Christmas break is almost here... but we do have a few days of learning and fun still ahead of us!
Reminder: Reading (At Home in the Ocean) and Spelling Tests tomorrow, Wednesday, December 13.
Thursday, December 14 is PJ Day! I sent home a note regarding this today. You may also send a small blanket or beach towel with your child that day. (No pillows, please.) Your child may bring slippers to school if they wish, but please send them wearing their tennis shoes for outdoor play.
Friday, December 15 is our Holiday Party from 1:30-2:30 p.m. Elisha's mom is working hard to prepare for the party. I am so appreciative of her help in planning and organizing these parties. The "Falloween" party was a blast and I know this one will be too! Here is a message from her:
Preparations for the Holiday/Christmas party are underway. Goodie bags are ready to go and I have a simple craft and a "cake walk" game with prizes planned for the party. Please mention this to parents in your next blog and let them know that ideas/help with the class parties is always welcomed.
If you are available that day you are more than welcome to stop by and help!
Congratulations to Maggie who made her AR goal! Also, congratulations to Cody for making the 1st grade AR Challenge goal. Students have until Friday to make their goals and then new goals will be set for the 3rd quarter. The grading period ends on Friday.
Thank you to the following students for bringing in supplies for gingerbread houses: Cody, Kaeden, Aubrey, Ellie, Taylor, Maliya, Noah, Camdyn, Elisha, Maggie, Madison
School will not be in session December 18-January 1. We resume normal classes on January 2.
In case I do not blog again before Friday, I hope that you all have a safe and happy holiday with your families and loved ones! This is such a special time of year to be with the ones you love. Cherish that time because as we all know, it goes by too quickly!
Hugs and High Fives,
Ms. Bleich 🎅
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
Friday, December 1, 2017
12.1.17
DECEMBER HAS ARRIVED! If you are feeling the pressure of the holiday season already, join the club! I feel like if I don't have my shopping all done by this weekend and my decorations all hung, I'm totally behind! (Why do we do this to ourselves?) Breathing.... ommmmmmmm....
We wrapped up Unit 2 in reading this week and we completed Chapter 3 in Math. I am SO proud of these kiddos for their hard work that they have been putting in. I am seeing reading levels getting higher and understanding is growing! They really are doing a GREAT job! I was especially impressed with how well they grasped our addition strategies! I love hearing them sing the Doubles Fact Rap and watching them count on their number line, rather than using fingers to count. Some of our friends are even well on their way to having most of their basic facts memorized so that they don't even have to use these strategies most of the time! Awesome!!!!
In addition to our students who have made their Accelerated Reading Goal, we have one student who has reached the First Grade Challenge Goal of 6 points! Congratulations Khloe! We have several students who are approaching their personal AR goal and the Challenge goal! Keep reading my little lovies!
Congratulations to the following students who recently earned star student awards:
Cassanje, Amyah, Ellie, Camdyn, Taylor, Kaeden, Khloe, Maliya, Maggie, Cody, and Noah
Next week on Tuesday, we will have our Unit 2 test. This test will cover many of the skills we have learned in Unit 2 such as:
HF Words, Understanding Characters, Text & Graphic Features, Synonyms, Antonyms, Main Idea & Details
Blends with l, r, s; final blends, final –ck, double final consonants
They will also be expected to write 3 sentences describing their favorite animal. We worked on 2 different pre-writing activities on this same topic in class.
Since we are doing this unit testing, our reading and spelling tests for Lesson 11 won't be until Wednesday, December 13.
We have started learning about different holiday traditions around the world. It's really fun to see how people in different countries celebrate. So far, our firsties love it! On Wednesday, December 13 we will be building mini-gingerbread houses in our classroom. I will be sending home a donation letter next week regarding supplies that we will be asking for. Anything you can do to help would be appreciated!
Thank you to Kaeden's family who sent in a big box of snacks for our class this afternoon!
Have a great weekend! Make sure you get your stockings hung and your presents bought! (kidding, kidding... RELAX, have fun, and enjoy your marvelous kiddos!)
Hugs & High Fives,
Ms. Bleich
We wrapped up Unit 2 in reading this week and we completed Chapter 3 in Math. I am SO proud of these kiddos for their hard work that they have been putting in. I am seeing reading levels getting higher and understanding is growing! They really are doing a GREAT job! I was especially impressed with how well they grasped our addition strategies! I love hearing them sing the Doubles Fact Rap and watching them count on their number line, rather than using fingers to count. Some of our friends are even well on their way to having most of their basic facts memorized so that they don't even have to use these strategies most of the time! Awesome!!!!
In addition to our students who have made their Accelerated Reading Goal, we have one student who has reached the First Grade Challenge Goal of 6 points! Congratulations Khloe! We have several students who are approaching their personal AR goal and the Challenge goal! Keep reading my little lovies!
Congratulations to the following students who recently earned star student awards:
Cassanje, Amyah, Ellie, Camdyn, Taylor, Kaeden, Khloe, Maliya, Maggie, Cody, and Noah
Next week on Tuesday, we will have our Unit 2 test. This test will cover many of the skills we have learned in Unit 2 such as:
HF Words, Understanding Characters, Text & Graphic Features, Synonyms, Antonyms, Main Idea & Details
Blends with l, r, s; final blends, final –ck, double final consonants
They will also be expected to write 3 sentences describing their favorite animal. We worked on 2 different pre-writing activities on this same topic in class.
Since we are doing this unit testing, our reading and spelling tests for Lesson 11 won't be until Wednesday, December 13.
We have started learning about different holiday traditions around the world. It's really fun to see how people in different countries celebrate. So far, our firsties love it! On Wednesday, December 13 we will be building mini-gingerbread houses in our classroom. I will be sending home a donation letter next week regarding supplies that we will be asking for. Anything you can do to help would be appreciated!
Thank you to Kaeden's family who sent in a big box of snacks for our class this afternoon!
Have a great weekend! Make sure you get your stockings hung and your presents bought! (kidding, kidding... RELAX, have fun, and enjoy your marvelous kiddos!)
Hugs & High Fives,
Ms. Bleich
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is just two days away. I just wanted to take a few moments to tell you how thankful I am for each of you and your children. I love my job and I feel so lucky to get to work with these little turkeys! Thank you for sharing your children with me!
Thank you to everyone who donated $1 to our "pie" fund this week-- Madison, Cody, Maliya, Salvador, Taylor, Karlmella, Jordyn, Aubrey, and Maggie! It definitely helped cut down on the cost of the pies, popcorn, popcorn, plates, and utensils. The kids had a blast getting together with Mrs. Wells's students and enjoying the Thanksgiving treats!
Also, thank you to Salvador's mom who sent in juice boxes!
Congratulations to Khloe, Cody, and Noah for making their AR goals! We have several more students who are getting close!
Congratulations to Amyah for earning a Star Student award this week!
I hope you all have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich
Thank you to everyone who donated $1 to our "pie" fund this week-- Madison, Cody, Maliya, Salvador, Taylor, Karlmella, Jordyn, Aubrey, and Maggie! It definitely helped cut down on the cost of the pies, popcorn, popcorn, plates, and utensils. The kids had a blast getting together with Mrs. Wells's students and enjoying the Thanksgiving treats!
Also, thank you to Salvador's mom who sent in juice boxes!
Congratulations to Khloe, Cody, and Noah for making their AR goals! We have several more students who are getting close!
Congratulations to Amyah for earning a Star Student award this week!
I hope you all have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich
Monday, November 6, 2017
11.6.17
Well, it seems as if Fall is here! Don't forget to send jackets, and maybe gloves and hats with your kiddos on these cool days.
Thank you so much to all of the family members who came to our Halloween party to help! The students had a great time! A special thank you goes out to Mrs. Walker for organizing our "Falloween" party! She did a great job!
Thank you to Karlmella and Cody for bringing extra snacks for our class to share!
Reminders:
Thursday, November 9 (Teachers' Institute)--NO SCHOOL
Friday, November 10 (Veteran's Day)-- NO SCHOOL
Reading and Spelling Tests over Lesson 8, A Musical Day, on WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8.
Send in canned food goods for our school wide food drive going on! If we reach our goal of 700 items, students will get to participate in a Gym Jam before Thanksgiving Break.
Please have your student wear Red, White, and Blue on Wednesday in honor of Veteran's Day. We will have an assembly at 1:45 and all current or former members of the military are welcome to attend!
Have a great (short) week!
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich
Thank you so much to all of the family members who came to our Halloween party to help! The students had a great time! A special thank you goes out to Mrs. Walker for organizing our "Falloween" party! She did a great job!
Thank you to Karlmella and Cody for bringing extra snacks for our class to share!
Reminders:
Thursday, November 9 (Teachers' Institute)--NO SCHOOL
Friday, November 10 (Veteran's Day)-- NO SCHOOL
Reading and Spelling Tests over Lesson 8, A Musical Day, on WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8.
Send in canned food goods for our school wide food drive going on! If we reach our goal of 700 items, students will get to participate in a Gym Jam before Thanksgiving Break.
Please have your student wear Red, White, and Blue on Wednesday in honor of Veteran's Day. We will have an assembly at 1:45 and all current or former members of the military are welcome to attend!
Have a great (short) week!
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
10.25.17
Hello! Remember me? October is a crazy busy month! I have had notes that I wanted to blog about and just haven't been able to squeeze it into my days! So here they sit, on my desk, collecting dust, as I feel sad and guilty every time I look at them! Today I said to myself, "Self, you are going to blog today-- NO EXCUSES!"
First and foremost, I have some thank you's... THANK YOU to Mrs. Kirkpatrick for volunteering to help out in our classroom. She came in one day and listened to each child read individually, something I try to do as often as I can, but with time and numbers it doesn't always work out. I am SO appreciative of this special visit and extra help. Also, THANK YOU to the Wiley Family for sending in classroom snacks TWICE this month. I pass those snacks out to students who forget theirs.
Congratulations to the following students for earning Star Student awards for turning in EVERY homework assignment on time in the first quarter of first grade: Camdyn, Cody, Elisha, Madison, Maggie, Noah
Congratulations to the following students for earning Star Student awards for staying on green or better during the entire first quarter of first grade: Camdyn, Cody, Elisha, Kaeden, Khloe, Landen, Madison, Maggie, Maliya, Taylor
Also, congratulations to both Camdyn and Khloe for earning Star Student awards from me today for being kind and for working hard!
