Christmas Concert

Here a couple pictures of the wonderful concert.  I'm so glad that everyone was able to make it.  I am so very proud of everyone, it was such a wonderful show!

Holiday Celebration

December 16, 2011

Saunder’s Newsletter

Dear Families,

This month has been filled with lots of excitement and activity here at school.  This week we had our Holiday concert, which went very well.  I am so proud of all the hard work that everyone put into making the concert go so well! 

 

Next week will be full of lots of fun Christmas activities as we make our way to Christmas break.  One of the special things that we will be doing next week will be our Holiday party.  We have filled our marble jar so we will be combining this with our celebration. Our celebration will be at 2:10 on December 22nd.  As part of our celebration we will be having a pajama day.  Please make sure your child wears appropriate shoes.  Also, the class voted on having ice cream sundaes for their prize.  So, we will have this along with some healthy snacks.  If you can help with the topping for this celebration or healthy snacks to go along with our sundaes please send in the attached form with your child.   

Our holiday break will start on December 23rd through January 2nd.  I hope that everyone has a wonderful and very happy Christmas!!

Sincerely,

 Mrs. Saunders

Holiday Party

_______  Bucket of Ice Cream ________ Jimmies

_______   Chocolate Syrup ________  Cherries

_______   Strawberry Syrup ________ Veggies/Dip

_______    Whipped Cream ________  Cheese/Crackers

_______    Drinks ________  Fruit

________  Bowls ________   Plates

Child’s Name: _______________________________________

Rick Charette

Last Friday we were privileged to have Rick Charette come to our school and share some of his wonderful songs.  Everyone had a wonderful time, and I think I heard students singing his songs throughout the rest of the day!  Here are a couple pictures of our time with Mr. Charette!

December

Dear Families, 


December is a very fast and busy month, for you and here at school.  Just to keep you posted on what is going on here at school, I am listing some important and exciting upcoming events and dates.  During the month of December we will be learning about different holiday traditions!  We will be studying Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and Christmas.  Everyone is already excited and anticipating the holiday season in our classroom.  We will be planning a holiday party the week before Christmas break, I will send home a notice concerning this event at a later time.  Report cards will be coming home shortly, if you have any concerns or questions about your child's grades please call or send me an e-mail and we can set up a meeting.  


December Dates:


December 2nd - Rick Charette Concert 
December 7th - Early Release
December 9th - Report Cards come home!!
December 14th - Holiday Concert at 2:00
December 23-January 2nd - Christmas break

Math Games

Addition Top-It

Materials: 

Deck of Cards A-9.  Mark Ace as 1.

Objective:

To collect the most cards

Directions:

One player shuffles the cards and deals the cards to the players

Each player turns over 2 cards and calls out the sum of the numbers.  Players check each other’s work.

The player with the greatest sum takes all the cards.  In case of a tie, each player turns over 2 more cards and calls out the sum.  The player with the greater sum takes all of the cards.  Cards are placed on the bottom of the winners deck.  

Play ends when a player is out of cards.

Beat the Calculator

Materials:

Deck of cards A-9.  Mark Ace as 1.

Calculator

Objectives:

To beat the calculator in finding the answer to an addition fact

Directions:

 One player is the ‘brain’, one is the ‘calculator’, and one is the ‘caller’.

One player shuffles the cards and places them with the numbers face-down.

The caller draws 2 cards from the number deck and asks for the sum of the 2 numbers.

The calculator solves the problem using a calculator.  The brain solves it without a calculator.  AS soon as a player has found the sum, he or she says it aloud.  The caller decided who got the correct answer first.

Players trade roles every 10 turns or so.

Coin Dice

Materials:

60 pennies

12 nickels

6 dimes

2 dice

Objective:

To have more money than the other players

Directions:

Players put all the coins in a bank.

Players take turns.  For each turn, player rolls both dice and takes as many pennies from the bank as the total number on the dice.

As the end of each turn, a player makes any possible exchanges form the bank- 5 pennies for 1 nickel, 5 pennies and one nickel for a dime, 2 nickels for a dime, or 10 pennies for a dime.

To pick up the last pennies, the total number on the dice must match the total value of the remaining coins.

The winner is the player who has more money.

Dice Roll and Tally Game

Materials:

Game Master

1 die

Objective:

To be the first player to have 5 tally marks next to each of the numbers 1 - 6

Directions:

 Players take turns rolling a die and putting a tally mark next to the appropriate number on their tally chart.

The first player to have at least 5 tally marks next to each number is the winner.

Variation: Players take turns rolling the die for 3 minutes.  Before they begin, have them predict which number or numbers will come up most often.

