Happy Friday! 🎉🎉🎉
It was great to see so many of you at the Valentine's Party or at parent conferences this week! We had a short week together but it was a productive one. We are also cleaning like crazy and diffusing thieves in an attempt to stop the flu epidemic in our classroom. Thank you for keeping your child home if they are showing any symptoms of illness in order to not spread their germs in our room. Thank you for also following the school's policy of your child being fever free for 24 hours.
February 18th: No school...President's Day
February 22nd Pet Show: We are studying the author Ezra Jack Keats and one of his famous books is called Pet Show. We are having our own pet show in the class and the students can bring in one stuffed animal on the 22nd that is small enough for them to carry into the school building.
February 26th (all day) Discovery Place Field Trip: We need more chaperones!!!!! We only have 4 as of right now and could really use some more help. The Sign Up Genius for chaperones was sent out two weeks ago. You will pay $17 (the normal admission price) upon arrival to Discovery Place instead of paying through CSD. You will drive your own child and meet us there. We will arrive to Discovery Place between 8:45-9:00 am and will stay the majority of the day. No siblings please.
February 28th Camping Day: We are studying Kevin Henkes next week and one of his books is Tacky Goes to Camp. We are having our own camping day where students get to wear their pajamas and we will have a special lunch (either hotdogs or pigs in a blanket) and will also make s'mores! We will need some tents to borrow so if you have a large tent that we could borrow, please email me! We will need you to come set it up and tear it down because we would hate to mess it up or not be able to figure out how to make it work.
***Please make sure your child is bringing the necessary items to school everyday including their blue folder (emptied), water bottle, lunch/snack, and a jacket. Please also make sure they bring their guided reading book and binder back on Friday. We have had a lot of these not brought to school on Friday's recently and really need the student's to make every effort to remember this. Some sort of reminder near their backpack would be perfect!
Math:
All throughout first grade we have been comparing numbers (greater than, less than, equal to) but we finally introduced the signs (<, >, =) to the students. Our curriculum had us wait until now to introduce the signs so that the students would fully grasp the concept first. They loved learning about the signs and an easy way we learned to remember that involves an alligator. You can ask your child to learn more about the alligator helper. :) We are also spiral reviewing back to word problems. We do "Word Problem Wednesday" where we specifically work on it for around 20 minutes as a class and in partners. We are working on reading the problem for meaning and understanding of what is known and unknown.
Literacy:
Our guided reading groups have shifted around since I assessed the student's on their reading recently and you may notice that they bumped up a level, or two, or three. This is exciting! I usually push the student's and put them on a little bit of a harder reading level since it is direct instruction in their small reading group. During the reading group, they should be able to read most of the book on their own but it is normal for them to struggle with certain words or difficult vocabulary. I guide them through this during our lesson and I would encourage you to help them with this at home when they read to you.
Thematic:
We are halfway through our Author in Me unit of study and the kids LOVED studying Mo Willems the past two weeks. He is the author of Elephant and Piggie books which are the student's favorite! Their favorite center was definitely when they got to create their own Elephant and Piggie book. Their other favorite center was when they got to create the pigeon in an art activity. They are displayed in the hallway and are so cute! They love finding the pigeon when we read Mo Willems' books. We are moving onto Ezra Jack Keats this week who writes The Snowy Day, Peter's Chair, Whistle for Willie, and Pet Show.
Have a great long weekend!
Love,
Mrs. James
Friday, February 15, 2019
Sunday, February 3, 2019
January 28th - February 1st
Happy Sunday! I hope you all have had a great weekend so far. The weather has been beautiful and it has been nice to get outside. It is hard to believe we celebrated the 100th day of school last week! Please see below for upcoming events and a review of our week.
February 7th 10:30-11:00 AM Scholastic Book Fair: You are welcome to join us and help your child and other children pick out books! You may also send in money with your child in a Ziplock bag labeled with their name and we will help them pick out books.
