This Week in Room 108
Weekly Happenings in Miss Quaresima's First Grade Class
Week of November 16 - 20, 2015
Dates that Rate
November 10th - 19th:
- Thanksgiving Food Drive - See Below
November 14th:
- HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANTHONY!
November 17th:
November 18th:
- Home & School Association Meeting - 7:00 PM
November 20th:
- Home & School Association Mother & Son Trivia Night
November 23rd - 24th:
- Early Dismissal for Grades 1st - 6th
- Parent/Teacher Conferences - Please view the sign-up schedule here
November 25th - 27th:
- Thanksgiving Holiday - No School
Don't Forget!
Tuesdays - Bring your library books back to school
Fridays - Wear your sneakers for P.E.
Box Tops - Keep sending in your box tops! Click here for more information!
The November winner will be announced soon!
Titus Food Drive
As the holidays approach, Titus is once again collecting various food items for families in our community. Our annual Food Drive will run from November 10th - 19th.
First graders are asked to bring in cranberry sauce, turkey gravy, and canned veggies. Please send the donations to school with your child.
Every little bit goes a long way in giving our families a warm and happy holiday season.
Fall Conferences
Fall parent/teacher conferences are being held on Monday, November 23rd and Tuesday, November 24th. These are early dismissal days for students. Dismissal begins at 11:55am on both days.
Click here to view our conference sign-up sheet.
Please make a note of your pre-selected time and plan to arrive about 5 minutes before your conference time. I am looking forward to discussing your child’s progress with you.
Saying Goodbye to Class Dojo
It has been a lot of fun experimenting with Class Dojo during the first marking period. I'm sure you have noticed that as we have gotten busier in the classroom, Class Dojo points have become less frequent.
I am very proud of the positive behaviors that the first graders have been demonstrating on a daily basis. The positive interactions have outweighed the negatives so much that I have decided to step away from using Class Dojo at this time.
To celebrate the students' positive behaviors, we will continue to earn "Warm & Fuzzies" for our class Fuzzy Store as well as our school-wide Paws for PRIDE tickets for showing P.R.I.D.E around Titus.
I appreciate your support as we tested out Class Dojo together this marking period.
Giving Thanks. . .
In School this Week...
Word Wall
The Word Wall is a great writing tool in our classroom. I do not expect the students to memorize each word wall word, but they do need to be aware that the words are on the wall, so they can use them as a reference when writing in the classroom.
This week's word wall words are:
because, every, jump, know, out, saw
Ask Me About:
Ask me to sing the "Because" song!
Shared Reading
In reading this week, we are reading a variety of Thanksgiving books. We'll start the week by reading We Gather Together, Now Please Get Lost. We'll discuss the importance of friendship and why we're thankful to have family and friends. Later this week, we will read and sequence the story One is a Feast for Mouse. We will discuss why it is important for authors to put story events in order. We'll also read Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks. After reading, we will write sentences telling what we are thankful for.
Our phonics focus this week will be identifying L blends such as: fl-, pl-, bl-, and –ld. Our shared reading focus this week is making predictions, inferences, connections to the text while reading. We will use what we already know before and during reading to help us better understand the story.
Ask Me About:
When reading at home, be sure to talk to your child about what they are reading. Discuss the setting of the story including where and when the story took place. Have your child name the characters in the story. After reading, ask your child to retell the story details to you. At school, I ask the children to "close the book, start at the beginning, and tell me what happened in this story." Practicing this skill at home will help build your child's reading comprehension!
Everyday Math
This week we will review for our math test. The unit 3 math test will be on Wednesday!!
We will be practicing in class to prepare for our test and I ask that you review at home with your child, too. This test tends to be a little more tricky than the our first two tests. The majority of the skills on this assessment are still developing areas. You should not be alarmed if your child is still "Approaching the Standard" for any skills assessed in this unit.
Ask Me About:
- Write down 5 numbers. Have me circle the even numbers and put a box around the odd numbers.
- Have me draw the hour hand and the minute hand on a clock to show time to the hour and half-hour.
- Give me addition facts to add on the number line and/or number grid.
- Ask me to count up by 2s, 5s, and 10s.
- Ask me to tell you the value of a dime. Practice exchanging pennies, nickels, and dimes with me.
Social Studies
This week we will read about Squanto and the first Thanksgiving. We will write facts about Squanto and how he helped the Pilgrims during the first Thanksgiving. Look for our Squanto projects hanging in the halls next week!
Ask Me About:
Ask me to tell you how Squanto helped the pilgrims during the first Thanksgiving.
Computer Practice
XtraMath
We are using a web-based program called XtraMath to increase speed and accuracy in arithmetic. Your child is invited to spend a few minutes each day practicing math on the computer. We will also be practicing each week in the computer lab and in the classroom.
XtraMath is a great resource that offers your child individualized math fact practice.
Please email me if you need your child's log-in information.
Search the iTunes App Store for the XtraMath app too!! The app is great for those students who are still developing their skills using a computer mouse or keyboard.
Brain POP
The Titus Home and School association has purchased a one year license for BrainPOP, which is a very interactive online source for virtually every subject and topic associated with our elementary curriculum. We are now able to access BrainPOP, BrainPOPjr, and BrainPOP Español for both home and school.
In First Grade, we use the BrainPOPjr site at http://www.brainpopjr.com several times a week. Please visit the site with your children at home and encourage them to tell you about the activities we've completed in school.
Login: titus
Password: tigers
Here are some videos pertaining to what we have been learning recently in first grade:
Check the Computer Lab Links page on our classroom website to find more fun learning games your child can practice at home.
Miss Jennifer Quaresima
First Grade
Titus Elementary School
Email: jquaresima@cbsd.org
Website: www.cbsd.org/domain/1469
Location: 2333 Lower Barness Road, Warrington, PA
Phone: 267-893-7635