Upcoming Dates
Wednesday, October 1st: Book It Reading Logs Begin
On Monday, you will be getting our first reading log for October in the homework packet. Please read 20 minutes every day (five days a week) and return the reading log after the month ends. More information will be included in the homework packet.
Monday, October 6th – Tuesday, October 14th: Parent Conferences (Dismissal at 1:30!)
Today there is an important paper that tells you your parent conference time. Please return the confirmation section and also fill out the parent input form by TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30th. During conferences, dismissal everyday will be at 1:30PM. Please remember to make arrangements to pick up your child on time!
Wednesday, October 15th: Fairyland Field Trip
Thank you for those of you who have returned the permission slip for Fairyland. We have our four parent chaperones: Maya’s, Naoki’s, Kinako’s, and Jhanvi’s parent. They will be coming with us on the school bus. Please send a DISPOSABLE lunch (paper bag or plastic bag) with your child because we will be throwing everything away after lunch. Remember to LABEL the lunch bag with your child’s name!
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Dear Families,
This was a busy week! Here are some of the highlights:
Poem of the Week: A Little Red Apple
Song of the Week: The Eaton Song
Kindness is: learning a friend’s language
• Language Arts: We started our literacy centers this week. There is a lot to learn and get used to, but we will get better with more practice! Remember that 3 stars in each center is our goal! Please take time to look over the work that goes home in the Friday Folders and help your child to practice some of the skills at home. We continued our dictionaries to S this week and interviewed three new prince or princesses.
• Social Studies: We learned about Johnny Appleseed this week. We read some stories about his contribution to our world by planting lots of apple trees! We also talked about the new season that began on Monday, Fall!
• Computer Lab: On Wednesday, we did a math project in Kidpix on different way to add to seven. Students used different stamps to show math sentences such as 3+4=7 or 0+7=7. Afterwards, we introduced the software program, Type to Learn, to the students. This program is great for teaching proper typing skills and hand placement on the keyboard.
• PE: Mrs. Bachelor had our class this week. We practiced our throwing and catching skills by using tennis balls and plastic milk gallon containers!
• Circuits: Mrs. Bachelor had our class on Tuesday afternoon for our social studies circuit. We learned about our homes and talked about how it may look different for everyone. We shared what was special about our home.
• Math: We finished our chapter on subtraction this week. We practiced reading word problems together and figuring out whether we should add or subtract. It is important to learn to solve problems carefully and accurately!
• Music: We saw our music teacher, Miss Rachel, on Thursday. We listened to different songs and practiced showing high notes and low notes with our bodies.
• Library: Remember we go to the Eaton library every Friday and can check out one book. This afternoon, we also went to the Cupertino library. Students checked out 2 books of their choice, but please remember to return these books on your own. We do not want to mix up our Eaton books with the Cupertino public library books. Thank you! Now that everyone has a library card, please take your child to the library from time to time and let them practice checking out books. They are very capable of remembering their PIN numbers and checking books out on their own.
• Art: We have been working on an apple art project called quilling. We made a shape of an apple, a stem, and a leaf, and we have been rolling strips of paper to fill in the apple. This is a project that students work on when they finish their work and it also is practice for their fine-motor skills.
• Science: This week we started our science unit for the trimester on Solids and Liquids. We introduced examples of solid object such as pencils, erasers, and computers. We talked about liquids such as water, milk, or juice. We also learned that air is not a solid or liquid, but a gas.
I look forward to seeing all of you during parent conference week. Please remember to turn in the confirmation page by Tuesday, September 30th. We will be discussing your child’s progress so far in first grade and what goals we have for the end of the year.
Have a great weekend!
Friday, September 26, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
September 18, 2008
Upcoming Dates
Friday, September 19th: NO SCHOOL – Staff Learning Day
Teachers throughout the Cupertino District will be getting trained on our new science kits.
Friday, September 26th: Cupertino Library Field Trip
We will be walking to the Cupertino Library after lunch. If you have a blue library card already, please remember to send it on Friday morning. If you do not have a library card, your child will be receiving a new one on our first visit. PLEASE practice your child’s 4-digit PIN number (for new students, it is the first 4 digits of their hot lunch number). We will get to check out two books to bring home. Please return the books directly to the Cupertino Library at your convenience (DO NOT return them to Eaton School!)
