Thirty-Fourth Day

See entry below for Friday schedule. Please no candy tomorrow, time to pass out any gifts or treats is not provided for in the short day schedule.

Today was a busy day. We discussed different voice inflection patterns for various punctuation marks (as they came up in our decodable Fred. Then we discussed inflectional endings and their meanings for words, in particular the past tense '-ed' suffix pronounced /d/ (as in 'called') and /t/ (as in licked). This led to a brief discussion of various homophones like 'past' and 'passed' and 'mist' and 'missed'. We reviewed our fourth thinking map, the Tree Map by subdividing our "favorites" (category) into subcategories. This thinking map is useful for categorizing parts of complex ideas into smaller manageable parts.

In P.E. we learned a base stealing game called Steal the Corner.

We are ready for our next math test. Today we reviewed math sentences for related numbers by having a math sentence relay race.

Homework for today is a writing sheet for /j/ spelled 'j' and 'short vowel -dge'.

Reminder: Reading logs are due tomorrow. You should have turned in 2 reading logs by tomorrow. Your child's homework grade depends on it.

Thirty-Third Day

Today we began our first reading selection on community workers. We generated questions about workers we were interested in learning more about. We wrote a journal entry about ourselves in as a community worker.

In science we observed 7 different liquids noting their behavior and then generated a list of properties for liquids.

In math we worked on family of facts, or using 3 related numbers came up with 2 addition sentences and 2 subtraction sentences for the same numbers. Homework is the corresponding math homework.

I just realized I forgot to post a more definite schedule for Friday. I will try and remember to post some times tomorrow.

Friday Schedule

Brunch for 1st grade will be 9:30-10:00
We will begin the speech ceremony shortly thereafter. We will change into costumes at 11:45 am. We are due to be on the playground at 12:20 for the parade which is set to begin at 12:30.

Feel free to add your thoughts as comments. If you are unable to attend Friday and would like it videoed, I will try that. Just get that flash drive to me so I can give you a copy.

Thirty-Second Day

A good portion of our day was consumed by IWT (independent work time) and the second portion of the writing assessment.

Fluency scores are now posted. The mean average score for this test was 50 WPM (words/minute). Those students scoring 60 WPM or greater on the next exam (in 6 weeks) will take home the reading achievement certificate. Please keep in mind that as the year progresses, not only are more WPM required but the reading selections become increasingly difficult.

Conference notifications go home tomorrow. Please locate them in backpacks, sign and return. The conferences should not take too long, especially as there is no report card to discuss. I will go over test scores with you as well as individual goals for your child.

The math homework for the evening is a review page from last week.

We will probably read election speeches on Thursday so that voting can take place next Tuesday.

Thirty-First Day

We completed all seminars for the first unit today. Thank you parents for your support. I've never completed an entire class before in the first unit. We are almost complete with our reading battery. I will post statistics tomorrow. If you would like to know your child's individual score you can come see me or wait for conferences. Fluency scores will be posted in the classroom.

We had our fifth dance lesson with Ms. Marrin. Today we learned some break dancing as well as its origins.

In past years the concept presented today in math has stumped many 1st graders. This publisher presented the material a bit differently and made it easier to teach and hopefully learn. With the notion that subtraction finds differences we compared different sized collections today. We discovered that if you subtract the smaller collection from the larger, you will find the difference. The question for the difference is presented in two different ways: how many less, and how many more. This can sound confusing. The answer however remains the same for both questions (thankfully). The homework is the math sheet on comparing.

If you received an unsatisfactory notice, please sign and detach the bottom portion and return it to school so that I know you have seen it.

If you would like a visual record of some of your child's classroom activities, send along a flash drive and I will try to record such things as oral reports. It just has never seemed right to me that I'm the only adult that gets to see all the things your students are doing. It would be helpful if there was some place to write your child's name on the outside of the drive or better yet, attach it to a lanyard with your child's name. You can also bring the flash drive along with you to parent conferences. I am at least hopeful I can get this to work.

Thirtieth Day

Nine reports are now completed and only one left to do seminar. Today we blended through the /j/ sound spelled 'j' and "short vowel, dge". We worked on our third thinking map: bubble map. The topic of our map was ourselves. The main idea is to describe yourself using 6 (or more) adjectives. This map is good for developing sensory detail in writing. Obviously we had to discuss and define the term 'adjective'.

We will be beginning a new unit on Monday as well as beginning our first reading tests. This next unit's topic will be workers in our neighborhood. We will be moving through the writing process again and completing a report on a worker of our choice.

In math we discussed word problems involving subtraction. There is no homework.

Congratulations to table 2 for beating the standard of 75 grams. Successful completion of a dictation exercise pushed them over the requirement. Next week's goal will be 80 grams.

