FIRST GRADE FLASH
GARDEN OF LEARNING...January 22
SPECIAL DRESS UP DAYS...
January 29th Compound Word Day
February 4th Blizzard of Blends Day
February TBA 100th Day Celebration Dress like you are 100 years old
More info soon!!
CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS
JANUARY…
January 11th Reading Minutes Log Due***
January 11th Pledge Sheets due***
January 15th First Official Spelling Test
January 15th Mustang Meeting 2:10
January 18th NO SCHOOL MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY
January 19th Last Minutes Log Due
January 19th Math Kicking It Test
January 20th Mrs. Arnold at Science Committee Meeting
January 21st Tacky the Penguin Day
January 22nd Spaghetti Dinner
January 22nd ART contest
January 22nd Paper Mache...need volunteers...1:15***
January 25th Penguin Projects are due!
January 29th Compound Word Day
January 29th Early Dismissal 1:00
February 5th Three Little Pigs 9:30
March 1st Pledge Money due
DIGGING INTO ACADEMICS...
We read about and researched penguins and polar bears.
We compared penguins to polar bears with a Venn Diagram.
We wrote informational stories about Penguins and Polar Bears.
We researched the 17 kinds of penguins.
We learned words with or and ore.
We took our first spelling test.
We did frozen activities in the science center... we used a blubber glove and learned how penguins feathers are waterproof. We melted Elsa's gloves to find a treasure.
We learned about tally charts, picto graphs, and bar graphs.
Please save and send in gallon size plastic milk or drink jugs...Thanks to all who have sent some in!!!
TACKY THE PENGUIN DAY
DIGGING DEEPER
We will continue our unit on Penguins and Polar Animals. Over the next month we will continue to read about, research, compare, write and learn about PENGUINS and other Polar animals.
Students will learn to research and use text features in non fiction texts.
Students will learn to research and write reports about Penguins and Polar Bears.
Students will create a Paper mache penguin.
We will learn about words with or and ore..
Students will take a test on graphs and tally charts. We will begin Tens and Ones.
We will learn about nouns, verbs and adjectives.
Scroll down for our Penguin Projects and resources.
The PTO needs help!
Hi Shoemaker families! We currently have close to 250 people with reservations for our pasta dinner however we need more volunteers to be able to seat and serve everyone. Please consider donating a half hour of your time so everyone can enjoy their dinners! Go to sign up genius to sign up now!! https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/20f0c4badaf29a0fe3-shoemakers/4042529
Valerie Singley
484-614-5264 (mobile)
PTO PASTA DINNER ON SEPTEMBER 22nd
The annual Shoemaker spaghetti dinner is on Friday, January 22nd and we volunteers to help before, during, and after the event. We also need dessert items donated. Please click on the Sign Up Genius link below and volunteer a half hour (or more!) of your time.
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0c4badaf29a0fe3-shoemakers
PUT AN ENTRY IN PTO ART CONTEST on January 22nd!
Friday, January 22nd 2015
Share your artistic skills with all of Shoemaker at the annual art show! Raffle prize entry to all students submitting artwork.
Find forms here: ART CONTEST
Entry Guidelines
1. Name, grade and homeroom on back
2. Submission due by Tuesday January 19th
3. Maximum entries per student 3 with no more than 1 of each media type. Media includes: photography, painting, drawing, pastels/charcoal, and mixed media.
4. Artwork must be completed on an independent basis, not created in a class setting.
5. Maximum size for entries is 12” x 12” all entries must be matted on a secondary item (can be paper, cardboard, poster board, etc).
6. Awards given by media type and grade level.
7. Artwork to be displayed during Spaghetti Dinner on January 22nd. Students can pick up their artwork after 7:15.
8. Each submission needs the form below attached to the back on the page
Acts of Kindness
COMMUNITY SERVICE
This month the Community Service is collecting pet food and pet items for the Animal Shelter.
Please help...please send in pet food or pet items for the Animal Shelter in Germansville.
PLEDGE SHEETS AND SECOND WEEKS LOGS ARE DUE ON TUESDAY...please include reading on Monday as well.
Keep reading all weekend including Monday....READ A MINIMUM of 25 minutes per day. We have the most minutes in first grade...We read 7,548 MINUTES this week!!!
Shoemaker Read-a-thon
READ READ READ!
Our goal is to read the most minutes in first grade!
Read 25 minutes each night and be a Super Star Reader charm.
Read even more and try to be the star reader each week in our class with the most minutes.
It is not too late to hand in a pledge sheet!
Important Dates:
· January 11 - January 18: READ, READ, READ!
