Update: Curriculum, Upcoming Events, Classroom Needs

Hello First Grade Falcon Families,

Thank you for reading the updates, upcoming events, and classroom needs below.  I also want to give a big THANK YOU to all of you who have been supporting your student at home, and to those of you who have been helping me out in the classroom!!  I am so very appreciative of any amount of help you can give to your student, and everything you do to for me... from cleaning the classroom to giving me a quad-shot decaf soy latte.  THANK YOU!

Language Arts:

• Riggs - Words that have any of the five jobs of “silent final e” have been the greatest focus in Riggs for the past few weeks.  As students practice writing words containing each of these jobs, it is essential that they are able to recite the sayings that go along with each job.  They should think about what job each “silent final e” is doing, and why they mark it the way they do.  I sent these sayings home on the pink “5 Jobs of Silent Final e” handout.  That document is also available on the right sidebar of this blog.
• I.E.W. - We are starting a new unit on writing simple instructions (i.e. how to make pizza).  Here are some concepts we will be working on:
• Summarizing instructional texts using a K.W.O.
• Retelling instructions from a K.W.O.
• Writing instructions in paragraph form from a K.W.O.
• Writing their own simple instructions.
• Reading - Each day, during “Reading Workshop” the students have been spending five minutes on reading text at their level for fluency.  First, a mini-lesson is given on how to decode text, and then the students are sent to reading quietly out loud.  The students are continuing to participate in reading groups each day where they read and examine texts on their level with a teacher.  During read aloud, we have been focusing on:
• Author’s Purpose: Is the purpose of the text to entertain or to inform?
• Who’s talking in the text at different points: Is a character talking?  If so, which one?  Is a narrator talking?
• We’re also reviewing:
• Sequencing text
• Genre
• Problem/Resolution
• Poetry - The students have been learning and practicing the poem “Table Manners (The Goops) by Gelett Burgess.  Some students have already begun to recite this poem in front of the class! Ask your student to recite this poem to you for practice and fun.

Support Idea(s):

• Stay close by your student during their Riggs practice.  Make sure they’re saying each sound, marking, and “Silent Final e” job OUT LOUD as they write.  This will help your student to analyze the words their writing now, as well as more difficult words in the future.
• If you forget a rule, marking, etc. use the Riggs documents and video I have provided on the right side bar of this blog.
• While reading with your student, ask them to stop at certain points in the story.  Ask:
• Who is telling the story now?
• What is the author’s purpose in making this story?
• What is the genre of this text?  (Non-fiction, fiction)
• What happened first in the story?  Next? Next? Last?
• What was the main problem in this story? Was there a resolution (solution)?  Were their any other problems?
• Creating simple instructions idea: As you prepare a snack or meal, ask your student to verbally give you instructions on how to prepare the food.  As the student gives you instructions, prepare the food.  Help your student be more specific as they find that their instructions may have caused you to leave something out!

• Don’t forget about www.Raz-kids.com!  Reminder: my teacher username is “varis”, your student’s password is the initials of their first and last name and student number (i.e. jf11).

Math
The current math concepts we have been and will be focusing on include:

• *There are steps to follow when subtracting two-digit numbers
• The pictures on a pictograph (a graph using pictures/drawings) tell how many
• Each picture on a pictograph can stand for one or for more than one
• There are five-minute intervals between each number on the clock

Support Idea(s):
Have your student answer these questions when working through their homework:

• *What do I do first when subtracting two-digit numbers?
• PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE subtracting two-digit numbers (i.e. 35-29 = _)
• This concept is new and rather abstract to first grade students.  The best thing you can do for your student at this point is practice with them!
• How do I read a pictograph when each picture stands for 2?
• When a pictograph has a scale of two, how can I show one of something?
• How can counting by 5’s help me tell the time?
• Throughout the day, pause and take a telling time break.  Ask your student to tell you the time using an analog (not digital) clock.

