Week of April 23, 2018

        Hip! Hip! Hooray!  The achievement test is over!  The children did a fantastic job on their yearly achievement test.  I am so proud of all of them.  Now we will get back to our every day schedule.  This week will be another busy week.  We will be going to the Discovery Science Museum in Murfreesboro on Wednesday.   Parents are invited to go with us.  If you are planning on attending the field trip please let me know as soon as possible.  You may pay for the field trip when you arrive at the museum.  We will leave the school around 8:15 and return around 1:00.  All children will need to bring a sack lunch and a drink to take on the field trip. Your child will need to wear jeans and an Ezell-Harding t-shirt. 
         On Friday the children will  participate in Ezell-Harding''s  annual field day.  It would be great if your child would also bring a sack luck for field day.  Your child will be given a field day t-shirt to wear on Friday.  Information will be sent home this week from Mr. Riley about field day later.
         This week the children will work on the following skills:

• Identifying, decoding, and reading words with the /wr/, /kn/, and /gn/ sounds
• Write a narrative about the best thing in first grade
• Phoneme Awareness Phoneme Segmentation Drill
• Continue to review addition/subtraction facts
• Identify main idea, details, setting, and plot within a story
• Review compound words
• Continue to work on word problems
• Identifying and writing entire name, address, name of street, city, state, and zip code.
• The children will be working with making, ab, abc, and abcd patterns
• Interpreting data on a graph
• Read and learn about the Bible story " Moses Sends Twelve Spies to the Promised Land" Numbers 13:1-14:35
• Weekly Bible Verse: "O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you." (Psalm 84:12)
• The children will learn about their state of Tennessee

Spelling:

This week the children will not have any spelling words.  They will need to know their address and how to write their address correctly.  They will need to be able to write their entire name, address,  street name, city, state, and zip code.  They will not be able to use abbreviation for city and state.

All Test will be given on Thursday due to Field Day.

Weekly Reminders:

April 25th:  Field Trip (Discovery Science Museum) Murfreesboro, Tn

April 27th:  Field Day

May 1st:     Children's Museum

May 4th:     Visit from Pen Pals from Whitsitt Elementary

May 11th     First/Second Grade Picnic
May 15th     Award's Day

May 17th     End of the Year Celebration

Week of April 16, 2018

       This week the children will be taking their annual achievement test.  They are excited about taking the test and have been well prepared for it. The children will be tested April 17th thru April 20th. The test will begin each day at 8:15. NO CHILD WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO ENTER THE CLASSROOM AFTER THE TEST HAS BEGUN. Therefore, it is very important that your child arrive to school by 7:45 so they will be prepared for the test when it begins.
     
                                      How Your Child can Prepare for Test Taking

• Reassure your child that they do not have to answer all the questions correctly to pass. It is not expected that students answer every question correctly.  There is always room for error. Knowing that they do not have to be perfect will help eliminate some of the stress that comes with testing.
• Tell your child to attempt to answer all of the questions and not to leave any blank. There is no penalty for guessing, and students can get partial credit on the open-ended items.  Teach them to eliminate ones that they know are wrong first because it gives them a higher chance of getting the correct answer if they are forced to guess.
• Remind your child that the test is important.  It sounds simple, but many parents fail to reiterate this. Most children will put forth their best effort when they know  it is important to their parents.
• Explain to your child the importance of using time wisely. If your child gets stuck on a question, encourage him or her to make the best guess or place a mark in the test booklet by that item and go back to it after finishing that section of the test. Students must not spend too much time on a single question. Give your best attempt and move on.
Ensure that your child gets a decent night's sleep and a good breakfast before taking the test. These are essential to how your child performs. You want them to be at their best. Failing to get a good nights rest or good breakfast can cause them to lose focus quickly.
• Make the morning of the test a pleasant one. Do not add to your child's stress.  Do not argue with your child or bring up a touchy subject. Instead, try to do extra things that make them laugh, smile, and relax
• Get your child to school on time the day of the test.  Give yourself extra time to get to school each morning. Your child will not be able to enter once the test has began.
• Remind your child to listen carefully to the instructions from the teacher and to read the directions and each question carefully. 

