MD Report Card/MAP results Envelope...

Please remember to return this envelope to school so I can put the students' report cards in each quarter.

Thank You!!

STEM BUS... Marble Run...

STEM BUS Marble Run Challenge

We had so much fun working with partners and teams to create a marble run challenge using Keva Planks. 

Harvest Parade and Party...

So...it's almost October already! It's time to give you a heads up about Halloween costumes in first grade. Our party and parade will be Thursday, October 31.

We do celebrate in our classrooms with a party at 1:40. All families are welcome to join us. The entire school has a parade after the party.  The parade is at 2:30.

The first grade team will be dressed up for the entire day. The first graders come to school in their costumes and wear them all day. I can help add parts to their costumes, but it is difficult for them to get dressed at school.

If you are afraid a piece may get lost, and your son or daughter would miss it, you might want to leave that part at home.  Be sure to encourage them to wear the comfortable part of their costumes. Save swords for trick or treating at home. Be sure to come to our party or parade. Grandmas and Grandpas love to come, too, but you might want to come together due to parking.

Students can head home after the parade, with parents, since it is almost dismissal time.  Just sign them out in our classroom. Many parents love to do this if they have a big night planned.We will have a class sign out sheet in our room. Don't worry...the buses run like normal in case you can't make it this year. Bring your camera. It will be so much fun!

Where's My Mummy?

We took a very close look at a great book this week. We  asked questions at the beginning, middle, and end of the text. We used adjectives to describe the characters and setting. We practiced what is is a good retell when we retold the story in sequence. Students remembered to use a story teller's voice and language from the story. Hooray!  How can you support their thinking at home? Discuss characters in detail, notice the setting of stories and practice retelling stories when you are reading with your first grader!

Good retells include the characters and their names, the setting (when and where-time of day or season and place), the problem, the beginning, middle, and end. It includes the solution and author's message, too.

Our guiding question is:

How does comparing the adventures of characters help us to comprehend and remember the books we read?

We will have to compare the adventures of the characters to prove our answer. I have multiple copies of both books, a video and a handout to help us understand what comparing means. As a group, we will need to decide what our work will look like.  Will students meet in small groups to read and study the books or will we do it whole group? We can not do partners at the beginning of the year since many of us are still working on our reading skills. How will we show what we know? Post-its?

Posters? Video? Presentations to another class?

Writing A Personal Narrative Video...Teaching Without Frills...

  These final videos are great for us to consider when writing a narrative.

This week, we will look at these videos and follow them. We will watch a video and do what it suggests. We will watch the next and do what it says. We want to completely understand the expectations and procedures for writing a narrative. I have planted the seeds this past week when we read books and talked about what writing workshop will look like and sound like. We talked about ideas. When we finish the videos, we will start into our first unit from Lucy Calkins. I'll let you know more about that when we get there!

Superhero of the day...

Our last superheroes of the day! Now we will have superhero of the week! 

Murphy the Dog came to visit our classroom...

Mr. Billman brought Murphy into our classroom. 

He came into our classroom and brought lots of smiles to everyone's face! 

We had lots of giggles!

Superheroes for this week

Check out this week's superheroes!!

Compass Learning

This program can be utilized at school and home!
There is an app for the iPad and Tablets called, Puffin Academy

Remember when the students took the MAP test in Reading and Math on the chrome books at the beginning of the school year? This test helped to identify the skills and concepts that students have already mastered. It also identified what your child is ready for next.

Our students have access to a web-based program to help each student reach the "what's next" to learn. It is called Compass Learning Odyssey. It is individualized and focuses on language arts (reading, writing, spelling) and math. The program is very kid friendly and students seem to enjoy it.

Your child can use this program at home. We use it once a week in Reading and Math for 30 minutes each as part of Reading and Math Workshops. The creators of the program suggest that students use it several times a week so I hope you will be able to use it at home, too. The students used it last week and were very engaged.