February 13th 1:00 Valentine's Reading Party: You are invited to come read Valentines with your child that other students wrote for them. We will also have a Valentine's snack for your child to enjoy. *** Please have your child bring in their Valentines with them to school on the morning of the 13th because they will pass them out before the party
February 14th and 15th: No school...optional parent conferences
February 18th: No school...President's Day
February 26th (all day) Discovery Place Field Trip: We can have as many chaperones as we want so you are all invited to come! No siblings please. The Sign Up Genius for chaperones was sent out last week. You will pay $17 (the normal admission price) upon arrival to Discovery Place instead of paying through CSD. We will most likely arrive to Discovery Place around 9:00 AM and will stay the majority of the day.
Math:
Having had a half teacher workday on Friday, I was able to revamp all of our math workshop centers and I am so excited to start them tomorrow! The students absolutely LOVE the number tile games they are playing. We have number tiles that practice addition, subtraction, before/after/in between, ten more/ten less, hundreds board, addition doubles, etc. We are still working heavily on place value as this is a huge concept for the students to understand going into 2nd grade. We are also working on comparing numbers (greater than/less than) and will be introducing the signs soon (>, <, =).
Literacy:
We are continuing with our weekly guided reading groups, word sorts, Daily 5, and writer's workshop. Last week in WW, we began working on opinion writing. Students are working on picking something that they have a strong opinion on (when I modeled this style of writing for the students I chose the topic "Why I Think Beagles are the Best Kind of Dog"). So you may see your child come home with a book similar to this. :) They are doing a great job with coming up 3-4 reasons to support their opinion they chose. We will begin a new topic in writing this Thursday since it is February.
Thematic:
Last week we began our "Author in Me" unit. We will study four different authors and read many books that they wrote. They are Helen Lester, Mo Willems, Ezra Jack Keats, and Kevin Henkes. We began with Helen Lester who is an amazing author! She is most known for her books about Tacky the Penguin and has many other "lesson learning" books that include Hurty Feelings and Listen Buddy. We will be studying Mo Willems this week who is the author of the Elephant and Piggie books that the students love. We have many fun activities planned for this week and next involving Elephant and Piggie!
Have a great Super Bowl Sunday!
Love,
Mrs. James
February 7th 10:30-11:00 AM Scholastic Book Fair: You are welcome to join us and help your child and other children pick out books! You may also send in money with your child in a Ziplock bag labeled with their name and we will help them pick out books.
February 13th 1:00 Valentine's Reading Party: You are invited to come read Valentines with your child that other students wrote for them. We will also have a Valentine's snack for your child to enjoy. *** Please have your child bring in their Valentines with them to school on the morning of the 13th because they will pass them out before the party
February 14th and 15th: No school...optional parent conferences
February 18th: No school...President's Day
February 26th (all day) Discovery Place Field Trip: We can have as many chaperones as we want so you are all invited to come! No siblings please. The Sign Up Genius for chaperones was sent out last week. You will pay $17 (the normal admission price) upon arrival to Discovery Place instead of paying through CSD. We will most likely arrive to Discovery Place around 9:00 AM and will stay the majority of the day.
Math:
Having had a half teacher workday on Friday, I was able to revamp all of our math workshop centers and I am so excited to start them tomorrow! The students absolutely LOVE the number tile games they are playing. We have number tiles that practice addition, subtraction, before/after/in between, ten more/ten less, hundreds board, addition doubles, etc. We are still working heavily on place value as this is a huge concept for the students to understand going into 2nd grade. We are also working on comparing numbers (greater than/less than) and will be introducing the signs soon (>, <, =).
Literacy:
We are continuing with our weekly guided reading groups, word sorts, Daily 5, and writer's workshop. Last week in WW, we began working on opinion writing. Students are working on picking something that they have a strong opinion on (when I modeled this style of writing for the students I chose the topic "Why I Think Beagles are the Best Kind of Dog"). So you may see your child come home with a book similar to this. :) They are doing a great job with coming up 3-4 reasons to support their opinion they chose. We will begin a new topic in writing this Thursday since it is February.
Thematic:
Last week we began our "Author in Me" unit. We will study four different authors and read many books that they wrote. They are Helen Lester, Mo Willems, Ezra Jack Keats, and Kevin Henkes. We began with Helen Lester who is an amazing author! She is most known for her books about Tacky the Penguin and has many other "lesson learning" books that include Hurty Feelings and Listen Buddy. We will be studying Mo Willems this week who is the author of the Elephant and Piggie books that the students love. We have many fun activities planned for this week and next involving Elephant and Piggie!
