#PositivePostItDay @ #KeyRocks

There are a number of different "campaigns" for people to participate in on Twitter.  At Keystone Elementary, we're participating in the #PositivePostItDay campaign.  Check out some of these pictures of students writing, delivering, and reading some of their positive notes.  I love doing "good for the soul" activities like this with students!   

Taking Science Outside - Bobcat Brag

I hope your child came home yesterday full of excitement!  We were able to take our learning outside to have a valuable lesson and experience with wind.  Some mentioned that this was their first time flying a kite or that they had only done it once before.  We've been talking about air and weather.  Yesterday, we started a conversation about wind and what makes it windy.  Everyone enjoyed the opportunity and learned a lot!  It was exciting to see so many students writing their observations about the wind and the kite while we were outside enjoying the beautiful spring weather.

I have to take a moment and brag a bit... 

I had planned to do this activity on Friday, but when I looked at the forecast, I knew no one was going to want to go outside on Friday.  I called my grandparents and they were more than willing to come down and fly a kite with my class.  For those of you who don't know, my grandma, Judy Garbers, taught at Keystone Elementary for 30 years.  She has subbed in our classroom a couple times this year.  My grandpa, Dutch Garbers, wasn't a teacher.  However, he is a proud Bobcat and has been part of the "Chain Gang" for varsity football games since 1975.  I know some of you have memories of her as your second grade teacher and of him on the sideline of your football game.  They were both so excited and proud to be with our class yesterday.  I was so thankful for their patience and enthusiasm throughout this project.   My grandpa made it so every student was able to fly the kite and my grandma cheer them on from the dugout.   I'm feeling pretty blessed they were able to be part of our day.

Thanks to our student "Tech Team" for the pictures of this adventure!

What Can Air Do?

This week, we're learning about AIR!  Check out pictures from some of our investigations so far.  We've discussed that air is matter and that it takes up space.  We have many other fun activities planned around this unit of study this week.  Check back later for pictures of our STEM challenge around the creation of a Wind Vane, home-made parachutes, and how a kite flies.  

We were busy today!  We're starting our #PositivePostItDay campaign.  Benton County Natrualists, Karen and Aaron, came for a visit AND it was a beautiful day for recess duty. :)

Reminders & "I can..." Statements for the Week of March 28th

Reminders for the week ahead...

PTO Fundraiser:

If you had an issue with your order, please contact the Chip Shoppe at  1-800-771-2447

Spring Pictures:

Spring pictures are on Monday.  Please do NOT send payment with your child on Monday.  If you do NOT want your child's pictures taken, please let me know.

April:

We don't have much of the school year left!  It is hard to believe it is almost April!  We will be spiraling back to review skills we've learned throughout the year.  Please keep encouraging your child to stay focused through the end of the year.  

I am NOT sending out an April snack calendar.  We have had a lot of extra snacks brought to school lately that need to be eaten.  If your child has an April birthday, feel free to send treats on his or her birthday.  I will be contacting students who have a birthday during the summer months about a day to celebrate in May. 

This will be a BUSY month full of communicaiton.  Please watch for info about weather and the Justin Gertz visit, field trips, assessments, and other end of the year info that comes home in April.

Book Order:

Scholastic Book orders will be due on Friday, April 1^st.  Please see the information below if you are interested in ordering.  This information is also available on our classroom blog.  

Our classroom earns FREE books with every order! 

Scholastic Book Clubs Ordering Information
www.scholastic.com/bookclubs
Class Activation Code: PDTGR

Here are our "I can..." statements for this week:

I can...