A Six Flags Read to Succeed sheet came home today in your child's folder. Your child has from now until February 23, 2018 to read for a total of 600 minutes, or 6 hours. If they complete this task and turn in the Six Flags paper filled out by an adult they will earn a FREE TICKET TO SIX FLAGS! This is a wonderful incentive to get your child to read! You may write the same books on their Six Flags Reading Log that you write on your child's monthly Reading Log. You do not have to have them read extra books. Please make sure you fill in the amount of time they spent reading each book, otherwise the form is not valid. You may keep this form anywhere that is convenient to you (behind their reading log, in the left side of their folder, at home on their bookshelf, on the refrigerator, etc.) If you lose it at any point, I do have extra forms in my classroom. (Just please do not ask for it the night before the due date. 😉 )
As you know, as students fill up their behavior punch cards they can "buy" coupons for different things at my classroom "store." This week Kaeden and Cody pooled together their punch cards and bought our class a Dance Party! We will have the dance party in our classroom on Friday after specials. Thank you Cody and Kaeden!
Please listen to your child read How Animals Communicate.
Please practice this week's spelling words with your child. Both the reading and spelling tests will be on Friday, as usual.
We have been enjoying the fun dress up days for Red Ribbon Week! Tomorrow is "Too Bright to Wear Drugs"-- wear neon clothing or tie dyed clothing. Friday is "Our School is Drug Free"-- wear head to toe red or Warrior gear.
We have been talking about Fire Safety and Saying No To Drugs this week. Please, please, please, discuss these important life topics at home with your child.
Our Halloween party is on Tuesday from 1:30-2:30. Parents are welcome to attend and help! (Please do not bring younger siblings-- school policy.) If you did not see the note from our wonderful room parent, Mrs. Walker, then please let me know and I will send you another copy! Also, please note, we do NOT wear costumes to school on Halloween at Whiteside-- school policy. However, Tuesday is hat day for UNICEF. If your child brings $1 to school they may wear a hat (I have no objection to "Halloween themed" hats as long as they are appropriate for school!)
Thank you so much for all that you do for your child at home in order to ensure their success at school! Your hard work does not go unnoticed!!! This class is absolutely amazing and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE each and every one of these little nuggets!!!!
Hugs and High Fives,
Ms. Bleich
First and foremost, I have some thank you's... THANK YOU to Mrs. Kirkpatrick for volunteering to help out in our classroom. She came in one day and listened to each child read individually, something I try to do as often as I can, but with time and numbers it doesn't always work out. I am SO appreciative of this special visit and extra help. Also, THANK YOU to the Wiley Family for sending in classroom snacks TWICE this month. I pass those snacks out to students who forget theirs.
Congratulations to the following students for earning Star Student awards for turning in EVERY homework assignment on time in the first quarter of first grade: Camdyn, Cody, Elisha, Madison, Maggie, Noah
Congratulations to the following students for earning Star Student awards for staying on green or better during the entire first quarter of first grade: Camdyn, Cody, Elisha, Kaeden, Khloe, Landen, Madison, Maggie, Maliya, Taylor
Also, congratulations to both Camdyn and Khloe for earning Star Student awards from me today for being kind and for working hard!
A Six Flags Read to Succeed sheet came home today in your child's folder. Your child has from now until February 23, 2018 to read for a total of 600 minutes, or 6 hours. If they complete this task and turn in the Six Flags paper filled out by an adult they will earn a FREE TICKET TO SIX FLAGS! This is a wonderful incentive to get your child to read! You may write the same books on their Six Flags Reading Log that you write on your child's monthly Reading Log. You do not have to have them read extra books. Please make sure you fill in the amount of time they spent reading each book, otherwise the form is not valid. You may keep this form anywhere that is convenient to you (behind their reading log, in the left side of their folder, at home on their bookshelf, on the refrigerator, etc.) If you lose it at any point, I do have extra forms in my classroom. (Just please do not ask for it the night before the due date. 😉 )
As you know, as students fill up their behavior punch cards they can "buy" coupons for different things at my classroom "store." This week Kaeden and Cody pooled together their punch cards and bought our class a Dance Party! We will have the dance party in our classroom on Friday after specials. Thank you Cody and Kaeden!
Please listen to your child read How Animals Communicate.
Please practice this week's spelling words with your child. Both the reading and spelling tests will be on Friday, as usual.
We have been enjoying the fun dress up days for Red Ribbon Week! Tomorrow is "Too Bright to Wear Drugs"-- wear neon clothing or tie dyed clothing. Friday is "Our School is Drug Free"-- wear head to toe red or Warrior gear.
We have been talking about Fire Safety and Saying No To Drugs this week. Please, please, please, discuss these important life topics at home with your child.
Our Halloween party is on Tuesday from 1:30-2:30. Parents are welcome to attend and help! (Please do not bring younger siblings-- school policy.) If you did not see the note from our wonderful room parent, Mrs. Walker, then please let me know and I will send you another copy! Also, please note, we do NOT wear costumes to school on Halloween at Whiteside-- school policy. However, Tuesday is hat day for UNICEF. If your child brings $1 to school they may wear a hat (I have no objection to "Halloween themed" hats as long as they are appropriate for school!)
Thank you so much for all that you do for your child at home in order to ensure their success at school! Your hard work does not go unnoticed!!! This class is absolutely amazing and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE each and every one of these little nuggets!!!!
Hugs and High Fives,
Ms. Bleich
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Picture Day
Tomorrow is Picture Day! Everyone will get their picture taken but you will only receive a picture package if you order one ahead of time. Order forms went home last week. If you need a new one, please stop in the office in the morning. You can also order online at Lifetouch.com
Our pictures are at 10:45. I will not take them out for morning recess nor will we have snack before pictures to avoid spills and stains! If you wish to send along extra clothes for your child to change into after pictures, I am completely fine with that. Just please make sure your child is responsible enough to be able to put their "picture day clothes" back in their bag and dress themselves in their "play clothes." We will have extra outdoor activities tomorrow afternoon so a change of clothes might not be a bad idea if you plan on dressing your child up for pictures!
Also, we were asked to send out a reminder about our school fundraiser.
The Great American fundraiser is a very important part of Whiteside School District. We need your help raising money to benefit all of our students in our school. Please help us reach our goal so we can continue to help fund field trips, classroom magazines, refreshments for school events, and many other important things that Whiteside students want and need.
Please practice spelling words for Lesson 5 tonight! Test is tomorrow morning!
Have a great night!
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich 😊
Our pictures are at 10:45. I will not take them out for morning recess nor will we have snack before pictures to avoid spills and stains! If you wish to send along extra clothes for your child to change into after pictures, I am completely fine with that. Just please make sure your child is responsible enough to be able to put their "picture day clothes" back in their bag and dress themselves in their "play clothes." We will have extra outdoor activities tomorrow afternoon so a change of clothes might not be a bad idea if you plan on dressing your child up for pictures!
Also, we were asked to send out a reminder about our school fundraiser.
The Great American fundraiser is a very important part of Whiteside School District. We need your help raising money to benefit all of our students in our school. Please help us reach our goal so we can continue to help fund field trips, classroom magazines, refreshments for school events, and many other important things that Whiteside students want and need.
Please practice spelling words for Lesson 5 tonight! Test is tomorrow morning!
Have a great night!
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich 😊
Friday, September 29, 2017
Ice Cream Social & Lunch With the Teacher Pics
9.29.17
Hello First Grade Friends and Families!
I can't believe September is already at it's end! I'm ready for some fall weather!
Our class has been doing such a great job. This is a great group of kiddos and I feel so LUCKY to be their teacher. We receive compliments all the time about how well behaved we are in the hallway. It makes my heart swell with pride. I've told our class several times that they might be the best hallway walkers I've ever had in my 16 years of teaching.
Happy Birthday to Maggie this week! Thank you for sharing the yummy "school safe" cupcakes with us! For those of you who don't know about these, they're peanut free, flour free, and I believe dairy free so they're totally safe to serve at school. (I didn't pay close enough attention but they might even be gluten free.) I ate one and they tasted pretty good considering all the stuff they don't have in them! 😋 You can find them at Schnucks, Dierbergs, and I think I've seen them at Shop 'N Save, too. Thanks so much to Maggie and her parents for sharing treats with us and for making sure they were safe for all to share!
I was SO HAPPY with the results of our first math test this week! I was very proud of the hard work that my Firsties put into our first chapter. We have 19 students in our class and we had 15 A's!!!!! WOW!!!!! Let's keep it up for Chapter 2!!!!
Reading test scores are getting better as we are getting used to taking them. If you're wondering what you can do to help your child with reading at home here are some suggestions:
*Read with them every night (then record the books on the reading log in their folder)
*Ask your child questions about what they read
*Ask them to retell the story in their own words
*Review High Frequency Words often
*Practice Spelling Words often
*Point out Nouns, Verbs, and Adjectives in stories
*Talk about multiple meaning words and how they can be used (ex. bat-- an animal that flies, sports equipment used to hit a ball in a baseball game)
*Talk about Antonyms (opposites) and Synonyms (words that have similar meanings) when you see them in print
*Review letter names and sounds
*Review worksheets and workbook pages that come home. Discuss mistakes with them
*Pay close attention to the "Week at a Glance" sheet in their take home folder. This has all the skills listed that we will work on that week in Reading
Thank you so much to all of the families who took the time to do the Sight Word Speed Drill with their first grader this past week. I really enjoyed looking at their times and how they improved throughout the week! This is AWESOME! Shout out to Landen and his family for getting their whole crew involved. They had both his sister and mom participate in the speed read as well and they recorded their times, too. What a great way to make reading FUN for the WHOLE FAMILY!
Next week we have parent teacher conferences scheduled after school on Tuesday, October 3 and all day Thursday, October 5. Please let me know if something happens and you cannot make your scheduled conference time. I didn't receive all of the conference confirmation notes back so if you are unaware of what time you are scheduled please let me know and I can send home another note. You can also call the office and they will have a copy of my conference schedule by Monday.
NO SCHOOL-- Thursday, October 5- Parent teacher conferences
Friday, October 6- Teacher Conference Day
Monday, October 9- Columbus Day
Due to the short weeks coming up we will stretch out Lesson 5 in reading over the course of the next two weeks. Therefore, our reading test and spelling test on Lesson 5 will be on Friday, October 13.
Specials Schedule:
10/2 Computer
10/3 PE
10/4 Art
10/10 Music
10/11 Library
10/12 Computer
10/13 PE
A note came home yesterday regarding body safety presentations which will take place on October 12. You only need to send the note back if you do not wish for your child to take part in the presentation.
That's enough info for your brains on this lovely Friday evening! Have a WONDERFUL weekend! Enjoy your family time!
Hugs and High Fives,
Ms. Bleich
I can't believe September is already at it's end! I'm ready for some fall weather!
