We Made the News!

Dear Parents:

Did you catch our class on Fox 13 news? Our class was filmed on Friday delivering our gifts to the gym. If you didn't catch the live feed, you can go to their website and watch the video. At the end of this blog, I have also posted a short video clip that I made with my new Flip camera - a gift to myself! Thank you again for your participation in the gift drive. You were all so very generous! You have truly made our adoptive family's Christmas a brighter one!

I was also finally able to get the Thanksgiving slideshow posted. Enjoy it at the end of the blog as well!

Reminders!

Our holiday party is this Friday! A flyer went home today in your child's folder reminding you that they come to school in their jammies for our Pajama Breakfast Pary! They will have PE that morning, so please make sure they have on or bring tennis shoes. As always, everyone is welcome! You can wear your jammies too! It is also Spirit Day on Friday. If your child wants to change out of his/her pajamas, they can bring a uniform or spirit clothes to change into. Dismissal is at noon on Friday.

There will be no reading folder this week, but PLEASE continue to READ, READ, READ over the holidays!

Please be sure to return the word ring on Thursday. We must have the rings returned to school before the holiday break.

Volunteers this week:

• Tuesday - Art - Cynthia Biondi (12:00)
• Thursday - Library Check-out - Julie Piper and Molly Camp (2:05)
• Friday - Parent Reader - Leigh Harting (During the Pajama Breakfast Party!)
  

What's Up this week in 1-4?

Reading/Language Arts: We are working on words with the r-controlled vowel, as in her, bird, and nurse. The comprehension focus is on Main Idea. The grammar focus is on using he, she, it, and they correctly in sentences. The word wall words this week are always, nice, by, please, Cow's, room, and join. The robust vocabulary words this week are captured, mercy, struggling, compatible, amiable, and relax.

Math: We are finishing Unit 4 this week. Please look for your child's Unit 4 Checking Progress to come home in the next few days. Please continue to review the skills at home. We will also begin Unit 5. During the month of January, we will focus on: Place Value: Tens and Ones; Greater than, Less than; More than, Less than number stories; Dice Sums; Turn-Around Facts (3+2=5 2+3=5); and What's My Rule?

Writer's Workshop: We continue to write personal narratives and have been working with our writing partners to help us with planning and adding more detail. Ask your child what "no excuse" words are!

Partners work together during Writer's Workshop

Science/SS: Our Solar System study continues this week! I am sure you read about it in Ebytes, but John S. from Mrs. Densa's class brought in his telescope last Tuesday to show the children sunspots! So cool! This week we are learning what it is like to be an astronaut. Ask your child how an astronaut sleeps and eats in space!


In addition, we celebrated Gabby's 7th birthday last Friday! This week we will celebrate Anna's on Thursday!

Can you believe this is our last week together in the 2010 school year? The time is flying by! I hope each of you has a fun, safe, and relaxing holiday with your families! It is a great time to read, play games, and just spend quality time together.

See you on January 4, 2011!
Susan

Important Reminder!

A reminder that an updated student information form needs to be submitted for every Shorecrest student. Forms can be downloaded from the Parents Info page from the Community Link on the Shorecrest website (http://www.shorecrest.org/?page=ParentsPage). Remember to fill out the form electronically, save the file using your child's first and last name, and send it via email to forms@shorecrest.org. A separate form needs to be completed for each child. If you are having trouble with the form, or would prefer to complete a hard copy, please contact Judy Roberge at jroberge@shorecrest.org or (727) 456-7513.

Brrrrrrr!!!!!!!

Mrs. Jordan helps us with Two-Fisted Penny Addition

Working on our solar system folders

Livvi's mom was a great parent reader on Friday!

Dear Parents,

Wow! Maybe it really is almost winter! It's cold outside! Please make sure that your child dresses appropriately for the colder weather. We were out at Town Meeting early this morning and it was quite chilly! Remember that we eat outdoors and have PE and recess, so the children need sweaters and jackets! I know that some of these items may have been bought at the uniform sale or traded with a friend. Please check the name inside to be sure that YOUR child's name is in the sweater/sweatshirt/jacket.

The children are getting so excited to see how our gift drive boxes are filling up! What a great way to make someone's holiday brighter and at the same time reinforce the life skill of generosity to our children.

The children are also getting excited about our upcoming holiday party! It will be on Friday, December 17th at 8:30 am. Your child may wear his/her pajamas to school that morning! If they want to change for PE, please send a uniform in their bag. All parents are welcome to join us and wear your PJ's as well!

