Clarks Corner

May 4th! School is almost out!

We have 14 days left of school!  Where has all the time gone?  It just feels like yesterday when your children walked into my classroom for the first time!  I am truly going to miss them all!  I am so proud of them!  Most of all, they made it through the CRCT!!!  They were so good during the test.  They gave it their best efforts!  Again, I am very proud of them!!!!

We have alot of fun activities planned for the next few weeks.  We are currently working on Mother's Day gifts, presenting our book reports,and wrapping up the last of our testing for our school data.  This data would include our DRA's, addition time tests (48-50 is exceeds, 47-45 is meets, 44 or below doesn't meet), writing sample, and exemplars (word problems).  As we get closer to the last week of school, we will be having some special days.  I will be sending home a note next week detailing what we will be doing each day.

As for homework,  we will continue to do the book reports.  I just ask that each week your child needs to pick a new book and a new project in which they make to support their book.  The book reports have been going well.  I love the creativity that is being used.  I can't wait to see what they will do this week. Also, please continue to read each night and go over the sight word list.  I will be checking to see who will finally make it into the 200 club before school is out!!!

As we finish up some important writing samples, you will be receiving a special invitation this week for an Author's Tea which will be held in my room on May 18th at 8:15-9:00.  Please make sure you attend!  This is an exciting time for your child to show off what they have done all year long!  I hope you can make it!  We will all have a great time! 

Here are some important dates to remember:

• May 4th:  Zoo to You (In-house fieldtrip which was wonderful!)

• May 5th: Science Guy, Retirement Rception 5:00-6:00

• May 6th: Nurses Day

• May 7th:  PTA- Kindergarten's Under the Sea Program

• May 8th:  Volunteer Brunch, Character Ed performance, all book are due to the Library!

• May 11th: Field Day ( Rain Date is May 14th)

• May 12th: Laughing Matters performance

• May 18th: 1st Grade Author's Tea at 8:15-9:00

• May 22nd:  Last Day of School

Take care!  Mrs. Clark

Welcome to Marvelous March!!! March 9, 2009

We have exciting news!  We received our new Promethean Board!  We love it!  We use our board for calendar, morning news, daily oral language, and exploring through various flipcharts found on Promethean Planet!  The kids have become very good at "driving" on the board and helping each other when it is their turn on the board. 

Read Across America week with Dr. Seuss' Birthday, too! 

This past week has been a fun week for all of us.  We loved wearing PJ's on Monday and reading all day long.  We were truly inspired by Dr. Seuss' books and the way he wrote many of them.  Your children are beginning to write stories just like he did!  I love it!  Your children are so creative!!!  Then, we had a Lassiter High School football player come in to read to us.  They thought he was neat!  We also had a storyteller come and retell several stories.  They loved her, too!  I will continue to keep out my Dr. Seuss books for awhile because they are really enjoying reading them!!! 

Dimes for Donuts continues!!!  We are almost there to filling upout water bottle!!! Thank you for all of those who have already contributed!!!  Garrison Mill is one of the top money raising schools in our area for Relay for Life!  When they fill up there bottle, I will be providing them with donuts, a day to bring in their favorite stuffed animal, and book.  They are very excited!  They have a little competition with Ms. Ellison' class next door to us and our reading buddies, Mrs. James'.  We want to be the first to turn in our water bottle!!  So, keep those dimes coming in!!!!  Thanks!!!

Performing Arts permission slips and donation envelopes went home last week.  We will bring having 2 wonderful science experiences coming to our school!!  Please return the permission slip and the donation envelope to school by Friday, March 13th! 

Report cards come home on March 19th.  Please remember to keep your copy of the report card and return the envelope back to me with your signature on the white card.  Also, you received a large envelope with a registration inside for next year.  Please review and complete any information that is needed, be sure to sign the back, place 4 stamps on the envelope and return to me when completed. 

Curriculum News:

CRCT:  It is fast approaching.  The test will start on Tuesday, April 21 and end on Thursday, April 23.  I hope everyone has been practicing on the on-line tests.  We were reminded on Friday that there were 26 more days left until the CRCT tests.  Wow!  The children have done a great job this year!  They have shown tremendous growth in their reading and math skills.  I believe that they will all do fine on the test.  I will continue sending home CRCT packets each week.  We will have the experience of taking mini tests that will get them ready.  In the computer lab last week, we took a test on the language arts portion of the test.  They all did pretty good on this part.  In reading groups, we will be practicing reading passages silently and answering questions on our own.  Then we will go over them together.  We will have several packets that I will use in the classroom to teach them the understanding of the questions being asked.  There is still so much left to do but I know we will be very ready for the test!!!  Thank you for all of your support! 

