Rio Del Mar Elementary School
Monday, November 9, 2009
Hello Again
Happy Monday!! Remember we have Wednesday off this week...enjoy the break. Hope everyone had a restful weekend. We added a new student today, Ruben, and we are very happy to have him join room 21. Welcome Ruben! The kids are working hard on their word wall words, their phonograms, and their "Power Standards". I am seeing much improvement in the writing. Look for the worm paragraph coming home tomorrow. I was quite impressed. As far as "Power Standards" I mean...capitals at the beginning of the sentence, proper spacing of words, word wall words all spelled correctly, punctuation at the end of the sentence, and of course, beautiful writing. In math we are moving along with subtraction and how it relates to addition...Should be finishing up Chapter 9 this week. In addition we have started our Science unit on seeds and how they grow. We already have been exposed to this concept with our beautiful garden. In fact, Haleigh's mom came on Friday and we all weeded the garden, picked our gorgeous salad, and everyone (most everyone) ate salad. It was delicious. Room 21 has some excellent gardeners for sure. Last week I sent home a notice about sending in some seeds for a project...please send those in at your earliest convenience. Thanks. And finally, we started our Social Studies unit on our changing world. It is so interesting for the kids to learn about how far we have come with our technology and what life used to be like. Amazing!! Have a great week. One last thing...new word wall words are as follows: know, put, name, very, same.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Latest News
Thanks to all for the wonderful Halloween Party last week. The kids had a great time!! Back to business this week working with addition and subtraction and looking at the relationship between the two. Continue your nightly work at home with Chapter 8 and 9 for the next two weeks . The 100 Club is still in full swing so practice number writing to 100 too if you can find the time! We are continuing with our phonograms and are working on wh, ea and ai this week, as in when, ear, and train. Spelling will dramatically improve as these phonograms are introduced and used. Look for a note regarding seeds in your child's folder towards the end of the week. We are about to begin our science unit on seeds and how they grow. We will be doing some fun activities with this theme. In addition we will be learning about our changing world in Social Studies and about the past and how we've changed with technology and transportation. Lots to learn in the first grade!! Oh...new word wall words this week are over, under, never, each, and but. Have a great week.!!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Halloween Week
Hello Again,
I hope you all had a nice and relaxing weekend. This is Halloween week so expect your child to be excited! We will be having a party on Friday after the parade which is scheduled for the morning...so your child should come to school in costume. I am sure you are aware that there are some rules as far as costumes go. Please no weapons, blood and gore, and/or provocative clothing. Please make sure your child can either wear the clothes safely all day or make sure they can change out of their costume easily. Should be a fun day!! Please remember to fill out your child's reading log and turn it in each Friday. The more you read with your child, the better they will read. I am so enjoying seeing your children grow and progress, especially in their reading. I have seen some real "light bulbs" go on just last week and it is so rewarding!! In addition, please continue to support your child by supplementing the math we are doing in class with the homework math pages. We are finishing up chapter 6 and starting chapter 7 this week...still working on subtraction. In language arts we are focusing on phonograms and have learned sh,th,ee,er and ow so far. We are also really focusing on our writing with capitals at the beginning of sentences, ending punctuation, proper spacing between words and correct spelling of word wall words. If you ever have a free moment you child can certainly benefit from being read simple sentences for them to write. The more practice they get the better they will be. An example would be: He can play and run. These are all word wall words so they should be able to write this sentence, as well as many others with simple words and structure. Thanks for your support and for having such wonderful children. They definitely light up my day.