Even with all of the excitement of the season, we are still working hard in our classroom. Here is a glimpse of what is going on this week:

Language Arts: The phonics focus this week is on the digraphs /kw/qu, and /hw/wh. We will also be practicing more with the inflections -ed and -ing. Our high frequency words (word card words) are about, books, family, name, people, read, work, and writing. In reading, our main genre focus will be on biographies (stories about the events in the life of a real person), but we will also be talking about realistic fiction (made-up stories that could happen in real life) and comparing the two genres. Our comprehension focus will be on sequencing the events in the stories we read. Knowing the order of the events can help us to better understand the information. Our robust vocabulary includes the words cozily, interrupted, triumphantly, accomplishment, ambition, and admire. In grammar we will be learning when to use the words I and me.

Writer's Workshop: We will be working on personal narratives this week to correlate with the biography genre study.

Math: We will be working on several strategies for addition and subtraction this week. Ask your child what "Fact Power" is!

Science: We are into our unit on the solar system and the children are loving it! If anyone has anything that you would like to share with us, please let me know!

Volunteers this week:

• Tuesday - Art - Mai Nguyen (12:05)
• Thursday - Library Check-out - Ailsa Hudson and Cynthia Biondi (2:05)
• Friday - Math Game - Mai Nguyen (9:00)
• Friday - Parent Reader - Molly Camp (2:15)

Have a great week and stay warm!
Susan

It's December!

Dear Parents,

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoyed the week together with your families. I began the Thanksgiving break visiting and taking care of our grandma in Neptune Beach (Jacksonville area). We are so thankful that we were able to spend her last few good days with her. She passed away on Thanksgiving night and we celebrated her life at her funeral service yesterday. She was an amazing woman who lived on this earth for 103 years and her mind was as sharp as a tack for all of those years!

The children have been in good hands the last 3 days while I have been with my family. I will return to school in the morning. I'm looking forward to seeing the children!

Here is what is going on in our classroom this week:

Language Arts: Our spelling focus is on the r-controlled vowel /ar/ as in "farm". We are also practicing adding the inflections -s, -ed, and -ing to words. Our focus skill in comprehension is on the author's purpose/point of view. We are also learning practicing writing the names of holidays and remembering that they begin with capital letters. Our wall words this week are again, feel, house, know, loud, Mrs., put, and say. Our robust vocabulary words include approached, energetic, pace, blunder, reassure, and excel.

Writer's Workshop: We are continuing with our poetry unit this week.

Math: We have begun to practice telling time to the quarter hour. We also are working on our math facts with domino math, number lines, and with the number grid. We also begin our number scrolls this week, so if you have not sent in the paper towel tube and clean, empty Pringles can, please do so no later than Friday. These will be used to make our number scrolls.

Science: We have begun our new unit on the Solar System this week.

Other important events:

The gift drive started this week! Last week you should have received a letter with details about the family our class is helping. Our life skill of the month is generosity. What a great way to reinforce this skill with your child by bringing in a gift for a family in need!

The Strategic Plan Symposium will take place on Saturday, December 4, from 8:30-3:00 in the Crisp Gym. Everyone is encouraged to attend.

The Lower Division Holiday Sing Along will take place on Friday, December 17, at 11:00 for grades K – 4 in the Janet Root Theatre.

Volunteers this week:

• Tuesday - Art - Kristen Danielson (12:05)
• Thursday - Library Check-out - Valerie Pillot and Kristen Danielson (2:05)
• Friday - Math Game - Kristen Danielson (9:00)
• Friday - Parent Reader - Leigh Harting (2:15)

Wow! This nice cool weather arrived December 1! How appropriate!
Enjoy it!
Susan

Thankful Thoughts

Dear Parents:

First of all, let me say thank you to all of you for helping your child practice our long, but fun poem for Poetry in the Park. They were OUTSTANDING! That is one of my favorite days of the year and the weather could not have been nicer! Thank you to those who shared pictures! I tried to put all of the pictures into a slideshow, but kept getting an error. If I am able to get it corrected, I will post the slideshow later this week. If anyone has a video of the children reciting our poem, please send it to me and I will post it for all to enjoy.

