Practice Makes Better

I don't like the old saying that practice makes perfect.  It is more appropriate to say practice makes better.  As a class we know one of the best ways to become a good reader is to practice, practice and practice some more.  Check out the photos of some good readers practicing to be be better readers. 



This is the last week for new alphabet sounds and word wall words.  This week we are learning about "Xx" as in "x on the x-ray."  The word wall words are say, came, up.  For the remaining weeks of school, we will be reviewing all the word wall words and sounds.  Don't give up practicing word wall words.  You want your child instantly to read the word wall words upon sight!  No thinking of the word or trying to sound them out.

In math we are discussing measurement, addition and numbers to 20.  Busy times in Room 115.

Our Spring Egg Hunt is this Thursday.   Let's hope for beautiful weather.  If you contacted me about helping, I will send out an email on Tuesday evening giving you all the details.  Remember to send in 17 eggs (labeled 1-17) by Tuesday.  NO CHOCOLATES in the eggs please.

Each student should be taking at least one AR test a week.

Field Trip money to the zoo is due Friday.

I will send home information about purchasing the Room 115 scrapbook on Wednesday.  I'm offering it at the cost the publisher sells it at.  This is NOT a fund-raising activity.  I am placing the order for the books on the evening of Monday, May 2.  If you need additional time for payment, please contact me. 

Upcoming events:
Tuesday, April 19:  send in 17 (numbered 1-17) stuffed plastic eggs
Wednesday, April 20 - May 2:  Room 115 Scrapbook is on sale
Thursday, April 21:  Spring Egg Hunt for Room 115 (volunteers needed)  11:15-12:30
Friday, April 22:  This is a weather make up day:  school will be in session
Tuesday, April 26:  Gold Party from 4-7 pm in the library
Tuesday, April 26:  PTA meeting at 6:00 pm
Wednesday, April 27:  Room 115 field trip to the zoo
Friday, April 29:  Field Day for grades K-3
Friday, May 13:  Boosterthon Fun Run
Thursday, May 19:  Kindergarten Celebration  at 9:00
 
Email me with any questions or concerns you may have. 

A School Day Goes By Qucikly

The seven hours we spend together daily in Room 115 goes by quickly.  We are busy reading, writing, painting, creating, and counting. 

This week we are investigating the letter "Uu" as in upside-down.  The word wall words are:  under, please, big, eat. 

In math, we are learning to add and measure.  A favorite activity in our calendar notebook is to add the consonants and vowels in the leader's name.  Give us a word and see if we can identify the vowels/consonants and help write a number sentence.

Please return your intent to return to Blount Elementary form.  This will help us prepare for next year.

Permission slips for our field trip to the zoo will go home on Monday.

Please send in $5.00 for a family secret by this Wednesday.

Tuesday, April 12:  Spirit night at Jason's Deli
Wednesday, April 13:  deadline for turning in $5.00 for a family secret
Tuesday, April 19:  send in 17 (numbered 1-17) stuffed plastic eggs
Wednesday, April 20 - May 2:  Room 115 Scrapbook is on sale
Thursday, April 21:  Spring Egg Hunt for Room 115 (volunteers needed)  11:15-12:30
Friday, April 22:  This is a weather make up day:  school will be in session
Tuesday, April 26:  Gold Party from 4-7 pm in the library
Tuesday, April 26:  PTA meeting at 6:00 pm
Wednesday, April 27:  Room 115 field trip to the zoo
Friday, April 29:  Field Day for grades K-3
Friday, May 13:  Boosterthon Fun Run
Thursday, May 19:  Kindergarten Celebration  at 9:00

I'm not cooking on Tuesday so I hope to see you at Jason's Deli! Email me with any questions or concerns you may have. 

Save the Dates!

Be sure to pull your calendar out and write down the upcoming events that are found at the end of this post.  The last nine weeks of school is a very busy time!

