September 3-5

Dear Parents,

    We had another great week in first grade!

   This week we learned about the many landforms in our country and our world! We traveled to the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains and even made our own ‘SMORES for Fun Friday! Thank you, Mrs. McLeod for organizing this fun activity for us! We had a great time. J We will continue our study of landforms for the next few weeks and the animals that live around them. This will lead into the children choosing and researching facts about their favorite animal. Research is always a class favorite, as it allows the children to focus on their own interests and practice a very important life skill. I am looking forward to encouraging them through their research!

Thank you to those parents who attended the Small Groups Information session! If you were unable to make it, I have attached the information packet to an email for your convenience. Please take the time to read about this great opportunity to be a part of our classroom community!

Here’s what to look forward to in the curriculum next week:

Reading: Analyzing text structure to find the main idea and sequencing events in a story.

Phonics: Consonants- c, g, p, h, m, l, d, t 

Vowel- short o (as in top)

Red words: you, like, to

Grammar:  Understand statements.

Writing: Writing a personal narrative using the First Grade Writers Checklist.

Social Studies: Reviewing mountains and studying different animals who make these landforms their habitat.

Math: Interpreting and analyzing data, solving story problems using addition and subtraction, and looking at various strategies to solve a problem.

Important Updates and Reminders:

·      Please turn in your family picture to go along with your child’s writing no later than Tuesday, Sept. 3^rd. I will be posting the children’s writing along with their picture on the bulletin board next week. There are a few pictures missing and I know the children want to broadcast their hard working families!

·      Please continue to make sure your child arrives to school no later than 7:50 to ensure proper time to get settled for the day. This is such an important time for students to feel ready to conquer the day!

·      Tutoring begins next Wednesday, Sept. 4th please make sure to check your child’s Red Folder for an invitation and turn those in signed the following day with your permission.

·      We have Popsicles at the Park coming up September 8^th from 2:00-3:00 at Nancy Creek! I look forward to seeing you and your children for a fun afternoon!

·      Our school wants to give back to the brave members of our local Fire Department. Please speak with your child about the important role fire fighters play in our community and the importance of showing gratitude to those who keep us safe! We will be making Thank you Cards in the classroom to show our appreciation. You may also encourage your child to create something at home and bring it school. We will be turning in our creations on September 6^th.

Thank you for your support at home! It is a privilege working with your child!

Sincerely,

    Mrs. Peake 

August 26th-30th

Dear Firsties and Families,

 

It was a delight speaking with you all on Monday at 1st grade Orientation! I hope that you found the information helpful as we continue to work together. Please visit the “classroom information” section of our blog if you still have questions about our class. As always you may also email me with any additional questions. I am so fortunate to be working with you and your child this year.

 

We had a VERY productive week learning and growing together in first grade! We traveled across the United States and discussed the importance of dividing labor at home, throughout our state and our nation. We know that the best communities collaborate well together to address their needs. We also practiced our mapping skills by playing a few games using our map of the United States. I was very impressed by their sense of direction! They seemed to catch on quickly to the cardinal directions, especially when reminded to Never Eat Soggy Waffles!

 

One of our main goals these first couple of weeks has been to be able to write a complete sentence. This tends to be an overwhelming task for first graders at the beginning of the year because they are decoding words as well as trying to remember a capital letter at the beginning, an ending mark, and checking to make sure their sentence is a complete thought (includes a noun and verb). Please kindly encourage your child to write complete sentences at home. They have already been making great progress in the classroom!

 

In math, we have been practicing skip counting by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s for number fluency, interpreting data using a variety of graphs and finding different ways to compose numbers up to 10. (For example: 9=4+5, 3+3+3=9, 10-1=9, etc.) We have also been building our math vocabulary understandings by categorizing words such as: sum, difference, more than, greater, less, least, equal, same, etc.

 

 

 

Here’s what to look forward to next week in the curriculum:

Reading: Analyzing story structure and identifying the sequence of events, and analyzing the text feature: Labels

Grammar: Understanding Word Order and ending punctuation.

Phonics: Consonants- c,d,g,l,m,h,t Vowel-a

Red Words- the, and, is

Social Studies: Introducing Landforms and identifying mountain ranges in the U.S.,

Math: Solving story problems with addition and subtraction, and interpreting data using a graph.

Writing:Writing a personal narrative about our hard working families.

 

Important Announcements and Reminders:

 

-Please send in a picture that includes each member of your family with your child on Monday. This will be an important part of our writing. The picture will be returned to you.

 

-Please remember to visit our class’ Shutterfly website to view pictures, volunteer opportunities or events that pertain to our class. You can find the site in our “Links” tab.

 

- Please also remember that we are having a quick informative meeting in the classroom about “Small Groups” on Thursday August 29th at noon. Small Groups will begin Tuesday, September 10th.

 

-CONGRATULATIONS to Kyle Fu for being our first STAR STUDENT! Kyle has done a great job following our agreements this week and comes to school ready to learn with a smile on his face! Great job, Kyle!

 

Thank you for your support at home! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

 

Sincerely,

    Mrs. Peake

jpeake@atlanta.k12.ga.us

Common Core: A National Shift in Teaching and Learning

THANK YOU

Thank you to our amazing Room Mom Ashley Welcher for completing our fabulous Shutterfly website! It looks incredible! Please make sure to volunteer for Small Groups. We would love you to join our class.

Here is the link to access the Shutterfly website. It is also included in the "links" tab on our website! The iphone APP is super user friendly. I have been able to quickly see who has volunteered, which will be helpful in preparing the children for your arrival. 

https://mrspeakesfabulousfirstgraders.shutterfly.com/

August 19th-23rd

August 19^th-23^rd

Dear 1^st Grade Families,

It has been a wonderful and fun-filled experience getting to know you and your child these past few days! Thank you for your enthusiasm and support as we embark on many new adventures together! First Grade is an academically rigorous year as we begin to learn many new concepts and explore the world around us.