I hope you all had a nice and relaxing weekend. This is Halloween week so expect your child to be excited! We will be having a party on Friday after the parade which is scheduled for the morning...so your child should come to school in costume. I am sure you are aware that there are some rules as far as costumes go. Please no weapons, blood and gore, and/or provocative clothing. Please make sure your child can either wear the clothes safely all day or make sure they can change out of their costume easily. Should be a fun day!! Please remember to fill out your child's reading log and turn it in each Friday. The more you read with your child, the better they will read. I am so enjoying seeing your children grow and progress, especially in their reading. I have seen some real "light bulbs" go on just last week and it is so rewarding!! In addition, please continue to support your child by supplementing the math we are doing in class with the homework math pages. We are finishing up chapter 6 and starting chapter 7 this week...still working on subtraction. In language arts we are focusing on phonograms and have learned sh,th,ee,er and ow so far. We are also really focusing on our writing with capitals at the beginning of sentences, ending punctuation, proper spacing between words and correct spelling of word wall words. If you ever have a free moment you child can certainly benefit from being read simple sentences for them to write. The more practice they get the better they will be. An example would be: He can play and run. These are all word wall words so they should be able to write this sentence, as well as many others with simple words and structure. Thanks for your support and for having such wonderful children. They definitely light up my day.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Back to Full Days
Hello Again,
We are back to work, readjusting to full days. It is amazing how quickly we all got used to the conference schedule, short days. I think I was asked about 19 times what time school was over! Our worms survived over the weekend and have displayed some interesting tunnels for the kids to observe and write about. I will probably be sending them home at the end of the week, so be on alert. They don't have to be a pet...the garden would be a very nice home. We will be finishing up Chap 6 in math this week and moving on to some more subtraction with chap 7 next week. We are still working on our Nutrition unit and continuing to talk about the seasons. The weather has been cooperating and giving us some good, tangible examples of changes. Last week was rather fun! Word wall words for this week are: many, also, but, some, may. And...we have started to learn our phonograms! Today we tackled sh and tomorrow we will be on to th. Keep that "cheat sheet" handy that I gave out during your conference. We take a lot of this stuff for granted so you might need a bit of a refresher. Enjoy the rest of the week... The excitement about Halloween is beginning to show :)
Connie
We are back to work, readjusting to full days. It is amazing how quickly we all got used to the conference schedule, short days. I think I was asked about 19 times what time school was over! Our worms survived over the weekend and have displayed some interesting tunnels for the kids to observe and write about. I will probably be sending them home at the end of the week, so be on alert. They don't have to be a pet...the garden would be a very nice home. We will be finishing up Chap 6 in math this week and moving on to some more subtraction with chap 7 next week. We are still working on our Nutrition unit and continuing to talk about the seasons. The weather has been cooperating and giving us some good, tangible examples of changes. Last week was rather fun! Word wall words for this week are: many, also, but, some, may. And...we have started to learn our phonograms! Today we tackled sh and tomorrow we will be on to th. Keep that "cheat sheet" handy that I gave out during your conference. We take a lot of this stuff for granted so you might need a bit of a refresher. Enjoy the rest of the week... The excitement about Halloween is beginning to show :)
Connie
Monday, October 12, 2009
Getting Ready For The Rain
Hello Everyone,
Hope you all had a nice weekend. Don't forget that conferences are this week so we are out early the entire week. I look forward to meeting with you all. You may have heard about our wonderful worm lesson today from a local man who is "into" worms and what they give to us...and the earth. The kids were fascinated, and quite frankly, so was I. What a great introduction to our own study of worms. Our "worm hotels" are ready for their inhabitants who will "check in" tomorrow. We will be observing the worms as they tunnel and do their thing...for the next couple of weeks. Amazingly our ants are still hard at work while they tend to their deceased comrades! During the conferences I will be giving you a phonogram cheat sheet so you can refresh your memories as your child learns these very important sounds. Trust me...you won't remember many of them as you and I take them for granted. However mastery of these sounds and combinations of letters are essential for beginning spellers. We are moving right along in math working our way through Chapter 5 and on to Chapter 6 which deals with subtraction. Don't forget about the homework book. This is a great way to reinforce the skills your child acquires in class. And in addition, we are still in discussion about the seasons and about nutrition. Lots going on! Your children are wonderful and are working very hard. I am very proud of them as I tell them often. Hope you are seeing the growth both academically and emotionally. Again, I look forward to seeing you all at conferences. As always, feel free to email me with any questions, comments, or concerns. Have a great week and enjoy the storm...
Connie
Hope you all had a nice weekend. Don't forget that conferences are this week so we are out early the entire week. I look forward to meeting with you all. You may have heard about our wonderful worm lesson today from a local man who is "into" worms and what they give to us...and the earth. The kids were fascinated, and quite frankly, so was I. What a great introduction to our own study of worms. Our "worm hotels" are ready for their inhabitants who will "check in" tomorrow. We will be observing the worms as they tunnel and do their thing...for the next couple of weeks. Amazingly our ants are still hard at work while they tend to their deceased comrades! During the conferences I will be giving you a phonogram cheat sheet so you can refresh your memories as your child learns these very important sounds. Trust me...you won't remember many of them as you and I take them for granted. However mastery of these sounds and combinations of letters are essential for beginning spellers. We are moving right along in math working our way through Chapter 5 and on to Chapter 6 which deals with subtraction. Don't forget about the homework book. This is a great way to reinforce the skills your child acquires in class. And in addition, we are still in discussion about the seasons and about nutrition. Lots going on! Your children are wonderful and are working very hard. I am very proud of them as I tell them often. Hope you are seeing the growth both academically and emotionally. Again, I look forward to seeing you all at conferences. As always, feel free to email me with any questions, comments, or concerns. Have a great week and enjoy the storm...