WEEKLY TEST:  .

There will not be a spelling test, Bible, or reading test this week.

WEEKLY REMINDERS:

• April 17th thru 20th  Achievement test
• April 25th  Field Trip (Discovery Science Museum)  Murfreesboro, Tn
• April  27th Field Day
• May 4th Visit from Pen Pals from Whitsitt Elementary
• May 4th  Last day to take AR test (All library books must be turned in)

Week of 4-9-18


       This week the children will be working on test taking strategies.  We will be reviewing math and reading skills.  It is strongly suggested that you allow your child to review sight words, addition/subtraction facts and read as much as possible.

      The children will also be working on the following skills:

• Identifying, decoding, and reading words with /au/ and /aw/
• Phonemic Awareness Categorization
• Review suffix and prefixes
• Continue to learning about plants (The children will be planting vegetables on Wednesday)
• Working and discuss addition/subtraction word problems
• Read and discuss the weekly Bible story "The People Bring Gifts to make the Tabernacle. Exodus 35:4-36:7
• Retelling and rewriting stories in sequence
• Continue to work for reading for comprehension and fluency.
• Identify the parts of a letter

WEEKLY SPELLING WORDS:

haul, cause, saw, claw, paw, dawn, fawn, auto, saucer, lawn

Bonus Words:  Tabernacle - worship

Reminders:

•  4/10 :        3rd/4th Grade Play
• 4/17-4/20:  Achievement Test
• 4/25:           Field Trip (Discovery Science Museum  (Murfreesboro, Tn) 
• 4/27:           Field Day            

Week of April 2, 2018

        This week the children will be quit busy as they prepare for Spring Sprint.  Encourage your child to go out and get donations.  They are very excited about the opportunity to earn prizes and getting visits from the Castle Quest team each day.
        This week the children will be working on the following skills:

• The children will learn about the 10 Commandments.
• Continue to work with counting pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters
• Learn about liquid measurement: gallon, pint, quart, cup
• Continue to review addition and subtraction.
• Identify and read words with suffixes ful and less
• Read the story "Click, Clack, Moo Cows that Type"
• Identify, decode, and read words with the variant u sound
• Identify the parts of a plant and the process a seed goes through before becoming a plant
• The children will plant vegetable seeds to go in our class planter.
• I will continue to review reading and math skills as the children prepare for their annual achievement test.

WEEKLY SPELLING WORDS:

• moon, tune, flew, blue, fruit, spoon, June, stew, blew, suit
• Bonus Words:  umbrella - commandments

WEEKLY NEWS:

• Spring Sprint and family picnic - April 6 ( Children may go home after they run on Friday)
• Yearly Achievement test - April 17-20
• Spelling, reading, and Bible test will be given on Thursday
• Thanks to all the parents that came to assist with our Easter celebration

WEEKLY MEMORY VERSE:

Children, obey your parents in all things.

Colossians 3:20

Week of March 26, 2018



        This week we will begin the week out by learning about the Easter Story.  The children will participate in  several activities about this story.  They will have a celebration on Thursday.  I am asking each parent to allow your child to bring 18 plastic eggs fills with goodies     . ( Remember do not put anything in the egg that has nuts.)  Mrs. Anderson will contact you this weekend about what else your child will need to bring on Thursday for our class celebration.
        On last Wednesday, The Castle Quest- kicked off  Ezell-Harding's annual Spring Sprint.  Please read the information carefully that was sent home and register your child as soon as possible.  More information will be sent home  this week about Castle Quest.  Feel free to come by our classroom and see our castle.  If you are having difficulty with registering please contact me for assistance.
         This week I will be working on the following skills:

• The children will read, discuss, rewrite, and do crafts about the weekly Bible story. "The First Easter"
• I will introduce the sound that /oy/ and /oi/ stands for.  The children will identify, decode, write, and identify words in text with /oy/ and /oi/.
• Identify and read high frequency words:  above, build, fall, knew, money, toward, balance, and section
• The children will continue to identify and count coins. (pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and half dollars.
• The children will continue to work on reading for comprehension and fluency. 
• The children will continue to identify the main idea and key details within a text.
• Our class will plant a garden this week.  
• Phonemic Awareness Phoneme blending of final stable syllables
• The children will continue to work on addition/subtraction facts and adding/subtracting two digit numbers
• The children will begin a study of plants

WEEKLY SPELLING WORDS:

spoil, coin, join, joy, toy, boy, enjoy, boil, soil, voice

Bonus Words:  crucifixion - Jesus

WEEKLY MEMORY VERSE:

"God raised him on the third day and made him appear."A
Acts 10:40

WEEKLY REMINDERS:

• Reading, Spelling, and Bible Test will be given on Thursday.
• School Holiday No School 3-30
• Easter Celebration (In our Classroom) 3-30
• Spring Sprint and Family Picnic 4-6
• First Grade Achievement test April 17th-20th

Week of March 19, 2018
          Hopefully, we will have better weather and begin learning about spring.  The next couple of week will be very busy.  I will be introducing and reviewing several new skills. The children will be reviewing for the annual achievement test.  Please talk with your child about listening closely and following directions.
         Mrs. Sutton, our classroom educational assistance will be working in our class for two days each week.  She will be working with the children with decoding skills, reading comprehension skills, and math skills.
         I will be introducing and reviewing the following skills:

• Reviewing Phonemic Awareness Phonemic Substitution
• Introducing inflectional endings -er and -est
• Introducing and discussing about signs of spring.
• Reviewing addition/subtraction facts
• The children will continue to write narrative and work on editing skills
• Introducing counting money. (pennies, nickels, quarters, and half dollars)
• Introducing high frequency words. 9 color, early, instead, nothing, oh, though)
• The children will read and discuss the Bible story "God Gives Manna to Eat'  Exodus 16:1-36
• Introduce homonyms
• Work on test taking skills

WEEKLY SPELLING WORDS:
cow, town, mouse, how, out, mouth, house, flower, shout, brown
Bonus Words:  Springtime - garden

WEEKLY MEMORY VERSE:
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Psalm 150:6


CLASSROOM REMINDERS:

• Please make sure your child read each day at home.  Your child should bring their library book to school each day.  Your child should read at least one AR book each week or 3 smaller books
• Moms in prayer 3-27-18   8:00 A.M.
• Spring Sprint and Family Picnic 4-6-18
• Spring Pictures 4-3-18
• Achievement Test - April 17th-20th
• Field Day - April 27th

    

Week of March 12, 2018
     
        The children did an awesome job on Friday, March 2nd at the African American Presentation.  I would like to thank all the parents that helped with the costumes and helped dress the children.  I would like to give a special thanks to Mr. Krause for taking a video of the presentation.  I will forward you this video when I receive it.
        This week I will be working on the following skills:

• Identifying, decoding, and reading words with or, ore, oar
• Read stories with or, ore, oar words (The story of a Robot and Thomas Edison
• Introducing and using abbreviations in writing
• Learn about inventions by Thomas Edition and other inventors
• Writing an about an invention that they would like to invent
• Writing an narrative about "What they would do if a leprechaun came to visit them.
• Introduce fractions, whole, 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4
• Continue to work on addition/subtraction facts
• Interpreting data from a graph
• Addition/Subtraction two digit numbers
• Read and learn about the country of Ireland and the holiday Saint Patrick
• The children will read about the Moses and the Red Sea 

WEEKLY MEMORY VERSE:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart.  Proverbs 3:5

WEEKLY SPELLING WORDS:

born, corn, core, more, roar, soar, oar, torch, horn, more

Bonus Words:  Leprechaun  and   Ireland

CLASSROOM INFORMATION:

• The children will have a "TASTING OF THE GREEN ON FRIDAY" To celebrate Saint Patrick's Day.  I would like for all children to bring in something  for our snack that is green.  Some examples are:  green apple slices, pickles, celery, olives, green cookies, green grapes, green chips, or green cookies.  These are just some examples.  
• The children should wear green on Friday.