Mrs. Vella's 1st Grade Super Stars

Hill Airforce Aerospace Museum Field Trip Updates

Posted on May 9, 2018 by darsie.vella

Dear Parents,
We have one more field trip scheduled for the year on Friday, May 18th. We will be going to the Hill Air Force Aerospace Museum. The kids have so much fun on this field trip. The kids participate in a “plane” scavenger hunt, they make a paper helicopter, as well as eat a sack lunch with their teacher(s) and classmates. I can NEVER have too many volunteers so if you would like to come have some fun with us, just let me know I’ll add you to the list.

We truly appreciate all you do to support our first grade kids at Quest, and wanted you to know that it is through your generous donations that make our class field trips and parties possible. Once again, I would like to acknowledge the generous donation made by the Wolfley family who helped make this field trip possible.

I am hoping to have students put into groups no later than Monday, May 14th. Below is the most current list of parent volunteers for our field trip. If I have missed adding anyone to the list, I apologize in advance so just let me know and I’ll make the necessary corrections. Also, if you signed up but now have a conflict, please let me know too, so I can make those necessary adjustments:
Rich Howard
Stephanie Adams
Nicole Westmoreland
Devin Zimmerman
Julie Le
Allister & Kristie Martinelli
Jen and Darren Smith
Stephen Ray
Melea Rogers
Shanel Mendoza

Quest is able to provide a sack lunch for students who wish to purchase one and avoid the hustle and bustle of making one on the day of the field trip. My lunch count will be turned Friday, May 11th. If you would like to PURCHASE a school lunch, please click on the picture below indicating your student’s meal preferences of chocolate or white milk.

Image result for SACK LUNCH FREE CLIP art

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Grown-Ups and Goodies

Posted on May 7, 2018 by darsie.vella

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First Grade K-9 Rescue Mission Service Project and Dress Down Day

Posted on May 7, 2018 by darsie.vella

This year our 1st grade students have been donating coins for Mission K9 Rescue. We will be presenting their donation during our Patriotic Program on Tuesday, May 22nd. Donations are still being collected. Let’s finish strong! There will be a dollar dress down day this Friday, May 11th to raise funds for Mission K9 Rescue. Feel free to donate whatever amount you feel appropriate.

As a reminder here is our post from January about this service project:

Mazzie, a war dog who was abandoned in Kuwait after his service visited our classroom. We learned about the sacrifices many dogs are making to protect the lives of our soldiers. Unfortunately, these dogs can be left behind after their work is done. Mission K-9 Rescue is striving to Rescue, Reunite, Re-Home, Rehabilitate and Repair any retired working dog that has served mankind in some capacity.

This year for one of 1st Grade service learning projects is collecting coins to donate to Mission K9 Rescue.

As a First Grade we have been learning that everyone can serve and help others through stories such as “The Lion and the Mouse”. Though our children may be young, they too can make an important difference and our small contributions of a coin here and a few coins there will truly add up to something great.

We are also learning about financial literacy principles; for example, we are learning about the principle of saving and we are learning that, to earn money, one must work. We are encouraging our students to do extra jobs at home for family or friends to earn coins to add to our Mission K9 Rescue fund.

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BOGO Book Fair: May 7th-11th

Posted on May 3, 2018 by darsie.vella

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Happy Birthday Kayson!

Posted on May 1, 2018 by darsie.vella

Happy Birthday Kayson!

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Homework for April 30th-May 4th

Posted on May 1, 2018 by darsie.vella

PARENTS…Hang onto your shorts….THIS IS THE LAST WEEK of Math and Spelling Homework. READING 20 MINUTES A DAY WILL BE IT AFTER THIS WEEK…Just thought you might want to know…LOL

There are 4 Components to Homework this week.
1. My Math Homework Worksheets: Chapter 10 Lessons 2-4
2. Math Timings
3. Reading 20-3o minutes/day
4. Spelling/Vocabulary Words

1. Math Homework:
Monday Lesson Lesson 2: Halves
Tuesday Lesson : Review Lessons 1 and 2 with your student
Wednesday Lesson 3: Problem Solving Strategy: Look for a Pattern
Thursday Lesson 4: Combine Three- Dimensional Shapes

