Weekly Agenda

Week of May 16th - 20th

Exciting Events This Week!

Tuesday: 12:45 - End of the Year Celebration!!

Wednesday: Kindergarten Transition

Thursday: 8:35-9:15 Awards

Friday: LAST DAY!!!

Summer Reading List

Rising First Graders

• First Grade Here I Come/Carlson



• Hooray For Wadney Wat/Lester



• Where The Wild Things Are/Sendak



• Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs/Barrett



• Super Fly Guy/Arnold



• Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day / Judity Viorst



• The Bears’ Picnic / Stan and Jan Berenstain



• Bedtime for Frances / Russell Hoban



• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? /Bill Martin



• Caps for Sale / Esphyr Slobodkina



• Franklin Rides a Bike / Paulette Bourgeois



• Freckle Juice / Judy Blume



• If You Give a Mouse a Cookie / Laura Joffe Numeroff



• The Listening Walk / Paul Showers



• Make Way for Ducklings / Robert McCloskey



• Play Ball Amelia Bedelia / Peggy Parish



• Quick as a Cricket / Audrey Wood



• Ten Apples up on Top / Theodore LeSieg



• There’s an Alligator Under My Bed / Mercer Mayer



• The True Story of the Three Little Pigs / Joh Scieszka
  



• Rising Second GradersSummer Reading List



• The Adventures of Taxi Dog / Deborah Barracca



• Huggly's Pizza/Arnold



• Bad Kitty series/Bruel



• Mercy Watson series/DiCamillo



• Possum Magic/Fox



• Chicken Big/Graves



• Horrible Harry series/Kline



• Alice The Fairy/Shannon



• Amelia Bedlia / Peggy Parish



• The Case of the Spooky Sleepover, Jigsaw Jones #4 / James Preller



• Chicken Soup with Rice, A Book of Months / Maurice Sendak



• Flat Stanley / Jeff Brown



• The Giving Tree / Shel Silverstein



• Freckle Juice / Judy Blume



• The Great Kapok Tree / Lynne Cherry



• Is Your Mama a Llama? / Deborah Guarino



• Junie B. Jones Series / Barbara Park



• Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse / Kevin Henkes



• Tonight on the Titanic, Magic Tree House Series #17 / Mary Pope Osborne



• You Can't Eat Your Chicken Pox, Amber Brown / Paula Danziger



• Magic Tree House Series / Mary Pope Osborne

Summer Fun!

Great ideas for Summer Fun!

1. Summer Memories Diary: One of the biggest complaints from teachers is that children tend to lose academic skills during the summer. A great tool to keep reading and writing skills in good shape during summer vacation is a diary. It's fun to put together and easy enough for any age child to enjoy doing. The base can be a regular school notebook or a scrapbook-photo album. Start each day with an entry of the plans for the day's events. When your adventurers return home, they can add pictures and notes on the best parts of the day. The pictures can be crayon drawings or prints from a digital camera or anything in between.

2. Museums: If you live close to an area with a museums, you may find that there is a summer program for kids to learn about subjects they display. Art museums may offer opportunities for hands on art work while natural history museums can lead kids to discover the world they live in and the cultures of other people. Local historical museums and societies may offer exploration of the history of your town or state through summer programs. Museums do normally charge a fee that covers materials and other costs.

3. Public Library: Your local public library may offer a summer program...and most are not just about reading. Many libraries do offer summer reading classes or story hours, but you'll also find guest speakers of interest to many different age groups. If your town doesn't have a library, check your closest mall for a bookstore. The large chain stores and many small mom & pop book stores allow kids to spend time reading and even organize activities to introduce them to the wonderful world of books...

4. Zoo: Your local zoo can be a lifesaver during the dog days of summer. Besides providing hours of exploring and visiting exotic animals, most zoos are part of an umbrella "Zoological Society" that is involved with protecting endangered animals and conservation of the areas where they live. Many zoos offer classes and activities for kids to help them learn more about animals and the environment. The fees may include donations or membership fees to the zoo in addition to the cost of supplies, but the hours of fun with a purpose are well worth the cost.

5. Crafts: Summer is a wonderful time to take on crafting projects. If your little princess has been asking for a backyard playhouse, building one together is a fantastic experience. You don't have to be a professional. There are plenty of easy to follow, inexpensive kits available. Do you have any crafting skills you'd like to pass on to your kids? Learning to sew, knit or crochet is fun for boys and girls...so is woodworking and pottery! Simple projects are fun even for the youngest crafters. Hand painting tee shirts can keep toddlers busy for hours. Be prepared for a mess. That's half of the fun!

6. Gardening: If you have a yard or some space on a sunny windowsill, you have the perfect setting for a kids garden. Take some watermelon seeds and watch them sprout and grow. Whether you get watermelons or not is irrelevant...the fun is in watching the vines spread out and grow. Older kids may want to grow vegetables, herbs or flowers in a real garden plot. Check out info on container gardens if your space is limited or you think weeding will be an issue for your young farmer.

