This week in First grade...

August 29- September 2

We learned so much last week! From expectations around our classroom and school to what a scientist does, we were super busy!  This week will be a five day week! I know at our house this is always a tough week for us! We go to bed earlier each night so that we can get plenty of rest for each new day.  We will learn more about the flexible seating environment in our classroom and how we are responsible for our own learning choices.

IMPORTANT REMINDERS: (These reminders are on the calendar in Bloomz)

Tuesday: Tuesday folders come home. Please look for a "Me Bag" homework in Tuesday folders.  This homework will be due on Friday Sept. 2.
Please sign and return the folders the next day.

PE Days: Our class is split 6 ways for specials.  That means half of our class goes to PE each day.  Tennis shoes are required on PE days.  I will have a schedule posted soon.

Thursday: Sept. 8th: Parent Information Night 6:30-7:00 pm in our classroom.  (Room 306) Hope to see you all then!

This week:

READING

We will learn how to read independently to ourselves for a few minutes at a time. Each day we read for a little longer to build up our stamina. We will learn that strong readers read every day. A picture is worth a thousand words and we can read the pictures as well and retell the story through pictures.  We will talk about our favorite reading memory, when reading felt so good to us.  The children will practice using the classroom library correctly and responsibly.

WRITING:

We will begin our first lesson: Introducing the writing tools (papers, pencils, markers and crayons, tape, glue, scissors), and resources such as the alphabet charts, first grade words,  and the prints around the classroom. I will first model how to brainstorm, sketch, and write about my story. The children will then begin writing a true story about themselves, something that they have experienced.


MATH:
This week we will count and represent quantities to 20.  We will work on recognizing instantly the quantity of structured arrangements and use concrete and pictorial models to compose and decompose numbers up to 20 in more than one way as so many tens , and so many ones.  We will use objects, pictures, and expanded and standard forms to represent numbers up to 20.

SOCIAL STUDIES:

Last week we explained the purpose of rules and laws in our community.  We have rules and laws to stay safe , establish order, and manage conflict. We also identified the characteristics of good citizenship in the classroom and our school such as being respectful, cooperative, honest, considerate and polite.  This week we will continue to review these characteristics and traits and evaluate actions that show good, or poor citizenship.  We will learn that good citizens have responsibilities to help each other and be part of the community.

Growth Mindset:

At Caraway we are aware that all students have the capability to learn in different ways.  Therefore we create a caring community around our learners and provide them with support.  "Mindset is a simple idea discovered by world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck in decades of research on achievement and success—a simple idea that makes all the difference. Teaching a growth mindset creates motivation and productivity in the worlds of business, education, and sports."  (Mindset by Carol Dweck) Our goal is to teach kids that their brain is growing everyday.  We recognize the things we can already do and we think about the things we can't do YET! That is the key to having an open mindset.  We know that if we keep trying we will reach our goals!

Have a great week!

Welcome to First Grade!

August 23-26

Tuesday, August 23rd is the first day of school and here are a few important tips for you and your child to make this day and the first week of school as successful as possible:

* Please put your child to bed early each night (between 7:30-8:00) in order for them to adjust to their daily school schedule. School starts at 7:30 and work begins promptly at 7:40. Please allow time in the morning for your child to have a nutritious breakfast and use the bathroom before coming to school. We take a few bathroom breaks during the day but it is still important that they enter the room prepared and ready to go.

* Please have your child wear comfortable clothing. Children must wear socks and comfortable tennis shoes as well. Please avoid flip-flops, sandals, or high heels. Your child will not be able to play, run or have fun in the playground if he/she is wearing uncomfortable shoes.

* Your child needs to bring a medium sized backpack, large enough to hold the Tuesday folder and small enough to fit in our cubbies. 

* Please send a nutritious snack packed separately from their lunch daily. Examples of snack include: cut up pieces of apples, carrots, crackers and cheese or anything they like as long as it is healthy and nutritious. Please avoid sending chips,cupcakes or cookies. We eat snack mid-morning.

* Our Lunch time is @ 11:25. If you're packing lunch for your child, please let them know that they have lunch and won't be buying from cafeteria. If you choose to buy lunch from cafeteria, there are two ways to pay for lunch: one way is to pay directly to the cafeteria (Debra Parks-cafeteria manager  512-464-5519) and the other way is to pay online at  MySchoolBucks.com.  You can also send the lunch money to me but please put the money in an envelope or a plastic bag with your child's name and my name on it. This way the cafeteria manager knows to whom the money belongs to.

