Scholastic Book Club Orders

Dear Parents,

Sometimes the right book is all it takes to nurture a child's love of reading. That's why I'm pleased that our class will be participating in Scholastic Book Clubs this school year.

The Book Club flyers I'll be sending home each month are full of just-right, affordable books and Storia™ eBooks for every age and reading level.

Our first book order will come home next week. If you would like a sneak peak you can click on the Scholastic Orders link on the right hand side of your screen. 

Follow these instructions to set up an online account:

•  REGISTER at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs
•  ENTER the Class Activation Code: L9HYZ
•  CHOOSE from thousands of print titles, value packs, and Storia eBooks
•  SUBMIT the order to your child's teacher
•  EARN FREE Books for you and the classroom too!

Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you for helping grow your child's love of reading and for supporting our class.

Mrs. Johnson

P.S. When you place your order online, you'll help earn FREE Books for our class and you also get a $5 FREE Book Pick Coupon to use on your next online order!

News You Can Use!

We had a short, but full week here in 1-1. Read all about it below.

Literacy

Treasures: 

This week, in Treasures the children continued to work with short /a/ words. They enjoyed reading stories about different movements. Their favorite story of the week was, From Head to Toe. The children acted out this story as I read and mirrored the movements that the animals made in the book. What a great kinesthetic learning experience! 

I Can raise my shoulders.

I can swing my arms.

I can bend my knees.

I can kick my legs.

The children also listened to the story, Stellaluna. After, they discussed what happened at the beginning, middle, and end of the story. Then they wrote their own sequencing cards, including a sentence and picture. One for the beginning, middle, and end of the story. They glued their cards to their very own Stellaluna bat. They look great hanging from our ceiling!

Grammar Packets:

The children continued to work with sentence structure in our grammar packets this week. They payed close attention to beginning capitals and periods at the end of sentences. They are becoming experts at recognizing complete and incomplete sentences.  

Writing

This week, we started our second writing unit. The children will work on Narrative writing, zooming in on a small moment in their lives to write about. To start, they chose something that they did over the weekend and used lots of detail to describe the event. 

Later, in the week we read the book, A Chair For My Mother. The children listened to the story and then met with a partner to discuss what they thought the two small moments were from the story. When we came back together as a group the children discussed how the author described her two small moments using lots of detail. 

Next week, the children will begin the process of writing their very own small moment story. You can help your child at home by talking about an event in their life that was really exciting for them: a trip, a big game, a birthday. Help them recall their favorite event in lots of detail, they will use this to write their narrative.

Math 

In Math, the children worked with analog clocks. They learned that the little hand is the hour hand and the big hand is the minute hand. Using their own clocks they showed times to the hour and used approximations to say what time their clocks read, for example, just after 7, a little before 11, in between 1 and 2. 

On Wednesday, the children enjoyed explorations in math. They rotated through three stations: domino sorting ( learning that the dot patterns on dominoes represent numbers), straight line dot to dot (using rulers), and estimating relative lengths of objects (sorting objects into two groups, smaller and larger than a six inch ruler).  

Today, the children explored pennies. They identified the characteristics of a penny and learned how to write values of different groups of pennies. They enjoyed learning a poem about a penny: 

Penny, penny 

Easily spent

Copper brown

And worth one cent!

Science

This week, we started our first science unit, Collecting and Examining Life. To kick off the unit we read the book, What is a Scientist? The children learned that they are all scientists. Each child wrote about what scientists do. Then they made their very own scientists to hang up in the classroom. Their writing is hidden inside their scientist’s lab coat. 

On Wednesday, the children did their first experiment. They had to look at three different substances, mystery substance A, mystery substance B, and salt. Using a magnifying glass they observed the substances and decided which one they thought was alive. After creating their hypothesis, the children added the salt to water creating a salt water solution. In one jar they placed substance A and the salt water. In another jar they placed substance B and salt water. The children observed the solutions in the jars and recorded what they saw in their science notebooks. They conferred with other scientists at their table and decided that they thought jar A held the live contents. We will return to the jars next week and test our hypothesis. Will it be jar A or jar B that holds the live contents? 

Columbus Day

Today, we learned about Columbus Day in our classroom. The children watched a short video on BrainPopjr about Christopher Columbus and had a great discussion on who Christopher Columbus was. They also learned a Columbus Day song. Enjoy a video of the children singing the song below! 

Ryan had a busy week!

Ryan was our first star student. Thank you Ryan for sharing all about you!

We celebrated Ryan's birthday on October 2nd. Happy Birthday Ryan!

On Tuesday, the children enjoyed a visit from Ryan's mom. Thank you to Mrs. Shao for being a fantastic royal reader. The children loved listening to the story, The Honey Cake Mix-Up. 

Notes:

• In backpack mail, your child brought home a paper titled, October 2012 R.E.A.D. Have your child set a reading goal for the month. If they meet the goal, sign the paper and return the it to school. Your child has a chance to earn a ticket to Six Flags if they meet their reading goal every month from October - April. 
• Don’t forget to read and return your purple poetry folder!
• There is no school on Monday, October 8th because of Columbus Day.
• Friday, October 12th is a School Spirit day, wear your spirit wear or Dryden colors.