Monday, October 6th – Tuesday, October 14th: Parent Conferences
We will be notifying you about your 20 minute conference slot in the next few weeks. During conferences, dismissal everyday will be at 1:30PM. Please remember to make arrangements to pick up your child on time!
Wednesday, October 15th: Fairyland Field Trip
Attached to this newsletter is a permission slip for our first field trip. We will be traveling to Oakland on a school bus with all the first grade classes. We can take four parent chaperones who will be taking small groups of children around the park. Please let me know if you can come with us.
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Dear Families,
Today I’d like to go over one of our activities that we are starting next week: Literacy Centers. You will see this packet (with a green cover sheet) almost every week in the Friday Folder. Your child receives 0, 1, 2, or 3 stars each week for finishing all the activities in centers. This is a growing process. Your child may only receive 1 or 2 stars in the beginning of the year, but I hope by the end of the year, they will receive 3 stars in all categories. I have included our literacy center rubric (how I evaluate work) in this newsletter so you can see how to work with your children on improving their scores.
The most difficult center is usually the listening center. This week, we did the listening center together so the students understand how to write the five sentences. This is called a SUMMARY. Please note that sometimes we do SUMMARIES and sometimes we do RETELLS. A SUMMARY is brief and covers the main points, whereas a RETELL is done orally and you repeat all the details of the story as if you were the storyteller. The listening center will be a summary. The five sentences in listening center include:
o This story was about _______. (Who is the character and what is the setting?)
• Example: This story was about three little pigs outside in the forest.
o In the beginning, _________. (Where or what’s happening?)
• Example: In the beginning, the three little pigs build three houses.
o In the middle, ___________. (What is the problem?)
• Example: In the middle, the big bad wolf blows down two of the houses.
o At the end, ______________. (What is the solution?)
• Example: At the end, the third pig tricks the wolf and catches him!
o My favorite part was when _______ or I liked when __________ (Conclusion – What did you think of the story? What was your favorite part?)
• Example: My favorite part was when the wolf couldn’t blow the brick house down!
Please practice summaries and retells with your children when you have time!
Some other highlights this week:
• Assembly: This week the Wildlife Associates came to our school! They showed us real animals from California such as a red fox, red tailed hawk, baby opossum, great horned owl, and a porcupine! It was interesting to learn facts about the animals!
• Computer Lab: On Wednesday, we did an alphabet project in KidPix. Students had to find stamps of different pictures that begin with different letters in the alphabet! Thank you to Seyon’s father and Winny’s mother who will be helping us during computer time!
• PE: We started our PE circuits this week. Mrs. Byers had our class this week and we played games using beanbags. We worked on our catching and throwing skills.
• Circuits: Mrs. Byers also had our class on Tuesday afternoon for our social studies circuit. We learned about maps and grids. We had to create a grid of our school layout.
• Math: We started subtraction this week. We worked on word problems in subtraction and learned some magic words such as: how many LEFT? or reading carefully for words like “takes” or “picks” or “buys.”
• Language Arts: We continued our dictionaries to the letter O this week. We didn’t have much time for Prince or Princesses though, so we only had 2 students this week. We wrote our Journals and some students really enjoy the open-ended writing time. Journals are simply to encourage students to enjoy writing and it is a safe activity. I won’t be correcting any spelling or grammar. I read the journals and ask them a question. Journals are fun because they can keep them and read them when they’re older!
• Writing: Another journal we started today was our Kindness journal. We are learning different ways we can be kind to others. Every week we will talk about a different kind action. Then we will start typing and illustrating them on our website!
I’d like to also thank so many of you for offering to volunteer! We have enough help on Friday afternoons now – thanks to Dodam’s, Maya’s, Kinako’s, and Fuka’s mothers! Also, Terrence’s mother has volunteered to be our room mother. Thank you everyone! We are lucky and thankful to have a supportive group of parents!
It was great to see many of you on Sunday at the Chicken Dance performance! I hope you had fun at the Cupertino Festival! Enjoy your three day weekend! See you on Monday!
Friday, September 19th: NO SCHOOL – Staff Learning Day
Teachers throughout the Cupertino District will be getting trained on our new science kits.