Our class has been doing such a great job. This is a great group of kiddos and I feel so LUCKY to be their teacher. We receive compliments all the time about how well behaved we are in the hallway. It makes my heart swell with pride. I've told our class several times that they might be the best hallway walkers I've ever had in my 16 years of teaching.
Happy Birthday to Maggie this week! Thank you for sharing the yummy "school safe" cupcakes with us! For those of you who don't know about these, they're peanut free, flour free, and I believe dairy free so they're totally safe to serve at school. (I didn't pay close enough attention but they might even be gluten free.) I ate one and they tasted pretty good considering all the stuff they don't have in them! 😋 You can find them at Schnucks, Dierbergs, and I think I've seen them at Shop 'N Save, too. Thanks so much to Maggie and her parents for sharing treats with us and for making sure they were safe for all to share!
I was SO HAPPY with the results of our first math test this week! I was very proud of the hard work that my Firsties put into our first chapter. We have 19 students in our class and we had 15 A's!!!!! WOW!!!!! Let's keep it up for Chapter 2!!!!
Reading test scores are getting better as we are getting used to taking them. If you're wondering what you can do to help your child with reading at home here are some suggestions:
*Read with them every night (then record the books on the reading log in their folder)
*Ask your child questions about what they read
*Ask them to retell the story in their own words
*Review High Frequency Words often
*Practice Spelling Words often
*Point out Nouns, Verbs, and Adjectives in stories
*Talk about multiple meaning words and how they can be used (ex. bat-- an animal that flies, sports equipment used to hit a ball in a baseball game)
*Talk about Antonyms (opposites) and Synonyms (words that have similar meanings) when you see them in print
*Review letter names and sounds
*Review worksheets and workbook pages that come home. Discuss mistakes with them
*Pay close attention to the "Week at a Glance" sheet in their take home folder. This has all the skills listed that we will work on that week in Reading
Thank you so much to all of the families who took the time to do the Sight Word Speed Drill with their first grader this past week. I really enjoyed looking at their times and how they improved throughout the week! This is AWESOME! Shout out to Landen and his family for getting their whole crew involved. They had both his sister and mom participate in the speed read as well and they recorded their times, too. What a great way to make reading FUN for the WHOLE FAMILY!
Next week we have parent teacher conferences scheduled after school on Tuesday, October 3 and all day Thursday, October 5. Please let me know if something happens and you cannot make your scheduled conference time. I didn't receive all of the conference confirmation notes back so if you are unaware of what time you are scheduled please let me know and I can send home another note. You can also call the office and they will have a copy of my conference schedule by Monday.
NO SCHOOL-- Thursday, October 5- Parent teacher conferences
Friday, October 6- Teacher Conference Day
Monday, October 9- Columbus Day
Due to the short weeks coming up we will stretch out Lesson 5 in reading over the course of the next two weeks. Therefore, our reading test and spelling test on Lesson 5 will be on Friday, October 13.
Specials Schedule:
10/2 Computer
10/3 PE
10/4 Art
10/10 Music
10/11 Library
10/12 Computer
10/13 PE
A note came home yesterday regarding body safety presentations which will take place on October 12. You only need to send the note back if you do not wish for your child to take part in the presentation.
That's enough info for your brains on this lovely Friday evening! Have a WONDERFUL weekend! Enjoy your family time!
Hugs and High Fives,
Ms. Bleich
Friday, September 15, 2017
9.15.17
Hello First Grade Friends and Families! 👋
We finished Lesson 2-- The Storm, in Reading this week. Next week we start Lesson 3-- Curious George at School. There is a new spelling list and a new "Week at a Glance" page in your child's folder. Please practice spelling as often as needed with your child. You know them best! Spelling tests and Reading Tests are always on Fridays, unless we don't have school or I let you know otherwise. Refer to the Week at a Glance sheet to see what skills we will work on all week! Remember, anytime your child brings home their Reading book, please listen to them read their reading story for the week. (You can read it to them, you can take turns reading, the whole family can read together, etc.)
Today we took our Reading test using the ActiVotes. These are hand held remote control devices which are synced with our Promethean Board. The students LOVED using them and it makes the test feel much more fun than using a paper and pencil. Some other advantages to using the ActiVotes is that after each question I get immediate feedback on how many students answered correctly and incorrectly (don't worry, it doesn't say "who"-- just the percentages of right vs. wrong). I'm able to immediately address any confusion and we can talk about why one answer choice might be better than another. When we are able to do this immediately after answering a question, it makes the knowledge "stick" in their brains a little easier! The downfall is that you don't get to see the paper copy of the test. This is why we did it on paper last week though, so you could see the format of the Reading tests. They are all formatted like that and they're all multiple choice-- for now!
In math we are still working on addition to 10. Please help your child correct mistakes on their math papers in order to help them understand where they went wrong. I do that with them here as often as I can, but unfortunately, time doesn't always allow it! I will be sending home Math homework on Monday, so be on the lookout 👀 for that in your child's folder. It will be a worksheet stamped with "homework" and it should be completed and returned to school the next day. It is best to read the directions to your child, read any word problems on the page, have them complete it on their own, then check it and go over any mistakes with them. They can then make their corrections and put the page back in their folder (right side) to bring to school the next day.
We wrapped up our unit on Bees this week in Science. Next week we will start learning about apples and how they grow.
Specials Next Week:
Mon- Computer
Tues- PE
Wed- Art
Thurs- Music
Fri- Library
Reminders:
Early dismissal at 2pm on Wednesday, September 20. Please plan transportation accordingly. All regular buses will run, but they will bring your child home an hour earlier.
Reading Logs- due Monday, Sept. 18 (at least 4 books)
Math Homework- due Tuesday, Sept. 19
Reading Test- Friday, Sept. 22
Spelling Test- Friday, Sept. 22
Enjoy the warm weather this weekend!
Hugs and High Fives!✋
Ms. Bleich 😊
We finished Lesson 2-- The Storm, in Reading this week. Next week we start Lesson 3-- Curious George at School. There is a new spelling list and a new "Week at a Glance" page in your child's folder. Please practice spelling as often as needed with your child. You know them best! Spelling tests and Reading Tests are always on Fridays, unless we don't have school or I let you know otherwise. Refer to the Week at a Glance sheet to see what skills we will work on all week! Remember, anytime your child brings home their Reading book, please listen to them read their reading story for the week. (You can read it to them, you can take turns reading, the whole family can read together, etc.)
Today we took our Reading test using the ActiVotes. These are hand held remote control devices which are synced with our Promethean Board. The students LOVED using them and it makes the test feel much more fun than using a paper and pencil. Some other advantages to using the ActiVotes is that after each question I get immediate feedback on how many students answered correctly and incorrectly (don't worry, it doesn't say "who"-- just the percentages of right vs. wrong). I'm able to immediately address any confusion and we can talk about why one answer choice might be better than another. When we are able to do this immediately after answering a question, it makes the knowledge "stick" in their brains a little easier! The downfall is that you don't get to see the paper copy of the test. This is why we did it on paper last week though, so you could see the format of the Reading tests. They are all formatted like that and they're all multiple choice-- for now!
In math we are still working on addition to 10. Please help your child correct mistakes on their math papers in order to help them understand where they went wrong. I do that with them here as often as I can, but unfortunately, time doesn't always allow it! I will be sending home Math homework on Monday, so be on the lookout 👀 for that in your child's folder. It will be a worksheet stamped with "homework" and it should be completed and returned to school the next day. It is best to read the directions to your child, read any word problems on the page, have them complete it on their own, then check it and go over any mistakes with them. They can then make their corrections and put the page back in their folder (right side) to bring to school the next day.
We wrapped up our unit on Bees this week in Science. Next week we will start learning about apples and how they grow.
Specials Next Week:
Mon- Computer
Tues- PE
Wed- Art
Thurs- Music
Fri- Library
Reminders:
Early dismissal at 2pm on Wednesday, September 20. Please plan transportation accordingly. All regular buses will run, but they will bring your child home an hour earlier.
Reading Logs- due Monday, Sept. 18 (at least 4 books)
Math Homework- due Tuesday, Sept. 19
Reading Test- Friday, Sept. 22
Spelling Test- Friday, Sept. 22
Enjoy the warm weather this weekend!
Hugs and High Fives!✋
Ms. Bleich 😊
Friday, September 8, 2017
9.8.17
Hello First Grade Friends and Families! I hope you are all enjoying this beautiful weather we are having!
Yankee Candle Fundraiser packets went home today. Proceeds from the fundraiser will go towards more technology for our school. This is one of the ways we are able to have Chromebooks in our classroom. The top two sellers in each grade will be able to enjoy lunch a Chick-Fil-A lunch with the principals at school. These candles make great Christmas gifts without having to shop in the crazy stores over the holidays! If you do not wish to participate in the fundraiser, you may throw your packet away.
Happy Birthday to Karlmella who we celebrated this week. Thank you for sharing birthday treats with our class! The students said they were yummy! 😋
Congratulations to Maliya and Noah who both earned Star Student Awards this week! Great job! 👍
Next week's spelling list is in your child's folder in the spelling page protector. I forgot to write the text date on the list, but the test will be on Friday, September 15. (Spelling tests are almost always on Fridays, by the way.) The new words are if, is, him, rip, fit, pin
I'm so excited to grade the first test that we took today! As I was walking around the room while giving the test I was very pleased with what I saw!!!
Reading Story next week: The Storm
Check out "This Week at a Glance" insert in your child's take home folder for the skills we will be working on next week. Our reading test will be on Friday. I will grade today's reading tests over the weekend and send them home for you to see on Monday.
Specials:
Mon- Computer
Tues- PE
Wed- Art
Thurs- Music
Fri- Library
This week in Social Studies we talked about what it means to be a good citizen. Next week we will start learning about Bees in Science.
Monday is Patriot Day. If you think about it, you might want to dress your children in Red, White, and Blue to show your patriotism. That's up to you!
Wednesday, September 20-- Early Dismissal 2pm and Hat Day-- donate $1 for Red Cross Hurricane Relief and wear a hat to school
Have a great weekend! Enjoy your time with your little Firsties!
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich
Yankee Candle Fundraiser packets went home today. Proceeds from the fundraiser will go towards more technology for our school. This is one of the ways we are able to have Chromebooks in our classroom. The top two sellers in each grade will be able to enjoy lunch a Chick-Fil-A lunch with the principals at school. These candles make great Christmas gifts without having to shop in the crazy stores over the holidays! If you do not wish to participate in the fundraiser, you may throw your packet away.