Have a great Super Bowl Sunday!
Love,
Mrs. James
Friday, January 11, 2019
January 7th-11th
Happy Friday! We are SO excited to share our American Heroes play with you next Thursday! The kids have done very well in play practice this week and Mrs. Rumburg and I love watching them. They really are amazing!
January 17th 10:00 AM American Heroes Play: Our play will be in the Middle School Black Box and you are welcome to join us in our classroom afterwards for some refreshments. Please have your child wear their costume to school that morning. Remember, it doesn't have to be anything elaborate! Nice, dressy clothes are always perfect. Parents, grandparents, and siblings are all welcome to attend! We just ask that if your little one gets fussy during the play, you step out in order to respect the hard work of our first graders. Thank you!
January 21st: No school...Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!
February 20th 10:00 AM Huntersville Oaks Field Trip: Our class has the special opportunity to go on a field trip to Huntersville Oaks for service learning. Chaperones are welcome to come! The program will run from 10:30-11:30 am.
Math:
After conducting the North Carolina State Mid-Year Math Assessment, I have been able to see where students have holes in their learning and we are going back to reteach/practice some of these concepts. We started a new activity this week as we work on addition, subtraction, place value, before/in between/after, greater than/less than, and navigating the hundreds chart. The activity is called "Number Tiles" and the students are addicted! It is similar to the game "Sudoku" where you have to use the numbers "0-9" and each one can only be used once. Basically, if you put a number tile in the wrong box the entire puzzle will be off. We have over 10 different games that work on different concepts (addition, subtraction, one more/one less/ten more/ten less, place value, and before/after. The level of difficulty varies between each game so there is always room for growth! This is also great for differentiation within the classroom to meet all student's needs.
Literacy:
We took a break from guided reading groups this week as we practice for our play. Play lines have been a great learning opportunity for the students to practice reading, memorizing, and reciting something other than books. We will pick back up with guided reading next week! :) I will also begin doing assessments next week so you may notice your child bump up a level or two depending on this. Students did great with their first week of 10 word study words! I know that this was a big jump and the words seemed to also increase in difficulty this week. I really encouraged the students this week to practice these words throughout the week since there are more and they are harder to learn. Remember to always make it fun! Sidewalk chalk, paint, bath tub crayons, jump roping as they spell the words, bounce a basketball, etc.
Thematic:
This week we studied Helen Keller for our American Heroes unit. The students enjoyed learning about her and how she overcame a difficult situation. Studied illustrated a mini-book, learned how to write their name in Braille, and had a real life learning experience where they wore an eye mask and headphones around the school. Each student had a partner that would guide them around the hallways to feel what Helen felt. They also had to find the braille that is written on a lot of our school signs. We will study Martin Luther King Jr. next week in anticipation of MLK Jr. day!
Have a great weekend and see you next Thursday!
Love,
Mrs. James
January 17th 10:00 AM American Heroes Play: Our play will be in the Middle School Black Box and you are welcome to join us in our classroom afterwards for some refreshments. Please have your child wear their costume to school that morning. Remember, it doesn't have to be anything elaborate! Nice, dressy clothes are always perfect. Parents, grandparents, and siblings are all welcome to attend! We just ask that if your little one gets fussy during the play, you step out in order to respect the hard work of our first graders. Thank you!
January 21st: No school...Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!
February 20th 10:00 AM Huntersville Oaks Field Trip: Our class has the special opportunity to go on a field trip to Huntersville Oaks for service learning. Chaperones are welcome to come! The program will run from 10:30-11:30 am.
Math:
After conducting the North Carolina State Mid-Year Math Assessment, I have been able to see where students have holes in their learning and we are going back to reteach/practice some of these concepts. We started a new activity this week as we work on addition, subtraction, place value, before/in between/after, greater than/less than, and navigating the hundreds chart. The activity is called "Number Tiles" and the students are addicted! It is similar to the game "Sudoku" where you have to use the numbers "0-9" and each one can only be used once. Basically, if you put a number tile in the wrong box the entire puzzle will be off. We have over 10 different games that work on different concepts (addition, subtraction, one more/one less/ten more/ten less, place value, and before/after. The level of difficulty varies between each game so there is always room for growth! This is also great for differentiation within the classroom to meet all student's needs.
