Mrs. Summerlin's Class Blog

Weekly Update 1/23-1/27

We're getting ready for another great week! Here's what's happening:

Math- We are continuing our unit on Money. Students need to be able to show different ways to make the same amount of money to "purchase" items. The most difficult part of this task is the transition between coins. Students know how to skip count by 10's and 5's, but it's hard to switch in the middle. For example, if you have 3 dimes, 1 nickel and 2 pennies, students have to count by 10's 3 times, but then they have to suddenly switch and count by 5's, then by 1's. A great way to practice this skill is having your child skip count by 10's, then stop them in the middle somewhere and ask them to continue by counting by 5's. Practice practice practice! :)

Reading- In guided reading groups we are reading nonfiction texts and finding the main idea. In whole group we are examining short vowel sounds and finding words with short vowels.

Writing- We are still working on our How To books and we are going to examine Bold Beginnings closer this week. You can help your child with Bold Beginnings by pointing out good beginning sentences in the books you read at home.

Social Studies- We will be learning about George Washington Carver this week.

In other news...

Monday- Media Center

Tuesday- Computer Lab

Friday is our 100th Day of school! We'll be doing some special things in class to celebrate this fun day!

In the community...

Have you been to PLAY in Roswell? Right now they have a special deal going on for $5 per child to play on Friday nights from 5-8. They are also selling pizza during that time. More information can be found on the this link. 

PLAY Website

Note: I do not work for PLAY and they do not endorse me in any way. My kids just love playing there and I love a good deal- thought you might too! :)

Weekly Update 1/17-1/20

We have gotten off to a great start in the third nine weeks! Here's what's happening this week:

Math- I had planned a 1-2 week unit on place value, but the students were ALL able to complete our first opening lesson independently! I am SO proud of them! Place value can be a very tricky area in math, but the students were able to decompose numbers up to 99 without blinking an eye! The really great news is that this allows us to move on into Money and will allow more time in other areas coming up! For Money this nine weeks the students need to be able to show different ways to make amounts of money up to $1 in coins and $20 in bills to purchase items. This is an excellent unit that allows a lot of practice from home. You can give your child change and ask if they have enough money to buy items that are of different amounts.

Reading- We are working on short vowels this week and work on long vowels next week. When reading with your child at home, point to words in the text and ask him/her if that word has a long or short vowel sound and practice the long and short vowel sounds.

Writing- We are writing How To books. As you write at home with your child, help him/her to come up with "Bold Beginning" sentences and "Excellent Ending" sentences.

Social Studies- We are finishing up Harriet Tubman this week and will be discussing George Washington Carver next week.

Also going on...

Tuesday 10-10:45 is Computer Lab (We are learning how to type text, add a picture, and edit text)

Thursday 9:30-10 Guidance with Mrs. Chamrin

Friday 11-11:30 Media Center

I hope you have a great week!

Weekly Update 12/19-12/23

The winter break is almost here! I hope everyone has a wonderful, safe and happy holidays!

Before we can start the season, we must get through these last 4 days! Here is what we'll be doing this week:

Math- Finishing representing numbers and taking our test. We will also be looking at word problems in detail this week.

Reading- Students will be going to their reading centers, but I will be working with individual students on assessments, so guided reading books will not be going home this week.

Writing- Students are working on their final narrative writing piece of the nine weeks.

Social Studies- We are reviewing map skills and historical figures.

Important news going on...

Tuesday is our last day at the computer lab for this quarter. We are going to retake our STAR test to see if any students have improved their AR levels!

Wednesday from 1-2 is our holiday party! Our room parent has sent home a letter requesting donations- please remember to send in the items that you signed up to bring. Thank you for helping make our party a success!

Thursday is the last day of school before the break. There is NO school on Friday!

Please reinforce at home with your child that we are still in school and still learning all the way up to 2:10 on Thursday afternoon. Thank you for your support from home!!

