Reading Newsletter

Each month Antoinette Fornshell prepares this newsletter which provides tips for reading at home.  Please click on the link below to access the newsletter from the 'Wiki' site.

http://dpsk-5parents.wikispaces.com/

Apple Day

We had a great time with our special Apple Day activities. In the morning we covered an apple with some caramel, added a stick and put it in the oven for a few minutes. This is a treat we will be sharing with our families over the weekend. The best part of the day was when a group of moms brought in lots of apple treats for the class to sample. We voted for our favorite apple drink too. Which do you prefer: cider or juice?

Adventures with Hootie

Hootie had a great time with CVI's family and is on his way to CP's house.

Peek at the Week of September 28-October 2

There is no school on Monday 9/28 in honor of Yom Kippur.

Our Apple Day was a lot of fun. Thank you to all the parents who donated the delicious foods and drinks. We hope all the families enjoyed the caramel apples over the weekend.

AD is the Class Captain this week.

Computer Homework: Please have your child practice typing in the login name for the computer lab. This will help them to be able to access the computers independently. The username is "oxridgelab" (all 1 word, all lowercase) and the password is "Oxridge" (all 1 word, but with an uppercase O--this is the tricky part). Opening up a blank word document and just allowing them to practice typing the username and password over and over will be a big help. Within a few weeks I'm sure they will be logging on with ease!

Writing Workshop helpers begin next week. The kids are looking forward to having some additional "experts" assisting them with brainstorming ideas, editing and being a set of ears to listen to their stories. Thank you in advance for volunteering!

Math: We had our first assessment in math last week and will start "Unit 2: Understanding Addition and Subtraction" this week.

Reading: We had a great time reading Tall Tales last week. This week we will begin Book Shopping for 'just right' books. This is one of the most important skills we need as we dive into our Workshop. Ask your child to tell you what a 'just right' book is. Hint--Goldilocks (they'll know what this means)

Writing: Last week we made our first books, one was a biography report on Johnny Appleseed. The other book was a Fall Senses book. This week we will start our first official unit on "Small Moments/Personal Narratives". These are stories about a small moment from our lives.

Homework

Tuesday 9/29

1. Read for at least 10 minutes

2. Scholastic News: The Constitution Rules (read and do the graph on the back cover)

Wednesday 9/30

1. Read for at least 10 minutes

2. 100 Things Journal p. 56 "My favorite thing in my classroom..."

At least 2 COMPLETE sentences.

Thursday 10/1

1. Read for at least 10 minutes

2. Math: One More, One Less, In Between

Have a great week!

Highlights of Week #4

CD was a very good captain.  (RP)

CD was a really good captain.  (KG)

We made caramel apples with Mrs. Satter.  (DS)

We had an apple tasting party. (CD)

We had our first apple day.  (EB)

We saw a short movie about Johnny Appleseed.  (RP)

We wrote reports on Johnny Appleseed.  (RP)

We took our first math test.  It was sort of easy.  (EB and RP)

We are going to eat apples dipped in melted caramel. It's called caramel fondue.  (FH)

We learned about Johnny Appleseed.  (CM)

We read lots of books about Johnny Appleseed.  (CP)

We colored in a 'Hidden Pictures' coloring sheet.  (OS)

We learned that Johnny Appleseed's birthday was September 26, 1774.  (DS)

We played 'Messy Yard' in gym.  (CN)

We had indoor gym.   (TM)

We made our flower pots in art. (MA)

We also played soccer in gym.  (CVI)

We had our second fire drill of the year. (AD)

We read a tall tale about Mike Fink.  (EB)

We played Social Studies games in computer from our Wiki site.  (TB)

We had 5 minutes of choice time in computer.  (KG)

We read a tall tale about a GIANT man named Paul Bunyan.  (PR)

We learned that Johnny Appleseed's real name was John Chapman.  He was born in Massachusetts.  (DS and FH)

Mystery Reader #1

We had our first mystery reader of the year. TG's mom brought in a great book called Honey Bunny Funnybunny. It was a silly book with lots of tongue twisters.

Peek at the Week of September 21-25

Thank you for coming to Open House. It was great to match up names and faces. Let's work to make this a wonderful year.

Our first Scholastic Book Order will be coming home with your child today. If you are ordering books, please return the order form and your check (made out to "Scholastic Book Clubs") by Friday, 9/25. Thank you to Mrs. Griffin for being our book order coordinator for the year.

Wrapping Paper Fundraiser ends this Friday, 9/25. Please send in those orders.

Fall is officially here this week and we will celebrate the new season with a focus on apples!

We will be having our Apple Tasting this Friday. We will use our senses to touch, see, taste, and hear (the crunch of) this fall fruit.

