October 31st - November 4th

Language Arts/Reading:

We are continuing with Words Their Way.  Assessments have just been given, and new groups will be formed based on this information. 

In Writer’s Workshop, we will launch our unit on writing "small moments".  The children will understand that authors write "small moment" stories and stretch the action across several pages because the moment is so important.  The students will focus on planning their stories by sharing their ideas with their writing partners. 

In Reading Workshop, we will continue guided reading groups.  Our mini lessons this week will focus on comprehension strategies, getting to know the characters better and making predictions during reading. 

Math:

We are continuing our unit on number operation.  We will begin addition strategies such as count-on-one, two, three and zero.  This week we will continue  problem solving as well as review the different strategies for adding numbers.  We will also discuss strategies for odd/even numbers.

Social Studies:

We will continue our unit on Texas.  I love this unit!  We will learn all about our great state of Texas including the state bird, the state motto, the pledge, the state tree, and many other things!  We will also learn all about cowboys and cowgirls.  Howdy y'all!    

Reminders:   

*Harvest Festival is Nov. 5, 12:00-3:00.

*Please consider volunteering for lunch recess!  To sign up, go to :

http://caraway.my-pta.org/content.asp?PageID=28

Thank You!!

*Cheryl Borden and Judy Lopato - Classroom Chores

*Vera Djohan - Tuesday Folders

*Wess Schiesz - Computer Lab

*Kari Means - Tuesday Helper

*Lisa Kim and Cheryl Borden - donated classroom supplies

* Thank you to the following families who volunteered for our Monday morning pumpkin carving activity - Luke, Jessica D., Tate, and Katryna.

October 24th -28th

Language Arts:

This week during our Reading Workshop our mini lessons will focus on strategies for strong readers.  The students will learn that strong readers notice beginning, and ending sounds of words they don't know.  They can figure out tough words by moving through the whole word.  They can think about what makes sense and they can use the pictures to help them figure out the words.

Words Their Way:

This week will be a review of the word sorts taught in the first nine weeks.  We will illustrate pictures, search for pictures in magazines, and search for words in our reading books that follow our spelling pattern.  The green group will review word families (-ut, -ug, -un, -eg, -en, -et, -ag, -ap, an, at).  The blue group will review "H" friend words (ch, sh, th, wh, st, sp, sk, sl)  The red group will review long a, u, e, and i vowels in words that follow this pattern: CVC, CVCe, CVVC.  Assessments will be given this week in spelling.

In Writer's Workshop, we will continue for one more week our unit on Poetry.  The children LOVE writing poems!  We made our anchor chart "Strategies Poets Use" and will spend more time this week learning how:
* Poets find a big topic that gives them big, strong feelings.
* Poets find a small object or moment or detail that holds the big feeling.
* Poets look with poets' eyes and see this ordinary thing in a new way.
* Poets write about it, experimenting with line breaks.

Our poetry folders will go home when we complete the unit.

We will also spend some time on Halloween Literature with some fun activities that go along with the unit.  The children have already told me in their writing what they want to be for Halloween....it sounds like everyone is excited and ready!

Math:

This week in math, we will be reviewing all of the skills taught in the first nine weeks through problem solving.  Each day we will take a math concept and do a problem together in class.  Then each child will do an independent problem similar to the one taught as a whole group.  The concepts that will be reinforced this week are: skip counting, ordering numbers greatest to least, time, and place value.  All worksheets will be graded and placed in the Tuesday folder.  If you notice that your child hasn't mastered a concept(s), please reinforce at home as we will need to move forward in math with new concepts that will build on the concepts already taught.

Social Studies:

The students had so much fun learning about properties of matter in science, and this week we will rotate back with our social studies unit.  This new unit is on Texas. We will make a special Texas book that will teach the Texas motto, symbols of Texas, and the Texas Pledge.  We will have fun learning all about being a Texan! :)

Reminders:

*Red Ribbon Week is Oct. 17th - 21st!
School-wide activities:
MONDAY      “Sock it to Drugs” day so wear crazy or mismatched socks
TUESDAY     “Drugs and I Do Not Mix” day so wear mismatched clothes
WEDNESDAY   “Say No to Drugs” day so wear a red-colored clothing
THURSDAY   “Boot out Drugs” so wear boots or western clothing
FRIDAY  “Say BOO to Drugs” so wear a Halloween shirts or orange or white-shirts

*Oct 26 is Early Release Day (12:45)

*Calling all DADS!!!  On Monday, Oct. 31 at 8:30, we will carve pumpkins and do several activities with our pumpkins.  Please let me know if you would like to come.  We need you to provide a pumpkin and carving tools.

