Families,

We made it to Spring Break! I hope that whether you are headed towards warmer weather or staying home you have a safe and relaxing break. While the winter was long, time has started to fly by and I anticipate the rest of the year will too. Take a peek at what is to come when we return on April 8th!

Important Dates/Reminders:

• We will hold off on homework and switching baggie books until after break!
• Special Person Days will resume on Tuesday, April 9th (with #16).
• Our next Early Release Day is on Friday, April 12th. School will be dismissed at 12:15.
• Alward’s Carnival will be on Friday, April 12th. We hope you can come and enjoy the fun! Our class is still looking for donations for “Family Fun” (if you are interested in donating, we have lots of popcorn already :)).
• Scholastic book orders will be coming home on Monday, April 8th. If you are interested in ordering, please place your order online using the class code NNX2P by Friday, April 19th at 4:00.

Reading: We will start a new unit where we will look at topics across genres. Students will pick their own topic and have 5-6 fiction and non-fiction books all about the same topic. We will learn how to read to learn, find facts across genres, and prove facts by finding them in other books/genres.

Social Studies: We will take a break from writing this week and focus on maps and locations. We will learn how to read/make maps and learn our home address.

Math: We will continue to solve story problems using comparison bars to help us find a total or unknown partner.

Word Work: We will look at words that sound the same but have a different spelling pattern (“oa” or “ow”).

Have a wonderful break!

Rebecca Reisdorff

Families,

We made it through conference week and are just about half way through March already! Where is the time going? I had a wonderful time meeting with you to discuss all of your child’s hard work and progress. It has been so fun to see these kids continue to grow into readers, authors, mathematicians, scientists, artists, etc. as the year has progressed! Take a look at what we are up to next week:

Important Dates/Reminders:

• Remember that any guests who come in as your child’s special reader for their special day must have a background check completed. Please let me know ahead of time who is coming in if at all possible!
• Please continue to bring in donations for our class carnival basket! Our theme is “Family Fun Night” so we are looking for any donations a family can enjoy together (movie, games, picnic, etc.).
• Spring Break will be from March 29th-April 7th.

Reading: We will practice making our reading voice sound smooth, rereading to enjoy our books and learn from them, and review retelling strategies.

Writing: We will wrap up our “How To” writing unit with fixing and fancying our writing, a writer’s celebration, and a cold write at the end of the week to show all that we have learned.

Math: We will learn about a strategy called “comparison bars” to help us find unknown partners and totals.

Word Work: We will look at words that sound the same but are spelled with the “ee” or “ea” pattern.

Have a great weekend!

Miss Reisdorff

Families,

Our first week of March is here! March holds some special events such as One School One Book, parent/teacher conferences, and…SPRING BREAK! Please take a look at what is ahead for our first grade class:

Important Dates/Reminders:

• One School One Book will kick off Monday, March 4th! We will have our book reveal and books/reading calendar will be coming home on Monday. Enjoy this time reading daily with your child and connecting our whole school through reading!
• Our Special Person Days will begin on Tuesday, March 5th. Please double check your child’s date for this! Remember they are allowed to bring in 4-5 pictures, 1 show and tell item, and their favorite book to be read aloud to the class. Remember, they may have someone special come in (12:10-12:25) and read the book to our class but they MUST have a background check complete (if possible, please email me ahead of time with who will be coming in).
• Our next Early Release Day is Friday, March 8th. School will be dismissed at 12:15.
• Parent/Teacher Conferences are Tuesday, March 12th and Wednesday, March 13th. If you have not already signed up for a time, please do so using the link posted in the Alward Action.
• Spring Break will be from Friday, March 29th – Sunday, April 7th.

Reading: We will learn how to be careful readers and how to reread when we get distracted. We will also take a look at common word endings (-s, -ed, -ing).

Writing: We will review adding a closing, caution statement, and details to our writing.

Math: We will review a few math concepts from this unit–equations with 3 addends, adding groups of 10, and story problems that involve teen subtraction. We will take our unit 5 test on Thursday.