*taken directly from Saxon Math 2

Science
We have concluded our units of study on the solar system and the inside of our Earth.  Now we are moving on to two micro-units before Spring Break: An introduction to matter and electricity.  Here are some major concepts we have been, and will be covering:
*Matter

• Basic concept of atoms
• Names and common examples of three states of matter:
• solid (for example, wood, rocks)
• liquid (for example, water)
• gas (for example, air, steam)
• Water as an example of changing states of matter of a single substance

*Electricity

• Static electricity
• Basic parts of simple electric circuits (for example, batteries, wire, bulb or buzzer,
  switch)

• Conductive and nonconductive materials
• Safety rules for electricity (for example, never put your finger, or anything metallic,
  in an electrical outlet; never touch a switch or electrical appliance when your hands
  are wet or when you’re in the bathtub; never put your finger in a lamp socket; etc.)

*taken directly from the Core Knowledge Sequence

Support Idea(s):

• Talk with your student about what they have learned during our science and history lessons at school. Ask questions and see if they are able to answer them. If they are unable to answer your questions, provide extra support for them by reading books (from the library), or finding appropriate websites on the topics we're studying. Ask questions during and after the reading to encourage involvement and comprehension.

Field Trip to Champoeg Park
On Friday, February 12th our class will be a taking a field trip to Champoeg park.  There, we will experience what life might have been like for an early settler as we visit the Newell House, Butteville School and Pioneer Mothers Cabin.  As you have already heard, there are no busses available for this field trip.  If we are going to attend the field trip, we need our chaperons to also be our transportation.  Thank you if you have already signed up to drive and chaperon! It looks like we need about four more seats in order to transport all of the students. If you are willing to be a chaperon and driver for this field trip, please sign up here: www.SignUpGenius.com/go/5080B4FAEAA2FA02-first/5921117

REMINDER: “Field Trip Fridays” are regular school days.  Students need to arrive at the normal time, and will be dismissed at the normal time (7:45 - 3:30).

Who: CHPCS 1st grade
What: Field trip to Champoeg Park
When: Friday, April 12th,  2013
Where: Newell House, Butteville Cabin, and Pioneer Mother’s Cabin at Champoeg Park in St. Paul, OR
Why: As a part of the Core Knowledge Sequence, students will learn about early exploration and settlement of the United States of America, including the America West.  On this field trip they will get to experience what life may have been like for an early settler.
How: Parent Drivers/Chaperons

What your student (and you if you’re a chaperon) need to bring/wear:

• Regular uniform
• A warm jacket for playing/eating outside
• A non-leaking water bottle filled with water
• Packed lunch and snacks for morning and afternoon

Need: New Parent Volunteer Job - Correcting Riggs tests each day!
As a part of Riggs, students take a spelling test each day. This means that I get to correct Riggs tests each day so that the students (and parents) know which words they are struggling with and can practice them again that night.  Riggs tests take me about 30 minutes to correct.  I am looking for a few parent volunteers who are willing and able to correct these tests for me during the school day so that I can spend my prep time prepping for future lessons and other forms of home-school communication.  The students take the tests each day at 8:00AM, and they need their spelling notebooks back at 1:15PM.  If you would like to volunteer for this job, you would come to school to correct the tests anytime between 8:15-12:30 Monday through Thursday. (My busiest days are Mondays and Tuesdays, so correcting on these days would be the most beneficial if your time is limited.)

If you would like to be a Riggs test corrector, please contact me via email with the times and days you will be available.  Then we can set up a date so that I can train you!   

Hands-On Lesson Needs
If you have any of these items, please send them in for a lesson on static electricity we will be doing next week!

• 30 latex balloons
• 100% Wool cloth or yarn (enough for a small bit for each student)

Calendar At a Glance

Thursday, March 21st	All School Assembly, 2nd grade hosting - 8:15AM
Friday, March 22nd - Sunday, March 31st	Spring Vacation
Friday, April 12th	Field Trip Friday - Champoeg Park
Thursday, April 18th	Spring Music Concert - 6:30-8:30PM
Thursday, April 25th	All School Assembly, 1st grade hosting - 2:30PM

Thank you for reading!

-Mrs. Varis

Curriculum Update, Family Reading Night, and B.O.B.

Hello First Grade Falcon Families,

Thank you for reading the updates and upcoming events below.  Please note that there are two new “Helpful Documents” on the right side of this blog.  There is a Riggs Marking Guide (still a work in progress) as well as the 5 jobs of “silent final e”.  I hope that they are helpful to you!

