A Note from Ms. Lazzara 05.08.2012

I wanted to send another BIG thank you for all the lovely notes and goodies that were sent in last week. It truly was a treat and I appreciate it immensely!
 
Portfolio Night is THIS Thursday! We have been working extremely hard all week to get ready for this special night. The students are very excited to share their hard work and progress with their special visitor or visitors!  We look forward to seeing everyone there.
 
The Summer Book Fair is going on in the High School Library. It will be open everyday after school until 4pm, as well as during Portfolio Night. We got a chance to scope out the books and the kids wrote down books they were interested in on their wish lists. Also, the books are buy one, get one free so make sure you head over and check it out!  :)
 
Due to the kiddos having the day off of school this Friday, we will have our spelling test on Thursday this week. Continue to encourage students to sound out all of the sounds in their words and use their best handwriting. We are working with contractions this week so it is also important to remind them that these words are formed when two words are combined and not to forget the apostrophe to indicate missing letters! :)
 
In math, they are starting to realize the shortcuts when adding and subtracting on a number grid. Please continue to work with your child to help them find patterns on the number grid.
 
In other news, we are all done with Word Wall Word tests for the year! I can't believe what great readers and writers these little guys have become.

As always, feel free to contact me with any questions. Thank you again for all that you do!

Dates:
Th 5/10 – Portfolio Night
F 5/11 – No school for students
Th 5/17 – May Crowning Mass 8:30am – WEAR DRESS UNIFORMS
W 5/23 – Awards Day – grades 1-5, 1:15pm
M 5/28 – Memorial Day  - NO SCHOOL

W 6/06 – Picnic Day grades 1-5
Th 6/07 – Last day of school grades 1-5 / Mass 8:30am / WEAR DRESS UNIFORMS / 11:30am dismissal

A Note from Ms. Lazzara 05.01.2012

Dear Parents and Friends of Room 216,

Please allow me to begin by saying thank you so much for all the lovely notes, treats and goodies your students have brought in over the past couple of days. That is so kind of you all. While as teachers we feel the strong sense of community and appreciation from St Benedict’s students, parents and friends throughout the year, times like these really add to all the warmth and gratitude we feel. 

It is difficult to believe that believe in just over a week students will be hosting their parents and guardians for portfolio night. Your student should have already brought home your invitation with his or her scheduled times to present his or her portfolio. Students have been working very hard on their portfolio pieces and should feel extremely proud of all they have accomplished throughout the year. Portfolio night is Thursday May 10^th.

Thank you to all the parent volunteers for helping with our field trip last Friday. My colleagues and I couldn’t have done it without you! The field trip was an active and informative experience which allowed students to research animals up close. The field trip served to enhance our study of habitats and begin our discussion on writing non-fiction reports. Students will take the information they collected and turn it all into an informative, non-fiction piece.

In math, we will continue our study of patterns found on number grids, addition and subtraction of two-digit numbers and fractions. We will also learn about measuring volume.

...A note from Mrs. Feely...

May 1, 2012

Dear first graders,

Thank you SO MUCH for all my favorite things!  That was so nice of you to think of me.  You are a great bunch of kids, I really like how you all work together to make things happen.  I especially like how you worked together to reach past your class goal for 'Every Coin Counts.'  You really know what team work is all about!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Feely

Thank you again for all that you do!

Ms. Lazzara

Important Dates:

Th 5/10 – Portfolio Night
F 5/11 – No school for students 
Th 5/17 – May Crowning Mass 8:30am – WEAR DRESS UNIFORMS
W 5/23 – Awards Day – grades 1-5, 1:15pm
M 5/28 – Memorial Day  - NO SCHOOL

A Note from Ms. Lazzara 4.24.2012

Greetings Friends of Room 216,
 
I hope everyone is having a great week!  Please continue reading for information regarding this week and future dates. 

In Language Arts we have been learning about Nonfiction.  We have been comparing the difference between nonfiction and fiction books.  I encourage you to begin reading nonfiction books with your child at home.  We will be focusing on writing a nonfiction paragraph of an animal the students choose to research at the zoo this Friday.
 
The students have been enjoying Poem in their Pocket Week and it truly is amazing to see! Every student has been sharing their poems with friends, whether is it at lunch, recess, or at the end of the day :) We will be wrapping up our poetry unit this week. 
 
Math, we have been discussing fractions.  It is important for the students to understand that the bottom portion of the fraction (the "denominator", however students don't need to know this word) represents how many sections the shape is divided into EQUALLY.   As we continue in math, it is important not to work ahead in the students home links book.  We will soon be studying tens and ones patterns on a number grid, adding and subtracting tens, and solving number grid puzzles (ex: figuring out on a number grid the numbers that are being covered).
 