I am so thankful for not only your wonderful children but for the wonderful parents that you are! That is my thankful thought for this season. Now it is your child's turn to come up with a thankful thought. We will have our little Thanksgiving celebration at 1:15 on Friday. A letter went home home today asking your child to bring in a specific ingredient to add to our cornucopia snack mix. Please be sure to send it in no later than Wednesday. I would like for each child to tell us about something he/she is thankful for when adding the ingredient to our snack mix. You may have your child write the thought down to help him/her remember. It is always so special to hear the wonderful thankful thoughts of the children. As always, everyone is welcome to our Thanksgiving celebration... and we can always use the extra hands as we will also be making a fun and functional Thanksgiving decoration!

Many thanks to Dr. Brad Peckler! Last Wednesday, he visited with our class and taught us about infections and diseases that are transmitted from animals to humans and what to do to avoid them.

Mrs. Whitecage, Mrs. Vigue, and Ms. Conroy are leading a math workshop on Wednesday morning at 8:20 in the student center. Please join them and learn all the ins and outs of Everyday Math.

If you have not sent in a paper towel tube and/or Pringles can (empty and clean), please do so this week!

Now, for what's happening this week in our classroom:

Language Arts: Our phonics focus this week is on words with the digraph sound /ch/, spelled either ch or tch. This week's wall words are air, fly, friends, grew, need, play, rain, and watch. These words are always included in my lists on spellingcity.com. The comprehension focus this week is on sequencing the events in a story. When you read with your child, talk about the sequence (or order) of events in the story. We will also be practicing capitalizing the names of days and months, working with compound words, and begin talking about the inflection -es (adding es to the root word to show the plural, as in matches). The robust vocabulary words this week are astonishing, continue, doubt, transform, examine, and devour.

Writing Workshop: We are continuing with our poetry unit.

Math: We are working on nonstandard and standard units of measure. The children will be having fun measuring with different parts of their bodies, rulers, tape measures, and even candy corn! M-m-m sweet math!

Science/Social Studies: Our human body pocket books went home today. Take a look with your child! We are reviewing and learning a little about the first Thanksgiving and how pilgrim children were alike/different than we are today.

Things to Remember:

• Word card rings due on Thursday. Several of the children are forgetting to return these on time! Please help them be responsible students!
  
• There are NO READING FOLDERS this week, but please make sure that your child reads every day!
  
• Spirit Day will be this Friday, November 19.
• Our Thanksgiving celebration will be Friday at 1:15. All are welcome to join us!
  
• Thanksgiving break will be Monday, November 22 - 26.
• You should be receiving your child's report card by next week.
  

Volunteers this week:

• Tuesday -Art - Chris Chen- 12:00
• Thursday - Library Check-out - Julie Piper and Molly Camp - 2:05
• Friday - Math Game -Jennifer Lewis - 9:00
  
• Friday - Parent Reader - Kristen Danielson- 2:15

I hope you all have a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING with your loved ones!
Susan

Don't be "SICK" on Wednesday!

Dear Parents,

It was great to see some of you at Town Meeting this morning. The children did a great job performing the poem "Livin' in Skin". We continue to practice using our "big voices" when speaking or reading aloud. Luckily the microphone helped this morning! Enjoy the slide show of some pictures taken from Town Meeting.

Our poetry performance continues on Wednesday at Poetry in the Park. It begins at 8:30 in the courtyard. Our class is slated to be the sixth class to perform our poem. We will be in the first part of the day before snack. Bring your chairs or blankets and enjoy the morning!

We will be visiting the book fair tomorrow morning. The children will be able to browse and create a wish list to bring home. If you would like for your child to shop tomorrow, you may send cash placed in a zip-top bag with your child's name on it or a check made out to Shorecrest. If the amount is blank, please note on the memo line the maximum amount the check can be made out for. Please note that students will not be given more than $20 in change. If you would like to shop with your child, you may join us from 9:45 - 10:15 tomorrow at the book fair. Or you may take your child shopping during normal book fair hours.

Starting today, Jeff Diedrich will be your child’s primary teacher in physical education for the coming trimester. Each Monday, he will be posting a blog that recaps the learning that took place during the previous week. Feel free to follow along at http://shorecrestldpecoachd.blogspot.com

Although this is a short week of school due to the professional development day on Friday, it will be jam packed! Let's take a look.
Language Arts: Our spelling focus will be on words that begin and end with the digraph /sh/. This week we will be looking at myths - old stories that teach a lesson and have make-believe characters and events. We will also be talking more about the "setting" of stories - when and where the story takes place - i.e. on a farm in the morning. We are including the characters and setting in our story mapping. Please help remind your child that the special names of places begin with capital letters. This week's wall words are could, happy, cold, night, saw, came, made, and were. The robust vocabulary introduced through literature will be reward, handsomely, cruel, greedy, consequences, and regret.
Writing Workshop: We will be working on line breaks and hearing the "music" of poetry.

