Mrs. Platz's Class Newsletter
December 11th, 2015
Looking Ahead
- Sat. (12-12) PTA Mercury Gymnastics 6:30 PM
- Thurs. (12-17) Classroom Winter Celebration (12:30)
- Thurs. (12-17) PTA Skate Night 6-8pm
- Fri. (12-18) End of 2nd Quarter/Quality Lunch (our lunch time 11:44)
- (12-21 through 1/1) Winter Break - No School
Next Week
Monday - A - PE
Tuesday - B - Library
Wednesday - C - Music
Thursday - D - PE
Friday - E - Art
Your First Grader Has Been Working On...
- comparing different versions of gingerbread stories. We have worked on identifying main/minor characters, primary and secondary settings, what character's actions tell us about them, and the relationships between characters.
- reading and spelling words with "y" as a vowel (my, lucky).
- continuing their small moment stories.
- counting by 1s and 10s to 120, finding patterns on a 120 number chart, and using an open number line to count to 120.
- making our Flat Gingy who will be coming home with your student next week. Look for information about this special guest who will be hanging with your family over winter break!
- voting for our next Quality Student! Congratulations to Ronnie, voted by her peers as someone who shows she can be proactive, put first things first, synergizes, thinks win-win, and begins with the end in mind! Way to go, Ronnie!
Retelling Cards
Students are coming home with another retelling card this week. This time, it is about the story The Red Hen by Rebecca Emberley. Good readers can retell a story. This allows a reader to check their comprehension of the story. When your student brings you this card to sign, please have them retell the story to you. See if your child can retell: the beginning, middle, end of the story, the characters, problem(s), solution, and who were the major/minor characters, as well as the settings. I would suggest asking them also, how is this story different than the other red hen stories we have read. Being able to compare how stories are different and the same is a higher level question that goes beyond the text learning. Anytime you are reading with your child, try to dig deeper with your questions:
- Does this story remind you of anything that has happened to you?
- How do you think this character feels at the beginning, the middle, and end of the story?
- Is there something we can learn from this book, a lesson?
- Why do you think a certain event happened?
- Do you agree with the ending? How would you have changed the ending?
Help your student think deeper about the books they are reading! It is a skill that they will be asked to use throughout their education!
Winter Celebration
An email was sent out earlier this week with details on how you can sign up to donate items for our "gingerbread" houses winter celebration. If you'd like to help donate items, you can click the link below. If you'd like to come and help us on Thursday, we will begin our gingerbread decorating on Thursday, after lunch (approximately 12:30). Please join us if you'd like. We can always use an extra pair of hands to help out!
Sign Up Genius Link
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e094caea72ca4f94-gingerbread
No Spelling Assessment This Week
There will be no spelling test this coming week. The list sent home this week is what we will be covering in our phonics lesson. The handwriting page can be returned completed (writing each word neatly 3 times each) for a pirate coin/Dojo point.
Please send in your student's disguised gingerbread friend on Monday!
Kahoot!
Our class had a chance to try out a new game called Kahoot! Check out the video below to learn more about how it works! The kids loved it and are asking to play it again! What's great is that it is free! It's a great way to review skills in a game format.
Kahoot! Gamify Your Class
Brain Break Time
Ask your student to tell you about one of our brain break games we play called Gotcha!
Gotcha! Brain Break