Adventures in 1st Grade

Yes it is true… Open House is this Tuesday from 6:30 – 7:00.  I hope you can make it!

This week we will continue our exploration of the Weather discussing rainfall, puddles and clouds.

In Math we have started adding numbers together.  I am trying to move the students from counting on fingers, toes etc. to using tally marks.  If we add 7 +4 , I would like to see them add  /////// + //// = 11.  By using tally marks students are able to easily and efficiently show how they arrived at an answer.  They can still use whatever way is comfortable for them (fingers, cubes, pictures etc.) but they need to be able to show and explain how they came up with their answer.

In ELA we are discussing story elements: characters, setting and especially the beginning, middle and end of a story.  This will enable students to retell a story and give a concise summary of who, where and what happened in a story.  You can help with this skill by having your child tell you the characters (who), the setting (where) and the beginning, middle and end (what happened) of their favorite TV show.

In Writing I am stressing the use of capitals at the beginning and punctuation at the end of sentences.  Sentences must also tell a complete thought. Spelling continues to be phonetic/invented, your child should spell a word  using the letters of the sounds that he or she hears (ie: pala is ok for play because he might hear p-a-l-a).

Another Rapid Word Chart will come home on Monday. Please have your child read these words to you every night, note his or her time in the space provided (remember your cell phone might have a timer in it) and return the paper on Friday.

Questions or comments?  Please let me know.

See you Tuesday evening!

Mr. Ostheimer

Don’t forget, there is no school on Friday September 4 or Monday September 7 in observance of Labor Day. Next week we will continue working on counting and comparing numbers and we will have our first assessment on how well we can count to 20 and comparing two quantities to see which one is greater. In Science, we will continue our discussion and observation of the weather. In Language Arts, a few of the skills we will practice: we will learn our short /i/ sound (as in igloo), we will make inferences when we read (what do you think the author is trying to tell us) and discuss fiction and non fiction text. In Writing, we will continue to learn what makes a sentence and continue stretching out words to write down the sounds that we hear.
Mark your calender: The evening of September 15 is Open House: details will follow.

This week in B4 we will be continuing our work on counting. We are strengthening our 1 to 1 correspondence, reinforcing the sequence that numbers have, finding numbers that may be missing in a sequence and discussing greater than and less than. In Science, we will continue our weather observations; adding discussions on wind and temperature. In Language Arts, we are still working on our short a sounds, singular and plurals, making predictions and we will work on identifying story elements (beginning middle and end, characters, setting, etc.). In Writing, we will learn what makes a sentence – a capital at the beginning, punctuation at the end and, most importantly, that it conveys a complete thought.
A note about your child’s writing. 1st grade students should spell words like they hear them, this is called inventive spelling and is developmentally appropriate for their age. If they cannot discriminate between all the sounds, that is okay, it will come with time. Your student’s should also write like they talk meaning that there should not be any missing words in their sentences. Even just beginning and ending sounds for every word could be appropriate for a particular student’s level of development.
Our special schedule – Monday: Library, Tuesday and Thursday: Gym (please wear sneakers) Wednesday: Art and Friday: Music.

Finally, don’t forget, Friday September 4 and Monday September 7 there is no school.

Questions or comments? Please email me or call and leave a message at school.

Mr. Ostheimer

It is hard to believe but we have started our second week of school!  Today we continued “exploring” with our Math manipulatives and some students came and worked with me so I could assess if they remembered their numbers from kindergarten and the strategy(ies) they use when they count items. All students will be assessed by the end of the week.  I handed out hardback readers (which your child does not need to bring home) and we started our first lesson in the Harcourt Storytown series.  In Science, we looked at our Science kit and started to get excited about studying weather.  In writing, we are starting slowly, we are following directions to draw a picture, taking some time to color the picture, we will add details to our picture and then we will write a sentence or four describing our picture.  We will also discuss  why and how we label things and label a few pictures, as well.

For homework, your child brought home a sheet that will help us learn something about him or her.  Please help your child fill out the paper and, if possible, attach a recent photograph.

Speaking of photos, here a few of our classmates becoming familiar with our snap cubes, pattern blocks and geo-cubes.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

This evening I tried to access the student ebooks on Storytown and found out that my old link was “dead”.  The new link is on the right (http://www-k6.thinkcentral.com/ePC/start.do) and I made a generic first grader sign in.  The user name is B4 and the password is wildcats.  This link will give you access to some of the stories we read in class (that way your child won’t need to lug their book home to practice) as well as some appropriate supplemental readers.  This week we are starting Book 1 Theme 1 Lesson 1.  We will be going in order but not necessarily on a Monday to Friday schedule (four day weeks etc., causing a bit of a problem).  I will endeavor to update this site to let you know when we start a new lesson, theme, book, etc.  Please try not to go too far ahead as this may cause a bit of confusion for your child.  Please email me and let me know if  there are problems.

