Mrs. O'Connell's Class Connection

Homework for Wednesday:

Read Look, Pat and Nan! with a grown-up and return it to school in Home folder.

This week's mail includes three Scholastic Books order forms. If you are interested in ordering books, GREAT! Our classroom receives free books several times a year based on the orders I receive in class. Please don't feel obligated. I send these forms home because they offer good age-appropriate literature and computer games at great prices.

In Math, we've completed the Summer Refresher and the 1st chapter in our text, which explores data. Today the children had their first "test." Because it was their first experience with this kind of written assessment, we're calling this a practice test and their scores won't be recorded. They had to respond to my verbal explanations of each problem in different ways, sometimes by writing in an answer, sometimes filling in a "bubble." I'll be sending these home tomorrow. Please go over them with your child. I was happy to see that most had a good understanding of our work with Venn Diagrams, which are a difficult concept for many 1st graders. We are ready to begin our next chapter, on number sense. Please take the time to look over the daily work and ask your child to show you what they learned. The completed daily math pages in the Home folder stay home, while the workbook should always be returned the next day. Homework pages assigned in the workbook are circled, so there should never be a question of what page is to be done. Math homework should take only about 5 minutes to complete and is not given every day.

Hopefully, the worst of the hot days are behind us!

Happy Friday -- No homework!

Please be sure to return the Home folder emptied of all classwork, but be sure to return the behavior chart because we use both sides.

Have a relaxing, fun Labor Day weekend!

PICTURE DAY TOMORROW!
Wednesday, September 8th is individual picture day. Wear dress-up clothes and be ready to SMILE!

Homework: Read Can it Fit? aloud to an adult.

Please return the yellow Highlights form with your signature even if you are not interested in subscribing. Your response allows our class to receive some great prizes and resources. Thanks!

Homework:

Math workbook p. 7. If your child seems to be struggling with this page, allow them to use small objects, such as pennies or Cheerios to "set up" the 2-digit numbers in a concrete way before they draw them in the ten-frame and beneath. We practiced these in school today, but many of the children need a little more practice.

Homework:

Read I Like To Do That! aloud 2 times to an adult. Ask them if you did a better job the second time.

Parents, please continue to save both the word wall words and the booklets your child brings home in their shoebox. Hopefully, they are being used for practice a few times a week! We are moving really quickly through our kindergarten review unit in Reading. After one more week of review, we'll be getting into a regular routine in Unit 2, and you will see more of a pattern in reading and phonics homework. Spelling will soon become a regular part of our daily routine as well.

Reminders:
Scholastic Book orders are due by September 15.
Thanks for returning the yellow Highlights signature forms even if you weren't interested.
Please put your child's name on all outerwear, including St. Linus sweatshirts! Thanks.

Homework:

Read Wet! aloud 2 times to a grown-up.
Math Workbook p. 9

Reminder: Friday is a half-day with 11:30 dismissal.

Homework:

Math workbook, p. 10

Reminder: Tomorrow is the last day to turn in Scholastic Book orders! A new form for October will be out soon.

Homework:
Read Where is the Nut? 2 times aloud to a grown-up.
Math workbook p. 11

On Thursday or Friday this week, we will do a practice Spelling Test using the Word Wall words we've been practicing in class. These words were also sent home for practice and storage in their shoeboxes. I will choose 10 words randomly from all those that have come home in the last 3 weeks. Please practice them tonight! I won't be recording the scores for this "test," but I want them to understand the format when we begin the real spelling tests starting next week.

Today, the children worked very hard on their Unit 1 Reading Skills test. Because this test covered skills learned in kindergarten that we have been reviewing these first few weeks of school, I expect that their scores will be generally high. We will finish up with the writing portion of the test tomorrow morning. Watch for their scoresheets early next week! Next week, we begin our real 1st grade reading, spelling, and grammar work. You can expect the following homework routine whenever we have a typical 5-day week:

Monday: Hardcover Reader will come home with a phonics story to be re-read. The weekly spelling and high frequency (word wall) words are introduced. High frequency words will come home for shoebox storage and study, and the spelling words can be found at www.spellingcity.com
Tuesday: A phonics mini reader will come home to be read and some word work will be assigned.
Wednesday: Hardcover Reader will come home with the week's Main Selection to be re-read for Thursday's vocabulary and comprehension assessment.
Thursday: Students will be reminded to study for Friday's weekly spelling test.

