Week of February 22, 2016
News From Room 14
After a lot of thought and consideration, I have decided to modify our reading logs. The class has only
averaged 50-60% of students returning their reading logs, so I have decided to try a different
approach.
Students are being challenged to read 100 minutes and have a new reading chart in their book bags
that only requires them to color in a square for every minute they read. The day a child returns their
completed chart, they earn the privilege to read with a beanie baby during independent reading time
for the day. Although 100 minutes sounds like a lot, they can reach this goal in just 10 days by reading
only 10 minutes a day and in only 5 days by reading 20 minutes a day! I will give them a new chart
when they return a completed one, so they can earn this fun privilege over and over again simply by
doing their reading homework.
Please continue to listen to your child read and to talk with them about their reading. I am asking
parents to sign the chart before it is returned. This is a brand new idea for me and I am really hoping it
will increase the amount of reading the kids are doing at home. Let me know if you have any
questions!
I will be switching to a monthly newsletter that includes important dates for the upcoming month and
an update on what we have been learning starting in March. I will continue to use email to send out
quick updates as needed. I welcome your feedback on this new system!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Sciacca
IMPORTANT DATES and REMINDERS:
Online sign ups for
parent/teacher
conferences open today!
Look for directions in your
child’s folder.
Jump Rope for Heart is
about to begin! Watch for
information in your child’s
folder.
Dental screening will be on
Thursday at 1:30 for those
who wanted their child
screened.
I will be formally assessing
students over the next few
weeks for report card
purposes. Please let me
know of any planned
absences.
Community for Coffin hosts
their monthly meeting on
Tuesday at 7:00 PM –
consider attending!
Week of February 22, 2016
What did we learn before we went on vacation?
Math: The kids zipped through our length and measurement chapter! We wrapped up the chapter and
extended our thinking with some fun critical thinking exercises. Thursday was our 100th day of first grade! We
sorted, graphed and ate 100 colored goldfish in honor of this milestone. Please continue to help your child
memorize addition and subtraction facts to 10. They are expected to be fluent in these for second grade!
Word Study: Students worked on their personal words independently and practiced their editing skills. Our
whole group instruction focused on the “ow” spelling pattern; we did a Making Words activity that focused on
this pattern, found it in our shared reading and looked for places to use it in our writing. I assessed the kids’
growth in spelling and used the data to create groups of students who need to work on the same spelling skills;
I will use this to decide which sorts they will work with and what their goals will look like as we move forward.
I was very happy with the progress they have made since we last did this assessment!
Reader’s Workshop: We continued to work on writing about our reading. The kids are doing a great job
thinking about their books and their characters! Elephant and Piggy continue to be class favorites and many
children chose to write about them. Mrs. McCormack came in and did a poetry lesson with the kids while I was
out on Wednesday afternoon. She sent home a paper explaining what she did and included the class poem they
created.
Writer’s Workshop: The kids continued to work on introductions and conclusions for their nonfiction
writing. They are learning how to choose and use different types of paper by thinking about what they are
teaching and how they can best teach it. I have seen some very creative chapters in their books! Using commas
in dates and lists is a skill students are expected to master by the end of first grade, so we have been working
on this skill; it is a tricky concept, but I am seeing more and more kids acquire it.
Social Studies/Science: We were very fortunate to have Dr. Scholl visit us to teach us about dental health on
Thursday. She did a fabulous presentation and the kids were very attentive. We also had a guidance lesson this
week with Mrs. Bradley to work on our social skills. We talked about friendship, what it means to be a friend (I
had some side conversations with a few kids about friendship verses being “in love”!) and celebrated the
friendships we have made this year. Our Friendship Celebration was a lot of fun! The kids each decorated an
envelope and exchanged valentines. We enjoyed a delicious snack (big thanks to Mrs. Stadnicki for supplying
this!) and shared a movie with our friends from Mrs. Martin’s and Ms. Dunn’s classes.
We had tons of fun exchanging valentines!