Literacy:
We took a break from guided reading groups this week as we practice for our play. Play lines have been a great learning opportunity for the students to practice reading, memorizing, and reciting something other than books. We will pick back up with guided reading next week! :) I will also begin doing assessments next week so you may notice your child bump up a level or two depending on this. Students did great with their first week of 10 word study words! I know that this was a big jump and the words seemed to also increase in difficulty this week. I really encouraged the students this week to practice these words throughout the week since there are more and they are harder to learn. Remember to always make it fun! Sidewalk chalk, paint, bath tub crayons, jump roping as they spell the words, bounce a basketball, etc.
Thematic:
This week we studied Helen Keller for our American Heroes unit. The students enjoyed learning about her and how she overcame a difficult situation. Studied illustrated a mini-book, learned how to write their name in Braille, and had a real life learning experience where they wore an eye mask and headphones around the school. Each student had a partner that would guide them around the hallways to feel what Helen felt. They also had to find the braille that is written on a lot of our school signs. We will study Martin Luther King Jr. next week in anticipation of MLK Jr. day!
Have a great weekend and see you next Thursday!
Love,
Mrs. James
Friday, December 7, 2018
December 3rd-7th
Happy Friday! It is hard to believe that it is December! ⛄ I love this month with the kids because of all of the holiday excitement and fun. You can find a review of our week below.
December 19th: Pajama Day
December 20th - January 2nd: No school...Winter Break
January 17th 10:00 AM: American Heroes Play
Math:
As we finish our third week of learning about place value, the students are really beginning to have an understanding of this concept. It can be a challenging one because it is such an abstract concept. The students learned a new place value game this week that they played with a partner. Each student had a bag of tens (on ten frames) and a bag of ones (on ten frames). One student would choose a number between 1-109 and would write it down on a whiteboard. The other student had to build the number using their bag of tens and ones. This required them to break down the number in their mind into tens and ones and then create it. They loved this game and played for 45 minutes straight one day! This game will go into our math workshop tubs next week where they can go and play with a partner.
Literacy:
During our reader's workshop this week, we learned that good readers "try, try, try again" when reading. We learned that when you get to a tricky word, don't just try one thing! Sometimes one strategy will work on one word but not another. Below are the six strategies we learned. These strategies work for all students no matter their reading level.
1. Read the word left to right
2. Can the pictures help me?
3. Does it make sense?
4. Does it look right?
5. Does it sound right?
6. Do I know any parts of the word?
We also continued our writer's workshop time learning about "how-to" books and the students blew me away with their writing! I challenged them to take their book home and read it to their parents so maybe some of you have seen these. :) It has been fun seeing what they want to teach others how to do in their writing books.
Thematic:
The American heroes that we studied this week were Neil Armstrong and Mae Jemison. We learned about outer space, the moon, the phases of the moon, astronauts, and space shuttles. We practiced our song about Neil Armstrong and they are doing great! Students learned about the phases of the moon by using Oreos and toothpicks (for carving), they created their own astronaut helmets they will wear in the play, they wrote an application to be an astronaut, and they solved math problems that had to do with outer space. Next week we move onto Helen Keller.
Sci-Fri:
HUGE shoutout to Sue Sink for our amazing Sci-Fri today! The students learned about how animals prepare for winter and they each got to make a birdfeeder using cones, sunbutter, birdseed, and yarn. They loved this activity and learning about animal habitats and preparations as we move into the winter months. We need more parents to volunteer for Sci-Fri on Friday afternoons! This is a great way to get involved in our classroom and the kids love it. The science experiment does not have to be anything crazy and I am always happy to send you ideas.
Have a great weekend! I guess we will see what winter weather comes our way. 😁⛄
Love,
Mrs. James
December 19th: Pajama Day
December 20th - January 2nd: No school...Winter Break
January 17th 10:00 AM: American Heroes Play
Math:
As we finish our third week of learning about place value, the students are really beginning to have an understanding of this concept. It can be a challenging one because it is such an abstract concept. The students learned a new place value game this week that they played with a partner. Each student had a bag of tens (on ten frames) and a bag of ones (on ten frames). One student would choose a number between 1-109 and would write it down on a whiteboard. The other student had to build the number using their bag of tens and ones. This required them to break down the number in their mind into tens and ones and then create it. They loved this game and played for 45 minutes straight one day! This game will go into our math workshop tubs next week where they can go and play with a partner.