Notices of Unsatisfactory Performance

As I mentioned earlier, unsatisfactory notices will go home today. From my perspective it would be counter-productive to discuss the content of these notices with your child. First-grade students at this point should not really understand the implication of this communication from teacher to parent. As I mentioned at Back-to-School Night, these are sent to parents a specified number of days before report cards in order to let parents know of the possibility their child may receive a mark of less than a three in reading, writing, or math as indicated in the notice. I will speak in greater detail to parents during conferences in November regarding these notices and other issues of concern. Also keep in mind that full assessments have yet to be administered in reading and writing.

Twenty- Ninth Day

Today we had our earthquake drill which took up most of our morning. We still managed to get through several seminars which means we've finished all but 3.

For social studies we discussed how rules were made which of course leads into how leaders are chosen. It was decided that students who are interested may work with their parents to design a simple campaign (poster and speech) in order to run for class president. We discussed how candidates highlight their personal characteristics which make them good for a leadership position. Candidates also tell their constituency (voters) what they may do once elected. We will present speeches and vote, hopefully, next week.

We began to transform missing parts ideas in math into subtraction sentences which brings us to reteach 4-4 for homework.

Twenty-Eighth Day

Today we drew conclusions as a comprehension strategy while reading our last animal selection on hermit crabs. We were able to conclude that hermit crabs used other animal shells for protection. Later we practiced drawing conclusions from pictures. We wrote our first sentence during dictation today. Up until now we had only written words. We also took some time to write a story which we will use to try and scare our classmates. We did this while individual fluency tests were conducted.

We found missing parts of nine for math. Our homework is the corresponding page and a writing page on the letter 'g'.

Twenty-Seventh Day

Today we blended through short vowel 'u'. A few more students completed seminar for a total now of 17. That leaves only 7. Two students completed the entire process through publishing.
Next week we will begin our first battery of language arts exams.

In math we continued to examine missing parts of wholes on our journey to understand subtraction.

The homework is finding missing parts of 8.

Unsatisfactory notices go home this week.

Twenty-Sixth Day

We discussed main idea/details and tried to find details for our own main idea. We still stand at 12 students completing seminar. Three students have begun the publishing step.

We had our fourth dance lesson with Ms. Marrin.

For math we found missing addends for parts of a whole.

A total 28 points were possible on the topic 3 math test with a score of 24 qualifying for a '3'. Of the 22 recorded test scores, 6 scored a 28, 3 scored a 27, 4 scored a 26, 3 scored a 25, 2 scored a 24, 3 scored 23.

For homework, complete math reteach topic 4-1 and writing/spelling page for Rr. Please label pictures.

Twenty-Fifth Day

We concentrated today on the spelling pattern 'short-vowel-ck'. This is the rule that will separate our snacks from our snakes. We discussed a selection on spiders (our favorite), and how they are hunters which set traps to catch their food.

We completed our topic 3 math test. Results will be posted soon. This test was somewhat easier than our first two.

To let you know, our schedule does not always allow for make-up testing. If your child is absent the day of the test, there may not be an opportunity for re-testing. This is also partially due to the nature of first grade tests requiring a proctor. They are not taken independently. I usually only administer a make-up test if I need to have a particular score.

Congratulations to table 1 for completing the week with enough grams to meet the standard and a balance left to begin next week.

Thanks to parents for consistently sending notes with your child when they are absent. Everyone has been really good so far about sending a note after an absence.

Twenty-Fourth Day

Today we finished up our animals-and-their-food story. We learned that some animals eat other animals, sometimes it isn't easy for animals to get their food, and that some animals eat the same foods as children. Exactly half the class has now made it through their first seminar and is working on the next steps of the writing process.

In P.E. we tested for strength. Two children were able to complete 5 pull-ups. Thirteen children were able to complete 10 leg lifts. Two children were able to accomplish both tasks successfully. Accomplishing these tasks has no bearing on the report card grade but is simply a Room 11 goal for earning a star on the star chart.

We started our topic 3 math test today. We will finish up tomorrow.

Please complete the short vowel 'o' writing paper for homework. Please remember to have your child label pictures.

Twenty-Third day

We got a lot done today. We learned what a homophone was during blending. Eight students were ready for seminar and moved successfully through the process into revising. The next step will be proofreading after which students will have a one-on-one writing conference with me before the publishing step.

We breezed through an uncomplicated math lesson. The homework is the reteach page 3-7.

In science we discussed which properties of matter would be most useful for building a bridge. I modeled building a bridge and making a diagram. We then had to construct towers with our objects and make our own diagram. Later we will answer the question: which properties were most useful in constructing a tower?

Twenty-Second Day

Today we blended with 'a' as the schwa sound. We continued with our animal report drafts. Five students have completed their drafts and tomorrow we will introduce seminar protocol. Those students completing seminar and revising will move on to proofreading.

In math we discussed the simple concept of reordering addends. Our homework is the corresponding reteach page.

