The first teacher

Your child meets his/her first teacher the moment he/she is born: YOU! From day one your child is learning through your words and actions. When you invest in your child's education you send the message that school is important. Thank you for being a partner. I truly enjoy the time I have spent with those of you I have had conferences with. I look forward to seeing the rest of you tomorrow and Thursday!

Accountability

There are many ways to hold someone accountable. It is important for children to learn what accountability is and why it is important. One area of accountability in the classroom is academic. I recently printed out what each child has completed on the IXL math app and highlighted areas where each student could improve on a particular concept. I handed these out and explained that we have to do our very best in all areas of work and sometimes that means going back and trying again. After a productive conversation, the students were excited about improving their scores. Today while we were working, one of the students said, "Wow my brain is working really hard!" I responded with, "it feels good to be accountable doesn't it?" His response, "yeah and I am the one who did it". Students who are held accountable are the ones who are going to achieve more and continue to work harder.

Follow our class on Twitter

Our class is on Twitter. This is another fun and easy way to see what's happening in our class. If you have a Twitter account, you can follow us @MrsA1stGrade.

Unit 10 spelling

Our next spelling test will be March 2nd. We are working on contractions with this unit. Here is a list of the spelling words:

couldn't

didn't

wouldn't

can't

haven't

weren't 

won't

aren't

don't

t

Using -er and -est

Today we learned about -er and -est. We read a cute story about three pigs named, Pig, Pigger, and Piggest. There were some elements similar to the story of the Three Little Pigs. The students loved the story and thought it was gross that the three pigs ended up getting married at the end. Ask your child to retell the story in their own words.

What stuck with you?

At the beginning of the year, we used to end the day with the question: What stuck with you? The students would share one thing that really stuck with them that day. Yesterday, one of the students asked me if we could start doing this again. Today we ended our day with what stuck with them. Some said Jumprope for Heart, some said recess (I usually make them stick to academics), but many of them said either ST Math and the play they read in Superkids. When I probed more about the ST Math, several of them said they were happy that they worked through a challenging problem or they moved to a new level. It is so wonderful to see the students persevere through challenges and not give up. This is so intrinsically rewarding and what sparks more learning!

Jumprope For Heart

Math apps

We added a few new math apps to our iPads today: Sumdog, Flash to Pass and Number Pieces. These have all been added to your child's math folder. I have encouraged your child to spend 15 minutes a day practicing math apps to become more fluent in his/her addition and subtraction to help meet the math goal.

Ask and you will receive...

...so this morning I asked the students how many of them read over the weekend. All but 3 students raised their hands. THANK YOU parents for reading with your child!! The next thing I asked was what was something new they learned. One girl raised her hand and said. "I learned that I have better fluency when I practice reading." WOW!! What an answer and yes this totally made my day. 

Welcome to my blog

Welcome to my blog! I hope you will find this a fun and informative way to stay in touch with what is happening in our classroom. I encourage you to visit this site several times a week for updates and pictures.