Notes for Winter

When we return to school on Monday, we will begin our informative writing instruction. In past experience it would be a good idea for you to know in what topic/subject your child feels they are an expert. Some examples from past projects include:

• Weather
• Theater Arts
• Tigers
• Football

Our first step of the writing process will include:

1. Brainstorming possible topics for writing
2. Choosing and charting information regarding the topic
3. Organizing the information into chapters

Also when we return to school we will practice locating continents, oceans, and Los Angeles on a world map. Everyone will take home a map on which to practice for the test as mentioned at Back-to-School Night.

FYI: A book was read about Santa Mouse (a treasury from childhood) to the children. A child asked (as is always the case) after the second story was finished, 'Are you sure that's true?' Hmm....So the legend goes, that if you should happen to find a small (tiny) gift tucked somewhere in your tree, perhaps tied with a yellow bow, then you will know that Santa Mouse has been to your house. *Shrugs* I don't know, it's just what I've heard. Who knows how these stories get started? But maybe all first graders should check the branches of their trees on Christmas morning just to make sure.

Chapter 3 Test

Of the 23 students taking the test, 20 passed with a score of 13 or better. Three students achieved a score of 20 and 4 students achieved 19.

Sixty-Seventh Day of School

In Health, we learned about the dangers of tobacco.

In Reading we learn how to use pictures and text features to guide us in a retell of a non-fiction selection.

We will likely have a Math test on Friday.

The first graders will be wearing black pants or skirt with a white top for the winter program on the last day before winter break. They may also wear a holiday hat. We will also have our winter celebration on that day.

Sixty-Fifth Day of School

Today in Social Science, we compared the lives of people living in different climates. We learned that although people in different climates do the same things (eat, play, attend school), those activities may have different characteristics (tested).

In reading we are continuing to analyze the structure and text features of non-fiction selections.

Reminder: Reading logs are due Wednesday, November 30th.

In Math, we continued with addition strategies by using the very helpful strategy of making a 10.

In Writing, we used the strategy of peer review and questioning to help with the revision process.

Chapter 3 Math Quiz

Of 25 students taking the quiz 23 students passed with a score of 13 or better. Two students achieved a perfect score.

Fifty-Ninth Day of School

We will have a Math quiz on Wednesday most likely.

Today's Math strategy was adding doubles plus one. the idea is that if you know (have memorized) the doubles fact, then it is isn't a stretch to add 2 numbers that are separated by a difference of 1.

You should find your child's 1st Progress Report today. They do not need to be returned.

In Social Studies, we have begun discussing our place in the universe in preparation for map study and geographical comparisons.

Fifty-Eighth Day of School

In Writing today we added character descriptions as part of the revising process.

In Reading we have been reading non-fiction selections and analyzing text features. So far, we have identified: photos, diagrams, labels, captions, and how-to's.

In Health, we discussed alcohol. What we took away from the discussion was that:

• Alcohol is a drug.
• A drug can change the way you feel, think, and/or behave.
• Drinking alcohol can cause accidents.
• You must be 21 years old to legally consume alcohol in the state of California.
• If you are old enough to drink, but prefer not to, there are other choices of beverages such as water, juice, or  milk.

Our current chapter in Math presents different strategies for solving equations, for example, using  number line to add and subtract.

Fifty Sixth Day of School

In recent Writing lessons, we added a setting description and reviewed dialogue as part of the revision process.

Reminder: Tomorrow's dismissal time is 2:04 as is next Tuesday's as well

Tomorrow, speeches are due. there will be no make-ups. Students should not wear the color green tomorrow.

Chapter 2 Math Test

Of 26 students taking the test, 25 students passed with an adjusted score of 17 or better.