Math: The Math Message routine will be introduced and we will be reviewing thermometers and reading temperatures to the nearest two degrees. We will also begin practice measuring and comparing lengths. During the next two weeks, we will be using nonstandard units of measure as well as the standard foot to facilitate understanding of the need for standard units of measure.

Science: We will complete our Human Body unit this week focusing on our digestive system and keeping our bodies healthy around animals and plants. Dr. Peckler will be joining us on Wednesday for a special presentation!

Things to Remember:

• Word card rings due on Thursday. Several of the children are forgetting to return these on time!
• Reading Folders will come home on Wednesday and are to be completed and returned on Monday. Please have your child reread the book each day and work a little at a time on the comprehension activity.
  
• Book Fair this week!
• No school on Friday due to a Professional Development Day for teachers.
  
• Spirit Day will be Friday, November 19.
  
• Thanksgiving break will be Monday, November 22 - 26.

Volunteers this week:

• Tuesday -Art - Ailsa Hudson - 12:00
• Thursday - Library Check-out - Ailsa Hudson and Cynthia Biondi - 2:05

See you on Wednesday!

Susan

Friday was a blast! Enjoy some wonderful pictures from our parade! After the festival, I headed to Jacksonville to spend the weekend with all of my family, including little Owen. On Friday night, we celebrated our grandmother's 103rd birthday! What a treasure she is to us! Then on Saturday, "grandpa" and I gave up our tickets to the FL/GA game so that we could babysit our precious little Owen. He wore a lucky Gator outfit and helped us cheer them on to victory - as teeth clenching as it was! I got home in time for trick-or-treating last night and was able to see many of my Shorecrest friends in the neighborhood! Now it's back to school and the beginning of the busy month of November. Let's take a look at the week ahead...

Language Arts: This week's spelling focus is on the r-controlled vowel /or/ spelled or and ore. The wall words are animals, cold, fish, from, their, under, and very. The robust vocabulary introduced through literature include nuzzled, pranced, raging, adapt, intriguing, and inhabit. We will focus on the comprehension concepts of comparing (noticing how two or more things are alike) and contrasting (noticing how they are different). Our genre study will be nonfiction. We will be learning to make inferences when looking for facts, or true information, in what we read. When your child reads nonfiction at home, ask him/her to think about what they already know about those facts to help them understand new information.

Writing Workshop: In honor of our upcoming Poetry in the Park, we will practice seeing things with a poet's eyes. We'll work on using all of our senses, plus our hearts, minds, and imagination.

Math: In math this week, we will practice finding values of collections of pennies, nickels, and dimes and continue making exchanges. We will also explore domino-dot patterns and practice all of the basic addition facts through domino addition. We will complete unit 3 and have the assessment. Look for the Unit 4 Family Letter to come home the end of this week.

Science: Heading toward the end of our wonderful unit on the human body, we will look at our largest organ - our skin. We will also talk about ways to keep our body healthy.

Things to Remember:

• PLEASE help your child remember to bring the word card ring back to school on Thursday.
  
• The Book Fair is next week Monday through Thursday. There will be extended shopping days Wednesday afternoon after school and Thursday morning before school.
  
• Poetry in the Park begins at 8:30 on Wednesday, November 10. Bring your chairs or blankets and enjoy a delightful morning of poetry! (Keep practicing at home with your child!)
  
• There will be no school for students on Friday, November 12, due to a Professional Development Day for teachers.
  

Volunteers this week:

• Tuesday - Art - Mai Nguyen (12:05)
• Thursday - Library Check-out - Valerie Pillot and Kristen Danielson (2:05)
• Friday - Math Game - Ailsa Hudson (9:00)
• Friday - Parent Reader - Sarah or Nate Bernstein (2:15)
  

Another Busy Week in First Grade!

Last Friday, we made spirit posters and celebrated Homecoming with the entire school at a Pep Rally in the gym. Some of the Upper School students came to take us to the Pep Rally and sat with us. Genesis and Hannah are members of the "Little Sparks" and were even able to cheer with the cheerleaders! The gym was electrifying with spirit!

