I PICK Good-Fit Books

Today the children learned how to choose a good-fit book. They learned how to look for a good-fit book in five ways using the acronym I PICK. We will revisit this frequently in the next couple weeks and throughout the school year. Picking a good-fit book is one of the most important things to do in order to become a better reader. 

I PICK

1. I choose a book

2. P urpose - Why do I want to read it?

3. I nterest - Does it interest me?

4. C omprehend - Am I understanding what I am reading?

5. K now - I know most of the words

The children also practiced building their reading stamina again today. This time they made it to 5 minutes. We will continue to build our reading stamina every day. Ask your child to explain what stamina means. Tomorrow we will review the Daily 5 components we have learned so far: what good readers do, stamina, and I PICK good-fit books. 

Introduction to the Daily 5

Today the children had their first introduction to the Daily 5. The Daily 5 is a way of structuring the reading block so every child is independently engaged in meaningful literacy tasks. These research-based tasks are ones that will have the biggest effect on each child's reading and writing achievement, as well as help encourage children who love to read and write. The children receive explicit whole group instruction and then are given independent practice time to read and write independently while I provide focused, intense instruction to individuals and small groups of children.

When it is up and running smoothly, the children will be engaged in the Daily 5, which is made up of the following:

-Read to Self

-Work on Writing

-Read to Someone

-Listen to Reading

-Word Work

This morning we discussed in detail what it means to be a good reader. Together we created a chart titled, Good Readers... Below is a picture showcasing all the ideas the children came up with that good readers do everyday.

The children also learned about stamina today. They learned that stamina is doing anything for a long amount of time without getting tired or giving up. Today we worked on building our reading stamina. The children practiced reading and training their bodies and brains to read in the appropriate way (staying in one spot, read the whole time, read quietly, work on stamina, get started right away). They did a great job and met our goal of reading to three minutes. Each day we will work on increasing our stamina and building the length of time we read for. Enjoy the photos below of our class hard at work on building their reading stamina. 

News You Can Use!

This week the children were very busy despite our short week. 

Reading

This week, the children listened to the story, Cookies Bite Sized Life Lessons. After reading, we discussed the six pillars of Character Counts. Our Character Counts pillars are: Responsibility, Citizenship, Respect, Caring, Fairness, and Trustworthiness. The children also read our character counts promise, each child signed a copy to bring home. The children made the connection that by following the six pillars, they are also being a bucket filler. 

I have now had time to meet individually with all of my first grade readers and assess them using Fountas and Pinnell running records. The running records along with AIMSweb scores help me to understand where each child is as a reader and to create meaningful guided reading groups. We will begin guided reading groups in about two weeks after our introduction to the Daily 5. I will post information about each area of the Daily 5 as we learn the routines in class. 

Writing

This week, we continued working on our first writing unit, Autobiographies. The children wrote about their favorite pet and favorite toy or game. They are working very hard at using the writing process: Think, Draw, Label, and Write. I am proud of our authors for using their “brave spelling” to stretch out sounds in tricky words. 

The children also began practicing Work on Writing and Word Work this week. These are two parts of the Daily 5. The children will learn more about these procedures in the next two weeks. This week they learned about journal writing, the children received a journal prompt and then decided how they wanted to respond. The children wrote about their families and about their favorite thing to wear. They will keep their journal writings in their writing binder. In word work, the children learned about rainbow words and spelling code. When we begin spelling, these are some of the ways the children will practice their words in class. Currently, the children are reviewing the kindergarten sight words. 

Math 

In Math, the children worked with number sense. This week they compared numbers, practiced writing numbers correctly, and practiced representing numbers using tally marks. The children were excited to create a Tally Chart to organize data. They created a class pet tally chart on the mimio. 

The children enjoyed playing Top-it to compare numbers. 

The children had fun playing Dice-Roll and Tally. Before we started, each child predicted which number they thought would be rolled the most times. After, they compared it with the number that did get rolled the most. They had a great discussion about their observations. 

Everyone did a great job of returning their first two homelinks this week! We will begin having homelinks on Monday- Thursday nights this week. Please return the next day unless otherwise noted. 

Social Studies

We began our first social studies unit this week on Community Helpers. We kicked off the unit by learning about how laws and rules help us to be good citizens. Then the children brainstormed a list of our Dryden School Helpers.   

School-Dryden

Principals-Mrs. Sessler, Mrs. Trendal

Teachers

Custodians-Mr. Bob, Mr. Ron

Lunch Teachers

Nurses-Mrs. Hamilton, Mrs. Leventhal 

Secretaries-Mrs. Lane, Mrs. Kelly

Music-Mr. Deptula

PE-Mr. Gries

LMC-Mrs. Dufern, Mrs. Powers, and Mrs. Kenney

Art-Mrs. Fuglestad

Patrols

Literacy Teachers

Police Officer

Bus Drivers

After we finished with our Dryden School Helpers, we began a KWL on community helpers. This week the children learned what makes teachers community helpers. We read the book, Teachers (People In My Community). The children each wrote a fact about what makes a teacher a community helper in their Community Helper Book.  

Exciting News!

On Friday, I shared some exciting news with the children. We played a game of Crack the Code together on the mimeo. When the children revealed the message, there were squeals of delight and lots of smiles. The children learned that I will be having a baby at the end of January. Your children were very sweet and offered lots of congratulations and thoughtful comments. After we played the game, we read the book, Alligator Baby by Robert Munsch. The children enjoyed the story and thought it was very funny! 

