February!!

Happy first week of February! Can you believe how quickly this year is going by?!

We'll be starting the week off with a brand new reading unit-Earth's Treasures. Our week's question will be, "What are Earth's natural treasures?" Our sight words will be way and over.

In spelling, we'll cover ir/er/ur words.

her, fern, bird, dirt, third, turn, curl, surf, girl, sister

That girl is my sister.

For math, we'll continue with tens and ones, but with a spin! They'll focus on greater than and less than to get ready for ten more ten less. The kiddos still need help counting 100-120 to help with patterning. 

I'm looking forward to a great week! Don't forget a hundred snack items and to dress up as a 100 year old on 100's Day on Tuesday. The kiddos will have so much fun seeing their teacher as a 100 year old ; ) If you have any questions, send them my way!

With Valentine's Day falling on a Sunday, we'll be celebrating on next half-day Thursday, the 11th. I'll be sending home a note with all the kiddo's names and party donation requests this Wednesday. Start thinking about what you'll be able to donate (healthy snacks, plates, juice, cups, etc.) We decorate bags at school, so no worries on building a one-of-a-kind box at home. If you'd like to donate Valentine's stickers, that's all we really use besides markers. Thanks!

Wishing you well,

Mrs. Dimock

Update 1/24/16

Hope everyone is well rested after the weekend! 

This week, we have a full week of learning and fun. 

In reading, we are in Unit 3 Week 4, focusing on "What is a community?" and "How do neighbors in a community play together?"

Our spelling words are: car, arm, dark, star, corn, sort, fork, horn, your, are

Sentence: His horn is in the car.

In math, we will continue to focus on tens and ones 1-120. This week's homework will be another tens and ones model page. 

Writing has us focusing on opinion writing, with strong conclusions and introductions. We'll be wrapping this unit up shortly, so stay tuned for a celebration date!

Just an FYI, we are entering the phase of First Grade where kiddos are establishing "best-friend" status with each other. This is a normal development for 6-7 year olds, but in a group of 18, some hurt feelings can come about when someone feels left out of the budding friendships. Encourage your kiddos to still play with all of their friends, accept when someone doesn't want to play with them, and that we are all friends in first grade! Keeping a positive classroom environment is super important to keep learning progressing. Thanks for all that you do at home to help them through these tricky spots in life.

I'm looking forward to a full week with the kiddos! See you Monday!

Mrs. Dimock

Update 1/17/15

There is no school Monday, January 18.  It is a PIR day and teachers will be in training.

I will be gone for on Friday morning at a funeral.  I'll be back in the afternoon.

Report cards go home Friday.  Remember BE PROUD OF  YOUR KIDDO!  Every single student made progress this quarter and worked very hard.

We will be working on another close read this week with the book, "Where are You, Boots?"  This is another book that focuses on community and what is necessary to have in a community.

There will be a spelling test on Friday.  We are still working on consonant digraphs or as we call them in first grade, "h brothers."

Week of the 18th-Consonant Digraphs-ch, wh
chin, chest, chop, such, inch, lunch, catch, rich, much, what
They are at lunch.

Now that our FastBridge assessments are complete we are able to get back to our regular writing and math schedule.

We will be starting a new writing unit this week.  Our new focus is on opinion writing.

In math we will continue to work on place value.  I am excited to get back to small group math and math centers.  This allows me to reach each learner on their level and for him or her to better understand the concepts.  Since our math was a bit crazy last week due to testing I want to review this week and make sure the kiddos have a good understanding of what the tens and ones place means.

Wishing you well,
Mrs. Dimock

FYI 1/11-1/15/16

Whew! Last week just flew by. I can't believe we are already in the last week of Quarter 2!

This week, we will start Unit 3 Week 2 of our reading series. Our question, "What is a community?" will be answered through small group, reading comprehension, and a reflection at the end of the week. As always, practice those sight words! (found on the left hand side of the web version of the blog).

Our spelling words this week are:

ship, shell, fish, trash, this, path, bath, that, when, thank

The ship was from his mom. 

Our sight words this week are:

went, called, how, after, I'll, long, ball, need

In math, we will continue working with tens and ones. We are learning the math way to say the names of numbers. I call "twenty-four" the nickname and" two tens and four ones" the math way. We are also writing numbers 1-120, so if you'd like to help at home, have your kiddo practice writing out those numbers and reading them back to you. 

This is a fun game to play to practice the represented form of tens and ones http://www.abcya.com/base_ten_bingo.htm

Keep up the great work at home and let me know if you need any support finding materials or have questions about the curriculum!

Wishing you well,

Mrs. Dimock

Welcome to 2016!

I hope you had a great winter break! My husband and I enjoyed a snowy Christmas with family in Cody, Wyoming and I spent the rest of break catching up on some reading, prepping the classroom for the new activities, and catching up with friends.

This week we will begin unit 3 of our reading series. It is called, "In My Neighborhood," and focuses on social studies themes, "how communities are alike and different, how jobs affect a community, and how geography and economics affect the way people work and play in a community."

Spelling words are:
sand, jump, tent, lamp, milk, help, went, desk, next, want
You can jump with him.

In math, we will begin our tens and ones unit and wrap up Quarter 2 skills. Can you believe we're already almost half way through the year?!

In writing, we will give our writing assessments for how-to, opinion, and informational pieces. We will also begin our Opinion unit. First graders are usually pretty good at opinions, but we are excited to begin teaching them how to use facts to support their opinions.

Socially, we will be spending some time reviewing school and classroom rules. That means high expectations from all staff at Bitterroot. We will have homework going home, which I expect back by Friday, and as always, help your littles study for the weekly spelling test! If I find that some of the kiddos are having a hard time bouncing back from holiday break, I may be calling home to set up a behavior meeting.

Here are some photos from our last week of 2015! Also, congrats, Zander, on your Purple Hand nomination!

Christmas Program

Reading our gift exchange books

Watching "Polar Express"