Our first I.B. Unit is titled: “Working Together”. What a perfect way to start the new school year! The central idea of this unit is that communities collaborate in order to address the needs of daily life. We began studying our own classroom community, where the children had the opportunity to choose which jobs they would like to have in the classroom. One major concept we are focusing on is efficiency. How can we organize ourselves to become more efficient so that we can get the most out of our day? We then discussed our families as communities, our neighborhoods, our state, and next week we will be discussing how our nation also operates as a community.

Here’s a look into the curriculum for the following week:

Phonics: Focusing on a set of consonants and the two vowels (o,a) to create, read, and spell words.

Reading: Sequencing events throughout texts and the importance of characterization.

Grammar: Identifying the elements of a complete sentence: capital letter at the beginning, noun, verb and ending mark.

Science: Exploring the United States of America as a larger community as well as our responsibility and connection towards this community.

Math: Measuring and Interpreting Data

Writing: Writing a personal narrative about titled our "Hard Working Family."

Important Announcements/Reminders:

• I am looking forward to seeing you at first grade orientation on August 19th @ 6:30! We will celebrate/have introductions in the auditorium prior to meeting in the classroom for a brief meeting about the school year.

• Please remember that we have P.E. on Mondays and Wednesdays. On these days, please remind your child to wear comfortable shoes.
  
  
• August 29^th- Please join us at noon in the classroom for an informal meeting about Small Groups!  This will be a wonderful opportunity to become a part of your child’s learning at school.

I want to thank those of you who have contributed items to our class wish list! Your donations are being put to great use in the classroom 

Thank you once again for your support at home and at school,

Jean Peake

Email Issues

Hello Parents,
    Some of you have raised the concern that you are unable to respond to my APS email address. Until this issue can be resolved through the IT Department, please use my personal email (sjh0004@gmail.com) I will check both until it is fixed.

Thank you for your patience!

Sincerely,
    Mrs. Peake

Essential Agreements

Our First Week!!!

Dear Parents,

        Thank you so much for sharing your child with me this school year! After our first three days together, I can tell it is going to be a fantastic year full of learning and laughter.

      As a class, we have established a set of agreements that will be followed each day inside and even outside the classroom. We are all accountable to these agreements. Each child traced their hand and signed their name underneath our list. I was very impressed by the ideas that the children had throughout our discussion.  

1.     Try your best every day.

2.     Be helpful.

3.     Be respectful.

4.     Be safe.

Please show your support at home by asking your child about these agreements and by reminding them that they have pledged to follow them. It might even be a great idea to post them somewhere in your home J

The behavior plan in our classroom is the following:

Consequences

* In our classroom, each child has a set of blue, green, yellow and red cards. Everyone starts the day off on green. This means they are “ready to learn!” If a child chooses not to follow our agreements, they will always receive a verbal warning first.

*The next step is to turn their card to yellow. The consequence is to walk or run laps around the playground during the first couple of minutes in recess.

*If the behavior continues, the child will receive another warning. If this behavior still continues, the child will move their card to red. At this time, the child would write a “Reflection Log” explaining their choices and reflecting on how to make better choices next time. This log would go home and be signed and returned the following day.

 

 

Rewards:

·       If a child has an extraordinary day where they do what is expected and beyond, they can turn their card to BLUE!

·       WARM FUZZIES: Each table has a caddy where I drop “warm fuzzies.” Little fuzzies are worth 1 point. Big Fuzzies are worth 5 points. The table that has the most warm fuzzies at the end of each week picks from the TREASURE BOX!

·       To encourage the whole class to work as a team, I have a big jar that all the fuzzies will be poured into at the end of the week. Once this jar is filled, the students get a big prize of their choice. For example: A pizza party, extra recess, or pajama day.

·       It is my philosophy that keeping a “warm”, positive atmosphere eliminates most behavioral problems.

 

I have found this system to be very effective in preventing classroom distractions. Consistency is key. Thank you for your support in implementing this plan J

 

Important Announcements/Reminders:

·       This Monday, August 12^th we will be taking pictures for our bulletin board. Our bulletin board says “The Future’s So Bright We Have to Wear Shades!” We are going to be taking pictures wearing sunglasses. If your child has a pair of sunglasses please send them to school on Monday.

·       Please mark your calendars for the upcoming Orientation on August 19^th from 6:30-7:15. An opportunity to RSVP is coming soon as we are still receiving new students. I will answer many questions that you may have at this orientation. I look forward to seeing you then!

·       Our class is in need of some “Emergency Snacks” for those students who forget to bring their snack to school. Nutritional items such as: wheat thins, apple sauce (with spoons), granola bars, goldfish, etc. would be great choices.

 

Thank you so much for your support at home! We are having so much fun in first grade!

 

Truly yours,

Mrs. Peake J

"Whose Child is This?"

Author Unknown

"Whose child is this?" I asked one day
Seeing a little one out at play
"Mine", said the parent with a tender smile
"Mine to keep a little while
To bathe his hands and comb his hair
To tell him what he is to wear
To prepare him that he may always be good
And each day do the things he should"

"Whose child is this?" I asked again
As the door opened and someone came in
"Mine", said the teacher with the same tender smile
"Mine, to keep just for a little while
To teach him how to be gentle and kind
To train and direct his dear little mind
To help him live by every rule
And get the best he can from school"

"Whose child is this?" I ask once more
Just as the little one entered the door
"Ours" said the parent and the teacher as they smiled
And each took the hand of the little child
"Ours to love and train together
Ours this blessed task forever."