Twenty-First Day

Today we blended through short vowel 'o'. We discussed homonyms. We continued work on our animal reports (essays). The next step will be to go to seminar and receive feedback from our peers regarding our work. We began the animal selection Munch Crunch. The main idea for today was: some animals only eat plants.

We danced again with Ms. Marrin. We created a Flow Map afterwards about our dance.

We examined word problems in math which led to addition for their solution.

For homework students will complete the corresponding reteach page for today's lesson (3-5) and the writing page for 'i'. Again, please have students label their pictures.

Twentieth Day

We've been in first grade for two tens already.

We finished up on Baby Animals. We began writing our first rough draft. This is our second stage of the writing process.

We practiced serving the ball for handball learning the reason for the lines on the ground.

We talked about addition math sentences.

We compared our two chosen objects from our table we made and shared a comparison orally with our partner using a sentence frame. Later we will contrast them using a another sentence frame.

Congratulations to table 1 for meeting the standard of 65 grams this week. Next week's goal will be 70 grams.

Nineteenth Day

Today we began the selection titled baby animals. The main ideas we learned are that some baby animals look like their parents and some do not (but when they grow they do look like their parents.). Discuss with your child whether their animal looks like its parents when it is young.

We worked on our report for parts of seven. Four people were able to complete their report in the alotted time of 45 minutes.

For homework please complete the math sheet on parts of 9.

We are scheduled to visit the bookfair Monday morning.

I sent a collection of predictable books home with everyone who was behind where I felt they should be with sight word vocabulary. If your child brought a bag of books home, have them read and practice the books. When they are able to read the books without errors, send the books back to school for a replacement set.

Additional Ideas

When discussing your child's research animal encourage answers in complete sentences. "Where do lions live?" Lions live on the savanah." Encourage pronoun substitution for the main subject. "They live on the savanah." A paper with patterend sentences such as: A lion has....A lion lives....A lion eats...., etc. will not ever earn more than a 3 on the 1st grade rubric.

Consider designating two flash drives for your child's school work. One can stay with them during the day for everyday school use (not necessary for 1st grade) and one which can be an at-home backup copy in case they lose the "traveling" drive. Projects can be scanned, filmed, or photographed for a continually growing digital portfolio so they can assess their own growth through their grade school career and beyond.

Every year your child will be producing 5 or more personal thinking maps (circle, bubble, tree, etc.) Consider saving these so they might compare their ideas about themselves as they grow older.

Eighteenth Day

We began our circle map for our chosen animal for research. Some of the suggested questions for the map included, what the animal looks like, eats, does, and where it lives. Please be aware of your child's choice of animal and be discussing it with them. As an update, six children have completed their personal double bubble maps. Six children have completed their personal circle maps.

We reviewed the concepts of antonym and synonym and applied the ideas orally and in writing.

In math we used logic to construct models for parts of seven. Tomorrow we will construct a report to record our models.

For homework children will complete the reading/writing page for "t".

Seventeenth Day

Today we blended through short vowel 'i'. We began our "animals" unit. we generated questions for the the Concept/Question Board. We read the first selection on raccoons. We learned that some animals eat the same food as us and that some baby animals get their own food (as opposed to humans who may rely on parents for 18 years or more). Each time we learn a general concept about animals, it would be a good idea if your child knew whether or not the general fact applied to their own specific animal for reporting and testing purposes. Discuss often.

The topic 2 math tests have been graded and returned. They should be in your child's homework folder. A score of 17 was considered passing with a rubric grade of 3. A score of 25 qualified as a rubric 4.This was decided before the tests were graded. There were 26 total points possible. Of the 24 children taking the test in room 11, 1 child scored 26, 1 child scored 24, 1 child scored 22, 3 children scored 21, 4 children scored 20, 4 children scored 19, 4 children scored 18, 3 children scored 17.

For homework, children will complete "making 8" math sheet and the reading/writing short vowel 'a' sheet. Please have your child draw and label with words containing the short 'a' sound.

Sixteenth Day

Today was picture day.

We had our second dance lesson with Ms. Marrin. We used objects/props to inspire dance moves.

We began topic 3 in math. There's still more work to be done before I can post our last math test (Friday) grades.

Homework is a writing page for "S". Please have your child label their "S" drawings as well as other letter drawings. Also for math please have your child complete the math homework sheet for parts of 6 & 7 (lesson 3/1).

Fifteenth Day

Congratulations tables 1 & 4! Both tables tipped the scale and had points to spare for next week. The goal next week is 65 grams.

We had our first citizenship assembly in the miserable heat. I tried my best to shade 24 kids, not very successfully, but they all behaved like troopers, drippy hot troopers. If the assembly is in the afternoon next month, I think we'll skip it.

No homework tonight.

Thanks to all the parents who came to Back-to-School night last night. I hope I wasn't too boring. I know there was a lot of information I threw at you. It's a lot for one sitting.