Sunday, October 31, 2010

November News


November News
Ms. Benear's First Grade


Pumpkin Science: This Friday from 2:45 - 3:30pm we will be investigating pumpkins. Please let me know if you are available to help with this project at that time.  I will also need six medium/large pumpkins donated.
50's Day: November 15th is the 50th day of school. Because EVERYONE celebrates the 100th day of school...I thought it would be fun to celebrate the 50th day by dressing in 50's garb, bowling in the classroom and having a sock hop, skip and a jump! This is not a party, but I encourage you to help your child dress up!
Family Turkey Project: This project is for the entire family. Your "homework" is to create a turkey out of anything you can find around the house. We have had balloon turkeys, leaf turkeys, huge pretzel bin turkeys, clay turkeys, hand print turkeys, edible turkeys, etc. Brainstorm with the entire family and come up with a clever turkey. Please send it to school with your child on Friday, November 19th. The children will be presenting their turkeys to the class. They should be able to tell what materials they used, who helped, how they made their turkey. Don't worry...more detailed info coming your way!



Wednesday, October 13, 2010

What You Need To Know About Your First Grader

Your First Grader
From: PBSParents.com


The Basics
First grade marks an important milestone for young children who finally feel like part of a "big" school. They may eat in the cafeteria for the first time or play outside during recess without the direct supervision of their own teacher, experiences that help first graders feel more independent. First graders now have to use the social skills they developed in preschool and kindergarten in more mature ways. But the true magic of first grade happens as children develop the ability to understand what letters and numbers really mean. When they’re ready, they’ll be able to "crack the code" and read words.

Language & Literacy
First grade is traditionally thought of as the level where children learn to read. Not all children become fluent readers by the end of the first grade, but most take their first solid steps toward fluid reading. Their reading material varies from simple rhymes, to classroom news, to patterned stories and beginner non-fiction books. By the end of the year, most are reading grade-level chapter books and some are reading at even more advanced levels. First graders love true stories of long ago, even though their sense of time isn’t well developed. Some good historical books include The Man Who Walked Between Two Towers by Mordicai Gerstein, My Brother Martin by Christine King, and The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles.

First-grade teachers help children listen for sounds in words, write the sounds they hear, and discover parts of written language, like the –at in cat that they can then use to figure out the words hat, mat, and sat.

Writing, like reading, takes a variety of forms in the first-grade classroom. Children "invent" their spellings as they work out their understandings of written language. Writing activities include journal writing, writing creative stories, or documenting their work in other subject areas. Teachers frequently ask children to sound out the words they write to introduce the sounds that letters make.


Math
First graders begin to grasp more abstract mathematical concepts. Children are introduced to time, money, and the meaning of numbers greater than those they can count. Because first graders still learn best by working with physical objects, teachers give children materials to use during math lessons such as number cubes, pattern blocks, and color rods.
First graders start to do simple addition and subtraction problems. They learn to count by 2s, 5s, and 10s, which will help them later when doing math equations. They also work with 2- and 3-dimensional geometric shapes.


Science
Teachers encourage first graders to find their own answers to questions about the natural world, and to learn to find patterns in that world. They may be introduced to concepts that require them to understand more than they can explore concretely, such as living things being made up of small parts. Common science explorations include water and weather, the parts of the human body, and identifying characteristics of plants and animals. Children may also experiment with motion and with how pushing and pulling affects an object.


Social Studies
First-grade social studies is framed by the concrete world of family, school, and neighborhood. First graders can tell the difference between events that happen in the past, present, and future, although they are not ready to match real meanings to different time intervals. Events that happened 20 years ago and 100 years ago are all part of the same "past" time period to a first grader, unless they’re related to things that children are familiar with, like "That was when your grandmother was a baby."
Socially, first graders are much more independent and responsible for their own actions than they were in kindergarten. Therefore, knowing how to follow rules and take care of themselves becomes important. Becoming self-sufficient enough to navigate through a school’s routine (like finding the classroom or bathroom by themselves) is an important part of first grade.

Understanding an Abstract World
First graders move slowly from a world of play into a world of symbols and concepts (with a lot of backtracking along the way). This doesn’t mean that play is not still important, but it does mean that learning in first grade becomes more organized and routine-based, with a lot of room for children’s explorations.


