Crew News September 30, 2011

Gallery Walk
We started the second case study of our Expedition with a gallery walk today. The crew is thinking over the weekend about what the topic might be. Below are some photos of the gallery walk that we did with Ms. Mary Beth's crew.

Homework
No homework for the weekend. Enjoy a few good books with your child.

Birthdays
I noticed that we have several birthdays coming up over our Fall Break. If your child has a birthday over break and you are planning to send in birthday treats could you let me know in advance? That way maybe we can schedule them on different days next week to avoid too many treats on Friday. :-) Also, you might want to double check the birthday treat reminders that were posted earlier this year.

IA
Our IA next week is Art.

Crew News September 29, 2011

Character Trait ~ Stewardship
We learned about the last character trait last week. Stewardship means taking good care of things and helping to keep our world clean. We have gone on "Stewardship Patrol" in our classroom several times. This means that we all look for things that need to be put away and put them where they go and that we look for trash to throw away. We show excellent stewardship in our room. Ask your child how they can show stewardship at home.

Homework
Reading ~ Read a good book or two.
Math ~ Home Link 3.2 Odd and Even Numbers

Crew News September 28, 2011

Buddy Reading
I heard one of my favorite sounds the other day during centers - the sound of first graders reading aloud together. The video below captures what I saw. Enjoy! Remember that you will need to go directly to the blog to view the video.

Homework
Reading ~ Read a good book or two.
Math ~ Home Link 3.1 Patterns

Library
Remember that we have library tomorrow. Please help your child remember to return their library books so that they can check out new books.

Math Assessment
We had a math assessment yesterday. Your child's assessment is in his or her homework folder today. Refer back to this post, More on Math Tests, for more information about how they are graded and what parts your child needs to master at this point (Only Part A) and how the tests are graded. Remember that I do read all parts of the test to the crew at this point in the year.

Crew News September 27, 2011

What Happens to my Child's Math Homework?
You may be wondering what happens to your child's math homework. When your child arrives at school each morning, he or she has several jobs to do. These jobs include putting their math homework in a bin, putting away their green homework folder, filling up their water bottle and making a lunch choice. During morning meeting, Ms. Dee checks the homework. Then later in the morning during centers, she pulls kids who have made mistakes or are not understanding a concept and works with them to help them make corrections. She also has them correct any backwards numbers. After that she leaves the papers with notes on them for me to see and recycles the rest. Since you have already looked at the homework the night before there is no need to send it back home again - we are just trying to cut down on the paperwork that piles up everywhere. Ask your child if he or she has ever worked with Ms. Dee on homework corrections.

Homework
Reading ~ Read a good book or two.
Math ~ Home Link 2.14  Unit 3: Family Letter

Calendar Note
Remember to refer to the Renaissance calendar rather than the district modified calender. We do have school this Friday, October 7th and do not have school on Monday, October 24th. This will be a teacher work day. This is opposite of the district modified calender so always check to make sure you are checking the correct calendar.

Also note that belay training and refresher courses are coming up on October 5th. See the calendar link above for more details.

Crew News September 26, 2011

Writing Celebration
On Thursday and Friday of last week, we celebrated the end of our first genre study in writing. We had been studying pattern books and were ready to share our books with an audience. On Thursday we went to Ms. Mary Beth's room to listen to students from her crew share their books. On Friday, they came to our room. We loved sharing our books with each other. We heard some great stories. Below are pictures from our sharing time on Friday.

Homework
Reading ~ Read a good book or two.
Math ~ Home Link 2.13 Counting Money

Crew News September 22, 2011

Exercise in the Classroom
We have several ways that we move our bodies in our classroom. We do some stretching on Fridays during our morning meeting. We have body and/or brain breaks where we pretend to walk on a tight rope, walk like a penguin, pretend to swim or some other imaginative activity. This week we added basic exercise moves to our transitions between classes. We do push-ups, crunches, leg lifts, squats, lunges, jumping jacks and much more (but not all on one day). I had Mr. Doug approve our list of exercises when I started doing this with my class last year. I really believe in the power of movement. It is not only good for the body and the attention span but it is good for the brain, too. (No photos today - they all turned out too blurry because we were moving!)
  
Homework
No homework for the weekend. Enjoy a few good books with your child.

IA
Our IA next week is PE. Please help your child remember to wear appropriate footwear.

Crew News September 21, 2011

Coins
We are learning all about coins in math. So far we have learned all about pennies and nickels. We will be learning about dimes and quarters in the future. We love to sort our coins, examine our coins and count our coins. We are learning to exchange 5 pennies for a nickel, to count combinations of pennies and nickels and what symbols are on each coin. Ask your child how to play penny-nickel exchange. To play this game you just need some pennies, some nickels and a die (singular of dice) from a board game. If you have a pile of coins or jar of loose change at your house, have your child sort them by coin type, examine them, count them or figure out how much money you have in the pile. They will love it.

Library
We have library tomorrow. Please help your child remember to return their books so that they can check out new ones.

Homework
Reading ~ Read a good book or two.
Math ~ Home Link 2.12 Telling Time