· January 19: Turn in Week #2 Reading Tracker (Make sure student’s name is on reading tracker.)
· Week of February 1st: Collect pledge money
· March 1: Pledge money is due; (Please write one check payable to Shoemaker PTO with student’s full name and classroom # on memo line.)
Thank you in advance for your support! J
The Three Little Pigs
Please look for scripts in their folders and have them read over their highlighted part at least 2 times when it comes home. They do not need to memorize the text...just read it fluently.
Three Little Pigs Reader's Theater
Please join us on Friday, February 5th at 9:30 for Mrs. Arnold's First Grade Production of the Three Little Pigs performed by the students in room 12. Please RSVP and let me know how many will be attending.
Friday, Feb 5, 2016, 09:30 AM
Shoemaker Elementary School, North Fairview Street, Macungie, PA, United States
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
or and ore words...will be tested on 1/22
or
for
form
more
store
sort
score
short
wore
core
Compound Word Day
Compound Word Day
On Friday, January 29th , our First Grade class will be celebrating “Compound Word Day”. We will be learning about compound words over the next few weeks and we are plnning some fun with them! To celebrate this day, please help your child choose at least 4 compound words to wear to school. You will be surprised at how many great things you have at home (sunglasses, earrings, necktie, sweatpants, handbag, even shirts with compound word pictures – like a shirt with a butterfly, football, or Batman on it!). Be creative!
On the back of this sheet is a list that your child must fill out with all of the compound words that he/she is wearing. Please complete this for homework! If you are unsure of whether or not a word is a compound word or need ideas , you can visit http://www.enchantedlearning.com/grammar/compoundwords/ for a quick and easy online list. Please fill out paper on the back and return on Friday, 1/29.
We started practicing Kicking It Math Facts! Our first test will be on Tuesday. My brother and his wife who are 5th degree and 4th degree black belts came and did a Karate presentation for us today!
STUDY math facts with +1 +2 +3
KICKING IT MATH
Dear Parents,
This year my students are going to be spending time daily practicing and learning our math facts, beginning in the operation of addition. Our class will keep working on these facts until everyone knows all the facts in this operation instantly, without any pause before answering. We will be using a fun and motivating program called Kicking It Math!It will take only a few minutes each day of class time, but students will keep working until they have mastered all the facts.
A fact is mastered when it can be answered instantly, without any pause. Kicking It Math! is unique because it teaches only 2 facts and their reverses at each level. For example 6+3, 3+6, 4+5 and 5+4. The program allows each child to go at his or her own pace, taking as many days to master those two facts as needed. Students are given an opportunity daily to show they have learned a set of facts by passing a test. Once students “pass” a set of facts, they color in the belt for that set on their “Belt Chart.” Once they have passed four levels, they will earn a belt token for their chain up until they become “Black Belts” in addition!
You can help your child progress and learn faster by practicing at home. Any day your child does not pass a set of facts, he/she will have that day’s practice sheet to bring home as homework. It will help a great deal if you will practice with your child for five minutes with that sheetand/or flashcards. Recommendations for how to practice are below.
Learning all the facts in an operation is a lot of work, but future success in math is dependent upon knowing facts so well that the answers come automatically without much thinking. You can also help by sharing with your child the importance of learning math facts. Thank you so much for your support of this critical learning goal. I will keep you notified of your child’s success in this important task.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Arnold
Along with the discovery method of learning math, memorizing our Addition and Subtraction Math Facts is an important part of our math program. We will begin a new program called Kicking It Math where students will earn belts, just like in Karate, as they memorize the new math facts. Here are some math fact resources for you to help them practice at home in addition to the flash cards I will send home.... Use Please go to my website: http://www.eastpennsd.org/teacherpages/parnold/index.html or look for the addition and subtraction flash cards under the Math section or links below. You can copy and cut apart into flash cards or practice online. Over the next few weeks we will practice addition and subtraction basic facts and take math fact check up tests to see how well we are learning our facts. Please have students study the addition facts to sums of 10 or under. 1+1 3+5 2+4 5+5 etc.
Also, practice facts on Xtra math. Please contact me if you need your students log in .
I will give the first test on ...January 19th and students will then move through levels at their own pace . Students will have 2 minutes to complete 30 math problems. Students need to pass 25 + to move onto the next level. Students must pass 4 levels to earn a belt. Over the next few months, we will continue to test addition, subtraction and mixed facts to see how students progress… Look for updates on Homework Helper.
Xtra Math
How to Practice with your child...