Friday, September 26th: Cupertino Library Field Trip
We will be walking to the Cupertino Library after lunch. If you have a blue library card already, please remember to send it on Friday morning. If you do not have a library card, your child will be receiving a new one on our first visit. PLEASE practice your child’s 4-digit PIN number (for new students, it is the first 4 digits of their hot lunch number). We will get to check out two books to bring home. Please return the books directly to the Cupertino Library at your convenience (DO NOT return them to Eaton School!)
Monday, October 6th – Tuesday, October 14th: Parent Conferences
We will be notifying you about your 20 minute conference slot in the next few weeks. During conferences, dismissal everyday will be at 1:30PM. Please remember to make arrangements to pick up your child on time!
Wednesday, October 15th: Fairyland Field Trip
Attached to this newsletter is a permission slip for our first field trip. We will be traveling to Oakland on a school bus with all the first grade classes. We can take four parent chaperones who will be taking small groups of children around the park. Please let me know if you can come with us.
------
Dear Families,
Today I’d like to go over one of our activities that we are starting next week: Literacy Centers. You will see this packet (with a green cover sheet) almost every week in the Friday Folder. Your child receives 0, 1, 2, or 3 stars each week for finishing all the activities in centers. This is a growing process. Your child may only receive 1 or 2 stars in the beginning of the year, but I hope by the end of the year, they will receive 3 stars in all categories. I have included our literacy center rubric (how I evaluate work) in this newsletter so you can see how to work with your children on improving their scores.
The most difficult center is usually the listening center. This week, we did the listening center together so the students understand how to write the five sentences. This is called a SUMMARY. Please note that sometimes we do SUMMARIES and sometimes we do RETELLS. A SUMMARY is brief and covers the main points, whereas a RETELL is done orally and you repeat all the details of the story as if you were the storyteller. The listening center will be a summary. The five sentences in listening center include:
o This story was about _______. (Who is the character and what is the setting?)
• Example: This story was about three little pigs outside in the forest.
o In the beginning, _________. (Where or what’s happening?)
• Example: In the beginning, the three little pigs build three houses.
o In the middle, ___________. (What is the problem?)
• Example: In the middle, the big bad wolf blows down two of the houses.
o At the end, ______________. (What is the solution?)
• Example: At the end, the third pig tricks the wolf and catches him!
o My favorite part was when _______ or I liked when __________ (Conclusion – What did you think of the story? What was your favorite part?)
• Example: My favorite part was when the wolf couldn’t blow the brick house down!
Please practice summaries and retells with your children when you have time!
Some other highlights this week:
• Assembly: This week the Wildlife Associates came to our school! They showed us real animals from California such as a red fox, red tailed hawk, baby opossum, great horned owl, and a porcupine! It was interesting to learn facts about the animals!
• Computer Lab: On Wednesday, we did an alphabet project in KidPix. Students had to find stamps of different pictures that begin with different letters in the alphabet! Thank you to Seyon’s father and Winny’s mother who will be helping us during computer time!
• PE: We started our PE circuits this week. Mrs. Byers had our class this week and we played games using beanbags. We worked on our catching and throwing skills.
• Circuits: Mrs. Byers also had our class on Tuesday afternoon for our social studies circuit. We learned about maps and grids. We had to create a grid of our school layout.
• Math: We started subtraction this week. We worked on word problems in subtraction and learned some magic words such as: how many LEFT? or reading carefully for words like “takes” or “picks” or “buys.”
• Language Arts: We continued our dictionaries to the letter O this week. We didn’t have much time for Prince or Princesses though, so we only had 2 students this week. We wrote our Journals and some students really enjoy the open-ended writing time. Journals are simply to encourage students to enjoy writing and it is a safe activity. I won’t be correcting any spelling or grammar. I read the journals and ask them a question. Journals are fun because they can keep them and read them when they’re older!
• Writing: Another journal we started today was our Kindness journal. We are learning different ways we can be kind to others. Every week we will talk about a different kind action. Then we will start typing and illustrating them on our website!
I’d like to also thank so many of you for offering to volunteer! We have enough help on Friday afternoons now – thanks to Dodam’s, Maya’s, Kinako’s, and Fuka’s mothers! Also, Terrence’s mother has volunteered to be our room mother. Thank you everyone! We are lucky and thankful to have a supportive group of parents!
It was great to see many of you on Sunday at the Chicken Dance performance! I hope you had fun at the Cupertino Festival! Enjoy your three day weekend! See you on Monday!
