Week 18

There will not be an assessment this week.  We are reviewing this week.  Remember school dismisses at 11 on Friday.  Enjoy your time at home with your family!  Have a very Merry Christmas!

Week 17

Upcoming events:

Dec. 7:  Doughnuts with dad at 7 am

Dec. 12:  School spirit day

Dec. 14: Christmas party money due $3.00

Dec. 15:  PTA 6:30

Dec. 18:  Christmas party. School dismisses at 11.

What are we learning?

Sight words:  was, funny, all

Writing:  I can record facts I have learned.

Reading:  I can sequence events in a story and compare multiple stories.

Math:  I can represent teen numbers.

Social studies:  I know that holiday traditions look different at various countries around the world.  

How can I help at home?

Practice sight words daily.  Read 100 Book Challenge.

Review anything missed on the assessment and interim. 

Write teen numbers and practice saying their name to identify each number 0-20.

Practice writing the sounds you hear in simple words such as: hat, mop, big, etc.

Week 15

We will not be having an assessment or learning new words this week.  We will be reviewing previous skills.  We will continue learning about Thanksgiving through reading and writing.  We will be working on teen numbers throughout December. 
Remember Tuesday is the last day this week.  Enjoy the holidays with your family!  I am thankful for the opportunity to spend this year learning alongside of your children.  They are a blessing to us both!

Week 14

Wow, it has been a busy week preparing for today's Thanksgiving meal.  It was a huge success with several families having an opportunity to join us.  Thank you for all of the supplies you provided for our costumes!  Just a few reminders:  Friday is school spirit day.  Next week is a two day week.  We will not have new words or an assessment next week!  This week we will be assessing the words: and, if, big, little.  We are continuing to focus on teen numbers.  We are learning all about Thanksgiving and why we celebrate it.  We are focusing on sounding out words to write sentences about Thanksgiving.  We will be sending interims home Monday the 23rd.  

Fall Taste Test

Today we tried several foods and drink that were fall flavored.  We had a great time and enjoyed our treats!  Thank you to everyone who contributed!!

Week 13

Upcoming events:
November 11:  Veteran's day program
November 20:  school spirit day
November 23:  interims
November 25-27: Thanksgiving holidays

What are we learning this week?
Sight words:  one, two, three
Math:  teen numbers
Reading:  characters & setting
Writing:  narratives
Social Studies:  Thanksgiving

How can you help at home?
Review anything missed on the assessment.
Read 100 Book Challenge nightly.
Review all sight words.  Rainbow write this week's words.
Review teen numbers in the homework folder.  Look up the "numbers in the teen have a group of ten" video on YouTube, sing along.

Week 11

Upcoming events:

Nov. 3:  Election Day holiday

Nov. 4:  field trip money due

Nov. 11:  Veteran's day program 9 a.m.

Nov. 19:  Chick-fil-a spirit night

Nov. 20:  school spirit day

Nov. 23:  interims sent home

Nov. 25-27:  Thanksgiving holidays

What are we learning?

Sight words:  he, she, up, down

Reading: describe setting

Writing:  simple sentences 

Math:  numbers 0-20

Science:  fall

How can you help at home?

Review anything marked on the weekly assessment.

Review sight words each night.  Can you think of a word that rhymes with them?

Read 100 book challenge nightly.

Count objects in sets of 0-20, write the corresponding numeral.  

Practice writing simple sentences using previous sight words.  For example, I see a cat.  Be sure to use spaces, capitals, and periods.  You can use your sight word chart (in your folder) to help you spell words.

Week 12

Upcoming events:

Field trip:  October 29th 

Fall festival:  October 29th 

Election Day holiday:  November 3rd 

What are we learning this week?

Sight words:  to, do, on, for

Math:  numbers 0-20

Writing:  writing simple sentences

Reading & fall:  reading & learning about pumpkins

How can you help at home?

Review anything missed on the report card & the weekly interim.

Next week we celebrate Red Ribbon Week

A look ahead at the week of October 26th as we celebrate Red Ribbon Week: 

Next week, we will celebrate Red Ribbon Week as we encourage our students to “Believe, Achieve & Succeed…Drug Free!”  Here is a sneak peek of next week’s events:

 

• Monday – Bulldog Spirit Day (wear red & black)
• Tuesday – Dress for Success (dress in your best)
• Wednesday – College, University, & Military Day (wear a favorite college/university/military shirt)
• Thursday – Career Dream Day from 8:30-10:30am (dress in clothing that matches future career)
• Friday – OES Spirit Day (wear an OES shirt or school colors)

Week 10

Upcoming events:

Oct. 19:  book fair visit for our class

Oct 20 & 22:  parent teacher conferences, be sure to sign up online

Remember Disney items for our fall festival basket

Oct. 23:  no school for students

Oct. 29: fall festival

What are we learning this week?

Sight words:  red, yellow, blue

Reading:  main idea

Reading Strategy:  make the first letter sound, use your fish lips to say the first letter sound

Writing:  I write one word for each word I say.