To access at home:

Go to www.compasslearning.com and click on Odyssey log-in at the top of the webpage. You can click here: Compass Learning

Username: use your child's school I.D. number (same as their lunchroom number)

Password: Type MD then your child's birth month and day (mmdd) then md. If your child's birthday is June 4, then the password is MD0604MD

School:  Maple Dale  It has to have the space between the two words.

To access your parent view of the Compass Learning site:
Log-in to the site but type a P followed by your child's I.D. number (the same as his/her lunch number)

If you have questions, or have difficulty determining how much time to spend on homework, reading, and Compass Learning and think I might be able to help, please email me. We can figure it out together. I am hoping students could find 30 minutes for language arts and 30 minutes for math during the week or weekend with cooler weather coming. However, that may be difficult for your family....and to make it even harder...I just listened to a TED talk about the need for lots of unstructured time for kids to develop creative skills...which we all know. Yikes...it is easier to be a teacher than a parent. I respect whatever decision you make...I know you always have your child's best interest in mind...does that help?

If your child does not have access to a computer at home, let me know. Sometimes we can find some morning meeting time to provide a little more access if needed.

Go Math...Letter Home...Chapter 10

This chapter is all about representing data. Look at our I Can statements to learn more about our focus. I Can:

• Analyze and compare data shown in a picture graph where each symbol represents one.
• Make a picture graph.
• Analyze and compare data shown in a bar graph or a tally chart.
• Make a bar graph or a tally chart.
• Solve problem situations using the strategy "make a graph".

Math Stars and Sunshine Math

If you are interested in additional math work, you might want to read this.

Looking for a challenge for the student who loves math?  There are many resources at your fingertips thanks to the internet.  Two opportunities that parents consider for their child is Sunshine Math and Math Stars.  These pages provide the chance for your son or daughter to learn some new skills and do some "out of the box" thinking about math.

I have provided links to these sites so parents can look over the work that each program offers. You can choose which resource might best fit your child's interest and needs.  This gives you the opportunity to see the work at different grade levels, too. Some parents like to work with their child and they may choose a more challenging level.  Other parents would like to see their child work independently so they may choose a level that is a little easier. You can try a variety of grade levels and continue the work throughout the summer.  You can decide how often you are interested in using this at home...once a week or a few times a week. Several years ago, I offered these pages to some of our students that seemed to enjoy math a great deal. Other parents expressed interest, so now I offer it to everyone.

This work is entirely optional and the majority of parents feel that the math homework or Compass Learning is plenty at this time. Please don't feel like it has to be done!  You might want to start it up later in the year or save it for summer.  Providing the links and information enables you to use it however you would like. You can run it off at home.  If your son or daughter is the type of student that would like me to see it, feel free to send it in on Fridays with their other work.  Enjoy or ignore!

All these links are through another school website.  Click here to check out: Sunshine Math

Math Stars offers a strategy of the month. Here is a link to the math sheets: Math Stars

Picture Day is Tuesday!

Just a reminder that picture day is Tuesday, September 10.  Wear your best smile! I bet the pictures will be adorable!

Grandfriends are the best!!

Our class is so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives. Grand Friends Day was fantastic. Everyone who came to visit was so warm and loving! What wonderful role models for all of the kids in Room 103. Thank you for coming! We even had some students share their family with others!! How special!!

Max and grandparents. Plus his fun uncle from England came!

Grant and his grandparents!

Rosie and her one set of grandparents!

Natalie and her special grandfriends!

 

Phoebe and her grandparents!

Jack and his special grandpa!

Rosie and her other grandparents!

Faye and her dad!

Chase and his grandparents!

Chase shared his family with Kyle and Miles!

Eli and his mom! Plus his birthday was extra special having her join us!

Aubree and her dad!

Tyler and his cool Uncle! 

Maeve and her special grandpa!

Ava and her grandparents! 

Ms. Anzer and all her special buddies! 

It was so crowded so I apologize if I missed getting someone's picture.