1. Worksheets: PLEASE COMPLETE EVERY PROBLEM since there are only a few 2-4/ assignnment and the kids need the practice. Please check your child’s answers for accuracy.
2. Fluency Timings: This week, we will be REVIEWING Subtracting from Ten. I am WATCHING for MASTERY from now on. The target goal in first grade is to finish 22/25 (OR 18/20) problems correctly in 1 minute. PLEASE TIME YOUR STUDENT FOR 1 MINUTE ONLY EACH DAY. Your student NEEDS TO GET accustomed to only having only 1 minute to complete the timing !!!!
Have your student place their math timing on the sheet protector in their homework folder to practice on M-W, then on Thursday, have them use a pencil and to complete the timing. They should be able to complete the entire page in that on minute to be on target.
I will test for MASTERY each Friday. The following students achieved mastery (90%) on “Subtraction by 1, 2, or 3.” Kylie, Lia. Mastery for Make a Ten. Cham, Alli, Keiana,
If you DO NOT see your student’s name above, THEY DID NOT MEET THE STANDARD AND NEED MORE PRACTICE TO MEET 1ST GRADE END OF YEAR MASTERY GOALS OF 90%.

I Love to read!
3. Reading 20 minutes/5 days or a total of 100 minutes/week.

YOU CAN USE ANY TIME SPENT ON READING THE FLUENCY PASSAGE WITH YOUR STUDENT TOWARDS YOUR 100 WEEKLY MINUTES.

***Reading comprehension strategy: Help your child read a story and think of a title for it.
Then ask your child to RETELL the STORY IN THEIR OWN WORDS. The DETAILS need to be IN ORDER from the story.UNDERSTANDING what you are reading is just as important as how fast you read (FLUENCY)!!!

PLEASE use these Re-Tell Ropes whenever you are reading with your student checking for understanding. THIS HELPS STUDENTS PREPARE FOR OUR LANGUAGE ARTS WORK ON AND DIBELS TEST COMPREHENSION.

****Talk TO YOUR STUDENT ABOUT… any of words they don’t know OR were unsure of when they are reading. Look for words within words like before, stand. Look for words with vowel teams like sail, goat, seat and see. Look for consonant digraphs like th, sh, wh , and th. Look for vowel digraphs like oi, and oy. Look for CVCe words like, like and bike.

4. Spelling/Phonics and High Frequency Words: This week’s phonic sounds are: Three letter blends as in three, string and scrap.

NEW PHONICS FOCUS WORDS:
scrap
scrub
splash
split
strile
three

REVIEW WORDS:
write
know

VOCABULARY HF WORDS:

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Weekly Reminders

Posted on April 27, 2018 by darsie.vella

1- FRIDAY: Early Out 1:30pm
Homework due
$1.00 Dress Down Day (Student participation is optional. Students are welcome to wear a Quest Spirit shirt with uniform pants or traditional uniforms).

2– Mommy & Son Neon Night Dance Party Friday, April 27. Click here to order tickets: POQA Online Store

3- Stock up on great books for summer from Scholastic Books. I will submit the April order on Monday, April 30th. Click here for easy online ordering, our class code is JBTR2: Scholastic Book Club

4-School Lunch and the Aerospace Museum- Quest can provide a sack lunch for your student if you would prefer NOT to have to worry about about preparing one. I will be posting a link shortly with the sign-up and details. Just wanted you to have an early heads up.
Upcoming (mark your calendars):

May 18: Field trip to Hill Aerospace Museum
May 18: School Carnival and Food Truck Event
May 21: 1st Grade Program for school at 9am
May 22: 1st Grade Patriotic Program for parents at 5pm
May 24: Early Out
May 25: Last day of school (early out)

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Happy Birthday Kylie!

Posted on April 26, 2018 by darsie.vella

Happy Birthday Kylie!

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Homework for April 23rd-27th

Posted on April 24, 2018 by darsie.vella

***I apologize for the late posting I had it all ready expect for the scores for last weeks math timing which I planned to add yesterday, but was called to emergency grandma duty. I am now the proud grandma of a new baby boy. McKinley Jaxon Brown arrived yesterday evening. Everyone is doing fine.

Anyway….I will post them Thursday., so please note that if your student didn’t make 90% (Mastery) they need to continue to work on subtracting by 1,2, and 3 at home with the goal to reach mastery.