Happy Birthday to Karlmella who we celebrated this week. Thank you for sharing birthday treats with our class! The students said they were yummy! 😋
Congratulations to Maliya and Noah who both earned Star Student Awards this week! Great job! 👍
Next week's spelling list is in your child's folder in the spelling page protector. I forgot to write the text date on the list, but the test will be on Friday, September 15. (Spelling tests are almost always on Fridays, by the way.) The new words are if, is, him, rip, fit, pin
I'm so excited to grade the first test that we took today! As I was walking around the room while giving the test I was very pleased with what I saw!!!
Reading Story next week: The Storm
Check out "This Week at a Glance" insert in your child's take home folder for the skills we will be working on next week. Our reading test will be on Friday. I will grade today's reading tests over the weekend and send them home for you to see on Monday.
Specials:
Mon- Computer
Tues- PE
Wed- Art
Thurs- Music
Fri- Library
This week in Social Studies we talked about what it means to be a good citizen. Next week we will start learning about Bees in Science.
Monday is Patriot Day. If you think about it, you might want to dress your children in Red, White, and Blue to show your patriotism. That's up to you!
Wednesday, September 20-- Early Dismissal 2pm and Hat Day-- donate $1 for Red Cross Hurricane Relief and wear a hat to school
Have a great weekend! Enjoy your time with your little Firsties!
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich
Monday, September 4, 2017
spelling and other important info
We are well under way in First Grade and I LOVE this class!!!!
Here are a few important reminders:
Reading Logs are Due on Mondays. Please have your child read at least 4 books throughout the week. Please record the books they have read on their Reading Log and keep in in the page protector in their take home folder.
Please check Take Home Folders every night. Papers on the left side may be left at home. Papers on the right side should be completed and send back to school the following day. Look at your child's behavior calendar to see how their day went. If they get a yellow or pink there will be a brief description of what they clipped down for written on the back.
Check out the page protectors in the Take Home Folder often! We keep important information in there and some of it changes weekly.
Please practice reading the list of Kindergarten sight words (in Take Home Folder) until your child can read them with ease. We will test on these this week and next week.
First Spelling Test-- Friday, September 8. Lesson 1 Words: am, at, sat, man, dad, mat
I will also dictate a sentence which they will write. The sentence will contain spelling words from the current week (and later on- words from previous weeks). The sentences are a "surprise". This is a great way for first graders to show their retention of their spelling word knowledge. Spelling Words 1-6 are worth 1 point each. Each word in the sentence is worth 1 point. Using a capital letter at the beginning of the sentence and punctuation at the end is also worth 1 point each. I will help out with sentences and give reminders a lot in the first grading period.
Be on the look out later in the week for your child's reading book to home. I will send home a note with it explaining what to do.
I won't be at school on Tuesday, but Mrs. Winn, my FAVORITE substitute teacher, will be here. She is a veteran teacher so your kids are in GREAT care! She will do everything just as I normally do.
Specials:
Tuesday-- PE
Wednesday-- Art
Thursday-- Music
Friday-- Library
Please feel free to email me with questions or concerns! tricia.bleich@wssd115.org
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
STEM pictures
Every Monday we do a STEM activity in my classroom. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Students are given materials and assigned a task with very simple instructions. This week we built a structure out of marshmallows and uncooked spaghetti noodles. The challenge was to see who could build the tallest structure. Here are some pictures from our STEM activity on August 28.
Monday, August 28, 2017
Welcome back!
Welcome back to school first grade friends and families! I am so excited to be teaching this little group of darlings this year. Our first week of school is officially under our belts and everyone is catching on to the routine of being back in the classroom.
I am so happy to welcome our new friends: Cassanje, Madison, and Elisha. They are new to Whiteside this year and we welcome them with open arms!
The beginning of the year can feel a little overwhelming for both students and parents. I will try my best to send explanations of procedures when it's necessary. This will either come home in a note in your child's folder, I will put out a message on Skyward, or I will post in on my blog. (Sometimes I will do all three.) For example, I sent home a note last week explaining the Reading Log in your child's folder. If you missed that note, please let me know and I'll try to send you another copy. For those who may have missed it, Reading Logs are due on Mondays. Your child should have read at least 4 books to you throughout the course of the week and they should be recorded on your child's reading log. This log should stay in your child's folder at all times so that it doesn't get lost.
If you haven't already, take some time to check out the sheet protectors in your first grader's folder. They hold really important information and that information will change sometimes. A spelling list will come home this week in the "Spelling List" sheet protector, so be on the lookout for that. Our first spelling test will be on Friday, September 8.
It is SO IMPORTANT that you check your child's folder every night. If they have followed directions, they will have placed papers that can be "left" at home in the left side pocket. The papers that need to come "right" back to school will be in the right side pocket.
Specials this week:
Monday- PE
Tuesday- Art
Wednesday- Music
Thursday- Library
Friday- Computer
Specials next week will be pushed back a day since we do not have school on Monday.
Tuesday, Sept. 5- PE
Wednesday- Art
Thursday- Music
Friday- Library
Monday, Sept. 11- Computer, etc.
NO SCHOOL-- Monday, September 4-- Labor Day
Star Wars Character shirt orders are due on August 31.
If you haven't sent in your $10 for classroom parties, please do so this week. It's a one time fee and it covers the cost of all of our parties this year.
Congratulations to the following students for earning a STAR STUDENT award during our first week of school. Camdyn, Ellie, Cassanje, Maliya
Star student awards are given to students in recognition for extra good behavior, making good choices, going above and beyond for a friend, etc. It was so exciting to already give out 4 in the first week!
Happy Birthday to Cody, Kaeden, and Salvador who all celebrated a birthday this month.
I'm going to post some pictures from the solar eclipse, the ice cream social, and our STEM Monday project today. I try to post pictures often, but my phone and my computer are not getting along right now so I will have to try again later tonight or tomorrow.
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich
I am so happy to welcome our new friends: Cassanje, Madison, and Elisha. They are new to Whiteside this year and we welcome them with open arms!
The beginning of the year can feel a little overwhelming for both students and parents. I will try my best to send explanations of procedures when it's necessary. This will either come home in a note in your child's folder, I will put out a message on Skyward, or I will post in on my blog. (Sometimes I will do all three.) For example, I sent home a note last week explaining the Reading Log in your child's folder. If you missed that note, please let me know and I'll try to send you another copy. For those who may have missed it, Reading Logs are due on Mondays. Your child should have read at least 4 books to you throughout the course of the week and they should be recorded on your child's reading log. This log should stay in your child's folder at all times so that it doesn't get lost.
If you haven't already, take some time to check out the sheet protectors in your first grader's folder. They hold really important information and that information will change sometimes. A spelling list will come home this week in the "Spelling List" sheet protector, so be on the lookout for that. Our first spelling test will be on Friday, September 8.
It is SO IMPORTANT that you check your child's folder every night. If they have followed directions, they will have placed papers that can be "left" at home in the left side pocket. The papers that need to come "right" back to school will be in the right side pocket.
Specials this week:
Monday- PE
Tuesday- Art
Wednesday- Music
Thursday- Library
Friday- Computer
Specials next week will be pushed back a day since we do not have school on Monday.
Tuesday, Sept. 5- PE
Wednesday- Art
Thursday- Music
Friday- Library
Monday, Sept. 11- Computer, etc.
NO SCHOOL-- Monday, September 4-- Labor Day
Star Wars Character shirt orders are due on August 31.
If you haven't sent in your $10 for classroom parties, please do so this week. It's a one time fee and it covers the cost of all of our parties this year.
Congratulations to the following students for earning a STAR STUDENT award during our first week of school. Camdyn, Ellie, Cassanje, Maliya
Star student awards are given to students in recognition for extra good behavior, making good choices, going above and beyond for a friend, etc. It was so exciting to already give out 4 in the first week!
Happy Birthday to Cody, Kaeden, and Salvador who all celebrated a birthday this month.
I'm going to post some pictures from the solar eclipse, the ice cream social, and our STEM Monday project today. I try to post pictures often, but my phone and my computer are not getting along right now so I will have to try again later tonight or tomorrow.
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich
Friday, May 26, 2017
End of the year...
Whoa! We only have one and a half days of school left! How did that happen? May has been jam packed full of excitement. We had our field trip to the Magic House, Carnival, and our Good News Party, just to name a few! The fun is not over!
Tuesday, May 30-- End of Year party in a.m.
AR Challenge Pizza Party (for those who made it)-- at 2:15 (your child will still need to bring or buy a lunch that day-- the pizza party is after specials)
Wednesday, May 31--Last day of school --dismissal at 12:00pm-- If your child will be a car rider instead of a bus rider that day (or vice versa) please let me know!
We had a few more students make their AR goal since I last posted! Congratulations to Joshua and Mariana for making their individual goals!
Also, congratulations to LaShane, Jamori, Zachary, Nich'olaas, Darnez, and Samuel for recently making their AR Challenge goal of 12 points!
Happy Birthday to Zachary and Jamori, who we celebrated this month. Thanks to both of you for the yummy cupcakes! Happy Birthday to our summer birthday boys, Enoch and Simon.
Thank you so much to Mrs. Morgan, Mrs. Bernreuter, Ms. Pyles, Mrs. Conway, Mrs. Pierce, and Ms. Kreiter for chaperoning our field trip. Even though the morning started a little crazy, we ended up having a fantastic day, and we couldn't have done it without each of you. Thank you!!!!!
This week, I sent home some summer work for your child. They will be bringing more home on Tuesday, as well as their crayon boxes and the rest of their notebooks and folders. Please have your child work on academics at least twice a week. This small amount of time will make such a huge difference for them as they begin second grade! If they complete 25 pages of any of the summer work I sent home, and show it to me during their first week of 2nd grade, they will receive a prize from me.
Thank you so much for sharing your child with me this year. Thanks to all of you for your support and kind words throughout the year, as well. I love my job so much and when we can all work together as a team it makes it so much more enjoyable for everyone, and these little guys end up winning in the end!
Have a safe and happy summer!
Hugs and High Fives,
Ms. Bleich
Tuesday, May 30-- End of Year party in a.m.
AR Challenge Pizza Party (for those who made it)-- at 2:15 (your child will still need to bring or buy a lunch that day-- the pizza party is after specials)
Wednesday, May 31--Last day of school --dismissal at 12:00pm-- If your child will be a car rider instead of a bus rider that day (or vice versa) please let me know!
We had a few more students make their AR goal since I last posted! Congratulations to Joshua and Mariana for making their individual goals!
Also, congratulations to LaShane, Jamori, Zachary, Nich'olaas, Darnez, and Samuel for recently making their AR Challenge goal of 12 points!
