Reminders Before Thanksgiving Break

Hello families,

I'm writing early this week to remind you about a few things.

Tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday are early dismissal at 11:00. Students will receive a bag lunch to eat at home. There are no activities, 21C classes or Thrive on these days. All students must be picked up at 11:00.

I am excited to meet with you all for our parent/teacher conferences over the next two days. Please be timely since most conferences are back-to-back. Be ready to share anything you are excited to see in your child's learning or ready to share questions or concerns you may have. I'm happy to be able to share their work and progress with you!

We send everything home from lockers over break so even if your child usually leaves snowpants, extra clothes, or shoes in their locker everything will be sent home Thursday and Friday so they have what they need over the break.

Finally there is a clothing drive in the cafeteria tomorrow from 1pm to 6pm. If your family needs any clothing or warm winter gear check it out to see if they have what you need!

Dates to Remember:

• November 25 - 29 - No School for Thanksgiving Break
• December 2 - School resumes
• December 11 - Early Dismissal 12:15; student activities available with prior sign up
• December 12 - Winter Concert 6:30pm
• December 23 - January 1 - Winter Break
• January 2 - School resumes

❤ Mrs. Fox

Highlights from Our Short Week!

Hello families,

With the snow day on Tuesday this week absolutely flew by. We celebrated a full heart jar on Monday with a bonus recess. We wrapped up our first big math unit on Thursday and we had an All School Meeting on Friday.

This week in readers workshop we began to focus more on how reading partners work together. We brainstormed lots of ways to problem solve when your partner is not engaged. We learned how partners help encourage each other to try lots of strategies to figure out words. We reviewed how partners think and share about their books by doing something after they read (share a favorite part, retell the story, make a connection to the story).

In writers workshop we are flying through our small moment stories. This week we focused on adding details to help bring our stories to life. We unfreeze characters by making them move and talk. We tell the story in itty bitty steps. We bring the inside out by showing what the characters think and feel. 

Today you should see a blue paper come home with your conference time (it's also posted outside our classroom). If the time given does not work for you please let me know ASAP so I can try to find a time we can meet next Thursday or Friday. I'm excited to share all the progress your child has made this year!

Dates to Remember:

• November 16 - PTO Craft Fair
• November 21- Early Dismissal 11:00; No student activities; Parent/Teacher Conferences 11:45-8
• November 22- Early Dismissal 11:00; No student activities; Parent/Teacher Conferences 11:30-3
• November 25 - 29 - No School for Thanksgiving Break

Have a great weekend!

❤ Mrs. Fox

Highlights of the Week

Hello families,

The Fox Kits have been gaining and extending many skills this week. They are showing more independence and self-regulating behaviors during work time too! This is awesome!

In readers workshop we continue to build good reading habits. This week we focused on why we reread books: to see more and more, to smooth out our voice, to scoop words into phrases. We also reviewed more decoding strategies at the word level: tap to spell, use picture clues, think of a word that makes sense, look for a part you know, be flexible with your vowel sounds (try short and long sounds), take off an ending.

In writers workshop students have been excitedly adding to their small moment stories by adding details to their pictures and words. We talked about the writing process: planning, drafting, revising, proofreading, publishing. Once finished with a story we check that it has all the story elements for a narrative (since small moment stories are really personal narratives) and then do some editing to check for spelling, spacing, letter formation and punctuation. On Friday we had our first "author's chair" where I asked 2 students to read their published stories to the class to highlight skills they did well that the class has been working on in our daily mini-lessons: writing a good beginning to set the scene and writing the story with just one little part on each page to stretch the small moment into a whole story.

We wrapped up unit 2 CVC (consonant-short vowel-consonant) words in FUNdations. Now we're adding digraphs to the mix. Digraphs are multiple letters that stick together to make a different sound. Right now we're working on: wh, th, sh, ch, ck.

We introduced one last concept in our first math unit. Now we're working on combinations. Instead of solving a story problem with just 1 answer, we try to come up with all the possible combinations to solve the story. Here's an example: I have 7 things on my plate. Some are peas. Some are carrots. How many of each could I have? Students use manipulatives (two tone counters, cubes), colors, or pictures to help them find as many combinations as they can. Then they must make a representation and write an equation for each one.

We were excited about the snow this week! It's that time of year to make sure your child comes to school with appropriate outerwear. Please send you child to school each day with: a warm jacket, snow pants, mittens or gloves, a hat, winter boots for outside, sneakers or shoes for inside. Having all of these things makes it easier to have fun in the snow at recess! We do go outside for recess any day we can! If the "feels like" temperature is less than 10 degrees Fahrenheit we do stay indoors that day.

Do you have any old/outgrown coats, boots, snow pants, gloves or mittens? If so, you could donate them to our classroom. When children don't have adequate outerwear they need to borrow some in order to go outside. I keep lockers for extra winter gear for kids to borrow. If you have any old winter wear feel free to send them in as extras for our classroom--they might fit someone else!