Connie
Monday, October 5, 2009
Hello Again
It was great to see so many of you at the Harvest Festival last Friday. We definitely had a good turnout! Back to business in room 21...Thanks to Haleigh's mom and grandmother for organizing the planting of the garden. The kids had great fun and were really able to take ownership by being able to do the planting themselves. If you are able, please send in $5.00 so we can reimburse Haleigh's mom for providing us with the materials we needed. We now have a growing garden that the kids will be able to observe and watch grow...and hopefully taste one day. In addition, if you can send in a clear, plastic tennis ball can with a lid to create our "worm hotels", that would be great. I am hoping to start this project this week so that you can see the "hotels" during your conference next week. Speaking of which, I look forward to seeing you and discussing your child's progress. I am so proud of this class and their hard work. I will be providing each of you with a set of word wall words for the year so you can continue to practice with your child at home. At home support of what we learn in class is very important at this age so the newly acquired concepts are reinforced. We are finishing up chapter 4 and on to chapter 5 in math. If you have addition and subtraction flashcards at home, that is a great way to reinforce these skills. And remember that you have the Math Homework book to give your child some extra support. I certainly appreciate your support and look forward to seeing you all next week during conference. Have a great week.
Connie
Connie
Friday, September 25, 2009
Winding Up The Week
Hello All,
Just completed another productive week....We have started learning how to code our vowels, a skill that is for beginning readers . These marks are used in the dictionary to help sound out words. The short vowels marked by a little scooped line over vowels marks the a,e,i,o and u as in: hat, met, hit, hot and hut. The long vowel marked by a straight line over the vowel marks the a,e,i,o and u as in: cake, Steve, kite, hope and cute. The two dotted vowels marked by two dots over the vowels mark the a,o and u as in: father, do and push. The papers that come home with columns of letters and then words spelled twice is called Signs for Sounds. It really helps children with their spelling. I tell them a word, they sound it out and choose the letters to write and then we have a little spelling test after. I also am looking for nice handwriting on this paper. New word wall words this week were (www): way, first, all, there, into. Next week's words are: make, just, they, little, and she. We have just finished up Chapter 2 in math and I must say it was a bit challenging for the kids to find numbers that are 10 more and 10 less than the given number. I believe everyone was finally understanding by the end of the week...but regardless, it is the first introduction and the concepts will be reinforced throughout the math program. We have one more lesson doing some problem solving with these concepts then we are on to addition!! We have finished the "Mystery Person" books and will now begin the "Star of The Week".
The focus of the Star of the Week is the rich history of your families’ ancestry and their role in our community. Star covers mapping, understanding that people, places and things change over time, and understanding we all have roles in the community.
Monday - Send in a poster about the star and their family and any childhood special treasures.
Tuesday - Send in a map showing family origins and any cultural items.
Thursday - Parents are welcome to set up a time to come in and talk about their jobs or interests.
Friday - Send in a family tree.
I will be sending home the first "Star's" assignment on Monday. This is another fun way to get to know each other, as well as learn some very interesting things we might not otherwise be introduced to. We are still studying our very busy ants as they continue to tunnel away. We will continue making observations as long as they survive. And soon we will be studying worms as we make our "Worm Hotels". We will keep you updated on this also. As always, please feel free to email me anytime at conniewtk@comcast.net if you have any questions or comments. Have a wonderful, relaxing weekend!!
Connie
Just completed another productive week....We have started learning how to code our vowels, a skill that is for beginning readers . These marks are used in the dictionary to help sound out words. The short vowels marked by a little scooped line over vowels marks the a,e,i,o and u as in: hat, met, hit, hot and hut. The long vowel marked by a straight line over the vowel marks the a,e,i,o and u as in: cake, Steve, kite, hope and cute. The two dotted vowels marked by two dots over the vowels mark the a,o and u as in: father, do and push. The papers that come home with columns of letters and then words spelled twice is called Signs for Sounds. It really helps children with their spelling. I tell them a word, they sound it out and choose the letters to write and then we have a little spelling test after. I also am looking for nice handwriting on this paper. New word wall words this week were (www): way, first, all, there, into. Next week's words are: make, just, they, little, and she. We have just finished up Chapter 2 in math and I must say it was a bit challenging for the kids to find numbers that are 10 more and 10 less than the given number. I believe everyone was finally understanding by the end of the week...but regardless, it is the first introduction and the concepts will be reinforced throughout the math program. We have one more lesson doing some problem solving with these concepts then we are on to addition!! We have finished the "Mystery Person" books and will now begin the "Star of The Week".
The focus of the Star of the Week is the rich history of your families’ ancestry and their role in our community. Star covers mapping, understanding that people, places and things change over time, and understanding we all have roles in the community.
Monday - Send in a poster about the star and their family and any childhood special treasures.
Tuesday - Send in a map showing family origins and any cultural items.
Thursday - Parents are welcome to set up a time to come in and talk about their jobs or interests.
Friday - Send in a family tree.
I will be sending home the first "Star's" assignment on Monday. This is another fun way to get to know each other, as well as learn some very interesting things we might not otherwise be introduced to. We are still studying our very busy ants as they continue to tunnel away. We will continue making observations as long as they survive. And soon we will be studying worms as we make our "Worm Hotels". We will keep you updated on this also. As always, please feel free to email me anytime at conniewtk@comcast.net if you have any questions or comments. Have a wonderful, relaxing weekend!!
Connie
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