If you have not yet, please send in your First Grader's permission/money for our Field Trip to the Zoo. The cost is $7 per person ($5 for zoo, $2 for bus). If you are a Zoo Member, please note this on the permission slip but please remember to pay $2 per person for the bus cost. We are going to the Zoo on Wednesday, October 14 from 9:15 til 2pm. Let me know if you need another form sent home.
Spelling Words and Thinking Words
For your First Grader's Home Thinking this week, they will begin getting Spelling Words as part of it. We have Spelling Tests EVERY Friday. They will have the opportunity to choose how they want to practice these words through a monthly spelling menu that will come home. You DO NOT need to do all of these choices. We hope that you and your First Grader enjoy these fun, non-traditional ways to practice spelling patterns.
A few notes about the Spelling List: You will see "Spelling Words" and "Thinking Words." Here is the explanation of both:
-Spelling Words: These are 5 words from our First Grade High Frequency List. First Graders should know how to read AND write all of these words by the end of First Grade. These will be the words we practice throughout the week that will be "graded" for Friday Spelling Tests.
-Thinking Words: These are words that follow a spelling pattern we practice throughout the week. There will not be a "list" of these words to practice, as we want to students to use the spelling pattern to "THINK" about how the word should be spelled versus memorization. This week for example, we will be practice words that have -at in them. Some of these words could be cat, hat, etc. Have you or your First Grader brainstorm words that fit this pattern to practice with. For the test, these will be treated as "challenge words" or in other words for extra points.
Let me know if you have any questions about Spelling.
Student Headphones
We have begun using the Chromebooks in the classroom for Reading, Writing, and Math instruction! It would be helpful to send in a pair of headphones for your student to keep in their Rainbow Drawer for when we use them. We unfortunately do not have a classroom set for everyone to have a pair. Please send them in a labeled baggie for safe storage.
Conference Sign Up
If you were unable to sign up for November conferences at Curriculum Night, the signups will remain in the main hallway near the office for a few weeks. Please take the time time to stop by and sign up so that we can chat about your awesome First Grader on November 17th or 19th. If you are unable to come into the school to do this, please contact me with your availability and I am happy to sign up for you.
Volunteer in the Classroom
If you have not gotten a chance yet to sign up to be a volunteer in the classroom, this will be the last week to pass along your availability for the year to me. In the next week or so I will send an email to those who have signed up and give you some options for volunteering :)
You can find the sign up on the Parent page of our classroom website: http://wilsonh.weebly.com/parents.html
If anything changes with your volunteer availability throughout the year, just get in contact with me!
Raz Kids
A note will be coming home with your students this week with login information for them to use RazKids at home. We use this in school on a weekly basis(1-2x per week) and it helps to use this as support at home as well. The note will give you some options of how your student can login (app and online version available). Also, there is an option for parent access so you can check in on how your student is progressing throughout the year. Let me know if you have any questions!
Addition/Subtraction Fact Fluency
A note will be coming home with your student on Monday about the following. We are going to begin exploring addition and subtraction facts. To strive for mastery of facts, we will focus on one fact family each week(alternating addition and subtraction) and assess student's mastery every Friday. To start, this Friday we will assess the family: +0 and +1. These will NOT be timed. The goal is for your student to scored a 90% or above (18/20). Your support and help at home with this will be a huge benefit as we practice these throughout the school year.
*Friendly Reminder: If you are viewing this on your phone, scroll all the way down to see important notes on the SideBlog (student of the week, spelling words, important dates, etc.)