The First Steps
To get a handle on the way your first grader’s brain is developing, think back to her first baby steps. Your child was probably a master crawler before taking those initial wobbly steps. First graders take those same baby steps away from the familiar information that they are comfortable with into a bigger, abstract world that is more difficult to understand. During those early toddling days, your child probably reverted to crawling in order to get somewhere quickly. Similarly, your child will still be more comfortable gaining knowledge through exploration and play. A first grader’s brain is just beginning to grasp a few concepts at the same time, and then to make connections between those concepts.
You can see this in a first grader’s writing. Children use "invented spelling" by writing in ways that make sense to them. They use what they know about sound and spelling relationships to get their ideas onto the page. They haven’t mastered all the letter sounds or spelling rules that they need to be fluent writers, but they’re willing to use what they know to work out the puzzle of written language.


Learning From Mistakes
First graders learn by doing and by making mistakes. These mistakes can be frustrating, so they need positive reminders of the many ways that they are powerful learners.
Until now, most of their learning and growth have been part of a natural progression that took place in the comfortable worlds of play and home. They may have worked hard to learn how to slide down the fire pole in the playground, but no one gave them a grade on how well they did, or how long it took them to accomplish the task.
In first grade, children begin to acquire skills in areas they may not be completely comfortable in — and they may be graded on them. First graders are asked to work with more difficult material and may feel like they are struggling for the first time in their lives. These new situations can sometimes lead normally confident children to feel unsure about their abilities. Previously, they have been "masters" at whatever they did. But now they may feel pressure to learn to read and to grasp more complicated math and science concepts. Therefore, first graders need to be surrounded with excitement and encouragement, and given examples of how we learn from mistakes.


Learn the Lingo

What’s Invented Spelling?
When children use invented spelling, they invent spellings that make sense to them as they learn the relationship between letters and sounds. The more exposure they have to reading and writing, the more these inventions come to resemble proper spellings. Teachers generally expect to see correct spellings appear gradually. By the third grade, teachers will usually look for correct spelling in a student's book reports, projects and other work.


Why do teachers read aloud to young children?
"Teachers read aloud to young children regularly for good reasons:
· Children learn to enjoy stories and appreciate language;
· they learn new words and their meanings;
· their experiences are stretched with new information;
· perhaps most important, they become book fiends — eager to read on their own."

Nancy Roser, Ed.D. Professor of Education, University of Texas at Austin. Author, Helping Your Child Become a Reader

Monday, October 11, 2010

Benear's Breaking News



Week of October 11th

Math Test: Friday, October 15th


Please review with your child the following concepts to be sure they are ready for Friday's math test:
-how to count and read tally marks
-how to count and add together nickels and pennies to get a total
-how to draw the hour and minute hand to the nearest hour
-how to add and subtract numbers up to 10
-how to count by 2s and 5s using a number line

Reading Strategies
Your child will be learning new reading strategies this week during guided reading time.  The strategies are listed below, but can also be found on a bookmark inside your child's reading bookbag as soon as we learn them all.  These are strategies for your child when they come to a word they don't know.  Please feel free to look these over and also utilize with your child at home:) We will be learning one new strategy each day during guided reading for the next seven days!!!


Eagle Eye - Look at the pictures for clues to help figure out the word
Lips the Fish - Get your lips ready.  Say the first few sounds of the word out loud, read to the end of the sentence and then say the sounds again.
Stretchy Snake - Stretch it out.  Stretch the words out slowly and then put them back together again to say the word.
Chunky Monkey - Chunk the word. Look for a chunk or word part you might know.
Skippy Frog - Skip it, skip it. Skip the word, read to the end of the sentence and then hop back and read it, read it.
Tryin Lion - Try it again.  Try to reread the sentence and then try a word that might make sense.
Helpin Hippo - Ask for help!  After you have tried all of the other strategies, ask for help!

