Bobcat Dash Info Going Home TODAY

Your child is bringing home info for the the Bobcat Dash today!  Please be sure to read through all of the information carefully.  This is a huge fundraiser put on by our extraordinary PTO.   The PTO supports the education of our students in so many ways.  Below are just a few.  The list could go on and on.  The next PTO meeting is September 8th at VHE.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  



Apple TV

Netbooks

iPads

HDMI Projectors

Easel

Bean Bag Chairs

Field Trips

Snack

Take Home Writing Journal

Your child will be bringing home their Take Home Writing Journal for the first time today.  Below is information that will be going home with the journal.  

Daily Writing Journal:

Every night, your child will bring home a writing journal in his or her book bag.  I would like your first grader to write at least two sentences.  This goal will change throughout the year.  If your child would like to write more, or if you feel like more is appropriate, please encourage him or her to do so.  

The topic of this writing is up to your student.  Every morning, I will ask students to read their journal entry to me during a writing conference.

Feel free to do as much coaching as you’re comfortable with.  In first grade, our goals are mainly conventions (capital letters, finger spaces, ending punctuation), phonetic spelling (using sounds in words to spell) sight word application and writing a sequence of words that make sense.

Inside the front cover of the journal will be a “Frequent Word List.”  Encourage your child to add words that he or she uses frequently to this list and refer back to it when necessary.   Encourage neatness and creativity!  

There is a direct relationship between reading and writing development.  Your extended efforts at home in this area will help your child practice skills we’re working on daily at school.  Your student will reap many benefits from this extra practice opportunity.  

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.  

P.S.  No math homework tonight. (Previous Post)  We got it done this morning! :) 

Math Families/Math Homework

We started Math Families today!  Math Families practice is  a way for your child to see relationships between numbers and build upon their number sense.  This allows them to establish and deepen their understanding of how numbers can be put together and taken apart.  Your child will go through a number of hands-on activities for each number (train building, dappy shake up, number stories, etc).  We started with the number 5 and will go through all of the steps for the number 5 as a group.  Eventually, this will be independent work.  Students will have to check each other's work while I conference with students about the number they are working on.  My FAVORITE aspect of Math Families is that it a hands on way for each child to work at his or her OWN pace.  One student might be on 20 and another on 7 and that is completely okay!  We are VERY fortunate to have a lot of adult support in the room at this time which will really help the successful roll-out of Math Families and make the most out of all of these new discoveries!  Let me know if you have any questions!

Tomorrow, your child will be bringing home a short page to work on as a way to review some math skills.  Please feel free to support your child as much or as little as you'd like.  

Scholastic Book Order

Book order flyers are going home today.  Below is some important information about ordering books.  

FREE BOOKS:  Our classroom receives free books with every online order.  We also earn points towards free books with any order.  When purchasing books, please consider this source.

Online Ordering:  When ordering online, you must enter our class code.  It is listed below.  

Payment:  If paying online, you may pay with a credit or debit card.  If you plan on sending an order form to school, please send a check made out to SCHOLASTIC BOOK CLUBS.  Checks made out to Benton Community CANNOT be accepted.  

Choices/Level:  Often times, your first grader can find books that interest him or her in the flyer. It's amazing what children are able to read if it is a topic they are interested in!  Another idea to consider is ordering books based on your child's reading level.  The book levels are in small print next to the book picture in the flyer.  If you are needing to know what level your child is, PLEASE email me and I can give you the information I have.   In some flyers, there are phonics sets.  These are FABULOUS for a beginning of the year first grader.  

If you have any questions about this process, please let me know!  Thanks!

1U Class Code:  KXJMN

Scholastic Book Clubs

Permission Slips To Send Back

Check out your child's backpack tonight.  You will be receiving a note about your child viewing PG rated movies at school and the technology policy.  Please review these documents, sign, and return them at your earliest convenience.  Let me know if you have any questions.  

Thanks :)

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge - CALLING 1U

Well, I did it...  Check out the video below.  We talk a LOT about the power of giving in first grade, especially through our Socktober project.  

I am nominating my students to participate in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.  I have donated to the White family on behalf of our class.  For more information on ALS or the White family, please click on the link below.  

If you'd like to send me a video of your child completing the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, I'd be happy to share it with our class!


