Little Gardeners!

We have talked a lot about plants over the last month.  We have learned the different parts, what a plant needs, and the plant life cycle.  Now, it was time for us to try our hands at growing our own plants.  Each child was giving the choice to grow either a sunflower or bean plant.  They will be responsible for providing their plant with what it needs to grow.  I hope with this beautiful sunny weather we will be able to grow some nice looking plants!

The start of our little garden

Headphone/Earbuds

Starting tomorrow we are going to start to use computers in our classroom.  We will be using Raz kids during DAILY 5 center time and Xtramath.org once a week to help with our addition fluency.

I am very excited to students to use technology in the classroom to enhance their learning opportunity. Many of the sites we use have sounds, and it can get a bit confusing for students to have all of the computers going off at the same time.  So, in order to help with this, please have your child bring in a set of headphones or earbuds to stay in their cubbies at school.  Thank you so much for helping me with this

Also, thank you to all for being so supportive as the school year has started.  I am overwhelmed by your generosity to help in the classroom and support your child in their learning!

Happy Birthday Johnny Appleseed!

Yesterday we read a book about Johnny Appleseed, and as we did we discovered that the next day was his birthday!  Well, I had been planning to have us make applesauce at some point, but now that I knew with this exciting news I had to push it up to today!  This morning we talked about information writing, and how some stories and writing teach us things.  One type of writing that does that are 'how to' stories.  So, today we worked on a how to make apple sauce piece.  Of course it isn't much fun if you actually don't get to try it out.  So, here are some pictures of us learning about recipes, measurement, and crockpots.  :)  At the end of the day we finally got to enjoy our homemade applesauce, and boy did it smell yummy all day!

Our ingredients

Putting our applesauce together

Hmm, is it time yet? (question of the day)

Butterfly Excitement!!!

In second grade the classes study butterflies.  Ms. Johnson was kind enough to let us in on the excitement.  We were able to watch a caterpillar form its chrysalis!  It was super exciting to watch, now we are looking forward to seeing them emerge from them as a beautiful butterfly!  Thank you Ms. Johnson for letting us in on this exciting learning.

Caterpillar to Chrysalis Metamorphosis Timelapse

We're on the Move!!!

As you may have read in a flyer I sent home this week, the learning lane community is starting to move students to better help your child in their reading learning!  After meeting as a team, we have placed students in reading groups that best suits their reading abilities and needs.  If you have any questions about how we placed your child, or what teacher they are meeting with during guided reading please do not hesitate to call or e-mail.

Here are the teachers of Learning Lane!

Mrs. Saunders - 1st grade teacher

Mrs. Shea - Kindergarten

Mrs. Shanks -Kindergarten

Mrs. Scorza - 1st grade

Mrs. Roy - Special Ed.

Ms. Johnson - 2nd grade

Mrs. Flanagin - 2nd grade

Studying Plants

This trimester we will be studying plants during science.  We have been learning about the parts of a plant, what plants need to grow, and soon we will be talking about the life cycle of a plant.  During this study we will do some experiments, examine seeds, hopefully grow something ;), and do different activities around plants.  Here is one of our first experiments around plants.  We have 3 potatoes. Two of the potatoes are older and already have eyes growing, and the other potato is newer.  We put each potato in a different solution.  Container A has water and food coloring, Container B has bubble solution and water, and Container C has just water.  We have made a couple predictions about what may happen to each potato, and now we are just anxiously waiting for some results!!

Constitution Day

Constitution day is on September 17th!  In honor of this day we will be wearing red, white, and blue as a school.  It is important that our students know what our country is all about.  In our class we will be talking about the importance of our flag and pledge of allegiance.  Also, Mrs. Perry the librarian has some different things planned to help teach about the constitution.  Here is a great link and video to tell you more about this day.

http://constitutioncenter.org/constitution-day/

What is a Scientist?

This week we opened our science unit with asking ourselves, what is a scientist?  Everyone had some great ideas to add to our anchor chart.  One major thing we talked about is that scientists make predictions!  This worked perfectly with our reading this week because, we were working on making predictions about the stories we read and listen to.

I took out our 'science' supplies, and we began to make predictions about what me happen.  Our supplies consisted of baking soda, vinegar, food coloring, a tray, and droppers.  The question I asked was; what will happen if I sprinkle baking soda onto this tray and, then we drop colored vinegar onto the powder?

Our next job was to record our predictions onto our recording sheet.  We had talked about how scientists write down everything so that they do not forget what they have tried or predicted.

Scientist hard at work!

What might happen?

Then the fun part came, we did our experiment!! Some were surprised by what happened and others were excited that their predictions were correct!

Wow!!

Tiny explosions

Science Rocks!