Language Arts: Due to the Fall Festival on Friday, we will be having this week's spelling and reading tests on Thursday! Try some new activities on SpellingCity.com this week to help your child prepare! Also, there will be no reading folders going home this week. Enjoy the Halloween festivities as a family, but keep reading! This week's spelling focus is on words with the dipthong /ng/ as in sing. Our wall words are: arms, every, feet, head, school, use, way, and your. The robust vocabulary words introduced through literature are ashamed, mused, soared, athletic, awkward, and superb. In reading, we will be introducing "plot" (the events that make up the main story of a text) and working on recognizing story structure.

Writing Workshop: Children often end their writing "and then I went home," or "I went to bed." We will work to write story endings that stay in the moment with the heart of the story. We will also begin work with our writing partners as "editors" to help us fix-up our writing to ready it for publishing.

Math: We will work with dimes, dollars-and-cents notation, and practice exchanging pennies, nickels, and dimes.

Science: This week we will be talking about ways to keep our bodies healthy. Don't be surprised if your child points out that YOU might be doing something that is unhealthy for your body!

Things to Remember:

• PLEASE help your child remember to bring the word card ring back to school on Thursday. Almost half the class forgot last week!
  
• Picture Retake Day is Thursday! Flyers are coming home in your child's folder today. (Personally, I thought the children's pictures came out WONDERFUL this year! I definitely have the cutest first graders!)
• Fall Festival is Friday! The parade begins at 8:30. Then we will come back to our classroom to celebrate Matthieu's birthday! If you wish to accompany your child to the festival, please be at the classroom no later than 10:00. Otherwise, they will be dismissed to the festival at 10:00.
• Poetry in the Park begins at 8:30 on Wednesday, November 10. Bring your chairs or blankets and enjoy a delightful morning of poetry! (Keep practicing at home with your child!)
  
• There will be no school for students on Friday, November 12, due to a Professional Development Day for teachers.
  

Volunteers this week:

• Tuesday - Art - Kristen Danielson (12:05)
• Thursday - Library Check-out - Julie Piper and Molly Camp (2:05)

Have a wonderful weekend and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Susan

Look Up, Look Down, Look All Around!

Science/Social Studies: Our human body unit continues. Today we learned about the human eye. Cow eyes are very similar to human eyes. Lisa Peck brought cow eyes to dissect with the children to help them see how the eye works. We learned about the different parts of the eye and their functions. One of the really interesting things we learned is that the job of the lens is to focus the light in our eye to project the image of what we see back to the optic nerve and then to our brain. Mrs. Peck removed the lenses from the cow eyes and we have them drying in our classroom. After a couple days we will be able to lay the lens on a book or newspaper and look right through the lens to see words magnified! How cool is that?


Language Arts: This week are are working on words with short vowel /u/ and reviewing words with the digraph /th/. This week's wall words are live, does, grow, many, be, and food. The robust vocabulary for this week include claimed, dine, groaned, function, nutritious, and classify. We will also introduce initial blends with r, as in truck or crack. We will continue to work on nouns, concentrating on nouns that name animals or things. This week's genre focus will be on nonfiction writing with rhyming text. As we read, we will look for details in the text and focus on adjusting our reading rate, being sure to slow down when we need to focus on important information.

Writing Workshop: We are working on storytelling with our partners and the roles each play, spelling our "no excuse" words in a snap, and revealing internal stories - our "feelings and thoughts" as opposed to the external story which describes the action.

Math: We are introducing a new routine called Frames and Arrows and will be working on counting up and back on a calculator.

Things to Remember:

• Word ring comes home on Monday and is returned on Thursday.
  
• Red reading folder comes home on Wednesday and is returned on Monday.
• Spirit Day will be this Friday, October 22. This week is Homecoming week at Shorecrest! We will be attending an all school pep rally on Friday afternoon.
• Picture Retake Day will be Thursday, October 28.
• Fall Festival will be Friday, October 29. The parade will be at 8:30 and then the children will be dismissed from the classroom at 10:00 a.m. to attend the festival.
• Poetry in the Park will be Wednesday, November 10. The children listened to three different poems and were able to vote for the one they wanted our class to do. The winning poem came home in today's folder. PLEASE practice it at home with your child as often as you can!
  

