I’m very excited about our new school year beginning. I hope that you all will subscribe to this blog to inform you of upcoming news and events pertaining to our class. Please feel free to leave your positive comments and/or email me if you have questions. I am looking forward to school beginning on August 23rd and seeing all of your bright shining faces. Remember “you can do ANYTHING good!”
See you then,
Mrs. Benson

This has been a busy week. Because of creating our Mother’s Day gifts and cards, we did not have time to introduce our new spelling words. For sure we will be getting those this next week. Look for them to come home on the yellow and white paper. We also completed our class book, Duck for White Oak Mayor.
After testing everyone this week in reading, we will continue our guided reading groups this next week.
We started working with fractions this week and will continue next week with fractions. There aren’t a lot of graded papers coming home in the next couple weeks due to several classroom projects and writings. Please be aware of this.
Remember, there is a school holiday on May 31st for Memorial Day and the last day of school is June 1st with early release being at 11:00. There will also be an End of the Year Party from 9:00-10:00.
Thank you and I hope you all have a Happy Mother’s Day!
Mrs. Benson

We had a great turn-out for the Author’s Tea. Thank you all for coming and listening to the awesome writing the students have produced this year. The students will bringing home all of their writings from the entire year closer to the last day of school. We still have a few more things to do before we are done.
We have concluded our study of place value in math but will continue to use it in our math and we will be moving on to fractions this week. Again, always check for your child’s math homework.
There will be new spelling words this week and this will be our last group of 10 spelling words.
Another bit of information, because we did not get to have our Valentine’s Party due to snow, we will be have an End Of The Year Party on June 1st. This is officially our last day of school due to that same snow day in February. It is an early release day at 11:00. The party will be from 9:00-10:00 and is being planned by our room mom, Mrs. Bower. She has done an excellent job with all of our parties. If you get a call from her needed some help, please do so. I know it will be great!
Remind your child that school is not over yet and not to stop being a CHAMP. Discipline problems are usually more outstanding this time year so please stay on top of this by checking their planner and encouraging good behavior. Thanks again,
Mrs. Benson

Well, there aren’t many days left, but there is a lot to do. Unfortunately, the students have begun to shut down early on me. Please encourage them to always do their best and continue using their good CHAMPs behavior.
This week we are reviewing symonyms and ABC order in our word work. Guided reading groups are continuing as the students continue to progress to higher levels and thinking skills. Thanks to all of you for continuing your reading homework even though there is baseball, softball, and many other activities going on. In math we concluded 3-dimensional shapes and are beginning place value. Always look for their homework in math.
In writing we are beginning an author/book study on Doreen Cronin and will be writing an adaptation. I have to say our most exciting study right now is the study of pond life. We are learning all about the life cycle of the frog and other pond critters in our literature and in the science lab.
This Friday is our Author’s Tea that all parents are invited to. It is at 11:40-12:30 in our classroom. Please respond to how many will be attending in your child’s planner.
Thanks again for staying on top of everything involving your child. We only have a few weeks left!
Mrs. Benson

I hope your spring break was wonderful. I know we had wonderful weather and even were able to enjoy snow once again. Wow! This Texas weather is crazy!
This week in class we will be continuing our guided reading groups and testing for our new levels in reading and math. We will also begin counting money in math. This is something that all of you can do for extra practice. We use pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. Identifying these coins and knowing their values are very important. In writing, we are really going to work hard at getting our chosen publications at their best. The students will be using some new ABYDOS writing techniques that I learned at the last conference I attended before spring break. The published work that they choose will be read at the Author’s Tea on April 23rd. All our students are authors!
Our Easter party will be held on Thursday, April 1st at 1:15. Location and activities are being discussed now.
I hope you all have a wonderful week!
Mrs. Benson

Hope you all enjoyed your snow day. I know I did. It’s not very often that we get to enjoy several inches of soft, white, glistening snow! I’m sorry it had to be on the day of the Valentine’s Day party, but Mrs. Koonce is going to make up for that and allow the students to have an End of the Year party. Thanks to all of the moms and dads that were prepared to help with the party. I’m sure you will all be ready for the Easter party which is next.
During the last couple of weeks we have covered antonyms and synonyms in our wordwork. We will continue to work with these in our writing this week. In guided reading this week we will be getting our parts for the Texas Readers Theater. Information and their parts will be coming home this week so that the students can practice their expression. We concluded our study of measurement in math and have begun working with doubles and doubles +1. Our study of presidents is coming along. We have covered George Washington and will continue our study of Abraham Lincoln and our present president.
Parent conferences and early release will be this Tuesday, Feb.23. I hope to see all of you there.
Mrs. Benson

