Pumpkin Patch is cancelled!

WARNING:  HOMEWORK IS TOUGH TONIGHT!  We have been working hard this week on related facts (2 + 4 = 6 and 6 - 2 = 4 ).  Your child will probably need your help with their homework tonight.

Please fill out the conference time form and send it back in your child's Wednesday folder.

We will not be going to the pumpkin patch this week.  It is still too muddy.  We will put the money towards our field trip to Alberta Bair Theater to watch Clifford the Big Red Dog in March.

The Pumpkin Patch Party is on Friday.  The cost for school age children is $5.00.  Adults are free.

Red Ribbon Week

It was another beautiful weekend.  I am loving this weather.  You won't hear that from me when it starts to snow and gets cold!

It's Red Ribbon Week!  This is a fun week to show we are drug free and make healthy choices.  Here are the themes for each day:
Monday, October 26-"Be Red-y to say no to drugs."  Wear red
Tuesday, October 27-"Put a cap on drugs." Wear a hat
Wednesday, October 28-"Drugs stink, wear pink."  Wear pink
Thursday, October 29-"No drugs in this hood." Wear a hoodie and sweats
Friday, October 30-"These paws don't touch drugs."  Show your school spirit and wear Bitterroot Bobcat colors and paws

We will be having an assembly on Monday to kick off Red Ribbon Week.

The field trip has been rescheduled for Thursday, October 29.  We will be leaving at 12:10.  Hopefully, the weather will cooperate this week!

This week we are back to our regular routine and will have reading groups.  Our spelling is a bit different for the next few weeks.  After each unit in spelling we usually work on high frequency words for a week or two.  As the year goes on the high frequency words will get harder and harder.  This week most of the words are pretty easy and that's OK!  We like the kids to feel successful and we need to know that they can read and write their high frequency words.

We will be completing our 1st quarter assessments in math and writing this week.  Can you believe first quarter ends on Friday.

Have a great week!

Brrr!

What a great 4 day weekend! I spent Thursday and Friday learning and connecting with teachers from across the state.

Your conference preference sheet will come home in the Wednesday folder.  Please fill out and return by Friday.  Thanks!

  

On Thursday, we have bus safety in the morning and our field trip to the pumpkin patch in the afternoon.  Please be sure to send your child's permission slip back to school before Thursday.  The field trip costs $4.00.  If you are unable to pay the $4.00 please contact me so we can work something out.

This week we have been working on words with short /o/ and start our DRAs to see how much each student has grown in reading since the beginning of the year. Remember to send your child with a full stomach and plenty of sleep so they can do their best! In math, we'll continue reviewing addition strategies, 3 addend word problems, and start learning about related facts. Ex. 6+4=10  10-6 =4 We will start preparing for our end-of-the-quarter assessments. Where has the time gone?! Has your child been practicing Xtra Math?  It really helps when they have fluency with their math facts.  Most concepts are built upon math facts. 

Parent teacher conference information will be in your child's folder on Wednesday.  Please be sure to fill out your preferences for day and time and get it sent back to school.

You child is still working on their personal narratives. This week we will talk about verbs and speech bubbles. They will love the speech bubbles. 

Your child has been making predictions about fiction and non-fiction books.  They get clues from the cover and the pages inside.  Then we read the book and they modify their predictions.  

Next week is Red Ribbon week.  Each day we celebrate being drug free by wearing different things.

Check out the Important Dates on my blog so your child can participate. 

Save the date!  October 30th is the Pumpkin Patch Party!  The kids love this event.  Look for the flyer in you child's folder. 

Just a suggestion!  Now is the time to buy snow boots!  The first snow always surprises us.  It is good to have them on hand and once it does snow, the boots in the store disappear quickly.  

Have a great week! 

With the next few days off, I hope you get to do something fun with your child.  I will be at the MEA-MFT Educators Conference.  It should be fun.  More learning to be done.

Mr. Barbeau, a Billings firefighter and paramedic, came and spoke to 1st grade on Monday.  He taught them about what do to in case of a fire.  Some information came home in your child's green folder today.  Please take the time to review the facts and set up a meeting place in case of a fire.

Our class will be taking a field trip to the pumpkin patch on October 22.  The cost is $4.00.  If you are unable to pay please let me know and we can work something out.  The permission slip will be in your child's Wednesday folder.

Bitterroot school is still in need of gift card donations for the Karen Cox Memorial Scholarship raffle. Any amount is greatly appreciated. Currently we have 4 gift cards.

Our class has been working on not interrupting and paying attention when the teacher is talking.  I am usually the master of getting students attention but this class is exceptionally chatty. Well, can we just call them a friendly bunch?  They have so much to say but just have not learned the appropriate time to share.  It has been getting a little better but we will continue to work on it.   

Your kids continue to surprise me.  They are writing more and more each day.  We will continue to work on their personal narratives. We will be adding time words.  Remember, if your child is writing at home, please do not correct their spelling.  They are focusing on getting words down on paper using phonics.  If they worry about spelling, they will get very few words on the paper in fear that they might spell something wrong. 

We will continue to work on addition strategies. This week we worked on adding 3 numbers.  First we look to see if there is a way to make the problem easier.  We look for doubles or ways to make 10.  Then we add the third number to the sum of the first two. We will start fact families next week.

Reading groups are going well.  This is my favorite part of the day.  It is so exciting to see kids figuring out words using the strategies taught earlier this year.  We will be testing for reading levels next week so make sure your darling gets all their sleep. 