Progressive Dinner Project

Calling all parents!!! Premiering at a Progressive Dinner near you, our class tub: Cuddle up with Mom or Dad, a mug of hot cocoa, tea, or apple cider and a good book or maybe write your own story! You get a hand painted galvanized tub by Mrs. Johnson's 1st graders containing, 2 clear glass mugs, hot cocoa, chamomile tea, apple cider, 5 early reader Halloween themed books, a white board, other writing materials, and a book of personal suggestions for using the tub by each child in our class.

Get your hands on it before it's gone!

A special thank you to Mrs. Topps and Mrs. Rabe for organizing this wonderful project! The children had a lot of fun participating.

Have a great long weekend!

News You Can Use!

Read below to learn about our fantastic week in 1-1.

Literacy

Treasures: 

This week, we began our first unit in Treasures. The children did a wonderful job of working with short /a/ words. Their stories for the week consisted of fantasies and a nonfiction piece. They worked on identifying what makes a story a fantasy. The children enjoyed using sequencing cards to retell one of the fantasy stories. They also learned that they can use the pictures in a nonfiction piece to learn additional facts. 

We started grammar packets this week. The children worked with sentences. They worked on recognizing the difference between a complete and incomplete sentence and learned that all sentences must start with a capital. Their grammar packet came home in their take home folder on Friday. At the top you will see a note that says, Done Together. We will complete this packet every week as a class. The children will continue to focus on sentence structure next week. 

This week, the children were also introduced to our Making Words lessons. They use letter tiles at their desk to create different words that follow our spelling pattern for the week. The children took turns coming up to the board to spell the words on our interactive pocket chart. Their favorite part of the lesson is when the get to try and figure out the “mystery word.” This word uses all of the letter tiles for the day. 

Daily 5 & Guided Reading:

The children did a great job this week during Daily 5 and guided reading. They were independent during their Daily 5 activities, which allowed for very productive guided reading groups. In guided reading the children worked hard at learning some of our reading strategies and reading their books. On nights when your child brings home their book bag, please have your child read the book to you. If your child brings home a word ring or graphic organizer have them read these to you as well. 

Poetry Folder:

In your child’s backpack you should have noticed a purple folder, this is your child’s poetry folder. Attached was a note explaining what to do with the folder over the weekend. Every week, we will learn a new poem that goes along with our spelling pattern of the week. Please read the poem with your child and send their folder back to school on Monday. 

Spelling:

The children did a great job on their first spelling test this Friday. I am so proud of how hard they practiced all week long. Next week our spelling pattern will continue to focus on the short /a/ sound. There is no school on Friday, so the children will take their test on Thursday. Thank you for helping your child review their words at home!

Writing

This week, the children put their autobiographies together into a book. To celebrate all of their hard work the children met with students from Mrs. Glaser class. In groups of four, the children took turns reading their autobiographies. They had a great time using the pretend microphones and sharing their writing. Enjoy the slide show of our writing celebration below! 

Math 

In Math, we began unit 2. The children worked with the number grid to locate numbers and solve math problems. As a class, the children brainstormed a list of ways that we use numbers around us. They also worked with ten frames, labeling numbers with units, finding sums of ten, and using calculators. To practice some of their math skills the children played two math games, Rolling to 50 and 10 Frame Top-it. 

Social Studies

This week, we finished our Map unit. The children enjoyed taking an imaginary trip around the world to visit different landforms. After we visited each land form the children wrote about it in their landforms booklet. 

The children also worked with basic map skills this week. They looked at maps and globes and discussed how they are similar and different. The children learned about the compass rose and cardinal directions. They really enjoyed learning a special way to remember the cardinal directions: Never Eat Soggy Waffles. The children learned about map keys. They took turns coming up to the board and using the cardinal directions and a map key, they located different areas on a map. 

Thinking Skills

On Friday, Mrs. Schwarz came in for another visit. This week she worked with the children on creative thinking. She showed them a piece of scrap wood. The children brainstormed and shared ideas of what they could create using the piece of wood. The children really enjoy her visits. Mrs. Schwarz will come in for her last visit on October 12th. 

Notes:

• Monday, is Picture day! Don’t forget to say cheese. 
• Wednesday, is Walk To School Day. All the teachers will be out at 8:40am to walk to school with the children. I hope to see you on your way to school! 
• There is no school on Friday due to a SIP Day. The children will take their spelling test on Thursday.

Have a great rest of the weekend! 

News You Can Use!

We had a wonderful week here in 1-1. It was filled with lots of fun learning adventures. View of news clip and read all about it below!

Literacy

This week, the children finished learning the last components of the Daily 5. On Thursday and Friday, the children practiced all of the Daily 5 routines: word work, work on writing, read to self, read to someone, and listen to reading. They are doing a great job of building their stamina and working quietly. We will continue to fine-tune the routines next week. 

