Room Parents

Our Super Scholars Room Parents

are

Allison Magana and Lauren Willius

They are in the process of setting –up an email group list for our class. Please send Ally or Lauren your email contact information along with your child’s name and a contact number at almagana@comcast.net or laurawillius@me.com.

They will be using the information to contact you regarding classroom donations, volunteer opportunities and friendly reminders of upcoming events.

Thanks a Bunch!

PE Reminder

We will have PE tomorrow and Friday.

Don't Forget Your Sneakers!

Weekly Update - Aug 28

Weekly Update

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Back to School Night

Thanks to all who attended Back to School Night! It was wonderful meeting new parents and seeing familiar faces. No worries, if you were unable to attend. As always please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions or concerns. My email address is valerie_woodard@dpsk12.org

Reading Workshop and Writing Workshop

We are launching Unit 1 - Reading and Writing Workshop. During the next several weeks, the Scholars will learn the rituals and routines of Reading and Writing Workshop. They will learn how to view themselves as a community of Readers and Writers (Authors).

The Scholars are learning how to actively listen to stories and how to respond to literature through meaningful discussions with classmates. They will learn reading strategies, what good readers do, as well as how to read with fluency. In addition, the Scholars will learn how to use picture clues to decipher unfamiliar vocabulary, which is an awesome reading strategy! Another important aspect of Reading and Writing Workshop is learning how to work independently and how to work with others. Fortunately, our classroom has lots of experts!

Unit 1 Writing Workshop will present the Scholars all of whom are already budding authors with tools that will help them become better writers. They are learning how to use their own life experiences to create stories. In addition, they will learn strategies for spelling unknown words and how to use their writer’s manners. The Scholars will discover how to organize their writing.

Skills Block

Daily Language Instruction (DLI) will provide the Scholars with the opportunity to learn the proper formation of letters. In addition, during DLI they will learn that a sentence begins with a capital letter and has an end mark. They will also learn all about common nouns, proper nouns, verbs, adjectives, and contractions. The Scholars will also discover how to write a sentence correctly including the “naming part” and the “action part.” Whew! No worries, I will scaffold the lessons and do some handstands in between to maintain their engagement.

Social Studies

The Scholars are learning all about how “we” get along in school, how to work cooperatively, the school rules/expectations and how to be responsible.

Everyday Math

Everyday Math Unit 1 will help the Scholars establish daily EDM routines including using the calendar to learn the days of the week, months, and monitoring the number of days they have been in school. In addition, they will also practice counting our classroom number line, comparing numbers, number writing and learn EDM games. The EDM games provide practice and connect learning; however, most importantly they are a lot of fun!

Welcome

August 22, 2011

Dear Families,

Welcome to 1st grade! I would like to extend to you and your child my warmest welcome into our classroom.
This year we will experience many fun and exciting learning activities. During the first couple of weeks we will be learning more about each other and discovering how our differences are our strengths. I am looking forward to teaching your child this year and helping him/her to achieve their full potential in all academic areas.

Parent-Teacher Relationship
I believe that a good parent-teacher relationship is necessary for maximum school success. Throughout the year, I will communicate with you through notes, telephone calls, weekly folders, progress reports, and parent-teacher conferences. I encourage you to contact me if you should have questions or concerns at any time. You can also email me at valerie_woodard@dpsk12.org .

Discipline
Establishing good classroom discipline is essential to each child’s success, confidence and well-being. Every child should feel that the classroom environment is safe and secure. In addition, it is important that each child learns to develop self-discipline, good work habits, how to resolve conflicts peacefully, and to think independently.
The children will learn the purpose of our classroom expectations and develop the idea that our classroom is a community with the common purpose of learning, growing and becoming friends.

Our Classroom Expectations
1. Treat Each Other with Respect.
2. Listen with our Ears, Eyes, and Heart.
3. Use quiet voices.
4. Treat our property with Respect.
5. ALWAYS DO OUR BEST!



Homework
A homework packet will be sent home on a weekly basis. Students will be expected to read thirty minutes each night, and record the title of books read into a reading log. Homework is due on Monday unless there is a holiday.

Money
On occasion it will be necessary for your child to bring money to school. Please, always send money in a sealed envelope with the following information written on it:
1. Your child’s name
2. The amount of money
3. The purpose for the money (Book order, fund raiser, field trip)
4. My name
With over 20 students to keep track of and several reasons to collect money, this helps me out tremendously and reduces the likelihood of errors.

Book Orders
Your child will be bringing home a Scholastic book order about once a month. If you wish to order, simply fill out the order form and send a check made out to the book company in an envelope. These orders are provided as a convenient way for you to purchase quality books for your child. As an added bonus, for every dollar that is spent on books, I earn bonus points, which are used to purchase books for our classroom library. This is a win-win situation, because you get quality books at a low price, and you are helping to provide quality literature for our classroom library. Of course, you are never under any obligation to order.

In closing, I would like to say that I am looking forward to a outstanding year with your child.

Warm regards,
Val Woodard