Language Arts:

• Riggs - We have been continuing with learning how to spell and mark new words nearly every day.  The students have been doing a great job of using their learned spelling words to create sentences as a part of their homework.  We have also been learning how to form capital letters, and we will soon learn the differences between homophones, homographs, and homonyms.
• I.E.W. - We have continued to work with, and examine different poems for:
• Parts of speech; synonyms of verbs and adjectives
• Identifying the sequence of the story using the I.E.W. Story Sequence Model, and then writing K.W.O.s (Key Word Outlines) of those sequences
• Retelling the story from a K.W.O.
• Writing a paragraph from a K.W.O.
• Rewriting the story by changing the characters, setting, and maybe some events. (i.e. the rewritten Goldilocks and Three Bears picture book which was sent home, rewritten Little Miss Muffet with complete sentences soon to come)
• Summarizing, and then retelling, information learned during science using a K.W.O.
• Reading - The students are continuing to participate in reading groups each day where they read and examine texts on their level with a teacher.  During read aloud, we have been focusing on:
• Author’s Purpose: Is the purpose of the text to entertain or to inform?
• Who’s talking in the text at different points: Is a character talking?  If so, which one?  Is a narrator talking?
• Poetry - Nearly everyone in the class has had the chance to recite The Swing, By Robert Louis Stevenson, and we will soon move on to another poem to practice for recitation!  I’ll keep the title a secret for now.

Support Idea(s):

• While reading with your student, ask them to stop at certain points in the story.  Ask:
• Who is telling the story now?
• What is the author’s purpose in making this story?

• Don’t forget about www.Raz-kids.com!  Reminder: my teacher username is “varis”, your student’s password is the initials of their first and last name and student number (i.e. jf11).

Math
The current math concepts we have been and will be focusing on include:

• *Numbers can be shown using a drawing or picture
• When adding two-digit numbers, the sum may be greater than 100
• There are five-minute intervals between each number on the clock
• The median is the number in the middle of a set of numbers ordered from least to greatest

Support Idea(s):
Have your student answer these questions when working through their homework:

• *How can I draw a picture to show the amount for a three-digit number?
• How can I tell if the sum of 2 two-digit numbers will be greater than 100?
• How can counting by 5’s help me tell the time?
• How do I find the median in a set of numbers?

*taken directly from Saxon Math 2

Science
We are currently studying about the solar system.  We will also learn about what’s inside our planet Earth.  Here are some major concepts we have been, and will be covering:
*A. Astronomy:  Introduction to the Solar System

• Sun: source of energy, light, heat
• Moon: phases of the moon (full, half, crescent, new)
• The eight planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) (Note: In 2006, Pluto was classified as a dwarf planet.)
• Stars
• Constellations, Big Dipper
• The sun is a star.
• Earth and its place in the solar system
• The earth moves around the sun; the sun does not move.
• The earth revolves (spins); one revolution takes one day (24 hours).
• Sunrise and sunset
• When it is day where you are, it is night for people on the opposite side of the earth.

B. WHAT’S INSIDE THE EARTH

• Inside the Earth
• The shape of the Earth
• Layers: crust, mantle, core
• High temperatures
• Volcanoes and geysers
• Rocks and minerals
• Formation and characteristics of different kinds of rocks:  metamorphic, igneous, sedimentary
• Important minerals in the Earth (such as quartz, gold, sulfur, coal, diamond, iron ore)

*taken directly from the Core Knowledge Sequence

Support Idea(s):

• Talk with your student about what they have learned during our science and history lessons at school. Ask questions and see if they are able to answer them. If they are unable to answer your questions, provide extra support for them by reading books (from the library), or finding appropriate websites on the topics we're studying. Ask questions during and after the reading to encourage involvement and comprehension.

Family Reading Night - Thursday, March 7th, 6:30-7:30PM
You are invited to join the CHPCS community for a free night of literacy fun! Each classroom teacher will be reading a fabulous book and leading a fun project for child and adult pair to enjoy. Sessions will be filled on a first come, first served basis, so get your slip in soon. This night is NOT just for primary students. Middle school students are encouraged to attend. Please remember that every student needs an adult to work with them. The main objective of the night is to provide a fun literacy night for families to enjoy together. Each session is 30 minutes beginning at 6:30 p.m..  Don’t forget to stay for cake in honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday at the end of session 2 AND to get the Battle of the Book list.

P.S. The activity for the book I will be reading is sock decorating--so that you can wear your creative socks!  However, if you would like to make a sock puppet... that would be just fine!

