Happy Fall Break

Hello family and friends! I hope you all are having a wonderful Fall Break with your kiddos. I am really enjoying some extra time with my little boy! It has been a nice, restful and fun break.

Next week (Oct 15 – 19), we will be focusing on the short e sound (like elephant, elbow) and words that have that short e sound. We will also begin our unit on subtraction.

Our spelling words next week will be:

pet       vet      yes      bet       play     see

See you next week!

Mrs. Duggins

We are on our way!

Well, families, our fantastic First Graders are doing an amazing job learning the ins and outs of 1st grade! We have a great group of kiddos that work well together and are very eager to learn. We have many things to look forward to this week.

SAT 10 Testing Monday and Tuesday – Our students will take the SAT 10 standardized test on Monday and Tuesday of this week. The test that they take will be based on their learning from Kindergarten. They will take the test again at the end of 1st grade to see how much they’ve grown throughout the year. Here are a few things you can do to help your child be successful:

-Make sure your kiddos get plenty of rest the night before the test.

-It is very important to be at school on time each day. If they should come in late, they will take the test during a make up. Late arrivals will not be able to enter the classroom.

-Children should get a good breakfast each morning, either at home or when they get to school. Please encourage them to eat well so that they’ll have plenty of energy.

-Exercise!!! Our children need time to release their energy – allow them time to play and rest their minds in the evening.

-Praise, praise, praise!! Praise your child for working hard and trying every day.

PICTURE DAY IS WEDNESDAY September 19.

Guided reading will begin later this week, once testing is complete. Your child will also begin to bring home a “Baggy Book” – this is a book that is on their reading level so that they may read it each night. Please listen to your child read and encourage them to read to siblings as well. Baggy books should be returned on Friday so that they can get a new book to take home the next week.

In math, we are working on beginning addition with numbers to 12. You can support this at home by having children count books, socks, toys, etc. They can add groups of things together. You can also make flash cards with numbers and allow children to draw objects on the cards representing the numbers (Card with # 5 would have 5 cats drawn). Then, allow them to pull two cards and add the numbers together. Write the problem using an addition sentence. (5 +2 =7)

The kids did a GREAT job on their spelling test last week!! Our new words for the week are:

tip     tap     nip    nap    hit    cap

We are focusing on the sounds of short a and short i.

We hope you have a great week – thank you again for supporting your child’s learning everyday!

Mrs. Duggins

September is here!

It’s hard to believe it’s already September! I hope you and your family and had a wonderful Labor Day weekend together! We had a very relaxing one and it was just great!

This week in math we will be comparing and putting numbers in order. For instance, if I give two numbers, the students will tell me which number is bigger and which one is smaller. Later in the week, they will be given 3 numbers to put in order from smallest to largest. If you are able, please try this at home with your kiddos.

In Science, we will discuss the habitats of different animals. In the last two weeks, we have learned about living and non-living things and what living things need to stay alive. This week we will choose 2 animals to research their homes together.

In Literacy, we will continue to learn the routines and procedures of 1st grade and our Daily 5 centers. I will begin testing students to see where they are in their reading levels as well as a quick spelling assessment to see what areas of spelling we need to work on with each child.

Our sight words for the week are:

said       the        play       are       she      he

As you read with your child this week, help them to look for the sight words that they know and the ones we are working on this week.

We are having a wonderful time in 1st grade! Your children are working very hard each day and are eager to learn.  Please feel free to contact me at school if you have any specific questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Duggins

Welcome families!

Welcome families!  I am so excited to have a whole new crop of awesome kiddos this year! We have gotten off to a wonderful start in 1st Grade this year!

For the last two weeks, we have been working diligently on learning classroom procedures, getting to know each other, counting and recognizing sets of numbers up to 12, new sight words, letter sounds and basic writing skills. As we look at the next few weeks of school, our learning will really begin to ramp up and we will be learning many new things!

Here are the words we reviewed last week:

my    is    like    a    to    I

 

 

This weeks' words:

 

for    have    here    to    and    go

 

 

 

Upcoming dates:

Tuesday, August 28    Open House  6:00 - 7:00

Monday, September 3   No School - Labor Day

 

Hope to see you Tuesday night at Open House!

 

Sincerely,

Mrs. Duggins

 

Teacher Appreciation Week

May 7 - 11

Teacher Appreciation Week

May 16 - Field trip - text or call to be a chaperone

May 18 - Last day of school

May 22 - Pick up Report Cards

Hello, April!

5 weeks of school - can you believe it??? Just 5 more weeks to get our first grade sweethearts ready for 2nd grade!  I wanted to share this weeks new words and give you some upcoming dates.

