Scientists at Work

Today we conducted our first science experiment of the year. We decided to test to see what would happen to the temperature of water if we heated it in the microwave. Before beginning the experiment, each student wrote a hypothesis in his/her weather journal. Students had to decide if they thought the temperature would increase or decrease when the water was warmed. Each group then measured the temperature of water right out of the faucet and recorded their findings. Next, we heated a different container of water and watched the thermometer adjust to the new temperature of the water. After recording the temperature of the warm water, students wrote a conclusion sentence in their journals. I think everyone in our class wants to be a scientist when they grow up!

Readers are Leaders!

Our class is crazy about reading! Everyone is so excited about taking AR tests. Today we started using reading phones during small group reading time. These "phones" allow students to hear themselves read words without disturbing those around them. Of course, they love them because it is more fun to hold something silly while reading. Now every time we start to read in class, they want to know if they can use a reading phone. Oh well...at least they are excited about reading!

Weekly Progress Report

I am sending out the first of our weekly progress reports on Monday, August 22nd. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns, and be sure to sign and return to school on Tuesday. Thanks!

TGIF!

I feel like we are finally starting to get in our groove now! Reading groups went much smoother this week, even with a few changes, but I expect next week we will have it down. As you know, we will be taking our spelling, vocabulary, sight word, and end of theme tests tomorrow. These are weekly tests that will always be on Fridays. In addition, we will have a language test tomorrow on sentences. Language tests are not always on Fridays, but that is the way it happened to work out this time.

On Monday or Tuesday, we will be taking a skills test on graphs in math. We have been working on this in math all week, and I think our class is ready to take this test and move on to number lines next week. Graphing and the introduction to grouping items by tens will be tested again at the end of our current unit, but I want to check our progress on the graphing skill at this point. A few papers have come home, and I will send a few more of our graded activities home next week. Please review these items with your child. We will continue to work on all unit skills during our math enrichment and remediation period each day.

I CARE Materials

Last week we sent home August's I CARE materials. This is a new program that our county has adopted to help promote the home-school connection. Several parents have informed me that some materials may have been missing from the packet that you received. I just want to thank you for already working on these activities and apologize if you did not receive everything that you needed this month. I think September will run much more smoothly now that we know a little more about the program and what we are doing.

By the way, the trait for this month was school pride. We read a story in class and discussed what it means to have school pride. Most of our class best understood this concept when we compared it to having pride in our country. They were able to make the connection that we often show our pride in the way that we dress (such as patriotic colors or school colors with our uniforms). We completed a short class activity that encouraged students to show their school pride by coloring and labeling a model of their school.

Please let me know if I can provide any assistance with the I CARE program. I am really confident that next month you will get everything that you need to complete the home portion of the program. Thanks for all that you do to support us at school!

I Almost Forgot!

I was just posting the class news and homework for next week when I realized that I had not posted Friday before leaving school. It was a very busy day for us, and we had some exciting things to share with you! We took all of our end of week tests and continued to work on modeling numbers with blocks in math. We completed a math page in our book, but we had a little trouble tearing them out, so that will come home in a few days for you to review. We will continue this review and begin working on graphing next week.

We also continued to work on our science unit on weather. I have never seen so many budding scientists before! Our class LOVES to explore new things in this subject. We have been taking daily weather walks and recording our observations in our weather journals. We have some great hands-on activities planned for this unit next week that I know the students will really enjoy.

In social studies, we are still discussing some of the main themes that will be covered this year. We began working on our class beliefs quilt toward the end of the week. We can't wait for you to see the finished product at our Open House in September! Next week, we will be talking about our community a little and will be asking you to share some information with us from your childhood so we can compare and contrast with our lives today. The two themes of location and time, continuity & change are recurring this year for us in this subject.

Friday is Test Day

I hope everyone is getting ready for our first testing Friday! We will take our spelling test, quiz on sight words, and our end of theme reading test tomorrow.

I also realized that I had not taken a group photo of our class yet. Thought I would share this with you all. Don't they look like the best 1st grade class ever?

Routines, Routines, Routines

Today I finally started to feel like our days are becoming more routine. We still had a few things that interrupted our normal schedule, but we have been practicing moving in our reading groups and have been trying hard to stay on schedule. Give it another week, and we should all be a little more comfortable and know what to expect throughout the day.

Don't forget tomorrow is School Picture Day! NO UNIFORMS, but please make sure your child is dressed nicely. These pictures will be used in the JME yearbook so you want your child to look his or her best!

A Few Reminders...

Another busy day! We had an assembly for our Fall Fundraiser, and you should have received those in your child's bookbags this afternoon. Please let me know if you have any questions.

School pictures on Wednesday, August 10th. Students DO NOT have to wear their uniforms on this day but should be dressed nicely.

PLEASE return all forms from Open House as soon as possible. It takes a great deal of time to send individual notes for each form missing to each student. Double check your Code of Conduct (the small white booklet) to make sure you signed and returned the first page. Thanks so much!

The First Week

Although it was a short one, we can say we have officially completed the first week of school. Today in class I assessed students individually on the kindergarten sight words, and we completed a reading assignment together in class. We really focused on using pictures clues to help us learn words that we may not know in a story. This would be a great skill for you to reinforce at home. When reading a story, ask your child to describe what is happening in the pictures on each page before reading the words together.

I also asked the students to complete a handwriting activity for morning work today. You will find this sample in your child's homework folder. Although we don't use the primary-lined paper for very long in 1st grade, it is important that your child use appropriate uppercase and lowercase letters when writing this year. I will continue to practice handwriting with students who need the help. Please review the paper that came home today with your child and practice forming all letters correctly.

Wow! What a First Day!

We had a great first day of school! Like always, it was a very busy and stressful day, but I enjoyed getting to know each of my students a little better. Our "Doggie Bag" homework activity was so much fun. Each student brought in his/her items and shared with the rest of the class. We are waiting for a few more students to bring in their bags, and then I will post some pictures for you to see.

On another note, I want to thank those of you who already returned your Open House forms. I have already started making lists of what is missing. Please continue to send those in as you finish. I need ALL forms in no later than Monday.

Finally, please remember that all students must wear belts to school as a part of our uniform. We will have to send students to the office for not wearing them.

I am really looking forward to this year!