Happy Birthday to Zachary and Jamori, who we celebrated this month. Thanks to both of you for the yummy cupcakes! Happy Birthday to our summer birthday boys, Enoch and Simon.
Thank you so much to Mrs. Morgan, Mrs. Bernreuter, Ms. Pyles, Mrs. Conway, Mrs. Pierce, and Ms. Kreiter for chaperoning our field trip. Even though the morning started a little crazy, we ended up having a fantastic day, and we couldn't have done it without each of you. Thank you!!!!!
This week, I sent home some summer work for your child. They will be bringing more home on Tuesday, as well as their crayon boxes and the rest of their notebooks and folders. Please have your child work on academics at least twice a week. This small amount of time will make such a huge difference for them as they begin second grade! If they complete 25 pages of any of the summer work I sent home, and show it to me during their first week of 2nd grade, they will receive a prize from me.
Thank you so much for sharing your child with me this year. Thanks to all of you for your support and kind words throughout the year, as well. I love my job so much and when we can all work together as a team it makes it so much more enjoyable for everyone, and these little guys end up winning in the end!
Have a safe and happy summer!
Hugs and High Fives,
Ms. Bleich
Monday, May 1, 2017
May "things"...
It's May! Can you BELIEVE it???
Things get really exciting around this time of year and I have a lot of extra responsibilities, so I apologize for not posting the past couple weeks!
Since the last time I posted we had quite a few students make their personal AR goal--
Congratulations to Dean, Nich'olaas, Simon, and Tymonn!
Also, we have had a few smarties make their AR Challenge goal of 12 points, as well-- Congratulations to Maile, Makaelyn, Kalese, Bryce, and Dean!
We have about 4 kids who are sooooo close to making their personal goal and about 3 who are sooooo close to making their AR Challenge goal! This has been the BEST grading period as far as reading motivation, AR test scores, and AR goals are concerned. I'm very proud of these little readers!
Spelling Words:
family, saw, paw, purple, know, swing, rang, talk, walk, goes (There will be two "surprise" bonus words on our test this week... hint... study your previous bonus words...)
Dates to remember:
Thursday, May 4-- RHWJ signatures due, Jafta signed book slip due
Friday, May 5-- Reading and spelling tests (Jafta U8L1-3)
Monday, May 8-- Reading Log due (4 books)
Tuesday, May 9-- FIELD TRIP PERMISSION FORM DUE! Also, Math test, Chapter 8-- We have begun to learn how to tell TIME!!! This is a GREAT skill to practice at home, and one that does not require a lot of prep work. Please look at the clock frequently and ask your child questions. (EX: What time is it? How many minutes until _____? If we go to baseball practice at 5 and practice is 1 hour long, what time will practice be over? etc.) Telling time on an analog clock (the clock with a face, numbers, a minute hand and an hour hand) is a lot harder than on a digital clock. If you have an analog clock at home please practice with this clock.
Future dates to remember:
Wednesday, May 19-- Early Dismissal 2 pm
Tuesday, May 23-- First Grade Field Trip to the Magic House (send a sack lunch)
Thursday, May 25-- School Carnival (more info will come home)
Friday, May 26-- Last day to make AR goal and AR challenge goal
Monday, May 29--NO SCHOOL-- MEMORIAL DAY
Tuesday, May 30-- End of year party in the morning, AR Challenge goal pizza party in the afternoon
Wednesday, May 31-- Last day of school, 12 pm dismissal
One last thing to discuss.... Fidget Cubes and Fidget Spinners...
I have told my students over the past few weeks that I have no problem with the fidget cubes or the fidget spinners as long as they are not a distraction. I understand their purpose. For some they work, for some they do not. As of right now, I have allowed them into my classroom with two rules to follow:
1. They may not be a distraction in our learning environment.
2. They should not be passed around for others to use or play with.
I am going to stand by these rules for now, but they are slowwwwwly becoming a problem. If you allow your child to bring a fidget cube/spinner to school please understand that we are not liable if that item becomes broken or stolen. (We have already had 2 attempts at stealing where these are concerned.) I DO NOT enjoy telling everyone that they have to suffer because of someone else's choices; however, I also can't keep spending class time trying to investigate where items have "run off" to. As of now the school has not put a rule into place about fidget cubes or spinners, but based off of problems that I have seen and heard of occurring in other classes and grades, it would not surprise me if this rule is put into place. If your child is bringing one to school, please discuss being respectful and responsible with them! I will keep you posted of any changes! Thank you for your understanding!
Have a great evening and week!
Hugs and High Fives,
Ms. Bleich
Things get really exciting around this time of year and I have a lot of extra responsibilities, so I apologize for not posting the past couple weeks!
Since the last time I posted we had quite a few students make their personal AR goal--
Congratulations to Dean, Nich'olaas, Simon, and Tymonn!
Also, we have had a few smarties make their AR Challenge goal of 12 points, as well-- Congratulations to Maile, Makaelyn, Kalese, Bryce, and Dean!
We have about 4 kids who are sooooo close to making their personal goal and about 3 who are sooooo close to making their AR Challenge goal! This has been the BEST grading period as far as reading motivation, AR test scores, and AR goals are concerned. I'm very proud of these little readers!
Spelling Words:
family, saw, paw, purple, know, swing, rang, talk, walk, goes (There will be two "surprise" bonus words on our test this week... hint... study your previous bonus words...)
Dates to remember:
Thursday, May 4-- RHWJ signatures due, Jafta signed book slip due
Friday, May 5-- Reading and spelling tests (Jafta U8L1-3)
Monday, May 8-- Reading Log due (4 books)
Tuesday, May 9-- FIELD TRIP PERMISSION FORM DUE! Also, Math test, Chapter 8-- We have begun to learn how to tell TIME!!! This is a GREAT skill to practice at home, and one that does not require a lot of prep work. Please look at the clock frequently and ask your child questions. (EX: What time is it? How many minutes until _____? If we go to baseball practice at 5 and practice is 1 hour long, what time will practice be over? etc.) Telling time on an analog clock (the clock with a face, numbers, a minute hand and an hour hand) is a lot harder than on a digital clock. If you have an analog clock at home please practice with this clock.
Future dates to remember:
Wednesday, May 19-- Early Dismissal 2 pm
Tuesday, May 23-- First Grade Field Trip to the Magic House (send a sack lunch)
Thursday, May 25-- School Carnival (more info will come home)
Friday, May 26-- Last day to make AR goal and AR challenge goal
Monday, May 29--NO SCHOOL-- MEMORIAL DAY
Tuesday, May 30-- End of year party in the morning, AR Challenge goal pizza party in the afternoon
Wednesday, May 31-- Last day of school, 12 pm dismissal
One last thing to discuss.... Fidget Cubes and Fidget Spinners...
I have told my students over the past few weeks that I have no problem with the fidget cubes or the fidget spinners as long as they are not a distraction. I understand their purpose. For some they work, for some they do not. As of right now, I have allowed them into my classroom with two rules to follow:
1. They may not be a distraction in our learning environment.
2. They should not be passed around for others to use or play with.
I am going to stand by these rules for now, but they are slowwwwwly becoming a problem. If you allow your child to bring a fidget cube/spinner to school please understand that we are not liable if that item becomes broken or stolen. (We have already had 2 attempts at stealing where these are concerned.) I DO NOT enjoy telling everyone that they have to suffer because of someone else's choices; however, I also can't keep spending class time trying to investigate where items have "run off" to. As of now the school has not put a rule into place about fidget cubes or spinners, but based off of problems that I have seen and heard of occurring in other classes and grades, it would not surprise me if this rule is put into place. If your child is bringing one to school, please discuss being respectful and responsible with them! I will keep you posted of any changes! Thank you for your understanding!
Have a great evening and week!
Hugs and High Fives,
Ms. Bleich
Friday, March 31, 2017
The week in review...
Another week in first grade has flown by! I cannot believe that tomorrow is APRIL!
I was really happy with the reading tests on The Kite. As I said in my explanation note, we took the multiple choice parts of the test yesterday using the ActiVotes. (I have to tell you, it is so hilarious when I say it's time to take our test and they CHEER because they get to use the ActiVotes. Ha ha... whatever works, right?!) They took the written portion of the test today. I was really happy with how we did on the written part as a whole. I did help them more than usual today on the sentences, which I won't always do. I had students give me the beginning part of the sentence (without the actual answer) and I wrote the "sentence starter" on the board for them to see how it should look. Then they finished each sentence on their own. I also reminded everyone to use a capital letter at the beginning of the sentence and Toad's name, and a period at the end of the sentence. I will probably do this on next week's test, too. Then the week after that I will still have a student say the beginning of the sentence for us, but I won't write it for them. Then after that they will be on their own! It's almost time to fly, little firsties!
Next week's story is The Garden. Please listen to your child read it every night. Please sign and return the reading slip on Thursday morning. Please review the comprehension worksheet with them on Thursday night. Discuss any mistakes they made or how their sentence may have been better. It is so important that your child returns their reading book to school EVERY DAY. We read the story in class every day and if they don't have it they have to share.
Spelling Words for next week:
sun, frog, toad, now, green, will, they, does, rain, pain
Bonus Words: garden, frightened
We learned how to add with regrouping this week. This is one of the tougher math lessons we will do in first grade. I am really happy with how most of our students are grasping this difficult concept! Our Math test on Chapter 6 will be on Thursday, April 6. One way that you can help your child is by going over any mistakes they make on any math papers that come home. I do that at school as much as I possibly can, especially when students get multiple problems wrong.
We celebrated Hailey's birthday this past week! Happy Birthday!
Congratulations to Gabrielle, Hailey, Maile, and Tanaja for making their AR goal this week! Congratulations to Zariyah for being our first friend to make her AR Challenge Goal!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich
I was really happy with the reading tests on The Kite. As I said in my explanation note, we took the multiple choice parts of the test yesterday using the ActiVotes. (I have to tell you, it is so hilarious when I say it's time to take our test and they CHEER because they get to use the ActiVotes. Ha ha... whatever works, right?!) They took the written portion of the test today. I was really happy with how we did on the written part as a whole. I did help them more than usual today on the sentences, which I won't always do. I had students give me the beginning part of the sentence (without the actual answer) and I wrote the "sentence starter" on the board for them to see how it should look. Then they finished each sentence on their own. I also reminded everyone to use a capital letter at the beginning of the sentence and Toad's name, and a period at the end of the sentence. I will probably do this on next week's test, too. Then the week after that I will still have a student say the beginning of the sentence for us, but I won't write it for them. Then after that they will be on their own! It's almost time to fly, little firsties!