Friday, September 12, 2008
September 12, 2008
Upcoming Dates
Sunday, September 14th: Cupertino Jubilee Chicken Dance @ 1:00pm
(PLEASE PLAN ON ARRIVING NO LATER THAN 12:40PM and BRING YOUR
CHILD’S CHICKEN DANCE HAT!)
Friday, September 19th: NO SCHOOL – Staff Learning Day
Teachers throughout the Cupertino District will be getting trained on our new science kits.
Friday, September 26th: Cupertino Library Field Trip
We will be walking to the Cupertino Library after lunch. If you have a blue library card already, please remember to send it on Friday morning. If you do not have a library card, your child will be receiving a new one on our first visit. PLEASE practice your child’s 4-digit PIN number (for new students, it is the first 4 digits of their hot lunch number). We will get to check out two books to bring home. Please return the books directly to the Cupertino Library at your convenience (DO NOT return them to Eaton School!)
______________________
Dear Families,
Sharing went very well this week! Thank you for preparing your child’s riddles with at least four clues and bringing a picture or object to show! Next week we are starting our complete homework packet with vocabulary and spelling. Please remember to study the words and be ready for a test on Thursday.
Here are some highlights from the week:
Poem of the Week: Manners
Song of the Week: Clap Your Name
• Language Arts: We worked on our picture dictionary to the letter L this week. Also, we started our weekend news journals on Monday. Students can write about anything they want in their journals, or they can write about their weekend. Please review the weekend events with your child each Sunday night or Monday morning!
• Math: We finished chapter one this week! It is important that students build a good habit of reading word problems carefully before solving them. We are learning strategies to understand and solve word problems.
• Physical Education: This week, we played Sharks and Minnows on the field. Our PE rotations will start next week where classes will rotate between all the first grade teachers.
• Art: We met our art teacher this week, Mrs. Abada. She did a great lesson on creating distances in pictures (ie. Smaller means far away and larger means closer). We also used crayons and practiced making a crayon rubbing picture by placing shapes behind our paper. We are excited to have our art lessons once a month!
• Music: We also had our first music lesson with Ms. Rachel this week. She let us practice different movements such as walking, marching, and jumping to various songs. We also listened to sounds of different animals and tried to move our bodies like the animals.
• Computer: We had our first computer lab visit this week! We played with the drawing software program: Kidpix. We explored the different features such as drawing lines, boxes, circles, and using tools such as the paint bucket and stamping.
• Social Studies: We learned that it was California’s birthday on the 9th and talked about California’s state flag, flower, tree, and bird. On Thursday, we talked about Patriot Day and how Americans are both same and different.
• Buddies: We saw our buddies again this week and continued our project from before. We shared activities and things that we love and made a heart project with our big buddies.
This week, our classroom behavior was better. We still needed reminders here and there, so please continue to speak with your children about following rules. Also, everyone finished their work! Please encourage your child, especially when you see them at home doing their homework, to finish within a set time free and independently! Most children can do their work if you are sitting next to them, encouraging them to finish. However, they need to build the skill of finishing their work all by themselves. Please help practice this skill at home too! Thank you!
Have a great weekend! Please come early to the Chicken Dance on Sunday! In the past, I have had students come just 5 minutes late, and they miss the whole performance =( Don’t forget your chicken hats too!
Sunday, September 14th: Cupertino Jubilee Chicken Dance @ 1:00pm
(PLEASE PLAN ON ARRIVING NO LATER THAN 12:40PM and BRING YOUR
CHILD’S CHICKEN DANCE HAT!)
Friday, September 19th: NO SCHOOL – Staff Learning Day
Teachers throughout the Cupertino District will be getting trained on our new science kits.
Friday, September 26th: Cupertino Library Field Trip
We will be walking to the Cupertino Library after lunch. If you have a blue library card already, please remember to send it on Friday morning. If you do not have a library card, your child will be receiving a new one on our first visit. PLEASE practice your child’s 4-digit PIN number (for new students, it is the first 4 digits of their hot lunch number). We will get to check out two books to bring home. Please return the books directly to the Cupertino Library at your convenience (DO NOT return them to Eaton School!)