• read and write words with -augh and -al 
• identify and correctly write verbs in the past tense
• identify and correctly write verbs in the present tense
• identify and correctly write verbs in the future tense
• read and write compound words
• determine which information is most important when reading
• compare and contrast when reading
• read fluently, focusing on expression - anticipation and mood
• analyze story elements
• identify numbers with tens and ones
• build numbers with tens and ones
• identify different types of clouds and why they form
• describe properties of air

Schedule This Week

Reminder:

Thursday - 1:00 dismiss

Friday - NO SCHOOL

"I can..." Statements for the Week of March 21st

I hope your first grader had a happy, refreshing spring break.  It is hard to believe that we are finished with spring conferences.  April and May always seem to fly by.  Soon we'll be scheduling an end-of-year conference for your family.  Our class had 100% conference attendance at both fall and spring conferences!  That is a BIG deal!  Thank you for being willing to meet with me.   

We have a busy week ahead.  A few reminders and other important learning info is coming your way.

***I will NOT be making an April snack calendar.  We have quite a few extras that I'm going to try to use up.  Feel free to bring snacks if your child has an April birthday.  We will still celebrate.  May is the month of summer birthday celebrations in 1U.  I will contact you about this if your child has an April, May, or summer birthday.  

We have approximately 10 weeks of school left.  I will be starting a type of spiral review of math skills with your child.  If they don't get their work finished at school, they'll be asked to complete it at home and return it.  This review will guide our snack conversations.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  

We will be starting our study of weather.  Students will learn about wind, clouds, the water cycle, and other types of weather.  We will be studying the weather and will get a visit from Justin Gertz from KCRG.  

I can...

• read and write words with oo like spoon and cool
• identify and change the medial sound in words to create another word
• read and write contractions
• identify and write exclamatory sentences
• compare and contrast while reading
• identify the important information in text
• identify nonfiction text features
• read and write numbers up to 120
• identify and recite number patterns
• count by 2s, 5s, and 10s

Reminders

A few reminders on this foggy morning...

Conferences: 

100% of our class is scheduled for a conference!!  Thank you for making a time work to come in!  I look forward to talking to you about the progress your child has made this year and where we're headed next.

1:00 Dismiss:

Tomorrow is a 1:00 dismiss due to P/T conferences.

Report Cards:

Please sign and return your child's report card envelope.  

Thank you BCPTO for our new classroom rug!

Report Cards/Conference Reminder

Report cards are coming home today!   Please take a few minutes to read over your child's typed narrative, first grade report card, and specials report card.  Please let me know if you have any immediate questions.  We will talk about the report card and the progress your child has made this year at conferences next week.  

If you have not signed up for conferences, please do so ASAP!  Candi will be at Keystone until 3:30 today and will be able to take conference phone calls.  This class had 100% conference attendance in the fall.  We're shooting for that in the spring!  Your child has things they'd like you to see!  

This is an image of the math goal we recently focused on.  75% of our class met the standard around using multiple strategies to add and subtract within 20.   We'll keep working on accurately using strategies with those who haven't met this standard.  We've started talking about making and writing numbers up to 120.

It was a beautiful day to have recess duty!

BCPTO Fundraiser Due MONDAY

This is a reminder that BCPTO fundraiser orders are due on Monday.  Please be sure to send them with your child to school.  Take a look at the front of the folder.  Please check the center you'd like to pick up the order at.  

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Thank you!

Dr. Seuss Birthday Celebration!

We had a great day celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday!  We have been reading books by the famous author and learning about him as a person.  One of the lessons we talked about was perseverance.  We learned that Dr. Seuss took his first book to 37 different publishers before it was published.  This led to a great conversation about what it would be like without his books and what tasks are challenging for us.  Discussions about tying shoes, riding a bike without training wheels, and reading were all things we decided not to give up on.

It was super fun to see so many students dressed in character today!  We celebrated this afternoon with a read and feed in the gym.  

We also had Mr. Junge and Mrs. Garbers read to us this afternoon.  Mr. Junge was dressed as Huckleberry Finn.  The students loved learning about his book character.  They were especially curious about why Mr. Junge was barefoot.    It was fun for me to listen to Mrs. Garbers read to students, too.  For those of you who don't know, she is my grandma.  She has been the best at character voices for as long as I can remember.  I used to love crawling up on her lap and having her read to us.  It makes my heart melt to get to watch her read the same way today and to see that she has the same effect on the students in my class.