One Hundred Seventh Day of School

Due to scheduling conflicts we had to move our Science lesson to today. We asked the questions: What can air do? and How can we use air? (tested). We learned, observed, and discovered that air can push, pull, suck, and cause things to float.

We took notes on an article about George Washington.

The due date for citizenship speeches was extended to Thursday (tomorrow).

One Hundred Sixth Day of School

Tomorrow is likely the last day to review math responses and get them returned in time for the test.

Speeches are due tomorrow.

At-Home Project

The 1st grade will be hosting the Citizen of the Month Assembly at the end of February. One child from the 1st grade classes will be chosen to read an essay they have written on the subject of sportsmanship. All students wishing to be considered for reading a speech to the student body at the end of the February need to submit an essay to their teacher by Wednesday, February 11th. A winning essay/student will be chosen by the 1st grade teachers. Parents of that child will be notified so they can make plans to be at the assembly. This is good public speaking experience and an excellent opportunity for video memories.

Optional Home Project

For social studies we have been working on neighborhood maps. At this point in the year it is suggested that parents direct students to a mapping program (Google Maps) on the Internet and locate their home's satellite photograph. Magnify the view to 100ft/inch. Size to show their block and a portion of surrounding blocks. Have your child make a simple map (a sample is available in the classroom) with legend (key) under your direction but in their hand. On your child's map, buildings could be shown as simple rectangles. Print a view of the satellite picture (preferably w/o address and real estate information, which can be blackened out if necessary) and attach to the hand-drawn map and send with your child to class.

At-Home Project

Every year Room 11 has the tradition of electing a class president. This supports the government portion of our Social Science standards. Those students interested in running for Room 11 Class President 2013-14 will work on a speech at home to be delivered to the class. Speeches will be due on Monday November 3rd. Voting will take place on Tuesday November 4th. Credit for this At-Home Project will count towards the second reporting period.

Eighteenth Day of School

Now that we have our list of small moments, each child will receive a yellow writer's folder to store work in progress. This folder will be sent home to be covered with parent's assistance. With child and parent working together, cover the folder with items of your child's interest. These images will be used to spark the writer's imagination when needed for writing details or writing topics. The items on the folder should be things which evoke memories or which the child is passionate about. Examples might include: photos of relatives, photos of memorable moments, logos from a favorite toy or game, invitations from a birthday party, or pictures of a favorite animal. Please return folders the week of the Sept. 15th.

Today we had our third drama lesson and practiced our newly acquired skills of focus and pantomime. Next week we will begin work on creating tableau.

For oral language we analyzed the structure and summarized a selection without a plot. The book was Eric Carle's Head to Toe. A summary is contrasted by a retell in that it is a one sentence account of the main parts of a selection. It will generally answer the questions where, when, who, did what, how/why, and what was the theme?

Once upon a time, a little girl named Little Red Riding Hood failed to heed her mother's instructions while walking to her grandmother's house to deliver baked goods.

 At home, a little boy named David, gets into trouble by not following rules and not using manners.

Summarizing is an excellent skill to practice after reading a book with an adult. It can be a shared activity.

Mandatory Homework Assignment for Parents

Over the course of the next few weeks, we will be focusing on the genre of personal narratives and for writing instruction and independent writing practice. As discussed at Back-to-School Night,  here is a description of your (the parent with input from student) work.

The Assignment:

Over the next few days, construct a list of memorable events. These individual events should be about moments which occur across a time span of approximately 20 minutes maximum in length. Each event should have an identifiable emotion (or two) attached to it (fear, happiness, surprise).

Examples of events which will not work:

• My Day at Disneyland
• Christmas Morning
• My Birthday Party
• The Winning Game

Examples of events which will work:

• Meeting Cinderella
• Opening My Favorite Gift
• Breaking the Pinata
• Scoring the Winning Goal

Try to make a list of at least 10 memorable moments. We will refer to this list as our list of Memorable Moments. Hopefully your child will be able to construct at least 3 narratives from events in the list. They will eventually be choosing from among those narratives one which they focus on for elaboration, revising, and editing for publication.

Please finish your lists up this weekend. If all goes as planned we should begin work with our lists next week.

Reflections on Back-to-School

Thank you all for coming to our Back-to-School Night. Hopefully you received useful information to help you help your child be extra successful this year. It was nice to see everyone. I think we had a representative from every family except one.

Please note: what was said about Lexile measured texts may have been a bit misleading. To clarify, not every book a child reads will be measured with a Lexile score. There are different ways that books are leveled. So not everything your child reads or will be interested in reading will have a score. It may be sufficient to tell a local librarian (at least to begin with) what grade your child is in and whether or not they are currently a strong reader. Note that picture books are written at all reading levels,  including adult advanced levels. Make sure to check out fiction as well as non-fiction.

Additionally (and importantly), every book that you check out will not necessarily be on your child's reading level. You will check out books above their level where you will become the expert reader and track your reading with your finger as you read aloud. Some books will be at and below your child's level. Some books will be for pure enjoyment and simply read for the joy of hearing language out loud.

Feel free to be as creative as you like with the outside projects. The more important you make school, the more important it will become for your child. For example, one family took it upon themselves to build a globe for a Social Science project which is still in the classroom and used for instruction. Keep in mind some suggestions will be included from time to time in the daily message. It may not have been clear that if your child makes a speech to run for Class President, that will count for outside work. Another idea might be to learn a sentence  or short poem to share with the class in Standard American Sign Language. Feel free to make digital projects as well which we can transfer to your child's flash drive. For example, you could create a Glogster or Prezi account and work with your child to create a digital poster or presentation (This has the added benefit of teaching computer literacy as well as being free to make).

Not mentioned tonight:

• One way for your child to earn one star on the "Star Chart" is to have them bring a book to school checked out from an outside library (Carson Public Library).
• Information on Science and Social Science tests (as well as some other subjects) was not mentioned. Look for information on this site to be forthcoming.
• It was stated that 3 perfect math scores must be achieved for a score of 4 on the report card for each reporting period. What was not mentioned is that one of those 3 must be from the district periodic math assessment. One assessment is usually administered each reporting period.