Week of November 12, 2012

Dear Parents:

What a  fabulous day Poetry in the Park was on Thursday! The weather was perfect! Such a beautiful day to be outside! I was so proud of the children. Even though we had a little glitch, they continued on and finished with a bang! True performers! The show must go on! If anyone has any pictures to share, please send them to me or post them on our shutterfly site! Here are a few from my camera.

On Wednesday, we will be going to the SPCA for a tour and to take our bins full of donated items for the animals. The children are so excited and so are the teachers! There are also farm animals so the children are allowed to bring carrots and apples to feed them if they like. We will eat lunch at the SPCA. Sage will provide a sack lunch for the children who returned the green form marked that they needed a lunch. Those bringing lunch from home need to bring a COMPLETELY DISPOSABLE lunch. No lunchboxes, please. We would love to have parents join us, but you will need to either meet us at the SPCA or follow the bus from school. We will leave school promptly at 10:45.

I am so thankful for my wonderful class this year AND you wonderful parents! That is my "thankful thought" for this season. Now, it is your child's turn to come up with a "thankful thought" to bring to our Thanksgiving celebration on Thursday afternoon. We will begin our celebration at 1:45 on Thursday. A letter went home last week asking your child to bring in a specific ingredient to add to our cornucopia snack mix. Please be sure to send it in by tomorrow. At the party, each child will tell us their thankful thought when they add their ingredient to our snack mix. You may have your child write the thought down if it will help in remembering what he/she wants to say. It is so sweet to hear what the children are thankful for. As always, everyone is welcome to join us for our Thanksgiving celebration. We will also be making a fun and useful Thanksgiving decoration so parent helpers are especially appreciated!

Now, for what is going on in our class this week:

Reading Workshop/Word Work: This week we are reviewing all of the short vowels and all of the word families that we have covered so far this year. Please continue to review these with your child at home.  We'll practice blends and the digraph sounds ch, th, sh, and wh. We will also do some work with compound words. We'll continue to practice reading fluency. When you read with your child at home, model appropriate voice inflection and fluency. Read a page and have your child echo back the way you read. Engage in conversation with your child about the books they are reading at home. Talk about the sequence or order of events in the story, the setting, and the characters. Ask your child about his/her favorite parts of the story and why. The children know that my favorite word is because. That is my favorite word because I love for them to tell me the "why" of things. Encourage "thinking" in response to  your child's reading to help deepen comprehension. This will help the children learn the power of talking and thinking in response to the stories they read.

Using iPads during word work is fun!

Writing Workshop: We will finish up our poetry unit and work on several birthday books for our classmates!

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-m!

Ben and Phoebe measure the length of the classroom using a non-standard unit of measure...
arm-spans.

Sydney and Natalie work together to measure the length of the classroom using arm-spans, too.

Please send in an empty paper towel tube and an empty, CLEAN Pringles can (large - not snack size). Please send them in this WEEK if possible. If you have any extras, we would appreciate them, too! We will begin using them in a special on-going math activity right after Thanksgiving break.

Kaja and Leni work together to record their findings while measuring many different things in and outside of  the classroom using various non-standard units of measure.

Science: We are working on our Human Body voice thread this week. I hope to have it posted for you soon! The human body "pocket books" containing the work of your children during our human body unit came home today. Please go through it with your child and celebrate all of their hard work and learning! We will begin a new unit on the solar system when we return from Thanksgiving break. I know the children will enjoy it, too!

Things to remember:

• Word card rings are due every Thursday! This is considered part of the homework responsibility for your child.
• Thanksgiving celebration will be at 1:45 Thursday. All are welcome to join us!
• Thanksgiving break next week - November 19 - 23.
• Holiday Gift Drive begins December 3 and ends December 14. Information regarding the family our class will be providing gifts for will come home soon. A container will be placed in our classroom by December 3rd to collect the gifts for the family. On Friday, December 14, the children will carry the gifts to the gym to be sorted. Then, they will be taken to the family so they may enjoy a happy holiday! 

Volunteers this week:

• Wednesday - Library Check-out - 2:10- David Nguyen and 
• Thursday - Math Game - 10:30 - Kim Gross
• Friday - Art - 9:15 - Lorraine Thorpe
• Friday - Parent Reader - 2:15 - Twila Davis

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

Week of November 5, 2012

Dear Parents:

The parade and fall festival on Wednesday were so much fun! What a beautiful day! Enjoy the pictures! I will post more soon on our class shutterfly site! 

Poetry in the Park is this Thursday beginning at 8:30. Please keep practicing our poem with your child, encouraging both facial and voice expression! Bring your chairs or blankets and get ready for a wonderful morning of both funny and lyrical poetry! It is truly one of the best days of the year at Shorecrest!