Newsletter 9/6

September 6, 2013

Saunders’ Newsletter

Dear Families,

I hope that you have found your child having a great first four day week!  I know that they are very tired, and that it will take some time for them to adjust to the long learning days.  Please do not be surprised if your child is falling asleep earlier than normal or, too tired to practice spelling or read at night.  

Because we are all adjusting to a new school year, we will not have have our first spelling test until next Friday, September 13th.  I hope you have had a chance to check out the Spell City account at http://www.spellingcity.com/krissaunders1/.  This is a fun way to have your child study their words during the week.  

This week we have been extremely busy!  We have been learning the routines for not only our classroom but, also for the common areas in our building.  I am very proud of everyone for how well they have been doing on our routine of Daily 5.  This is what we will be doing during our reading group time.  Daily 5 is a way for students to practice different literacy skills independently.  To read more about what Daily 5 is you can go to http://www.thedailycafe.com/ and click on Daily 5.

Also, we started science this week.  We talked about what a scientist does, made predictions on an experiment, and performed our very first experiment!  Please ask your child about this exciting experience.  I will be posting pictures and explanations on our experiment on our blog at http://mrssaundersclassroom.blogspot.com/.  From now on I will be posting most of my newsletters on my blog.  If you would like a paper copy please e-mail or send me a note to let me know.

Finally, next Thursday, September 12th will be open house!! This is always a special night for students to show off their work and classrooms to their families.  Open house will be from 6-7:30.  Because of the size of our school we are encouraging families with children in k-2 to come towards the beginning of open house if they are able to.  I look forward to meeting you that night!

Sincerely,

 Mrs. Saunders

Spelling!!

Dear Families,

Because this week was only a 4 day week, we will be having our 1st spelling test next Friday, September 4th.  This will help you have an extra week to establish study habits. Also, it will give you child a  chance to continue to adjust to being back to school.  

Here is the information again on spell city.  

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

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. They will have recess every day at 10:30. Also, 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 will consist of spelling and math.   Each week you will also receive spelling words to practice with your child. They will be tested at the end of the week. Also, your child will have three math practice that coincide with our daily lessons.  Please return the math home work the next day, and the spelling is for your use at home.  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 it should be done as I am there to assist in anyway that may be needed.  We highly encourage you to continue your bed time story routine.

At the end of the year I sent home a flier with your child from Mrs. Scorza and myself.  I just wanted to fill you in some more on the team teaching that we will be doing this year.  I will be testing your child early on in the year to see what her/his needs are in reading and math.  Then, the team members of learning lane and I will decide on what flexible groups your child will continue to grow at their academic level.  This may mean that your child will work in a reading or math group for part of the time with another teacher of learning lane.  The groups will be evaluated throughout the year, and I will try to keep you informed as to your child’s progress and moving of groups between classrooms.  If you have any questions concerning the team teaching that learning lane and I will be doing please do not hesitate to contact me.

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.saunders@lakeregionschools.org or call and leave a message with the office at 693-6828.

Sincerely,
 Mrs. Saunders

3rd Trimester!

Dear Families,

Wow, I can't believe how quickly the year is going.  We are now in the third and final trimester.  This week are parent-teacher conferences.  I am looking forward to meeting up with each of you to talk about how your child has done during second trimester.  Also, during this week we will be having the buy 1 get 1 free book fair.  I have also sent home book orders, if you are interested in ordering through the scholastic book order please send it in by Friday.  Friday has become a school day now because of the amounts of snow days that we have had this winter.  So, April vacation starts April 13-21.  I hope that you are able to enjoy some beautiful weather during break!  Below I have writing 3rd trimester's benchmarks.

Reading

*Reads at a level 16 or 18, according to the   

Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA).

*Uses multiple strategies for solving unknown words 

like: picture clues, rereading the sentence, reading 

for meaning or applying phonics to decode words.

*When reading out loud, student reads in 5-6 word 

phrases and uses punctuation to change their voices.

*Works to make predictions, retell, make connections, 

ask and answer questions about

 a story.

*Identifies the characters, setting, problem 

and solution in a story.

*Identifies the headings, table of contents and 

glossery in a nonfiction text.

*Reads 90-100 of the first grade sight words.

Writing

*Writes 5-6 simple sentences on a topic.

*Uses adjectives (descriptive words) in sentences.

*Uses punctuation at the end of a sentence and 

capitalizes the first word of a sentence, names of 

people and the word I.

*Uses appropriate spacing between words.

*Begins to spell words with common spelling patterns.

Math

*Solves problems that require the addition of 3 whole 

numbers (2+3+5=).

*Uses strategies like counting on, doubles, +/- 1, 

counting back and fact families to solve addition and 

subtraction problems.

*Adds or subtracts 10 math problems accurately in 2 

minutes.

*Reads, writes and compares numbers to 120.

*Measures obects to the nearest whole unit.

*Reads and writes time to the hour and half hour.

*Answers simple questions about a graph.