This coming Monday, we will begin guided reading groups. The children will work on the Daily 5 while I meet with small guided reading groups. Your child will bring a book bag home at least one night a week. Please read the book with your child and send it back to school the next day. During curriculum night, I gave you handouts on ideas for reading with your child and a reading strategies bookmark. These will be helpful if you are looking for ways to help your child with reading or ideas for questions. If you have misplaced your copies please let me know - I can make you a new set! 

Writing

This week, the children finished publishing their four autobiography pieces. They worked hard to rewrite their pieces in their best handwriting and drew illustrations that were careful, colorful, and detailed. The children also illustrated a front cover for their work. Next week, they will put their work together to create their very own autobiography book. To conclude the unit we will have a celebration of their writing. We will join Mrs. Glaser's class and the children will get to read their autobiography to a group of friends. The books will then become part of our classroom library. This will allow the children to enjoy reading each others writing. 

Math 

In Math, we wrapped up our first unit. The children practiced reading temperature ranges on a Fahrenheit thermometer. They made the connection that the degrees on the thermometer go up, just like numbers on the number line. The children worked with tallies again and created a tally chart of their favorite seasons. They also practiced solving number stories using counters and a variety of math strategies that we have learned. Several children came up to the board and showed the class how they arrived at their answers. The class also enjoyed telling number stories for their classmates to solve.  

On Wednesday, the children had fun reviewing all of the math concepts from unit 1 with Mimio Vote. Our classroom was turned into the set of, Math Review Mimio Vote. The children became contestants in the game and answered questions using their own clicker. They enjoyed my performance as game show host! 

On Thursday, the children took their first math test. Their test came home today. I was so proud of how hard they worked on the test, they did a great job! We will begin unit 2 on Monday. A note will come home via backpack mail detailing the concepts that will be taught in this unit.

Social Studies

This week, we began our Map unit in Social Studies. The children learned about the seven continents and oceans this week. Thank you to all of you who had friends and relatives visit our blog. I can not even begin to express the excitement the children had every time we viewed our ClustrMap. They could not believe that people had visited us from so many places. We have had visitors from four continents so far! It has really helped the children to learn the names of the continents and taught them some countries that are located on the different continents.  

The children enjoyed two projects this week, Me On The Map and creating a map of the world using a paper plate and cut out continents. 

A special thank you to Johnny! He brought in a large map to share with the class. The children enjoyed using it to write a story about where they would go, if they could travel anywhere on the map. 

Next week, we will continue our Map unit. The children will learn about landforms and basic map skills including an introduction to the compass rose, cardinal directions, and map keys. If you have any books at home about maps or map keys, please send them in to share. Just make sure your child’s name is in the book. I will return them at the end of the week. 

Royal Reader

We enjoyed a visit from Mr. Robinson today, he was a wonderful Royal Reader. The children loved his magic trick of making the books appear! He read two books, The Giant Jam Sandwich and Goodnight iPad. Thank you Mr. Robinson for coming and sharing these amazing books with us!!

A note from our fantastic librarians:

Do you want to get involved at Dryden and feel like you are a part of our great school? The LMC is looking for some great volunteers! Come to our orientation meeting on Tuesday, September 25th at 2:30 in the LMC and find out all about how you can help! See the flyer below for more information.  If you have questions, please call us at 847-506-6537 or send an email to Joanne Kenney at jkenney@sd25.org. Thank you for your interest!

Have a great weekend! 

Continents Question

Boys and Girls, I'm excited to tell you that we have now had visitors view our blog from four of the seven continents!  Can you name the continents that we have had visitors from? If you know the answer, post it as a comment. Some of the dots on our ClustrMap have temporally disappeared. Here is a map off my blogger site to look at. The areas in green are the ones that people have visited us from. 

First Grade Book Club!

The following information regarding book club is from PTA parents Mrs. Ryerson and Mrs. Sagendorph. If you would like to sign your first grader up please read their message! 

IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO SIGN UP FOR 1ST GRADE BOOK CLUB!

During the lunch hour, the Book Clubers will break into small groups and enjoy a story read to them by a parent volunteer beginning on Wednesday, September 26th.  Book Club will meet every Wednesday during lunch for 4 weeks and close with a pizza party provided by the PTA.  

Children of all reading levels are welcome and encouraged to participate. 

Parent Volunteers are also needed to make our Book Club a success!

The reading portion will take about 20 minutes and is performed by a 1st grade parent volunteer. Parents can bring a book from home or Mrs. Kenney, our Dryden librarian, will have a cart full of books that parents can choose from to read to the 1st graders. 

If your child is interested in participating please click the link below to complete the sign-up form (volunteer sign up is also included on this form).  New deadline to sign up is Monday, September 24. 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?fromEmail=true&formkey=dHQxRk5UVUZSZEs3U1VPYm1FYnZuelE6MA

Thank you!

Laura Ryerson and Amy Sagendorph