It was wonderful seeing so many families at Back to School Night. If you were not able to come or didn't sign up for a conference on Thursday night, please contact the office. They can add you to the schedule. We have a lot of fun events coming up this month. Run for the Arts is Thursday, October 11. Please be sure to return the fundraiser form!
We are going on a field trip Thursday, October 18th. If you haven't had a chance to sign and return the permission slip I would love to have these as soon as possible. If you are ordering a sack lunch from the cafeteria I need to put in the order this week. I will send home duplicate copies this week for anyone I do not have a signed form for yet. We had a huge response for volunteers to chaperone the trip. I used an online random selector to choose our chaperones for this trip. Please make sure that if you were selected that you have a current background check on file with the district. I will double check with Amanda this week. Speaking of volunteers, the classroom volunteers link is now live on the blog. Click on the Volunteers tab and it should take you to the sign up. We are starting out slowly and more dates and times will be added. At this time volunteers will be reading with students. It is so wonderful for them to have an audience to practice their skills! Again, a current background check must be on file to volunteer. Thank you! Upcoming Dates Wednesday, October 3 Wednesday Morning Meeting, 8:20 Thursday, October 11 Run for the Arts Thursday, October 11 Rainbow Day - First Graders Wear Blue! Thursday, October 18 Field trip to NW Children's Theater - Elephant & Piggie Thursday, October 18 Walking field trip to Portland Nursery for the Apple Festival, 1:00
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It is hard to believe we are a month into the new year already. We are moving along, establishing routines and creating strong relationships.
The big event for the coming week is Back to School Night. I hope you and your family are able to come visit the room and see some of the activities that we have been working on. I know your child is excited to share our world with you. You will also have a chance to sign up for a conference and visit with our specialists. Then event begins at 5:30 and ends at 7:00 but you can come anytime during this time period. This week in Reader's Workshop students met with their new partner. We reviewed how to sit together so both children can read the book. We also reviewed 3 ways partners can read together: 1. See Saw (I Read, You Read), 2. Echo Reading and 3. Choral Reading. I was very impressed with the experiences students brought with them from kindergarten. They were able to dive right in! This week's focus will be on goal setting using the good habits they have been working on. Upcoming Dates Thursday, September 27 STOPPS Bus Safety, 9:45 am Thursday, September 27 Back to School Night 5:30 - 7 pm Friday, September 28 Permission Slips due for parent volunteer drawing Wednesday, October 3 Wednesday Morning Meeting There are 2 important forms coming home in the Take Home folders this week. We have our first field trip next month to see the play, Elephant & Piggie's - We Are in a Play!. We will be going to the Northwest Children's Theater on Thursday, October 18th. Please complete and sign both forms and return as soon as possible. If you would like to come with us, there is a spot to indicate this on the form. Please make sure that if you volunteer to come with us that you have a current background check on file. I will collect the names of those who wish to go with us and use an online random selector to choose our chaperones. I will let everyone who indicates interest know the results. The second form is the Run for the Arts pledge sheet. A change at Glencoe this year is moving this fun run from spring to fall. Students will be running on Thursday, October 11. This is another opportunity for volunteers - the more the merrier for this fun event! We had a fun week in Room 108. In math students continued to solve bug story problems and then created their own. We will take a few minutes each day to solve each other's story problems. One thing students are working on is communicating their thinking of how they solved the math problem. They can use pictures, words and/or numbers to solve the story problem. One of our reading activities this week was to read the book, Mary Wore Her Red Dress. Students then created their own page inspired by the story to make into a class book. Two important dates for this week: Picture Day is Tuesday and book orders are due Friday! We are continuing to develop our routines and I am so impressed with how quickly everything is falling into place. Our three class rules are Be Respectful, Be Responsible and Be Safe. We identified four agreements that fit within these categories that describe how we want things to be in Room 108. They are: Be kind to everyone. Always try our best. Be a great listener. Use materials as tools.
We read the book Elmer and discussed the importance of being ourselves and celebrate what makes us unique. During reader's workshop students were introduced to the variety of seating options available during this time and they are practicing choosing the best space to be an independent reader. In math we are exploring different visual models including tally marks and ten frames. We created a couple different charts with a popsicle theme, practiced counting by 2's and recorded the different observations students had in regards to how the information was organized. We had our first full session with the chromebooks this week using Lexia, a program that provides explicit, systematic, personalized learning in the six areas of reading instruction (phonological awareness, phonics, structural analysis, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension). This is just one way we will be integrating technology this year. At this time the plan is to use Lexia a couple days a week during Word Work. Upcoming Dates Tuesday, September 11 PTA Meeting 8:30 am in the Cafeteria Tuesday, September 18 Picture Day Friday, September 21 Book Order Due Thursday, September 27 Back to School Night 5:30 - 7 pm Blog Update 9/3
Well week one is done! I am copying this onto our morning message as a reminder to check the blog for updates. I try to update the blog by Monday. We've spent the last week getting to know our new classmates, reviewing Glencoe common area expectations (hallway, cafeteria and playground) and building our community of learners in Room 108. We will be putting the finishing touches on our classroom agreements this week. One change at Glencoe is that students go out to recess before lunch. While it is early to evaluate the effectiveness of this change I do believe it has resulted in students not rushing to eat and coming back to the classroom with a greater sense of calm. Another change at Glencoe is that we have 3 sessions of P.E. during the week! The water fountain in the gym hasn't been turned back on yet so students will be bringing their water bottles to class - especially during the warm weather. We also set aside a few minutes each morning for students to have a snack if they would like. The focus is on healthy snacks so no chips or cookies please. Some students will choose something to eat from their lunch or bring a separate snack. I do ask that anything that might spill not be a snack choice (yogurt, applesauce). Not having a sink in the classroom makes spills difficult to clean up. Thank you for your help with this. Be sure to sign and return in the verification forms that came home last week. You will want to make sure that you update the list of people who are allowed to pick up your child. If there is a change in dismissal plans, please send a note with your child. I am also still collecting supply money and headphones. Glencoe is part of a technology grant called Tech Smart. Classrooms in grades K-3 have a half class set of chromebooks to integrate technology with classroom instruction. We dipped our toes into technology this week and I am looking forward to all the different ways it can enhance learning. Upcoming Dates Wednesday, September 5 Wednesday Morning Meeting Friday, September 21 Book Order Due Tuesday, September 11 PTA Meeting 8:30 am in the Cafeteria Tuesday, September 18 Picture Day Thursday, September 27 Back to School Night 5:30 - 7 pm |
MS. SCHIADAI teach first grade in southeast Portland where every day brings a new adventure!
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