Welcome Back!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoyed a few extra days off!  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded by family and friends. I can't believe it is already December this week!

Don't forget our Holiday Music Program is on December 18 at 9:30.  I hope you can make it.

We are starting to run low on snack.  We have enough to make it through Christmas.  If you are able to donate a box or two of snack we would be very grateful.

This week we will be doing a close read with the book "An Orange in January."  We will continue to gather more ideas on how out world changes and try to answer the question, "How does nature affect the way we move and change?"

Our spelling focus this week is r-blends.  Please help your child study.  We will be having a test on Friday.

crack, drop, grab, drum, trick, grin, scrub, strip, brother, pretty

This drum has a crack!

 We will continue to work on our how-to writing this week.  We will be putting it in a book, using transition words, revise/edit, and learn how to use detailed pictures to teach.

In math, we will focus on missing addend and counting on and back from any number between 0-120.

Sunday Update

Happy Sunday, Parents! We have a short week coming up, but just a few reminders. 

We have school on Monday and half-day Tuesday. If you are going to pull kids for early holiday travel, please call and let Mrs. Zimmerman know. 

Make sure that kiddos are dressed appropriately for the weather. With Montana weather, you never know what is going to happen! When it is snowing, kiddos will not be allowed to play anywhere but the blacktop unless they have snow boots, snow pants, gloves(not cotton mittens), and an appropriate coat. They will be sent outside no matter what, but it's not very much fun playing on the blacktop all day!

We had such a blast with our Disguise a Turkey project!

Also, we are running low on snack. We have about enough to make it until Christmas, but we will be cutting it out if we don't get any donations. 

Sunday Update

Wasn't that writing celebration so much fun?! The kiddos were so calm and shy! Not what we're used to on most days, but it was cute watching them be so nervous/excited for the task.

This week, we will be continuing our reading comprehension unit about stories. More specifically, we'll be looking at characters in the stories and their roles in the those stories.

The kids are really enjoying our science unit in Lead21. We've explored how plants  and animals grow and change, and will be moving into how things move and change. We will also be in Unit 2 Week 2 for spelling (for all of you spelling city users out there!) Our spelling this week is short /u/.

hug, bus, cut, gum, rub, cub, duck, plum, was, but

I want to get a new duck.

In math, we will begin looking more closely at adding 10 to a number, missing addends, and addition and subtraction word problems. Please practice XtraMath at home to help with fact fluency.

We also watched a dog safety video on Friday. We've had quite the run in with animals around the school, in the school, and stories from home. For more information, I've always liked this resource http://stopthe77.com/. 

Have a great week!

-Mrs. Dimock

Writing Celebration: Pre-Meeting

I've had such an amazing RSVP for our writing celebration! Thank you and I look forward to seeing you work with the kiddos. That being said, 28 is a crowd, so here is some crowd management ; P

1. Check in with Mrs. Zimmerman at the front.

2. Please wait until 12:30 to enter the classroom, as I will need to transition from read aloud to celebration expectations.

3. I will group kiddos so that they are with their parents, but also 2 or 3 other students. 

4. Students will take turns reading their stories. We will practice on Thursday, but they may still need a little help. I will be walking around the room to monitor and help some of those kiddos.

5. During listening, the other students must have eyes and ears on the student reading, to show respect (making someone else feel important). After the student has shared, the listening students will give 1 compliment. "I like your words" and "I like your drawings" is what I call the "kindergarten" compliment. We are first graders so we say things like, "I enjoyed the beginning of the story about..." or "I liked how you used exciting words like...!"

6. When all the kiddos are done sharing in your group, we will head back to our seats and write in our journals until the whole group is done. Then we will have our celebration treat, clean up, and off to P.E. (I'll be needing to grade spelling tests at this time, so as much as I love to chat with parents, I'm going to have to scoot ya'll out of the room ; ) 

Thank you for your support and I can't wait to see you on Friday! Again, if anyone else would like to join us, please RSVP so I can make group arrangements. 

-Mrs. Dimock

Sunday Update!

Thank you for our awesome PTC turnout! It was great to see how many parents support their children in learning. We had a fun few half-days in class with crafts, pumpkin bars, and new books. Thanks for all that you do. Reminder that book orders are due on the 9th!

