Our November character trait is courage and along with courage our school is defining, discussing, and promoting an anti-bullying campaign. The Golden Rule is a great place to start our discussion; “Treat others as you would have them treat you.” Have conversations at home with your child about bullying and having the courage to tell someone if they are a victim of bullying or if they witness bullying.
Our word work this week will be on syllabication of words to help in our reading and writing. Guided reading groups will continue. Watch for the blue Guided Reading folder to come home. We will continue subtraction along with addition in math. Counters are ALWAYS available and encouraged to be used in the classroom. Please do the same for homework. We are really working on identifying the sign before solving. In writing this week we will conclude our class Halloween book. We will also get 10 new spelling words and continue penmanship.
Parent conferences are set up for Oct. 25th. This is an early release day for the students at 11:00. You will receive a parent conference form this week with an assigned time. This needs to be confirmed and sent back to me. I hope to see you all there.
Now, on a lighter note. My daughter is due to have my 2nd grandchild sometime in the next several days. When this happens I will be taking off for a few days. I will let the students know and they can relay the news back to you when it happens. I just wanted all of you to know that I would be out of class for a few days. Please email me with any questions or concerns.
Thanks for all of our support!
Mrs. Benson

This was the first week of the second six weeks. Our week was filled with guided reading groups and SUBTRACTION! Guided reading groups are flowing as expected. Subtraction is a little bit different. This always is a very hard concept for the students. I ask that you make sure that you go over their graded papers and always make sure their homework is done and checked over. Using counters is a must right now. At home, they can use anything from toothpicks to dried beans. Mixing addition and subtraction helps them remember to look at the sign. These are some helpful hints to help you help them. In writing this week, we will writing our own class story and illustrating it to publish. In our work work this week we will be using and applying digraphs (/sh/ /th/ /ch/ /wh/ /ph/).
Although the students will be out on Monday; we, the teachers, will be having in-service. Hope you all enjoy your long weekend.
Date to remember: Oct 25 is an early release day at 11:00. The afternoon will be reserved for parent conferences.
Thanks everyone for your support!
Mrs. Benson

It finally feels like fall and we are loving this cooler weather. I’m sure all of you are too. This week we will be exploring and applying blends in our word work. In reading, we will finally begin our guided reading lessons. The students will continue to bring home their daily reading book, but they will also bring home their guided reading book periodically (maybe once a week). This book will be in a separate folder, sometimes combined with an activity to do at home. It should return the next day. In math this week, we will begin subtraction with manipulatives. And in science and writing, we will continue our author study of Leo Lionni. Look for new words to come home for spelling.
Report cards will come home on Thursday. Please sign and return the next day.

It’s the last week of the first six weeks and I can’t believe it! Can you? This 1st grading period is filled with lots of testing and assessment but there has been lots of learning going on too. I’m so proud of their progress thus far. There are a couple things coming up on Tuesday. This will be The Day of Drumming that Mrs. Kimbley has organized. If you have sent your $1.00 to help pay for this, thank you. And if you haven’t please send this to help cover the cost. Also, this is the day of our fall school pictures. Please dress accordingly. Everyone will take a picture regardless if you are ordering or not.
This week in our word work we will be analyzing the ending sounds of words and we will have our spelling test that we had to put off from last week. Our one-to-one reading will continue and in writing we are continuing Writer’s Workshop by publishing our books and using our revising skills to check spelling, capitalization, punctuation, penmanship, spacing, and staying on topic. In penmanship we will continue to learn the “Roughneck Way” to make our letters correctly and legible. The season changed this week so we will be exploring these changes in science.
Be sure and check graded papers on Monday and correct and send back anything that says to redo and return for a better grade. Continue to vote for our Limeades for Learning Project On-line. Hopefully, we will be funded soon.
Thank you,
Mrs. Benson

I’m not sure how much money our class collected this week for the fire victims, but I know I couldn’t pick up the bucket by myself. Thanks everyone for contributing. There were several kids who donated their Friday’s pennies to the cause, which I thought was very admirable.
This week in our Word Work we will be focusing on initial sounds and will begin TPRI (Texas Primary Reading Inventory) testing. This is a state-mandated test to assess phonological awareness and reading. Take-home readers will continue to come home every night. Don’t forget to read and sign the reading log. In math this week we will begin addition with manipulatives and problem solving. Spelling will continue with our new spelling words that were sent home this past Friday. The test will be close to the end of the week. We will also begin our Science Unit on the 5 senses.
Continue to encourage good CHAMPION behavior. We are really working hard at remembering and applying these behaviors so that our listening and work habits support our academics.
Thanks everyone for everything!
Mrs. Benson

Don’t forget Parent Orientation is this Tuesday @ 5:30 in the Elementary Cafeteria. Hope to see you there!

