Week of November 28, 2011

Dear Parents,

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoyed the week together with your loved ones. I had a wonderful long weekend with my children and grandson but was so sad when they left Sunday. I miss them so much! The house is too quiet now. My words of advice to you... enjoy these days while your children are young and living with you. Treasure every moment!





















We finished reading our class novel, Charlotte's Web, the week before Thanksgiving break. That Thursday, we got together with our third grade buddies in Mrs. Hensler's class for another activity. This time the partnerships each chose a setting from the story and completed a diarama to show that setting complete with characters and scenery. They worked so well together in their cooperative partnerships! Their diaramas are amazing and will come home before the winter break.

In language arts, our spelling focus this week is on the r-controlled vowel /ar/ as in "farm". We are also practicing adding the inflections -s, -ed, and -ing to words. We will also practice 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.

During Reading Workshop, we will talk about ways that smart readers help themselves understand what they read... such as stopping and rereading slowly, studying the pictures, and asking themselves "What's going on in the story? and What is the author's purpose?" We will also use sticky notes to mark places that make us "think" in our books.

Last week we had our second writing celebration in which the children shared their stories. They gave each other such wonderful compliments as writers! In our new and third unit of Writing Workshop, we are talking about the importance of conventions to make our writing more readable. Today we made a list of what makes writing "easy to read" and we reread all of the stories we have in our notebooks and sorted them into "easy to read writing" and "not so easy to read writing". During this unit we will put a spotlight on things such as the proper case of letters, using correct spacing, appropriate punctuation, neatness, and spelling both high frequency and unknown words. We continue to write about the "small moments" in our lives. Encourage your child to tell you the stories of his or her day no matter where those moments occur... at home, at school, at soccer. Tell him or her, "You should write about that!"

In math, we will work more with measurement, including the ruler, tape measure, and measuring temperature. We will also begin practicing telling time to the quarter hour. We will begin making our number scrolls, so please send in the empty and CLEAN Pringles can this week if you have not done so.

In science, we began our new unit on the Solar System today! This week we will be talking about what makes day and night, why we have seasons, and learning about largest star in our solar system, the sun. We will need a few items for special projects during this unit. Please send in a 4 inch styrofoam ball, an empty toilet tissue tube, and any scraps of sandpaper that you may have. We don't need much sandpaper so please don't worry about buying any. We need to have these in by next Monday. Thank you! I am sure that this will prove to be another exciting unit for the children!

Other Important Events:

The gift drive began this week and ends December 9. You should have received information regarding details of the family our class is helping. There are two bins in our hallway to collect the gifts. What a great way to help our children learn the "gift of giving"!

The first grade Pajama Party will take place on Friday, December 16th. We will begin with a breakfast buffet! All parents are welcome to join us - in your jammies, too! This will no doubt be a favorite day of the year!

The Lower Division Holiday Sing Along will also take place that day at 11:00. Dismissal will be at noon.

Volunteers This Week:

• Tuesday - Art - 12:00 - Debbie Boensch
• Wednesday - Math Game - 1:00 - Susannah Malison
• Thursday - Library Checkout - 12:00 - Kimberly Burke and Ana Brinkley
• Friday - Parent Reader - 2:15 - Jill Emerson

I will not be at school on Thursday as I will be at a workshop in Tampa with Dr. Bianco and Joyce Graham. However, I have a full day planned for the children!

Enjoy the cool weather this week!
Susan

It is Spirit Day along with Poetry in the Park tomorrow! Your child may wear spirit clothes along with their live "sick" illustration! It will be cold sitting outside in the morning, so please dress appropriately! See you in the morning!

Week of November 7, 2011

Dear Parents:

Poetry in the Park is this Friday! If your child wakes up saying "I cannot go to school today"... PERFECT! Please keep practicing! 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 8:45 on Tuesday morning. You are welcome to join us if you would like. Other hours for shopping (with or without your child) are from 8:00 - 4:00 Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday or from 8:00 - 5:30 on Wednesday.

Our service learning project and field trip to the SPCA was a huge success! Thank you so much to all of you who donated so many needed items for the animals at the SPCA. They were so appreciated! It was a wonderful experience for your child in "giving". Thank you also for the many carrots and apples brought on the field trip. The animals LOVED having so many treats and used good animal manners in taking them! :)

Although we have another shortened week due to the Professional Development Day Monday and Poetry in the Park on Friday morning, we are jam-packed with learning! This week our spelling and word work will focus on words that begin and end with the digraph /sh/ and words with initial blends of l, s, and r.In Spelling City, look for Week 12 for this week's spelling list. Our grammar focus will be on capitalizing the names of special people and places. During reading workshop, we have spent much time over the last month learning and practicing strategies for figuring out tricky words, noticing patterns in books, thinking about whether the words we are reading make sense, reading with a storyteller voice, and echo reading with our partners to help us read more fluently. This week we will spend time thinking about the meaning of the books we are reading and talking with our partners about the meaning. The goal is to remind the children that careful reading is not only about figuring out the words, but more about making sure we understand the story. If you are able to, please come to our classroom after Poetry in the Park ends on Friday and enjoy a few private moments with your child reading a book or two to you! Celebrate all that your child has accomplished in reading! This week we will also be talking more about the "setting" of stories - when and where the story takes place - and we will begin including the characters and setting in our story mapping. 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.

