Families,

It is the first blog post of January/the new year! We will pick up right where we left off in January so take a look at what’s ahead:

Important Dates/Reminders:

• Keep up with XtraMath and reading while we are on break! These are great and easy ways to stay on track during the two weeks and keep your child in somewhat of a routine.
• Baggie books did not get switched out this week–with the hustle and bustle of winter break I did not want any books getting lost or left behind. We will resume this the Tuesday we get back!
• We will be starting something new on Fridays called “Voracious Reader.” Each Friday I will be picking a reader who showed the traits of a voracious reader during Reader’s Workshop to receive an award that will be hung up in the classroom!
• We have an Early Release Day on Friday, January 12th.
• Popcorn Friday will be on Friday, January 26th.

Reading: We will start a new unit where our focus will be non-fiction texts! We will begin by learning what non-fiction is and then take a look at all of the different text features non-fiction books have to help us learn (ex: glossary, table of contents, diagram, labels, etc.)!

Writing: We will continue our persuasive/opinion letter writing. We will review adding the words “and” and “because” into our letters, adding good reasons why, and adding a good closing.

Math: We will continue unit 4 where we are learning about teen and 2-digit numbers. We will look at how these numbers are made up of a group of tens and extra ones.

Spelling: Our words are: be, this, from, make.

Have a WONDERFUL winter break,

Miss Reisdorff

Families,

Our last week of December and 2017 together! What a year it has been so far :). There are some important dates/reminders below, and I have set up the rest of the blog by day since we will be having some special themed days! We are also having a spirit week next week so check out those festive days!

Important Dates/Reminders: 

• Winter break will be from December 25-January 5th. Enjoy your time with family and snow!
• Our holiday party will be Friday, December 22nd from 12-1. Remember, if you would like to join us please make sure you have your background check completed.
• I will let you know as soon as our Scholastic Orders are in so those of you who want to keep your orders a secret can arrange a time to pick them up.
• A reminder to make sure you are sending warm winter gear with your child! We have been enjoying snowy recesses, but they are much more fun when we are warm and prepared!

Spirit Week Days:

• Monday: “Baby It’s Cold Outside” (warm hats, beanies, scarves)
• Tuesday: Candy Cane Lane (wear red and white)
• Wednesday: Long Winter’s Nap (wear cozy PJs)
• Thursday: Grinchmas (dress up as the Grinch or a Who from Whoville)
• Friday: Ugly Sweater Wednesday (wear an ugly sweater)

Monday: We will be reading fun winter stories, writing with winter writing prompts, and representing teen numbers as tens and ones.

Tuesday: We will be reading fun winter stories, writing with winter writing prompts, and learning how to write 2 digit numbers (ex: 80 is eighty and 14 is fourteen).

Wednesday: We will have our Polar Express day. We will listen to the story, design a class train, and watch The Polar Express with our other 1st grade friends.

Thursday: We will have our Grinchmas mystery readers, do a Grinch song writing activity, make a Grinch craft, and do some Grinch number activities!

Friday: We will have our gift exchange, illustrate a winter poem, and have our holiday party!

Enjoy the snowy weather!

Miss Reisdorff

First Grade Families,

I want to give a quick shoutout to all of our parents–our class won in our hallway for attendance wars! Thank you for making your child’s education a priority and making sure that they are here at school. I love when we have our whole class here and get to see everyone’s smiling face :). Because of our awesome attendance we will get a popcorn and movie party!

That being said, I want to give a quick reminder now that we are in the season of cold weather and germs. If your child has a fever, please do not send them to school. Please wait until they have not had a fever for 24 hours before sending them back. This is to ensure that they are feeling well enough to be at school and helps keep the rest of our school healthy! There is definitely a bug going around and I want all of our kiddos to stay healthy during this busy and festive time!

We are cruising through December! We have just about 2 weeks left until we leave for break. It’s a busy month ahead, so don’t forget to mark your calendars for all of our upcoming events!

Important Dates/Reminders:

• Our day for Santa’s Secret Shop is Tuesday, December 12th. Please send in money with your child if you wish to have them participate!
• Popcorn Friday is Friday, December 15th.
• First graders will be having a special Polar Express day on Wednesday, December 20th.
• Our school will have our “Grinchmas” celebration on Thursday, December 21st. We will have some special guest readers come in, reflect on our good deeds of the month, and students are encouraged to dress up with staff as Whoville characters!
• Our holiday party will be on Friday, December 22nd. More information to come, but this will take place in the afternoon.
• There is no school December 25th-January 5th due to our winter break! Enjoy!
• If your child has not yet decorated their ornament and brought it in, please do so! We are still missing a few and would love to have our tree decorated from the whole class!
• A pink note went home this week about our 1st grade gift exchange. Your child may bring in their gift starting Monday. Remember, if your child is a boy please have them address it to a boy and include their own name (ex: To: Boy From: Andy). Do the same thing for girls! Please do not exceed the $5 limit. Some good places to look are: Target Dollar Section, 5 Below, and Walmart!

Reading: We will be focusing on retelling using our characters, a shape go map, and our reading partners.

Writing: We will work on organizing our writing before we write a letter, using words like “and” and “because,” writing to our audience, and making sure we have a good ending sentence.

Math: We will work on adding numbers to get a teen number total (ex: 8+6=14), teen number addition strategies, and adding doubles (ex: 8+8=16).

Spelling: We have no new words this week but will be having a spelling test and sentence dictation test!

Stay warm this weekend!

Miss Reisdorff