This week in reading workshop we will also explore the genre of "tall tales" on characters such as Paul Bunyan and Johnny Appleseed. Also, we continue to learn about our Literacy Centers. Group work will begin in October and we are taking a few weeks to learn the directions (and expectations!) of our Literacy Centers.

We will also read many apple themed books and do related math and writing activities.

In Writing Workshop we will be writing our first book about the fall season. The goal for this book is to write in complete sentences, starting with a captial letter.

Homework for the Week

Monday 9/21

1. Read for at least 10 minutes.

2. Math: Watch for Falling Apples (subtraction equations)

Tuesday 9/22

1. Read for at least 10 minutes.

2. Grammar: Apple Treats (ending punctuation . or ?)

Wednesday 9/23

1. Read for at least 10 minutes.

2. Apple Poem (fill in to create a poem)

Thursday 9/24

1. Read for at least 10 minutes.

2. Bring in an apple for a special "Fun Friday" project (hint...it will be delicious!)

Have a great week!

Highlights of Week #3

TG's mom was our first Mystery Reader. (KG)

EB liked doing math after morning work. (EB)

We had picture day. (PR)

We had lunch with the second graders because our pictures took a long time. (JMN)

We had gym outside and inside. (RP and OS)

EB was the captain and he was a pretty good captain. (CD)

We had picture day in the gym. (DS)

We chose new books from the library. (TB)

Our parents came for Open House. (DS)

We had indoor recess for the second time. (EB)

CVI took home Hootie (our class mascot) for a week. (FH)

I like the book my mom picked out. (TG)

We did Pebble-Go in library. (RP)

We made a Math Warmup program on the Smartboard. (CN)

We did math papers with tally marks. (AD)

We learned about patterns from the "Pitterpat" book. (KG)

We played Mystery Number in math. (TM)

We practiced some of our literacy centers like Top 10, Character Art, Listening, and Code Breaker. (RP and MA and OS)

We played a Fancy Nancy game on the Smartboard. (CM)

We are almost finshed with the first Clementine chapter book. (Miss Dineen)

Picture Day

Picture Day is tomorrow.

Practice making a big smile!

Peek at the Week of September 14-18

• Homework begins this week. Assignments are at the bottom of this post.


• The Class Coffee for parents is this Monday 9/14 at 9:30 in the Common Room.


• Open House for parents is at 7:30 in the classroom. Hope to see you there.


• Class Pictures are this Friday 9/18.


• The Ox Ridge Family Picnic is this Sunday 9/20 at 4:30.


• The PTO wrapping paper sale will continue through next Friday 9/25.


• Field Trip $ is due this Wednesday 9/16. Thank you to the parents who have already sent this in.


• Homework begins this week. Homework will be given Monday-Thursday. Homework will consist of 1 written assignment and reading for at least 10 minutes each night. Thank you in advance for reminding your child to work carefully and to put his/her completed homework in their folder.

Monday 9/14

1. Read for at least 10 minutes.

2. Math: Mice on the Move (using a pictograph)

Tuesday 9/15

1. Read for at least 10 minutes

2. Word Work: Lunch Bag Mystery Letter

Wednesday 9/16

1. Read for at least 10 minutes

2. Reading: Stars Poem (Read the poem a few times. Remember to point to the words. Illustrate the border around the poem--make it colorful. We will add this poem to our poetry collection notebook tomorrow at school.)

Thursday 9/17

1. Read for at least 10 minutes

2. Writing: "100 Things About Me Book" page 1 I like to play...(write at least 2 full sentences about what you like to play)

Have a great week!

Highlights of Week #2

TB was an awesome captain. (Miss D.)

We watched a Curious George movie for our rainy day recess. (FH)

We made flags for Patriot Day. (KG)

We met Yodal, Mrs. Blake's puppet, at library. (DS)

The puppet is very shy. (AD)

We started a new chapter book called Clementine. (KR)

We had lunch and recess. (EB)

We went outside for gym this week. (RP)

We did our warm-ups inside of the gym. (TM)

We played Capture the Flag outside during gym. (CD)

We got new library books. (OS)

We went to the computer lab. (CM)

We had our first indoor recess. (DS)

We finished our art projects from last week. (TB)

We played Myster Number in math. (EB)

We played 20 Questions. (CVI)

We used the Smartboard to play some math games. (JMN)

We sang and learned a folk dance in music. (RP)

We did a Freeze Dance after moving our furniture back. (CM)

In skills we talked about how some letters are tall, some sit in the middle, and some hang down. (EB)

We read a book and talked about why readers need a comfy and quiet spot to read. (KG)

We read a book called Born to Read that showed us that we have been getting ready to read our whole lives. (DS & Miss D.)