Volunteers this week:

• Tuesday - Art - Chris Chen (12:05)
• Thursday - Library Checkout - Ailsa Hudson and Liz Jack (2:05)
• Friday - Math Game - Margaret Young
• Friday - Parent Reader - Octavia or Tom Perfetto (1:00-1:30 due to Pep Rally)

Odds and Ends:

Last Tuesday, our first Picture Lady, Esther Happle, introduced the children to Max Ernst, a German surrealist painter. He had a fascination with a particular animal and often put it in his paintings. Ask your child if they remember what animal this was!

Thank you to our wonderful parent readers for modeling such wonderful expressiveness and the love of reading when you come to read to our class! It is definitely one of the favorite parts of our week!

Celebrating the RAYS tomorrow!

Dear Parents,

Okay, so my Gators continue to head south, but the RAYS brought me back to life yesterday! Let's cheer on our beloved home team by wearing Rays shirts tomorrow (with uniform bottoms)! We'll send all our good luck their way! GO RAYS!

Social Studies/Science: Not only have the Rays brought excitement, but Lisa Peck, our favorite Upper School science teacher brought more excitement to first grade today! We have been learning about the heart and circulatory system in our human body unit, so Mrs. Peck brought cow hearts to dissect with the children! They were able to see the valves and four chambers of the heart as they learned about their important functions. Our human body unit will continue for the month of October. We love science and we love Mrs. Peck!



Language Arts: This week we are working on words with the digraph /th/ at the beginning of a word, as in that, and at the end of a word, as in path. This week's wall words are: don't her, line, Mr., new, says, and water. This week's robust vocabulary words are applauded, chatty, gather, duty, envy, and resent. We are learning that a noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or animal. We read the book, "A Mink, a Fink, a Skating Rink" to help us learn to pick out nouns in sentences. This week we are concentrating on nouns that name people or places. As you work with your child at home this week, have him/her point out nouns to you. This week's genre focus is on realistic fiction, stories that are made up but could happen in real life. We are using a graphic organizer called a story map to help us understand and remember the beginning, middle, and ending of stories that we read. Look for a story map in your child's red reading folder this week!

I am sure you have heard that I am reading my favorite book aloud to the class - Charlotte's Web. The third graders are also reading it as a class novel so we are partnering with Mrs. Hensler's third graders for some fun activities during this time. On Friday, Mrs. Hensler's class came to visit and shared narrations they have been working on along with Wilbur paper bag puppets that both classes made. We love working with our third grade buddies!



Writing Workshop: We are learning that we always have a graphic organizer with us to help tell stories that have a beginning, middle, and ending - our five fingers! We are using our fingers to help us internalize and plan the details of our stories ("first", "next", "then", "and then", "finally"). Ask your child about this strategy! We will also be focusing on the most important part of our story and adding details to that part.

Math: In math, we are reviewing basic number-line concepts by counting, adding, and subtracting on the number line. We will also be practicing telling time to the half-hour, and will be introducing a new routine called Frames-and-Arrows.

Things to remember:

• Rays Day tomorrow! Children may wear a Tampa Bay Rays shirt with uniform bottom.
  
• Red reading folder comes home on Wednesday and is returned on Monday
• Word card ring comes home on Monday and is returned on Thursday
  
• Please complete the online parent opinion survey if you have not already done so.
• No school for students this Friday due to a Professional Development Day for teachers
• Spirit Day will be Friday, October 22
  
• Picture Retake Day will be Tuesday, October 28
  
• Fall Festival will be Friday, October 29.

Volunteers this week:

• Tuesday - Art - Ailsa Hudson (12:05)
• Thursday - Library Check-out - Valerie Pillot and Kristen Danielson

Go Rays!
Susan

Rays Day Tomorrow!

We are celebrating our hometown team tomorrow by wearing our Rays shirts! Children may wear a Tampa Bay Rays shirt to school with their uniform pants. GO RAYS!

Week of October 4th

Dear Families,

It’s starting to feel a little like fall! Let’s hope the cool, crisp air that we feel in the early morning decides to hang around! The season of fall brings many exciting events – not only football games, but also the Fall Festival and Halloween are right around the corner. The Leo Club of Shorecrest’s upper division is collecting gently used or new Halloween costumes for the YWCA for children that otherwise would not have them. Look through your closets and stashes and bring any that you would like to donate to this worthy cause.

We have a busy and exciting week ahead! Let’s take a look at it!