Reminder: In reference to homework questions and tests, 'explain how you know your answer is correct' can often be satisfied by using the inverse operation (as explained at Back-to-School):

I know 5+3=8 because 8-3=5

At-Home Project

Reminders:

Every year Room 11 has the tradition of electing a class president. This supports the government portion of our Social Science standards. Those students interested in running for Room 11 Class President 2016-17 will work on a speech at home to be delivered to the class on November 8, 2016. Speeches will be filmed using chroma key technology and saved to flash drives.

Students who would like to have their videos edited, will make sure they are not wearing any shade of green in any part of their outfit.

On this day we will also try to film our expert interviews. Those students wanting their interviews to be edited will also need to remember not to wear green on that Monday. Make sure to practice these and these questions to improve oral fluency.

Fiftieth Day of School

Today we took notes for our Social Science and Science test. Their notes were sent home. You student should be able to recall the verbalize or graphically represent and/or explain the following concepts:

Social Science:

• Survival needs
• The differences between goods and services and examples of each
• Some ways in which the past was different than the present with an emphasis on transportation, education, and means of communication (postal systems/services)

Science:

• The 3 forms of matter with examples of each
• How a solid becomes a liquid
• Properties of each form of matter

We will also have our final Math Test on Chapter 2 this week.

Forty-Seventh Day of School

Today we took our Reading fluency and comprehension tests. Results will be posted in graphic form in the classroom.

Mid Chapter 2 Test Results

Of the 26 students taking the test, all students passed with an adjusted score of 12 or higher. One student achieved a perfect score.

Forty-Fifth Day of School

In Science, we made observations of a mystery substance and tried to discern whether or not it was a solid or liquid. Note, the substance is non-toxic (don't eat it). It washes easily out of clothing, but should be kept off of wood, carpet, and paper products.

Forty-Third Day of School

In Reading, we are learning the difference between summaries of fiction and non-fiction.

In Health we discussed feelings of anger and how to deal with them.

Forty-Second Day of School

In Writing, learned how to extend a story beyond 2 events. We discussed multiple ways to transition.

We will be on the the yard Thursday for an extended time for our safety drill. It is suggested that the kids bring something to protect themselves from the sun, i.e. hats,  hoods, etc.

It is likely that we will have a Math test on Thursday as well.

Forty-First Day of School

In Writing, we planned our class fantasy narrative about a penguin who leaves the Arctic via the airport to live in an ice rink where he learns to ice skate.

In Science, we observed a collection of liquids and observed and recorded their properties. We developed a bank of descriptive words including: opaque, viscous, transparent, and translucent.

We also attended a presentation on fire safety and prevention.

Fortieth Day of School

Today in Writing, we made our plans for our fictional narratives.

In Math we played a game called Battle Towers which put our collection comparing skills to the test.

There was no homework tonight.

We also practiced out interview skills for discussing the life of Roberto Clemente.

Thirty-Seventh Day of School

In Science today, we experimented with our collection of solids and attempted to take advantage of their properties to build towers. We learned how with a simple physical modification, the properties of a solid could be changed to better suit a new purpose. This was demonstrated throng the process of corugation. We also learned the synergistic effect of 2 solids being used together.

Unit 2 Week 1 Preview

Our weekly themes in this second unit will center around our families and our neighbors, (having already examined ourselves) our abilities and our growth. Our last idea about teams was that families are the most important kind of team. This week, we will explore the idea of families taking care of each other. [Some activities may include:] Our oral vocabulary words are guide, protect, provide, separate, wild. Our sight words are her, our, they, two. Our comprehension strategy this week will be to focus on summarizing a selection. We learn to summarize by developing the skill of distinguishing main ideas from details. Summarizing a selection is a different skill than a retell. Where a retell would be to tell a story in our own words with as much interesting detail as possible, a summary isolates only the most important ideas answering the basic questions of who? what? where? when? why? and perhaps how? This story is about a girl walking in the forest who seeks food and rest in the home of 3 bears. In phonics and spelling, will take a more detailed look at some long vowel spellings this week beginning with 'a_e'  (cane) and 'i_e' (ride) along with inflectional ending '-ed'. In grammar we will discuss sentence subjects and nouns.