During writing workshop, the children have been working with their editing partners and this week will be working on fixing up their chosen pieces for publishing!

In math, we will take our unit 3 assessment, work on addition facts through domino addition, introduce the math message routine, and review thermometers and reading temperatures to the nearest two degrees.

I have posted some pictures from the Homecoming Pep Rally last Friday, a few from the SPCA field trip, and some from working in the classroom last week. I am creating a Flickr account and hope to have that up on my blog next week so that you will be able to see and access lots of pictures as I have too many to post here. Thank you to Susannah Malison, Kimberly Burke, and Jill Lemon for taking and sending me pictures!

Other Things to Remember:

• PLEASE help your child practice the words on the ring that comes home each Monday. Please practice READING and SPELLING the words EVERY day! Then please help your child remember to return the ring every THURSDAY. Last week only half the class remembered to return the word ring on time. This is part of the weekly homework responsibility. THANK YOU for your help!
  
• Holiday Gift Drive takes place November 28 - December 9. More information will be coming soon!
  

Volunteers this week:

• Tuesday - Art - 12:05 - Mary Harris
  
• Wednesday - Math game - 1:00 - Kelli Cross
  
• Thursday - Library Check-out - 12:00 - Kimberly Burke
  
• Friday - Parent Reader - 2:15 - Eva D'Agostino
  

See you Friday if not before...
Susan

Week of October 31, 2011

Don't rain on our parade! Yay! The rain stopped on Friday in time for our parade and the sun actually peeked out as much as it could on our Fall Festival. The kids were adorable, spooky, scary, and a little bit kooky! Everyone had a great time! Enjoy the pictures! Luckily, I think today's rain is ending in time for everyone to enjoy trick-or-treating tonight! I know the children are very excited! I LOVE seeing all the trick-or-treaters in their costumes. It's one of my favorite nights of the year!

With all of this excitement, we will still be working hard in room 1-4. Here's a look at what we will be doing at school this week.

Reading/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. I hope you have noticed the website links on the right hand side of this blog. Spelling City is a great site for spelling practice. I have the various week's spelling lists on the site. Look for week 11 for this week's words. There are some great games and activities to help your child practice the spelling words each week. The robust vocabulary introduced through literature this week includes nuzzled, pranced, raging, adapt, intriguing, and inhabit. Our genre focus will be on nonfiction. We will work on the comprehension concepts of comparing and contrasting and 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. During workshop time, the children are practicing noticing patterns and pattern changes and realizing that once they can read the pattern in a book, they can focus more on the tricky words. They also are asking themselves does that look right? sound right? make sense?

Writing Workshop: We will continue to work on close-in endings, and begin revising and editing with partners.

Math: This week we'll be exploring domino-dot patterns and practicing all of the basic addition facts through domino addition. We will complete unit 3 this week. We will either take the assessment on Friday or next Monday, depending how the week goes.

Science: We will finish up our study of the human body this week. Their "pocket" books should be coming home the end of the week. Please celebrate with your child all that we have learned and all of the hard work! It's been a fun unit!

Things to remember:

• PLEASE practice the word card words daily with your child and help your child remember to bring it back to school on Thursdays.
  
• Field Trip to the SPCA is Thursday! We will leave school about 10:45 and and return about 1:30. If you have any last minute donations for our bin, please send them in by tomorrow! Parents are welcome to join us!
• Homecoming Pep Rally in the athletic center on Friday afternoon.
  
• There is no school for students next Monday, November 7, due to a Professional Development Day for teachers.
  
• The Book Fair is next week. We will be browsing at 8:45 Tuesday morning and your child may be bringing home a list of books he/she is interested in! You may come shop with your child before or after school or during recess next week.
• Poetry in the Park is next Friday, November 11. It begins at 8:30. Bring your chairs or blankets and enjoy a delightful morning of poetry! Come prepared to laugh, smile, and say awww! Please keep practicing our poem with your child!
• Holiday Gift Drive begins November 28 and runs through December 9.
  