Language Arts: This week we are working on words with short vowel /e/, words with “l” blends such as clap, and reviewing short vowel /o/. This week’s wall words are: day, eat, first, said, time, and was. This week’s robust vocabulary words are chorus, odor, shoved, assemble, consume, and enthusiastic. We are also learning about word endings ed and ing. In the past couple of weeks, we have worked on constructing telling sentences and questions and using the correct punctuation for each. This week we will practice constructing exclamations. When reading, we will be working on the comprehension strategies of comparing and contrasting and answering questions to help us understand what we read. We have been learning about different genres of literature and this week’s focus is on the genre of fantasy. We will be reading several versions of “The Little Red Hen” and the children will enjoy retelling the story in a variety of ways, including creating their own version!

Don’t forget that our red reading folders will begin this week. They will be coming home on Wednesday.

Writing Workshop: We have begun our new unit of study - Small Moments: Personal Narrative Writing. The children are learning to take moments from their own lives and use details to stretch them across several pages to write stories.

Math: In Math, we will be working on patterns… number patterns, visual patterns, and even and odd number patterns. The children will practice creating and continuing repeating patterns.

Social Studies/Science: We continue working on map skills. In science, our human body unit continues. We will be learning about our magnificent brain. Today, UD teacher Lisa Peck, came to first grade to dissect sheep brains with us! So exciting! On Tuesday, Vinh’s parents will be coming in to help us learn about the human heart. We are so lucky to have so many resources to draw from! Thank you to all of our volunteering parents!

Things to remember:

• The red reading folder is coming home Wednesday and should be returned completed next Monday. This will be the routine each week.
  
• The word card ring needs to be returned on Thursday. Please be sure to practice reading AND spelling the words with your child. Have your child write sentences using the words!
• Please remember to complete the online parent opinion survey. Here is the link. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZBYF22R
• There will be no school for students on Friday, October 15, due to a Professional Development Day for teachers.
• Spirit Day will be Friday, October 22.
• Picture Retake Day will be Tuesday, October 28.
• Fall Festival will be Friday, October 29.

Volunteers this week:

• Tuesday – Art - Mai Nguyen (12:05)
• Thursday – Library Check-out - Julie Piper and Molly Camp (2:05)
• Friday – Math Game – Molly Camp (9:00)
• Friday – Parent Reader – Jennifer Lewis (2:15)

Happy Fall!

Susan

Parent Opinion Survey

Hello Parents!

I have so enjoyed meeting with each of you to discuss your child's progress. Our partnership is so important. I am really looking forward to the rest of the year!

The window is now open for our parent opinion survey. You may access the survey through the link posted below. Please help us identify areas of strength as well as opportunities for improvement by taking the survey. It should take approximately 20 minutes of your time. Also, if you live in a two-parent household, we encourage both parents to take the survey. Thank you so much for your participation in this very important reflective process!

Have a great weekend!
Susan

link:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZBYF22R

THIS WEEK IN FIRST GRADE...

Matthieu shares his story about the day he went skateboarding.

Writer’s Workshop: We are writers! Last week each child selected a piece from their Writing notebooks and worked to “fix it up” for publishing. This morning they shared their published stories as we enjoyed our first Writing Celebration!

Tomorrow we begin our new unit of study in Writing Workshop – Small Moments: Personal Narrative Writing. The children will learn that they can create stories out of the details of their own experiences. The opportunities that children have to take the moments of their lives and spin them into stories play an important role in their literacy development.

Language Arts: This week we are working on words with variant vowel /o/a - as in “all”. This week’s wall words are: how, make, of, some, town. This week’s robust vocabulary words are locate, search, symbol, overflowing, commotion, and muffle. We have also been learning about contractions and homophones. When reading, we will continue working on the comprehension strategies of classifying and categorizing. We will also work on adjusting our reading rate. It is important to understand what we read. Rereading more slowly may help your child to understand the information in a nonfiction selection. On October 7, Mrs. McKenzie and Mrs. Cameron will be presenting a workshop on helping your child select "Just Right Books". I encourage you to attend if you are able to!

Handwriting: During handwriting lessons, we will continue working on lowercase letters. I will share more about the handwriting program at our conference.

Math: In Math, we will be working on subtraction number models and making up and solving number stories. We will complete Unit 2 this week and take our second math assessment. The family letter for Unit 3 will be coming home on Friday. Please look for it in your child’s folder.

The children had a ball working on graphing skittles using Graph Club in the Computer Lab today!