______________________
Dear Families,
Sharing went very well this week! Thank you for preparing your child’s riddles with at least four clues and bringing a picture or object to show! Next week we are starting our complete homework packet with vocabulary and spelling. Please remember to study the words and be ready for a test on Thursday.
Here are some highlights from the week:
Poem of the Week: Manners
Song of the Week: Clap Your Name
• Language Arts: We worked on our picture dictionary to the letter L this week. Also, we started our weekend news journals on Monday. Students can write about anything they want in their journals, or they can write about their weekend. Please review the weekend events with your child each Sunday night or Monday morning!
• Math: We finished chapter one this week! It is important that students build a good habit of reading word problems carefully before solving them. We are learning strategies to understand and solve word problems.
• Physical Education: This week, we played Sharks and Minnows on the field. Our PE rotations will start next week where classes will rotate between all the first grade teachers.
• Art: We met our art teacher this week, Mrs. Abada. She did a great lesson on creating distances in pictures (ie. Smaller means far away and larger means closer). We also used crayons and practiced making a crayon rubbing picture by placing shapes behind our paper. We are excited to have our art lessons once a month!
• Music: We also had our first music lesson with Ms. Rachel this week. She let us practice different movements such as walking, marching, and jumping to various songs. We also listened to sounds of different animals and tried to move our bodies like the animals.
• Computer: We had our first computer lab visit this week! We played with the drawing software program: Kidpix. We explored the different features such as drawing lines, boxes, circles, and using tools such as the paint bucket and stamping.
• Social Studies: We learned that it was California’s birthday on the 9th and talked about California’s state flag, flower, tree, and bird. On Thursday, we talked about Patriot Day and how Americans are both same and different.
• Buddies: We saw our buddies again this week and continued our project from before. We shared activities and things that we love and made a heart project with our big buddies.
This week, our classroom behavior was better. We still needed reminders here and there, so please continue to speak with your children about following rules. Also, everyone finished their work! Please encourage your child, especially when you see them at home doing their homework, to finish within a set time free and independently! Most children can do their work if you are sitting next to them, encouraging them to finish. However, they need to build the skill of finishing their work all by themselves. Please help practice this skill at home too! Thank you!
Have a great weekend! Please come early to the Chicken Dance on Sunday! In the past, I have had students come just 5 minutes late, and they miss the whole performance =( Don’t forget your chicken hats too!
Friday, September 05, 2008
September 5, 2008
Upcoming Dates
Monday, September 8th: Scholastic book orders are due
I am extending the deadline to Monday to return book orders. Please look through the book orders and if you are interested in purchasing books, make ONE check payable to Scholastic Book Clubs.
Sunday, September 14th: Cupertino Jubilee Chicken Dance @ 1:00pm
The first graders from Eaton will perform the Chicken Dance at the Cupertino Jubilee which is held at City Hall (next to the library). Please return the permission slip if you have not already done so!
Friday, September 19th: NO SCHOOL – Staff Learning Day
------------
Dear Families,
Thank you for coming to Back to School night yesterday! It was really good to officially meet all of you and match my students’ faces with their parents! I know it was a lot of information, so please continue to look through the website and ask questions if you have any. Remember to turn in the following items as soon as possible: $150 classroom donation (made to Eaton Elementary School), website permission slip, book orders, and volunteer form.
Here are some highlights from the week:
Poem of the Week: A Circle of Friends
Song of the Week: Clap Your Name
• Language Arts: We continued our picture dictionary to the letter I this week. I am emphasizing neat and proper handwriting. Please encourage the same at home using the handwriting guide I sent home in last night’s packet.
• Reading: This week, we read Rosie’s Walk and talked about important words such as: across, over, around, under, past, and through. We practiced using these words by showing how to go “over the chair” or “across the classroom.” We also made our own story called Pete the Pencil to demonstrate our understanding of these words.
• Writing: We continued our Prince and Princesses this week! Remember you can read about them on the “Classwork” section of the website! We also talked about the 5 parts of writing a friendly letter when we wrote our Back-to-School letters. They are: the date, greeting (dear…), body, salutation (love…), and signature (name). We will be practicing more letters this year.
• Math: We finished half our first chapter on addition facts this week. You will see their math packet in today’s Friday folder. A star means that they got everything right. A circle means that they had made a mistake, but they corrected it (with me or by themselves). We talked about how “in all” in word problems always means to add (Plus).