This week we are investigating the letter "Qq" as in quail on a quilt.  The word wall words are:  good, pretty, who, ride.

Make some homemade flash cards with the letters b,d,q,and p on them.  Work with your child to immediately recognize the lowercase letters that are commonly mistaken.  (On the end of the year test, the lowercase q does not have a tail that flips up.) 

In math we are working with the numbers up to 20 and basic addition up to the number five.  When working with your child at home, make sure your child knows that addition is when you take two different sets of numbers and put them together to make a larger set!

April book orders will go home on Monday with the deadline of Friday.  If you choose to order on-line, our class' code is GL88R.   Book orders are optional.

The students have a very special family project that we are preparing for you.  Please send in $5 to cover the cost of materials of our family secret.  The deadline to send in the money is Wednesday, April 13.  Please let me know if this is a problem. Our family secret will be ready in late May.

Save the dates:
Monday, April 4-April 13:  send in $5.00 for a family secret
Tuesday, April 5:  Spirit night at Burger King
Tuesday, April 12:  Spirit night at Jason's Deli
Wednesday, April 20 - May 2:  Room 115 Scrapbook is on sale
Thursday, April 21:  Spring Egg Hunt for Room 115 (volunteers needed)  11:15-12:30
Friday, April 22:  This is a weather make up day:  school will be in session
Tuesday, April 26:  Gold Party from 4-7 pm in the library
Tuesday, April 26:  PTA meeting at 6:00 pm
Wednesday, April 27:  Room 115 field trip to the zoo
Friday, April 29:  Field Day for grades K-3
Friday, May 13:  Boosterthon Fun Run
Thursday, May 19:  Kindergarten Celebration  at 9:00

Did you notice how the majority of the words from last week's poem, "Five Little Birds," were word wall words.  As you can see from the slideshow posted below, we had tremendous fun acting out the poem and learning about subtraction.  Remember to check back packs this Friday for our new poem. 



Email me with any questions or concerns.  Enjoy this beautiful weather!

It's Cool Growing Up!

When the children entered the classroom upon returning from Spring Break, the first thing I noticed was how tall everyone grew during the nine days off!  With the remaining weeks of school, we will be practicing being first graders!  That means tightening up on discipline and higher expectations on completing classroom work. 

Testing continues this week for grades 3-6.  Please help the testing atmosphere by having your child at school on time and avoiding check ins and outs.  Because we eat lunch so early and testing will not end until 11:30 or later, please do NOT join us for lunch on testing days to avoid any distractions.  The testing dates are:
Monday, March 28
Tuesday, March 29

Box Top collection is Thursday, March 31.  Please send in any box tops/labels you have at your house.  Every little box top helps our school during this funding crisis!

In reading this week, we are investigating "Oo" as in octopus in the office.  The word wall words are: have, saw, must.  

I will send home a letter on Tuesday about our classroom scrapbook.  The classroom scrapbook is optional.  

In math we are working with the numbers 11-20.  We are beginning to focus on addition.  If you want to work on this at home, get a pair of dice.  Roll the dice and add the spots.  Make sure your child understands that with addition that you are taking two sets and putting them together to make a bigger number.

I pride myself on staying current on the latest children's literature and reading books to your children that are of quality.  I model for them comprehension skills and we read for enjoyment.  There is always a book that is requested over and over again.  I was taken aback by the most requested story from last week.  It wasn't even in book form, rather it was a story I showed them on the dry erase board.  I was teaching them the word wall word "are."  The following is the most requested story from last week:  A, R, and E were best friends.  They did everything together.  They were trying to think of a name to call themselves.  A wanted the group to be called "A", E wanted the group to be called "E", and R wanted the group to be called "R."  Nobody could agree on a proper name.  So one day, R put a piece of tape on A and E's mouth and announced their name would be pronounced "R."  When it came time for dictation on Friday, one child retold the story of "are" on his dry erase board and it caught on like wildfire.  Here are the students who wanted their picture taken with their "are" story.