In Writing. over the next several weeks we will explore other sub-genre's of the narrative.

For Social Science we will continue comparing and contrasting the past with the present (HSS 1.1.4) (tested). We will examine photos of schools long ago.

In Science we will begin our exploration of liquids.

In PE we will combine several skills practiced so far to play a fast-paced, high-energy game of sockball.

Math Quiz

Of the 25 students taking the Chapter 2 quiz, 13 students passed with a score of 7 or better. Four students achieved a perfect score.

Thirty-Sixth Day of School

Today we listened to a biography of Roberto Clemente. We agreed that it was a sad story. We cam up with questions we could answer about the the life of Roberto Clemente.

• Where was Roberto Clemente born?
• What did he grow up to be?
• What kind of person was he?
• What did he want to do?
• How did he die?
• How was he honored?

We  will use these these questions and their memorized answers as well as the questions and answers about Alexander Graham Bell to become interviewers and experts on their lives.

Tomorrow we will likely have a Math quiz.

By this time, in Science, students should be able to name 3 forms of matter. They should be able to describe how one forms changes to another form. They should be able to give an example of each form. They should be able to name more than one property of solids.

Unit 1 Week 5 Preview

We close out the unit discussing what we like to do with our friends and what we can accomplish with teamwork. Our oral vocabulary words are challenging, charity, admire, focus, offer. We will read, discuss, and generate question for a non-fiction selection about baseball and humanitarian great, Roberto Clemente. We will use our generated questions to conduct expert interviews about Roberto Clemente. Our sight words are help, now, use, very. We will develop our skill of identifying the author's purpose to develop the comprehension strategy of analyzing text structure. We will analyze texts where authors use description to give information. We will focus on final consonant blends (eg. -nk, -nt, -sk, -st, etc.) for decoding, and spelling.

For Social Science we will discuss the significance of Independence Day (HSS 1.3.2) and some national iconic symbols (HSS 1.3.3) (tested).

In P.E. we will be using teamwork to accomplish various goals as well as chasing and learning base running.

Thirty-First Day of School

No homework tonight.

Change of plans: After speaking with parents this week, it seems that expectations regarding the writing are clearer and some students could use a bit more time to develop narrative skills. So, let's continue with the first narrative unit for another week and have our assessment on Oct. 7th.

Thirtieth Day of School

In writing today, we worked on our last spelling strategy: stretching. We used the remaining time to work on pieces in our folder.

Twenty-Ninth Day of School

Today we reviewed the entire writing process in preparation for our Writing assessment on Friday.

Reminder: Reading Logs are due Friday.

Reminder: There is no school on Monday.

Twenty-Seventh Day of School

In Writing today, we learned how to use a checklist in order to make sure our writing meets standards and has all of the necessary elements for a narrative. Checklists will also be available to writers on the day of their test.

Math Test Results

Of 24 students taking the chapter 1 Math test 23 students passed with an adjusted score of 15 or better. The modal average score was 18.

Unit 1 Week 4 Preview

During week 4 we will tread lightly on the subject of pets. We will read/listen to various selections about pets including a non-fiction selection about White House Pets. Our oral vocabulary words are adorable, dear, needs, sensible, and train. We will continue the comprehension strategy of analyzing story structure using the skill of recognizing parts of the plot. Our sight words will be come, down, good, pull. In spelling we will focus on words having an initial consonant blend with the letter 'l' (fl-, pl-, cl-).

In Social Science we will discuss traditions in a variety of contexts, for example, the classroom, community, and family. (HSS 1.5.1) We will also begin comparing the past with the present (tested) reading a nonfiction selection titled Learn About the Past. 

In P.E. we will be learning to cooperate as a team to accomplish a goal.

Twenty-Sixth Day of School

In Writing today, we revised by adding a descriptive sentence to our setting.