Word Study: We will be looking at the “ai” and “ay” spelling pattern in words.

Have a great weekend! Hope for some sun!

Miss Reisdorff

Families,

I cannot tell you how happy I was to be back in the classroom this week! It was great to see these kiddos after all of our snow days and my absence last week :). We had also had a great time celebrating all of our hard work last week with our pizza party! Looking ahead as I write this blog post, I cannot believe a week from today will be the first day of March! Take a look at what we’ll be up to:

Important Dates/Reminders:

• I am extending our Scholastic book order to be due Monday, February 25th by 4:00p.m. If you would like to order any books please submit orders online using the class code NNX2P.
• Parent/Teacher Conferences will be Tuesday, March 12th and Wednesday, March 13th. A link to sign up should be available in the Alward Action starting today!
• Friday, March 1st we will be celebrating Dr. Seuss! His birthday is March 2nd and it is a great way to kick off “March is Reading Month!” We will enjoy some silly books and complete some fun activities.
• I am in the process of getting a calendar prepared for our “Special Person Days” (this is my variation on Star Student). More information will be coming next week, but each student will have a day where we celebrate them as our “special person.” The class will make a book for them, they can bring in a few pictures and favorite item, and they will be allowed to have a special reader come and read their favorite book to our class.

Reading: We will start the week by reviewing non-fiction retell strategies and then review reading strategies and how to make sure words look right, sound right, and make sense.

Writing: We will continue work on “how to” texts and will learn how to add a caution statement, details, and include the words “first, next, then, last.”

Math: We will focus on numbers 1-120 and learn how to add and subtract 10 and multiples of 10 (ex: 60-40=__).

Word Study: You will notice we have changed from “spelling” to “word study.” We have finished our spelling words and will now be learning about word patterns and different sounds that letters can make. This week we will start looking at how an e at the end of a letter can change the sounds of vowels (often called “bossy e”).

Have a great weekend (for those basketball fans…GO GREEN :))!

Miss Reisdorff

Families,

WOW. What a week! Hopefully you stayed warm and safe the past few days! It was nice to hear that so many of the kiddos were ready to be back at school…I know was! 🙂 There are A LOT of reminders regarding next week, Valentine’s Day, and 100th day so please read carefully.

Important Dates/Reminders:

• A reminder that I will be out next week. Kristin Stoub will be subbing for me! Please notify the office of any schedule changes/important information. Thanks!
• We will not be doing baggie books on Tuesday or Thursday
• Alward’s 2nd Annual Family Genius Night will be Monday, February 11th from 5:00-8:00p.m.! We hope you can all make it!
• We will be celebrating Valentine’s Day on Thursday, February 14th! Kids can bring in their valentines as soon as they are done (make sure if they bring them in they have one for each kid in class). Our party will be from 12:05-1:05–please come and help us celebrate but make sure you have a background check complete!
• Our 100th Day has been rescheduled for Friday, February 15th. Our fashion show will be taking place in the cafeteria at 2:50 (parents are still welcome). If your child brought in their snack item today, I am keeping those in the classroom. If your child brought in their fashion show item, I am sending those back BUT if their fashion show item slip was in their folder I am holding onto those.
• A scholastic book order will be coming home on Monday. If you want to order books please submit your order online using the class code: NNX2P. All orders must be placed by Friday, February 22nd by 4:00p.m.

Reading: We will identify facts that we think are cool/gross, learn how to ask questions about the text, and identify new facts/vocabulary words/big ideas

Writing: We will continue to explore how-to writing and write how to brush our teeth, make a s’more, and blow a bubble (we’ll practice this one with real bubble gum!)

Math: We will be learning strategies to find the unknown partner in an equation and story problem and how to solve teen subtraction equations

Spelling: Our words will be: all, were, when, down, because

Have a great weekend!