Language Arts:  Here are some skills that your child needs to master: nouns (subject or naming word), verbs, adjectives, compound words (rainbow, sunshine, etc.), contractions (they have= they've, is not= isn't), pronouns (he, she, you), homophones (words that sound alike but are spelled differently ex. hair, hare), synonyms (words that have same or similar meaning ex. big, large, tiny, small), antonyms (words with opposite meaning ex. big, small, dark, light, happy, sad), and how many syllables are in a word.  We will continue to review these skills over the next few weeks!  In our phonics program, we will continue talking about combinations like ir, ur, ar, er, wh etc.  We have been talking about root words (or base words)and their endings like s,ing, ed, ness, less, ly.  We will be adding es to our group of endings.  As we learn new things in our phonics program, we are beginning to see  several items that we learned at the beginning are coming back to us as review!  Lastly, we have been working with our dictionaries and finding guide words to help us when looking for a definition.  They really like this activity!

 Social Studies:  We have been learning about Harriet Tubman, Teddy Roosevelt, and George Washington Carver!  Our president projects were wonderful!!!! The kids did a great job!!! We will be taking a look at Folk heroes in the next couple of weeks!

Science:  We will be digging into plants as our next unit!  We will be planting, learning about the parts of a plant, and what a plant needs to grow!  We will have a lot of fun-filled activities going on.  Lastly, we will be learning about animals.  We might see a project coming home soon! 

Writing:  Please continue practicing with your child on the areas of spelling sight words correctly, using correct punctuation, and capitalizing words at the beginning of a sentence.  We are continuing to practice editing our own papers before bringing them to me. 

Reading:  Please continue reading every night!  They are doing a great job with their reading in class.  We are working on comprehension which includes retelling the story from the beginning, middle, and end of the story.  But it also includes who are the characters, the setting of the story, and the main idea!  Keep quizzing them on their comprehension when you read with them at night. 

Math: We are currently working on reviewing number patterns and great than/less than.  We will continue to work on our addition/subtraction facts to 18 and 2-digit problems too.  We will take a look at measurement which includes length, weight, and capacity.  We have been working on our addition time tests! I am so proud to say that they have all increased and done really good job!

Important Dates to remember:

Mar. 9-13 is Expectational Child Week

Mar. 9: Foundation Meeting

Mar. 10/19:  Wellstar visits 1st Grade for Dental Health

Mar. 11 Paraprofessional Day

Mar. 13 is Relay for Life Hat Day/BINGO Night

Mar. 19 Report Cards go home

Take care and Have a Marvelous March!

Mrs. Clark

February 12, 2009

Hello!!

I just wanted to let all of you how wonderful it was to meet with everyone during conferences!  I truly enjoyed meeting with you and having the chance to brag about your child!  I have really enjoyed teaching your children this year!  I can't believe how fast the year is going! 

Here are a few reminders of what is going on this month:

1. Valentine Boxes and Valentines are due February 12th.  I love the boxes that have come in!  There are so cute!!!  We will have a valentine exchange on Friday, Febraury 13th.
2. Six Flags Read for Success Forms are due Friday, February 13th.  Please make sure you signed the bottom of the form!!
3. Flower Sale on Friday, February 13th.
4. Relay for Life Baseball Cap Day is Friday, February 13th.
5. No school on Monday, February 16th.  Enjoy your long weekend!
6. Box Tops are due on February 18th.
7. Picture Day is February 24th.  We will be sending information home soon!
8. Talent Show, February 27th at Mabry Middle School at 7:00 p.m.

Also, I want to thank everyone for their participation in the Heroes Writing Contest!  We had a 100% particpation.  I loved reading about you child's hero!  They did a terrific job!

Curriculum News:

Math:  We have finished our unit on Money!  Please continue counting and make fair trades to $1.00.  We will still review money as we move into other areas of our math curriculum.  We are now working on telling time to an hour and half hour.  Then we will move into learning about Fractions: 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, and a whole.  Lastly, we will continue reviewing our addition and subtraction facts to 18. 

Phonics:  We have been learning about r-controlled vowels (ar, er, ir,or, and ur).  We have learned about root words and some new suffixes like ly, less, and ness.  We have also learned about a new vowel digraph, ai.

Language Arts:  We are learning how to use a dictionary and work on our glossary skills (ex. alphabetizing  and the use of guide words).  While we are reading, we are learning how to use the table of contents and the index.  We are also taking a look at the setting of the story, the characters, the main idea, and what was the overall outcome of the story.