Thank You!

Classroom Helpers - Judy Lopato                                                                                                     Classroom Chores - Cheryl Borden
Tuesday Folders - Vera Djohan

October 17th - 21st

Wednesday, October 19th

Dear families,

We are in need of lunch recess volunteers. If you are interested in signing up to help, please go to the PTA web page. You can easily plug in your name here.
Thanks for helping us with this issue.
It is truly appreciated:)
http://caraway.my-pta.org/content.asp?PageID=28


Do you love to dance or sing? Take photos or make movies? Write stories or draw? Then you should participate in our Reflections Program! This year’s theme is Diversity Means… Start thinking of what that means to you. You don’t have much time. Entries are due November 4th!

100 books chart is due on Monday, Oct. 31st.

Thursday October 13th

Language Arts/Reading:
We are continuing with Words Their Way.
Green: -ip, -ig, and -ill families
pig   pill   wig   lip   mill   hill   dig   zip   rip

Blue: sp, sk, and sm blends
smell   spool   skate   ski   sketch   skeleton   spoon   spear 
skirt   skull   spill   skip   sponge   skunk   smoke

Red: short u/cvc, long u/cvce, long ui/cvvc, long oo/cvvc
cube   food   fruit   crust   bloom   smooth   suit   from   dude   skunk
broom   mood   bump   juice   trust   build   moon   prune   spoon   tooth

In Writer’s Workshop, we are going to begin writing several poems.  We are discussing what a poem is, different types of poems, rhyme, and sensory language.  The poems always turn out so cute, so look for them in the hallway in the next week!


Math:
We are continuing our unit on number operation and quantitative reasoning.  We will create sets of tens and ones using concrete objects to describe, compare, and order whole numbers.  The students will use ten frames to show how to order their numbers.  This is an ongoing unit.  We will continue problem solving in our math journals, too.

We are collecting paper towel rolls (only the roll, not the towels)for the next couple of weeks for a math project. If you have any over the next couple of weeks, would you please send them to school with your child? Thanks!

Science:
We will continue our unit on Matter and Energy.  We will also use a balance in order to weigh various objects.  The students will also learn how to measure an object’s capacity using non standard units of measure.     

Reminders:  
*Vera Djohan - Tuesday Folders
*Jodi Shores - Computer Lab
*Jenni Phillips - Classroom Chores
* Please work with you children on their Words Their Way words and the sight words.
*If you are not a PTA member, please sign up to be one.
*Friday is Fun Fit Friday!
*The Box Tops Contest ends this Friday, October 14th
*Red Ribbon Week is Oct. 17th - 21st!
School-wide activities:
MONDAY     “Sock it to Drugs” day so wear crazy or mismatched socks
TUESDAY     “Drugs and I Do Not Mix” day so wear mismatched clothes
WEDNESDAY   “Say No to Drugs” day so wear a red-colored clothing
THURSDAY   “Boot out Drugs” so wear boots or western clothing
FRIDAY  “Say BOO to Drugs” so wear a Halloween shirts or orange or white-shirts

*Oct 26 is Early Release Day (12:45)

*Calling all DADS!!!  On Monday, Oct. 31 at 8:30, we will carve pumpkins and do several activities with our pumpkins.  Please let me know if you would like to come.  We need you to provide a pumpkin and carving tools.


Thank You!!
*Vera Djohan - Tuesday Folders
*Jennie Phillips and Judi Lopato - for organizing and throwing such a great party!
*Students and Families - THANK YOU SO MUCH for the wonderful gifts and sentiments that you have shared this week. Gifts and cards have been fluttering in all week for my new grand baby and for my own birthday!
We had a fun party this afternoon, which included a generous gift card to Dillards! Wow!
As some of you have probably noticed, I love shoes ... and have had my eyes on a certain pair.
I think it's time to give in and buy them. :)
You all are wonderful. Truly, thank you for everything you do!!