On Friday we went to a special presentation: the 6th Grade Circus! It was fun to watch this kid circus and see all the cool circus skills they have learned.

Another special event coming up is Thanksgiving with the Abbey Group. The annual community thanksgiving lunch will be November 14 from 10:50-12:15. Lunch is free for all students and $3.85 (pay at the door) for any family member who wants to attend and eat with their kids. If you want to attend please send back the RSVP slip at the bottom of the notice so they can plan accordingly!

Last week I sent home notices about our upcoming parent/teacher conferences. On Thursday 11/21 conferences run from 11:45 am - 7:30 pm. On Friday 11/22 conferences run from 11:30 am - 2:30 pm.  Time/date preference forms were due today, 11/8. Next week the staff will meet to schedule multi-kid family conferences.If you have multiple children at JFK we do our best to schedule you back-to-back conferences so you only have to come for one block of time in your day. I'll send home your conference time slot on 11/15 once all the scheduling is complete.

Dates to Remember:

• November 13 - PTO Meeting
• November 15 - All School Morning Meeting 8:15
• November 16 - PTO Craft Fair
• November 21- Early Dismissal 11:00; No student activities; Parent/Teacher Conferences 11:45-8
• November 22- Early Dismissal 11:00; No student activities; Parent/Teacher Conferences 11:30-3
• November 25 - 29 - No School for Thanksgiving Break

Have a great weekend!

❤ Mrs. Fox

Highlights from the End of October

Hello families,

Wow, this week whizzed by! We were engaged in lots of new learning this week. 

In readers workshop we are building good reading habits: responding to our reading when we finish a book, making a reading goal for the day and keeping track of how much we read, and rereading to make our voice smooth like talking.

At Library Mr. Gile showed us how he mends books!

In writers workshop we began writing "one time..." or "the first time I..." small moment stories. These are personal narratives stretching out one small moment from our lives into a whole story. We began this unit on Monday zooming into a big feeling we had in our story. Then we told the story counting the parts on our fingers and then did quick sketches to plan our story out. Finally we began to write and illustrate, writing each part of our small moment story on a different page.

In math our focus this week was representing our thinking in addition or subtraction by using a number line. We did lots of "Froggy on the Number line" pages to help us show the parts and whole numbers when we add or subtract.

On Thursday we did a few fun Halloween themed activities. We read Bones by Steve Jenkins and then drew and labeled our own skeleton diagrams. We played a Monster Mash adding game and started a Halloween math packet of simple computation and number patterns. We built skeletons using Q-tips! We also had "boo cheese" sticks and special Halloween snack bags at snack time.

On Friday we finally had our celebration, watching "The Land Before Time: The Big Freeze." We were also excited to have a dinosaur coloring book!

I sent home notices about our upcoming parent/teacher conferences. On Thursday 11/21 conferences run from 11:45 am - 7:30 pm. On Friday 11/22 conferences run from 11:30 am - 2:30 pm. If you have multiple children at JFK we do our best to schedule you back-to-back conferences so you only have to come for one block of time in your day. Please fill out the form to let me know if you have a time preference to meet with me. Please return the form by 11/8. I'll send home your conference time slot on 11/15 once all the scheduling is complete.

Dates to Remember:

• November 13 - PTO Meeting
• November 15 - All School Morning Meeting 8:15
• November 17 - PTO Craft Fair
• November 21- Early Dismissal 11:00; No student activities; Parent/Teacher Conferences 11:45-8
• November 22- Early Dismissal 11:00; No student activities; Parent/Teacher Conferences 11:30-3
• November 25 - 29 - No School for Thanksgiving Break

Have a great weekend!

❤ Mrs. Fox

Highlights of the Week

Hello families,
With 2 early release days this week flew by even faster than usual. Even still the Fox Kits worked hard and showed so much HEART. They filled their heart jar again! This time they chose to watch a movie for a celebration which we'll make time to do next week!

We began reading groups as part of our Readers Workshop routines. While I confer with groups of students working on similar skills the rest of the class does their independent reading choices that we've been practicing all year so far: read to myself, read to someone, work on writing (free writing), and word work (trick word word searches, roll and record letters or sight words). We also learned one more way we read sometimes--Listening to Reading! Students will be able to listen to an audio picture book each week. This helps students access higher level texts than they can read independently. This helps to expand their vocabulary, learn about more complex story structures, and it's fun! On Friday we practiced by listening to a favorite book, Pete the Cat: Rocking in my School Shoes.

We read a few more books this week and did response to literature writing projects about them. After reading Alphabet Mystery we took our own alphabets off on adventures to: Italy, a water park at night, a forest, the beach, prehistoric times, under the sea, and more!

After reading Pete the Cat: 5 Little Pumpkins we practiced writing trick word the and made a picture to match the story.

