Open House 2019 Updates

Hello families. This blog is full of important information regarding open house, so please stay tuned for all of that and more. First, a look at what we will be learning for the week.

Math: We will begin a kind of long unit on addition word problems, focusing both on total unknown problems and addend unknown problems. This unit will go into next week as well.

ELA: This week we will learn and practice the final piece of Daily 5, Work on Writing. This is often the trickiest for first graders, as we learn how to come up with topics to write about, and what to do when we write a word and we are not sure it is spelled correctly. We are still working on making working on all parts as a whole and building stamina. We will introduce our leveled readers from NatGeo and begin our small group work as well as begin working on sight words with individuals. 

Social Studies: We are wrapping up our unit on families, although our NatGeo stories will focus on families for the next 3 weeks. Therefore we will move onto our unit on Ancient Mesopotamia. We will spend the next few weeks learning about where Ancient Mesopotamia is located, their people and contributions from that time, and how they farmed, as well as so much more. 

Open House: Open House is this Wednesday from 5:30-7:00. However, the first grade session is only running until 6:30. This is how the evening will go. If you have a child in K-2 you will attend the Title 1 information fair in the gym from 5:30-6:00 with Principal Reasor. From there you will join me in our room (9) for our presentation on first grade expectations and how we will get there together. If you have a child in grades 3-5 you will go to their designated class from 6:30-7:00. If you do not have an older child you are free to leave after our session together! This is not our typical see the classroom Open House, w e did that before school during the BBQ. This is more informational for you on what first grade is all about and how we can work together to ensure your child has a successful school year. I hope to see everyone there!

Pink Emergency Form: This years Student Emergency Form is pink and will be going home tomorrow with your child. Please fill it out and return it by the end of the week in the blue agenda folder. Attached is a check list of forms that were to be filled out for registration to be complete for this year as well. If you would, please check off those you have completed online in person on paper and return that to me at the same time as well. Thank You!

Grading Marks:  You may have noticed marks on papers that go home.  If it is a test it will have a number from 1-4, which aligns with a standards report. 1 means your student is struggling with understanding the concept/standard taught . 2 means they understand with a bit of support, and are progressing. 3 means they are proficient in their understanding. A 3 is where we want every first grader to be in all areas. A 4 is exemplary, they have a high level of understanding of the concept taught. I have made a symbol system for papers that are not tests (such as morning work and math practice packets) that match this so that you can see at a glance how your child is doing with in class work. This look like...

                    1 =  a minus sign

                    2 =  a check mark

                    3 = a smiley face

                    4 = a star

It is important to note that I have never and will never discuss what these marks are with the students, they think they are random and are just happy to get a mark on their paper. They think it is their for me to keep track of completion, which is half true. I do this so not to cause any frustration for those who are receiving a 1 or 2. When they have a 1 or 2 I work with them to achieve a level of understanding, these marks are simply to let you know where there level of understanding was overall. If you have any questions about the scoring feel free to contact me.

Homework:  Please start developing good homework habits with your children now. Develop a routine of when they do homework and where they do homework. I know it is a new concept for our firsties, but it is important that they learn this new part of school life. I know it is not always easy, but I would like to make sure that ALL students complete their entire homework packet by the end of the week. If the Friday deadline is too hard for your family, please come talk to me and we can work something out. At the same time, this is only first grade. Homework should not take over your lives! I do not want children (and parents) frustrated on any given night. If your child is not feeling it and it is turning into a struggle on a night, write me a note and explain it wasn't happening on that particular evening. I want happy homes and snuggles and no tears. Homework does not need to equal frustration! We can work together to help our little ones find that balance of this new expectation, but hopefully not make it a source of frustration. If you ever need to communicate homework concerns or questions, pop in, email, or write a note in the agenda. Thank you.