Volunteers this week:

• Tuesday - Art - 12:00 - Kimberly Burke
• Wednesday - Math Game - 1:00 - Natalie Ames
• Thursday - Library Check-out - 8:05 - Kimberly Burke and Susannah Malison
  
• Friday - PARENT READER CANCELLED DUE TO PEP RALLY

Oh, since a few of you have asked... I also posted a couple pictures of Owen walking down the aisle at my son's wedding. As you can see, keeping his tux on straight was a challenge, but he was still adorable! Thank you for indulging me!

Have a great week!
Susan

Week of October 24, 2011

Dear Parents:

I got so many hugs this morning from the children and they felt so good! The wedding was absolutely beautiful, emotional, and so much fun! It was a wonderful weekend with family and friends and I got to be with my little Owen. I was more than a little worried about him being the ring bearer at 18 months old, but he did a fantastic job! He walked down the aisle all by himself perfectly, twirling the pillow, and with a huge smile on his face. When he got to the altar, he climbed the steps and, going down the line, "gave five" to all the groomsmen and bridesmaids. That was his own special touch! So cute! It was a perfect weekend and I could not be happier!

A special thank you to Mrs. Densa for taking the pictures at the Athletic Center grand opening for me! I'm sorry I had to miss it. I heard it was amazing! I can't wait to go see it.

Now it's back to business in room 1-4. Here's what we will be doing this week:

Reading/Language Arts: Due to the Fall Festival on Friday, we will be having this week's spelling test on Thursday. This week we are focusing 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 introduced through literature are ashamed, mused, soared, athletic, awkward, and superb. In reading, we are talking about the "plot" (the events that make up the main story of a text) and working on recognizing story structure. During workshop time we are practicing using chunks and analogies (word families) to help read new or tricky words. While we have learned many strategies for figuring out those tricky words, we want to learn how to use the most efficient strategy.

Writing Workshop: Today we began to talk about the way writers can write not only the outside story (what happens) but also the inside story (how we feel about what happens - our thoughts, reactions, observations, feelings). This week we will also work on writing story endings. Children often end their writing "and then I went home" or "I went to bed." So, we will talk about, share, and practice writing more effective story endings that stay closer to the heart of the story.

Math: This week we are practicing counting with a calculator, working with dimes, dollars-and-cents notation, and counting and exchanging dimes, nickels, and pennies.

Science: This week we are learning about the lungs and respiratory system, the digestive system, and our muscles. We will finish up this fantastic study of the human body next week. Thank you to all the parents that have come in and helped us learn so much more about our marvelous bodies!

Things to remember:

• The Halloween Parade and Fall Festival take place this Friday! The parade begins at 8:30. Please send your child to school in his or her costume. They will change after the parade into play clothes. If you are accompanying 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.
  
• Our field trip the SPCA is on November 3. Please keep sending in your donations for the animals! The bins need filling! Blankets, towels, treats, food, chew toys are just a few of the items you might consider sending in.
  
• The Book Fair will take place the week of November 8 in the Janet Root Theater Lobby and the Student Center. Our class will be browsing on Tuesday morning. Details will be coming soon about when you can take your child shopping.
• Poetry in the Park will be on Friday, November 11 at 8:30 a.m. Our class voted to recite the poem, "Sick" by Shel Silverstein. The poem was sent home last week. Please keep working with your child on memorizing this poem at home.
• New York is coming to Shorecrest! "Seussical the Musical" will be performed in the Janet Root Theater on Saturday, November 12. Don't miss this opportunity to see this! Tickets are being sold now for $10 each.
  
• The Holiday Gift Drive will take place November 28 through December 9.

Volunteers this week:

• Tuesday - Art - (12:05) - Eva D'Agostino
• Wednesday - Math Game (1:00) - Kimberly Burke
• Thursday - Library Checkout (12:00) - Kimberly Burke and Mai Nguyen
• Friday - NO PARENT READER DUE TO FALL FESTIVAL

Have a great week!
Susan

Week of October 17, 2011

Dear Parents:

This morning Sharon Hauser from the SPCA brought her dog Rusty to Town Meeting to help us remind everyone about the first grade service learning project to help the SPCA. Then she gave a special presentation to the first graders and introduced them to Rusty. She adopted Rusty from the SPCA about 9 years ago. She read a very sweet book called, Before You Were Mine, that brought tears to my eyes. The children were able to pet Rusty and watch him follow her commands of sit, shake, and lie down! Please continue to send in any of the items on the SPCA wishlist. We will be collecting through the month of October. Then, on Thursday, November 3, we will take a field trip to the SPCA and take the items with us. Don't forget that you are welcome to join us! We will be eating lunch there. If your child is bringing a lunch from home, it must be completely disposable. School lunches will also be completely disposable.

http://www.spcatampabay.org/page.aspx?pid-396

As you have probably heard from your child, Lucas is moving to Kentucky. We are going to miss him so much but are excited for his new adventure living where his grandparents are! On Thursday, we gave him a little send-off by reading a book we made for him and having popsicles and cake (thank you Natalie Ames)!