Writing:  We have been working on making sure we have periods and capital letters in our sentences.  We have a quick word list in our writing folders that is helping us to spell our sight words correctly when we use them in our stories.  Please continue to practice their sight words and spelling them too!  Thanks!!!

Science/Social Studies:  In Science, we have been talking about shadows.  We really liked learning about the groundhog last week.  In Social Studies, we have been learning about Harriet Tubman and Teddy Roosevelt.  We are looking forward to learning more about George Washington Carver.   Lastly, I am looking forward to their President Projects!  They seem really excited!  They can't stop talking about who their favorite president and what they are going to do!  Remember they are due February 26th!

Thanks again for all of your support! Please feel free to email me if you have any questions or concerns!  Happy Valentines!

Take care!

Mrs. Clark

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year!!! Welcome to 2009!!!

Welcome Back!  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday break!!  As when end our second week back to school,  we have been very busy!  We are very excited that half the year is gone.  I can't believe that the 100th day of school is next week, Jan. 22nd. Where has all the time gone???

We have many things happening in 1st grade: (3rd Quarter)

1.  Six Flags Read for Succeed 6 hour (360) Reading Club information went home last week.  I hope everyone is reading.  If you read 6 hours, then you will receive a free ticket to Six Flags!  Just remember to log your minutes and the books you have read on the sheet provided.  You need to have your parents sign it and return it to me by February 13th.  I can't wait to see who wins a ticket!!

2.  Our December Reading Logs are in!  The winners for the most reading minutes are Samantha Thompson and William James.  Congratulations!!!  Keep on reading!!

3. Heroes Writing Contest:  I hope everyone has been working hard on this assignment.  Your children are very excited.  I know who their heroes are!  I can't to wait to read what they have done tomorrow at school!

4. Phonics/Language Arts:  In our phonics lessons, we have learned a new rule which is called the final, stable syllable.  In this rule, the last three letters will always staythe same when sounding out the word.  These final syllables are ble, dle, ple, gle, fle, etc.  We will continue exploring this rule and reviewing our previous decoding rules.  In Language Arts, we will be reviewing pronouns, verbs, and adjectives.  We will be learning about contractions and compound words.  We also continue putting words in ABC order!

5.  Reading:  Everyone is doing a great job with their reading! I hope you can see it too!  Please keep reading every night!  We are starting to take AR tests in the classroom.  Your children does have the opportunity during the day to take an AR test.  They are allowed to get a AR book to read after they have finished their work.  I will start sending home AR books for the children to read at home.  In the letter, it will explain what you and your child will have to do.   As for reading groups, we will continue to work on their fluency and comprehension skills.  We will talk about the beginning, middle, and end of a story.   We will also take a look  at what a table of contents is and how is it useful to us.  Lastly,  please continue working on the 200 sight word list.  If your child knows all of the words, then practice spelling the words!  Thanks!!!

6. Math: Since are return back to school, all we have done is practice counting money to 75 cents and $1.00.  We have explored several fun flip-charts on our Promethean board!  Watch out Parents!  Your children are doing a great job counting their money!  Don't be surprised to see some of your change missing!  Other topics for the next few weeks will be addition/subtraction facts to 18, skip counting by 2's,5's,and 10's both forward and backwards, less than and greater than and fractions (1/2 , 1/3, 1/4).

7.  Social Studies:  We will be learning about Harriett Tubman, George W. Carver, Teddy Roosevelt, Martin Luther King and taking a look at the inauguration of our new president.

8. Science:  We will be learning about light, shadows and sound.  We did learn about sound in one of our High Touch/High Tech classes.  We will revisit this skill in our reading groups.  Then we will talk about light and shadows around the time the groundhog decides to come out on Groundhogs Day.

9.  Writing: Our focus this 9 weeks will be about informational writing.  Information writing is where we teach the reader how we make something.  For example, we will make a list of steps that explains how we make a snowman.  We will use our steps to help us write an informational piece of writing.  I will also be looking for correct punctuation and capital letters in their sentences! 

10.  Assessments:  We have been working on several assessments that will be used to determine your child's grades on their report card.  I have seen tremendous growth.  I look forward to sharing some of the assessments with you at Conferences!

11.  Conference Week:  January 26-30th.  It will be early release for the children all week.  We will have a different lunch and specials schedule.  I look for to meeting will everyone!  I appreciate the quick response from everyone on their choice  of times for their conference! Please remember to send me a note if your child has any transportation changes during this week!

