Newletter 5/4/18

Our Weekly Learning 5-4-18
News and Information Spring pictures are here!!!  They are optional to buy. 1 sheet for $12 or all 5 sheets for $41. You can send payments to the school or pay online. If you do not wish to purchase your child’s pictures please return them by May 7th. Class Pictures are also available for $2.  Please send in your money marked “class picture.” We had to reorder the class picture but will send this home when they arrive. Today is the last day to sign up for Summer School!  Use this link to register: https://goo.gl/forms/LrrLDG7lGmGGWgWT2 4th Quarter Reading Challenge ends soon. Keep reading!
Language Workshop This week we continued learning about weather.  We read “Freddy and the Terrible Tornado” and talked about how to be safe when severe weather happens.  We also practiced using commas in series.	Math Workshop This week we completed Module 5 and took the assessment.  We learned about breaking shapes into equal groups, identifying, one-half and one-fourth, and decomposing shapes.  The kids really enjoys using Tangram pieces to solve puzzles and make pictures.
Reading Workshop This week we focused on poetry.  We read poems about different types of weather and searched for the phonograms we have been learning about.	Next Week Next week we will continue learning about weather.  In math we will learn about telling time. We will be NWEA testing so please make sure your child gets plenty of sleep!
Important Dates May 4 - Summer School Registration Ends May 7-11 - NWEA Testing May 18 - End of 4th Q. Reading Challenge May 21 - Read-a-thon May 23 - Last Day of School May 29 - Summer School Begins

Newsletter 4-13-18

Our Weekly Learning 4-13-18
News and Information Summer School Registration is open! Please register your child by May 4.  Use this link to register. https://goo.gl/forms/LrrLDG7lGmGGWgWT2 Your child should have their 4th Quarter Reading Challenge in the back of their folder. Happy Reading! We are working to reach our new IXL goal of 10,000 questions by May 11th.  If at all possible, please encourage your child to work on it at home. The website is:  www.ixl.com
Language Workshop We learned about the history of Clever this week. We took a walk on Thursday and learned about a civil war battle that took place about a mile south of our school.  Ask your student if they remember the name of the battle and how Clever got its name?	Math Workshop This week we continued Math Module 4- Place Value, Comparison, Addition and Subtraction to 40. We have been working on adding 2 two-digit numbers. We are learning different strategies to use (number bonds, adding to make a 10, adding 10, and drawing quick tens). Your student has math homework this weekend.
Writing Workshop We are continuing with informative writing. Students are writing about an American Symbol. We are working on expanding sentences to add more detail.	Next Week Next week we will be creating posters about our community and learning about long ago vs. today. We will continue with our informative writing.  In math, we will finish up module 4 and test on Thursday.
Important Dates April 16th - Cox Care Mobile April 20 - No school April 23 - No school

Newsletter 3-9-18

Our Weekly Learning  3-9-18
News and Information Spring Parent Teacher Conferences are coming up!  This year we are doing things a little different.  All families are invited to attend the 1st grade “SHOWCASE OF LEARNING” on Thursday, March 22.  You are welcome to come to our classroom anytime from 4:00-7:30 p.m. Your child will take you on a tour of our classroom and show you what we’ve been doing.  Individual conferences will be held Tuesday, March 20-- this will be on an “as needed” basis. I will contact you if I feel an individual conference is necessary- or you may contact me or the office if you want to set up a time to meet to discuss your child’s progress. Next week is Spring Break and the time change (spring forward). Have fun and enjoy the spring weather with your kids.
Language Workshop Our focus this week was still maps. We read an article about maps and we have done a lot of practice using maps. This week they were also able to create their own maps. We continued practicing suffixes.	Math Workshop This week we continued Math Module 4- Place Value, Comparison, Addition and Subtraction to 40. We also tested over Topic A which was grouping together tens and ones.
Writing Workshop This week we continued our opinion writing. Students are using the writing process to publish pieces that include their opinion and give reasons or examples to back it up.	Next Week Spring Break!. However when we come back we will be starting a new unit on American Symbols. Students will learn all about the Statue of Liberty, the U.S. Capitol Building, the bald eagle, and the Liberty Bell.
Important Dates 3/12-3/16- Spring Break 3/20- Individual Parent/Teacher Conferences 3/22- SHOWCASE OF LEARNING 3/30 - No School (Good Friday)