Literacy:
During our reader's workshop this week, we learned that good readers "try, try, try again" when reading. We learned that when you get to a tricky word, don't just try one thing! Sometimes one strategy will work on one word but not another. Below are the six strategies we learned. These strategies work for all students no matter their reading level.
1. Read the word left to right
2. Can the pictures help me?
3. Does it make sense?
4. Does it look right?
5. Does it sound right?
6. Do I know any parts of the word?
We also continued our writer's workshop time learning about "how-to" books and the students blew me away with their writing! I challenged them to take their book home and read it to their parents so maybe some of you have seen these. :) It has been fun seeing what they want to teach others how to do in their writing books.
Thematic:
The American heroes that we studied this week were Neil Armstrong and Mae Jemison. We learned about outer space, the moon, the phases of the moon, astronauts, and space shuttles. We practiced our song about Neil Armstrong and they are doing great! Students learned about the phases of the moon by using Oreos and toothpicks (for carving), they created their own astronaut helmets they will wear in the play, they wrote an application to be an astronaut, and they solved math problems that had to do with outer space. Next week we move onto Helen Keller.
Sci-Fri:
HUGE shoutout to Sue Sink for our amazing Sci-Fri today! The students learned about how animals prepare for winter and they each got to make a birdfeeder using cones, sunbutter, birdseed, and yarn. They loved this activity and learning about animal habitats and preparations as we move into the winter months. We need more parents to volunteer for Sci-Fri on Friday afternoons! This is a great way to get involved in our classroom and the kids love it. The science experiment does not have to be anything crazy and I am always happy to send you ideas.
Have a great weekend! I guess we will see what winter weather comes our way. 😁⛄
Love,
Mrs. James
Monday, December 3, 2018
November 26th-30th
Happy Monday! I hope you all had an awesome weekend! Below is a review of our last week in the classroom ands some important upcoming dates and events.
December 19th: Pajama Day
December 20th - January 2nd: No school...Winter Break
January 17th 10:00 AM: American Heroes Play
Play Lines: Thank you for practicing your child's play lines with them! :) If you have not printed them off yet, please do so and highlight your child's lines for them. Our play will be here before we know it and the lines are more difficult than any of the past plays. They are already doing great on their songs in the classroom and we are also beginning to practice their lines.
Guided reading books, blue folders, snacks/lunch, water bottles: We could really use your help with making sure your child is prepared for each school day. We still have students coming to school without the supplies needed for a successful day. Although they love to blame their parents 😉, we would love for them to start taking on the responsibility of checking their bag before school in the morning or the night before. A checklist with pictures might be helpful and taking on this responsibility is a great life skill, especially as we move towards 2nd grade.
Afternoon dismissal: Dismissal begins at 2:45. We know that there will be times when you need to pick up your child early, and we completely understand and respect this. However, we are asking that if you need to pick up before the 2:45 dismissal time, you make arrangements to do so prior to 2:15 as our front desk area is very busy tending to last minute details at that time of the day. Also it is very disruptive to instruction for the phone to ring repeatedly for multiple children to pack updating the last half hour of the day. Once again, we know that emergencies and special circumstances will arise, but we kindly ask that if you need to pick up your child early from school that you do so prior to 2:15 as not to disrupt end-of-day routines and instruction.
Math:
Literacy:
This week during Daily 5, we learned about how reading is similar to juggling. Readers have to juggle or think about three things while reading:
1. Does this sound right?
2. Does this look right?
3. Does this make sense?
Students practiced this strategy while in their guided reading groups with me and while in Daily 5 (read to self and read to someone). We also began a new unit in Writer's Workshop. This month we will be working on "how-to" books and also realistic fiction. Last week we started with "how-to" books and the students loved it! They got to teach others how to do something whether it was how to make cookies, how to ride a bike, how to do a cartwheel, or how to build a lego tower.