Exciting News! This Friday, our class will join the rest of the school at the grand opening of the new athletic center! All parents are welcome! It begins at 1:45.

Finally, I want to let you know that I will not be at school on Thursday or Friday of this week as I will be going to Jacksonville for my son's wedding on Saturday! The children will be in the very capable hands of Patty Mercer as our substitute. I will be back at school next Monday.

Now a look at what is happening in our class this week:

Reading and Language Arts: We 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. We will also work with initial blends with r, as in truck. We will continue to work on nouns, concentrating on nouns that name animals or things. During Reading Workshop we will talk about how as smart readers we set ourselves up for a strong read by taking book walks and thinking about the words we expect to find in the book. We will also learn how patterns help us anticipate what will come next and how to expect certain words because we know the pattern. In handwriting, we are continuing to work with lowercase letters.

Writing Workshop: We are working on storytelling with our partners and the roles each partner plays, spelling our "no excuse" words in a snap, and focusing on the most important part of our stories.

Math: Last week we needed a little more time with adding and subtracting on the number line and so we stepped back. This week we will begin telling time to the half hour and introducing a new routine called Frames and Arrows.

Science: This afternoon we will be having a special visit with Dr. Brad Peckler to learn about keeping our body safe and healthy. We will also be talking more about our blood and circulation and learning about our skin this week.

Things to Remember:

Picture Retakes are tomorrow! If you would like your child's picture retaken, please send in the picture package with your child tomorrow. Personally, I thought their pictures were all fabulous!

Friday, October 28 - Fall Festival - There will be a sign-out sheet posted for parents to sign your children out when you leave.

Thursday, November 3 - Field Trip to the SPCA

Friday, November 11 - Poetry in the Park - Mark your calendars! Bring a lawn chair or blanket and enjoy a wonderful morning of poetry!

Volunteers This Week:

• Tuesday - Art - Debbie Boensch (12:05)
• Wednesday - Math Game - Susannah Malison (1:00)
• Thursday - Library Checkout - Mai Nguyen and Kimberly Burke (12:00)
• Friday - Parent Reader - Susannah Malison (2:20)

Have a wonderful week!
Susan

Week of October 10, 2011

Dear Parents:

The first grade service learning project is in full swing! Thank you so much for the items you have been bringing for the SPCA! Please don't stop! We need more! The bin is outside our classroom in the first grade hallway. We will be taking the items to the SPCA on Thursday, November 3. Here is the link to see the wish list of the SPCA:

http://www.spcatampabay.org/page.aspx?pid=396

Our class earned our first compliment party and we celebrated last Tuesday with pizza, ice cream, and popsicles! A BIG thank you to Kimberly Burke for providing the special treats! The kids are already on their way to earning the next party! Keep up the great work!

Here's a look at what we will be doing in class this week:

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. We are learning that a noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or animal. This week we are concentrating particularly on nouns that name people or places. We will be reading the book, "A Mink, a Fink, a Skating Rink" to help us learn to pick out nouns in sentences. As you read with your child at home this week, have him/her point out nouns to you. This week we will also talk about the genre of 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.

Last Friday, the children enjoyed watching the play "Stuart Little" by E. B. White in the Janet Root Theater. E. B. White also wrote my very favorite book, Charlotte's Web, which I have begun reading aloud to the class. Mrs. Hensler’s third graders are also reading it as a class novel and we will be partnering with them for some fun activities. Our first visit with them will be Thursday as we begin to talk about the characters and do some "retelling" with character stick puppets that we will be making this week.

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.

Science: This week during our human body unit, we will continue learning about the circulatory system, the digestive system, and keeping our heart and body healthy. We are also looking forward to a visit by Kayla's parents next Monday to help us learn more about keeping our bodies safe and healthy!

Things to Remember:

There will be no school for students this Friday due to a Professional Development Day for Teachers.

Tuesday, October 18 - Picture Retakes

Friday, October 28 - Fall Festival - There will be a sign-out sheet posted for parents to sign your children out when you leave.

Thursday, November 3 - Field Trip to the SPCA - Parents are welcome to join us. If you have not returned the Sage form regarding lunch that day, please do so - even if your child is bringing their lunch from home. Remember that all lunches must be completely disposable.

Friday, November 11 - Poetry in the Park

Volunteers This Week:

• Tuesday - Art - Natalie Ames (12:05)
• Wednesday - Math Game - Mai Nguyen (1:00)
• Thursday - Library Check-out - Kim Burke and Debbie Boensch (12:00)

Have a wonderful week!
Susan