Januarry 30, 2010

SCHEDULE CHANGE
Last week, Mr. Dean sent out an email regarding a master schedule and some changes that will be occurring in the some of the classrooms. This new schedule will begin Monday, February 8.
Our schedule is one that will be changing. I have spend countless hours working on a schedule that I feel meets the needs of my students. What does this mean for us? First and most importantly, the children are going to have to learn some new daily routines. I am hopeful that they will adjust quickly. Secondly, if you are currently volunteering in our room, the areas you are volunteering in may change. It is my hope that this will be workable for you. Please know that I love having all of you in my class and helping the children, but I completely understand if our new schedule does not fit your schedule or area of comfort. I am going to post the new schedule outside our classroom on Monday, Feb. 1. I have put your names in the time slots you are currently volunteering in so you can see what the changes are. If you need to change please cross out your name, as well as let me know.

SPELLING BEE
As you know, the spelling bee took place on Friday for the kindergartners and first graders. We had many children stay in the competition for two to four rounds. I was very proud of all the kiddos that participated. In the end, Michael Chase won the event. Nice job Michael!

STORYLINE
Last week we focused our energy on learning about animal classification. We watched a wonderful video on the subject and the student took notes as they were watching. It was VERY cool to watch them do this! We completed a picture sort with animals and created lists that described each class. Again, it was awesome to watch them work in groups of two and three. Next week we will begin writing our research papers and begin to create the animals found in our park. We will also be talking about what our responsibilities are as Junior Park Rangers.

HOMEFUN
Animal Research Assignments 1 and 2 are due on Monday, Feb. 1. If your child did not turn in the first assignment PLEASE help them complete it by Monday! The second assignment was sent home on Friday.

PLEASE help your child remember to put his or her name on their math homework assignments. Often, they can't figure out if it is theirs when I ask, therefore, I recycle it and send the assignment home again.

Reading Logs and books are due each Monday. If you do not want your child to receive books, let me know. However, the children are still responsible for turning in a reading log. It is a good habit to get into, as this requirement will continue through middle school.

Poem folders are due each Monday. Please read through them with your children over the weekend, as they are sent home on Friday.

YEARBOOK PRE-ORDERS are due this week. If you want to order a yearbook for your child, the order needs to be in this week. Please contact the office for details.

PENNIES FOR PEACE - this week is the last week of the Bend La Pine fundraiser for Pennies of Peace. If you can donate to this cause it will be greatly appreciated.

I hope you all have an enjoyable Sunday!
Becky

January

STORYLINE
As you may have heard, Friday was a very busy day in the afternoon. The children participated in a Junior Park Ranger Convention, which will continue all day on Monday. Children are learning about climate, seasons, geology, geography, plants, animal classification and ecosystems. After they participate in this convention, they will receive a merit badge to put on their personal park banner. Last week we also worked on our characters. We all have new storyline names. During storyline time, I will be know as Ranger Crystal Coral.

This week we will begin work on several areas of our park. We will be learning about the four ecosystems located in the park and the history of the park. We will also finish our frieze. The children will be picking an animal to research. Each child will research their animal at home and bring in notes taken at home. With those notes, the children will write a research paper at school. Every other night (or so), your child will come home with a homework assignment to complete based on their animal. It will be VERY important that your child completes each assignment and that all words are spelled correctly. They will need your support to complete this project. More information will come home on Tuesday.

MATH: Last week we worked on measurements using our rulers. We worked on measuring items longer than a foot and measuring objects in inches. Next week we will be introducing time to the quarter hour. The vocabulary we will be using is "quarter to" and "quarter after".

WRITING: This week we will continue to do writer's workshop. Children are publishing books, working with me and working independently.

READING: During our reading time, children are working in a variety of areas based on their needs. We are starting to do a great deal of vowel pattern work. When you child brings home work completed in school, it is important to review the work with your child. Ask them what they did, why, how did they complete the activity. Also, to help solidify the concepts, have them play "I Spy" after reading or before reading. Have your children look for words that contain the concepts taught. For example, if your child brought home a /ee/, /ea/, /e/ word sort, have them look for and read words that contain those vowel patterns. Do not do this while they are reading. However, if they come upon a word that they have difficulty with you can ask them what they know in the word that will help them figure out what it is. If they need more guidance, ask them what they know about the /ea/ vowel pattern. Make sure they re-read the sentence once they figure out the word.