The homework schedule will need to be adjusted whenever we do not have a full 5-day week, so please continue to check the blog for assignments and updates.

I will assign math homework 2-3 days each week, depending on whether a new concept or skill has been introduced and needs additional at-home practice. Students should begin working with addition and subtraction flashcards regularly - just a few minutes a night is all it takes to master their facts! Generally, homework should not take your children more than 15 minutes each day to complete. If it does, please let me know!

Please remember that tomorrow is an early dismissal day (11:30 a.m.) and that there is no extended day care after school!

Today's Homework: Math workbook p. 12

Homework:
Reader: The Nap Read aloud to a grown-up
Math workbook p. 13

This week's Spelling words are: at, ran, cat, an, sat, man, will, no, dad, mom
Please check out spellingcity.com on the St. Linus website for games to help your child learn our weekly spelling words. You will need to go to www.stlinusschool.org, click on Classrooms, Grade 1, then Spelling City, and follow the steps to navigate to my teacher page, where you will find the current words each week. There will be a weekly spelling test each Friday on the 10 words posted on this site.

This week's high frequency Word Wall words are in their Home folder and should be put in the shoebox for regular practice: will, no, away, come, down

Homework:
Read My Cat aloud 2 times. Circle the words with the short a vowel sound, as in cat.
Math workbook p. 14

SPIRIT WEEK! Details on the blue handout that is in the Home folder today. No uniforms the rest of the week!
Wednesday, 9/22 Sports Team Day and Ice Cream Day! $1.00 for ice cream and $ .25 candy raffle tickets
Thursday, 9/23 Pajama Day! $ .25 Candy raffle tickets
Friday, 9/24 Show your Hawk Pride Day!

Homework:
Reread Oh, Cats!. Selection test tomorrow.

Thursday is Pajama Day! Please wear gym shoes.

The Candy Raffle continues. Chances are $ .25 each.

Today, the children took their first weekly Reading Selection Test on the story Oh, Cats! Tomorrow is the first "real" Spelling Test. Be sure to check out the games on www.spellingcity.com. You can access it through the St. Linus website and use it to study our words each week.

Our phonics skills for the week are the short a vowel sound (as in bad) and final consonant sounds.
Spelling Words for this Friday's test are: am, bad, had, fan, sad, can, find, all, look, book
You will find them on my teacher page at www.spellingcity.com which can be accessed through the St. Linus website.

This week's high frequency words (shoebox) are: all, are, find, make, play

Homework:
Reader Look At That! 2 times aloud to a grown-up.
Math Workbook, p. 17.

A new set of Scholastic Books order forms was sent home today. If you'd like to purchase any of these books, please return forms with payment by October 10th.

Please remember to send sweatshirts or light jackets as the weather begins to turn cooler. We try to get outside for fresh air each day and don't want to miss an outdoor recess because we're not dressed for the weather.

Have a great week!

Homework:

Read phonics mini reader What Pam Can Do 2 times aloud to a grown-up. Find the words with the short a vowel sound as in Pam. Circle the words and put the short vowel symbol above.

Hope to see you tonight at 6:30 for St. Linus Back to School Night.

Thanks for attending St. Linus Open House/Orientation last night. If you couldn't make it, you will find a letter in the Home folder that describes the 1st grade curriculum. Please sign and return the last page. If your 1st grade child is the oldest or only in your family, you also received a Parent Handbook. Please sign and return p. 33 at your earliest convenience after reading the handbook.

Homework:
Reader Can You Find It? 2 times aloud to a grown-up. Reading Selection Test on Thursday.

Math Unit 1 Review and Study Guide came home today. Math Unit 1 Test on Thursday.

Homework:
Study for Spelling Test on Friday!

If you are missing a St. Linus sweatshirt, size 8 (S), please let me know. The tag says "Kayley Devenney, who is no longer a student here, so I'm guessing that it was picked up in the uniform exchange.