This coming week we will begin Unit 2, "On the Move," in our reading series. Our reading groups will be investigating, "How do plants and animals grow and change?" 

We are nearing the end of Unit 2 in our writing curriculum, personal narratives, and will be having our celebration this Friday. The kiddos will have show so much growth between our first celebration and this one. I am inviting parents in at 12:30 on Friday to come join in on the fun. I'm even bribing you with treats ; ) The kiddos will be off to P.E. at 1:00 so I can clean up the fun!

Spelling this week are /l/ blends. For some students, it will be difficult to stretch out the words, so please practice.

clap, clam, clip, plan, slam, slot, slid, split, play, the

I like that play. 

In math, we will continue with subtraction 0-10, focusing on solving subtraction with addition. 

This Tuesday we will be having our personal safety lesson with Mrs. Neese. This is a lesson than you've already signed off for in the back-to-school packet at the beginning of the year. If you have any questions, please call or email Mrs. Neese.

Also, with Thanksgiving coming up, we will have 2 homework assignments this week! We will have our usual math page and also our "How to Disguise a Turkey," project. I will be sending home the turkey page on Wednesday with a little note on some extra details. Please don't spend extra money decorating the turkey. Usually common household items work just fine. Make sure your child is the one decorating so they will be able to finish the "How-to," writing portion of the project. Thanks for you help!

Pumpkin Bar Recipe

Excuse the stains and folding...this is a well loved recipe!

A Word from Mrs. Neese!

With the holidays just around the corner, Arrowhead Elementary has challenged all elementary schools to collect peanut butter and jelly for Family Services.  Family Services helps to feed over 7,000 people each month. 

Bitterroot will start on Monday, November 9th and end on Friday, November 20th. Student Council is keeping a count, as the classroom with the most donations will win a pizza party. 

The district goal is 1,000 jars!  This would last Family Services one month!

Karen Cox Memorial Scholarship Basket Raffle

Dearest Parents,

If you feel so inclined, the Karen Cox Memorial Scholarship Basket Raffle is taking place, and has some awesome baskets to bid on. Here is the link to the details and the pictures of the baskets. http://karencoxmemorialscholarshipbasketraffle.webs.com/

Our basket was put together by yours truly! Thanks to all the donors of our giftcards!

Wishing you well,

Mrs.Dimock

Conference Week!

Happy November!

I hope you and your child had a fun and safe Halloween!  Please make sure they keep his/her candy at home.

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are noon dismissal days due to Parent Teacher Conferences.  Please call the office if you need to switch your conference time.  I am looking forward to sharing all the great things your child has accomplished so far!

Report cards go home on Tuesday.  Please remember report cards are not like they used to be.  They are now a standards based progress report.  This means we look at the full year expectations and report where your child is currently.  However, in the reading categories we look at the current quarter's reading level expectations and report based on those reading levels.  There will be many 1s and 2s on your child's report card.  This is perfectly normal.  A 3 is our goal for the end of the year.  A 1 does not necessarily mean your child is not where her or she should be academically.  It could also mean that we have not taught all parts of the standard.  We will go over your child's report card during conferences and visit more on how your child was assessed.  Be proud of your child's accomplishments!

A quick peek at our week...

We will be wrapping up unit 1 in reading groups this week.

Our reading comprehension focus is identifying the beginning, middle, and end of a story.

In writing, we will be working to stay on topic, writing a good beginning and ending, and writing different sentence beginnings.

We will be starting subtraction in math.  We will learn many different strategies such as, using a number line to count back, using doubles, and draw a picture.

We will practice more high frequency words during spelling this week, but we will not be having a spelling test.  With the noon dismissal days we will not be getting to spelling each day and do not have time on Friday for a test.  The words we will be practicing this week are still listed if you would like to help your child practice at home.

Week of the 2nd-High Frequency Words Round 2!

he, for, was, on, are, as, with, his, they, at

They are with his dad.

We might have snow!  Make sure and label all snow gear- hats, mittens, boots, snow pants, coats, etc.  It is amazing how many kids shop at the same place.  Also, kids are not allowed to go off the blacktop unless they have their snow gear.  In the mean time, I will be wishing for sun and warm weather.

Have a great week!