This week in First grade...

Sept. 5-9

We had a great second week of school! The children are getting accustomed to procedures and expectations as we review them each day. Thank you for being on time in the morning and for sending the Daily Folders and the Tuesday folders promptly. I appreciate all your help and support. As a friendly reminder, please continue sending a healthy snack each day.

I enjoyed the children's presentation about "Special Me" bag.  We had so much fun learning about one another, our favorite sports, toys, families, friends and pets!  Each one of us special in a different way.  We closed our presentations with this thought: We are so much alike, but we have differences too.

IMPORTANT REMINDER

Parent Information Night is on Thursday, September 8th at 6:30(location: our classroom, 307) followed by PTA meeting at 7:00. Please refer to Kathy Caraway website for more details. This is a Parents Only Event. I would appreciate your effort in making sure that at least one parent for each child would attend this meeting. I will cover lots of important information regarding your child's year in first grade. 

This Week:
Monday: Labor Day- No school
Tuesday: Tuesday folders come home. Please sign and return the folders the next day.

Thursday: Sept. 8th: Parent Information Night 6:30-7:00 pm in our classroom.  (Room 306)
Friday, Sept. 9: Grandparents Day Luncheon 

 Here is what we will be doing next week:

READING
We have started learning about the procedures of Reading Workshop.  Reading brings joy to our lives and in order to become strong readers we need to practice every day.  Whether we are using the classroom library or the school library, we will discuss how to choose a "good-fit" or "just right book".  These are the books that have only a few unknown words on each page. We can read them with fluency and ease. As we teach comprehension skills, it is important that we can understand the book we are reading. This week we will continue to read independently for a little longer each day. We will learn how to choose books from our classroom library and our Leveled Library. We will talk about the importance of respecting everyone's reading time and using kind reminders when we are being disturbed.

HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT YOUR CHILD'S READING AT HOME?
Please make sure your child has access to a variety of "just right books" at all times. Public libraries offer a great selection of leveled readers as well as easy-to-read chapter books.
Make the reading time a special time where you and your child can sit together comfortably.  Pick a time in the day that you know your child is not too tired to read. Maybe your child likes to read after school, or before bedtime.  You know when it is the best time.  Sit beside your child, turn off the TV and have your child read to you.  If your child is stuck on a word, read the word to your child quickly so she/he won't interrupt the flow.  It is also important that you read to your child every night.  Children need to hear the fluent reading with expression from a parent.  Do a picture walk together before reading.  As you read, stop periodically and see if your child has understood the story so far.  Read together, laugh together and make this special time as joyful as possible!

WRITING

In writing, we will learn about two skills: One is the importance of illustrations in our stories and how to make our illustrations match our words. We will look at many different picture books and discuss how illustrations can enhance a story. The other skill is to say the words slowly (stretch the words), listening for the sounds, and writing down all the corresponding letters. Your child will have independent writing time where he/she will be conferencing with me and working toward their own personal writing goals.


HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT YOUR CHILD'S LEARNING AT HOME?
Provide a writing journal at home.  Your child can decorate the front cover however she or he likes to.  Have your child think of a memory, a place that they have been before, a time they could remember, an activity that they did.  Something true that they have experienced.  It could be just a short ride in the car to HEB, when you both saw a deer on the street!
Have your child draw a picture of that memory first, and then add words to write about it.  When writing, remind your child to start the sentences with capital letters, put one finger space between the words, and end their sentences with a period or exclamation mark. Show excitement, encourage and celebrate every attempt! Share their writing with family members and friends! Let them see that they are real writers!

MATH
We will work on grouping items such as cubes and beans in groups of 10. With any given number, we will discuss how many groups of 10 we can make and how many items are leftover (meaning they are less than ten and can't be grouped as 10).  We will practice showing the numbers 0-20 as numerals, words, tally marks, groups of tens and left over ones (using ten frames), or different dots arrangements.  We will compare the teen numbers and apply our knowledge in problem solving activities. 


HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT YOUR CHILD'S LEARNING AT HOME?
Provide some counters such as beans, pasta pieces, pennies, buttons or anything similar for your child and have them count the items.  Your child will probably start counting by ones first.  Some children may count by 2's.  After that have your child record the number on a paper.  Let's say, your child counted 14 beans.  Ask your child, how many groups of 10 can you make with these beans? How many left overs do you have? let your child see that there is one group of 10 and 4 left over.  Ask: Is 14 greater than 13 or less? Show how you can take off one bean and now there are 13 beans.  So 13 is less then 14.  Practice with different numbers and counters and make this as fun as possible.

SCIENCE

This week in Science we will explore and discuss what scientists do. The students will be introduced to science journals and we will discuss the importance of using our senses to observe and record 
our scientific observations in our science journals. We will learn about science safety, and some tools in science that could help us to extend and protect our senses such as hand lenses, stethoscope, goggles, ear plugs, mask, and gloves.

I hope you had a fabulous long weekend with your family! The Caballeros celebrated our oldest daughter's 9th birthday! We ate at her favorite restaurant, went to a movie and had an ice cream date with her cousin! 

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!