Social Studies/Science: We will begin working on map skills this week, which will continue throughout the year. In science, our human body unit continues with a look at the muscles, nervous system, and brain. We will be having some exciting visits coming up during our human body unit!

THINGS TO REMEMBER:

There will be no school for students on Thursday due to Conference Day. Please see the conference reminder on your child’s homework calendar. I look forward to sharing your child's progress with you!

Please return the word ring on Friday this week!

Online Opinion Survey - Please remember to look for the online opinion survey on Friday, October 1. It is important that we have all parents participate in the survey to help guide and inform the goals we set for Shorecrest for the next five years. Your participation is crucial to the success of this reflective process. I will be posting the link for the survey on Friday.

There will be no school for students on Friday, October 15, due to a Professional Development Day for teachers.

VOLUNTEERS THIS WEEK:

Tuesday – Art – Kristen Danielson (12:05)
Friday – Math Game – Julie Piper (9:00)
Friday – Parent Reader – Michelle Clopet (2:20)

"Baby", the parrot kept us in stitches!

More pictures at the end of the blog!

This week at a glance:

Language Arts/Spelling: In spelling, we are focusing on words with short vowel /o/. We will continue reviewing the naming and telling parts of sentences and practice identifying nouns which are found in the naming parts of sentences. When reading and writing, we work on story structure by answering the questions “who, what, where, and when”. You can help your child recognize story structure by asking questions when they read or write such as “who is the story about”, “where are they”, “what is happening”. We will also be using graphic organizers to help us recognize the story structure and summarize the beginning, middle, and end of the story.

Don’t forget to use SpellingCity.com as extra fun practice with spelling this week!

I will be introducing robust vocabulary this week. The purpose of our robust vocabulary is to introduce the children to a stronger vocabulary for use when speaking, and ultimately writing. We will not focus on the spelling of these words, but rather the meaning to enrich their spoken vocabulary. This week’s robust vocabulary words are: horrible, invigorated, presented, aid, persistent, sweltering

Please don't forget that the word card ring should be worked on (reading and spelling) daily at home and returned to school on Thursday. This week's words: hold, soon, so, home, get

Handwriting: If your child has not brought in a small sock to use during handwriting lessons, please send one in this week.

Writer's Workshop: As writers, we like to write about what we love. We are learning that writers have choices such as writing stories, making lists, and writing letters. We have been doing all of these! This week we will be choosing a piece of writing to “fancy up” for publishing and sharing with our classmates!

Math: This week we will focus on counting combinations of pennies and nickels, and working with both addition and subtraction number models (sentences).

Science/Social Studies: Last week, Ramsey Taylor, a zoologist with the Miami Zoo visited and brought Baby the parrot and Stripes the boa constrictor. We learned so much about each of the animals and were thoroughly entertained as well by Baby! We also began learning about our skeleton last week during our study of the human body. Do you know what the biggest bone in our skeleton is? How about the strongest bone? On Friday, Dr. Burke brought a skeleton and an assortment of bones. As he talked with our first graders, he was amazed at what they already had learned in just one week and he taught us so many more things about our amazing skeletons!

Things to remember:

Please be sure to send in an apple with your child by Wednesday. We will be using them during a special apple project this week!

International Peace Day will be celebrated tomorrow beginning with a special Town Meeting gathering in the morning.

Spirit Day will be this Friday, September 24. The children may wear Charger spirit wear to school instead of uniforms.

Conference Day is September 30. There will be no school for students.

Homework should be done in pencil only. That way if there is a mistake made, it can be corrected easily. Ask your child what Mrs. Owen says about mistakes!

Please help your child learn responsibility for returning the word ring to school every Thursday. We are having difficulty getting them all back on time! Also, please be sure to have your child practice spelling the words as well as reading them.

Library books need to be returned by Thursday!

Dress Code: Please remind your child that the dress code at Shorecrest requires that their “shirts are tucked in” and that “belts in a neutral color must be worn with all items that have belt loops.”

Volunteers this Week:

* Tuesday - Art – Zheng Chris Chen (12:05)
* Thursday - Library Check-out – Ailsa Hudson and Liz Jack (2:05)
* Friday - Math Game – Leigh Harting (9:00)
* Friday - Parent Reader – Mindy Artze (2:20)

I wish everyone a peaceful week…
Susan

We were very brave with Stripes, the boa constrictor!

Center time is always a favorite in our class!

Sarah, Anna, Livvi, and Iona work on sequencing the beginning, middle, and end of the story, "Get Up Rick".