Science:  fall season

Math: numbers 0-18

How can you help at home? 

Review any areas missed on the report card sent home at conferences.

Practice sight words & read 100 Book Challenge each night.  

Need a new way to practice sight words?  Let your child spell them and read them using play dough.

Review numbers to 18 by writing them and counting objects in sets 0-18.

Look for and talk about signs of fall.  How do you know that it is fall?  What signs do you see?

Reading:  identify the main idea while reading.

Writing:  practice writing simple sentences.  Be sure to write one word for each word you want to say on your paper.  Here is an example of what we typically see in student writing:  Students often say "I see a frog." is written on their paper, but they have only written "frog."  They do not realize they must have one written word to match each spoken word.

More Boosterthon Fun

Our principals were duct taped to a pole because we met another goal.  They will also be dressing up like their least favorite college mascot since we met our overall goal.  Dr. Patterson will be a gamecock while Mrs. Skinner will be a tiger. 

Our fun run!

Looking ahead to week 9

Looking ahead

Upcoming events: 

Oct. 16:  school spirit day, wear an OES shirt

Oct. 19:  book fair visit

Oct 20 & 22:  parent teacher conferences, be sure to sign up online

Remember Disney items for our fall festival basket

Oct. 23:  no school for students

Oct. 29: fall festival

What are we learning this week?

Math:  numbers 11-15

Reading/writing:  identifying main idea

Sight words: review all previous words

Letter combinations:  -ck, qu-, -ss, -ll

Science:  fall 

How can you help at home?

Review anything missed on the weekly assessment.

Read a story, pick out the main idea.

Review all sight words, letters, and their sounds.

Count objects in sets 0-15, write the number to match.

What a busy week!

It has been a very busy week here at OES!!  Thanks to our Boosterthon fundraising goals we have had an exciting week.  Dr. Patterson and Mrs. Skinner rode tricycles around the lunchroom on Monday.  

On Tuesday, they danced on the roof.  

On Wednesday, we had BSHS athletes here to help us "walk to school."  Our class earned their extra recess time for fundraising.  Our next goal to reach for our class is a shoes off day.  We need about $4 more per lap before reaching that goal.  Thanks for all of your support this week for our fundraising efforts.  Remember Friday is the fun run; we will wear our pirate shirts.

Firefighters visit OES

We finished up our community helpers unit with a visit from the BS fire department.  They asked that each student check their smoke detectors tonight for homework.  We learned a lot about fire safety.  

Week 8

Upcoming events:

Oct 5:   Wear a bandana

Oct 6:  wear sunglasses

Oct. 7:  Walk to school day, dress like a pirate

Oct 8:  wear black clothing

Oct 9:  Boosterthon fun run, wear school pirate shirts

What we are learning:

Sight words:  stop, go, in, dog

Math:  reviewing for our numbers 0-10 assessment

Phonics:  Ee, Oo, Uu

Reading:  use your owl eyes to read picture clues

Writing/science/reading:  reading and writing about what science is, what scientist do, what is fall

How can you help at home?

Review anything missed on weekly assessment.  Practice sight words daily; try one of the activities in the homework folder.  You may also want to try the sight word wallet described in the blog.  Review numbers 0-10, count objects and write the corresponding numeral.  Go for a nature walk.  What signs of fall do you see?  Read 100 Book Challenge each night, use your owl eyes to figure out hard words.  

Community Helper visits

Today Mr. Ben came to tell us all about his job in the Air Force.  We had an opportunity to ask him questions about his job.  Tomorrow we will have a visit from the fire department.  

Boosterthon kick-off

We kicked off our Boosterthon fundraiser yesterday at a pep rally.  Please help us raise money for our school.  You will be receiving more information via email and call outs.  Thanks for your participation. 

Learning Sight Words Pays Off!

Here's a fun idea we have tried in the past for students who do not enjoy learning sight words:  pay them to learn them (well sort of).  :)  Provide students with a wallet, it can be a real wallet or a wallet made from construction paper.  Cut green construction paper into dollar size pieces (you can even print sight word money from some websites).  Write the sight word where the president would be on a real dollar.  Practice sight words with the money; students get paid every sight word dollar that they know how to read.  They can store it in their wallet and practice each night.  Remember to periodically review the "money" in their wallet to be sure they do not forget the words they already learned to read.  At the end of each nine weeks, students should have added 25 sight word dollars.  By the end of the year we hope that each student has 100 sight word dollars.  How many "dollars" can your child earn tonight? 


For a list of sight words already covered, check the 1st nine weeks sight word chart in their homework folder.  At this point, you may want to begin looking ahead to add the 2nd nine weeks words as well. 