Newsletter 3/2/18

Our Weekly Learning  3-2-18
News and Information Spring Parent Teacher Conferences are coming up!  This year we are doing things a little different.  All families are invited to attend the 1st grade “SHOWCASE OF LEARNING” on Thursday, March 22.  You are welcome to come to our classroom anytime from 4:00-7:30 p.m.   Your child will take you on a tour of our classroom and show you what we’ve been doing.  Individual conferences will be held Tuesday, March 20-- this will be on an “as needed” basis.  I will contact you if I feel an individual conference is necessary- or you may contact me or the office if you want to set up a time to meet to discuss your child’s progress. Next week we will start our PENNY WARS!  How it Works-- Put PENNIES in your Teacher's jar for Positive Points! Put SILVER COINS or DOLLARS in another Teacher's Jar for Negative Points! The Class with the most POSITIVE POINTS wins a PARTY from PTA!
Language Workshop Our focus this week was maps.  We read the book “Follow That Map”.  We learned about a compass rose, a map key and symbols.  We also learned where to find Missouri on a map of the USA.  We continued learning about the suffixes -less and -ful.	Math Workshop This week we started Math Module 4- Place Value, Comparison, Addition and Subtraction to 40.  Our focus for the week has been on tens and ones.
Writing Workshop This week we reviewed opinion writing and started a new writing task.  Over the next couple of weeks, students will use the writing process to publish pieces that include their opinion and give reasons or examples to back it up.	Next Week Next week we will continue our unit on maps. We will continue to work on suffixes.  We will also complete end of the quarter assessments including sight words and spelling.  In math we will continue with tens and ones.
Important Dates 3/9- End of 3rd Quarter/Read-a-thon 3/12-3/16- Spring Break 3/20- Individual Parent/Teacher Conferences 3/22- SHOWCASE OF LEARNING

Newsletter 2-23-18

Our Weekly Learning  2-23-18
News and Information We will celebrate Dr. Seuss next week with lots of reading and special dress up days. Monday- Hat Day (Cat in the Hat) Tuesday- Pajama Day (Sleep Book) Wednesday- Wacky Clothes Day (Wacky Wednesday) Thursday- Crazy Hair Day (Hooray for Hair) Friday - Crazy Socks Day (Fox in Socks) Our classroom is in need of a few items:  Play-doh (small containers-any color), glue sticks, and crayola markers
Language Workshop Our focus this week was on President’s Day. We read about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. We identified main idea and key details in each book. We reviewed fiction and non-fiction and assessed on being able to identify the difference. We also practiced using prefixes and identifying the meaning of a word with a prefix.	Math Workshop This week we learned about graphs. We learning how to collect data, make tally marks, and read the data in a graph. We practiced answering many questions about the data.  We wrote number sentences to help us compare how many more and fewer. Today we assessed the last part of topic D.
Writing Workshop This week we reviewed writing bold beginnings and excellent endings. We practiced adding these to an already writing narrative and opinion piece.	Next Week Next week we will begin a unit on maps. We will switch from prefixes to suffixes. In math we will begin Topic 4.  Topic 4 will focus on place value, comparing, and addition and subtraction to 40.
Important Dates 2/26- Dr. Seuss Week 2/28- Cox Care Mobile 3/9- End of 3rd Quarter/Read-a-thon 3/12-3/16- Spring Break Next week the cafeteria is hosting a competition.  The class that has the most kids eat school breakfast will earn a free Rice Krispy Treat and the class that has the most kids eat school lunch will earn a free slushie.

Happy Wednesday!

HOMEWORK!  Your child will be bringing home math homework today and tomorrow.  They may need some help reading the questions, but they should be able to complete the work with little or no help.  Please remind them to return it to school the next day.

If you have been saving Box Tops, please send them in by Friday.  The class that collects the most will earn a movie and popcorn party!  

Jump Rope for Heart is tomorrow.  If your child has collected donations, please send those in tomorrow.  Also, be sure that your child wears tennis shoes--All students will participate, even if they do not bring in a donation.

Thanks!