I want to express to you how proud I am of your children. They are working very hard and continuing to develop wonderful friendships. They are becoming more and more independent as we continue through the year. I hope you are seeing the growth they are making and are sharing in the successes they are finding at school.

Have a great rest of your weekend!
Becky

January 16, 2010

Storyline:
As you know the whole school has been given a new challenge. Students in each classroom are becoming experts on a National Park. Our park is Biscayne National Park. This week we have been busy creating our frieze. It is coming along quite well. We have some more work to do and hope to have the setting complete by Thursday. We also had Craig Letz come to visit the first grade students. He has worked for several national parks. He talked to the children about what Park Rangers do, what they wear, what types of jobs there are in parks and a variety of other topics. Next week we will be working on our characters. For those of you who are new to Storyline, this is a really fun component to this teaching method. Each child will become a "character" in our national park story. This will include filling out a biography, making up a new name (which they will be called during storyline time) and creating a self-portrait of their character. Please talk with your children about some fun names to pick. My name is going to be Ranger Coral.
On Thursday, the third homefun assignment was sent home with the kiddos. They are to begin the process of becoming Junior Park Web Rangers. They can use their new storyline names when for their login names. Please help your child complete the homefun assignment.

Later this week or early next week, I will be sending out a volunteer request for parents to come into the classroom to help with a mini ranger convention we are going to have in class.

Math: This week in math we reviewed time, money, frames and arrows. Measuring and temperature was introduced to the kiddos.

Writing: We are writing three to four days a week. We continue to work on extending our stories and adding adjectives to our nouns, using upper case letters when appropriate and using punctuation. New this week was beginning our Daily Oral Language. Each morning the children work on writing and oral language skills.

Reading: Currently there are 5 different reading groups in the class. Each group is working on areas that pertain to their current ability. We are also working our our Cafe Menu. We have added some more strategies. Under comprehension, we added Back Up a Re-read. We added a new item on our menu. Fluency, "I can read smoothly and with understanding. The strategy that we have discussed for fluency is the importance of re-reading text more that one time. We have added "reading with voice" or intonation. Fluency helps us read more accurately and allows us to comprehend what we are reading.

Homefun:
Web Ranger and Reading 10 to 15 minutes each day.

I hope you all have a relaxing three day weekend.

See you on Tuesday.
Becky

Janurary 9, 2010

It was great to see all the kiddos last week and be in school again. Although I enjoyed my winter break, I was eager to see all the children again. As you know, we started our all school storyline.
National Park Ranger Connie came to our school on Monday and presented us with a challenge. She was sad to share with us that kids are not visiting National Parks anymore. Instead they are going to places likes Disney World and Six Flags. She asked each class to create a replica of National Park. Each teacher drew a park name out of a hat. We picked Biscayne National Park. She also asked us to host a National Park Open House Event to include tours, to encourage families of Bend to visit a National Park.
We eagerly took on the challenge and began by learning about Biscayne National Park. We have been watching videos and looking at slide shows. The students realized they have a lot to learn about Biscayne National Park but are eager to learn and share about this beautiful park. I’m so glad they are up to the challenge.

Reading:
In reading, along with teaching phonics and phonemic awareness, I am integrating a new program into my curriculum. It focuses on four areas of reading.
1. Comprehension - I understand what I read
2. Accuracy - I can read the words
3. Fluency -I can read accurately, with expression, and understand what I read.
4. Expanding Vocabulary - I know, find and use interesting words.

For each heading, I am introducing different strategies the children can use to help them in their work in each area. As the year progress, I will be introducing more and more strategies. Last week we covered:
Comprehension

• Check for understanding: Stop every few pages and talk about what you have read. If you can't retell the story or are not sure what is going on, go back and reread the passage

Accuracy

• Cross-Checking: If you come to a word that is difficult, ask yourself three questions
• Do the pictures and/or words look right?
• Does the word sound right?
• Does the word make sense?
• Go back and check the word or ask for help. Re-read the sentence

Expand Vocabulary:

• Tune in to interesting words and use new vocabulary in speaking and writing.

Math:
We are staring a new math unit. Last week I sent home an information packet explaining our next chapter. Please read it, as it explains what we are doing!

Writing: We continue to write 3 to 4 times per week. We are working on sentence fluency, spelling and using descriptive language.

P.E. and Music: We will have P.E. next week.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. I love talking about your children!

Best to you all,
Becky