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Happy Labor Day! News for September 3rd

Thank you to everyone that has been sending in your paperwork and pictures for our writing journals. I will be in touch if I am still missing a few things.

 

 Classroom Shenanigans:
We are still continuing to establish our routines and procedures in first grade! This takes time and is the backbone of our day and we are really getting into a groove. It is fun to see a classroom community come together and see new friendships being made.

In Tuesdays folder, there was a scholastic book fair order for you. Attached was a note with our classroom code as well as a wish list. If you would like to have your child make a wish list, this is a great way to see what their reading interests are. All orders are due Wednesday, September 5th!

IMPORTANT REMINDER…
The new volunteer application for the 2018-2019 school year is now available.  Please remember that applications to be an approved volunteer MUST be submitted EVERY year.  The district conducts background checks on every volunteer to help ensure the safety of our children.  At this time of year, approval can take up to two weeks, better not to wait! And, remember, ALL volunteers must be approved – room parents, classroom helpers, field trip chaperones, Watch D.O.G.S., etc., prior to volunteering.
To submit applications, go to this link
SNACKS:
As a grade level we have been trying to adjust to our new schedule and lunch time being earlier this year.  We are finding that the children are hungry mid afternoon and would like to offer a snack time around 2:00 p.m.  Students are not required to bring a snack, but they must provide their own if they want one.  Since students will usually have schoolwork at their desks and snack time will be only a few minutes long, there are guidelines we must ask you to follow.
Examples of appropriate snacks are:
  • Healthy, ready to eat items
  • Fruits and vegetables (apples, carrots, grapes)
  • Fruit based snacks
  • Dry cereal, granola bars
  • Other healthy snacks that do not require a spoon
Examples of items that should be eaten only at lunchtime:
  • Drinks (other than water)
  • Chips
  • Cookies, brownies
  • Candy and other sweets
  • Larger portions of food (an entire sandwich)
DISMISSAL PROCEDURES:
Our number one priority is the safety of our students.  We do our best to create a safe and efficient plan to dismiss our students.  Parents should make every effort to formulate a plan to meet their child outside the building after school.  If your plans change, please notify the office as soon as possible, so our office staff can notify the teacher.  Teachers are not always able to check email or voicemail during the day, so please call the office if we need to get a change of dismissal notice to your child.  Also, if your child walks to school, it is absolutely imperative that they cross at the designated crosswalks.  Every day we see children crossing Boulder or Ember Glen outside of the crosswalks.  This is extremely dangerous and we would appreciate you impressing this on your child.
THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM:
Language Arts:
– Make text-to-self connections
– Identify vowels in words
– Make a reader’s response
– Discuss reading strategies (Does it look right? Does it sound right? Does it make sense?)
– Continue building reading stamina
– Continue routines for “read-to-someone” for Reading Workshop
– Continue building writing stamina
– Discuss how we capitalize names of people, titles and the letter “I”
– How do writers choose a topic they care about?
– Stretch and write words
Math:
– Math Workshop (signals & voice volume)
– Practice Math Workshop rotations
– Compose and decompose numbers
– Subitize numbers
– Collect, sort and organize data; ask & answer questions involving counting and comparing data
– Reading graphs and asking questions about graphs.
Science/Social Studies:
– Introduce historical figures as good citizens such as Benjamin Franklin, Eleanor Roosevelt, etc.
– Identify and describe the role of a good citizen in maintaining a constitutional republic
– Identifying U.S. and Texas symbols
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:
September 3: Holiday; No School
September 4: Box Tops Competition Begins
September 11: Curriculum Night (6:00-6:30 in your child’s classroom) PTA meeting to follow at 6:30 in the cafeteria.
I am so excited for this school year! We are off to a great start. I hope you all enjoy your long weekend and I look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday!

News for the week of August 27th

CLASS NEWS:

We are off to a great start to our school year!! We have a wonderful group of children and I look forward to getting to know them better!