• Physical Education: This week, we reviewed the rules of running around the track and reviewed some of the playground rules.
• Library: We had our first library visit this morning! We went over the rules and expectations of library time. Each Friday morning, we will listen to a story read-aloud by Mrs. Glass, and then we can check out one book to take home. Please remember to return the library books every Friday or else your child cannot check out another book. Also, if there is no school on Friday, we will skip library that week so you can keep the book at home that week.
• Friday Folders: Remember to get excited about Super Stars and getting all GREEN squares on the Friday Folders! Again, YELLOWS are given if students are not finishing their work on time or if they are not following the classroom rules. Please talk to your children about their behavior, especially sitting nicely on the carpet and listening to others!
Next week, remember sharing will begin! I am excited to hear your children’s sharing and please remember your child must be prepared with at least 4 complete sentences and have an object or picture to show. I have attached the updated schedule!
Also on Monday, we will start our Weekend News journals. These journals are to encourage children to write freely without worrying about spelling or grammatical mistakes. Students usually write about what they did over the weekend, however, if nothing exciting happened, they can write about anything they want. It really helps if you can talk with your child Sunday night or Monday morning to review the weekend events. For example: did you go to a special place? Did they see a friend? What did you do at home? Are they excited about an upcoming event? Etc. Thank you for your help!
Also attached is our class directory! Thank you for turning in the forms to share with the rest of the class!
See you on Monday!
Monday, September 8th: Scholastic book orders are due
I am extending the deadline to Monday to return book orders. Please look through the book orders and if you are interested in purchasing books, make ONE check payable to Scholastic Book Clubs.
Sunday, September 14th: Cupertino Jubilee Chicken Dance @ 1:00pm
The first graders from Eaton will perform the Chicken Dance at the Cupertino Jubilee which is held at City Hall (next to the library). Please return the permission slip if you have not already done so!
Friday, September 19th: NO SCHOOL – Staff Learning Day
------------
Dear Families,
Thank you for coming to Back to School night yesterday! It was really good to officially meet all of you and match my students’ faces with their parents! I know it was a lot of information, so please continue to look through the website and ask questions if you have any. Remember to turn in the following items as soon as possible: $150 classroom donation (made to Eaton Elementary School), website permission slip, book orders, and volunteer form.
Here are some highlights from the week:
Poem of the Week: A Circle of Friends
Song of the Week: Clap Your Name
• Language Arts: We continued our picture dictionary to the letter I this week. I am emphasizing neat and proper handwriting. Please encourage the same at home using the handwriting guide I sent home in last night’s packet.
• Reading: This week, we read Rosie’s Walk and talked about important words such as: across, over, around, under, past, and through. We practiced using these words by showing how to go “over the chair” or “across the classroom.” We also made our own story called Pete the Pencil to demonstrate our understanding of these words.
• Writing: We continued our Prince and Princesses this week! Remember you can read about them on the “Classwork” section of the website! We also talked about the 5 parts of writing a friendly letter when we wrote our Back-to-School letters. They are: the date, greeting (dear…), body, salutation (love…), and signature (name). We will be practicing more letters this year.
• Math: We finished half our first chapter on addition facts this week. You will see their math packet in today’s Friday folder. A star means that they got everything right. A circle means that they had made a mistake, but they corrected it (with me or by themselves). We talked about how “in all” in word problems always means to add (Plus).
• Physical Education: This week, we reviewed the rules of running around the track and reviewed some of the playground rules.
• Library: We had our first library visit this morning! We went over the rules and expectations of library time. Each Friday morning, we will listen to a story read-aloud by Mrs. Glass, and then we can check out one book to take home. Please remember to return the library books every Friday or else your child cannot check out another book. Also, if there is no school on Friday, we will skip library that week so you can keep the book at home that week.
• Friday Folders: Remember to get excited about Super Stars and getting all GREEN squares on the Friday Folders! Again, YELLOWS are given if students are not finishing their work on time or if they are not following the classroom rules. Please talk to your children about their behavior, especially sitting nicely on the carpet and listening to others!
Next week, remember sharing will begin! I am excited to hear your children’s sharing and please remember your child must be prepared with at least 4 complete sentences and have an object or picture to show. I have attached the updated schedule!
