Duncan's Dugout

Class News

Well it is hard to believe it is already October. The end of the grading period is almost here. We have covered so much in our curriculum these past weeks. The children have worked so very hard. Please continue to review math facts 0-10 in addition and subtraction with your child. Practice making money combinations up to 30 cents. We continue to work with tens and ones also in Math. Continue to review sight words daily. We will be testing the 1st 50 this next week. Also continue to read daily for 20 minutes and log the reading for the October reading log.

We have two new students who have joined the Dugout. We welcome Ethan and Jacolby.

I believe Spelling City is up and running again. I had been adding the words but found out they were not on the site. I think I figured it out. Sorry.

Class News

March will be a very busy month in 1st grade. We will continue our weekly spelling tests which needed to be moved to Thursday due to a conflict in schedules. The children are doing a great job, thank you for your support in helping them study.

Reading continues daily with guided reading groups, choosies and doies, or in class book reports.We will be working on biographies these next two weeks. Please review sight words daily, the children will be tested within the next two weeks. We continue to review phonic skills and apply them in our classwork. We continue to work on reading with fluency.  We have also been practicing CRCT practice tests and working on reading strategies.

We are continuing our writing of paragraphs with a main idea sentence, 5 details and a closing sentence. We continue to work on our handwriting skills also.

In science we are studying the needs of plants and animals. In social studies we are completing our study of Harriet Tubman, Theodore Roosevelt and George Washington Carver. We will begin a unit on tall tales.

Our newest unit of math will include measurement. We will continue to review our skills learned in calendar. Please continue to review counting money to $1.00, math facts 0-18 and telling time. We will be reviewing for the CRCT in class also.

As you can see we have been busy and the next few months are crucial for the children to keep a great work ethic. Please be sure to maintain homework practices. Please be sure to send in a snack with your child daily. The first grade teachers are monitoring the purchasing of ice cream due to the fact we are seeing the children eat their ice cream and not their lunch. We are also seeing them buy ice cream on a day when brownies or cookies are being sold and this effects their afternoon studies. We would appreciate your support with this matter.  A new program is going to be started after spring break in which breakfast will be offered here at Chalker. More information will be coming home regarding this program.

Thank your for all that you do! We are having a fabulous year and I have seen tremendous growth with the children.  Their success is due to the support they get from home.

Class News

Welcome back! Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday. It is hard to believe the 2nd half of the year is hear already.

This grading period will continue to focus on many of the same skills but many new skills will be introduced.

Language Arts- Please continue to read with your child for fluency and practice the sight words. The new list is on the sight word page. We will continue spelling patterns with short and long vowels, blends, digraphs and r-controlled vowels. We will be reading and writing to  identify the main idea and details in informational text.

Writing- We will be writing sentences to describe an experience and edit and revise our writings. I will be looking for printing with correct spacing, and letters formed the correct way. I will be checking for sentences using subject/verb agreement correctly. We will continue to work on capitalization and punctuation in our writing. We will review commas in a series.

Social Studies- Our units of study include character traits and contributions of Harriet Tubman, Theodore Roosevelt, George Washington Carver.

Science- Our units of study include the investigations of light, sound and magnets. We will also study of basic needs of plants and animals.

Math- We will continue the comparison of numbers using greater than, less than and equal to with numbers through 100. We will be making fair trades in counting money through $1.00.  We will be adding and subtracting our facts through sums and differences of 18.We will begin our study of fractions identifying halves and fourths. Time will be introduced telling time to the hour and 1/2 hour. We will continue our study of graphs including pictographs, bar graphs, cirlce graphs, and tally mark graphs.

So you can see this next grading period will be busy. Please review your child's silver folder daily. Practice sight words and math facts daily!  Thank you for all your support. I am looking forward to conferencing with each of you.

October Newsletter

This is just to extend a big welcome to our newest classmate! Sonali Pradham will be joining our class Monday morning. We are so excited for her to be part of the Dugout!

Download newsletter_october.doc

Book IT is Here!

Please look in your child's Friday folder this week for a reading program called Book It that we as a class will be participating in.  As an overview, the children will be keeping up with the number of minutes they read for the months of October- March.  Each month the children will hand in their calendar with documentation of their minutes they have read. They then will receive a certificate for a free pizza. If the child hands in their calendars for each month they will be invited to a pizza party at the end of the year. They must have all 6 calendars handed in with documentation and signed. It is exciting and fun for the children. Again, check the Friday folder for the information. Thanks.

Here's What is Happening This Week

Happy Monday!  I just wanted to update you on our schedule this week. Tuesday will be early release for Chalker.  Please have your children read and practice math facts. Wednesday we will begin testing. I did not give homework because I would rather the children go to bed early to be fresh for the testing. Please be sure they eat a healthy breakfast and bring a healthy snack.  Testing will take place Wed.- Friday. I am not sending home spelling words this week either. Please review the words from previous weeks.

The Dugout Newsletter

Please click to see the attached newsletter. Download newsletter_aug08.doc