7. Just Have FUN! Catch fireflies, look at the stars and the moon, go on a picnic, fly a kite, take a trip to Chattanooga and see the INCLINE, Lookouts Baseball, Aquarium, and enjoy time with family and friends!

**Make sure that your child is still Reading, Writing, and completing Math problems. Often, students fall behind during Summer Vacation because we are busy and do not do any learning activities. Having fun in the sun can still mean that your child is continuing his or her learning and builing their vocabulary and academic skills for the next grade!

Mid Year Strategies

Dear Parents,

It's that time of year again...we are almost ready for 2nd grade!!! Below you will find some helpful hints that you can complete with your child to help them prepare for the upcoming year! :)

1. Levels: To pass a level test, there are 3 parts: -95%accuracy ; -retell the beginning, middle, and end ; connect (what does the story remind me of in my life) GOAL=I

2. Phoneme Segmentation: Say a word- child "breaks it apart" and says each sound one at a time. It helps to have them TAP out the word on their arm. GOAL=35 (timed 1 minute).

3. Nonsense Word Fluency: Show letter cards or letters on white board. These should not be real words. Switch the letters- mix the letters. (ex. dub, fub, fab, rab, etc...). GOAL=50 (timed 1 min.)

4. Oral Reading Fluency: Read a story aloud and be able to tell what it was about.

GOAL=60 words per minute.

Looking Ahead

Welcome!
First Grade is a busy and challenging year! In first grade, your child will start receiving letter grades for their performace. To help your child succeed, please read with them every night and complete the homework packet. By the end of 1st grade, your child should be reading on a DRA level I and reading 60 words per minute (from a selected story).

Here are some of the things we will be learning this year.
Reading/writing – First graders will work on mastering the print/sound code. They will read picture books and easyreaders with more complex plots and characters. They will learn to retell or summarize a story, share new information they discovered and answer questions about a story. First graders will write stories daily. They will write personal narratives, informational reports and how to stories. They will respond to stories they have read and write poetry.
Math – First graders will gather data and organize it into charts. They will deepen their understanding of number sense and place value. They will explore geometry. They will master addition and subtraction facts to ten.
Science – First grade science topics will include Life Cycles, Animals groups, Weather and Ecological Responsibility.
Social Studies – First graders will explore and understand the world around them. They will work on map skills and directions. They will learn about community helpers and changes in communities.
Summer Reading List:
Henry and Mudge Series
Biscuit Series
Make Way for Ducklings / Robert McCloskey
Play Ball Amelia Bedelia / Peggy Parish
Quick as a Cricket / Audrey Wood
Ten Apples up on Top / Theodore LeSieg
There’s an Alligator Under My Bed / Mercer Mayer
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs / Joh Scieszka
First Grade Supply List

*Dry Erase Markers (pack of 4-6)

*5 Packs Wide Ruled Paper

*2 Primary Composition Books (Black Marbled: Top has place for picture and bottom has handwriting lines)

*2 Spiral Wide Ruled Notebooks

*Pencil Box (small plastic)
Wish List
Kleenex
Hand Sanitizer
Baby Wipes
Baind Aids

This is a suggested list only. It is in no way a requirement of
the school or the school system. All classroom donations are
greatly appreciated.

Important Dates
2010-2011
August 16-First Day of School
September 6-Labor Day Holiday
October 4-8-Fall Break

All About First Grade

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you and your child to first grade. My name is Miss Cline and I will be teaching your child this year. I am sure you are as excited as I am to begin the new year. I can not wait to meet my new class.
This is a very special year in your child's school career! First grade is a time to experience important transitions and acquire new skills. During the year, your child will learn how to read, write stories, add, subtract, and so much more. I hope to instill a love of learning that will last throughout your child's years of schooling!
Please take some time to review the Georgia Standards that your child will be learning this year. These standards are very important. As you review the standards, you will see that the standards are much different than the standards that you remember learning when you were in first grade. With that being said, it is SO important that you take the time to practice nightly with your child. Take the time to read stories, study sight words, practice spelling and math skills.
I know that this will be an exciting and productive year. I am interested in learning more about my students and would appreciate any information written down that can help me get to know them better. I look forward to sharing this year with you and your child.
Sincerely,
Miss Cline
1st Grade
erincline@walkerschools.org
Rock Spring Elementary

Arbor Day

Arbor Day was totally FUN!! To celebrate, the local garden club came and did an amazing presentation about planting tress and taking care of them! Students were able to plant the tree, add worms, water, and mulch! They loved getting their hands dirty! Thank you to all the helpers that came and made the experience so wonderful!!! With this type of community involvement, students are able to participate in hands-on activities that link learning to the standard!

100th Day Celebration

The 100th day was AWESOME! For one of the activities, students illustrated self-portraits. The self-portraits shows them now and how they think they will look at 100! The drawings were so cute!!!