Birthday Treats and Snacks: I want to remind parents that we want to be mindful of what we send in for snacks and for birthday treats. Per FUSD policy, these need to be healthy. FUSD has really made strides in making sure our students are eating healthier and have put in place guidelines that limit their intake of sugar. We are asking your help in this endeavor. If you choose to bring in a snack or a birthday treat, please make it healthy. Please read the attached note, I believe from Principal Reasor in regards to this matter.

Healthy Classroom Parties

Dear Families,

When you contribute snacks for a classroom celebration, please provide healthful, nutritious choices for the students to enjoy. Flagstaff Unified School District strives to teach healthful eating habits, both in theory and in practice. This includes during all classroom parties and events. Our goal at FUSD is to make healthy choices easily accessible to all. Thank you for helping to create a healthy school environment!

Healthy Options

Fresh, whole fruit (apples, pears, oranges, bananas, grapes)

Fruit or applesauce cups (no sugar added)

100% Fruit Juice

Bagged baby carrots or other vegetables served with hummus

Whole grain crackers or pretzels

Dried fruit mix

Brown rice cakes

Bagged, low-fat popcorn

Cheese sticks or slices

Yogurt cups

Fresh Fruit Salads

Healthy Classroom Celebrations - Teachers Resource

Flagstaff Unified School District teaches healthful eating, both in theory and practice. This healthy philosophy includes during classroom parties and events, as well as after school activities. The goal of FUSD is to make healthier choices easily accessible to all and promote healthy behaviors for life.

Many schools have chosen to celebrate birthdays once per month and without food. If food is served, healthy options are required.

This is a shift that comes easier with practice, and first grade is the time. I myself quit giving out candy in birthday bags and for rewards about 5 years ago because so many families do not want that as an option for their children. For those of your who read the beginning of year letter I sent out, one option is to donate a birthday book to the class. I will add your child's picture to the book, and have them sign it. Then we will read it to the class and add it to our library. Those who have chosen this route have loved sharing their favorite story with the class. If you would like other nonfood options, feel free to reach out. Please remember, bringing in anything is a choice, and we have many families who skip this altogether every year. This is perfectly acceptable. Every child still receives a birthday cup and we still sing to them regardless. I love celebrating them on their special day!

Stanford Harmony: Stanford Harmony is a district adopted social emotional learning program designed to foster communication, connection, and community both in and outside the classroom. We have been using the SH cards to have conversation, do buddy up activities, and learn about each other and build team work. Last week one of the activities was to make a sticker collage with a partner. The children were so happy working on the project, and below is pictures of the teams and their creations. The coolest part is how easily almost every team decided who would take their collage home. Great teamwork!

Save the Dates:

• Wednesday, August 28th - Open House 5:30-7:00 (First grade session only runs from 5:3-=6:30)

• Monday, September 2nd - School Closed - Labor Day

• Wednesday, September 4th - First PTO meeting of the Year in Library - 4:30-5:30 - Childcare Available

• Wednesday, September 18th - Picture Day

• Friday, September 27th - Mustang Gallop (More Into to Come)

Looking forward to our week ahead! -Ms. Shaw

Updates August 19th-23rd

Hello Mustang Room 9 Families. We are entering our second full week of school. Last week was an adjustment to those full, long days - and the heat did not help. This week should be a little easier, although it appears as though it will be hotter still. We will also begin homework this week. Please read on to learn more about this.

Math:  The students spent time last week discovering all the ways there are to make 6 and 7 (ex: 6 is 4+2, 3+3, 6+0, etc...). and learning that the inverse answer is the same as the original answer (if 4+2 are parts of 6 so are 2+4). This week we will work on the same for making 8 and 9.  Students will continue to write number bonds for these problems.  Students will also be making their own rekenek bracelet's to help us start working in groups of 10, and we will generate all expressions that equal 10.  At the end of all this we should be taking our first math test of the year, probably on Thursday.