Websites to explore

We have a few websites available to students through our school that require a password.  I will be sending passwords for these websites home with students.  Until I get those sent home, your child may want to explore these sites.  They are student favorites.  Tumblebooks can be accessed through our school website; books are read aloud to students.  Games for reading and math can be found at:
www.starfall.com
www.abcya.com
In addition to these websites, YouTube has a great selection of videos that review letters, sight words, and math skills.  There are also several great videos of books being read aloud, sometimes even being read by the author.  I caution you to preview all videos first to screen their appropriateness; not all videos are quality resources even though they are tagged as educational. 
Another great resource can be author's websites.  Many authors have activities that correspond to their books.  For instance, you could read a book by Jan Brett, then visit her website to print characters from the book.  These characters could be turned into puppets to use for retelling the story.  She provides a recipe to make her gingerbread characters.  You could make real gingerbread babies to use for retelling.  She also has interactive games and many other links on her website.  Her website is one of many great websites by children's authors.  Mem Fox frequently responds to students who contact her.  Her conact information is available on her website.  Google a favorite author to see what they may have available online.  

Week 7

Upcoming Events:
September 30th Boosterthon kick-off

What we are learning this week:
Sight words: an, is, look
Letters & sounds: q, x, y, z
Reading Strategy:  We use our "owl eyes" to look at picture clues to figure out unfamiliar words.
Writing:  We will continue using the sentence frame to write about community helpers.  The purpose of the sentence frame is to remind students to begin with a capital letter and end with a punctuation mark. 
Math:  We will continue working on numbers 0-10.  This week we will be using a number line to count and find missing numbers.
Social Studies: We will finish our unit on community helpers.

How can you help at home this week?
Review anything missed on the interim or weekly assessment.
Review sight words.  Students love being sight word detectives!  Give them a magnifying glass, a simple book, a notebook, and a pencil.  Have them search for sight words within the book and write them in the notebook.  After they finish their list, have them read their list of words.
Review letters and sounds.  One way we practice in class is by playing a matching game with uppercase and lowercase letters.  An easy way to prepare this at home would be to write an uppercase letter and matching lowercase letter on an index card, cut the card in half, mix up a few at a time, then have your child match the letters together again.  Say the letter name and sound each time they make a match. 
Writing:  Practice writing letters correctly.
Math:  Write the numbers 0-10 on a number line (or you could use a ruler for a number line to 12).  Have your child close their eyes, cover up a number on the number line, then have your child guess the missing number.  If this is too easy, try covering multiple numbers.

Week 6

Upcoming events:

Monday, September 21:  dress like a pirate day

               & sign and return interims if you forgot to return on Friday

Friday, September 25:  school spirit day

What we are learning this week:

Sight words:  like, you, at, cat

Letters and sounds:  Vv, Ii, Ww, Kk

Reading:  Comparing/contrasting fiction and non-fiction using community helper books.  How can you determine what type of book you are reading?

Writing:  Sentences begin with a capital letter and have ending punctuation.  We will be using a sentence frame to remember this concept.  Our sentence frame looks similar to this /\________.  The "mountain" reminds you to start with a capital and the period is at the end.  We will be writing a community helper book using this frame.  

Social studies:  There are many different community helpers.  Some community helpers help us and keep us safe.  

Math:  Review numbers 1-10, special emphasis on 6-10.  Writing the number, counting objects, making sets.

How can you help at home this week?  

Review anything missed on the interim or weekly assessment.  I will recheck those skills before report cards are issued to give students another chance at mastery.  Remember to sign and return interims if you forgot on Friday.

Reading:  Read 100 Book Challenge each night.  Remember to log your books.  Practice sight words, letters and their sounds.  Read a variety of books this week including 100 Book Challenge books, decide if they are fiction or non-fiction.  How do you know?

Writing:  Practice writing simple sentences with a capital letter and ending punctuation such as: The dog ran fast.  The cat is gray.  My name is Jack.

Social studies:  Discuss family member's jobs.  Is someone at your house considered a community helper, such as a police officer, mailman, grocer, etc.?  How do they help the community?

Math:  Practice counting objects in groups and writing the corresponding number.  For example, count six buttons and write 6, count 9 pieces of cereal and write 9.  Then try it in reverse, the parent writes the number 8, the child makes a set of 8 crayons.

100 Book Challenge time

     We have been busy learning the final pieces of 100 Book Challenge this week as we begin taking books home.  Here we are choosing good, quiet spots for reading time.  We will change spots throughout the year.  This week we focused on how to choose a spot far away from others so we are not distracted.  We used quiet corners, empty tables, and areas not close to others.  

     Remember to send books, logs, and folders back each day.  One line equals 15 minutes of reading; it may include reading, sight word work, letter and sound practice, or other reading skills.  Your child should log 2 books in class and one to two more at home.  Students should not log more than four at night, one hour of reading is a lot for most students.  Remember to log on the next blank line, not the line I have already signed.  We want to fill this log book up by the end of the year; students who log where I have already signed are cheating themselves out of steps.  We will add additional log sheets for students as they need them throughout the year.  

     Look for special notes in their reading folder; occasionally I will send a note about their reading strengths and one area to work on before next month.  I will read with them at least twice a month but will typically s nod the note at the last conference of the month to give students a month to correct their skill.  Thanks for your help in making this a smooth start for our program!