I can’t believe it but we have already completed half of our first six weeks. Unfortunately the first six weeks consists of a lot assessing to find out exactly where each student is and what their needs are. We are well into this and will continue for the rest of the six weeks on top of covering first grade curriculum. In our word work this week we will continue to analyze and use long and short vowels in our reading as well as our writing. We are using the Writing Process in our story writing and will continue to do this all year. In math the students will begin joining groups together to add and will write their own problems for problem solving. We will begin to explore colors in science to get ready for our unit on “Change.” Our spelling test will be on Tuesday and be sure to always look for the new words on the yellow and white paper that comes home to study the words.
Remember, graded papers come home in the Roughneck folder on Mondays and always read and initial the planner to check for messages from me or the students. A book and their reading log also should come home EVERY day to be read and signed.
Thanks to all of you who have voted on our Sonic class project. We are almost to 1000 votes! Thanks to Keatyn for turning in her many Sonic stickers to earn a lot of votes! Keep them coming!
Have a great week!
Mrs. Benson

We have another great week behind us and an extended weekend to enjoy. With our first spelling test done, this next week the students will receive 5 more new spelling words. The test will not be this week because of only having 4 days. Our word work will consist of learning the long and short sounds of the vowels and using these in our reading and writing. We have concluded our study of Kevin Henkes’ books and now the students will be writing about their favorite book and characters. In math we will be counting groups.
Individual testing in reading readiness and math readiness will begin and continue through the next 2-3 weeks. All of these results will be shared with you at parent conferences in October. We have Parent Orientation on September 13, 2011 at 5:30pm in our Elementary Cafeteria. I hope all of you can attend. It will explain a lot about first grade, the curriculum, and our expectations.
Thanks to all of you who have voted for our class project for Limeades for Learning. Our project is Pack It! Store It! Organize It!. Please go on the website and vote daily from each of your email addresses. If you get a Limeades for Learning sticker at Sonic, you can put the code in on the website and it will count as 2 votes. (If you don’t get one on each of your cups, ask for them!) If you want to send the stickers with your child to school, that will be fine and I’ll put them through for you. Projects with the most votes will be funded by Sonic and their Donors.
Thanks for making this a great start for the year!
Mrs. Benson

We had a great start this week! Everyone has worked hard to learn rules and procedures, which is a big part of starting a new school year. Make sure that you go over the expectations with your child that was sent home with them on Friday. This note gave an overview of our guidelines and behavior management system. As always having behavior management is the key to having a great school year!

There are a few things I wanted to share to help make our communication even smoother. Every Monday your child will bring home graded papers and they will begin bringing home their daily reading log and book this Monday. Our first few weeks of first grade consists of a lot of testing; be patient in us getting to each child individually. If the book I send home is too easy then record that comment on their reading log and I’ll give them a different book. If it is too hard just simply read it to them for their reading and record that comment also. We will also be doing some quick testing in math and then will begin our first unit on patterning. We have already begun our book/author study of Kevin Henkes in reading/writing and the students will also receive their first 5 words in spelling this week. The spelling test will be Friday. In phonics we will be analyzing the difference between vowels and consonants.

One quick reminder: If there is anyone who has not paid their planner/party money, please do so as soon as possible. Also, always send a note with your child if he/she will be attending a pep rally. They must have this note to be sent to the area to be picked up.

Thank you for all you have done to help make this a smooth beginning!

Mrs. Benson

Well, this will be my last blog for the year. This week we are wrapping up testing, reviewing and practicing notable skills in math; such as, graphing, patterning, addition, subtraction, and time; and concluding our study of Mem Fox. In Writers Workshop we will be trying to complete whatever books are currently unfinished. Next week will be a week of fun summer books and activities.

I want to thank all of you for lending me your children each day and making this a wonderful school year. We have really grown closer as a a class and as friends. The growth I have seen academically has been in leaps and bounds.  The students have really worked hard and it shows. Thanks to all of you for reading with them each night, getting their homework done, and all the other many things you have done. I truly believe the old saying, “It takes a village…” I pray each day that God will give me the knowledge and compassion to do my part.

I hope you all have a super summer and remember: DO NOT stop reading over the summer! For some, this could cause big setbacks. Keep reading and writing so that next year will start off great. Again, have a wonderful summer and I’m sure I’ll see many of you around!

Mrs. Benson