We read another book called Reading Makes Me Feel Good. It showed how books help your imagination grow. (OS)

We read a book called The Best Book to Read. This book showed us how everybody needs to find the best book for them. (RP)

We went to music and sang "Welcome Back to School". (EB)

We started saying the Ox Ridge Kids' Code. (CN)

Field Trip Information

Information for our November 2nd field trip is being sent home today (yellow sheet). Please send the money for the trip into school by next Wednesday, September 16th.

Open House

Open House will take place on Wednesday, September 16th. I look forward to meeting with parents at 7:30 pm.

Wrapping Paper Fundraiser

The Wrapping Paper sale starts today! Be on the lookout for the Innsbrook company's catalog and order forms. This is a PTO fundraiser. All orders are due by Friday, September 25th.

Peek at the Week of September 7-11

There is no school on Monday, September 7th in honor of Labor Day.

Our first week went very well. We are becoming more familiar with our new classmates and routines.

Thank you for taking the time to fill out the many, many forms that have been sent home during this busy time. I am still collecting $15. If you have not sent it in, please do so.

I am happy to announce that our class room moms are Catherine Highton and Marion Seibold. They will have information to share with you at the First Grade class coffee next Monday, September 14th at 9:30 in the Common Room.

Homework will begin next week on Monday, September 14th. There will usually be homework Monday-Thursday. There will not be homework on the weekends.

Highlights of the Week #1

Each week we will think about (and list here on the blog) some special things that happened or new things we learned. This helps us with ideas to include in our "Highlights of the Week" letter.


Here are the highlights of this week:

• MA was our first Captain of the week. He did a great job. (Miss D.)
• We learned how to play 20 Questions. (RP)
• We learned how to play 7-Up. (MA)
• We got new math books. (EB)
• We learned how to use the Smartboard. (CD)
• We listened to a funny chapter book called Freckle Juice. (JMN)
• We celebrated RP's birthday. (CVI)
• We had outside gym with Mr. Barthold. (TM)
• We learned new songs with Mr. Allen. (PR)
• We read 2 Kevin Henkes books. (KG)
• We stayed at school for the whole day while the kindergarteners took the early bus home. (RP)
• We had our first library with Mrs. Blake. We got to check out 1 book each. (OS)
• We read books. (DS)
• We practiced reading sight words with Mrs. Satter. (CM)
• We used 'witch fingers' to practice pointing to words when we read. (FH)
• We got to play in the back playground. (CP)
• We had gym indoors too. (EB)
• We set up our Reading Workshop binders with Mrs. Satter. (KG)
• We played tag at recess. (AD)

Snack Program

In addition to providing lunch, the school cafeteria also runs a
snack program.

In the morning students can order snack and/or drink. The snacks are delivered straight to our classroom in time for afternoon snack.

There are 2 drink choices: Capri Sun or Water.
There are 4 snacks: Bagged Snack (different kinds of crackers), Bagged Fruit, String Cheese, or Bagged Carrots.

The cost of their snack is deducted from their lunch account. There is no need to send in money on a daily basis. Please talk to your child about whether or not he/she has your permission to order snacks and/or drinks.

This program will start on Tuesday, September 8th. Of course, you may continue to send in snacks from home. The cafeteria program is just another option.

Class Coffee

The First Grade Class Coffee for parents will be on Monday, September 14th at 9:30 in the Common Room. Our classroom moms, Mrs. Marion Seibold and Mrs. Catherine Highton will have volunteer sign-up sheets for the parties and activities throughout the year.

Our Favorite Books

To help launch our Reading Workshop, I am asking for each student to bring in a favorite story book from home. These books will be kept in the classroom for a couple of weeks. Your child will have the chance to share about their book. This will help us get to know each other better.

I will be taking pictures of each child with their book. These photos will be displayed on a special bulletin board in our classroom.

Kevin Henkes Author Study

This month we will be reading and studying books by Kevin Henkes. He writes about topics that are very easy for our first graders to relate to. Some of his popular titles are Chrysanthemum and Wemberly Worried. You might want to check out his website: www.kevinhenkes.com.

Weekend Adventure

From time to time I will list local activities that I think might be of interest to the families in my class. If you come across a local show/concert/activity, please email me and I will post it here.

The Norwalk Seaport's Oyster Festival will take place the weekend of September 11-13. One of the highlights of this festival is the show Pinkalicious, based on the popular children's book by Victoria Kann and Elizabeth Kann. This musical will take place on Saturday, September 12 at 2:00 pm. For information visit http://www.seaport.org/.

Happy Birthday!

Happy

Birthday

to

RP!

Class Specials Schedule

Mondays: Music and Gym
Tuesdays: Music
Wednesdays: Gym and Computer
Thursdays: Art
Fridays: Library