter Party which will be here before we know it.
We also had a great turn out for Parent-Teacher Conferences. Thank you so much for bringing your child and allowing me to share with you all the great things your child is doing. What a great way to show your child his/her education is important!
Another new activity at WOHE is the monthly awards/recognition assembly called The Tiger Pride assembly. We are now on a roll with these assemblies. Plan on each month on the first Wednesday to join us at 2:30 for this assembly. We have several monthly awards we will give out each month along with anything special for that month. One of those awards is the "Apple". There are four different apple categories in which children can earn an apple: academics, improvement, character, and teamwork. For the month of October, I awarded 8 children an apple award. Please check the above blog entry to see who earned the first apple awards (sorry, I am writing this entry at home and I am afraid I might not remember correctly, so I will add to this tomorrow when I get to school :)). Parents are definitely welcome to come to our Tiger Pride assemblies. We love to celebrate the successes of our students!
Upcoming Dates/Events:
Thursday, November 12 - Picture retakes. If you missed the first picture day and would like to
have retakes, let me know so I can send the form home.
November 13 - H1N1 vaccinations (you MUST call the office to set up an appointment)
November 25-29 Thanksgiving Vacation (Enjoy your family)
December 2 - Tiger Pride Assembly at 2:30
December 7 - WOHE's first Holiday Program (be watching for more details, but mark your
calendar for an evening of songs and child made ornaments to purchase. Each class
will be a part of this enjoyable evening.)
We also had a great turn out for Parent-Teacher Conferences. Thank you so much for bringing your child and allowing me to share with you all the great things your child is doing. What a great way to show your child his/her education is important!
Another new activity at WOHE is the monthly awards/recognition assembly called The Tiger Pride assembly. We are now on a roll with these assemblies. Plan on each month on the first Wednesday to join us at 2:30 for this assembly. We have several monthly awards we will give out each month along with anything special for that month. One of those awards is the "Apple". There are four different apple categories in which children can earn an apple: academics, improvement, character, and teamwork. For the month of October, I awarded 8 children an apple award. Please check the above blog entry to see who earned the first apple awards (sorry, I am writing this entry at home and I am afraid I might not remember correctly, so I will add to this tomorrow when I get to school :)). Parents are definitely welcome to come to our Tiger Pride assemblies. We love to celebrate the successes of our students!
Upcoming Dates/Events:
Thursday, November 12 - Picture retakes. If you missed the first picture day and would like to
have retakes, let me know so I can send the form home.
November 13 - H1N1 vaccinations (you MUST call the office to set up an appointment)
November 25-29 Thanksgiving Vacation (Enjoy your family)
December 2 - Tiger Pride Assembly at 2:30
December 7 - WOHE's first Holiday Program (be watching for more details, but mark your
calendar for an evening of songs and child made ornaments to purchase. Each class
will be a part of this enjoyable evening.)
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
My New WOHE Blog
Finally, I have updated my blog to represent our new and wonderful WOHE School! Thank you for being patient with me. I never dreamed of all the little things you don't think about with opening a new school. It has been exciting, but it is also taking longer than I would like for me to feel settled and organized :) I guess it is just like when we move into a new house. We always think we will never be totally unpacked and settled in! Anyway, thank you for being patient with me.
I do like to use this blog spot and email as communication tools. I know how busy everyone is and it is not always easy to make or receive a phone call in the evenings. I also know that since we are all busy, it is not always easy to check a website daily for any new announcements. So, with that in mind, anytime I update this blog with any new information, I will send out a quick email letting you know there is something new you might want to look at.
I will also begin to post my newsletter to the blog. I will still, at this point, send a paper copy of the newsletter, but I am hoping to get things working so smoothly that I don't need to send out a paper copy (unless of course you don't have access to a computer).
Now for the news:
Conference Schedule - I have been working on our schedule. I believe I have received a time preference from most families, so I will be sending home an email letting you know what your exact time is. Please let me know if the time I give you doesn't work for you.
Homework - Each child was asked to check for smoke alarms in their house this week. We are discussing fire safety and I know first hand how important it is to have working smoke alarms in your house. The children will probably come home and tell you that my house burnt. Yes, it did. About 16 years ago, I had a total loss house fire; and if it wasn't for our smoke alarm, my son, Zach, and I wouldn't be here. I would very much request that you check your smoke alarms to make sure they are working and if you are in need of new smoke alarms, please contact the Willard Fire Department. They should be able to help you.
Again, thank you for your patience with things so far this year, I am truely enjoying each and every one of your children!
I do like to use this blog spot and email as communication tools. I know how busy everyone is and it is not always easy to make or receive a phone call in the evenings. I also know that since we are all busy, it is not always easy to check a website daily for any new announcements. So, with that in mind, anytime I update this blog with any new information, I will send out a quick email letting you know there is something new you might want to look at.
I will also begin to post my newsletter to the blog. I will still, at this point, send a paper copy of the newsletter, but I am hoping to get things working so smoothly that I don't need to send out a paper copy (unless of course you don't have access to a computer).
Now for the news:
Conference Schedule - I have been working on our schedule. I believe I have received a time preference from most families, so I will be sending home an email letting you know what your exact time is. Please let me know if the time I give you doesn't work for you.
Homework - Each child was asked to check for smoke alarms in their house this week. We are discussing fire safety and I know first hand how important it is to have working smoke alarms in your house. The children will probably come home and tell you that my house burnt. Yes, it did. About 16 years ago, I had a total loss house fire; and if it wasn't for our smoke alarm, my son, Zach, and I wouldn't be here. I would very much request that you check your smoke alarms to make sure they are working and if you are in need of new smoke alarms, please contact the Willard Fire Department. They should be able to help you.
Again, thank you for your patience with things so far this year, I am truely enjoying each and every one of your children!
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