Also on Monday, we will start our Weekend News journals. These journals are to encourage children to write freely without worrying about spelling or grammatical mistakes. Students usually write about what they did over the weekend, however, if nothing exciting happened, they can write about anything they want. It really helps if you can talk with your child Sunday night or Monday morning to review the weekend events. For example: did you go to a special place? Did they see a friend? What did you do at home? Are they excited about an upcoming event? Etc. Thank you for your help!
Also attached is our class directory! Thank you for turning in the forms to share with the rest of the class!
See you on Monday!
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
August 29, 2008
Upcoming Dates
Monday, September 1st: NO SCHOOL – Labor Day
Thursday, September 4th: Back-to-School Night 6:15pm-7:00pm in Room 8
This is a mandatory informational meeting about our classroom procedures and curriculum plan for the year. There will be a PTO meeting in the MP room from 7:00pm-7:15pm afterwards.
Friday, September 5th: Scholastic book orders are due
I am including the September book order with this newsletter. This first order is very important because it gives our classroom free materials depending on the amount ordered. Please look through the book orders and if you are interested in purchasing books, make ONE check payable to Scholastic Book Clubs.
Sunday, September 14th: Cupertino Jubilee Chicken Dance @ 1:00pm
The first graders from Eaton will perform the Chicken Dance at the Cupertino Jubilee which is held at City Hall (next to the library). Plan on coming if you are available that day!
Friday, September 19th: NO SCHOOL – Staff Learning Day
---------
Dear Families,
Thank you for those of you who have given generous donations for our classroom! In addition to the first grade supply list, we ask each family to donate $150 (payable to Eaton Elementary School) in order to cover the costs for all the fun assemblies, field trips, projects, and activities we complete all year long. These programs are not possible without your donations. We appreciate your contribution and support! The Eaton PTO (Parent-Teacher Organization) also is asking for a $175 donation (payable to Eaton PTO) to help plan school wide events and fundraisers. Please consider these donation opportunities, as they greatly help our school!
The first few days of school have been focused on class rules and procedures. I am reminding students to be on their best behavior, to try their best, and be a peacebuilder to others. Parent communication is very important to me because I strongly believe we have a huge influence on your child’s academic and social learning. Please be sure to read these weekly newsletters carefully and remind your child to follow directions at Eaton.
Here are some highlights from the week:
• Language Arts: We have begun our phonics and vocabulary lessons by beginning a picture dictionary. I have been emphasizing neatness and proper handwriting in their work. We worked on A, B, C, and D.
• Social Studies: We are learning about ourselves and our families. We made a family portrait to share with the class. Also, we discovered all the countries that our families have come from and drew flags around the world.
• Writing: We have been learning about our classmates. We select a Prince or Princess of the day. The students interview them and then we write a paragraph about that person. Some areas we are beginning to focus on are indenting paragraphs, capital letters in the beginning of sentences, punctuation, and sentence variety.
• Math: We began our first chapter in our textbook on addition facts. We are practicing basic computation and also word problems using addition. Please review the work that gets sent home. Most of the word problems are done as a whole class so some students need more practice doing them independently.
• Physical Education: We began our PE this week. We have PE class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Students have to run around the track once and then we play games afterwards.
• Fire Drill: On Thursday, we practiced our first fire drill. We lined up quietly when the fire bell rang and walked onto the field until we were excused. We did a great job!
• Music: We have started our first grade music program on Wednesdays before lunch and Friday afternoon. We are singing fun songs led by the first grade teachers.
• Nutrition Policy: We are continuing our nutrition program at our school and we are only allowed to have one treat per month. Therefore, if your child has a birthday and you would like to share something with the class, we can only allow items such as pencils, erasers, or stickers.
• Friday Folders: Today you are receiving our weekly Friday Folders. Please review all the work that is sent home with your child and sign the back of the folder. Every week I monitor each child’s behavior using Super Stars. If your child receives green cards all week long, they will take home the Super Star (this week is the yellow bus). Please acknowledge these Super Stars and post them up in your house to remind children of good behavior!!!
We are fortunate to have an ELD aide to help out in our classroom everyday. Her name is Seema Saxena (Mrs. Seema) and she helps in our class for an hour and a half each day. Mrs. Seema is a wonderful help to us! Also, we have an ELD Specialist who will be helping in our classroom every Tuesday morning before recess. Her name is Miss Yeh. Both helpers have already been introduced to our class.