Digit Game

Materials:

Deck of cards A-9. Mark A as 1.

Objective:

To collect more cards than the other player

Directions:

One player shuffles the deck and places it with the numbers face down.

Each player draws 2 cards form the deck and uses them to make the largest number possible.

The player who makes the larger number takes all the cards.

The game is over when all of the cards have been used.

Fact Power Game

Materials:

Game Master 51

1 die

1 crayon per player

Objective:

To have the greatest number of marked spaces

Directions:

Player 1 rolls the dice and moves that number of spaces on the game board, following the arrows.  

When players land on a space, they say the sum.  The other players in the group check the answer.  If it is correct, the player marks the space with his color.  Once a space is marked, it is skipped over by the other players.  

The player with the most spaces marked, is the winner.

High Roller

Materials:

2 dice

Objective:

To roll the highest number

Directions:

One player rolls the dice.  The player keeps the die with the larger number and throws the other die again.

The player counts on from the number rolled on the first die to get the sum of the two dice.  

Each player repeats steps 1 and 2.  the winner is the player with the highest number after 2 rounds.

Penny-Nickel-Dime Exchange

Materials:

1 die

20 pennies

10 dimes

10 nickels

Objective:

To collect more dimes than the other players

Directions:

Players put all the coins into the bank.

Players take turns rolling the die and collecting the number of pennies from the bank that matches the number rolled.  Whenever a player acquires 5 or more pennies, he or she needs to make an exchange.  Whenever a player has at least 2 nickels or 1 nickel and 5 pennies, he or she needs to exchange the coins.

The game ends when there are no more dimes in the bank.  The player with more dimes is the winner.

Tic-Tac-Toe Addition

Materials:

Game Master 150 (or create your own game board)

Objective:

To find the sum of 3 numbers

Directions:

Players use the 4 number grids at the top of the record sheet.  

They draw a straight line through 3 numbers on a grid if they equally the sum in the square.  There is more than one combination for each sum.

Variation: Players make up their own puzzles using the blank grids on the bottom of the record sheet.

Turn Around Facts Game

Materials:

Game master 155

2 dice

20 pennies

Objective:

To collect more pennies than the other players

Directions:

Players take turns.  At each turn, a player does the following:

Rolls the dice and finds the total number of dots on the 2 dice.

Writes the total in the appropriate box in the table, then writes the sum in the ox for the turn around fact, if there is one.

Takes 1 penny from the bank for each box in the table he or she has filled in.      

         If the box has already been filled in, the player takes no pennies from the bank    

             and loses the turn.

         The game is over when all the pennies have been taken.  The player who took   

             more pennies wins.

Spelling

November  7, 2011

Dear Families,

Because the week of the 7th and the week of the 21st are short weeks we will be switching things around.  So as to not lose ground with the consistency of spelling we will be having this weeks spelling test on the 15th and the week afters test on the 22nd.  Please practice these words with your child. 

Harvest Celebration

Dear Families,

The first grade team will be having a harvest festival on Monday, October 31st.  As we end our unit on plants, each classroom will be cooking a fall food recipe focused around apples and pumpkins.  In lieu of a holiday party each classroom will share their food creations with the other first grades in the afternoon.  We are asking for donations of ingredients instead of holiday treats.  Also, student council has also made this day black and orange day!
First Grade Team

Ingredients:

1 medium sized pumpkin _____________               

Drinks___________________

Old newspapers  _________________                   

Sugar__________________

Cups  _________________                                        

Cinnamon __________________
Napkins _________________                                    

Lemon Juice ________________      
Plates _________________                                       

1 bag of apples   ________________
1 bag of apples  __________________

If you can donate any of these items please let me know as soon as possible.  We may try to start some baking on Friday if possible.  Thank you so much.  I also would love to have one or two helpers on Monday for a couple hours to help cook if anyone if interested please let me know a time you are available.

 Thanks again.  

Mrs. Saunders

What's New!!

Dear Families,
I'm sorry that I haven't had a new post in a while.  Life got a little on the busy side.  I am hoping that the internet will come in at home tomorrow so that I will be able to be more consistent with my updates!  Things are really on a roll here in our room.  It is exciting to see how we have started to get into a routine, and have really wonderful learning days!

Last week we finished our plant unit.  We have a wonderful bean plant growing in our classroom window. I am sure that if your child joins us for parent/teacher conferences that they will want to share with you the process that we went through to get this plant this large!

This week we have started our Social Studies unit called Now and Long Ago.  We have been learning and comparing how life in the home and schools were in the past to how they are now.  We will continue this unit of study right up till Thanksgiving.

The first grade is planning something different for our holiday/Halloween celebration Monday the 31st.  I will be sending home more information about this tomorrow.