Thanks and have a great rest of your weekend!

Mr. Ostheimer

What an awesome first day of 1st grade!!  I was very excited to see all me new friends this morning for what was a relatively seamless transition from summer back to school.  Please practice your child’s student ID with them so, when they buy lunch (or breakfast), they are able to put their number in our keypad quickly.    Speaking of breakfast, if your child will be eating breakfast at school, please send me a note or email so I can check that they have gone to the cafeteria and eaten before they come to the classroom.

Today was pretty much a blur,  I read some stories, we went over how to act in the classroom, how to walk in the hall, how to act on the playground, we graphed whether we ride a bus or ride in a car to school.  We met Ms. Ostafy our super-cool art teacher.  Ms. Howell, the principal, and Mr. Haber, the assistant  principal, stopped by for a visit.   We did some coloring and cutting and even tried our hand at some addition!  We  pretty much just got used to the idea of being back at school.

Tomorrow, we’ll work on learning our classmates names, work with some math manipulatives,  do some writing and maybe a bit of work with one of the reading websites (starfall.com).

Your child brought home a folder full of information… everything that needs to be signed, please sign and return ASAP.  Please make sure that I have  updated telephone and email contact for you, I would love to contact you and tell you how things are going with your child!!

Any questions, please email or call me.

Mr. Ostheimer

I returned on Monday from my trip across the country.  I flew in to Portland OR, met my friend and then drove back east through Idaho, Wyoming and Grand Teton National Park and  Yellowstone National Park where we camped under beautiful star-filled skies and saw buffalo, antelope, deer, elk, coyotes, a bald eagle and a bear!  Next we drove to Deadwood in South Dakota where I learned about Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane.  Mt. Rushmore was next on the agenda and then the Badlands via an awesome back road that snaked its way through the Black Hills.  The Badlands had spectacular views and we also saw bighorn sheep, more buffalo and many prairie dogs. We took a hike up to a pass through the mountains and were able to see for many miles all around us.  Our trip from there was fast and furious with the greatest highlight being a trip to Arthur Bryant’s Bar-b-que in Kansas City , MO for a tasty lunch of ribs and some burnt ends and pulled pork take out for dinner.  When we arrived in Baltimore, there was the strangest storm I have ever seen brewing.  The clouds were low and black and thick, swirling menacingly around and around and there was a magnificent rainbow that seemed to end right in my friend’s backyard! (Didn’t find the pot of gold, though.)

My family and I will be heading to the beach and then I’ll be working on my classroom, getting ready for August 19!

See you then!!

Dear Old Friends from Y-7 and New Friends from B-4,

How’s your summer going? Mine is excellent. I have been spending a lot of time with my children at our neighborhood pool and also preparing for this coming school year. (Check out the Harcourt Robust Vocabulary section at the top of the page.)
I am getting ready to go on vacation at the end of July. I will be flying out to Portland Oregon, meeting an old friend and driving back across the country to Delaware. I hope to post some pictures of our adventures along the way.

Have you done anything interesting? You can fill out the form below to let me know!

Have fun and be safe!

Mr. Ostheimer

Wow, I can’t believe our school year is already over.  We had an amazing year in Y-7 and I am sure that everyone is up to the challenges that the new school year will bring.  Don’t forget to visit me next year in room B-4 (Blue hallway).

Have a great summer and don’t forget to read and write!!!

Here’s another website to try:

http://scholastic.com/summerreading/summerchallenge/

Mr. Ostheimer

Here is another resource for finding appropriate books for your child:

http://bookwizard.scholastic.com/tbw/viewCustomSearchForm.do?RowsPerPageOptions=%5B10%2C+50%5DReminders!!

Friday is early dismissal and Monday there is no school.

Want to go to a Blue Rocks game?  Your student brought home a sheet with information.  If it was lost, please email me for date and time.  Cost is $7.00 per ticket and students must be accompanied by an adult.  Let me know by Friday 5/22 how many in your family will be coming and I’ll need the money by next Friday 5/29.  My wife, son and I are going. I hope to see your family, too!