Mrs. V's All Star Learners Classroom: 1/11/14 Newsletter

Dear Parents of First Grade All Stars,

Our first school week of 2014 was fast and furious! You could tell by the smiles and conversations of our children upon entering the classroom that they were happy to be back with their friends. I probably had the biggest smile since I missed "my" kiddos and was glad to get back to work.

And back to work we did go right away with our literacy work focusing on long e words and readings. We brainstormed and developed our class-anchor chart of long e words. We worked on a long a poem/song called "Hide and Seek". The students read short books like Mean Jean, Pete and His Beans, Zeke, Wheels, etc. All these books are "chock full" of long e words. At the beginning of the year when reading these patterned, vowel-sound-specific books, the children needed LOTS of help. This week I noticed that most students are now able to read them independently. In fact, some students were "caught in the reading act" having book talks about their readings WITHOUT my direction to do so! Wowie-Zowie! The students worked to be called "word detectives" by finding long e words when reading their just-right books. I smiled when some students found their long e spelling words when reading their just-right books. We also began reading and analyzing easy-read informational books in preparation for informational writing lessons and informational books by the students. I told the children that if they practiced an informational book they could be a "Guest Reader" and read that book to their classmates. Well, already this week we had THREE students read informational books to their classmates AND ask questions at the end, too. How's that for fantastic participation and enthusiasm?! THANK YOU again for all the awesome at-home reading logs you've been sending in. The children are very proud to hand them in to me and to share what they are reading at home. Reading to, with, beside your child is not only a fun together time, but also a tremendous motivator that helps to build the love of reading as well as skills. I truly appreciate your at-home reading time with your child!

Our spelling routines and practices focused on long e words, too. The students worked with their individualized lists of long e words, priority words, and words missed on the previous test. The children practiced saying and writing their words and learning the meanings of their words. They worked on "Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check", traced their words, practiced with a partner, and we had another study practice/quiz time as students challenged classmates to spell this week's words. Our fourth-grade buddies came in yesterday morning to give the first graders their spelling tests. Next week we will be working on long i words, and the children will bring their lists home on Monday. Before vacation I did a REtest of the Grade One Priority Spelling Words to see how many each child has truly learned. So on the list that comes home Monday you may find that some of these Priority Words have come back for a repeat performance to practice again for memorization. Thanks so much for all the at-home spelling practices. They really do help the kiddos "cement" the learning of the spelling words.

On Monday during writing time the students were excited to write in their journals about their vacation activities. Since most of the children now have a good understanding of what a complete sentence is, I have been "pushing" the students to write more. This is challenging, but most of our kiddos are trying their best to write longer and stronger. Another sign of growth showed up during our writers' workshops. I was so pleased to see how more and more and more of the students are truly able to use their personal dictionaries when writing! Way to go, writers!

Our math this week included work on ways to add three numbers by looking for doubles or making tens, word problems with three addends, and problem-solving strategies. During all our lessons we used the ten frames, individual white boards, pictures, and number lines to learn and practice the skills. We had two sessions to review and practice all the skills/processes in the chapter. Then yesterday the children took the end-of-chapter test. It was a challenging test, but they did a nice job! Warning: Cute math story coming! On Wednesday Mrs. Bonacquist came in during our math lesson on the rug. As the children were holding up their white boards to show me their work, I was pointing to the child and saying, "Right!" for one part, "Right! Right!!" for two parts, and "Right! Right! Right!" for three parts. Both Mrs. Bonacquist and I were so pleased at all the correct answers. I guess I had a rhythm going because one little boy raised his hand to say, "That 'Right! Right! Right!' is a catchy tune, Mrs. V.!" Mrs. B. and I laughed...love it! Then the next day during the math lesson the children spontaneously started singing, "Right, right, right! Right, right, right!, etc..." as they erased their white boards to prepare for the next problem. Yes, you can actually have fun while learning math, and the side benefit was that white boards were getting cleared and ready faster than usual! We will continue our fact practices in class and any short, at-home practices of addition/subtraction facts would be a great help, too. Thanks!

We've been working on weather words and daily weather observations each day since the start of school, but the frigid weather gave us a great start to our "formal" weather unit for science. We worked with our globe finding the Arctic Circle and Antarctica. Then the children became smarter than some writers for MSNBC who had spelled "Arctic" this way: "Artic". The kiddos got a real kick out of the fact that THEY could spell "Arctic" correctly when the "professionals" couldn't! Then we found the North Pole and the South Pole and learned about the "Polar Vortex" phenomenon. I was smiling from ear-to-ear when several kiddos came back the next day and told me that they had talked about this with their parents! Go, Scientists! (Speaking of Scientists, your child should have brought home a packet with details about our awesome Science Fair.) We also had lessons on the impact of weather on our daily lives, words to describe their favorite season, a fun tally count of favorite seasons, developed charts about what we think we already know about weather and what we'd like to learn about weather, and even some challenge work on the difference between climate and weather. (You might want to ask your child which season he/she "voted" for, why, and which season had the most "votes".)

We did not have our regular "Buddy Work" session on Friday due to the whole-school kickoff assembly for our "One School - One Book" program. It was such an exciting assembly full of reading-character questions, trivia questions, songs, and jokes! By the end of the assembly the children knew the "One Book" was Charlotte's Web! Your YOUNGEST child in school should have brought home a copy of Charlotte's Web purchased for EVERY family by our amazing P.T.O.! Thank you so much, P.T.O.! Each family will read Charlotte's Web at home with their child/children, and each classroom will be having discussions and activities based on the readings. What a great way to build both love of reading and community!

On Thursday Vikash celebrated his December birthday with his classmates. Thanks for celebrating with us! Happy birthday, Vikash!

On Friday we had another special treat. Ms. Marinello, home for her college break, came in again to work with us. The children and I all LOVE having Ms. Marinello working in our classroom! Thanks so much for all your help and for spending time with us, Ms. Marinello!

With their random acts of kindness and good behaviors, our All Stars filled the All-Stars Behaviors jar with gold coins for the second time! Wowie-Zowie! They voted for their reward and chose "Pajama Day". So on Monday, January 13th, your child may wear "jammies" to school if they wish. Thanks for helping your child with this well-earned reward.

In lieu of the two half-day conference days in February, I asked to be allowed to have those two half-day conference days in January before I must retire. I am very happy to say this was approved. However, because the district considers these conferences optional, there are only two instead of three half-days. Therefore I must make the conferences shorter than my normal conference-marathons...LOL! (You may even be thinking this is a good thing...ha.) If you wish/are able to meet, use this link http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0944AEA62BA1FB6-optional   Then please select a conference day/time and click "submit and sign up".

Thank you again for all your fantastic support at home.
Respectfully,
Mrs. V.