Next week's story is The Garden. Please listen to your child read it every night. Please sign and return the reading slip on Thursday morning. Please review the comprehension worksheet with them on Thursday night. Discuss any mistakes they made or how their sentence may have been better. It is so important that your child returns their reading book to school EVERY DAY. We read the story in class every day and if they don't have it they have to share.
Spelling Words for next week:
sun, frog, toad, now, green, will, they, does, rain, pain
Bonus Words: garden, frightened
We learned how to add with regrouping this week. This is one of the tougher math lessons we will do in first grade. I am really happy with how most of our students are grasping this difficult concept! Our Math test on Chapter 6 will be on Thursday, April 6. One way that you can help your child is by going over any mistakes they make on any math papers that come home. I do that at school as much as I possibly can, especially when students get multiple problems wrong.
We celebrated Hailey's birthday this past week! Happy Birthday!
Congratulations to Gabrielle, Hailey, Maile, and Tanaja for making their AR goal this week! Congratulations to Zariyah for being our first friend to make her AR Challenge Goal!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich
Friday, March 24, 2017
Lots of changes!
Well, the 4th quarter is officially underway! We have some exciting changes coming up!
The biggest change is that we started Unit 7 in Reading. Students now have a hardback book. We will read a story in the book all week and then test over the story at the end of the week. I will test over comprehension, vocabulary, phonics, and spelling. Students will take the multiple choice portion of the test on Thursdays using the ActiVotes. They will take the written portion of the test on Fridays, in which they will be expected to answer three comprehension questions using a complete sentence and restating the question. We have been practicing this skill ALL YEAR so I'm excited to see how we do. Don't worry, I will still be giving a lot of help and reminders on this during Unit 7. A detailed note along with an example test came home with your child today in their hardback book.
There will usually only be one reading homework journal assignment a week now. Please go over these words as much as your child needs to. For many of our students, it might not be a one and done assignment.
Spelling will probably make you say "hmmmmm" this week. Our words in Unit 7 are much easier than the words that we just finished up with in Unit 6. Since so many other areas of Unit 7 are very difficult, please enjoy the easier words as a little break. :) There will also be a spelling grade in which students have to find the misspelled spelling word in a sentence. This is multiple choice so it will be done using the ActiVotes, but please check out the example test that I sent home.
Spelling Test-- March 31-- cue, use, pew, pure, cute, few, each, funny, silly, happy
Bonus words: meadow, head
Thursday, March 30-- multiple choice test on The Kite. (comprehension, vocabulary, phonics, and spelling) The vocabulary words and words for the phonics section are in the reading homework journal.
Friday, March 31-- written comprehension questions test on The Kite (We will practice a lot at school. I will send home a comprehension worksheet, which we complete in class, and you can use that to help your child study and prepare.)
Congratulations to Zariyah, Kalese, Makaelyn, Bryce, and Zachary for making their 4th Quarter AR goal! They have been diligently reading AR books, taking quizzes, and scoring 80%-100% on their quizzes! (Remember, they have to have a rate of at least 80% accuracy for their goal to count.) I'm so proud of my little readers!!!
Please don't forget that Reading Logs are due on Monday (at least 4 books). Also, Reading Homework Journals are due on Thursday. (There is only 1 assignment this week so please make every effort to sit down with your child and complete it with them.)
Thank you so much for all of your support at home. With you reinforcing what we do at school, you are giving your child a HUGE chance for success! Have a great weekend!
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich
The biggest change is that we started Unit 7 in Reading. Students now have a hardback book. We will read a story in the book all week and then test over the story at the end of the week. I will test over comprehension, vocabulary, phonics, and spelling. Students will take the multiple choice portion of the test on Thursdays using the ActiVotes. They will take the written portion of the test on Fridays, in which they will be expected to answer three comprehension questions using a complete sentence and restating the question. We have been practicing this skill ALL YEAR so I'm excited to see how we do. Don't worry, I will still be giving a lot of help and reminders on this during Unit 7. A detailed note along with an example test came home with your child today in their hardback book.
There will usually only be one reading homework journal assignment a week now. Please go over these words as much as your child needs to. For many of our students, it might not be a one and done assignment.
Spelling will probably make you say "hmmmmm" this week. Our words in Unit 7 are much easier than the words that we just finished up with in Unit 6. Since so many other areas of Unit 7 are very difficult, please enjoy the easier words as a little break. :) There will also be a spelling grade in which students have to find the misspelled spelling word in a sentence. This is multiple choice so it will be done using the ActiVotes, but please check out the example test that I sent home.
Spelling Test-- March 31-- cue, use, pew, pure, cute, few, each, funny, silly, happy
Bonus words: meadow, head
Thursday, March 30-- multiple choice test on The Kite. (comprehension, vocabulary, phonics, and spelling) The vocabulary words and words for the phonics section are in the reading homework journal.
Friday, March 31-- written comprehension questions test on The Kite (We will practice a lot at school. I will send home a comprehension worksheet, which we complete in class, and you can use that to help your child study and prepare.)
Congratulations to Zariyah, Kalese, Makaelyn, Bryce, and Zachary for making their 4th Quarter AR goal! They have been diligently reading AR books, taking quizzes, and scoring 80%-100% on their quizzes! (Remember, they have to have a rate of at least 80% accuracy for their goal to count.) I'm so proud of my little readers!!!
Please don't forget that Reading Logs are due on Monday (at least 4 books). Also, Reading Homework Journals are due on Thursday. (There is only 1 assignment this week so please make every effort to sit down with your child and complete it with them.)
Thank you so much for all of your support at home. With you reinforcing what we do at school, you are giving your child a HUGE chance for success! Have a great weekend!
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich
Friday, March 10, 2017
the week of March 13-17
The 3rd quarter of school is officially over! We begin our 4th and final quarter of first grade on Monday! Holy cow! Where did the time go??? Now we just need some nice weather to make us actually feel like it's the last quarter! The office will send home report cards next Friday.
DON'T FORGET TO SET YOUR CLOCKS AHEAD AN HOUR ON SATURDAY NIGHT BEFORE YOU GO TO BED! SPRING FORWARD-- DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME!
Congratulations to Bryce, Josh, Simon, and Zachary who made their AR goal this week! Congratulations to Zachary and Bryce who made their AR CHALLENGE goal this week, too! Way to go, Rock Star Readers!
We have an early dismissal day on Wednesday, March 15 at 2pm.
Due to a Jump Rope for Heart Presentation during specials yesterday, all of our specials were pushed back a day. So here is the schedule for next week:
Monday- Library
Tuesday- Computer
Wednesday- PE
Thursday- Art
Friday- Music
Reading Logs are due on Monday, March 13. Please make sure your child has 4 books read and recorded on their reading log for the week of March 6-March 13.
Reading Homework Journals are due on Thursday, March 16. There are 3 new assignments to complete and sign.
The spelling test over Unit 6, Lessons 5-13 is on Friday, March 17.
The words are: knew, knee, draw, cause, boy, coin, write, wrist, know, who
Bonus words: laugh, caught (no capital letters)
Have a wonderful weekend!
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich
DON'T FORGET TO SET YOUR CLOCKS AHEAD AN HOUR ON SATURDAY NIGHT BEFORE YOU GO TO BED! SPRING FORWARD-- DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME!
Congratulations to Bryce, Josh, Simon, and Zachary who made their AR goal this week! Congratulations to Zachary and Bryce who made their AR CHALLENGE goal this week, too! Way to go, Rock Star Readers!
We have an early dismissal day on Wednesday, March 15 at 2pm.
Due to a Jump Rope for Heart Presentation during specials yesterday, all of our specials were pushed back a day. So here is the schedule for next week:
Monday- Library
Tuesday- Computer
Wednesday- PE
Thursday- Art
Friday- Music
Reading Logs are due on Monday, March 13. Please make sure your child has 4 books read and recorded on their reading log for the week of March 6-March 13.
Reading Homework Journals are due on Thursday, March 16. There are 3 new assignments to complete and sign.
The spelling test over Unit 6, Lessons 5-13 is on Friday, March 17.
The words are: knew, knee, draw, cause, boy, coin, write, wrist, know, who
Bonus words: laugh, caught (no capital letters)
Have a wonderful weekend!
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Reminders
Hello First Grade Friends and Families!
We had an exciting week in first grade! We have a new student in our class. His name is Enoch and we are so happy to have him here at Whiteside.
Reading Logs are due Monday, March 6. Your child should have 4 books recorded on their sheet.
Reading Homework Journals are due on Thursday, March 9.
Spelling Test on Friday, March 10. New words are: tooth, food, took, book, clown, down, grouch, couch, where, there. Bonus Words: March, somewhere
Congratulations to Dean and LaShane who made their AR Challenge goal this week! We have a few more kiddos who are SO CLOSE to making their AR goal and Challenge goal! They have next week to work on that!
Just a reminder that we have a 3 day weekend. There is no school on Friday due to parent teacher conferences.
We had an exciting week in first grade! We have a new student in our class. His name is Enoch and we are so happy to have him here at Whiteside.
Reading Logs are due Monday, March 6. Your child should have 4 books recorded on their sheet.
Reading Homework Journals are due on Thursday, March 9.
Spelling Test on Friday, March 10. New words are: tooth, food, took, book, clown, down, grouch, couch, where, there. Bonus Words: March, somewhere
Congratulations to Dean and LaShane who made their AR Challenge goal this week! We have a few more kiddos who are SO CLOSE to making their AR goal and Challenge goal! They have next week to work on that!
Just a reminder that we have a 3 day weekend. There is no school on Friday due to parent teacher conferences.
Have a great weekend!
Hugs & High Fives!
Ms. Bleich
Friday, February 24, 2017
reminders for next week
We had two birthdays to celebrate this week! Happy Birthday to both Maile and Darnez! Thank you Darnez for the yummy cupcakes and juice!
Thank you again to LaShane, Tanaja, and Zachary for buying the popcorn party with your behavior punch cards. Thanks to ALL of the parents who donated popcorn! We had an abundance donated so we will be set for the next few popcorn parties in our class. Thank you so much! I truly appreciate it and the kids had a great time!
Remember Reading Logs are due on Monday. Your child should have read and logged at least 4 new books since last Monday.
Spelling Test on Thursday, March 2.
No school on Friday, March 3.
Parent teacher conferences have been scheduled. If you received a conference request from me please show up at your scheduled time to speak with me so that we can stay on track. Thanks to everyone who returned conference notes, whether I requested to meet with you or not, I appreciate you getting those back to me!
Have a great weekend!