We also retold a non-fiction selection using our oral language vocabulary.

It was decided to hold off on the Math test until tomorrow.

Twenty-Fifth Day of School

In Writing today, we transformed speech balloons into quotations in the body of our narrative text as part of the revision process. We also learned to incorporate thoughts into the text.

In Social Science, we discussed rights and responsibilities.

We read a non-fiction selection about growing up. We also deconstructed a realistic fiction piece which used dialogue in its narrative. We also practiced note taking while reading a non-fiction article about author Kevin Henkes's writing process.

Reminder: students are to wear socks everyday to school. Shoes she be secured with laces or Velcro straps.

We are scheduled for our next writing assessment on September 30.

Twenty-Fourth Day of School

In Writing, we revised by adding thoughts of story characters in the form of thought balloons.

We will likely have a Math Test either Thursday or Friday of this week.

Unsatisfactory Notices

Unsatisfactory Notices were sent home today. Please remember from our discussion that Unsatisfactory Notices do not mean a child is "failing" a subject or any indication that they will be retained in 1st grade. They are just an indicator that measurements taken so far show your child performing below the expected standard in 1 or more of the areas of Reading, Writing, or Math. If growth is not shown in the next 6 weeks to meet the expected standard at that time, a grade of a 2 could be possible on the 1st progress report.

It is not necessary for the contents of the Unsatisfactory Notice to be discussed with your child. The measurements of your child's performance and their meaning will be discussed with parents at conferences on the last week of this month.

Twenty-Third Day of School

Thank you to those parents who returned their conference confirmation forms.

In Writing today, we revised our writing plans today in blue ink by adding quotations in the form of speech bubbles. In a future activity we will attempt to transfer those ideas to the draft or text of our work.

Unit 1 Week 3 Preview

In this week's instruction we focus on  how we will change and how we have changed as we grow. If your child would like to bring in a photo showing themselves as a baby, we could display these and guess who they grew into. We will also explore how animals change as they grow. We will draw conclusions about animals that change greatly and those that may only change in size as they mature. We will analyze text for character, setting, and plot. We will focus on spelling patterns: -in, -it, -iss. Our oral vocabulary words will be change, adult, learn, imitate, and practice. Our reading sight words will be be, ride, and run. In grammar we will distinguish between statements and questions.

In Writing, we will continue with the revision portion of our process.

In Social Science, we will discuss the difference between rights and responsibilities and what they mean for United States citizenship (HSS 1.1).

In Math we will continue our work with chapter 1.

In Health we will continue our overview of the concept of "good health."

In Science we continue comparing properties of various solids. We use our insight into these properties to perform an investigation.

In Drama we will begin our work on tableau.

In PE we will begin to work with team members to accomplish goals.

Math Quiz

All students taking the Math Quiz on Friday passed, 11 with a perfect score. The modal average was a score of 15.

Twenty-Second Day of School

Yesterday, the student writers' personal narratives were collected and checked for having a setting and a closure (CCSS.W.1.3). In Writing today, student writers returned to pieces that were missing elements to add those elements. Others who were ready, continued with revision.

We retold the Great Rope Tug using our oral language vocabulary.

In Math, we took a quiz.

Twenty-First Day of School

In Writing we took our blue pens and began the revision process. Today we added to details for completeness. Our process is as follows:

1. Reread
2. Ask:
• Is this clear?
• Is it interesting?
• Is it complete?
3. If the answer is 'No', add information/details.

In Social Science we discussed indigenous cultures and traditions.

Tomorrow we will likely have a quiz in Math.

Twentieth Day of School

In Writing we had our last day of drafting where we reviewed the entire drafting process. Tomorrow we will begin the revision process.

We also listened to the African tale The Great Rope Tug.

In Health we discussed good character.

Nineteenth Day of School

In Writing today, we reviewed the process for brainstorming, talking, and planning a personal narrative. The idea here is that students will get multiple attempts at the drafting process before working on revision. It may be that some students will only revise their one best piece bringing it closer to completion than any  of their pieces.