We also have the Book Fair this week in the Student Activity Center. This is the only fundraiser for the library. We will be browsing as a class at 9:00 on Tuesday morning. You are welcome to join us if you would like. If you would like to take your child shopping with you, please try to do so either before or after school, if possible. Otherwise, during recess would be best so that they don’t miss any class time. Recess is from 1:00 – 1:30. For your shopping convenience, the Book Fair’s hours for the week are as follows:

Monday 8 – 3:30

Tuesday 7:45 – 5:00

Wednesday and Thursday 7:45 – 3:30

First Grade Service-Learning Project:

Our service-learning project for the SPCA is in full swing. PLEASE help your child experience “giving” for such a wonderful cause. Below are some of the suggested items needed by the SPCA. The collection bins are in the hallways and need filling! We will take all the collections with us when we visit the SPCA on November 14^th.  Parents are welcome to join us, but will need to drive, as there is not enough room on the bus. Thank you so much to those who have donated so far! When we go on the field trip, we’ll also be visiting the farm animals at the SPCA. Last year, they LOVED the carrots and apples we brought for them and used good animal manners in taking them! :) Please go to the "Animals Wish List" at the following link to see what they need.

http://www.spcafl.org/

Donate a Dog or Cat Bed

Although we have another shortened week due to Poetry in the Park on Thursday morning and the Professional Development Day Friday, we are jam-packed with learning! This week our spelling and word work will focus on all the short vowels with words ending in ck, such as shock, track, chick, and wreck. The word cards that came home at the end of last week in the rubber band do not come back to school. The children are responsible for being able to apply the correct spelling of those words in their writing. I recommend that you get an index card file box and have your child file the words alphabetically in it. This will give them excellent practice in alphabetic order. The file will become a great resource to use for spelling when writing. New words will come home today on the word ring. PLEASE remember to practice reading AND spelling the words with your child. Please also help your child remember to return the ring every THURSDAY. This is part of the weekly homework responsibility. THANK YOU for your help!

During reading workshop, we are practicing voice inflection and working on gaining fluency while reading both poetry and our just right books.

During writing workshop, we continue writing poetry. The children are working on a poem in the style of Margaret Wise Brown’s The Important Book. We’ll also work on acrostic poems. Some of their work will be displayed in the breezeway and outside our classroom for Poetry in the Park. Be sure to check it out!

In math, we are using dominoes to practice addition facts. We will take our unit 3 assessment. Look for it to come home this week. Also, the Unit 4 family letter will be coming home. Please look for it in your child’s folder. It will explain the concepts that will be covered in that unit and give you suggestions for activities and games to play with your child with at home.

In science, we are finishing up our human body unit by working on a voice thread project. I will post the voice thread in next week’s blog for your enjoyment! The children have worked hard during this unit and learned much. Look for your child’s “My Body” pocket book to come home this week. Celebrate your child’s learning and hard work!

Kate & Matthew (see him down by the cubbies)  hold a string to show how long the small intestine would be if stretched out!

Other Important Dates: 

This Friday, November 9th, is a Professional Development Day for teachers. There will be no school for students. Faculty will be attending a diversity workshop with guest lecturer, Rosetta Lee.

I encourage you to attend a very special evening for parents on Thursday, November 8, at 6:30 pm in the Janet Root Theater. Rosetta Lee will be talking with parents about inclusivity and identity development. It will be a wonderful opportunity to learn and discuss issues that impact our students. More information is included at the end of this blog.

Field trip to the SPCA will be Wednesday, November 14. Parents are welcome to join us. You may follow the bus or meet us at the SPCA.

Also, please remember that our class will be celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 15 at 1:45. The other classes will celebrate on Friday, but because we have two birthdays to celebrate on Friday, I have moved our Thanksgiving celebration to Thursday. We do not have a “feast” but will be making and enjoying a cornucopia snack mix. A letter will be coming home this week to let you know the ingredient that your child needs to provide for our mix. All parents are welcome to join us on Thursday at 1:45!

The Holiday Gift Drive takes place December 3 – 14. Information regarding the family our class will be providing gifts for will come home soon. A container will be placed in our classroom by December 3^rd to collect the gifts for the family. On Friday, December 14, the students will carry the gifts to the gym to be sorted. Then, they will be taken to the family so they may enjoy a happy holiday!

Volunteers this week:

• Wednesday - Library Check-out – 2:10 – 2:50 – Kristen Danielson and Lorraine Thorpe

See you Thursday, if not before...

Susan