What's Going on in Room 2?
Mrs. Moore's O.W.L.S (Outstanding Whimsical Learners)
News In Room 2
Happy New Year!
We have settled in nicely from the winter break. Actually, the kids seemed to have had an easier transition getting back into the swing of things than I did. I think I was getting used to sleeping past 5:00 a.m. :) However, it was such a LOVELY surprise to be welcomed back to school with warm smiles, hugs, flowers, and birthday gifts. THANK YOU ALL for remembering my birthday and making me feel so special.
We have a few new things happening that I wanted to share with you...
1. Starting Tuesday, January 21st we will have a student teacher in our class everyday for the next 8 weeks. I'm super excited to have her here and she comes with some experience and a love for children. Please help me welcome Alicia Jensen. The students will call her Ms. Jensen.
2. Students have been using an app on our class ipads called Raz-Kids. Perhaps they have shared this with you and you are using it at home as well. If not, you can get this free app for your tablet too. I have purchased a class license for us to use for the remainder of the school year. The login information is nmoorey. You will put this in the Teacher Username. This app is used to practice reading at or near your child's reading level. Once students read and/or listen to the story in their assignment planet, they are to take a comprehension quiz. As students successfully work through their level, the program automatically bumps them to the next level. I hope you enjoy this app as much as we have in the classroom.
3. We have started a classroom blog at http://kidblog.org/MrsMooresClassOwls. This is where students can interact with me and post their work and answer questions that I have posted. Perhaps you have heard that we have Skyped with another classroom this year as well. Eventually, our blog will be connected with other classrooms in our district so we can work beyond the walls of Room 2. When we are ready, we'll ask you to join us. So if you love tweeting, being on Facebook, and any other social networks then you will surely love blogging with your kiddos!!! In the meantime, you can take a sneak peak by putting in a class URL which is MrsMooresClassOwls and logging in with your child's name and 4 digit password that they use to log in on Compass Learning and our desktops here at school. This is a new experience for me too, so we are all on a learning curve and taking it nice and slow. :) For the time being, please do not have your child blog at home. Thanks!
4. Last but not least, we have started a running club every Friday from 9:00-9:30 on the blacktop. We are working on hitting the first grade physical education standards during our warm ups, followed by walking or jogging to promote a healthy lifestyle. Please join us if you are interested and be sure to have students wear running shoes every Friday!
REMINDER:
Some of you have asked for sample word problems to work on with your children at home. I will start sending home problems (every other week) that we are working on in class so that you can change the characters, numbers, and/or topic as you ask your child to do them at home. All the problems that we work on are first grade common core standard aligned. It's most important that students are able to work through their problem with the use of manipulatives (items that they can touch such as counters, cheerios, etc.), drawings, and in some cases mentally. Another crucial part is being able to explain their thinking and verbalizing or writing how they solved their problem.
Language Arts
WE HAVE TWO MORE WEEKS IN THIS UNIT TO COMPLETE!!
Theme this month: Having FunReading comprehension skills and strategies:
* Ask and answer questions about key details in text
* Retell stories using key details and demonstrating an understanding of the key message or lesson
* Make and confirm predictions
* Inferencing
* Identifying main idea and using supporting details from the text to prove the topic
Students are asked to write about their reading using complete sentences with capitals and end marks.
Phonics and Word Study:
Long a, i, o, u, e
Digraphs ch, tch, wh, ph
Three letter blends
Math
Please begin having your children access dreambox on the computer or ipad. Once you download dreambox on your ipad you will need the following school code:
rdew/solanave
Content Studies
We will continue working on our social/emotional development throughout the year and focus on needs that arise at any given time. I have noticed a rise in recess "problems" over the past couple months so each day after lunch, we have a classroom meeting to talk about bucket fillers and dippers. Hopefully, this is helping our first graders work out problems and think of different perspectives to the problem. As well, it helps keep me connected as I'm not with them during recess and lunch. The Latest and upcoming character building blocks that we are focusing on are alertness, action, determination, and fitness.
We are wrapping up weather and starting a unit on American Symbols.
Upcoming Events
Contact Me:
Email: nmoore@sbsd.net
Website: http://sbsd.schoolwires.net/Page/2198
Location: 780 Santa Victoria, Solana Beach, CA
Phone: (858)794-3702
Don't Forget!
Valentine's Day is almost here. You can find the class list on our wiki. Please be sure to have a valentine for every student in the class. Students will be handing out their valentine's Friday, February 14th.
Classroom Wish List:
* 12 3 ring zipper pockets to hold pencils and crayons
* 4 3 ring trading card protector sheets per child
* wipes to clean our desks
* small treasure box items
* grab and go snacks are always appreciated
Thank you for all the donations that you have made and continue to make. There are so many things that happen in our classroom because of the generous donations that come in throughout the year. At times I am able to complete purchases on my own or get reimbursed by the district, but it's hard to do it all on my own, so I truly appreciate your contributions.