Battle of the Books
Battle of the Books, BOB, is a reading incentive program for students in grades 3-8*. Students read books and come together as a class to demonstrate their abilities and test their knowledge of the books they have read. This year marks the 4th year for Cascade Heights and we are very excited to see who will win.  The official book list will be revealed at Family Reading Night on March 7th, 2013.

*Grades K-2 will have a “B.O.B.” light with books on/near their level.  They will be given the opportunity to read those books at home, by themselves or with an adult.  They will need to remember key details from each text, and be able to cite the title and author of the book where those details come from in order to successfully participate in the battle.

Calendar At a Glance

Thursday, February 28th	All School Assembly, 3rd grade hosting - 2:30PM
Saturday, March 2nd	Riggs Class for Parents, 9:30 - 11:30AM
Thursday, March 7th	*Family Reading Night (Dr. Seuss’ Birthday) - 6:30-7:30PM *Battle of the Books (B.O.B.) kickoff for grades 3-8
Friday, March 8th	Field Trip Friday, first grade field trip to the A.C. Gilbert Discovery Village in Salem - 8:00AM-3:30PM
Thursday, March 21st	*All School Assembly, 2nd grade hosting - 8:15AM
Friday, March 22nd - Sunday, March 31st	Spring Vacation

Thank you for reading!

-Mrs. Varis

Riggs H.W. Reminder and Upcoming Events

RIGGS HOMEWORK REMINDER:
Each night for Riggs homework, the students should complete each of the items as listed on the Riggs H.W. checklist in their planners.  It looks like this:

Riggs H.W.: Words_______ Any checked words One sentence each for words _______

If any item in the checklist is crossed out, they do not need to complete it.

Completed Riggs homework includes:

1. new/assigned words written three times each
2. any checked words written three times each (below the new words)
3. one sentence for each of the new words
1. Please read the previous post on this blog about sentence completion if you need clarity on sentence requirements.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Solar System and Poetry Presentation--You’re Invited!
You’re invited to come into the classroom this Thursday, February 14th at 3:00PM to watch the students perform.  This will be the presentation that we gave on our field trip to retirement centers last Friday.  Please come and enjoy the show!

REMINDER: Valentine’s Day/Oregon’s Birthday
Valentine's Day is coming up, and might be on the minds of Cascade students!  If you have not done Valentine's Day with CHPCS, or if you would like a refresher, please observe the guidelines below:

• Valentines should be handmade.  Start on them now!  They can be straight up Valentines, or bookmarks, origami, little books, cartoons, jokes, etc.  
• Students do NOT have to bring Valentines in.
• If students DO bring Valentines in, they need to bring one for every student in the class (we will make a class list in the upcoming days).
• PLEASE NO CANDY!  If you would like to include a little something, consider fruit snacks, pencils, trail mix, etc.
• We do NOT have a Valentine's Day party.  We will instead have a little fun observing Oregon's birthday, which also happens to be on February 14.  
• We will make "mailboxes" in class.  
• Valentine's Day is typically only "observed" by the primary classes; you should have your older students check with their teachers.

March Field Trip
The February field trip was a great success!  Here are the details for the March field trip.  We will need six chaperons for this field trip. Sign up here if you’d like to volunteer: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080B4FAEAA2FA02-first

WHO: CHPCS First Grade
WHAT: Field Trip Friday
WHERE: A.C. Gilbert Discovery Village in Salem, Oregon
WHEN: March 8th, 2013
WHY: As a part of the Core Knowledge Sequence, students will learn an introduction to electricity -

• Static electricity

• Basic parts of simple electric circuits (for example, batteries, wire, bulb or buzzer, switch)

• Conductive and nonconductive materials

• Safety rules for electricity (for example, never put your finger, or anything metallic,in an electrical outlet; never touch a switch or electrical appliance when your hands are wet or when you’re in the bathtub; never put your finger in a lamp socket; etc.) They will also learn about the solar system, the human body, basic concepts of matter, and living things in their habitats. The A.C. Gilbert Discovery Village has many scientific things to explore!

HOW: Bus (confirmed!)


Thank you for reading!

Please write: “HOPE!” in your student’s planner so that I can see it.  I will give your student two tickets as a reward.

-Mrs. Varis