* If you choose, you can also send a small water bottle with your child's name on it. I will keep them by the sink if they get thirsty during the lesson. This is optional as we take quite a few bathroom and water breaks during the day.

* Please avoid sending toys and stuffed animals in your child's backpack. 

* Each Tuesday afternoon your child will bring home a "Tuesday Folder" containing all of the graded work for the previous week.  Please take time to look over your child's papers with him/her and make any corrections.  Folders should be signed and returned on the following day (Wednesday).

* Daily Blue Agenda comes home every day.  Please sign the agenda and send it back to school the next day.  The blue agenda is a way for us to communicate on a daily basis.

* If you are making any changes regarding your child's transportation on a particular day, please notify me by e-mail or phone or call the office (464-5500), either the day before or on the same day.  Please try to call as soon as possible so I can make the necessary arrangements. If you send an e-mail or leave a voice mail in the last few minutes before the dismissal, I may not have time to check my e-mails or voice mail and therefore not be aware of your changes. If your child will ride the bus to and from school you can check your route information here.  Please let me know the route number so I can put your child on the right bus.

* And last but not the least: Your precious children have been home with you for the last couple of months during the summer. Coming to school early in the morning and saying goodbye to you might be difficult for some children. Please help me to help your child to make the transition as smooth and as successful as possible.  For this reason please make your goodbye short and sweet and don't linger at the door too long. Be confident that your child is going to have a great day and she or he is in excellent hands!

Here's a little something for your children to watch before Tuesday!

The Last week in First grade...

May 31-June 2

Monday, May 30th Memorial Day

I can hardly believe this is our last week! It's been such a great year! I enjoyed getting to know your little people.  I hope I made an impression on their hearts.  I often think about what it was like to be a first grader and I fondly remember my teacher, Mrs. Gooden.  I hope your children will do the same.

REMINDERS

Monday: Memorial Day-No school
Tuesday: Tuesday folders will come home- Please keep them. 
Wednesday: Fifth Grade Graduation
Thursday: End of the year Party- Parents are welcome!
Report cards will be sent home.
Last Day of school.


THIS SUMMER
Research has proved that students forget almost seventy percent of what they have learned over the summer.  We worked hard this year! Please continue to practice what they learned this year during the summer in order to have a good start to second grade. Here are some suggestions for reading, writing and math.

SUMMER READING

Public Library

Visit the public library regularly over the summer to check out books that your child is interested in. Making this routine a weekly occurrence will help your child stay interested in reading!

RAZ Kids

I will send home your child's login card this week.  They should have login information in their blue folders from earlier in the year.  In Razkids, each book comes with a set of reading comprehension quizzes.  Please be sure your child take those quizzes before moving to the next book. 


Bookflix, Tumble books, Pebble Go, Brainpop Jr.
Your child can access all these resources during the summer and read a variety of fiction and non-fiction books. Login information is located in the directory.

SUMMER WRITING

  Please encourage your child to write for 10-15 minutes each day. They could write small moments (personal narratives), poetry, non-fiction/true facts, stories, or just about all the fun and adventures they have during the summer. When writing, please go over the writing conventions such as starting sentences with capital letters, putting correct punctuation at the end, and leaving spaces between the words.  The 100 first grade sight words must be spelled correctly.  You can also find a copy of sight words in your child's daily folder. 

MATH
To review and sharpen some of the math skills we learned this year, Mrs. Amiri recommends a math activity book called "180 days in math", for first grade or second grade if your child is more advanced. This book can be purchased at Barnes and Noble or online. Please refer to your child's math journal for ideas regarding math word problems.  The math journals will be sent home this week.

IXL math: Please have your child continue working on IXL math over the summer. You will need to access the site through school website. The login information was sent home at the beginning of the year.  I will send home their laminated computer this week.  Please let me know if you have trouble logging in.

Username: s######@caraway

password: s######

*Their student number is on their login card

 In addition, please set aside time for playing board games, going to the park, swimming, bike riding, helping with chores around the house and some fun play dates.  Have a great summer with your families! I can't wait to see my friends next year when your just a little taller and a little older!