News from Room 2!
Mrs. Smith's Firsties
Welcome Families!
Baby Smith
The rumors are true! Mrs. Smith is having a baby! I announced to the kiddos on Thursday by letting them play hangman to guess the secret message. Then we spent several minutes screaming with joy! Baby Smith is due September 2nd!! As soon as I find out gender, I will be sure to let the little ones know. Thank you to everyone who has been so encouraging and uplifting. Mason and I are very, very excited!! We are taking any and every name suggestion (including ones from the students - which has been very humorous thus far)!
As one of the little ones said, "We are going to be the baby's cousins!" When I asked why, she responded with "Well we are your kids, too!" (We may need a lesson on family trees, but she could not have more accurate).
Your kiddos are so special to me, and I could not ask for a better group to share in this excitement with! <3
What Will We Be Learning This Week?
Literacy
We are continuing our Literacy curriculum this week. We will begin Wonders Unit 5 Week 3. Below are the areas and concepts we will be focusing on:
Comprehension Skill - Point of View
Comprehension Strategy - Make and Confirm Predictions
Grammar - Joining Words
Writing Traits - Sentence Fluency
Phonics Skill - or, oar, ore
Spelling Words - born, corn, core, more, roar, soar
High Frequency Words - began, guess, learn, right, sure, better (note that we now have 6 high frequency words - I will test on 5 and the 6th will be another challenge word).
Challenge Words - store, pork (+2 extra credit)
Math
Everyday Math Unit 7
We will continue in Unit 7 of Everyday Math. We will be focusing on fact families, subtraction fact strategies, and shapes.
Concepts we will be learning this week:
- subtraction fact strategies
- attributes of shapes
Homelinks - Monday (7.3), Tuesday (7.4), Wednesday (7.5), and Thursday (no homework)
Everyday Math Games
- Listed below are the games we have learned and the ones we will learn this upcoming week:
- Bunny Hop
- Monster Squeeze
- Top - It
- Penny Dice
- Rock, Paper, Scissors
- Rolling for 50
- Penny Plate
- Domino Top-It
- Subtraction Bingo
- Addition Top-It
- The Digit Game
- Fishing for 10
Calendar
- We do calendar every single day. Incorporated into our daily calendar routine are multiple math concepts including:
- Place Value
- Money
- Number of the Day
- Adding
- Subtracting
- Counting
Social Studies
We will continue with our Second Step lessons. These lessons focus on the social emotional development of each learner. There are Second Step homelinks on our grade level website under the parent page.
We will also use this time to continue to build classroom community. Building that community is imperative for learning to take place.
Specials
Tuesday - Music with Buckley
Wednesday - Music with Shepard
Thursday - P.E. with Stuemky (wear tennis shoes)
Friday - No School
Upcoming Events
Monday, March 12th - Thursday, March 15th - Book Fair
Monday, March 12th - Thursday, March 15th - Ice Pop Sales
- Bring $0.50 everyday or $2.00 on Monday to receive an Ice Pop each day!
Monday, March 12th - First Grade Spelling Bee @ 1:30 pm
Wednesday, March 14th - Thunder Bus Comes to Monroe
Thursday, March 15th - Student Led Conferences
- Come between 3:00-4:00 or 5:00-7:30 pm with your child!
Monday, March 19th - Friday, March 23rd - No School (Spring Break)
Friday, March 30th - Hat Day
Friday, April 13th - All School PJ Day to celebrate the end of testing!
Monday, April 16th - End of the Year DRA Window Opens
Friday, April 20th - Math Morning
Tuesday, April 24th - Monroe Arts Festival!!
Friday, April 27th - Hat Day
As events get closer, I will give you more information. If you have any questions, please email me.
Principal's Reading Challenge
Principal's Reading Challenge Dates: March 9th - April 13th.
Reading logs will be coming home today. Please fill these out for all the books you read at home. Once your log is full, send it back to class and I will send home another!
NPS Parent Survey
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdgFx0p5k1HKG_cG3VhSml5r76WsBrADhmwWADa4DIU38B8lw/viewform
State Testing Info From Ms. Kirk
Greetings Monroe Families! It is that time again... testing time! I am beginning the process of looking for Test Monitors. It is not a hard job and does not have to be a big time commitment at all! All you have to do is attend test monitor training and pick which days you would like to be a monitor.
Tests Monitor Slots (can pick one or more!):
- Monday, April 2nd 8:00-10:00
- Tuesday, April 3rd 8:00-10:00
- Wednesday, April 4th 8:00-11:00**
- Thursday, April 5th 8:00-11:00**
- Friday, April 6th 8:00-11:00
- Tuesday, April 10th 8:00-11:00**
- Wednesday, April 11th 8:00-11:00**
- Thursday, April 12th 8:00-10:00
- Thursday, April 12th 12:30-2:30
**We need significantly more volunteers on these days. All times are approximate because it is not a timed test-- will likely be much shorter!
Test Monitor Training is offered at the following days and times (you only have to attend one). Your children are welcome to attend. It should not take longer than 30 minutes.
- Monday, March 26th at 8:00
- Tuesday, March 27th at 3:00
- Thursday, March 29th at 12:30
If you would like to volunteer your time or have any questions at all, please email me at skirk2@norman.k12.ok.us or give me a call at the school 366-5927. Thank you so much for all you do for your students and our school!
With gratitude, Sarah Kirk
Attendance
One thing we are sure of at Monroe, is that we cannot reach our goals and meet the needs of all students if they are not here with us at school. Because of that, we have a continuous focus on improving our attendance. We are striving for an Average Daily Attendance of greater than 95%. Currently, as a school, we are hovering at 93%. Please help us to reach our goal by making sure your student(s) are at school on time, every day. We know that absences can sneak up on you. I encourage you and your family to continue to make a goal to miss fewer than five absences this year! We can do it! ☺
About Mrs. Smith
Email: alis@norman.k12.ok.us
Website: https://sites.google.com/norman.k12.ok.us/welcometofirstgrade
Location: 1601 McGee Drive, Norman, OK, United States
Phone: 405 - 366 - 5927