There are 5 Components to Homework this week.
1. My Math Homework Worksheets: Chapter 9 Lessons 9-10 and Chapter 10 Lesson 1
2. Math Timings
3. Reading 20-3o minutes/day
4. Timed Fluency Passages
5. Spelling/Vocabulary Words

1. Math Homework:
Monday Lesson Lesson 9: Halves
Tuesday Lesson 10: Quarters and Fourths
Wednesday Lesson : Review Lesson 9 and 10
Thursday Lesson 1: Cubes and Prisms

1. Worksheets: PLEASE COMPLETE EVERY PROBLEM since there are only a few 2-4/ assignnment and the kids need the practice. Please check your child’s answers for accuracy.
2. Fluency Timings: This week, we will be REVIEWING Make a Ten. I am WATCHING for MASTERY from now on. The target goal in first grade is to finish 22/25 (OR 18/20) problems correctly in 1 minute. PLEASE TIME YOUR STUDENT FOR 1 MINUTE ONLY EACH DAY. Your student NEEDS TO GET accustomed to only having only 1 minute to complete the timing !!!!
Have your student place their math timing on the sheet protector in their homework folder to practice on M-W, then on Thursday, have them use a pencil and to complete the timing. They should be able to complete the entire page in that on minute to be on target.
I will test for MASTERY each Friday. The following students achieved mastery (90%) on “Subtraction by 1, 2, or 3.”
If you DO NOT see your student’s name below, THEY DID NOT MEET THE STANDARD AND NEED MORE PRACTICE TO MEET 1ST GRADE END OF YEAR GOALS.

Please follow the steps below EXACTLY for greater success

Have your student go through and HIGHLIGHT EVERY WORD THEY KNOW.
****Talk about any of the other words they didn’t know OR were unsure of. Look for words within words like before, stand. Look for words with vowel teams like sail, goat, seat and see. Look for consonant digraphs like th, sh, wh , and th. Look for vowel digraphs like oi, and oy. Look for CVCe words like, like and bike, .
Read the entire passage with your student. They should be pointing to/ tracking each word as you are reading together. They should also be reading ALL the words that they HIGHLIGHTED.
Lastly, talk about all the fun, cool, interesting facts from the passage. There will be many!!!
You may count this time towards your reading minutes for the day as it is more lengthy AND if done the right fun for your student!
Time your student for 1 minute and see how far they get each day. Circle the last word they read each night.

5. Spelling/Phonics and High Frequency Words: This week’s phonic sounds are silent letters wr, kn, gn, as in write, knife, and gnat.

NEW PHONICS FOCUS WORDS:
gnat
gnu
know
knife
write
wrong

REVIEW WORDS:
dawn
cause

VOCABULARY HF WORDS:
their
been

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Important Field Trip Information

Posted on April 17, 2018 by darsie.vella

http://qacblogs.org/ronda.hills/files/2016/04/a10_hill_aerospace_museum_cropped.jpg

Parents,
Thanks so much for being willing to donate your valuable time and help chaperone our kiddos on our field trip Friday, May 18th. Chaperones need to plan on being at the school by 8:20 so I can give you a list of your students, their lunches and answer any last minute questions you may have. The more parent chaperones we have the smaller the groups will be. I have to have at least 2 parents per group for safety reasons.

Chaperones as mentioned above, you need to bring a bag to keep your assigned student’s lunches in. Your group is free to eat whenever they get hungry. STUDENT LUNCHES NEED TO BE 100% DISPOSABLE and NOT BE MICROWAVED as we will not have access to one. The picnic/eating area is outside so plan accordingly…It’s been both cold and warm in the past…LOL I’d plan for cold…hahahaha

I think I may be able to have 4 parent chaperones ride the bus, while the remainder meet up with us at the museum around 8:45-8:50. Bus spots will be on a first come first served basis. In the past they had all the first grade go into a room for a brief orientation . This might also be where we find out what time each group will meet up for the “air lol craft” if we aren’t assigned a time before then.

The following is a list of parents that have volunteered so far:
Rich Howard
Stephanie Adams
Nicole Westmoreland
Allister & Kristie Martinelli
Elenora Veloria

If I have missed anyone, I apologize I would LOVE to have any of you join us. If you sign up, and have a schedule change, PLEASE let me know ASAP so I have time make sure everyone is accounted for.

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