Weekly Update 12/12-12/16

Welcome back to another great week at school! Here's what's happening this week:

Math- We are taking the Math Checkpoint on Monday. This is a County-wide assessment that tells us what your child has learned so far in Math. We are also taking the Benchmark on Friday. This is a school-wide test that shows us what your child learned during the second nine weeks. Throughout the week I will also be working with small groups of children to review past concepts that need to be retaught.

Writing- We are working on Narrative writing this week. Your child will start his/her final writing piece of the nine weeks. The students will need to write a narrative that has characters, a setting, and a plot as well as dialogue.

Reading- I will be meeting with small groups to finish the current Guided Reading book that the students are working on. I will also be assessing students to see what new level they are at now that we are nearing the end of the quarter. In whole group reading we are looking at characters, setting and plot in a story.

Social Studies- We will take our test on Landforms on Monday.

In other news...

Tuesday- Computer Lab- We will create a graph in Graph Club.

Wednesday- Stevi B's Night

Friday- Media Center

Also...

The new parking lot is now open!

We have changed our recess time to 9:45-10 AM. I will be trying out some different schedules this week to see what works best for us. I will send home a new schedule by the end of the week.

Weekly Update! 11/28-12/2

I'm back! It was wonderful to be able to recover and spend some time with my beautiful new little boy! He was born on Oct 12 and weighed 10 pounds, 8 ounces. He's doing really well and his two big brothers enjoy him as well!

Now that I'm back, it's time to get back to our regular routine!

Math: I'll be assessing this week to see what the students need me to focus on with them through the remaining weeks of the quarter.

Reading: I'm meeting with small groups and we are reading our leveled books. I will send home your child's guided reading book for him/her to read to you when we are done. We will also be picking up with AR books again.

Writing: This week we are working on Personal Narratives. Our focus this week is on Thanksgiving. Students are creating a bubble map and writing a story about their Thanksgiving Day.

Social Studies: We worked on maps today and being able to locate where we belong in the world. (We live in the United States, in the state of Georgia, in Cobb County, and our city is Marietta). Next week we will finish up Lewis and Clarke.

Other events this week:

Computer Lab: Tuesday at 9:55

Media Center: Wednesday at 11

Art Night: Thursday from 6:30-8

School wide field trip to Publix to deliver canned goods: Friday morning

Emily's birthday party: Saturday (please RSVP to Tatiana)

It's great to be back and we have hit the ground running! We have 4 short weeks until the winter break. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

Weekly Update 9/12-9/16

We are already halfway through the first nine weeks! There is a lot going on in the classroom.

Math- We are learning about addition this week and different strategies. For the first nine weeks, your child needs to know their addition facts to 10 (8+1, 10+0, 4 +3, etc). We will be working in small groups to gain a better understanding of the strategies used to add.

Writing- I'm so impressed with our writers this year! This week we will work on having a beginning, middle and end, and creating a book.

Reading- In whole group reading we will be discussing how to choose a book based on favorite genres, authors, and how to preview a book.

Guided Reading- Each group has a book tailored to their reading level, but all of the groups will be examing Setting in stories.

Spelling- We are completing Sort 6 this week, which focuses on word familes -at and -an.

Social Studies- As we learn more about Benjamin Franklin, students will focus on the inventions he created.

In other news this week:

Media Center- Monday from 10-10:25

Computer Lab Orientation- Wednesday from 10-10:40

Guidance- Thursday from 9:30-10

ALSO...

Wednesday night is Stevi B's Night. If your child attends, please mark PTA on the homework for that night and your child does not have to do the homework :)

Thursday is Parent Orientation Night. If you attend, please mark PTA on your child's homework for that night as well!

I am starting conferences this week and I'm looking forward to meeting with you all! CONFERENCES ARE NOT THE SAME THING AS PARENT ORIENTATION! Parent Orientation is a time to learn what your child will be learning in first grade, how our classroom is run, Accelerated Reader, and general information about first grade. Conferences are geared specifically to your child's progress so far this year. 

I can't wait to see you all this week!