Progress Reports will be sent home this Thursday, April 26th.  Please sign the envelope and return just the envelope to school as soon as possible.  The progress report is yours to keep!
 
The students (and myself) are getting very excited for our field trip to the Brookfield Zoo this Friday, April 27th! BE SURE TO PACK YOUR CHILD'S LUNCH IN A BROWN PAPER BAG. 
**If your child will need a packed lunch from Organic Life, please let me know as soon as possible**
Each student needs to be dressed in their school dressed uniform.  Please take all weather precautions when having your child get dressed on Friday- As you know, we will be outside for the majority of the day. 
 
Portfolio Night will be held on Thursday, May 10th. Your assigned time slot was sent home yesterday. The times begin at 5:30pm and the last portfolio conference begins at 7:10pm. If you have any conflicts, please let me know and I will try to reschedule a time for you and your child to have a portfolio conference.  :)
 
Important Dates:
Thursday, May 10th: Portfolio Night
Friday, May 11: No School for Students Due to Professional Development for Teachers
Thursday, May 17th: May Crowning Mass- WEAR DRESS UNIFORMS
Wednesday, May 23rd: Awards Day for Grades 1-5 at 1:30pm
Monday, May 28th: NO SCHOOL- Memorial Day
 
Only 31 days left of this school year! Keep your child motivated as we are still working hard in first grade to best prepare ourselves for second!! :)
 
As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.  I hope you have a fantastic remainder of the week!

Adjectives, Nouns and Verbs Oh MY!

We have been hard at work learning all about the different parts of speech. We have been using our skills to identify adjectives, nouns and verbs in our reading and throughout our classroom. Here are some pictures of us doing a great job of working together in groups to sort over 50 adjectives, nouns and verbs into the correct categories! 

 

 

First Grade News

THANK YOU for the tasty and plentiful teacher treats, it's such a delight and so appreciated!

I'm sure you're as glad as I am to be back in the school routine after break.  I missed your kiddos and am ready to make the most of the last weeks of first grade!  I can't believe it, but our time left together is short and and we have A LOT to do!  Here's a peak of what will be keeping our brains busy!

Math:  Chapter eight is a fun chapter!  We've practiced counting our coins and are learning how to make change. When you're working at home remind the little ones to 'count up' from the small amount to the large amount. We also took our first look at fractions.  Our focus is EQUAL parts.  We'll also be practicing place value and adding and subtracting two digits numbers.  We'll have a math assessment at the beginning of next week.

Language Arts:  This week we're reading AND writing three types of poems: shape, acrostic and a bio poem. Poetry can be a struggling reader's place to shine as silly ideas and creative spelling are encouraged. Often times, the poems are short and the titles are catchy making poetry very approachable.  Share your favorite poems and poets with your students!  After poetry we will focus on reading and writing non-fiction materials.  Part of this unit is our upcoming field trip to the zoo. Students will gather information at the zoo to write their non-fiction paragraphs.  KEEP READING!  The days are longer and spring activities have begun but it is important to read each and every day. The sports section in the newspaper and the American Girl Doll magazine count!

Science:  Simple Machine projects are due this Thursday. Use the rubric included with the assignment to guide you and please let me know if you have ANY questions! We have started move natural resources and then will move quickly to habitats.

Field Trip: Our field trip to the Brookfield Zoo is next Friday, April 27.  This field trip will tie in nicely to our habitat unit. We're taking a class at the zoo and will be completing research to write our non-fiction paragraphs.  The permission slips went home in back packs today.  Be sure to return the slip and required fee to school.  Please let me know if you are able to chaperone; as you can imagine, we'll need many big people to cover the little people!

Poetry in Your Pocket:  Mrs. Susina is inviting our students to celebrate Poetry Month by writing or sharing a poem and bringing it to school.  Our students may bring their favorite poem or an original poem in their pockets on Monday, April 23.

Jackets & Water Bottle Note:  Please send your student to school with layers.  Our classroom can be fairly warm even when it's cool outside. We also change classrooms for Spanish and Computer class and have to walk out side for gym. This means it can be difficult to keep everyone comfortable and learning through the day.  Also, it's super helpful to have a water bottle in class, especially for gym as there is no water fountain in the Ackerman building.  I always allow students to get water when they need it but this can add up to quite a bit of time outside the classroom (and a really good excuse to leave class!). If you are able, please send your learner with a water bottle.

Thank you for sending me your precious little people everyday!