Hugs and High Fives,
Ms. Bleich
Thank you again to LaShane, Tanaja, and Zachary for buying the popcorn party with your behavior punch cards. Thanks to ALL of the parents who donated popcorn! We had an abundance donated so we will be set for the next few popcorn parties in our class. Thank you so much! I truly appreciate it and the kids had a great time!
Remember Reading Logs are due on Monday. Your child should have read and logged at least 4 new books since last Monday.
Spelling Test on Thursday, March 2.
No school on Friday, March 3.
Parent teacher conferences have been scheduled. If you received a conference request from me please show up at your scheduled time to speak with me so that we can stay on track. Thanks to everyone who returned conference notes, whether I requested to meet with you or not, I appreciate you getting those back to me!
Have a great weekend!
Hugs and High Fives,
Ms. Bleich
Friday, February 17, 2017
Weekly Update
Hello first grade families and friends! What a BEAUTIFUL day it is! We took full advantage of the weather today! Our class earned an extra recess by receiving compliments from other teachers in the hallway so we took it today at the end of the day.
Congratulations to Maile who made her AR challenge goal! We have a few more students who are VERY close to making both the challenge goal and their own personal goal. A few have already earned enough points, but now they're trying to improve their accuracy percentages. Each child has to have an accuracy percentage of at least 80% for their AR goal or their challenge goal to "count". So those students are working on trying to get 100% each time in order to raise their percentage. Think of it this way... we would rather you take only 15 quizzes and get 100% each time, rather than take 30 quizzes and getting a 60% each time. It's the QUALITY not the QUANTITY that we are most concerned about!
Thank you to LaShane, Tanaja, and Zachary who used their behavior punch cards to buy a "popcorn party" coupon for our class. If any parents are interested in donating popcorn for our party, that would be most appreciated. Otherwise, I will just pick it all up. Either pre-popped bagged popcorn or unpopped microwave popcorn would be fine. We will have our popcorn party on Friday, February 24.Thanks!
Congratulations to Maile who made her AR challenge goal! We have a few more students who are VERY close to making both the challenge goal and their own personal goal. A few have already earned enough points, but now they're trying to improve their accuracy percentages. Each child has to have an accuracy percentage of at least 80% for their AR goal or their challenge goal to "count". So those students are working on trying to get 100% each time in order to raise their percentage. Think of it this way... we would rather you take only 15 quizzes and get 100% each time, rather than take 30 quizzes and getting a 60% each time. It's the QUALITY not the QUANTITY that we are most concerned about!
Thank you to LaShane, Tanaja, and Zachary who used their behavior punch cards to buy a "popcorn party" coupon for our class. If any parents are interested in donating popcorn for our party, that would be most appreciated. Otherwise, I will just pick it all up. Either pre-popped bagged popcorn or unpopped microwave popcorn would be fine. We will have our popcorn party on Friday, February 24.Thanks!
There are no new reading homework journal assignments for the
week of February 20.
Please take this extra time to practice the Unit 5 High
Frequency Words with your child. The
words are listed in the reading homework journal. I also sent home a page of flashcards at few
weeks ago for your child to cut out and practice at home. In addition, your child has a copy of the
words in their take home folder in their Reading Fluency protective
sleeve. I will test on the Unit 5 High
Frequency words on February 22, 23, 24.
Your child should be able to read the words without sounding them
out.
Reminders:
No School- Monday, February 20—President’s Day
Unit 5 Reading Test- Tuesday, February 21 (I postponed the test to give us an extra day to review) —a study guide was
sent home on Thursday, Feb. 16
Unit 5, Lessons 11-13 Spelling Test—Tuesday, February 21.
Reading Logs are due—Tuesday, February 21—Your child should
have at least 4 books recorded on their reading log that they read during the
week of Feb. 13-Feb. 20.
Specials Next Week:
Tuesday- Art
Wednesday- Music
Thursday- Library
Friday- Computer
Enjoy your three day weekend! Soak up some of the sunshine!
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich
Friday, February 10, 2017
Recognition and Reminders
We have a few students to recognize and celebrate!
Congratulations to Maile who was nominated for a Country Financial Character Award! We are so proud of you!
Happy Birthday to Dean!
Congratulations to Makaelyn who made her AR Challenge goal!
Thank you to Bryce, Maile, and Makaelyn who used their behavior punch cards to purchase a dance party for our class! We will have the dance party on Valentine's day since that's always such a fun day already.
Reminders for Monday, February 13:
SPELLING TEST OVER UNIT 5 LESSONS 8-10-- The words are in your child's take home folder. Please help them study and prepare!
READING LOGS ARE DUE! 4 MORE BOOKS (READ BETWEEN FEB.6-FEB 13) SHOULD BE RECORDED ON YOUR CHILD'S SHEET
Please work on Valentine's mailboxes over the weekend if you haven't finished one already. If your child does not make one at home, I will give them a bag to decorate at school on Monday.
Please fill out and send in Valentine's by Tuesday morning (Valentine's Day).
Thank you!
Have a GREAT WEEKEND!
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich
Congratulations to Maile who was nominated for a Country Financial Character Award! We are so proud of you!
Happy Birthday to Dean!
Congratulations to Makaelyn who made her AR Challenge goal!
Thank you to Bryce, Maile, and Makaelyn who used their behavior punch cards to purchase a dance party for our class! We will have the dance party on Valentine's day since that's always such a fun day already.
Reminders for Monday, February 13:
SPELLING TEST OVER UNIT 5 LESSONS 8-10-- The words are in your child's take home folder. Please help them study and prepare!
READING LOGS ARE DUE! 4 MORE BOOKS (READ BETWEEN FEB.6-FEB 13) SHOULD BE RECORDED ON YOUR CHILD'S SHEET
Please work on Valentine's mailboxes over the weekend if you haven't finished one already. If your child does not make one at home, I will give them a bag to decorate at school on Monday.
Please fill out and send in Valentine's by Tuesday morning (Valentine's Day).
Thank you!
Have a GREAT WEEKEND!
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Reminders
Reminders:
Tomorrow is the 100th day of school! I sent home a note yesterday regarding this. Please send 4 books with your child’s name in it, a blanket, a small stuffed animal, and a snack for your child for our 100th Day Reading Rally!
Friday, February 10, is Spring Picture Day. Even if you aren’t ordering spring pictures you might want to send your child with a cute outfit on and their hair fixed because we will be taking a class picture that day.
Valentine’s Day is Tuesday, February 14. Please work on a valentine mailbox at home and send in valentines for classmates (a note went home about this yesterday- along with classmates’ names).
Also, Six Flags Reading Sheets are due on February 24. This is an optional program so if you haven’t been completing it it’s OK! Students earn a ticket to Six Flags upon completion of 360 minutes of reading. The due date is school wide and no late entries will be accepted.
Have a great night!
Hugs and High Fives!
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich
Friday, February 3, 2017
A few changes and reminders
Hello First Grade Friends and Families!
What a wacky week it's been! First and foremost, thank you so much for your well wishes. My daughter and I are both feeling better!
Due to me being out two days this week and the unexpected day off school I postponed the spelling test until Monday. Please study with your child over the weekend. The words are listed in their take home folder in the "Spelling List" protective sleeve.
Also, don't forget Reading Logs are due on Monday, February 6. Your child should have at least 4 books recorded on their reading log.
We will review Math Chapter 5 on Monday and our Test will be Tuesday, February 7.
The 100th day of school is on Wednesday, February 8. I will send home a note about 100th day on Monday. You won't need to do much! We are going to have a 100th day read-a-thon. Students can bring blankets and favorite books. We will spend the day reading and sharing stories. Our goal is to read 100 books between all of us!
Reading Homework Journals are due on Thursday, February 9.
A note will come home next week regarding bringing valentines to school, as well as a list of the names of all of the students in our class. If you are a "work ahead" kind of person, you can start helping your child make a valentine mailbox. This is a family project and you can make it out of whatever container you would like (cereal box, tissue box, plastic container, gift bag, paper grocery bag, etc.) Make sure their name is highly visible and they can bring it to school when it's ready, Valentine's Day being the last day.
Congratulations to the following students for making their AR goal so far this quarter:
Hailey
Makaelyn
Maile
Dean
Congratulations to Hailey for making her AR challenge goal! She will get to attend the challenge party at the end of the grading period. There is still plenty of time to make the AR challenge goal (10 points). We have a few who are getting really close!
Have a great weekend!
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich
What a wacky week it's been! First and foremost, thank you so much for your well wishes. My daughter and I are both feeling better!
Due to me being out two days this week and the unexpected day off school I postponed the spelling test until Monday. Please study with your child over the weekend. The words are listed in their take home folder in the "Spelling List" protective sleeve.
Also, don't forget Reading Logs are due on Monday, February 6. Your child should have at least 4 books recorded on their reading log.
We will review Math Chapter 5 on Monday and our Test will be Tuesday, February 7.
The 100th day of school is on Wednesday, February 8. I will send home a note about 100th day on Monday. You won't need to do much! We are going to have a 100th day read-a-thon. Students can bring blankets and favorite books. We will spend the day reading and sharing stories. Our goal is to read 100 books between all of us!
Reading Homework Journals are due on Thursday, February 9.
A note will come home next week regarding bringing valentines to school, as well as a list of the names of all of the students in our class. If you are a "work ahead" kind of person, you can start helping your child make a valentine mailbox. This is a family project and you can make it out of whatever container you would like (cereal box, tissue box, plastic container, gift bag, paper grocery bag, etc.) Make sure their name is highly visible and they can bring it to school when it's ready, Valentine's Day being the last day.
Congratulations to the following students for making their AR goal so far this quarter:
Hailey
Makaelyn
Maile
Dean
Congratulations to Hailey for making her AR challenge goal! She will get to attend the challenge party at the end of the grading period. There is still plenty of time to make the AR challenge goal (10 points). We have a few who are getting really close!
Have a great weekend!
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich
Sunday, January 15, 2017
Happy 4 Day Weekend!
Hello Firsties and Friends! I hope you are all enjoying your somewhat unexpected 4 day weekend! I hope that all of you stayed safe and warm! I am currently on a train heading back from a weekend in Chicago. I wanted to give you a few reminders for the week. I'm completely going off of memory, so if I make any mistakes, I apologize, and I will correct those mistakes when I'm at my desk on Tuesday.
Happy Birthday to Zariyah and J'Vier!
Congratulations to Zachary and Makaelyn who received Star Student Awards for turning in ALL of their second quarter homework assignments on time!