12.  Important dates:

    Monday, January 19th MLK Day, No School

    Friday, January 22:  100th Day of School

    Friday, January 23rd:  School Dance 6:30-8:30

    Monday-Friday, January 26-30 Conference Week: 

   School Released 2 hours early each day!

I will see everyone at conferences!!

Take care,

Jill Clark

 

 

 

 

Top Readers for the Month of November!!!

I just wanted to let everyone know the results are finally in!  The readers with the most minutes logged for the month of November are:

1. William James for the Boys!!!!

2.  Sam Thompson and Joyce Sanks for the girls!!!!

Congratulations!  Keep on reading and logging your reading minutes! I can't wait to see who will have read the most points for the month of December!  Please log those points during the break too!  The December logs are due Jan. 7th.

Thanks,

Mrs. Clark

Top Readers for the Month of November!!!

I just wanted to let everyone know the results are finally in!  The readers with the most minutes logged for the month of November are:

1. William James for the Boys!!!!

2.  Sam Thompson and Joyce Sanks for the girls!!!!

Congratulations!  Keep on reading and logging your reading minutes! I can't wait to see who will have read the most points for the month of December!  Please log those points during the break too!  The December logs are due Jan. 7th.

Thanks,

Mrs. Clark

December! Happy Holidays!!!

Hello Everyone!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving break!  As we are about to embark on another break, I just wanted to update you on what is happening in our classroom!

Science:  We have been learning about sound and magnets.  We enjoyed a visit from our friends from High Touch/High Tech this week!  We learned alot about magnets such as what metals are attracted to magnets, magnets have a north and south pole, and how magnets can attract and repel each other.  There were so many neat centers that we explored!  Be sure to ask your child about magnets!

Social Studies:  We have been talking about Lewis and Clark and Sacagawea.  We really enjoyed learning about how Thomas Jefferson asked Lewis and Clark to explore and see what was out West.  Along their route, they met Sacagawea.  She was a very brave indian who helped them communicate with other indians along their route.

Language Arts/Phonics:  We have been learning about the Floss Rule.  This rule is when a one-syllable root word has a short vowel sound is followed by a double consonant ff, ll, or ss.  We have also learned about the oo sounds.  We continue to review the rules of the sneaky e, and when to use the ck, ke, or k at the end of a word.  

In the area of writing, we are continuing to write, write and write.  We love to write!  I sent home a sight word list that contains all 200 words that they must know by the end of the year.  As your child masters all 200 words, please practice spelling each word.  This is very important to their writing.

Math:  We have been working on 3-D solid shapes in Chapter 13.  We definitely enjoyed this unit.  We went on a shape hunt around the room looking for examples of the different kinds of shapes.  We made gifts for each other that contained different kinds of shapes.  We were very excited to open our gifts today to see what we got!  We are moving to Chapter 8 to review the concept of plave value.  Lastly,  we will be working on money when we get back from our break.  Please practice counting money to 75 cents over the break!

Homework:  I hope everyone received our letter about homework this week and next week.  When we get back from break, I will continue putting the weekly homework schedule and events on the back side of your child's homework folder.  Be sure they are writing their weekly sentences.  They know which words to use.  This would be a great opportunity to make sure they are using their sight words and spelling them correctly. 

Lastly,  we have been working on our summative assessments for our 2nd report card.  I am also giving your child a DRA.  This will give me a new reading level for your child as well as seeing the growth that they have made from the beginning of the year.  I am seeing terrific growth from everyone!!!

Here are some of the events that will be going on at Garrison Mill:

12	Cafe GM
	Relay for Life Baseball Cap Day
16	8:30 AM Spelling Bee 3rd - 5th
18	Holiday Parties for K, 2nd, 3rd, & 5th
19	Holiday Parties for 1st & 4th
	End of 9 week Grading Period
	Holiday Open House in Media Center
Dec 22-	NO SCHOOL
Jan 5	WINTER BREAK
Jan
6	First Day of School in 2009...Welcome Back!

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday with your friends and families!  Take care, Mrs. Clark

Grandparents Luncheon and Play!!!

We had a great time yesterday!  I was so proud of your children!!!!  They did a great job!  I have to admit they were pretty cute!!  It was also wonderful to meet everyone!  We had a great turn out!  Thank you all for coming and supporting us!  I hope everyone has a terrific Thanksgiving!  I will see everyone on December 1st!!!  Enjoy the break!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mrs. Clark

All the Reading Minutes have been counted and we have WINNER!

