Friday, January 18, 2013

January 18 Newsletter


Mrs. Bali’s First Grade News
January 18, 2013

Review of our week:
         This week I have spent some time assessing and doing some reviewing where we needed it. I wanted to assess a few more things, so I will send progress reports on Tuesday.  In math we worked on adding 3 numbers, 1 more and 1 less. We have been working on nouns, verbs and adjectives, so we can write a snowman story.  We will start a unit on maps next week.
We will also have our store next week.  I have some students who have earned more than $2 to spend.  I had some who had less than $.20.  When they turn their reading records, homework and take home books in, I keep track and give them money every week.  If your child didn’t earn very much this last quarter, please help them earn more for next quarter.  I think this is a very good life lesson.  When you work hard and do your work, you will receive rewards for it.

Homework:
         The most important homework your child should be doing everyday is reading for 20 minutes every night.  We are getting close to the end of the month, so please make sure your child is doing their reading and filling in their mittens.  I am sending home some worksheets; they are due back by Friday.  
         After your child has finished reading their book, I would like you to have them tell you what happened in the book and also ask them some questions to clarify.  Most of them are getting to the point where they can decode very well, now we need to start working on comprehension.  I am sending home another comprehension worksheet with a story and a few questions.  Please sit down with your child and help them with this.  You need to sign it and return it by Friday.

Progress Reports:
         I am sending home progress reports. I hope that you all have a chance to look over them.  Please look at how many days your child has missed or has been late this quarter.  They are missing a lot of things when they are gone or late.  Also, there might be things I didn’t have a chance to assess with your child because they were gone.  If you check out our blog you can see which students had 100% attendance this last quarter. On time we have only worked on telling time to the hour at this point.  I have some students who still need to work on counting.  If you have any questions please let me know.  I need you to look over your child’s progress report, sign the bottom and return it on Monday. 

DIBELS:
         We just did our mid-year Dibels assessment.  I am including your child’s scores with their progress report.  I wanted to explain a few things.  The nonsense word fluency is the same as what I explained during SEP’s in October.  The benchmark has just gone up.  This time they did oral reading fluency.  Each child had 3 different stories to read for 1 minute each.  They counted how many words they read correctly which is the first score.  Then there is an accuracy percentage.  So, if your child read 23 words and had an accuracy percentage of 92% your child was able to read 23 words a minute and there were just a couple they either got wrong or skipped.  If the percentage is lower, your child has more words they were not able to read or they are skipping.  I know this is kind of confusing, please let me know if you have any questions about your child’s scores.  We have made a lot of progress from the beginning of the year.
100th Day of School:
         Monday, January 28th is the 100th day of school.  We will be doing some really fun things to celebrate.  I need every student to bring a collection of 100 things.  They can find them now and keep them in their backpacks, so they don’t forget for that Monday. I would like you to sit down with your child and come up with something they can bring.  BE CREATIVE!!!  We will be counting them and using them or different activities, so make sure it is something your child can sort and count.  We are going to have a 100th day snack.  Other years we have had a snack of 100 things.  I saw a fun thing where they took doughnuts at a pretzel stick to make the number 100.  I decided to do that this year.  If would be willing to send a box or a small package of the small doughnuts, I would appreciate it. Each child would need 2, so we would need around 50 doughnuts. We also need a package of stick pretzels.  Will you please let me know if you would be willing to send some, so I will know how many extras I will need to buy?  Thank you.

FYI’s:
* Keep saving your Box Tops. 

* Thanks for everything you have done. I really want to                      thank all of you who come in and read in the mornings.  I no longer have a parent reading on Mondays.  If you would be interested in coming in and reading with the class, just let me know.  If another day works better, let me know.

* Tristan moved last week. He still lives in Cedar, but not in our boundaries.  His mom gave me their phone numbers if any of your child would like it to keep in touch with Tristan, please let me know.  He was really sad about leaving his friends in our class.       

* If your child has not turned in their permission slip or their $1, please send it on Tuesday.  Thanks

Upcoming Events:
·      Monday, January 21 – No School (MLK)
* Thursday, January 24 – Field Trip (Annie Play)
·      Friday, January 25 – Celebrate Katie’s ½ Birthday
·      Friday, January 25 – Family Fun Day (Pratt Family) 
·      Friday, February 1 – Celebrate Rae’s Birthday
·      Friday, February 1 – Family Fun Day
·      Friday, February 8 – Family Fun Day
·      Thursday, February 14 – Valentine’s Party
·      Friday, February 15 – Family Fun Day
·      Monday, February 18 – No School (President’s Day)
·      Friday, February 22 – Family Fun Day
·      Monday, February 25 – Spelling Bee 2:00
·      Friday, March 1 – Celebrate Amanda’s Birthday
·      March 4-8 – SEP Week (School gets out at 2:30)
·      Friday, March 8 – Celebrate Tyler’s Birthday
·      Monday, March 11 – Spring Pictures
·      Friday, March 15 – Family Fun Day
·      Friday, March 15 – End of 3rd Quarter
·      Monday, March 18 – Celebrate Rachel’s Birthday
·      Wednesday, March 20 – Kindergarten Registration
·      Friday, March 22 – Family Fun Day
·      Friday, March 22 – Science Fair
·      March 27-29 – No School (Spring Break)

        




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