ELA:  This week we will begin using our NatGeo Curriculum and this means students will start reading from our readers, and we will begin our spelling program.  Last week during Daily 5 we practice Reading to Self (building stamina so we we learn how to read for longer periods of time everyday)-which we will practice more of this week. We will also learn how to pick good fit (or just right) books. Last week we learned how to use Word Work (where the students have 6 options to choose from to help learn their weekly spelling words) and this week we will add Read to Someone (which has very specific roles for each child, and very specific language for them to use) and Listen to Reading, which will have them scan a QR code to hear a story and then draw a picture and write a few sentences that correlate with the story. 

Each student will need their own pair of earbuds of headphones for Listen to Reading. Please purchase, label, and bring these in ASAP. Thank you!

Social Studies:  Social Studies and Science will often alternate. We will begin the year with a quick social studies unit on Families. This coincides with our ELA NatGeo story. You will notice that our social studies and science units often align with our ELA curriculum. 

Homework:  We will begin homework this week.  In order for your child to begin establishing healthy study habits now it is best to start developing some sort of homework routine.  Maybe it is a snack and then homework, or first thing after dinner.  Up to you, but a regular spot to work is a good idea.  Our homework will consist of writing our spelling words daily, a page of breaking up our spelling words into their sounds, and a page or so of math. The math comes straight from our math program, and will always be a review of a concept we already learned in class.  Sometimes the concepts can be confusing to us grown-ups, or we may not be quite clear on what is being asked of our students.  If you visit my staff page via the Marshall website there is a link titled Eureka math homework help.  I have also attached the link here https://www.fusd1.org/Page/10110.  The videos have a lady who explains the lesson both visually and orally, and I would suggest watching these if you need any homework assistance. If you look at the top of your homework page it will tell you the Module (1-1 means first grade module 1) and the lesson that you need to click on. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

Open House:  Wednesday, August 28th is our Open House from 5:30-7:00. I do not have much information at this time other than it will not be our ordinary meet the teacher, we did this during the back to school BBQ. This will be full of much more important information regarding what is pertinent to your child's educational success in the first grade. What is our focus for them this year and how can we partner with you at home to maximize your students educational success. As far as where you will be and at what times, stay tuned for those details. Please mark your calendars, I believe this will be an important night for all to attend.

Parent VUE Codes:  Some of you may have received a letter in your child's backpack in regards to a Parent VUE activation code. If you did it is because you have not activated your online Parent VUE account yet. You need Parent VUE to log on and finish the beginning of the year registration process. All parents that are in our system have access to Parent VUE; however, only one parent needs to complete the process. Please keep in mind, if we do not have this documentation on file, your students will not be completely registered for the school year. This will affect computer and iPad use as well as other important academic needs.  Please make sure your Parent VUE is active and your registration is complete by the end of this week. The registration can be done through this link https://www.fusd1.org/Page/15517. Thank you.

Dates to Remember:

• Wednesday, August 28th - Open House - 5:30-7:00 pm

• Monday, September 2nd - School Closed - Labor Day

• Wednesday, September 4th - First PTO meeting of the Year in Library - 4:30-5:30 - Childcare is Available

• Wednesday, September 18th - Picture Day

• Friday, September 27th - Mustang Gallop (More Info to Come)

Hope everyone had a restful weekend. -Ms. Shaw

First Week 2019 School Year

Welcome to our first full week of the 2019-2020 school year. This week will be all about learning expectations and some routines. We will be learning what we do and how we do it. Here is what is in store for your first grader...

Math:  We are beginning our math curriculum this upcoming week.  We will be looking at embedded numbers, which means seeing parts inside of whole numbers (ex: inside of 5 we have the parts of 4 and 1, or 3 and 2, etc...).  We will also focus on making number bonds from the whole number and it's embedded parts.  Understanding number bonds now is very important because they will be part of nearly everything we do in math the rest of the year.