 

Weekly Update 8/29-9/2

We are officially in our third week of school! The students are adjusting well to first grade and I'm so proud of them already! Here is what we'll be learning this week:

Math- Last week we looked at place value in numbers up to 30. This week are looking at different ways to represent numbers to 30. We will take our first math test at the end of this week, or at the beginning of next week. Please keep an eye out for two math packets to come home the night before the test for review. They are packets we have completed in class.

Writing- We are learning what it looks like to be a good writer. Students have come up with topics and events (special memories) that they can write about. We have already chosen a favorite piece and will continue working on publishing them this week! We are also discussing nouns and verbs.

Reading- We are learning how to treat and sort the books in our classroom library. We are also learning about sequencing and rhyming words.

Words Their Way- We are looking at beginning sounds in words this week. As a side note, we do not have spelling tests until after January.

Social Studies- We have started a new unit on Benjamin Franklin!

Other news:

Tuesday at 9:55 we are going to the media center to have orientation. We will go back next Tuesday, September 6 to check out books for the first time!

Thursday at 9:30 we will have our first Guidance lesson with Ms. Chamrin. It's going to be wonderful!

The computer lab is not open this week, but as soon as it opens we will start going there on Wednesdays to practice typing and to play academic games on the computer.

Unfortunately, the technology is not quite working yet in our classroom. As soon as it does we will be using the ActivBoard for lots of learning opportunities!

If you have any questions, please contact me! I hope everyone has a great week!

 

Welcome Back!

It's that time of year again- back to school! I hope everyone has had a great start to the school year!

Just a few reminders:

If you have not returned the beginning of the year paperwork, like the yellow information form, or the county paperwork that went home in the Cobb Folder, please do so as soon as possible!

The first week of homework is due on Monday. Don't forget! I suggest that your child do one sheet a night to spread it out. Next week a monthly packet will go home for September.

Did you go to Stevi B's on Wednesday? Please make sure that you or your child marks PTA on one piece of homework as a free homework pass!

If you haven't signed up for Edmodo, please do so! I'd love to get as many students registered as possible.

Starting next week look for Weekly Updates here. It will tell you specifics about the week and what we're learning. Have a great week!

Weekly Update 5/9-5/13

The end of the school year is fast approaching! As we get closer to the end there are many exciting things happening at school, but there is still lots of learning to be done as well! Here's a look at the week.

Math: Measurement- Over the next two weeks we will be focusing on length, weight and capacity. Students will be doing some hands-on activities in class as well as practice from their math book. Our test will take place at the end of next week.

Reading: We will be meeting in reading groups, but it's time to start end of the year assessments to see how far your child has grown this year in reading. This is an exciting time as the students see how much progress they have made!

Writing: We have finished our unit on Response to Literature and will be working on Persuasive Writing the next two weeks.

Spelling: We will continue to work on the Word Sorts and will have the book of sorts completed by the end of the year. However, we will NOT be taking anymore Spelling Tests. There are some end of the year Spelling assessments that I will give just to see how much progress the students have made, but there are no more weekly spelling tests.

Health: We will be taking our assessment this week on Safety in the Home.

Other news:

Monday: Careers on Wheels- Students had an opportunity to see different vehicles and learn about the occupations that go along with them. Ask your child what his/her favorite part of the day was!

Wednesday: Computer Lab: Students are finishing their final typing pieces.

Thursday: Cultural Arts Day- Students will view different performances by various artists and learn about other cultures.

Friday: Field Day- There are still some leftover Field Day T-Shirts on sale for $5. Field Day is a very fun day, but please make sure that you put sunscreen on your child before he/she comes to school. Hats are allowed on this day.

All media center books were due last week, so please make sure your child has returned any library books. All registration cards and envelopes with 3 stamps were due, so please return those ASAP. Pictures and/or picture money was also due, so please return those ASAP.

Have a great week!

 

Changes!

There are a few changes to our testing schedule this week. We will NOT take our Math test on Wednesday. We did not get a chance to review the practice sheets that they completed today and I want to be able to address any further misconceptions. The worksheets and the packet we completed will go home on Wednesday night for a test on Thursday. 

Also, the spelling test will not be held on Friday. We will take our Spelling Test on Monday instead. If you have any questions, please let me know!