Thank you to Mariana and Simon who brought in snacks for the whole class to share. These snacks are given out to the students who forget their snack. Please remember your child is allowed to bring a healthy snack every day. Some popular examples of healthy snacks are: fresh fruit, vegetables, yogurt, cheese, trail mix, crackers of any kind, granola bars, cereal, jello, pretzels, goldfish, hard boiled eggs, lunch meat, etc. (I allow pop tarts and fruit snacks, too) Please remember we have someone with a peanut allergy in our room.
No school on Monday, January 16-- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We have spent the past two weeks reading about and discussing the life and passion of Dr. King. I hope that your child has been able to share some of the things with you that they learned about this brave man who changed the world.
Due to our snow day this past Friday, our spelling test will be on Tuesday, January 17. Your child wrote that message on their spelling list for you to see. Those words are: fine, hide, shine, home, cold, old, joke, bike, give, saw
Behind the current list in their protective sleeve is the list for next week. Please start looking at and studying those words with your child, as well, since next week is a four day week. The new words are: rule, tube, cute, cube, hive, dive, love, have, five, use
Our Unit 4 reading test is Wednesday, January 18. We will review in class on Tuesday and I will send home a study guide.
Please remember to read and record at least 4 books on your child's reading log by Tuesday, Jan. 17. Reading Homework Journals are due on Thursday, Jan. 19.
Don't forget the "Proper Nouns About Me" homework is due this week. I cannot remember what day I said, since I don't have my plan book in front of me, but if you look at the front side of the paper it says it on there. Thanks to those who have already completed it and turned it in! If you lost it and need another copy, please let me know.
We have early dismissal on Wednesday, Jan. 18 due to teachers' meetings. Children will be dismissed at 2 pm.
That is all that I can think of at this time but I will let you know if I made a mistake or forgot something important.
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich :)
Happy Birthday to Zariyah and J'Vier!
Congratulations to Zachary and Makaelyn who received Star Student Awards for turning in ALL of their second quarter homework assignments on time!
Thank you to Mariana and Simon who brought in snacks for the whole class to share. These snacks are given out to the students who forget their snack. Please remember your child is allowed to bring a healthy snack every day. Some popular examples of healthy snacks are: fresh fruit, vegetables, yogurt, cheese, trail mix, crackers of any kind, granola bars, cereal, jello, pretzels, goldfish, hard boiled eggs, lunch meat, etc. (I allow pop tarts and fruit snacks, too) Please remember we have someone with a peanut allergy in our room.
No school on Monday, January 16-- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We have spent the past two weeks reading about and discussing the life and passion of Dr. King. I hope that your child has been able to share some of the things with you that they learned about this brave man who changed the world.
Due to our snow day this past Friday, our spelling test will be on Tuesday, January 17. Your child wrote that message on their spelling list for you to see. Those words are: fine, hide, shine, home, cold, old, joke, bike, give, saw
Behind the current list in their protective sleeve is the list for next week. Please start looking at and studying those words with your child, as well, since next week is a four day week. The new words are: rule, tube, cute, cube, hive, dive, love, have, five, use
Our Unit 4 reading test is Wednesday, January 18. We will review in class on Tuesday and I will send home a study guide.
Please remember to read and record at least 4 books on your child's reading log by Tuesday, Jan. 17. Reading Homework Journals are due on Thursday, Jan. 19.
Don't forget the "Proper Nouns About Me" homework is due this week. I cannot remember what day I said, since I don't have my plan book in front of me, but if you look at the front side of the paper it says it on there. Thanks to those who have already completed it and turned it in! If you lost it and need another copy, please let me know.
We have early dismissal on Wednesday, Jan. 18 due to teachers' meetings. Children will be dismissed at 2 pm.
That is all that I can think of at this time but I will let you know if I made a mistake or forgot something important.
Hugs and High Fives!
Ms. Bleich :)
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! I hope that you all had a wonderful winter break and holiday!
Happy Birthday to Bryce, Kalese, and Jaliyah, who all celebrated December birthdays!
Thank you to all of the families who so generously gave me a Christmas gift. There's nothing quite like Christmas kindness! :) I hope that you all enjoyed the ornaments that your child made for you! Homemade gifts from my own children always touch my heart in a special way and they LOVE giving them, as I'm sure your children were excited to give you their gifts!
I loved being home with my kiddos doing fun holiday activities, but it's great to be back in the normal school routine, too! If you're anything like me, when you get back into a normal routine after a long break, it's sometimes difficult to remember certain details that you normally wouldn't forget! Here are a few reminders in no particular order:
* Spelling Test over Unit 4, Lessons 7-9 is tomorrow, Friday, January 6. These words have the long a sound, with the a_e spelling pattern. Unlike short a, long a says her name. In this spelling pattern, sneaky e jumps over the consonant and bonks a right on her head making her say "A"! Sneaky e also works his way into a few words with the soft c sound (like race, face, place). He reaches over to c and tickles her which make her say "ssss." I have lots of silly little stories I make up to help the kids remember these spelling tricks. Feel free to make up your own at home, or use mine to reinforce it at home! Please take a little extra time to study with your child tonight or tomorrow morning. We started learning these words the week before break and we have really focused on them this week, as well. Extra one-on-one practice at home is always beneficial!
*Reading Homework Journals are due tomorrow, Friday, January 6. Normally these are due on Thursday, but with the short week, I extended the due date. There are only two assignments to complete. I have been gluing in conversation topics under the blending lessons to give you an idea of how you can help extend their learning and develop their language skills, in addition to just being able to read the words. I hope this has been helpful!
*Math Chapter 3 test will be on Tuesday, January 10. Practice vocabulary words and definitions as much as possible! Other than the vocabulary, making a 10 to add is the most difficult part of this test. We worked on it ALOT in class. I'm looking forward to seeing how well everyone does!!! I will send home a review sheet for homework on Monday to help!
*On Wednesday, January 11, we will have a short reading test (only 10 multiple choice questions) over what we have learned so far in Unit 4. (Your child will need to be able to identify the correct spellings for words with the following sounds: k, ng, qu, y, long a, a_e, ce, ci, long i, i_e.
*Reading Logs are due every Monday! Each week your child should read at least 4 books. I prefer that an adult record the book titles on the sheet and date when they read them. To raise a successful reader and learner your child should read for about 20-30 minutes each night. I realize we all have busy schedules, but you really will be amazed at the difference you will see in your child's reading ability and academics if you make this a part of your daily life with them!
*Please, please, please remember to check your child's take home folder each night! There is almost always something in there for you to see or check, even if it's only to look at their behavior calendar to see what color they ended on that day. Before break we added a new protective sleeve to the back of their folder. This is to hold vocabulary cards, sight word flashcards, and any reading fluency sheets. I gave them the option of leaving these items at home in a safe place, as well, so if it works better for you to leave them at home that's fine with me! As long as you know where it is, and as long as they are actively practicing! (Please keep the sleeve in the folder though.)There will be a new reading fluency sheet coming home on Monday. Those are usually to be finished over the course of a few days.
*Current Specials Schedule:
Monday: Computer
Tuesday: PE
Wednesday: Art
Thursday: Music
Friday: Library
Well, I think that's enough information for now! I can smell the smoke coming out of your ears! ha ha
Have a great evening!! Go throw a snowball or two! :)
Hugs and High Fives,
Ms. Bleich
Happy Birthday to Bryce, Kalese, and Jaliyah, who all celebrated December birthdays!
Thank you to all of the families who so generously gave me a Christmas gift. There's nothing quite like Christmas kindness! :) I hope that you all enjoyed the ornaments that your child made for you! Homemade gifts from my own children always touch my heart in a special way and they LOVE giving them, as I'm sure your children were excited to give you their gifts!
I loved being home with my kiddos doing fun holiday activities, but it's great to be back in the normal school routine, too! If you're anything like me, when you get back into a normal routine after a long break, it's sometimes difficult to remember certain details that you normally wouldn't forget! Here are a few reminders in no particular order:
* Spelling Test over Unit 4, Lessons 7-9 is tomorrow, Friday, January 6. These words have the long a sound, with the a_e spelling pattern. Unlike short a, long a says her name. In this spelling pattern, sneaky e jumps over the consonant and bonks a right on her head making her say "A"! Sneaky e also works his way into a few words with the soft c sound (like race, face, place). He reaches over to c and tickles her which make her say "ssss." I have lots of silly little stories I make up to help the kids remember these spelling tricks. Feel free to make up your own at home, or use mine to reinforce it at home! Please take a little extra time to study with your child tonight or tomorrow morning. We started learning these words the week before break and we have really focused on them this week, as well. Extra one-on-one practice at home is always beneficial!
*Reading Homework Journals are due tomorrow, Friday, January 6. Normally these are due on Thursday, but with the short week, I extended the due date. There are only two assignments to complete. I have been gluing in conversation topics under the blending lessons to give you an idea of how you can help extend their learning and develop their language skills, in addition to just being able to read the words. I hope this has been helpful!
*Math Chapter 3 test will be on Tuesday, January 10. Practice vocabulary words and definitions as much as possible! Other than the vocabulary, making a 10 to add is the most difficult part of this test. We worked on it ALOT in class. I'm looking forward to seeing how well everyone does!!! I will send home a review sheet for homework on Monday to help!
*On Wednesday, January 11, we will have a short reading test (only 10 multiple choice questions) over what we have learned so far in Unit 4. (Your child will need to be able to identify the correct spellings for words with the following sounds: k, ng, qu, y, long a, a_e, ce, ci, long i, i_e.
*Reading Logs are due every Monday! Each week your child should read at least 4 books. I prefer that an adult record the book titles on the sheet and date when they read them. To raise a successful reader and learner your child should read for about 20-30 minutes each night. I realize we all have busy schedules, but you really will be amazed at the difference you will see in your child's reading ability and academics if you make this a part of your daily life with them!
*Please, please, please remember to check your child's take home folder each night! There is almost always something in there for you to see or check, even if it's only to look at their behavior calendar to see what color they ended on that day. Before break we added a new protective sleeve to the back of their folder. This is to hold vocabulary cards, sight word flashcards, and any reading fluency sheets. I gave them the option of leaving these items at home in a safe place, as well, so if it works better for you to leave them at home that's fine with me! As long as you know where it is, and as long as they are actively practicing! (Please keep the sleeve in the folder though.)There will be a new reading fluency sheet coming home on Monday. Those are usually to be finished over the course of a few days.
*Current Specials Schedule:
Monday: Computer
Tuesday: PE
Wednesday: Art
Thursday: Music
Friday: Library
Well, I think that's enough information for now! I can smell the smoke coming out of your ears! ha ha
Have a great evening!! Go throw a snowball or two! :)
Hugs and High Fives,
Ms. Bleich
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