Heather (Soon to be Mrs. White)

ALS Foundation

Ms. Upah's Ice Bucket Challenge Video

Water Bottles

I sent your child's water bottle home to be washed over the weekend.  Please remember to bring them back.  They were GREAT to have on desks this week!  THANK YOU!

First Friday of First Grade

We had a great first week of school!  The routines and schedules have been talked about as much as possible and now it's time to really start first grade.  

During math stations, one of the activities was Measure Around the Room.  Another favorite activity was the "10 Frame Fill" app on the iPads.  This app is available through both iTunes and the Google Play Store.  It's a great way for your child to visually practice 10 facts.  

We ended our day with sight words in shaving cream.  Our classroom smells extra clean now!  :)  

What kind of SMART are you?

We had a great conversation about different talents today.  I read a book about a group of students who were different types of smart: word, nature, music, self, body, number, team, and art.  Students reflected on their own talents and decided what kind of smart they thought they were.  It's quite obvious this is a talented, diverse group.  We had a vast array of types of smart and talents.  Check out what kind of smart your child said he or she is in the picture below.  

We also discussed different events or activities that they have to look forward to in first grade.  Some of the items we discussed are listed below.

Unity Point St. Luke's Hospital Field Trip

Foam Fingers - Homecoming

Benny Bobcat - Homecoming

Socktober

Bloomsburry Farm 

Virtual Field Trips with the Omaha Zoo

Wickiup Field Trip

Twisters Field Trip

Thanksgiving Performance

First Grade Family Fun Night

Kid President's Pep Talk to Teachers and Students

We're going to talk more about being AWESOME tomorrow.  We love the Kid President in first grade!  Your kids teach me things every day!  

Tumble Books - Length

Tumble Books is a website that the Grant Wood AEA now subscribes to so our students can access it for free!  There are a TON of really great books on there for your child to read or to be read to your child.  Check it out by clicking the words above.  The username and password is listed below.  (This is the same username and password for ALL AEA sites. ex: BookFlix, TrueFlix, Britannica, etc.)

Username:  0609vanh

Password:  aea10

Today, we were able to start Topic 12, Length.  Over the next couple of weeks, your first grader will be discussing the idea of measurement using nonstandard units.  This is a standard in the first grade Common Core and a learning target for Benton first graders.  We will measure all sorts of objects and compare them with words like shorter, shortest, longer, and longest.  We tried some introductory math stations today and they went great!

Read to Self/Book Bags

We had a great day #2!  It was nice to be able to introduce some of the morning routine since we were able to come to school on time today!  

One of the key ideas we discussed today was Read to Self.  This is review for your first grader since they did this in kindergarten.  Ask your student to model what this looks like for you.  We also talked about what good listeners do and sharing stories through writing.  In math, we graphed how we get to school and discovered that most of our class rides on the bus.  

The water bottles were AWESOME to have today!  Thank you for remembering to send one with your first grader.  

Book Bags got sent home for the first time today.  There is a note in your child's folder about the book bags.  This process works exactly like it does in kindergarten.  Feel free to recycle instead of read the note if you're comfortable with the process used last year.  It is so, so important that students read at home.  Please mark what book your child reads each night on his or her reading log.  I keep the reading logs once they are full and hang them in our classroom.  Let me know if you feel like your child's book is too easy or too challenging.  

I apologize in advance for some of the extra paper (notes) that will come home the next two weeks in your child's folder.  Until I get all of the parent email addresses, we have to share information that way as well.  

Fabulous First Day of 1st Grade

We had a fabulous first day of 1st grade!  After today, I am even more excited to get the year rolling and get to know your first grader better!  With the two hour delay, I had to cut out a lot of what I had planned, but boy the day flew by.  

WATER BOTTLES may be brought to school.  Please send a water bottle that is able to be refilled.  NO disposable water bottles.  The water bottles will stay at school throughout the week and will be sent home on Fridays to be washed.  Dehydration affects concentration, attention, and processing.  The water bottles help keep brains hydrated and the drinking fountain line short!  

On a side note, please read this blog with a conversational tone.  I don't stress over grammar and punctuation. (As you could tell if you looked through old posts.)  I think the time I would spend proof reading is better spent planning awesome learning experiences for your child.  

Make sure you check the back of the picture your student brings home tonight...!  What did your first grader like most about the first day of school?

Below are a few pictures from our day.  These kids LOVED the "Shine On" notes you wrote.  Feel free to send encouraging notes as often as you'd like.  Students love getting "mail" at school!