We have many events coming up this month. February is always a very busy month for first grade. Having just completed celebrating the 100th Day of School, we will have our Valentine’s Party this week on Friday. We will then be studying presidents in honor of President’s Day and February is also Dental Health Month. We have lots to cover in the shortest month of the year.
Our writing and reading will continue with 10 new spelling words and we will also continue to explore measurement in math and in the science lab. Your child should have brought home the first volume of our math text this week. These are to keep at home. We are now working through Volume 2 at school.
I promised some dates of some upcoming events and I have those now.
Feb. 10 Valentine Boxes/Valentines Due
Feb. 11 Chocolate Bunny Fund Raiser Begins
Feb. 12 Valentine Party 11:30-12:30
Feb. 15 President’s Day-Student/Teacher Holiday
Feb. 23 Early Release/Parent Conferences
Mar. 11 First Grade Readers Theater-6:30
Apr. 23 First Grade Author’s Tea
That’s all I have for now. I hope this helps with your own schedules. Keep reading each day and remember to send those Boxtops for Education.
Thanks for everything you do,
Mrs. Benson

Monday, February 1st will be our 100th day of school. It’s hard to believe. Your children have grown in many ways; academically as well as socially. We have wrapped up our study of compound words in our wordwork. I am expecting the class to apply the use of adjectives, nouns, verbs, and compound words in their writing. This week we will see the difference between singular and plural nouns.
Guided reading groups will continue. Notice the books that your child is bringing home. Many of their levels have been raised. We want to always keep them challenged yet not frustrated or bored. Remember, reading each and every night is so very important for each one of them to grow in their reading.
We will be exploring measurement in math this week with nonstandard units as well as with inches. We also will continue our study of penguins in science.
Some upcoming events to look forward to are our Valentine’s Party on Feb. 12th at 11:30, student holiday on Feb. 15th. We will have our first grade reader’s theater in March and our first grade Author’s Tea in April. Also parent conferences are coming up. Exact dates will be coming soon. Hope you all have a great week!
Thank you,
Mrs. Benson

There has been a lot going on in the last couple weeks. We have covered many topics. In math we have studied time to the hour and half hour. This needs to continue at home for a firm foundation and more practice. Presently we are working through counting by tens and adding the ones. The tens place and ones place will also be discussed. Always look for homework on Wednesday or Thursday.
In reading and wordwork we have covered adjectives, nouns, and verbs. This week and next week we are working with compound words. Our reading groups have continued with many students moving up on their reading levels. Way to go! Some of our students participated in a readers theater this past week entitled “Tacky the Penguin.” Readers theater will help with fluency and expression.
This readers theater leads right into our new science study on penguins. The students really love learning all they can about penguins. This study will continue for a couple more weeks.
We just completed a class book using dialogue and quotation marks and highlighting the spelling word “said.”
This week we will be getting 5-10 new spelling words. Look for these to come home on the yellow/white writing paper.
Some upcoming dates include our class CHAMPs Assembly this Thursday at 8:00. We will be presenting on self-control. Our Valentine Party is on February 12 at 11:30-12:30. You will be getting a note about this. We also have a student holiday on February 15th.
Thanks,
Mrs. Benson

We have one more week of school before the Christmas break! I can’t believe it. We have gotten a lot done in the last couple of weeks. We have finished our mid-year testing in reading. The students have really progressed in their reading abilities. And in math we have wrapped up addition and subtraction with fact families and other related facts. Of course addition and subtraction will always spiral back around in everything we do in first grade math. Thanks to all of you who have been getting their math homework done and returned on time and getting that reading log signed and returned each and every day. Both of these things are soooo important for each student’s adademic improvement.
We completed an author/book study this week on Audrey and Don Woods. After reading their book, The Napping House, and also studying adjectives and how they describe nouns and elaborate our literature and writing, we published our own book, The Busy Workshop. This book is a Christmas version. It is posted outside our hall. I hope you can come and read and enjoy it. The students did a great job.
Upcoming dates to remember: Thursday, December 17th, Early Release @11:00/Lunch @ 10:10
Friday, December 18th, Party @ 9:00/Early Release@ 11:00/Lunch @10:10
Don’t forget to send your boy/girl gift by this Tuesday.
Thanks,
Mrs. Benson