Marvelous Monday

STAR KID

This week our Star Kid is Haakon. Haakon is a hard working first grader that takes pride in all that he does during the day. Haakon's favorite animal is a cheetah and his favorite food is cake. YUMMY! My favorite thing about Haakon's Star Kid board is that he listed his favorite place as "SCHOOL" and his favorite thing to do is "LEARN". Yeah Haakon!

Spelling Words: all, call, ball, tall, wall, fall, much, not, thank, top

Challenge Words: basketball, snowfall, install, gallbladder, waterfall

Sight Words: how, make of, some

MATH

In math we are learning how to count on using a number line. Please practice using a number line instead of using our fingers to add. If you don't have a number line at home, a great resource is a ruler. Have your child use the inch side of the ruler to count forward. Have fun practicing your math facts!

Terrific Tuesday

A Spook-Tacular Guest...

We had a very special guest today. Mrs. Skoro's Mom came and shared Halloween stories and tales with us. We learned a new little Halloween Jig and even a scary story about a man with a pumpkin head. It was a blast!

MEA VACATION

NO SCHOOL WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY OR FRIDAY!

Sight Word Practice

Mrs. Hagen has been checking students process with their sight words. Thus far in first grade, we have learned 17 new sight words. At the end of next week we will be tested on which sight words we know and be given a grade on our report card. Sight words should be recognized quickly and should not be sounded out. Please practice all 21 sight words below to ensure your child's success. These words are found on our Spelling Tic-Tac-Toe each Monday. The best way to learn these words is through repeated practice. Thank you for your support!

help, let's, now, in, no, too, get, hold, home, so, soon, late, oh, yes, find, much, thank, some, make, of, how

Wonderful Wednesday

Spelling Words: top, hop, hot, not, dot, lot, back, pick, oh, yes

Sight Words: much, thank, find

"Short O Sound"

We are working on the "short O" sound in first grade. To help us remember what sound "short O" makes, we have a special hand signal. We make the "OK" sign with our fingers and put it in front of our mouths. While waving our three standing fingers, we say "O, O, Octopus." Have your child demonstrate for you. It is a cute one!

Star of the Week...

Libby is our Star of the Week. Libby's favorite color is blue. Her favorite animal is a dog and her favorite food is tacos. Libby always has a caring heart in our classroom. She is well liked by everyone. Libby always listens to the teacher and is a positive leader in our classroom. Thank you Libby for being this weeks STAR KID!

Wonderful Wednesday

i-pod Touches...

We were lucky enough to use the touches again today.

Mrs. Hagen wanted to list some

of the apps that we are using so that you can try

them at home. Parents please remember

that it would be a good idea to use these in moderation.

The apps we have at school are limited and therefore,

we wouldn't want our kiddos to get burnt out of using them.

**Popmath

**Math Magic

**Word Magic

**iwrite words

**Math Bingo

Math Homework: Tonight there will be math homework.

You will find a blue math sheet in your child's homework folder.

Please complete this sheet with your child and return it tomorrow.

Remember, it is assigned tonight to help better prepare your child

for our math test tomorrow.

Marvelous Monday

STAR KID:
This week's STAR KID is Drew!
Drew wants to be a Marine Biologist when he grows up.
His favorite place to go is the park and blue is his favorite color.
When you are the STAR KID in Mrs. Hagen's class you have many responsibilities. You are in charge of leading the line everywhere we go. A STAR KID carries the lunch bin and picks a different friend each day to help. You also are in charge of doing the calendar and weather each morning. Mrs. Hagen also asks for your help throughout the week. STAR KIDS are respectful, responsible and kind. Thank you Drew for being this weeks STAR KID! I wonder who it will be next week?

Spelling Words: pick, pack, sack, tack, back, sick, hold, so, big, in
Sight Words: oh, late, yes


1-4 Had a Marvelous Monday! Our behavior was GREAT and we accomplished all of our goals today! We were given compliments by other teachers and they earned us FiReWoRkS! Ask your child to demonstrate our classroom firework show! It is really cute! Thanks for a MARVELOUS Day! I am looking forward to a TERRIFIC TUESDAY!

Friday, October 1, 2010

Minnetonka Regional Park

We had the most wonderful field trip yesterday. The weather was picture perfect and we learned a ton about insects. We were able to explore the woods of Minnetonka Regional Park looking for insect species. We found more than we could count. There were also a few other surprises (like a huge frog and deer droppings). YeAh! Thank you to all the parents and grandparents that helped with the trip. You did a great job assuring that our class was listening and learning. Thank you again! Morgan's Grandma sent in a few pictures from our day. Please enjoy! Today, Ava brought in a beautiful caterpillar to share with the class. We had a great discussion about the life cycle. Ask you child about the four stages of life that we talked about today.

1. eggs

2. Larva

3. Pupa

4. Adult

Short "i" is the sound that we have worked on this week. We will continue to practice short "i" next week as well. Ask your children about the finger cue we use to remember short "i". (itch, itch, itch)

Bag Books

Our first set of bag books went home on Thursday! Please remember that the levels are easy right now. All students were tested last week and given books that match their guided reading levels. If the books seem too easy for your child, be thankful. That is the goal. Each child has had a chance to read their books a number of times during the week before they find their place at your home. Remember that First Graders often memorize and that is okay. It is part of the reading process. It also creates a sense of comfort and confidence with young readers.

To make sure your child is reading, cover up the pictures. Have them read the pages of the book without being able to use picture cues. It is also fun to read the book from back cover to front cover. It just shakes it up a bit! One other idea is to point to words out of sequence. This assures that they are truly decoding and blending words. As a first grader it is also important for us to recall the beginning, middle and end of a book. At school we practice recognizing the characters, setting, problem and solution. Holding these discussions with your child will help them to be a more successful reader.