October Highlights

Room 10 is definitely in full swing, and Halloween is quickly becoming the topic of choice during free time!  More information will be coming soon about Halloween festivities, but for now know that a Halloween parade has been planned for 9:30 AM on Friday, October 30, and our classroom party will take place at 1:30 PM that same afternoon.

A few highlights of what we've been working on as of late...

• The children are beginning to meet with me at the reading table during our  "literacy center" block.  This is a time when they read “just right” books with a small group of children who are at a similar reading level.  It is a great way to differentiate and provide instruction based on the varied needs of the children in my room.  Among the MANY reading / phonics skills and strategies the children are learning about, one is reading fluency.  This is when a reader reads smoothly and with an even tone of voice.  The children are working to read like a “river” (with flow and fluency) and not like a “robot” (word by word).  This takes time and practice for some children, so don’t be worried if your child isn’t doing it right away.  Like many of the skills we’re learning this year, this part of reading doesn’t happen overnight.

• Another important focus area will be teaching the children how to retell a story in their own words after they’ve read it.  This skill also will take LOTS of practice.  Over the next few months we will work on retelling skills:  recalling and orally retelling the characters, setting and the main events of a given story or text.  

• During our daily "word study" time, the children are learning a wide range of phonics skills.  We have been reviewing / practicing all consonant and short vowel sounds (as in the words had, dig, got, bed, and hug).  We are building words with magnetic tiles, writing sentences with an eye on uppercase letters at the beginning and punctuation at the end.  We are learning about "trick words", also known as "sight words" (or high frequency words).  These are words the children will encounter often as they read/spell.  While they are learning how to segment/blend words that are phonetically regular by using a "finger tapping" strategy, they are also learning that "trick words" often don't look the way they sound so therefore they can not be sounded out.  They must be recalled and mastered by sight.  All of these skills will be practiced and reinforced many times throughout the year.  

• Our home reading program will start very soon.  Look for more information about BOOKTIME and the best ways you can support your first grade reader at home when he/she brings a book envelope home with "just right" books.

• I hope you and our child have enjoyed the first couple of weeks of Poem Notebooks.  Please try to send your child's notebook back to school on Thursdays as we use them often.  If you need to keep the notebook another night or two, just let me know.  The number of poems will continue to increase as the year moves along.  Some children like to read all of the poems each week.  Others prefer to pick and choose some of their favorites.  Either way, try to read for at least 10 minutes (or more) on Poem Notebook nights.

• Our writer’s workshop block is a favorite time in our day.  The children are learning that writers think first, then picture a story in their mind, and after that put their ideas into words one part at a time.  Learning how to stretch an idea across several pages and include key details takes lots of practice.   Of course, the children are also working hard on spelling, spacing, punctuation and organization.  This is a tall task indeed, but one that they are tackling with enthusiasm and persistence. 

• During our math block, the children have been working hard to solve addition / subtraction problems presented via a range of math story "types".  The children are learning how to use Part/Part/Whole visual tools to help them solve given problems.  Problems are presented in ways that ask children to determine what information is already known, and what they need to find out.  My goal is to create a separate math page on this blog so I can more specifically communicate what we are working on.  More on that soon!  

• You may have found that some of the math pages that come home are not fully complete and may have unfinished problems.  Our new math program offers a bounty of math practice pages, and I pick / choose which ones I feel will best meet the expectations in a given lesson.  I want to leave time for children to practice the math concepts with age-appropriate, hands-on games, rather than always tackling the task in a worksheet.  I'm working to strike a balance between the two.  Please feel free to finish any unfinished math problems at home with your child.  

Please always let me know if you have any questions about anything happening here in Room 10.  It has been a great start to the year and there's lots more learning, news and fun to come!

10 Days in Room 10!

I am looking forward to seeing everyone at Parent Information Night on Monday.  This photo gives you a sneak peak at one project we worked on this week.  When presented with the question - WHAT KIND OF PLACE DO WE WANT ROOM TO BE? - this is what we all came up with.  We have lots more to explore and learn in the days ahead!

Additional Room 10 Tidbits...

• Each week, Room 10 will have a special Kid of the Week.  This child gets to be our line leader, to decide the morning greeting, and to bring one special possession to school to share on the first morning of his/her special week.  The child will tell why he/she brought this item and why it is special.  The other children in the class will then have an opportunity to ask questions and make comments about the share.  When it is your child’s turn, please help him/her choose something other than a toy.  It could be a photograph, a favorite book, a letter or postcard from someone special, an item from a collection, a scientific experiment, an award, a drawing, etc.  Please know that it is perfectly fine if your child would rather not bring in an item to share.  Each Friday, we will draw the name of the next Student of the Week so the child can be prepared to share on Monday if he/she chooses.  A note will go home when your child is chosen.

• Each child will need an art smock for the year.  Old t-shirts, or men’s or women’s collared, button down shirts work well.  Obviously, the shirts can be old and worn as they will be used for art projects.  Please send in a smock as soon as possible. 

 

• A formal schedule of homework won't begin for a few more weeks, but rest assured that information will be forthcoming. The children are already asking!