Miss Reisdorff

Families,

Our chilly, icy, and snowy week has come to an end! We have lots of events to look forward to as we get closer to the month of February. Take a look:

Important Dates/Reminders:

• Our next Early Release Day will be on Friday, February 1st. Dismissal will be at 12:15.
• A note went home this week about Alward’s Family Genius Night on Monday, February 11th. Please use this link to RSVP–we hope you can join us! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1lWNyjySV3W7fzj6cWtXS1gEvtek4wy-0IYdZqALXlws/viewform?edit_requested=true
• A note went home this week about our 100th Day of School! We will be having a fashion show as well as a special snack. Please look over these notes and let me know if you have any questions (*reminder: the snack items must be nut free!*).
• We will be having our Valentine’s Day Party on Thursday, February 14th. A note will be coming home with more information regarding valentines…for those of you who want a head start we have 25 students total (including your child). If your child would like to bring in valentines they must bring one in for every child in our class.
• A reminder that I will be out of the classroom February 11th-15th.

Reading: In reading we will look at “wow” words, learn how to ask questions about the text, and learn how to identify 3 facts that were new/interesting to us and share them with a partner.

Writing: In writing we will learn the steps of how to write a “how to” text and will practice by looking at examples and writing how to blow a bubble, make a s’more, brush our teeth, and make a pb&j sandwich.

Math: In math we will start Unit 5 and look at equations with unknown partners with teen totals (ex: 8 + __ = 14) and subtraction with teen numbers (ex: 13 – 7 = __ ).

Spelling: Our words this week are: all, were, when, down, because.

Have a good weekend,

Miss Reisdorff

Families,

Despite the icy weather we had a great week in first grade! We have a few things coming up this month and into the beginning of February. Please take a look:

Important Dates/Reminders:

• Our classroom is now peanut free. Please make sure all classroom snacks are peanut free and comply with the “safe snack” list I sent home on Tuesday. Thank you for respecting the safety of all students!
• If you would like to place a Scholastic book order, please do so by 4:00p.m. on Wednesday, January 23rd. Orders should be placed online using the class code: NNX2P.
• We will be having library Thursday, January 24th instead of Monday, January 21st.
• One School One Book money is due by Friday, January 25th! We are asking for $6 per family. Stay tuned for the book reveal!
• Our next Early Release Day will be Friday, February 1st. School will be dismissed at 12:15.
• I have sent out a separate email this morning, but a reminder I will be out of the classroom February 11-15th. Feel free to contact me or Melanie McClure with any questions or concerns.
• Our Valentine’s Day Party will be on Thursday, February 14th (stay tuned for a time and more details).

Reading: Now that we are into our non-fiction reading, many of our books have tricky words we haven’t seen before! We will spend next time reviewing our reading strategies (slide through the sound, try a different sound, go back and reread, think about what would make sense).

Writing: We will begin our unit on “how to” writing. We will look at different examples of “how to” writing and begin the writing process.

Math: We will finish up unit 4 and take our test on Thursday.

Spelling: We will have a sentence dictation and spelling test to review the words we have learned so far!

Enjoy your weekend!

Miss Reisdorff

Families,

Our first week back is done and was a success! We were able to pick up right where we left off and start our non-fiction reading unit and math workshop! Take a peek at what is coming up:

Important Dates/Reminders:

• Scholastic book orders are due Wednesday, January 23rd by 4:00p.m. If you wish to order please order online using the class code: NNX2P.
• Our class Donor’s Choose project for math was fully funded over winter break. Another thank you to everyone who donated and made this possible! We appreciate your generosity :).
• Please make sure your child is coming to school with appropriate winter gear! We aren’t used to the cold weather but we will still be going outside for recess.
• Our next early release day will be Friday, February 1st.
• We will have no school February 4th-February 5th due to mid-winter break.
• Our Valentine’s Day party will be on Thursday, February 14th! More details to come but mark your calendars.

Reading: We will continue to explore non-fiction books and learn how to figure out tricky words and identify the big idea.

Writing: We will finish up our unit on opinion writing. We will take a day to review what we have learned, spend two days on a “cold write,” and end with a writer’s celebration.