Thematic:
December 19th: Pajama Day
December 20th - January 2nd: No school...Winter Break
January 17th 10:00 AM: American Heroes Play
Play Lines: Thank you for practicing your child's play lines with them! :) If you have not printed them off yet, please do so and highlight your child's lines for them. Our play will be here before we know it and the lines are more difficult than any of the past plays. They are already doing great on their songs in the classroom and we are also beginning to practice their lines.
Guided reading books, blue folders, snacks/lunch, water bottles: We could really use your help with making sure your child is prepared for each school day. We still have students coming to school without the supplies needed for a successful day. Although they love to blame their parents 😉, we would love for them to start taking on the responsibility of checking their bag before school in the morning or the night before. A checklist with pictures might be helpful and taking on this responsibility is a great life skill, especially as we move towards 2nd grade.
Afternoon dismissal: Dismissal begins at 2:45. We know that there will be times when you need to pick up your child early, and we completely understand and respect this. However, we are asking that if you need to pick up before the 2:45 dismissal time, you make arrangements to do so prior to 2:15 as our front desk area is very busy tending to last minute details at that time of the day. Also it is very disruptive to instruction for the phone to ring repeatedly for multiple children to pack updating the last half hour of the day. Once again, we know that emergencies and special circumstances will arise, but we kindly ask that if you need to pick up your child early from school that you do so prior to 2:15 as not to disrupt end-of-day routines and instruction.
Math:
We are focusing heavily on place value right now. We learned two new games last week called "Roll the Snowball" and "Place Value: Dice Game." Both of these games focus on identifying ones and tens, comparing numbers, and more than/less than. I am also pulling students one-on-one to conduct the North Carolina Mid-Year Formative Assessment. This assessment assesses the students on what we have learned so far this year. We are also continuing to work on addition, subtraction, and fact families.
Literacy:
This week during Daily 5, we learned about how reading is similar to juggling. Readers have to juggle or think about three things while reading:
1. Does this sound right?
2. Does this look right?
3. Does this make sense?
Students practiced this strategy while in their guided reading groups with me and while in Daily 5 (read to self and read to someone). We also began a new unit in Writer's Workshop. This month we will be working on "how-to" books and also realistic fiction. Last week we started with "how-to" books and the students loved it! They got to teach others how to do something whether it was how to make cookies, how to ride a bike, how to do a cartwheel, or how to build a lego tower.
Thematic:
During our thematic center time, we studied airplanes and flight and specifically studied Orville and Wilbur Wright, Amelia Earhart, and Bessie Coleman and all of their accomplishments. The students loved rotating through the centers while learning about how planes are designed and work, the story of the first flight, and how to make different styles of paper airplanes. This week we are studying Neil Armstrong and Mae Jemison.
Have a great Monday!
Love,
Mrs. James
Friday, November 16, 2018
November 12th-16th
Happy Friday! We had an awesome week with having two field trips! The kids always love getting to ride the school bus. 😊 Thanks to our parent chaperones for coming with us. We will have two more field trips this year...Discovery Place and Gem Mining! We are excited to celebrate Thanksgiving next week and talk about all of the things we are thankful for.
We are planning on having a Thanksgiving Feast for the kids on Tuesday so no need to send in lunch on that day. The menu will consist of mac and cheese, green beans, corn, cornbread, and homemade butter (that we are going to make from heavy whipping cream in class)!
November 21st - 23rd: No school...Happy Thanksgiving!
December 20th - January 2nd: No school...Winter Break
January 17th 10:00 AM: American Heroes Play
Math:
Our math time was shortened this week due to our two field trips but we still got some place value practice in! Students are improving in their ability to express numbers as tens and ones. We are playing many place value games to practice this skill.
Literacy:
Students are doing great with our word study program! They are learning new rules each week so they can apply them when writing during Daily 5. After winter break, we will increase to 10 words each week instead of 5. It will be even more important then to have your child write their words in the "best" column and practice the words doing fun activities.
Thematic:
We studied Mia Hamm and soccer this week during thematic centers. We learned about the rules of soccer, who Mia Hamm is, and got to hear from the FSU girl's soccer team captain! The students loved hearing her talk about her experience playing for Florida State and also professionally for a year. Thank you Melissa Rieser for coordinating this! We learned that soccer balls have both hexagons and pentagons and students created their own paper plate soccer ball by tracing and cutting out these shapes. We also made our own life-size soccer players! Students got to create a team name and logo/mascot. They turned out really well!