Mrs. Hamilton

Newsletter 1/26/18

Our Weekly Learning      1-26-18
News and Information 3rd Quarter Reading Challenge has started! Your child’s paper should be in the back of their daily folder.  If your student needs a new copy please let me know! Valentine Day parties will be held on Friday, February 9th. Please send in a Valentine box or bag for your student to collect valentines in. Feel free to jazz them up! If your child rides the bus, their valentine box needs to be able to fit through the bus doors and be small enough for your child to hold in their lap on their bus ride to and from school. Students will need to make a valentine for every student in their class. You will find your student’s class list on the back of this note!
Language Workshop We continued our author study on Kevin Henkes. This week we read Wemberly Worried and Julius Baby of the World. We worked on identifying adjectives in our mentor texts and how to respond to questions about our mentor texts.	Math Workshop This week we continued working in Module 2. Students focused on finding the missing parts of addition and subtraction problems. They also focused on finding equivalent expressions.
Writing Workshop We started a new narrative piece. Students focused on pre writing and drafting narratives with bold beginnings and excellent endings.	Next Week Next week we will continue our author study on Kevin Henkes. In math, we will continue learning about place value and solving story problems. In writing, we will continue narratives.
Important Dates 2/9-- Valentine Party 2/19- No School for Presidents Day 2/22- Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser due

Valentine’s List

Natalie Kadyn

Zoey Colsyn

Libby Mason

Brylee Jacob

Taelor Dylan

Chloe Kolby

Jazlyn Mathew

Finley Aidan

Makayla

Caidence

Mrs. Hamilton

Miss Parsons

**Hayden is no longer in our class--if your child would like to make him a card, I will make sure he gets it.  

A Note from Mrs. Ramey

January 4, 2018

Clever Families,
Happy New Year! I hope your family had a wonderful holiday break and is keeping warm during these chilly winter days! It was great to see all of the smiles return yesterday and listen to students share about their favorite gifts, places they traveled, and time spent with family while they were out of school. With that said, learning picked up right where we left off. This time of year, we begin to see progression and levels of growth in learning. The week of Dec. 11th-14th and Jan. 8th-11th, students took or will take their second NWEA District Assessment. This data will be used to drive instruction in the classroom and will be shared with you. In addition, report cards will be sent home on Friday, Jan. 5th, so be on the lookout for those to come home. Teachers worked hard to report your child’s strengths and areas of focus to communicate specific academic feedback for you. After reading these, please reach out to your child’s teacher if you have any concerns. Along with grade cards, 2nd quarter attendance recognition awards will be going home with students who missed one day or less of school this quarter. Students will also be receiving a candy bar to recognize their efforts in coming to school each day. Our average overall attendance for 1st semester in K-4 is approximately 96.25%. Way to go! January brings cold temperatures. Students will be going outside briefly if the wind chill and temperature is 25 degrees or higher, so please make sure they come to school with heavy coats, mittens and hats to keep them warm. In addition to recess, students going home in circle drive will need to be bundled up! I look forward to the learning that will take place this second semester and am proud of the hard work and dedication shown by students each day!

Your partner in education,
Mrs. Renee Ramey
PK-4 Principal
rameyr@cleverbluejays.org Inspiring​ ​and​ ​Empowering​ ​Every​ ​Learner

Newsletter 1-5-18

Our Weekly Learning      1-5-17
News and Information 3rd Quarter Reading Challenge has started! Your child’s paper should be in the back of their daily folder. Little Cheer Clinic will be next week after school. Please try to make sure that your child gets plenty of rest before our NWEA testing next week. We will be testing Monday through Thursday. Hope you all enjoyed the holidays!
Language Workshop This week we read What if Everybody Did That? We reviewed our rules for the classroom, hallway, bathroom, and cafeteria. We also discussed the importance of rules and what would happen if everybody chose to break them.	Math Workshop This week we continued working in Module 2. We focused on subtracting nine from teen numbers. We drew pictures to represent the story. Then we crossed off nine from the group of ten. Students should be able to make a subtraction sentence to match the story.
Writing Workshop We practiced writing complete sentences. We focused on using capital letters correctly, spacing, stretching out tricky words, and punctuation.	Word Study Group A will be working on h, sh, and ch. Group B will be working on p, l, and pl. Group C will be working on short A, long A, and oddball words.
Next Week Next week we will begin our author study on Kevin Henkes and we will start learning about adjectives. In math, we will continue learning about subtraction. In writing, we will begin narratives.	Important Dates 1/15- No School (MLK Day)

*** Progress Reports are coming home today.  Please return the yellow envelope but keep all the papers inside.  Let me know if you have any questions.