I will be out of the classroom on Thursday beginning after lunch.

Email me with any questions or concerns you may have.  Have a great week!

The Beginning of the 4th Nine Weeks

Welcome Back.  I hope everyone had a restful week.  I'm so excited to get back to work and listen to the spring break news of Room 115.  I cannot believe that we are beginning the fourth nine weeks.  I need time to slow down!

For the next two weeks the students in grades 3-6 will be taking standardized tests.  Please help the testing atmosphere by having your child at school on time and avoiding check ins and outs.  Because we eat lunch so early and testing will not end until 11:30 or later, please do NOT join us for lunch on testing days to avoid any distractions.  The testing dates are:
Tuesday, March 22
Wednesday, March 23
Monday, March 28
Tuesday, March 29

This week we are studying the letter "Ll" as in lobster in the lighthouse.  Word wall words are:  was, come, well, are, now.

Be sure to check out our poetry journals in Friday's back pack.

Report Cards will be issued on Thursday.  Please sign one copy and return to school.  You may keep the second copy. 

In math, we are working on number sense, counting to twenty and beginning to put number combinations together.  We can identify the coins but now we are learning their value.  Busy, busy times in math.

Remember that I want each child taking at least ONE Accelerated Reader test a week.  Let me know if you need additional AR tickets.

Please tell family members and friends who have a child entering Kindergarten next year to join us for a Kindergarten Open House this Thursday, March 24 from 5:30-7:00 pm.  This program is for parents and children that will begin Kindergarten next year.

Check out the previous post on the blog that has pictures from the Character Book Parade.  The children looked adorable!

Classroom needs:  boxes of tissues and cap erasers.  Thank you for supporting our classroom.

We worked so hard to catch that Leprechaun that was loose in our classroom.  Room 115 is a class full of problem solvers.  Unfortunately, we were unable to catch the Leprechaun.  Thank you so much for your assistance.


Contact me with any concerns or questions.

Becoming Lifelong Readers

Thanks so much to Mrs. Martin for taking the photos of  Room 115 during my absence.  When I look at these photos I see children who love books and are on their way to become life long readers.  I could bore you with facts after facts about the impact reading has on a child but I know you would much rather look at the pictures.  If you want facts, please email me!

A Return to Normal

 Oh, how I've missed Room 115!

In all the seventeen years of teaching I don't think I've ever missed four days of school in a school year except the years I  went on maternity leave.  I am so ready to get back into the classroom and see my special friends.  Thank you for understanding my absence and for the prayers.  They were needed and felt.  I have missed working in Room 115. 

This week I will review "Ff" and introduce "Gg" as in goose in the grass.  The word wall words are said, would, ran, in, could, just.  

I will be assessing word wall words on Wednesday. 

I will also be assessing for report cards this week so reading groups will be abbreviated.  I'm not sure if we will get to the reading homework sheets so just check the folders each nightly.

Doughnuts for Dads is this Wednesday and Thursday.  If you did not send in the RSVP found on the front of the March newsletter, do so on Monday.

There is a leprechaun loose in our classroom. Your homework assignment this week is to make a leprechaun trap to catch the leprechaun.  Let your child dictate the trap with you available for help.  This project is due on Friday.  Please do not send your trap in early because I do not have room to store the traps.  Don't let this project put stress on your family, use items from your house to help us catch the leprechaun.  The only guideline is to let your child use his/her imagination in building a trap.

I will send home a book order on Monday.  Book orders will be due on Thursday.  Our class' code for ordering online is GL88R.  Book orders are optional.

If you need help with dinner tomorrow night, Mellow Mushroom is having spirit night.  Be sure to tell them you are from Blount.

Remember that Spring Break is March 14-18.  Have a wonderful time with your child.  This school year is flying by.  School starts back on March 21.

Email me with any questions or concerns.  Thanks for your support of our classroom.