You may find your first grader quite tired (and hungry) after school.  This is very normal for the first few weeks.  Our days are busy and the children are taking in a lot of new information each day.  We will all settle in slowly but surely.  Please be in touch at anytime with questions you may have.

Two days and counting!

Well, we made it through our first two days of first grade in great shape.  The children are doing a terrific job with all of the new routines that they are learning.  Thank you for sending your children to school so well prepared.  And thank you also for your generous donation of supplies for our year together.  They are appreciated!  

Included in this post is some general information about our class and school.  Please be sure to read the other Memorial School notices sent home by the office (or check the school’s website – www.medfield.net) for lots more detailed information about schedules and procedures.  It is particularly important that you read information regarding the arrival and dismissal of your child.  If you ever make arrangements for your child to be dismissed from school via another form of transportation, other than his/her scheduled bus or MAP routine, please be sure to write a note to me on that day.  In the case of different arrival plans, please be sure to check in at the office before coming down to the classroom.  All of this will make coming and going to Memorial much easier for the children, the office and for me.  

I will pay particular attention during the first few weeks of school as the children grow accustomed to their new routine and make sure they arrive and depart safely.  The children will be instructed to return to the classroom or the office after dismissal if they ever have a question or concern about how they are getting home.  I want them to always feel that they have a safe place to return to if they are confused.  Of course, the Memorial staff as a whole is experienced at making sure this process runs smoothly.

Please be sure to check your child’s backpack each day to help keep track of books, notices and papers.  I will send more detailed information about home assignments and/or projects as I introduce them to the children.

Your child received a Home/School folder this week.  These folders are intended to help the children get important notes, papers and notices back and forth from school.  If you have a note for me, please put it in your child’s Home/School folder.  Your child will bring the folder back and forth to school every day so that new materials or information come to me or to you on a daily basis.  Thank you for helping your child to remember to bring it to school daily.

The children will have time for snack each morning.  One note about food at school, the children are told that we never share food with our friends.  This is a rule in the classroom, the cafeteria and at other special occasions such as field trips.

As parents, your input and participation will be very important to the success of our program this year.  I will let you know about the different ways that you can get involved in the classroom if you’d like to do so.  I will have sign-up sheets at Parent Information Night on Monday, September 21 if you would like to volunteer in the classroom this year.  Please keep in mind that I do not get my volunteers up and running until I feel that the children and I have had enough time to establish strong classroom routines and have begun to come together as a cohesive learning community.  This “settling in” period is a big priority for me because it is so important for the children to feel secure and confident with their new classroom, peers and teacher.  I tend to get volunteers started towards the end of October or early November.  I will give you a more definitive timeframe after a few weeks have passed.

If you have any questions or concerns about any aspect of the school or classroom, you may reach me at Memorial by phone or by sending a note to school with your child.  I can also be reached via email at kravinski@email.medfield.net, which I check several times throughout the day.  

I am very excited to teach and learn with your children this year, and look forward to getting to know them well as our days unfold!

Welcome to Room 10!

Dear First Grade Families,

Greetings from the Memorial School!  I am writing to welcome you to our classroom and provide some initial information to help get us started this year.

This is the first of many informational letters / posts.  Please stay tuned for lots more information as our year gets underway.  Many children wonder about the kinds of things they need to bring with them on the first day of school.  To start, a small snack (including a drink) for the morning and a backpack are “must-have” items each day.  You should have already received information detailing the supplies that each first grader should bring at the start of school.  These supplies will be used as needed by everyone. 

With the help of the lunch staff, we will spend time getting the children accustomed to (or reacquainted with) the daily lunch routine  -  how to line up, where to sit, what kinds of food they can buy, and how to go about paying for it.  For those of you new to the lunch program, the cost is $2.50 to purchase school lunch, which includes milk or water.  Milk can also be purchased separately for $.50.  If you r child is paying with cash, he/she will need a change purse of some kind (even a ziploc bag), labeled with his/her name on it, to keep the money safe and in one place.  Our class will have lunch at 12:15 each day, followed by recess.

If you would like to make the lunch buying process easier, you can sign up for the online payment system My School Bucks to prepay.  Information for the My School Bucks program can be found on the district website, or by clicking on this link...  My School Bucks

Our classroom schedule for the year will vary slightly from day to day.  The children will, however, have special instruction in specific areas on a set schedule as outlined below. 

Monday                     Physical Education

Tuesday                     Music

Wednesday              Physical Education

Thursday                    Library / Health (alternating weeks)

Friday                         Art

The first few days of first grade will be full of many new and exciting things to learn.  We will work together to make sure everyone settles in, knows where things are and what our days will be like.  I will help the children find their seats, coat hooks, cubbies and mailboxes.  We will take lots of time to adjust to our new room, schedule, friends and activities.  Our classroom is in Room 10.  When children come off the buses on the first day of school they will simply walk straight down the hall in front of them.  They will find me in the last classroom on the right.  There will be lots of adults helping to direct children the first few mornings so that everyone finds their way.  No worries!

Enjoy these last days of summer.  I hope you’re as excited as I am to meet and learn about the many friends we’ll make together in first grade.  I look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday, September 2!

Kathy Ravinski