Spelling Words
arm     far     car     start     dark     yard     large     jar     part     shark

Sight Words (words your child should know by sight)
above     against    already     begin     caught     minute

Vocabulary Words (words we will read in our story this week - they need to know the meaning)
began     break     divide     head     laugh     second     sure

We will have homework and a spelling test this week, however, next week (April 23 -27) is TCAP week. There will be NO HOMEWORK. Our children take the Stanford 10 - a standardized test with a format similiar to the TCAP. Please make sure they get plenty of rest, a good healthy breakfast at home or at school and a balanced dinner in the evening. It will make a lot of difference for them as they take the test each day that week. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

UPCOMING DATES:

April 23 - 27 - TCAP Week

April 23 - 27 - there will be NO homework

May 16 - Field Trip to Coolidge Park

May 18 - Last day of School!!!

May 22 - Pick up Report Cards

Sincerely,

Mrs. Duggins

Happy Spring!

Well, we've made it! Tomorrow is the first day of Spring. It has been such a warm, mild winter, it probably won't feel like much of a change, but I have to say, I'm very excited none the less!

Last week, we learned all about biographies and started writing our own biography. We discussed the lifecycle of an apple/appleseed. We will continue this week by making a life cycle wheel for the apple. We read all about the things we treasure - you should have heard what the kiddos said they treasured! It was precious!! Mostly you all - families!

This week, we will begin a 3 week unit called Special Friends. We will be working on sounds for the letter y (it can sound like i or e), ways animals help us, adding -ed and -ing to action words (base words and their endings), when to properly use the words is and are, and we will begin a unit on subtraction with numbers up to 20.

Friday, weather permitting, we will have a field trip to Greenway Farms. We will need some chaperones to go with us and help manage a few fun activities with us. If you are interested in going, please let one of the 1st grade teachers know - you can call the school or send a note with your child. There is no cost for this field trip!

Our Spelling Words for the week are:

by    my    cry    pry    spy    shy    try    fly    why    fry

Sight words for the week are:

around   ocean   else   ever   dance   open   talk   though

Upcoming Dates to Remember



Tuesday, Mar. 20 - Teacher Inservice - no school for students
Friday, Mar. 23 - Field Trip to Greenway Farms
April 2-6 - Spring Break

Hope you have a wonderful first week of Spring this week! Please remember to read with your babies every day - they are becoming such wonderful readers! Baggy books and new library books will go home tomorrow with your children.

Thanks for your support!
Mrs. Duggins

Johnny Appleseed and St. Patrick's Day Fun!

Hello friends and family! We are gearing up for an exciting week in 1st Grade! We will be learning about Johnny Appleseed this week and the life cycle of an apple. If you have any apples at home, encourage your child to open one up this week and look at it's seeds.  You can expect to hear lots of information about apples from your children this week!

We will be sending home report cards on Friday. Our children have been working so hard on their reading skills! I am very proud of them - you will get their current reading level with their report card.

On Thursday and Friday of this week, our children will experience St. Patrick's Day activities. We will have special snacks on both of these days. We are in need of lime sherbet, sprite and cups. We are also collecting metal or plastic coffee cans. Don't forget to dress your child in green on Friday!

Our spelling words this week are:

check  checking

sleep  sleeping

miss   missed

tell   telling

plant   planted

Our sight words this week are:

butter  carry  work    kind  person   put

   saw   were  liked  moving  stopped

Important Dates Coming Up:

Tuesday, Mar 13 - Health Night at Hillcrest

Friday, Mar 16 - Report Cards

Tuesday, Mar 20 - Teacher Inservice - No School

April 2-6 - Spring Break - No School

Have a great week!!

Mrs. Duggins

Spelling Words for the Week of February 21-24, 2012

Hello all -

I hope you are having a great long weekend with your family! I wanted to post our spelling words for the upcoming week so you can get a jump on studying -- here they are:

cup

cups

frog

frogs

tree

trees

bird

birds

glove

gloves

We will continue to work on telling time this week. We have already covered telling time to the hour and this week we add telling time to the half hour.  Please practice as you are able.  I hope you have a relaxing and fun filled Presidents Day!

Sincerely -
Mrs. Duggins

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to our students and families! I am excited to welcome 2012 and all the exciting and new things we will learn and experience this year! It's hard to believe that we are half way through our school year.

The 100th day of school is fast approaching. I will keep you posted on the exciting things we will doing in our classroom to celebrate 100 days of learning.

As we come back to school on Monday, January 9th, your child will review counting by 2's, 5's and 10's. We will take our Topic 10 Math Test on Monday after review of this concept. No fear - all of our kiddos are doing great with this skill - this was a skill that we began in Kindergarten, so it has carried over well into 1st grade!  After we complete our test, we will be introduced to double digit numbers as tens and some ones.. For example:

34 is 3 groups of ten and 4 more
56 is 5 groups of ten and 6 more

This is not a new concept for us, just one that we want to develop a little deeper. Our kids will love this unit!

In literacy, we are continuing to develop our reading fluency (speed + accuracy) so that when our children read, they are able to read at a pace that doesn't hinder their understanding. Our goal is for each student to be reading at a level H by the end of 1st grade. I can happily report that 3 of our students have met this goal already!!

Your child's report card will come home the first week of January when they come back from Winter Break. Be on the lookout for your child's reading level to be listed for you in the report card, as well their progress in math and other subjects.

Welcome Back!

Mrs. Duggins