ELA:  We are going to be packing a lot into our English Language Arts time this week. This will be our review week of our letters and sounds, along with handwriting practice of our letters. We will also begin learning our Daily 5 routines. Daily 5/CAFE is a literacy framework that I use in conjunction with our district approved ELA curriculum to teach our children how to read. Daily 5 is a series of 5 choices your child will make everyday during part of our ELA time.  CAFE is the methods I will teach them to implement while they are reading during Daily 5.  It may sound like a lot, but I will explain each part here in the blog as we come to it.  You may also feel free to stop by the classroom any day before or after class and I will be happy to explain it in detail.  This week during Daily 5 the students will learn how to read to self, which is broken into 3 parts - read the words, read the pictures, and retell the story.  

• Please note that since we are just beginning math and because we will not begin our regular ELA curriculum until next week there will NOT be homework until next week. Again, homework will not begin until next week.

Science/Social Studies:  Before diving into our traditional science and social studies we will spend this week learning about growth mindset.  Growth mindset is a belief that your basic abilities come from dedication and hard work.  In first grade we start talking to ourselves about how you can train your brain by learning, how mistakes are proof that you are trying.  We will be reading a book called "My Fantastic, Elastic Brain,"  and learn about the different parts of the brain, and what those parts are in charge of and how they make us, well...us.  We will extend the book with lessons about how we can help our brains grow through learning and with hard work.  We will learn how mistakes are the best ways to help our brains grow, and how every time we make a mistake it's ok because we learn what not to do and our brains are growing!  I love this so much!  Growth mindset will be a concept we will work on throughout the year, focusing on more ideas such as the power of yet, one of my favorites, and incorporating it with as much curriculum as possible (such as STEM challenges and ELA).  Again, I will keep posted here in the blog of these activities.

School Supplies: I would like to begin by recognizing and thanking our amazing PTO for supplying everything our students and I need to begin our school year! This has been truly amazing to only have to send out an extra supply list. Thank you also to our families who any items off of that extra supply list. We are stocked and set for a while. If and when we should run out of or need any supplies for the classroom I will post that need here on the blog. The only item you will still need to provide at this point (if you have not already done so) is a set of earbuds/headphones for your child to use during Daily 5. We will label them with your child's name and store in the room for the remainder of the year. If you are interested in becoming a part of our outstanding PTO they meet the first Wednesday of every month from 4:40-5:30 in the library. The first meeting is Wednesday, September 4th. Free childcare is available.

Paperwork:  Please make sure to visit the district website to fill out all the required beginning of the year paperwork for re-enrollment and record updating. Instead of the pile of paperwork the district is requiring these forms to be filled out online this year instead. You can access this website through this link https://www.fusd1.org/Page/15517. Once you are at this site you will need your Parent VUE activation key code if you do not already have an active Parent VUE account. The front office can help you obtain this key code (773-4044), I cannot-I do not have this information. I believe that once you have this set up this year, the process will be much easier in the years to come. Also, please make sure to fill out the form for free and reduces lunch at  http://www.heartlandapps.com. This is one of the most important forms, because the more families that qualify for free and reduced lunch, the more Title 1 funds Marshall school receives. These monies are used for so many things that directly impact your child's education here at Marshall. These funds are used for our Magnet programs, including Suzuki Violin, which every K-2 student participates in for free twice a week, among a myriad of other programs and people that benefit all students here at Marshall. Even if you do not think you will qualify, please take a minute to fill out the form anyway. I did not think I would qualify when my son attended, and it turned out he was eligible for reduced pricing. Although he ate home lunch, I was happy knowing that our completed form was helping Marshall earn funding. Again, thank you for your time in doing this for our school and our students!

Save the Date:

• Open House - Wednesday, August 28th @ 5:30
• Labor Day - School Closed - Monday, September 2nd
• Marshall Picture Day - Wednesday, September 18th

This group had no problem making themselves at home during our first two days together. I can't wait to dive into our year together.  -Ms. Shaw