Eighteenth Day of School

In Writing today, we learned how to add transitions as the final component of drafting. We learned that we should have at least 2 transitions per story. With the Writer's Workshop 3 page structure, there should be a transition connecting each page.

In Math, we completed a Math report which is graded b a rubric and displayed in the classroom.

Unit 1 Week 2 Preview

During week 2 we discuss how physical activity is an important part of our lives. We learn how activity keeps our bodies healthy and strong. Our oral vocabulary words are movement, energy, express, exhausted, and stretch. Our sight words are: it, over, too. We will analyze story structure to discover selections with patterned text. Examples of famous patterned text are Monday, Monday, I like Monday (Bill Martin Jr.), and The Important Book (Margaret Wise Brown). Ask your librarian for other examples. Patterned texts often become bedtime favorites and re-reading them is a good way to build fluency. We will not often use a patterned text for retelling purposes. We will read the West African folktale The Great Rope Tug and diagram the story together using a Flow Map to highlight the beginning, middle, and end. We will continue to encode and decode single syllable words with short vowels (a, e, i). We will listen to rhyme, movement, and rhythm in poetry.

In Social Science we will look briefly to the original people of Australia and learn that a tradition is a special way of doing something. often repeated annually that becomes part of a people's culture.

For discussion: What is a tradition? What traditions does your family share?

For Math we will continue our exploration of addition.

In Science, we will continue our exploration of matter. We will focus on solids by identifying various properties of solids.

In Drama we explore pantomime.

In PE we will continue with balance, cooperation, and tossing and throwing.

Seventeenth Day of School

The list of questions we came up with regarding the life of Alexander Graham Bell:

• What did Alexander Graham Bell (AGB) teach?
• Where was he born?
• What did AGB invent (What was he known for)?
• How did he learn music?
• What was he interested in as a boy? Why?

Sixteenth Day of School

Today we drafted the basic sentences of our personal narrative. Our first sentence told the reader who our story was about (including ourselves) and where and when it took place. The next sentence (2nd page) told what happened. The next sentence (3rd page) told what happened next. Tomorrow we will learn how to close a story.

For oral language, we helped to retell the story, The Princess and the Pea using our oral language vocabulary.

In Science, we learned needs of survival for people.

Fifteenth Day of School

Unfortunately, we did not get to Writing today as our Reading Lesson and subsequent group work took much longer than expected. We learned how to identify the main character of a literary selection and make a main character statement (tested) Later we will describe the characters using details from the story (tested) (CCSS R.1.3).

We listened to the fairy tale The Princess and the Pea. Tomorrow we will have our first narrative retell lesson using the oral vocabulary words of the week.

Fourteenth Day of School

Today we had our second Drama lesson. We discussed respect at length. Then we practiced showing a variety of emotions while attempting to maintain focus.

For Writing we deconstructed the reading selection That Big Cat. We began to reconstruct it as a personal narrative. Then we learned how to talk our own personal narrative. Then make a plan for our personal narrative across 3 pages. The first page answers the question: who? where? and when? The second page tells an event. The third page tells what happened next. Tomorrow we will begin to construct the sentences which coordinate with our plan.

In Math we worked on story problems using the strategy of making a math sentence.

Thank you to the parents who remembered to send a flash drive with their child. The labeling on the outside is a big help.