It looks like we will have another nice week for weather.  Whew!  Make sure your child has a coat for those chilly morning and for unexpected rain.  We go out for recess unless it is down pouring or below zero degrees.

Picture Day- All kids get their photo taken on Monday.  Make sure your little darling looks adorable even if you do not plan to purchase.

Homework- This weeks homework is "Making 10 Number Search".  Your child needs to circle at least 15 making 10 equations.  We have been working on this in class so it should be easy for them. I attached their "Making 10 rainbow" for support.

Scholarships-Mrs. Dimock and Mrs. Hughs are in charge of the Karen Cox Memorial Scholarship Basket Fundraiser at our school. Karen Cox was a beloved educator in our district who lost her life in a tragic car accident in 2004.  Her legacy lives on through the BEA Karen Cox Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship is awarded to three high school seniors.  We are calling for gift cards, of any nature or amount (labeled with the amount), for our school's basket. You may also make a cash donation and which will go purchase a gift card to add to our basket.  This is a community effort and we look forward to collecting as many as we can. We have until October 23rd and then the baskets from all over the district will be raffled off in November.  It sounds like we'll have some pretty neat ones to pick from, so help our basket be one of them!

Pack the Place in Pink order forms are in your green folder.  If you are interested in ordering a PPP shirt please fill out the order form and send the money back to school.

XTRA MATH sign up directions are in the green folder
Xtra Math is a free web program that teaches addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts which are critical to success in mathematics. Speed and accuracy are both important to fluency, and Xtra Math will help kids build up both. Math fluency is essential for success with fractions, decimals, multi-digit algorithms and any higher level math. It is based on the assumption that students who regularly practice will quickly and easily recall answers when needed, freeing up mental resources for more complex problem solving (also known as fluency).
After a simple placement exam, fluency goals are achieved through timed practices. Students are given 3 seconds to correctly answer each individual math fact. If they answer the fact in under 3 seconds (the deemed rate for fluency) they earn a smiley face. An answered keyed in under 10 seconds earns a green check mark. Finally, if a student takes 10 seconds or more, the answer will display in grey beneath the math fact and the student still must key it in. Any incorrect answers show a red “x” and still require the correct answer to be keyed in. This is great, because it forces the student to focus on the right answer before moving on. These problems will also show up again soon, so that the student reviews them quickly, before they have lost the fact from their memory (a research based strategy for learning new facts).

Book orders are due Friday.  There is a lot of great books that are very reasonably priced!

We are started reading groups this week!  Hooray!  I love teaching reading groups.  In first grade we do "Walk to Read."  This allows the students to be placed into more appropriate groups based on their reading level.  These groups are flexible and allow students to placed in different groups as their reading ability grows. Some of the kids in our class will be in reading groups with Mrs. Dimock and Mrs. Hughs.  It is fun to be able to work with and get to know some of the kids in the other classes.  Our first unit is about friends and family.

In math, we will continue to focus on ways to make 10.  This week we made 10 rainbows.  We will be playing 10 Go Fish and we will be jumping back into the Go Math! workbooks.

In writing, we are still working on our personal narratives.  Last week, the kids worked with a partner to share what they had written and to discuss what they are going to add next to their narrative. Hopefully, we will be able to finish up the first draft of our narratives this week.

Our practice spelling test went okay on Friday.  Please help your child practice their spelling words.  It makes a huge difference.  I did however have to mark many letters incorrect.  Please make sure you are helping your child with correct letter formation.  The correct letter formation went home in the parent orientation folder.  This week the spelling test will be graded.  Good Luck!

Homework Suggestions:
Monday- Read (10 minutes) Practice spelling words (5 minutes)
Tuesday- Read (10 minutes), Xtra Math session, Practice spelling words (5 minutes)
Wednesday- Read (10 minutes) Green Folder homework, Practice spelling words (5 minutes)
Thursday- Read (10 minutes), Xtra Math session, Practice spelling words (5 minutes)
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday- Have fun first and enjoy your family!  If time allows, read, do an Xtra math session, and explore fun math and reading games on my blog!

Have a great rest of the week!

We had an assembly on Thursday where Mr. English introduced the "Bobcat 200."  This is a program that rewards great behavior.  Teachers will have 1 chip to hand out to a student each day.  If it is a blue chip the teacher hands it out to a student in their class.  If it is a yellow chip they hand it out to someone in a different class who they catch having great behavior.  The student takes the chip to Mrs. Zimmerman and she will let them sign the book of fame and draw a number.  They place their name on the number they selected on "Bobcat 200" board.  Once there are 10 names in a row (horizontal, vertical or diagonally) on the "Bobcat 200" those kids whose names make the 10 in a row get to participate in the special motivator.  We will be starting this program on Monday.

As many of you have seen in the news recently there have been multiple students hit by cars on their way to school.  PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE talk with your kids and remind them to be safe and watch for traffic.   Mr. Bouck sent out some great information and safety tips.  They are certainly worth taking a look at.  Please set a good example and use the crosswalk at all times.

I am unable to receive text messages with Remind.  I am only able to send out text messages and emails with it.  If you need to get a hold of me please email me at martinw@billingsschools.org or call me at 281-6991.

We had our first "practice" spelling test on Friday.  We will have our first official test this Friday.  Please help your child study!

Have a great weekend!