It has been our experience that daylight savings time can be a challenging transition for our young students. The time change can really affect a child’s attention span, appetite, and overall mood.
There are several things you can do now to help:
Gradually set bedtime a little earlier each night (15 min a night works well)
Gradually wake them up a little earlier each morning (15 min a morning also)
Dim lights and turn off electronics 30-60 minutes before bedtime
In the morning, give them light (turn on lights, open blinds, enjoy breakfast outside, go for a sunrise walk)
Stick with a bedtime routine (warm bath, read a book together, lights out)
Be patient (Understand that time change can change their overall mood; they can be grumpy, easily frustrated, and challenging)
Take care of yourself, get plenty of sleep. If you are tired, you will be sluggish, irritable, and cranky too.
Parent Teacher Conferences are Tues,, February 20 and Thurs., February 22 from 3:30- 8PM. Please use the following URL (copy and paste) to sign up. I would really love to meet with everyone!
Hi everyone! Parent/Teacher Conferences are coming up Feb. 20, 22, 23… I’m going to try a different website for sign-ups this time and will let you know as soon as I get it all set up.
Valentine’s Day is also getting close… we will have a party and exchange Valentines. Kids may bring their own bag or box… something simple is usually best. Please keep them at home until Valentine’s Day. Everyone is welcome to join us at the party. My room will be doing a craft and I will need help with that… please realize that you will be staying in the room for both sessions to help out with the craft, even when my class rotates to the snack/game room. I know the party will be about 1:30… but will have exact times soon.
This week, we will be practicing long /o/ spellings: ow, o, oa, oe. We will continue learning our phonograms and I am now pulling kids back for small group practice if their grades are low. If this doesn’t work, I will send home some work to do. We are learning the verb tenses of go/went and do/did and practicing capitalizing proper nouns. In centers, we are doing compound words, making sentences, and reading sight words. We are also working on writing narratives. Our guided reading text from last week, “Friend or Foe”, will be tested and the new one is “It’s Raining Cats and Frogs”. Please read through it EVERY NIGHT. I look for fluency and comprehension. We are almost done testing for midyear reading levels and the reading groups will change to reflect growth.
In Math, we are learning numbers up to 120 and practicing place value. This includes 10 more/10 less and greater than/less than. We will continue to test concepts each week or so. We are learning so much… growing so much… our class is awesome! Thanks for all your help.
Let me explain a little more about the guided reading texts that I have been sending home. I started with the books but they were running through my paper and printing allowance… so I switched to the 1 page texts. So far we have had one on giraffes, another on cheetahs, and currently a text on polar bears. Students are to read these EVERY NIGHT as part of their 20 minutes of reading. Then they are to put them back in their homework pockets so they have them for reading group. At reading group, they read them to me to show fluency, take a quiz on comprehension, and then start our new passage. If they don’t bring their text to group, then they lose 2 points for being unprepared. They have been warned about this for weeks, but apparently have not communicated this well to you. Thus the explanation… I hope it helps! BTW, here is what I’ve told the kids to complete their work in the 20 min. of reading:
Day 1- 1 min. to time fluency (in the homework packet) … about 10 more to read the rest of the passage. The other 10 to practice the guided reading text.
Day 2-4- 1 min. to time fluency… 5-10 to answer a question or 2. The rest of the time on the guided reading passage.
Weekend- Read guided reading text at least once. Have mom or dad ask you questions about the text.
The 2nd session of our first grade Mad Scientist/Art Club is about to begin!
Club will meet from 3:00-3:45 on the following Tuesdays: February 6th, February 13th, February 27th, March 6th, and March 13th. Pick up near the front doors of Q1 is at 3:45 sharp! The fee for this club will be $5.
Admission into the club is limited to 20 students and will be on a first come, first serve basis. The first 20 contracts turned in to the Q1 office starting January 26th (The office will not accept applications before January 26th) will be accepted. We will inform those who have been selected and you will have until January 31st to turn in your fee or forfeit your space. (Students will only be allowed to participate in 1 club and rules stated in the contract must be followed for continuation of club involvement).
To print the Club Application/Contract, click on the link below:
We will be studying spellings of long /a/ and reviewing ABC order, common and proper nouns, and complete sentences. In writing, we are working on narratives. In reading groups, we are reading about the cheetah. Students must bring their papers back each day so they have it when it is their turn with me. It’s hard to work with them if they don’t have their supplies.
In math, we are learning about place value and reviewing money. Please let your child explore and count your change so they become familiar with the different coins and what each is worth. Thanks!
Don’t forget that we will be exploring fractions with our pizza on Tuesday. We will NOT HAVE IT FOR LUNCH… but eat it later as a snack. I will also offer a Capri Sun if they want one. Please let me know if this will be a problem.
We have the amazing opportunity for our 1st grade S.T.E.M. business partner Sheri Allen ACS CCP with Artisanal Touch Events to present a Farm to Table Cheese Making presentation for our 1st grade. She will be presenting to our 1st grade on January 17th. There will be a chance to taste some of the cheese. Everyone has signed the Yearly Permission slip, but I want to inform you in case you did not want your child to have any. Please let me know!
We will also be having our Pizza Party on Tues, Jan. 23… which we are also using for a little math lesson on fractions. Again, please let me know if you have any concerns about your child eating pizza. (They will not need a lunch that day.)
We are hoping to get some help with an issue we are having at the school regarding missing name badges. As stated in our Handbook, “Everyone is required to wear their name badge to attend class (the name badge must be that of the current school year). Please reinforce having name badges as they create a safer environment at the school. To replace a lost name badge, your child will need to pay $5.00 for a new one. A student without a name badge will be referred to the office to call home. Parents/Guardians will be expected to bring their child’s name badge or pay $5.00 for a replacement. Only then will students be allowed to return to class.” Elementary students are to leave their name badges in their classrooms at the end of the day. Jr. High students are encouraged to leave their name badges in their lockers before leaving. To ensure your child receives a full day’s worth of learning in the classroom, please make sure their name badge is left at school and returned the following day if accidentally taken home. Please note, that you have this week as a grace period to either find your child’s lost name badge or replace it for $5.00. Starting Tuesday, January 16 (one week from today), students who do not have name badges will not be attending class until a new one is purchased or their old one is returned. If parents are working when their children call, they are more than welcome to either pay for a badge using a credit card over the phone or to pay online.
CWD Mazzie, a war dog who was abandoned in Kuwait after his service, visited our first grade classes last Friday. 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 we will be collecting coins to donate to Mission K-9 Rescue. The Coins for K9 Rescue jar will be placed in the front Q1 office for donations from now until we present our funds to the Crismer’s at our Patriotic Program. We encourage our students to earn their money by doing small jobs for friends and family… and learning the value of work.
Here is a great article on Mission K9 Rescue that features CWD Mazzie. CWD Mazzie K9 Hero
Student of the Week- none Birthdays- Colton’s 1/2 is being celebrated on Mon. Harley’s 1/2 is being celebrated on Fri. 1/12
Language Arts- We will be reviewing long /o/, /u/, /e/ in spelling. We will learn the phonograms /oa/ and /oe/. In grammar, we will learn how to use is and are properly and continue to look at commas in a series. We will be practicing our writing to have complete sentences every time.
Math- This is a review and assessment week, getting ready for the second quarter to end.