Text Talk

Book: Mole's Hill
Vocabulary Words:
burst
gathered
quivered
strolled
compromise
obstacle


Please encourage your child to use these new words in their writing and speaking this week!  They absolutley love using "big kid" words.  We learn them every Wednesday and Thursday of each week:)

Poem of the Week

In 1492,
In 1492,
Columbus sailed across the sea,
In 1492.

For 70 days he sailed,
For 70 days he sailed,
Columbus sailed across the sea,
For 70 days he sailed.

He came to a new land,
He came to a new land,
Columbus sailed across the sea,
And came to a new land.

Exploring he did go,
Exploring he did go,
Columbus sailed across the sea,
Exploring he did go.

He sailed back home to Spain,
He sailed back home to Spain,
Columbus sailed across the sea,
Then sailed back home to Spain.


**We are focusing on the -ail word family this week to coincide with our poem of the week:)

I think that is it for now.....more to come!!!!! :)

Hutchings Hurricane Hustle



Reminder:  Last day to turn in donations for the Hutchings Hurricane Hustle is Monday, October 18th.  The all school hustle will be on Friday, October 22nd.  We will all be walking from our school to Latson Rd. and back.  Our class is currently in 2nd place overall and we would love to be in 1st place after Monday.  Last year, we won our Bounce House Party for being the class to turn in the most donations....so keep it up:)  The students are very excited about this!!

Thanks for all of your support!
Ms. Benear

Friday, October 8, 2010

Parent Teacher Organization (PTO)

Just an FYI.....

Parents who wish to be on the PTO email list (to receive PTO newsletter and information) should contact Cathy Shields at hutchingsptoinfo@sbcglobal.net.  Also, parents can view PTO information through Facebook (search “Hutchings Elementary”).

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Mystery Items Needed


I am setting up some literacy bins where the children will have a chance to read and write while practicing "real world" activities such as grocery shopping, bank, etc. To get these bins set up I need many interesting items. Please look around the house and see if you have any of the items below. If you wish to donate an item to the class simply send it to school with your child! THANK YOU so much in advance for your help:)

Bank Box Items Needed...
play money, lock box, deposit slips, purses, wallets, pads of paper

Construction Box Items Needed...
tape measures, hard hats, blueprints, small hammers, levels, tool aprons,small screw drivers, scraps of wood, pads of paper

Florest Box Items Needed...
Plastic or Silk flowers, green stem wrap, plastic vases, gift cards, tissue paper, small baskets, pieces of plastic foam

Grocery Store Box Items Needed...Plastic fruits and veggies, small empty food containers, small grocery bags, play money, cash register, plastic foam meat trays with pictures of meat glued on them and covered with plastic wrap, box of coupons, purses, used gift cards for credit cards, newspaper grocery ads

Hospital Box Items Needed...
Adhesive bandages, cotton balls, stethoscopes, gauze, face masks, white jackets, doctor's bag (kit), prescription note pad

Office Box Items Needed...Paper clips, paper, cool pens, envelopes, old laptop computer, note pads, sticky notes, telephone

Restaurant Box Items Needed...
Tablecloths, cloth napkins, menus, flower vases and plastic flowers, silverware, plastic plates, plastic glasses, trays, water pitchers, notepad

Post Office Box Items Needed...
Small mailbox, envelopes (lots of different sizes), fake stamps, small boxes, packing materials, notepad

Any other items you think may work well in the above boxes...please feel free to send them in:)

Also....I am in need of some Beanie Babies to teach reading strategies!  Beanie Babies (or any small stuffed toy) needed...
hippo
snake
frog
lion
fish
eagle
monkey


THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL OF YOUR DONATIONS....THEY ARE MUCH APPRECIATED!!!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Howell Highlanders Love To Volunteer


If you are planning on volunteering in our classroom at any time throughout the year as a parent helper, a mystery reader, during a holiday party or on a class field trip you need to fill out the proper paperwork in the office.  You must fill out a criminal history file search authorization packet.  These forms are good for two years, so if you have filled one out for Hutchings before, but it was longer than two years ago, we need you to fill it out again.  If you filled one out last year, you should be good to go for the year.  I know this may be a pain, however, I think we would all agree that it keeps all of our children safe here at school.  So I think it is well worth your time:)  If you would like me to send home a form for you to fill out, just send me an email and I will be sure to get you one.  Just send it back to school with your child and I will take care of it from there!  Thanks so much for keeping us all safe!!!