Unit 1 Week 1 Preview

As a part of our theme: What Makes Us Special, our focus questions are: What do we like to do, and how do the things we like to do make us special? We will discover that the things we like to do help to make us who we are. Our oral vocabulary words for the week are cheerful, interest, unique, prefer, and genuine. We will analyze story structure for the beginning, middle, and end (comprehension strategy). We learn that this is the way that most realistic fiction stories are structured and that good readers pay attention to these parts (R 1.3.1). We will also pay special attention to the characters and setting of stories (comprehension skill). In phonics we will blend words and identify rhymes with short 'a' and short 'i'. Our reading sight words for the week are jump, not, up. In grammar we will discuss how a sentence tells a whole idea. We will continue with our Unit Project. We will analyze the structure of the fairy tale, The Princess and the Pea. We will analyze how an author develops character by what they say and do. In writing we discuss and practice how using describing words adds detail and interest. We will listen to the fable, Town Mouse and Country Mouse, and discover how preferences make characters unique. We will read an informational text and use structure to deduce main idea.

In Math we will continue with strategies for addition and model making (CCSS 1.OA.1 & 2)

In Science we will make a connection between what we have been learning in music and what we know about Alexander Graham Bell and discuss the discipline of acoustical science and engineering. In life science we discuss basic needs of people and animals using the vocabulary: shelter, energy. We will also begin our first Science unit on matter.

In Writing we will learn to plan a personal narrative.

In P.E. we will work on balance and cooperation.

For discussion:

• How are you different than other people in your family/class? How is your family different than other families?
• What are the states of matter?
• What does an animal need in order to survive? 

Twelfth Day of School

In Writing today we made our second topic-brainstorming list. This time we made a list of people who would likely be characters in our personal narratives.

We had our fifth Violence Prevention Lesson.

Math Test Results

Of the 25 students taking the test, 21 students passed with an adjusted score of 10 or better. The modal average score was 14.

Tenth Day of School

We are on target to have our first Math test tomorrow if all goes as planned. Overall class test statistics will be briefly posted on the blog. Your child has a set of review pages.

Parent homework #3 is due tomorrow.

We will have our first Drama lesson with Ms. Jordahl tomorrow.

Tomorrow evening will be Back-to-School parent/teacher meeting.

We had our 4th Violence Prevention lesson today.

In P.E. we reviewed the rules for handball.

We continued with our Unit Writing Project.

Math Test

We will be taking our first Math test this week. Students will receive a review packet to take home on Monday. Math Talk question in packet should be discussed and answered in complete sentences. The test scoring procedure will be covered at Back-to-School Night on Tuesday.

Eighth Day of School

Our important concept for the day was the 3 elements of a (western) narrative:

• Character (the 'who'of the story)
• Setting (the 'where and when' of the story)
• Plot (the 'what and how') 

Typical CCCS Comprehension Reading Test questions will include:

1. Who are the main characters of the story?
2. What is the setting of the story?

Seventh Day of School

The correct (test accepted) answer for the '=' symbol question on the homework was:

This symbol means 'equal to' or 'the same as'.

Five students had a correct answer on their paper.Those not answering the question correctly had the opportunity to change their answer in class. The question will come up again in a testing situation.

Today we took our writing pre-assessment for our first Writing unit (personal narrative).

Reading readiness battery test scores will be ready for review on Thursday afternoon if any parents are interested to stop by for discussion after school.

Parent Assignment #3

The Memorable Moment

Over the course of the next few weeks, we will be working on the genre of personal narratives.

Your Task:

With input from your child, over the course of the next few days, construct a list of memorable events. These individual events should be about moments which occurred across a time span of approximately 20 minutes maximum in length. Each event should have an identifiable emotion (or two) attached to it (fear, happiness, surprise).

Examples of events which will not work:

• My Day at Disneyland
• Christmas Morning
• My Birthday Party
• The Winning Game

Examples of events which will work:

• Meeting Cinderella
• Opening My Favorite Gift
• Breaking the Pinata
• Scoring the Winning Goal

Try to make a list of at least 10 memorable moments. Make a copy of the list for you to keep at home. Send one copy of the list to school with your child by Tuesday August 30th (sooner than that is fine if not better). We will refer to this list as our list of Memorable Moments. Hopefully your child will be able to construct at least 3 narratives from events in the list. They will eventually be choosing from among those narratives one or two which they focus on for elaboration, revising, and editing for publication.