International Dot Day

This coming Friday, the children will celebrate International Dot Day. The children will hear the story, The Dot, by Peter Reynolds and have a chance to create their own dot art. The importance of this day is for the children to learn that each person matters, has genius, and has the potential to make a positive impact on the world. For more information on International Dot Day, please visit: http://fablevisionlearning.com/dotday/

Note:

On Friday, 9/13 at 9:10 the LMC will be hosting an orientation session for parents interested in volunteering this year in the LMC. If you can't attend the meeting, but would like to be added to the schedule, please email Mrs. Kenney, jenny@sd25.org.

Happy Sunday! Have a great rest of the weekend!

Our First Full Week!

Curriculum Night

It was nice to see all of you this week at Curriculum Night, thank you for coming out. I hope you enjoyed hearing about all the wonderful adventures that we are going to have this year! The children were very excited to read the notes you had left on their desks. If you missed the presentation I have posted a link on the right side of our web site titled, Curriculum Night Presentation.

What did we do this week?

The children have learned a lot in their first full week of first grade. They continue to familiarize themselves with our classroom routines and procedures. The children can now go through: arrival, lunchtime, and stack and pack routines with few reminders of what they need to do. 

We took a room tour and learned where everything is located in the classroom. This will help the children to solve daily problems that arise on their own, such as: What should I do with a broken pencil? Where do I put my writing folder when I am done? 

The children worked together to brainstorm a long list of things that they need to be successful as first graders. After, the children each created a paper backpack. In it they placed their own personal list of what they need to be successful. 

We also talked about our hopes and dreams for first grade. The children each wrote down a hope or dream that they have for this year. We turned their writings into a cute bulletin board at the back of our classroom.  

Reading

During whole group reading this week the children listened to, A Bad Case of The Stripes. After, they created a picture of themselves with a bad case of something they love. 

Currently, I am assessing the children using Fountas and Pinnell running records. This will help me get to know the children as readers. I will continue working on these assessments next week until I have had time to read with each child.

Writing

This week, we started our first writing unit, Autobiographies. The children learned that an autobiography is a writing about the author. They each have started their own mini autobiography. The children chose to write about something important to them (ex. family, pet, or a favorite memory).  

The children also learned about the writing process that authors go through. We will practice and use this process throughout the whole year. The children will: Think, Draw, Label, and Write. 

Math 

We began our first everyday math unit this week. Our lessons focused on learning about our math routines. The children were introduced to our calendar procedures, their math tool kit, and their math journal. They also played three math games this week: Monster Squeeze, Bunny Hop, and the Penny Dice Game. The children had the opportunity to play these games both as a whole class on the Mimio and with a partner using their own manipulatives. 

~ Thank you for all your support at home and your help in making the start of this school year a great one! Please let me know if you have any questions. ~

Reminders:

-Please send in your sign and return forms from your Curriculum Night folder as soon as you can. Thank you!
-We have PE on Tuesdays and Thursdays, please make sure your child wears proper gym shoes to school.

Our First Week!

Meet Our Class

First Day Photos

We had a great first few days in 1-1! The children enjoyed getting to know one another through the sharing of their "All About Me" bags. There were big smiles and lots of excitement when the children shared an interest that others also had.

This week the children listened to the story: First Day Jitters. The children engaged in discussions about the emotions they felt about starting first grade. It made the children feel better to know that other children and even the teacher had some jitters before starting school!

We also read the book, Have You Filled A Bucket Today? The children learned that everyone carries around an invisible bucket and that we can fill others' buckets and our own bucket by being kind and considerate. The children shared examples of ways that they fill buckets while at school and at home. They worked together to create a class book titled, Our Bucket Filler Book. We will keep this in our classroom all year long for the children to enjoy. 

You would not believe what a great job the children did during the first few days of lunch. I am so proud of everyone for their hard work on learning the lunchroom routines and for following the lunchroom rules. We will continue to go down a few minutes early next week so we can fine-tune our lunchroom routines. 

As a teacher, one of my goals is to create a classroom environment where all students feel safe and valued. This week we worked together as a team to come up with our classroom rules. Discussing the rules together gives the children ownership and lets them actively decide what they want our classroom community to look like. The children did a wonderful job of coming up with rules that will make our classroom a safe and happy learning environment. 

Our Classroom Rules:

1. Be Kind.

2. Be respectful to others and their property.

3. Use good manners at all times.

4. Be safe.

5. Work as a team!

Happy Birthday!

On Wednesday, we celebrated Zach's birthday. Happy Birthday Zach!

Reminder:

Curriculum Night is this Thursday, August 29th at 6:50. 

Reminder!

It was nice to me many of you last night. Thank you for coming to visit our classroom! I can't wait to see everyone tomorrow for our first day of school. We are going to have a fun filled day.

Just a quick reminder: Don't forget to bring your "All About Me" bag to school tomorrow. Fill your brown lunch bag with three items that tell us about you. It could be a picture, a book, a trophy, whatever you wish. Remember to write your name on the front. We will spend some time looking at each other's items and getting to know one another. I will send the bags home as we finish sharing. We may only get through a couple a day, the bags will come home slowly over the next week!

See you tomorrow! 

Hello First Graders!

Welcome to First Grade!

My name is Mrs. Johnson, and I will be your first grade teacher this year at Dryden! I can't wait to meet you and for you to see our first grade classroom. I have been hard at work setting up our room and decorating it for this year. I hope you’re as excited as I am! I know you are going to love first grade. You will leap into learning about things like collections, measurement, weather and so much more. We will also read fascinating stories, solve challenging math problems, and write. This year you will learn and grow so much! I can’t wait to meet you and your family!  We are going to have a frog-tastic year!