September 11 Newsletter

Mrs. Bali’s First Grade News

September 11, 2015

Review of our week:

         We finished our unit on fables and fairy tales.  We will start a unit on the human body next week.  Each day we interview the leader and I am really seeing some improvement in our writing.  We have also been working on sentence structure. We did the chapter review yesterday, and took our math test today. 

        

Homework:

         You and your child need to be reading for 20 minutes every night. We will start the Take Home Library on Monday.  These books are on your child’s independent reading level, they should be reading them to you.  They may seem easy and that is because they are or they should be.  They are one level lower than where I have them instructionally.   I would like your child to read the book 2 or 3 times.  After they have read the book have them tell you what happened in the book and ask them some questions about the book for comprehension.  I did the assessments over the last couple of weeks to find their reading level.  By the time we start in our guided reading groups, some of them will be ready to move up.  Please, be patient with their take home book level until we start guided reading groups.  If your child is on a higher reading level, they won’t move through the levels as fast.

                  I am going to try something different with the chapter in math.  I am going to send home the extra practice sheets all together.  You can have your child do these for extra practice, or you don’t have to.  There are some who could really use the extra practice, but I want their reading to be the priority. I may do some other math pages for homework later.  I just want to try this.

Sight Words:

         I have gone through the sight word lists I have and placed your child on a list they need to work on.  They may only have 1 or 2 they need to work on.  When they have practiced and can read them with mastery, which is being able to read each word in a second (see it, say it) please sign the paper I have attached and return it.  I will have them pass the list off and get the new list.  We will also be working on stories in a little while.

Reading Parents:

         I would like to start having parents come in and read with the class in 2 weeks. They can be moms, dads or grandparents.   I have included a list of the parents who have signed up.  If you can and would like to come in and read with us, we would love to have you.  Let me know if there is a day that would work for you.  

         At Back To School Night I had said we would do reading from 8:40-9:10.  If that time works for you, you can still come at that time.  I have looked at my schedule and decided that I can also have parents come from 11:15-11:45.  I will be pulling small groups at this time.  If this time works better, please let me know.

Reminders & FYI:

* Please make sure your child is here on time.  We cover a          lot of very important math concepts in our opening.  We are also doing bell work or finishing up from the day before.  I would really appreciate it if you had your child here on time.

     

* Remember Library books on Thursday. I have asked my     class to keep their backpacks in their backpacks, so they are here every week.  Thanks

* Don’t forget to link your Smith’s Card to our school.  Ask grandparents and neighbors to do it also.  The school really makes a lot of money with this. 

* Please have your child wear their favorite T-Shirt on Monday.

Leaders for next week:

September 14 – Kyla

September 15 – Lance

September 16- Mckell

September 17 – Peter

September 18 - Peyton

Family Fun Day:

         I attached a copy of the paper on Family Fun Day to my email last week.  Usually they will be on Fridays, but if that does not work let me know and we can set up another day. I have dates listed in the upcoming events.  If there is one of those dates you would like, let me know.  If you have any questions please let me know.

Upcoming Events:

·      Saturday, September 12 – Back To School Bash & Splash

·      Monday, September 14 – Vision & Dental Screenings

·      Tuesday, September 22 – Celebrate Will’s Birthday

·      Friday, September 25 – Fall Pictures

·      Friday, September 25 – Family Fun Day

·      September 28-October 2 – SEP Week (School gets out at 2:30 everyday.)