All the WIN groups are up and running now in the afternoons. Some groups meet everyday and some groups are just once a week. Students do WIN work Monday-Thursday. Students are working in skill-based groups dependent on what area they need extra practice or extra extension. Ask your child what skills they are working on and who their WIN teacher is!

In math we continue to work with story problems, equality and comparing numbers. We began some number line work, thinking about patterns and filling in the missing numbers. On Wednesday we also did an assessment to see what basic addition and subtraction calculations your child can do independently at this point in the year. This is an assessment we do each fall, winter, and spring.

Nurse Liz came in to do a special lesson on germs. We learned about how germs spread and how to prevent them from spreading. The best way is through proper hand washing. We used a special lotion and a black light to practice washing away all our germs. By the end of the lesson all the Fox Kits were germ busters!

Dates to Remember:

• November 13 - PTO Meeting
• November 15 - All School Morning Meeting 8:15
• November 17 - PTO Craft Fair
• November 21- Early Dismissal 11:00; No student activities; Parent/Teacher Conferences 12-8
• November 22- Early Dismissal 11:00; No student activities; Parent/Teacher Conferences 12-3
• November 25 - 29 - No School for Thanksgiving Break

Have a great weekend!

❤ Mrs. Fox

Highlights of the Week

Hello families,

We had a fun week together. We read many books together with the focus on identifying feelings and discussed ways we handle our feelings in appropriate ways. We read: Visiting Feelings, Grumpy Bird, and Mindful Monkey, Happy Panda.

We did one more writing project to get to know each other: "Me, Myselfie, and I." The kids had a lot of fun making these little books and reading them to each other. They loved finding out if they had favorite things in common! 
Did you see it come home? Check it out!

These students noticed that they all chose writing as their favorite school activity!

I finished doing reading assessments this week and next week will begin meeting with groups of kids during our readers workshop to work on individual skills at their level. The whole class will also be working on developing reading strategies and practicing these together.

In math we started to mix things up and solve addition and subtraction story problems. We had to think about what was happening in the story to know if we needed to add or take away. The Fox Kits are really improving in how they represent their thinking in clear and organized ways!

In FUNdations we began using our magnet boards to build CVC words--words with a consonant-short vowel sound-consonant (i.e. hat, mud, lip). We are also practicing how to spell trick words (common words that don't follow traditional spelling rules): a, is, his, of, the, and.

Dates to Remember:

• October 24 - Picture Retake Day
• October 24 & 25 - Early Dismissal 11:00 (activities available with prior sign-up)
• November 13 - PTO Meeting
• November 15 - All School Morning Meeting 8:15
• November 17 - PTO Craft Fair
• November 21- Early Dismissal; No student activities; Parent/Teacher Conferences 12-8
• November 22- Early Dismissal; No student activities; Parent/Teacher Conferences 12-3
• November 25 - 29 - No School for Thanksgiving Break

Have a great weekend!

❤ Mrs. Fox

Highlights from a True Autumn Week

Hello families,

This week in readers workshop we used a new tool to "sign up" for our reading choices and practiced switching between choices more quickly and quietly. Students continued to meet with me to check their sight word knowledge. Sight words are commonly used words that don't always follow traditional spelling/reading rules (i.e. what, was, am). Knowing these words on sight helps students spend less energy decoding these common words so they can focus their brain power on decodable words (i.e. cat, spell, name). Some students also did 1:1 reading with me using the Fountas and Pinnell reading assessments to check on their current levels for reading accurately with comprehension. I will continue this next week.

In math this week our big focus was on story problems. Last week we did some visual story problems together. This week we learned how to read story problems to get the information we need to solve it. Then we made clear representations of our thinking and wrote equations to match.

On Monday we had a special guest reader at JFK, Bill Jameson, so we went to the library to hear him read one of his books! We also read a bunch of books in our classroom: Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, Pete the Cat: Rockin' In My School Shoes, Pete the Cat and the Magic Sunglasses, and The School Book. To go along with our read alouds we wrote a book about what we do at our school.

This week we began to practice meeting with different teachers during our WIN time. WIN is "What I Need." It's a time for students to get more practice with a skill they are developing or receive enrichment in an area where they are consistently demonstrating skills above grade level. During WIN students will work in differentiated groups with any of the first grade teachers, our ELL teachers Ms. Sarah and Ms. L, our reading interventionist Mrs. Weimer, or our math interventionist Mrs. Thomas. This week we practiced moving as a whole class into one of the other first grade rooms to meet another teacher and get used to switching spaces.

We had a great pajama day/toy day celebration on Thursday!

I will be out on Monday but will return on Tuesday! Have a great weekend!

Dates to Remember:

• October 16 - PTO Meeting
• October 18 - All School Morning Meeting 8:15-8:45
• October 24 - Picture Retake Day
• October 24 & 25 - Early Dismissal 11:00 (activities available with prior sign-up)

Have a great weekend!

❤ Mrs. Fox