Math: We will continue working with groups of tens and extra ones and focus on adding 2-digit and 1-digit numbers together (ex: 38 + 6). When we got back from break we started a new form of math workshop–the majority of our math time is students working with their partner to solve a task and to discover strategies that work best for them. It is very hands on and interactive and so far students are loving it!

Spelling: Our words are: but, had, not, what, find.

Have a great weekend!

Miss Reisdorff

Families,

Our first post of the new year! I cannot believe we have arrived at winter break. This first half of the year has flown by and I feel so grateful to work with you and your child each day. I am loving this year and am excited to see how our learning continues when we return from break! I know it is a few weeks away, but take a peek at what we’ll be up to when we come back:

Important Dates/Reminders:

• Our next Early Release Day is Friday, January 11th.
• When we return from break we will be start our “Voracious Reader” awards. Each Friday I will choose a student who has acted like a voracious reader during that week. I will be looking for someone who gets started right away, reads the whole time, and uses the strategies we are learning in class.
• When we return from break there will be a Scholastic book order coming home. If you are interested in ordering books, please place your order online (using class code NNX2P) by Wednesday, January 23rd.
• I will be assessing reading levels when we return from break! I will send you an email update with your child’s reading level once I am done reading with them (please note that this can take a while and I have 25 kiddos so it may take a few weeks to get through everyone).
• I have created a Donors Choose project for our classroom! This is to receive donations for new math materials. I have been learning this year about making our math time more interactive and student led, and I believe that these supplies will help aid in our instruction. https://www.donorschoose.org/project/miss-reisdorffs-magnificent-mathematici/3829721/

Reading: We will begin a new unit about non-fiction books! We will start the week by comparing fiction and non-fiction and then start to explore different text features (ex: labels, diagrams, captions) and what we can learn from them.

Writing: We will continue to work on opinion letters and will review what we have learned so far (what an opinion letter is, how to add reasons why, how to add transition words, and how to add a closing).

Math: We will continue to work on 2-digit numbers and learn strategies to help us add a 2-digit and 1-digit number (ex: 36 + 8).

Spelling: Our spelling words are: or, have, by, one, help.

Have a safe, fun, and warm winter break! Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Miss Reisdorff

Families,

I can’t believe it is already time for winter break! This first half of the year has flown by and I have absolutely loved these last few months getting to know your child. Sorry for the long blog post–we have a busy last week so take a peek at what’s to come:

Important Dates/Reminders:

• To celebrate our last week before the holidays (and of 2018!) we will be having a spirit week next week. Here are the days:

Monday – hats, beanies, scarves

Tuesday – red and white stripes (candy canes)

Wednesday – flannel and fuzzy socks

Thursday – ugly Christmas sweaters

Friday – pjs

• We will be having a North Pole Ninja visiting our classroom next week! Each day he will be giving us a mission to spread kindness through our school.
• Our class holiday party will be Thursday, December 20th from 12:05-1:05. If you would like to celebrate with us, please complete a background check and stop in for some fun!
• A reminder that we will be having a class gift exchange on Thursday, December 20th. If you have not already done so, please have your child bring in a gift that is no more than $5. If your child is a boy, have them bring in a gift for a boy. If your child is a girl, have them bring in a gift for a girl.
• We will be out of school December 24th-January 4th for our winter break. Enjoy this time with family and friends!
• I have created a Donors Choose project for our classroom. If you choose to donate (please do not feel obligated), your money will go to classroom materials to help make our math time more interactive and student led. Thank you! https://www.donorschoose.org/project/miss-reisdorffs-magnificent-mathematici/3829721/
• There will be no homework or new baggie books coming home on Thursday, December 20th due to the long break.
• Friday, December 21st we will be celebrating our last day by having a Polar Express themed day!

Reading: We will review some retelling strategies we have learned as well as reading strategies to help us figure out tricky words.

Writing: We will continue the process of opinion writing by choosing a topic, choosing an audience, organizing our writing, and writing a letter.

Math: We will review some efficient strategies we have learned so far in unit 4 and will also play some partner math games!

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

Enjoy your weekend!

Miss Reisdorff