Practice Sheets-When your child comes home with a practice sheet, have him/her erase any work from earlier that day. Then have him/her read each fact (not just the answer) aloud along with the answer. If you hear either the slightest hesitation or you child makes an error, give them extra practice by immediately giving your child the answer and asking him/her to repeat the problem and the answer again. Your child should then back up three problems and begin again. If there is no hesitation or mistake, be sure to praise your child. If you would like to have them practice writing the answers, wait at least an hour or try again in the morning. When working on memorizing facts, two short sessions with time in between is much more helpful than one very long session.
Flash Cards–When using flash cards with your child, use only 12 flash cards at a time (9 cards should be cards with facts that your child has already mastered. Brain research states that it is better to learn a small amount of new material mixed with a larger amount of mastered material. Cards are numbered at the bottom to let you know what order to switch new cards in. Start with the original 12. When your child is able to answer all 12 correctly in a cold read (the first time you practice), switch out #s 1-3 for #s 13-15. You will repeat this process each time switching out the oldest cards for newer ones as your child masters new facts. Do not rush to swap out cards, make sure your child has really mastered the facts. The old cards will go into a review deck which should be used every 4thtime you practice.
Spend about 2 to 3 minutes running through the cards. Your child should read each fact (not just the answer) aloud along with the answer. If you hear either the slightest hesitation or your child makes an error, give them extra practice by immediately giving your child the answer and asking him/her to repeat the problem and the answer again. Have your child repeat the fact and answer three more times. Put the card back three cards from the front so that your child has an opportunity to practice it again.
Math Fact Automaticity
What is Automaticity With Math Facts?
When students first begin learning math facts, they learn them to the level of accuracy –they are able to solve the problems correctly, if they take their time and concentrate. As they continue practicing, they develop fluency –the ability to solve problems quickly without making mistakes. The final stage is automaticity –students are able to solve problems quickly without errors and without much conscious attention. A student who has automaticity with math facts is able to perform other tasks at the same time (problem solving, multi-step problems, etc.). Students who have automaticity in decoding are able to read flashcards of the word without even thinking about it. Likewise, a student who has automaticity with math facts can’t help but to say the answer when they see the math fact.
Students who lack automaticity with math facts often complete higher leveled math problems riddled with tiny computation errors. These errors stem from not knowing their math facts to the level of automaticity. The student can either focus on the steps of the math problem, or focus on solving the math fact correctly, but they can’t do both. Helping students learn math facts to automaticity will improve their ability to learn and retain higher order math skills because they won’t be distracted with remembering their math facts.
How this program works: Rather than the usual sequence of learning math facts by factor (all the ones, fives, nines, etc.), this program introduces 2 new facts (and their reverses) per sheet so that students do not have too many to learn at a time. Students often fail to learn their facts because they are asked to learn too much at one time. When facts are introduced too quickly, students begin to confuse what they have already learned with newly introduced facts.
In addition, some of the more difficult facts are introduced midway through the sequence rather than at the end so that students have more time to work with them. Research seems to indicate that students often have more difficulty with these facts because they don’t have as much time to work with them, and they are learned late in the sequence when students have more facts they are trying to keep track of.
We will be making Paper Mache Penguins and Insects on January 22nd at 1:15.
PENGUIN PROJECT
Scientists who have traveled to the Antarctic to study penguins have found them to be very interesting to watch. They are sometimes described as clown-like birds. I invite you to find out more about these interesting birds by visiting the following website: http://classic.eastpennsd.org/teacherpages/parnold/_PENGUINS.html Thinglink: https://www.thinglink.com/scene/609137531820179456 .
Using the information you find under Penguins, please complete 1 of the following activities below and return to school by Monday, January 25th.
- Pick a penguin and write a report about that penguin telling at least 5 facts about that species of penguin (example: Rockhopper Penguins: how it looks, what it eats, where it lives, etc.) Fill in the info on the report form and then write 5 interesting facts on the back.
- Write a story about a penguin. Give your penguin a name and include facts about real penguins in your story. Fill in the form on the report and write story on the other side.
(example: There once was a penguin named Patty. She liked to eat fish and krill. She loved to toboggan down the hills of snow.)
3. Make a penguin diorama. Cover a shoebox and make a penguin scene using drawings or clip art of penguins. Write at least 3 penguin facts on and fill out report form. Please write your report or story on the attached paper. You may also make it into a book. You may include pictures from the computer or illustrations. Use your imagination. Have fun learning about penguins!
4. Please write your report or story on the attached paper. You may also make it into a book. You may include pictures from the computer or illustrations. Use your imagination. Have fun learning about penguins!
5. Take an Extra Challenge…Do two projects…report and diorama!
Students will share their projects with the class and should be able to read them by themselves.