Monday, October 4, 2010

News From Room 1110


Parent Helpers
Parent Helpers will start in our classroom the week of October 18th:)  Parent helpers will assist our class with reading and writing small groups, math skills, getting classroom materials and supplies ready, putting student portfolios together, etc. I will be sending home a parent helper schedule very soon...it will be a generic month calendar that we will utilize for the entirety of the year.  Please let me know if you have any questions or do not see your name on the calendar and would like to volunteer!

Reading Groups
We shave tarted daily reading groups in class.  Your child will be meeting with me every day for reading instruction in a small group setting.  Each day your child will be receiving a new leveled book based on their current reading level.  Inside thier take-home reading bags will be their new reading book for the day, a blue GO MAP and a white bookmark.  The blue GO MAP is for you to use to ask your child questions about the book after they have read it to you.  They may not know all of the components of the GO MAP yet, but feel free to help them out with it at this time.  The white bookmark will list the book they should have for each day along with the reading objective we focused on during reading instruction. Please question your child on the reading objective of the day, to be sure they understood the concept.  More to follow.......

Text Talk
We have started Text Talk, a reading comprehension/vocabulary program.  Every Monday, we read a new book, stopping at each page and talking about the text and what is happening in the story.  We reread the story again every Tuesday.  Wednesday and Thursday we learn three new vocabulary words and practice using them in context.  On Friday, we take a practice quiz so the students can see which words they learned form the week.  I encourage the students to use the new vocabulary words in their writing and in their language.  I will work on posting the six vocabulary words each week so you can also encourage your child to use the words at home....the students are really excited about thier "big" words and love trying to use them!  It is such an amazing program and the students love it!

Ruby the Copycat
coincidence
loyal
bitter
murmured
recited
sensitive

Math
Our first math test went great:)  The students did a great job following along as I read the test to them and filling in their own answers!  You should be very proud of them!  We are currently on Unit 2 - The Everyday Uses of Numbers.  We are focusing on using number grids, learning our telephone numbers, labeling numbers with units (books, elephants, crayons, tally marks, $,etc), telling time to the hour, pennies and nickels, addition and subtraction number models and number stories. Our Unit 2 test will be Thursday, October 14th...the students should be prepared to count and write tally marks, count and add up a combination of nickels and pennies, draw the hour and minute hands on a clock, add and subtract 1 and 0 from a number and count by 2's and 5's.

Mystery Reader
We are still in need of mystery readers on Fridays.  Please email me if you would like to surprise our class and read to us!  It is at 12:45pm on Fridays and only takes about ten-fifteen minutes.  Please consider this as the students are loving trying to guess who the mystery reader of the week is:)

Writing Workshop Portfolios
We write everyday in class during writing workshop time.  This is where we practice our writing skills such as using spaces between our words, writing from left to right, starting each sentence with a capital and ending it with a punctuation mark, stretching out our words, etc.  The students keep all of thier writing pieces in their green writing folders at school.  Once a month, at the end of the month, the students will be bringing home their green writing folders and reading all of their writing pieces to you at home.  Together you will choose their "best well-written" piece and send back only that piece.  All the remanining writing samples are for you to keep at home.  We will then publish their best piece in class and keep for their 1st grade portfolio.  Please be sure to return your child's best writing piece inside their green writing folder to school the next day. Thanks for all of your help:)

Poem of the Week
Every week, we will have a new poem to learn in class.  We will also focus on a new word family that coincides with the poem of the week.  I will work on posting the poem of the week each week so you can encourage your child to practice the poem at home and teach you the words:)

Fire Safety Poem
Listen now, this is no joke,
Before a fire, there's always smoke,
If you smell it, go outside,
Never find a place to hide,
Stay down low and crawl away,
Fire trucks are on the way.


I think that it is for now....as always, stay tuned as there is always more to follow:)  Thanks again for all of the continuous support you provide your child at home.....education is all about making connections between school and home!  It sure does take a village to raise a child....I am thankful for all of you!

Ms. Benear :)