Weekly Overview - Aug.29-Sept.2

HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING IN ROOM 14...AUGUST 29-SEPT. 2

Dear Parents:

Thank you so much for sending in wish list items. I really appreciate the support. One thing that I would like to stress again is for you to read this overview carefully each week and to make sure that you check all of your child’s homework each night. It is also expected that you will go over the homework directions with your child before s/he begins the assignment. Thank you for following through with this critical support for your first grader.

Another thing I would like to remind you is that volunteer forms and TB test verifications are due for any parents who plan on volunteering for school activities.

LANGUAGE ARTS

Printing:  We have finished reviewing all the correct formation for all of the letters. Please watch to see that your child is using correct letter formation at home on homework. We will be reviewing some of the trickier letters this week (a, b, d, g, p, q) as well as working on our vowel code.

Reading: We will review the short vowel sounds for o and u. We will learn the long sounds for the vowels i, o and u.  We will practice reading long and short vowel words (using vowel marking) in isolation. There will be a vowel quiz on Friday for short and long a-o.

Spelling:  In class we will be working on auditory discrimination of rhyming words. This week we begin our formal spelling program. On Monday we will work together in class to learn the LOOK-SAY-COVER-REMEMBER-WRITE-CHECK method.  Please make sure that your child uses this method to do his/her spelling homework. PLEASE KEEP THIS OVERVIEW SO THAT YOUR CHILD HAS THE WORD LIST TO BE USED FOR HOMEWORK. 

*Mon.-Use the study method to write words 1-5 four times each

*Tues.-Use the study method to write words 6-10 four times each

*Wed.-Practice test - missed words are written 4 times each for homework

*Thurs. HW- spelling review page

*Fri.-final test - graded for spelling and rubric-assessed for handwriting

1.  map      2.  plan      3.  ten      4.  wet      5.  six

6.  did        7.  stop       8.  frog    9.  yes       10.  in

MATH: We are starting our Topic 2- comparing numbers. We will be comparing individual numbers and using the vocabulary “greater than”, “less than” and “equal”. The children will also learn to use the <, > and = symbols. There will be a quiz on Friday.

SOCIAL STUDIES: We are beginning our unit on People and Places. The focus question for this week’s lesson is “How can we use maps and globes?”. The following vocabulary words will be used and discussed: map, globe, ocean, state, continent.

SCIENCE: Our first lab is this Thursday at 10:15! We will be exploring some aspect of plants. Science parents who are scheduled to come, PLEASE go over the lab that I will send home with your child on Wednesday so that you know your responsibilities AND make sure that your paperwork for volunteering has been turned in to the office prior to Thursday’s lab.

COMPUTER LAB: Thursdays at 11:15 – A helper schedule will come home soon.

LIBRARY: Our library day is Wednesday. Students check out 2 books. They are allowed to take one book home at a time. Please make sure that your child brings his/her library book back to school on Tuesdays. If everyone brings back their books, we get 10 marbles in our marble treat jar!!

**********************SPECIAL NOTES************************

Take-Home book envelopes will be going home near the end of this week. Please read the procedure letter inside the envelope carefully and make sure that you initial my checkout date when your child has completed the responsibilities of the Take-Home books. Send the envelope back as often as you can, but AT LEAST once a week. Remember book levels will be adjusted over time. Thank you for your patience.

Your child benefits when you join the PTA!! Please let me know if you need a new membership envelope. We still need many parents to join! I learned that if you are not a PTA member, you are not allowed to work at PTA functions to get your volunteer hours- another great reason to join (not to mention that it funds activities for your child)

Our donation fund-raiser begins soon (an envelope and information will be coming home).  $100 per student will enable us to continue to provide special educational activities and resources such as field trips and assemblies.  Any help is greatly appreciated!

Our first progress report will go home this week- please read, sign and return.

Have a great week!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Pierce

Weekly Overview - Aug.22-26

HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING IN ROOM 14....August 22-26

Dear Parents:

Please take the time to read this overview each week since I will be sharing with you what we are doing in class. Thank you for attending the Back to School Night. I look forward to getting to know you better. Please be patient as I begin to match children with parents. It takes awhile!

Once again I would like to request that you please look over your child’s homework for completeness and accuracy each night. Beginning this week I will start our homework point system-3 points given for each day of homework that is on time and complete. Homework points will be deducted for any late or incomplete homewok.

PRINTING:  We will work on the correct lowercase letter formation of the following letters: i,j,k,l,m,n,p,r,t,v,w,x,y, and z.  Homework will include practice of the correct formation of the uppercase letters. Please try to make sure that your child is following through with correct letter formation at home.  I am also trying to stress proper pencil position.  Some students have developed improper habits. These habits will only be more difficult to correct as time goes on.

READING/WRITING:  We will finish our review of the consonants and will take a test on beginning consonant sounds.  We will review the short vowel sounds for a and e.  A new concept -long vowel sounds- will be introduced.  Words that get the long a and long e sounds will be introduced and read.  The children will learn how to recognize and mark words that have long vowel sounds.  This marking of the vowels will be a visual aid for the children as they learn to read the words. A copy of the vowel markings was included with your Back-to-School Night reference information. Please note the following rules that I will be teaching the children.  Please reinforce them at home.

1. When a vowel is saying its long sound, it is saying its own name.  (The one

    exception is u, which has two long sounds, "u" and "oo".)

2. When there is one vowel in a word, it usually says its short sound. 

    e.g.   bat     bed     kick     pot     sun

3. When there are two vowels in a word, usually the first vowel says its long sound

    and the second vowel is silent. 

    e.g.   soap     feet     OR     bike     taste

We will work on some visual discrimination activities to help us with our foundation for spelling.