I am looking forward to meeting all of you next Thursday at Back to School Night! If you have not returned the first day forms such as: supplies, health card, library permission slip, directory information, classroom donation, etc., please do so on Tuesday! Have a wonderful weekend!
Monday, September 1st: NO SCHOOL – Labor Day
Thursday, September 4th: Back-to-School Night 6:15pm-7:00pm in Room 8
This is a mandatory informational meeting about our classroom procedures and curriculum plan for the year. There will be a PTO meeting in the MP room from 7:00pm-7:15pm afterwards.
Friday, September 5th: Scholastic book orders are due
I am including the September book order with this newsletter. This first order is very important because it gives our classroom free materials depending on the amount ordered. Please look through the book orders and if you are interested in purchasing books, make ONE check payable to Scholastic Book Clubs.
Sunday, September 14th: Cupertino Jubilee Chicken Dance @ 1:00pm
The first graders from Eaton will perform the Chicken Dance at the Cupertino Jubilee which is held at City Hall (next to the library). Plan on coming if you are available that day!
Friday, September 19th: NO SCHOOL – Staff Learning Day
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Dear Families,
Thank you for those of you who have given generous donations for our classroom! In addition to the first grade supply list, we ask each family to donate $150 (payable to Eaton Elementary School) in order to cover the costs for all the fun assemblies, field trips, projects, and activities we complete all year long. These programs are not possible without your donations. We appreciate your contribution and support! The Eaton PTO (Parent-Teacher Organization) also is asking for a $175 donation (payable to Eaton PTO) to help plan school wide events and fundraisers. Please consider these donation opportunities, as they greatly help our school!
The first few days of school have been focused on class rules and procedures. I am reminding students to be on their best behavior, to try their best, and be a peacebuilder to others. Parent communication is very important to me because I strongly believe we have a huge influence on your child’s academic and social learning. Please be sure to read these weekly newsletters carefully and remind your child to follow directions at Eaton.
Here are some highlights from the week:
• Language Arts: We have begun our phonics and vocabulary lessons by beginning a picture dictionary. I have been emphasizing neatness and proper handwriting in their work. We worked on A, B, C, and D.
• Social Studies: We are learning about ourselves and our families. We made a family portrait to share with the class. Also, we discovered all the countries that our families have come from and drew flags around the world.
• Writing: We have been learning about our classmates. We select a Prince or Princess of the day. The students interview them and then we write a paragraph about that person. Some areas we are beginning to focus on are indenting paragraphs, capital letters in the beginning of sentences, punctuation, and sentence variety.
• Math: We began our first chapter in our textbook on addition facts. We are practicing basic computation and also word problems using addition. Please review the work that gets sent home. Most of the word problems are done as a whole class so some students need more practice doing them independently.
• Physical Education: We began our PE this week. We have PE class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Students have to run around the track once and then we play games afterwards.
• Fire Drill: On Thursday, we practiced our first fire drill. We lined up quietly when the fire bell rang and walked onto the field until we were excused. We did a great job!
• Music: We have started our first grade music program on Wednesdays before lunch and Friday afternoon. We are singing fun songs led by the first grade teachers.
• Nutrition Policy: We are continuing our nutrition program at our school and we are only allowed to have one treat per month. Therefore, if your child has a birthday and you would like to share something with the class, we can only allow items such as pencils, erasers, or stickers.
• Friday Folders: Today you are receiving our weekly Friday Folders. Please review all the work that is sent home with your child and sign the back of the folder. Every week I monitor each child’s behavior using Super Stars. If your child receives green cards all week long, they will take home the Super Star (this week is the yellow bus). Please acknowledge these Super Stars and post them up in your house to remind children of good behavior!!!
We are fortunate to have an ELD aide to help out in our classroom everyday. Her name is Seema Saxena (Mrs. Seema) and she helps in our class for an hour and a half each day. Mrs. Seema is a wonderful help to us! Also, we have an ELD Specialist who will be helping in our classroom every Tuesday morning before recess. Her name is Miss Yeh. Both helpers have already been introduced to our class.
I am looking forward to meeting all of you next Thursday at Back to School Night! If you have not returned the first day forms such as: supplies, health card, library permission slip, directory information, classroom donation, etc., please do so on Tuesday! Have a wonderful weekend!
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