For your child's homework over the next few weeks, choose one event from the list each day and have your child tell the story to you orally. Listen for the following characteristics/items in their speech:

• Complete sentences (not run-on sentences or phrases)
• A beginning, middle, and closure to the story
• Details or examples of dialogue

Please finish your lists up this weekend. If all goes as planned we should begin work with our lists next week in class. Again, if you have any questions regarding this important assignment feel free to post in the comment section. If you would like to post an example for comment I will be glad to review with my thoughts.

Fifth Day of School

Thank you to those parents who already completed and turned in your child's writing folder. Your diligence is appreciated. Your 3rd home assignment will be posted this afternoon.

Today we continued to review and work on our Unit Project.

We have almost concluded the initial reading readiness battery of assessments.

In Math we learned the part-part-whole model (table) which will be explained in greater detail at Back-to-School.

We had our 3rd Violence Prevention lesson.

Fourth Day of School

Your child now has in their possession the yellow writing folder they will use in class for the remainder of the year. Please see comments for decorating your child's folder here.

Parents' 3rd homework assignment will be posted shortly.

Third Day of School

Five students returned completed homework. If incomplete, it was sent home to be completed. Each problem should be completed with a model and a number sentence.

Today we continued with letter formation and our first Unit Project.

In phonics we worked with initial consonant sounds.

We had our second violence prevention lesson.

In P.E. we have been working on calisthenics and maintaining personal space and keeping within boundaries.

Second Day of School

Today we continued work on letter formation.

We began a quick Unit Project writing a personal informational piece.

For the homework, Students must show a model and number sentence for the word problems. This was discussed in detail in class today. Have your child explain and show you what that means. It will be required for the remainder of the year on homework assignments.

We also had our first lesson of our violence prevention program, Second Step.

Thank you to those parents donating supplies. We will use a lot of tissues this year as well as all sizes of zip-loc style bags.

First Day of School

First day went by fairly smoothly. It was nice to see so many well-behaved children.

There is Math homework.

Today we worked on letter formation.

In phonics we distinguished between short and long 'a' sounds.

In Math, we discussed behaviors for problem solving  and we worked in our constructed response journals on the following question:

There are 3 students sitting at a table. How many fingers are there at the table in all? Make a model and write a math sentence. 

Most students were able to complete the task with minimal guidance. Some students found the correct answer but were unable to explain their work in writing. Some of the students were unable to complete the task with the correct answer but had the beginnings of a correct model.

I will be sending home your child's yellow writing folder tomorrow. Your second and third homework assignment relates to this yellow folder. Your task:

With you child's input, decorate all surfaces of your child's folder with some or all of the following items:

• Pictures of memorable events form the child's life
• Pictures or advertisements of your child's favorite items
• Pictures of topics which particularly interest your child (your child may have an interest in machines, space, dinosaurs, soccer, etc.)

 Return the decorated folder to school with your child by Friday August 26 , 2016.

You might notice that the folders are not very substantial in quality. After the folder is decorated you may consider adding a bit of clear packing tape over the items which you have attached. We will (hopefully) be using these folder the entire year.

Please post any questions you may have in the comment section below.

Welcome to Room 11

This blog has been created to keep parents and guardians of the students in Room 11 at Caroldale Learning Community informed about daily activities in our classroom and school. Please discuss what you read here with your children when appropriate. Ask them clarifying questions. They don't necessarily need to know how you know what happened during their day, they should simply know that you are informed.

Feel free to  respond to what you read by posting a comment or question. Avoid including students' names when responding to posts. General comments and questions are best in this arena.

Please remember the most efficient way to communicate with me on timely issues is to write a note on or attached to your child's homework. For convenience, you might consider linking to this page through an rss feed or through the google reader application.

I am also available for conferences after school most days except Tuesdays. It is okay to drop by without an appointment with questions and concerns.