*Describes, names and compares 2-D and 3-D shapes.

*Divides circles and rectangles into halves and 

quarters.

Spelling

We will be replacing the challenge words with a 

sentence that will be dictated to the children.  We will 

expect kids to use appropriate upper and lower case 

letters.  We will be looking for letters to be sitting 

properly on the line and for appropriate spacing between 

the words.  These are conventions that we have been 

working on with our handwriting program.  We have also 

talked about these conventions during our writing time.

Red Carpet Event

Today we were finally able to have our red carpet event!  It was a lot of fun dressing up for the premier of our very own 2nd grader's t.v. show.  To read more about how she got the opportunity to have her own show check out the write up at our on SLS website -

http://sls.lakeregionschools.org/home/sls-announcements/songolocksstudentcarlydyerworktobefeaturedontv

We walked the red carpet to the cafeteria, had popcorn, drinks, and got our picture taken, just like at a real movie premier!  It was very exciting, and we are hoping that everyone realized that you are never to young to be an author!

Walking the red carpet

 Ms. Johnson sharing about how Carly got to do this 

The movie

Our first set of stars!

Looking sharp, those SLS students!

They are definitely R.O.C.K. Stars!

February 3, 2012

                                      

   Mrs. Saunders Newsletter

Dear Families,

I hope this letter finds you all healthy and well.  I know that there has been a number of coughing, belly aches, and headaches.  If your child has had a cough, and you would like to send them in cough drops, they are more then welcome to have them in their backpack. 

There are a few things coming up in the month of February.  First, Friday, February 8th, we will be having a red carpet event for a second grade writer in our building.  Kids are welcome to wear 'fancy' attire for our event in the morning.  Please have them bring a change of clothes for the rest of the day.  Next week will be the 100th day of school!  We will celebrate that day by doing lots of different 100 type things.  Next week is Valentine's Day on Thursday, February 14th.  On this day we will be having our Valentine’s Day celebration.  I will be sending home a list of kids names for Valentines.  Finally the week of February 18th is winter break!  

During these chilly winter months if you could send your child in a sweatshirt that could stay here at school that would be wonderful.  Our room can get a bit cold on certain days, and it can be rough to work in our jackets, especially if they are wet from recess.  Thank you for all your help.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Valentines Party

Plates _________________                                                  Juice Boxes (17)______________

Veggies ________________                                                 Fruit ________________

Goodies  ________________                                               Popcorn ________________

Cheese and Crackers ________________

      

Night Tree

Yesterday, we read the story Night Tree by Eve Bunting.  The story is about  families tradition of decorating a tree in the forest with food.  The food is to be a Christmas meal for all of the forest animals!  After we finished the story Mrs. Shea's Kindergarten class came over to help us prepare our own night tree food.  We strung cranberries and popcorn, made fruit loop wreaths, and created our own bird feeders with pinecones and birdseeds.  It was a great opportunity for us to practice working together, doing something kind for others, and following the directions.  Below are some pictures of us working on the different projects!

Fruit Loop wreaths

Bird Feeders

Stringing popcorn and cranberries

Stringing popcorn and cranberries

Christmas Concert

Thank you for joining us for our holiday concert!  We were so excited to share all of our hard word with our families and friends.  

We want to be elves!

Elf of the Shelf

This past week we have had a little mischievous visitor.  His name is Mr. Jingles the elf.  Monday when we came into school we were greeted by a note from him and our door being blocked off by red cray paper.  Then on Tuesday we found a mess in both Mrs. Scorza and our room, glitter had been thrown throughout our rooms!  Finally, at the end of the week we found a recipe for the makings of a surprise.  Mrs. Scorza's class came into our room to make the magical mixer.  As we made this, we talked about fractions, measuring, and following directions.  The next morning to our surprise we found candy canes left!  We are having a lot of fun with Mr. Jingles, and we can't wait to see what he brings to us next week!

Our famous Mr. Jingles

Our recipe left for us

What we found the next day!

Author's Skype

In November we were privileged to do an author's skype.  We met the author of the book Boy and Bot by Ame Dyckman.  It was a great opportunity for students to put a face to an author.  She shared with them how she came up with the story, how long it took her to make it into a book, and how many other books she is writing.  Students were then given an chance to ask Ame about writing and the book.  It was a great experience, and everyone was excited about our Boy and Bot bracelets and bookmarks!

Ame sharing about her book on Skype

Friendship Quilt

To finish up our long ago unit we talked about how long ago they use to have to make their own clothes and blankets.  Mrs. Scorza and I then shared our own personal quilts that we own, and we talked about how each type of quilt has a different name.  One of the quilts Mrs. Scorza shared was called the friendship quilt.  After, each child created their own square using triangles and squares.  When we finished the pieces we put them together to create a beautiful friendship quilt!

arranging pieces to our quilts

Our beautiful quilt taking form!