I am looking forward to meeting with each of you this week during parent/teacher conferences.  Please bring any questions or concerns that may have come about due to the progress reports.  I am also looking forward to sharing what is going on with our 1st grade literacy block (what was called learning lab in K).

Reading

This week we are starting to meet in skill based reading groups.  These groups are to help pinpoint skill areas that your child needs to work on to become a better reader.  In these groups I will be reinforcing the phonics from the that week, working on reading strategies, and comprehension.

Right now the best way to improve your child's reading is to have them practice reading and to read to them!  I have attached a link below about helping children pick a 'just right' book and tips on reading with your child.  This site is full of wonderful and insightful articles!

Selecting Books for Your Child: Finding 'Just Right' Books | Reading Topics A-Z | Reading Rockets

For fun students can practice phonics and reading skills on the website called Starfall.  This website is not only fun but educational!!!

www.starfall.com

Finally, another great reading website is Mrs. P's magic library.  This site contains some games, read alouds, and activities

http://www.mrsp.com/

Happy Reading!!!

Inside Recess

Last week we had our first rainy day.  So instead of getting outside we got to have recess inside.  This gave everyone a chance to play with some of the toys that they had been eyeing for a few days!  Here are a couple highlights of our exploration of the things in our room!

Painting

Hopscotch

Spelling City

Dear Parents,

This year, we will be using VocabularySpellingCity.com in our classroom.
VocabularySpellingCity is a website that helps students learn their weekly spelling and vocabulary words while having fun at the same time.

As a teacher, I will put up my weekly spelling lists on VocabularySpellingCity and your children
can review the words, and play spelling and vocabulary games with their words to reinforce the
learning process.

Here’s how to help your child master his or her spelling and vocabulary words:  Simply go to www.spellingcity.com to see how the site works.  To get started, click on “Sample Lists” and choose any list you like.  Then try the Teach Me, Test Me, or Play A Game link.  You can find our class’ spelling lists by using the Find A List feature and searching for my name, Kristen Saunders, or you can go directly to my VocabularySpellingCity homepage at http://www.spellingcity.com/krissaunders1/.  You can bookmark this URL on your computer to make it easy for your child to access the class’ word lists!

Many kids enjoy building their spelling skills with Spelling City. Please encourage your children to spend about twenty minutes, two nights in a row before their weekly test. Let’s work together as a team to ensure that your child becomes an independent, lifelong learner.

Yours truly,
Mrs. Saunders

Math Money

Today we started learning new math games.  In order to play these games correctly your child needs to have their math money.  

If you could please send in a baggie with:

20 pennies

10 dimes

10 nickels

4 quarters 

We will be using this money throughout the year, and I will return this at the end of the school year.  Thank you for your help!

Special Schedule

Mrs. Saunder’s Class

Special Schedule

Monday  -  Health

Tuesday - Phys. Ed

Wednesday - Music

Thursday - Library

Friday - Art

Student Handbook

In order to help you know what the expectations of our classroom are, I have created a classroom, student handbook.  Please make sure that you go over this with your child throughout the year.  I am looking forward to a successful and wonderful school year!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1l5qhq9KcuDGjct080SRSPhmPPP7iJsrObu1d4ifq8vo/edit?hl=en_US

Welcome to First Grade

       Welcome to a new school year. I am excited to meet your child and family. This year will be lots of fun and learning. First grade is a huge transition from Kindergarten and the expectations are very different. Your child will come home tired for the first few months of school. There is not much play time in first grade. Children have a recess at lunch.  Your child will need a snack daily to help keep them going during the day. It is very important that they have healthy snacks and drinks. Please do not send them candy or soda.

      In first grade children love to bring things in to show their friends. Unfortunately this causes many issues. I ask that no toys be sent to school. I understand that some children have a long bus ride or go to after school care and are allowed toys then. This is fine as long as they remain in their bags during the school day. Any toys that are taken out in the class will be kept until the end of the year. Thanks for your help with this.

     Homework consists of reading daily for ten minutes. Each week you will also receive spelling words to practice with your child. They will be tested on Fridays. Spelling words go home only of five day school weeks. The only other homework that will come home is work that is not completed in school. Please encourage your child to complete their work at school. This is where is should be done as I am there to assist in anyway that may be needed. If work is consistently not finished your child will loose recess to complete their work.

       

      I am looking forward to seeing your child grow this year as a learner. You will be fascinated by the changes in your child this year. Please do not hesitate to email or call with any questions or concerns you may have. Remember if I don't know about them I can not help resolve them.  You may email me at kristen.dobson@lakeregionschools.org or call and leave a message with the office at 693-6828.