Have a great weekend!
Love,
Mrs. James
We are planning on having a Thanksgiving Feast for the kids on Tuesday so no need to send in lunch on that day. The menu will consist of mac and cheese, green beans, corn, cornbread, and homemade butter (that we are going to make from heavy whipping cream in class)!
November 21st - 23rd: No school...Happy Thanksgiving!
December 20th - January 2nd: No school...Winter Break
January 17th 10:00 AM: American Heroes Play
Math:
Our math time was shortened this week due to our two field trips but we still got some place value practice in! Students are improving in their ability to express numbers as tens and ones. We are playing many place value games to practice this skill.
Literacy:
Students are doing great with our word study program! They are learning new rules each week so they can apply them when writing during Daily 5. After winter break, we will increase to 10 words each week instead of 5. It will be even more important then to have your child write their words in the "best" column and practice the words doing fun activities.
Thematic:
We studied Mia Hamm and soccer this week during thematic centers. We learned about the rules of soccer, who Mia Hamm is, and got to hear from the FSU girl's soccer team captain! The students loved hearing her talk about her experience playing for Florida State and also professionally for a year. Thank you Melissa Rieser for coordinating this! We learned that soccer balls have both hexagons and pentagons and students created their own paper plate soccer ball by tracing and cutting out these shapes. We also made our own life-size soccer players! Students got to create a team name and logo/mascot. They turned out really well!
Have a great weekend!
Love,
Mrs. James
Sunday, November 11, 2018
November 5th-9th
Good afternoon! I hope everyone is staying warm and dry today! We are currently having indoor recess and the kids are playing "Four Corners" which they LOVE! 😆 We had a great week and as I make my lesson plans for next week, I realize we are going to have a very busy week!
November 12th Hurricane Make Up Day and Veteran's Day Celebration
November 13th Laurel's Nursing Home 10:30-11:30 AM: Parents are welcome to join us! You may ride the bus or meet us there. I will add this on our Sign Up Genius for the week. We load the bus at CSD at 10:00 AM and the program is from 10:30-11:30 AM and we return to CSD by 12:00 PM.
November 14th Charlotte Children's Theater Field Trip: Please have your child to school by 8:00 am on this day. The bus will leaving CSD at 8:30 am sharp. We will eat lunch when we return to school so send a normal lunch. Please feed your child a big, protein-rich breakfast that will keep them full until lunch.
***I will be sending play lines home for the American Heroes play within the next two weeks. Just an FYI.
Math:
As we dive into our cluster 3 in math, students are learning how to apply their learning of place value in many different ways. They learned two math games this week to practice this skill and demonstrate their knowledge. The first one is called Ten Frames (11-19) and work on the student picking a number (11-19), building it on two tens frames using cubes, and then writing how many tens/ones they have and the corresponding equation. We want them transitioning to seeing numbers as tens and ones. We will continue to build on this knowledge and soon move into 20+ numbers where the students will have to work with more than one "ten."
Literacy:
Students continue to work hard during Daily 5 rotations and have the freedom to move from station to station within our one hour literacy block. We have different "word work" activities for them to do to practice their word study words. This past week we had whiteboards, rainbow word writing, word searches, and stamping. Students are making great progress with their guided reading books and that makes me so happy! Keep having your child read those to you Tuesday-Friday. Repetition with them is key in developing many crucial skills.
Thematic:
We studied Jackie Robinson and baseball this week during our thematic unit time. BIG thank you to Andy Cook (Laine's dad) for coming in to talk to us about baseball and his time playing baseball professionally. The kids loved having him here and were so excited that they each got one of his baseball cards. We started learning our "Break the Barrier" song that we will perform at our American Heroes play in January. We spent time reading and learning about Jackie Robinson and all of the things he had to overcome in his baseball career. The kids favorite center was making a baseball necklace out of a washer! They had to also write three facts they learned about baseball. I am turning it into a book that will travel home with different students each night. Next week we are studying soccer and Mia Hamm and will have another guest speaker from FSU's girl soccer team (thank you Melissa Rieser for the connection)!
Love,
Mrs. James
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)