Thank you for taking the time to fill out all of the back to school paperwork.  If I am missing any papers for your family, I will send a reminder notice home in the Tuesday folder this week.  If you need an additional copy of a form, please email or call.  Thank you!

I also appreciate your help with the beginning of the year donation requests that I had out at Supply Drof Off!  Thank you, thank you, and thank you!

After updating the website each week, I will send an email your way to let you know updates have occurred.  The website is such an important source for classroom communication.  In the coming weeks, I will use the newsletter to convey important, and often time sensitive, information to you on a weekly basis.

This past week the first graders got to enjoy a “Book Tasting” where they sampled various fiction & non-fiction books and recorded their findings.  We also have been working on our math workshop structure and we practiced expectations and voice levels while exploring math tools.

IMPORTANT REMINDER…

The new volunteer application for the 2018-2019 school year is now available.  Please remember that applications to be an approved volunteer MUST be submitted EVERY year.  The district conducts background checks on every volunteer to help ensure the safety of our children.  At this time of year, approval can take up to two weeks, better not to wait! And, remember, ALL volunteers must be approved – room parents, classroom helpers, field trip chaperones, Watch D.O.G.S., etc., prior to volunteering.

To submit applications, go to this link

SNACKS:

As a grade level we have been trying to adjust to our new schedule and lunch time being earlier this year.  We are finding that the children are hungry mid afternoon and would like to offer a snack time around 2:00 p.m.  Students are not required to bring a snack, but they must provide their own if they want one.  Since students will usually have schoolwork at their desks and snack time will be only a few minutes long, there are guidelines we must ask you to follow.

Examples of appropriate snacks are:

  • Healthy, ready to eat items
  • Fruits and vegetables (apples, carrots, grapes)
  • Fruit based snacks
  • Dry cereal, granola bars
  • Other healthy snacks that do not require a spoon

Examples of items that should be eaten only at lunchtime:

  • Drinks (other than water)
  • Chips
  • Cookies, brownies
  • Candy and other sweets
  • Larger portions of food (an entire sandwich)

TARDIES:
The first few weeks of school after summer break can be a hard transition for some students, however, on August 27th we have been asked to begin counting tardies.  The tardy bell rings at 7:40 a.m.  If a student arrives after 7:40 a.m. he/she will be given a tardy pass prior to entering the classroom.  Our school doors open at 7:20 a.m. and students are allowed to enter their classrooms at that time.  We encourage all students to be settled in their classrooms no later than 7:40 a.m. to help start their day off right.  Students who are eating breakfast will not be counted tardy with a breakfast pass.

DISMISSAL PROCEDURES:
Our number one priority is the safety of our students.  We do our best to create a safe and efficient plan to dismiss our students.  Parents should make every effort to formulate a plan to meet their child outside the building after school.  If your plans change, please notify the office as soon as possible, so our office staff can notify the teacher.  Teachers are not always able to check email or voicemail during the day, so please call the office if we need to get a change of dismissal notice to your child.  Also, if your child walks to school, it is absolutely imperative that they cross at the designated crosswalks.  Every day we see children crossing Boulder or Ember Glen outside of the crosswalks.  This is extremely dangerous and we would appreciate you impressing this on your child.

LIBRARY CHECKOUT:
Our class will have a weekly library lesson and/or story time each Thursday afternoon.  At that time, the students will also have the opportunity to check out books to read at home.  I wanted to let you know so your child wasn’t having to carry their books around in their backpacks until then.  They do get heavy!

THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM:

Language Arts:

– Make text-to-self connections
– Identify vowels in words
– Make a reader’s response
– Discuss reading strategies (Does it look right? Does it sound right? Does it make sense?)
– Continue building reading stamina
– Introduce “read-to-someone” for Reading Workshop
– Continue building writing stamina
– Discuss how we capitalize names of people, titles and the letter “I”
– Identify handwriting lines on paper and where certain letters are written
– Stretch and write words

Math:

– Prepare for Math Workshop (signals & voice volume)
– Practice Math Workshop rotations
– Explore, count, write and compare numbers to 20 in different ways
– Subitize numbers
– Collect, sort and organize data; ask & answer questions involving counting and comparing data
– Comparing numbers using the words “greater than” and “less than”

Science/Social Studies:

– Introduce science notebooks and science safety
– Discuss science tools
– Understand the purpose of rules and laws
– Understand the role of authority figures, public officials and citizens
– Identify and describe the role of a good citizen in maintaining a constitutional republic
– Understand characteristics of good citizenship as exemplified by historical figures and other individuals

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

September 3: Holiday; No School

September 11: Curriculum Night (6:00-6:30 in your child’s classroom)

This is going to be a fun and exciting school year.  Please feel free to contact me through email or by phone if questions or concerns arise.  I look forward to sharing the First Grade year with all of you!

News for the week of August 20th

Welcome to First Grade!

Thank you for your warmth and hospitality during our Welcome Walk!  We appreciate your understanding of our time table as we made our way through the neighborhood to greet our students.  Seeing so many faces at school on Friday for Supply Drop-Off shows just how excited we all are for first grade to begin!  All of us are looking forward to an outstanding year!

We appreciate your patience as we begin our new school year.  Getting to know our students, making them feel comfortable, and helping them establish new friendships are our top priorities!  Building classroom expectations and routines take time and help ensure a smooth, successful year.

Communication is very important.  We are committed to keeping you informed about what the students are doing in the classroom.  If you need to be in touch with us, you may send a note to school with your child, call, or write an email.  However, if you need to change your child’s after school transportation plans for that school day, please contact the main office (428-2800) before 2:00.  Teachers may not always have the chance to check email and voicemail before dismissal.

Amy Pina                  428-2839                 amy_pina@roundrockisd.org

Karen Ogle               428-2840                 karen_ogle@roundrockisd.org

Jean Riggins             428-2841                  jean_riggins@roundrockisd.org

Each week you will find our newsletter posted on our web pages.  In order to make our communication easy to access, all school newsletters can be accessed through the CCE webpage.  Please be sure to visit each page on the website as you become familiar with first grade, and then read the newsletter weekly.  It is essential that you utilize this valuable resource for important classroom information.  If you have any questions, please ask your child’s teacher.  This will be our valuable means of communication with you throughout the year.

Important information for this week:

Please complete these 3 First Grade items located in the weekly folder and return them to school by

Tuesday, August 28th:

– The parent survey asking for information about your child (please complete both sides)

– The sheet asking for contact information

– The volunteer information sheet

Recess Information: We welcome students to bring a labeled water bottle (first and last names) to school.  On days when we have inclement weather or the heat index is too high, we will have a break in our day for indoor recess.  The safely of our children is foremost in our minds.

Dismissal Information: At 2:55, each First Grade Teacher will be responsible for walking and delivering the grade level student to 1 of the 4 areas: Kinder exit, 1st grade exit, office exit, and YMCA.  Thank you in advance for all your help as we work together as partners in keeping all students safe!

THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM:

Language Arts:

– Write about summer experiences

– Read stories about the beginning of school

– Respond to stories

– Introduce Reading Workshop

– Introduce Writer’s Workshop

Math:

– Collect, sort, and organize data.

– Ask and answer questions involving counting and comparing

– Introduce Math Workshop

– Learn how to care for math materials

Social Studies:

– Meet and learn about our new first grade classmates and friends

– Tour the school

– Learn classroom procedures, rules and expectations; create a classroom social contract

– Learn about our flexible seating options

– Learn cafeteria procedures, rules, and expectations

– Learn recess rules and expectations

– Compare the differences between Kindergarten and First Grade

– Learn how to share information with partners

– Discuss importance of making good choices

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

September 3: Holiday; No School

September 11: Curriculum Night (6:00-6:30 in your child’s classroom)

We hope you have a wonderful week!  We look forward to a fantastic year!

The First Grade Team

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