March 4th Update...

Dear Parents,

Thank you for visiting our blog today.  We have had a super week and I hope you find the following information useful in helping you understand what your child is learning.  Make sure to check out the news section below to keep up-to-date on our classroom and school news. Also, Mrs. Mason has been sending out very important information in her weekly PECS that  I forward to you through email. Please be sure to pay close attention to this information, as I do not always repeat that info in this blog.

Phonics:  This week, we learned all about the three most common -r controlled vowel spelling patterns (-ar, -er, -or).  We generated a list of words on chart paper, we used this list and worked on our alphabetizing skills, and we sorted the words according to the spelling pattern.  We also played several games to help us remember which pattern creates which sound.  This week, we also took our 3rd nine week phonics assessment. You will find this assessment in your child's blue folder.  We learned long and short vowels, blends, vowel diagraphs, -r controlled vowels, and compound words this nine weeks. These are the phonics patterns that your child is responsible for, as will be noted on the report card. 

Reading:  This week in reading, we focused on being able to distinguish main ideas vs. details in a story.  We also learned the UNRAAVEL strategy used to improve reading comprehension.  This strategy is very useful and basically involves underlining the title and headings, numbering the paragraphs, circling the most important words in the comprehension questions, and then noting the paragraph that the answer was found in.  Your child has heard "You must PROVE your answer by finding it in the passage" many times this year. Take a minute to look over the reading passages in your child's blue folder so you can become familiar with this very beneficial strategy.  Also, ask your child what each letter in UNRAAVEL stands for! 

Writing:  We worked on listening to stories and then writing the main idea and details in our own words.  We also began writing the life cycle of the plant, which we will be using our keyboarding skills next week to create a word document with graphics.

Math:  This week, we used balances to help us understand missing addend math problems.  We used colored manipulatives to help us determine the answer. Then we worked on learning the algorithm for solving this type of problem.  We also began our "March Mathness" word problem challenge this week. Every Friday, the students will be given a challenging word problem aimed at getting the students to utilize higher level thinking skills in order to solve it.  One student will be chosen from each class who exhibited excellent problem solving stategies and their pictures will be displayed in the first grade hallway. Our first week's winner was CONNOR TURNER!  Way to go!!!

Science:  Wee learned all about the various parts of the plant and what the purpose of each part is.  We read several books on this topic, then we labeled and described the job of each of these parts.  We also read the book THE TINY SEED by Eric Carle and we  retold the story in our own words on a story web organizer.  We used the kidpix program on our smartboard to create and label a plant. 

Classroom News and Notes...


Thank you to Mrs. Young and Mrs. Davis for their help with AR this week. 

Congratulations to Josie Kwan, who represented Kemp Elementary with her Reflections Contest poster!  We are so proud of Josie. 

The book fair is here!  Our class will be previewing the book fair on Tuesday. You can accompany your child to the book fair or you may also send in money with your child to purchase books. Please check the flyer that came home last week in your child's blue folder for dates and times.

Homework:  Parents, please make sure your expectations for the writing portion of the hw are in line with the expectations I have set here at school.  The children are well aware of the type of writing I expect, which includes a topic sentence followed by at least five details, then ending with a closing sentence OR a personal narrative with no less than seven sentences that include transition words and phrases and is well organized and developed. I've been getting lots of stories that are not up to par and some children have been asked to forego "Fun Friday" in order to sit with me and redo a story that meets or exceeds my expectations.  I appreciate your support of this expectation of always doing your "personal best" on work!

Mark your calendars for the Kemp Elementary Talent Show!  It is going to be held on March 17th. More details will be coming soon.  You may even see yours truly up there performing a special talent!!!

As many children have figured out,  Lil' Dude's weekend sleepovers can only go until the end of the school year and we only have about 11 weekends left.  We have many more children than that in our room, so responsible behavior at all times is very important.  The children know that only those receiving zero strikes for the week will have their names entered in the basket to take Lil' Dude home.  I wish he could go home with all the kids!  Be on the lookout for some exciting news regarding Lil' Dude at end of the year!