After counting all the minutes read for the month of October, we have a winner!  Joyce Sanks read 965 minutes.  She is the top girl reader for the month of October!!!  Jungwon Lee and Christian Perez were tied for the top readers for the boys with 450 minutes read!  Overall, the whole class read 6,244 minutes for the month of October!  We increased our reading minutes from September by almost  1,500 minutes!  What an accomplishment!!!  I am so proud of all my children!!  Keep up the reading!!!!  Don't forget to read over the Thanksgiving break!!!!

   

I can't believe it's NOVEMBER!

Hello,

I can't believe it is NOVEMBER! We have been in school for 3 months already!  Time is flying by so fast!  We have a lot of wonderful things going on this month like Grandparents Luncheon and the Book Fair!  I hope everyone enjoyed the Pancake Breakfast and of course Halloween.  What a great night! It was perfect. I just want to say thank you to the parents who came out and helps us with Fall Centers!  The kids had a great time!!!  Here is what will be happening in our room this month:

Phonics:

We are moving right along with our Saxon Phonics.  Your children have been learning about when to use the k or ck, vowel digraphs like the ee, consonant digraphs like ng and th, short & long vowels, blends, suffixes (s, ing, ed, es) and of course our favorite is the "sneaky e".   We have decided to slow down to two phonics lessons each week.  This will allow us to focus more time on each lesson.  Then we will pick up the pace later on.  I will add some more reading comprehension pages for homework.  Please have your child read the stories to you because on the CRCT test they will have to read the passage by themselves.  I can only read the questions to them after they have read the passage.  Therefore, we will start practicing now!

MATH:

This month we will focus on adding and subtracting facts to 12, place value to 100, comparing and ordering numbers, number patterns, counting coins (fair trades to 75 cents and bills to $20), collecting data with picture graphs and tally marks, and looking at 2&3D geometric figures (shapes). 

Science/Social Studies:

Science:  We had a great time at High Touch/High Tech!  Our focus was on sound and how it was produced!  We did a lot of fun activities!!!  Our next High Touch/High Tech will be on Magnets which will be in December!  We will continue to explore sound and magnet throughout the nine weeks.

Social Studies:

We have been learning about Thomas Jefferson.  We begin talking about Lewis and Clark and Sacagawea.  We will also talk about Thanksgiving, the pilgrims and the Indians.  We will also have a tepee in our room!!!  Since everyone had such a great time doing the scarecrows!!!  Be on the lookout for another family project!  The TURKEY!  You will be receiving a letter about it this week!  Have FUN!!!

Writing: 

We will be continuing with the narrative writing.  Their writing should include a character, setting, beginning, middle and end, main idea and details.

Technology:  We will take a look at webbing.  They will be able to make their own webbing (bubble map) help them with their writing.

Lastly, the weather has been changing over the last few weeks. Please make sure your child comes to school dressed appropriately and wear those jackets!  We are still going outside for recess.  I don't want anyone getting sick and missing school.  We have hardly missed any days of school!  We already have 3 dog collars on our dog and the 4th one is coming.  We get a collar for every 5 days that no one has been absent nor tardy!  Keep it up!

***ALSO, OUR READING LOGS ARE DUE THIS WEEK, WED. NOV. 6TH.  PLEASE TALLY YOUR POINTS, SIGN THE LOGS, AND RETURN THEM TO SCHOOL.  WE WILL SEE WHO WILL BE OUR TOP GIRL AND BOY READERS ARE!  THE NOVEMBER IS UNDER THE OCTOBER LOG IF YOU WANT TO START LOGGING POINTS FOR NOVEMBER! 

Take care,

Mrs. Clark

Reminders for November:

• October 31^st: Fall Centers!!!! We had a great time!  Thank you!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween.
• Nov. 4^th: Election Day!  No school! Teacher Workday!
• Nov. 6^th: PTA at 6:30 3^rd grade performance
• Nov. 7^th: Spirit Day!  Please wear your ORANGE SHIRTS to school!
• Nov. 11^th: Veterans Day
• Nov. 12^th: Giving Tree Begins
• Nov. 14^th: Picture Day: Retakes only and Hat Day for Relay for Life!
• Nov. 17-21: Book Fair Open until 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday only
• Nov. 17^th: Relay for Life Dessert Auction
• Nov. 20^th: Grandparents Luncheon:  Our program will start at 10:30.  Lunch will be at 10:55-11:25 (Tables 5 & 6).
• Nov. 24-28^th: Thanksgiving Break!  No school!  The school network will be out of service during this time.  No access to Teacher Blogs or Picasso, etc.