Scholastic has held its student vote in every presidential election year since 1940. Scholastic readers have picked the eventual winner of the real presidential election all but twice—and they haven’t been wrong since 1960! Let your students take part in this election by clicking here to cast their vote: VOTE HERE

For lesson 8 in math we used a Hundred Charts to help students figure out what ten more and ten less is. If your child is struggling with the “Ten More, Ten Less” concept, you may have your child look at this chart for help. 

You can also have your child draw how many groups of ten there are and how many ones. Then, for 10 more, add a group of ten.  Erase the extra one, and then cross out a group of ten for “ten less.” 

Here is an example of this: 

Hello, Fabulous Parents!

This week we tried to add new math timings to each student’s blue Communication Folder, but we discovered that many students did not have their blue folders in their backpacks, which is where I have told them to always keep them so that we can pack important papers and assignments to go between school and home. 

I realize that students will need to take their blue folders out of backpacks to do homework, but if you could please remind your child to re-pack the blue folder into his/her backpack each night, that would be helpful!  Thanks so much for your help with this!

Visit http://www.scholastic.com/ and enter the code NL9MM to order books using the ordering system for our class!  This is a great resource to keep your home library stocked with great books for your budding reader!

I was so impressed by the caliber of homework that was turned in this past week!  Parents, thank you so much for your efforts in helping your children complete their homework.  It has such an impact on your child’s learning.  Here are some Frequently Asked Questions that I received last week that may be helpful to you:




Question #1. Should ALL homework papers be stapled together?

Answer: Yes, PLEASE!  Please try to imagine 26 six-year-olds cramming their homework papers into the tray and you can easily see why it would be beneficial for your child to have his/her homework all stapled neatly together.  Paper clips are not as helpful because papers still tend to slide in and out of the paper clip. Feel free to purchase a small, inexpensive stapler for home – I know that even Dollar Tree sells staplers.

Question #2: Should I have my child turn in a Homework Form during the weeks that there is only reading homework?

Answer: No, that is not necessary.  During “Reading Homework Only” weeks, simply sign the reading slip in your child’s Book Buddy bag each day.  Your signature each day is sufficient.

Question #3: Why do you post the My Math Homework pages to the blog when copies of the pages are being sent home with my child for each unit?

Answer: Every time we begin a new unit, I will have your child bring home the copies of their My Math Homework pages that are needed for that unit’s math homework.  However, sometimes accidents happen!  I post the pages on the blog in case your child is absent the day the pages are sent home,  or in case your child loses the pages, etc.  That way, you can print the pages at home, if necessary.

Question #4: What should the goal be for math fluency timings, and why is math fluency important?

Answer: By the end of first grade, the target goal is to finish all 25 problems in 1 minute and 15 seconds, with 90% accuracy (23 out of 25 problems correct).  Math fact fluency, or the ability for students to recall basic math facts quickly, accurately, and effortlessly, is an essential component of students’ math knowledge. It would take you ages to write a paper if you had to look up the spelling of each individual word: In the same way, lack of fact fluency can slow down students’ processing of more complex math problems and situations. Research shows the importance of fact fluency as a foundation for more difficult math, and even as a predictor of future math success. For these reasons, fact fluency is one important component of our math curriculum in first grade.

Wear RED uniform shirts with uniform bottoms. PLEASE dress warmly and wear comfortable shoes! Tomorrow it will likely rain, but we are still planning on going, so bring jackets, hats, and umbrellas. Your child does NOT need a backpack tomorrow.

Parents who are coming: please bring a backpack to put students’ lunches in. 

Students need to PACK A COLD LUNCH, labeled with the child’s name, in a disposable bag. No microwaves will be available. No “school lunch” will be served. Please put lunches in a plastic or paper sack that can be thrown away. Please remember plastic silverware so parents aren’t hanging onto spoons and forks in their backpacks.  Thank you!

Be to school ON TIME so we can leave promptly when the buses arrive. 

See the post below for more information.  To be eligible for the First Grade Science/Art Club, the contract below must be filled out and returned to the Q1 office by September 30th.  The first 20 entries will be accepted into the club.

CLICK HERE for a printable PDF version of the CLUB CONTRACT

We will be starting the first session (of two sessions) of our first-grade club in October.  This will be an after-school science and art club.  The club contract will be posted on the blog on Tuesday, September 20th.

Club contracts will need to be turned in to the Q1 office as soon as possible.  The last day contracts will be accepted is September 30th. Admission into the club is limited and will be on a first-come-first-serve basis.  

The first 20 contracts turned in will be accepted.  We will contact you if your child has been accepted.  If your child is accepted, there will be a $5 fee, along with rules that must be followed for continuation of club involvement.

Club will be every Thursday from 3:00-3:55.  Pick up is at 4:00 sharp!  Students will participate in a variety of science experiments and art activities.

There will be another session of first-grade club after Winter Break, sometime in January or February, so if you miss this session, there will be one more opportunity.

We are excited to begin Parent-Teacher Conferences this year on Thursday, September 29th.  Below is the schedule for conferences.  Please notice that the schedule only allows for 10 minutes per conference, including transition time.  Please bear this in mind while we are meeting, and I appreciate any help you can give in keeping conferences short and concise so that we can stay on schedule.  Thank you so much!

Thursday, Sept. 29th
3:30     April Duckworth
3:40     Stacey McDonald
3:50     Kristin Peterson
4:00     Nicole Weighall
4:10     Elizabeth Wood
4:20     Angie Clark
4:30     Heidi Cook
4:40     Shannon Taylor
4:50     Leslie Nelson
5:00     Aimee Fleming
5:10     Aimee Fleming
5:20     Lisa Stallard
5:30     Terina Wayman

Thank you in advance to all the wonderful parents who have signed up to volunteer in our classroom! Volunteering is SO impactful in our classroom, and I appreciate those willing to give their time to help us be more successful.

Up to this point, we haven’t had a need yet for volunteers in our classroom because it has been important for students to first have a solid grasp of systems and procedures.  We are just now starting to get to that point, and I think we will be ready to have parents start volunteering beginning next week.

Below is the list of parents who signed up at Back to School Night to help in our classroom:

Monday:
9:00-10:30         April Duckworth
2:30-3:00           Elizabeth Wood

Tuesday:
9:00-10:30         Aimee Fleming
9:00-10:30         Kati Hammond

Wednesday:
9:00-10:30         Kristin Peterson
2:30-3:00           Leslie Burton

Thursday:
9:00-10:30        Heidi Cook

Please be sure to first check in at the office when you come to volunteer. I usually ask parent volunteers to do one-on-one reading with students, which I feel has, by far, the greatest impact on academics and success in our classroom!!

If you didn’t have a chance to volunteer at Back to School Night to help in our classroom, you may do so at any time.  Feel free to e-mail me to schedule volunteering times or please feel free to drop in to our classroom to volunteer any time! I really mean it! 🙂 We particularly need help with reading pull-outs (one-on-one reading with students), and this can be done at any point during the day when we are not out of the classroom or when we’re not doing math or Waterford.  Please check our “Daily Schedule” on the blog (click on the “Daily Schedule” tab at the top of the blog) to find ideal times for volunteering and feel free to drop in!  In general, the very best times for volunteering are daily from 9:30-10:30 (during our “Literacy Centers” activities) and daily from 2:30-3:00 (during our “Reading Groups” activities). 

Thanks again!