Friday October 14th

Words Their Way Words for this week:

Green:  run   cut   mug   jug   tug   sun   hut   rug   nut   bun   shut   bug
These words should be sorted into word families: -ut, -ug, -un
Please practice sounding out each letter and writing the words correctly.

Blue:  stick, stop, top, tie, six, sting, stir, scissors, stump, stool, stem, star, tire, stamp, sink
These words should be sorted by beginning sounds: s, st, t
Please practice sounding out each letter and writing the words correctly.

Red:  box, rode, toad, chose, boat, love, goat, soap, knock, slope, foam, load, goal, one, whole, stop, toad, coat, float, drop, stone
These words should be sorted by their rule.
Short o sound is cvc (consonant vowel consonant).
Long o sound is cvce (consonant vowel consonant silent e).
Long o sound is cvvc (consonant vowel vowel consonant).

Please practice sounding out each letter and writing the words correctly.
 
1st Grade High Frequency Words To Know
a                                                
about
after                                                                                                            
all                                                                               
an
and                                                         
are                       
as
at
be                                                                                        
because                                                   
been                                                                                         
but                    
by                                                 
came                                                                    
come
could              
day
did
do               
down                                                                                                          
for
from
get
go                                                     
going
got
had   
has
have
he                                        
her
him
his
house
how
I
if
into
in
is
it
its
just
like
little
look
make
man
many
may
me
mom
my
no
not
now
of
off
on
one
other
our
over
put
said
saw
see
so
some
than
that
the
their
them
then
there
these
they
this
to
two
up
us
very
was
we
went
were
what
when              
which                
who             
will                      
with               
would             
you           
your
your child’s first & last name                     

October 10th - 14th

Monday, October 10th

Science Expo
Families, this information was sent to me from one of our class moms ... and looks like something that will be fun, as well as educational!!

http://texassciencefestival.org/

Check it out!

Language Arts/Reading:
We are working in groups with Words Their Way. Each child is either in the green, blue, or red group. Coming soon, there will be word lists on this blog for each color group. You will be able to access the weekly lists and help your child with Words Their Way (which replaces spelling tests in 1st grade this year).
In Writer’s Workshop, we will continue editing and publishing, then move on to writing about “small moments.”  We will continue with Reading Workshop and “Read to Self” time as well as "Read to Someone".  This week, we will also begin learning about poetry.  We will discuss what a poem is, different types of poems, rhyme, and sensory language.  This will prepare kids to be able to write their own poems the following week!


Math:
We are moving on to number operation and quantitative reasoning.  We will create sets of tens and ones using concrete objects to describe, compare, and order whole numbers.  The kids will use ten frames to show how to order their numbers.  This is an ongoing unit.  We will continue problem solving in our math journals, too.


Science:
We will continue our unit on Matter and Energy.  We will continue our lab called Magnificent Magnifiers where the kids will actually use a hand lens to observe different objects and their properties.  We will also use a balance in order to weigh various objects.  They will also learn how to measure an object’s capacity using non standard units of measure.   

 
Reminders:  
*No school on Oct. 10.  If you signed up for a conference time on this day, please be on time.
*Tuesday Folders (October)-  Julie Whittenburg
*Classroom Chores:  Debbie Brandes (Thursday, Oct.13)
*If you are not a PTA member, please sign up to be one.
*Every Friday is Fun Fit Friday!
*Calling all DADS!!!  On Monday, Oct. 31, we will carve pumpkins and do several activities with our pumpkins.  Please let me know if you would like to come.  You will need to provide the pumpkin and your own carving tools.

A note from PTA:

Dear Parent,
If you'd already joined PTA and received a recent flyer, please disregard the flyer. Thank you for your membership support.
My apologies.
Michelle Lane


Thank You!!
*Cheryl Boyle, Jodi Shores  - Classroom Helpers
*Judy Lopato - Tuesday Teacher
*Vera Djohan - Tuesday Folders
* Wes Schiesz - Computer Lab
*To all of you who have signed up for your Fall Conference.