MATH: This week we will finish up Topic 1 (Numbers to 12) by working on spatial patterns for numbers to 12. The goal is for students to recognize patterned arrangements of numbers without counting (such as the dot patterns on a die). We will talk about comparing numbers (greater and less). The students will have a test on this topic on Friday.

SOCIAL STUDIES:  We will be talking about how rules and laws help us to get along with others (such as “The Golden Rule”). We will also talk about making choices, both at school and as citizens (voting). 

SCIENCE: We will continue our work with recognizing plant parts (root, stem, leaf, flower, fruit, seed) and their functions.

P.E.: Please make sure that your child wears good running shoes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Those are the days that we usually have PE.

LIBRARY: Unfortunately, our wonderful librarian, Mrs. Grometer, is no longer with us due to budget cuts and restructuring. We will have a library aide, Mrs. Toni Lancaster, who will meet with us 20 minutes a week to check-in and check-out books. We will start book check-out next week. Books are always due on Wednesday, and one book is allowed to be brought home.

    *************************** SPECIAL NOTES************************

Thank you to the many parents who have already donated supplies, etc. from the Wish List! You are awesome!

Please support our school by joining the PTA- Help us meet our 100% goal! J

Please turn in all of the school/classroom forms as soon as possible, particularly the mandatory district volunteer forms-a separate form set must be filled out for each parent that is volunteering. Parents helping out in any lab situation will need to have a current TB test on file in the office, as well.  Thank you for the wonderful response to our computer and science lab needs! Our schedulers have been determined and a complete science and computer schedule will be coming soon! Please note that due to many parent responses, you will most likely not be scheduled for all the times that you indicated that you were available.

If you are not getting emails from the school, please make sure that they are not getting routed to your SPAM or JUNK file. If necessary, go to the school website and re-subscribe.

Please remember that there will be a substitute on Thursday and Friday of this week as I will be taking my son to college.

Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Have a great week!

Sincerely,

 Mrs. Pierce

Weekly Overview - Aug.15-19

HERE’S WHAT’S HAPPENING IN ROOM 14…AUGUST 15-19

Dear Parents:

            Welcome to the first grade at Millikin! Your child is going to learn many things and hopefully have some fun along the way. I would like to remind you about Back-to-School Night for parents only TOMORROW evening- 6:00-6:30 in the cafeteria and 6:30-7:30ish PM in Room 14. Please make every effort to have at least one parent attend this event. You will receive critical information about the first grade program. This will also be a very good opportunity for you to voice any questions you may have about the coming school year. The evening will last from 1 to 1 and 1/2 hours. I will try to keep it as short as possible.

            The following is a brief overview of the main subjects we will be covering in the first week of school. I will have a detailed overview for your child to take home each week (usually on Monday) beginning Monday, August 22. Please make sure that you read these weekly notes completely and carefully. It is the main way that I use to keep you informed as to what is happening at school. This overview will also be available on the Millikin website.

Reading: We will be reviewing all the consonant letters and sounds. The first month of school we will be reviewing some kindergarten concepts (short vowel sounds) and learning some new concepts (long vowel sounds). This is one important part of the three reading components: meaning, structure and visual.

Writing: We will be writing about a favorite summer activity. At the end of the week, the students will write in their journals about a school activity that they enjoyed.

Handwriting/Printing: We will be concentrating on correct circle and line formation as it relates to individual letters (a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,o,q,u,s)—both upper and lowercase. We will be focusing on correct pencil position.

Math: This week focuses on a review of the meanings of the numbers 0-12 and how to form them.

Social Studies: We will talk about voting and making choices.

Science: We will be studying plants as our first science topic.

Computer Lab: Our regular lab day is Thursday at 11:15

Library: Our turn-in and checkout day is Wednesday. Please help your child to remember to bring back his/her book on that day. We will check out 2 books-only one book may be taken home at a time.

P.E.: We usually have PE on Tues. and Thurs. Please send your child in good running shoes on those days.

Music: All first graders gather in Room 15 on Fridays to learn songs.

Homework: There will be homework every Monday through Thursday evenings. Please make sure that your child has a simple homework folder with pockets at the bottom of the folder to bring to school each day. Your job is to check this homework folder each day (even Fridays!) and to make sure that your child completes and returns all assignments the following day (unless otherwise indicated). Developing a homework routine is important. If possible, please have your child complete the homework in a clean and quiet place that is free from distraction. I suggest that you create a homework box (a shoebox works well) that will hold pencils, erasers, crayons/colored pencils, scissors, a ruler (cm and inch) and a glue stick, so that your child has all the materials s/he needs to complete homework. It is the parent’s responsibility at this grade level to check the homework each day and to make sure that it is complete and correct. There are MANY times, often within a week, that part of the homework will involve a parent signature. Please write a note if your child had great difficulty completing the homework, or if there is any confusion as to how to complete the assignment.

School Supplies: Supplies have been purchased for your child. If you have not made your $50 donation and are able to do so, please turn the donation in as soon as you can. We greatly appreciate any support you can give in these times of critical budget deficits.

Please note the following time schedule:

            Monday-Friday- Playground is open for student drop-off from 8:20-8:30

            School day: Mon., Tues, Thurs., Fri. – 8:30 (sharp!)-2:26

                               Wed. – 8:30-1:37

Please carefully read through all the materials and sign and return the appropriate documents in the colored “Very Important Stuff” folder by Friday. Thank you!

I am looking forward to working with you to make this year a wonderful year of growth and success for your child J. If you need to contact me, please send me a note, call my extension (423-1864), or send an e-mail (kpierce@scu.k12.ca.us).

I hope to meet you at Back to School Night tomorrow night (6:00 in the cafeteria, 6:30 in Room 14).

Have a great week!

Sincerely,  

Mrs. Pierce