May 7, 2012
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
Your student had a very successful week of Benchmark and MAP Testing. We still have some testing this week, so please make sure your student gets a good night of sleep and a healthy and nutritious breakfast. I have a few students that don’t consistently have an afternoon snack or a bottled water for the day. Our temperatures are getting warmer and keeping your student hydrated and nourished is so very important to their learning. Asking to get a drink when your student is thirsty is a distraction to their learning and to the learning of other students.
We will be reviewing Topic 17 and preparing to start Topic 18: Three-digit Addition. Topic 19 will be teaching your student multiplication…….can you believe it?! I will say your student is ready for this math challenge, as all my students love learning new math skills. Some of them will say “Miss Wrede I feel like I am in college learning math!” I hope they will always have this enthusiasm for learning new things.
Have a wonderful week!
Smiles,
Miss Dana Wrede
April 30, 2012
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
I hope you had a great weekend! We start Benchmark Testing on Monday, April 30 so please be sure your student gets to bed early each night and eats a healthy breakfast each morning. We will still have our weekly spelling and vocabulary, and our daily math lesson. We will have one change in our weekly schedule, and that will be no library time on Friday. The students are really enjoying our science unit and love learning about the human body. Our art lesson on Friday included learning about two of our five senses: hearing and taste. We made two foldables that showed the students how their hearing actually works and where our taste buds are in our mouth. This week we will continue to learn about seeing, smelling, and touch.
Coming up:
Friday, May 4: Last day of spring clubs.
Wednesday, May 9: Half day with dismissal beginning at 11:30AM. Feel free to send your child to school with a fruit or veggie snack for the morning.
Friday, May 11: Final due date for all Library Books and SRC Books!
Thursday, May 17: Kindergarten Spring Concert at 6:00PM in STLC’s gym!
Tuesday, May 22: Last Quarterly Learning Celebration! Stop in for a few minutes to see our class’s creations and hard work ! All students will be picked up from the classroom for dismissal at 3:05PM.
Wednesday, May 23: Kindergarten Graduation! The ‘ceremony’ will begin at 9:00AM. More details to follow in emails!
Thursday, May 24: Last day of school! The school day will include our last Character Assembly for the 2011-2012 school year!
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School-wide Events:
Monday, April 30 – Friday, May 11: Our last MAP & Benchmark testing sessions will take place. (There will be no library special during our testing weeks.)
Spring Concert Nights: Check Ms. Ball’s music website!
Kindergarten: May 17, 6:00 pm in STLC gym.
1st Grade: May 17, 6:45 pm in STLC gym.
2nd Grade: May 21, 5:45 pm in STLC gym.
3rd Grade: May 21, 6:15 pm in STLC gym.
4th Grade: May 21, 6:45 pm in STLC gym.
String Orchestra Movie Music in the Park: May 18, 6:00 pm STLC field-bring your own blanket and chairs.
Concert Band Movie Music in the Park: May 18, 7:00 pm STLC field-bring your own blanket and chairs.
______________________________
*Check the school calendar for further up-to-date information.
Have a fabulous week!
Smiles,
Miss Dana Wrede
First Grade Teacher
“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” Dr. Seuss
April 23, 2012
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
What a wonderful sunny weekend we had! I spent mine up in Payson with family and friends celebrating my parents 50th wedding anniversay. It could not have been a more special day for my parents. I was not able to attend the STLC Annual Golf Tournament, but I have heard it was a great time for everyone that attended.
Today your student reviewed our Topic 15: Time and Measurement, and took their test. Time is a subject that can be taught, but without daily practice your student will not become better at this very important skill. I will continue to have manipulatives for the students to use that will encourage them to learn how to tell time. Our next math topic will teach students to count, read, write and identify number patterns to 1,000.
We started our final ImagineIt! Unit today and it will focus on learning about America and its people. This unit is designed to help students understand both the diversity and the unity of the American people. We will learn about a family tree, where did our ancestors live before living in America, and why did these diverse people come to America. Our first story is about a chinese girl named April. Don’t be surprised if your student comes home this week talking about eating chinese noodles with chop sticks!
School-wide news:
-This week is Spirit Week at San Tan! Special dress-up days include:
Monday: Crazy hair day
Tuesday: Career day
Wednesday: Opposite day
Thursday: Sports day
Friday: Crazy hat day
As a reminder, students are welcome to participate in dress-up days as long as it does not become a distraction 
. I can’t wait to see what everyone does!
-This Wednesday, 4/25, is an early-release day.
-The last round of benchmark and MAP testing for the year will begin next week (can you believe May is around the corner?).
Have a SUPER week!
Smiles,
Miss Dana Wrede
First Grade Teacher
April 16, 2012
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
I can tell Spring is in the air! My first grade friends came back to school on Tuesday full of energy, ready to learn, and lots to talk about……..must have been the four-day weekend also! We had a great week of learning about The Boston Tea Party, The Revolutionary War, The Oregon Trail, and The Westward Expansion. Your students are so eager to learn about the history of our country. I hope they come home and want to share with you all that they have learned.
We started our new math unit on Friday, Topic 15: Time and Temperature. Your students are excited to learn how to tell time and so am I. Soon they will be able to look at the clock and know when it is time for lunch! You can help your student at home with practicing their time telling skills with a clock they will make in class and bring home this week. Telling time is another learned skill your student will be very proud of.
April 10, 2012
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
I hope my families had a super 4-day holiday weekend with their family and friends! I could not have asked for anything more. I was with my family and we enjoyed the beautiful weather outside. We planted a garden and I hope this will be the year for us to see some vegetables. I will say Arizona makes it very challenging to be a successful gardener…..or maybe its just me?!
Our recent Box Tops submission brought our grand total for the 2011-2012 school year to a total of $908! This money will go directly to our Campus Improvements fund. Please continue to cut Box Tops and drop them off at the main office. We submit them several times throughout the year. www.boxtops4education.com
This month we are beginning a new school-wide recycle program. The opportunity to recycle paper at San Tan is also available to families and the surrounding business community. For additional information on the program along with updates from the Environmental Committee, please read the attached April 2012 newsletter.
We have quite a few events coming up in April, here are a few reminders.
April 12th- Noetic Mathematics Competition (during school hours)
April 13th- San Tan Learning Center is having a Bounce U FUNdraising night on April 13th from 6-8pm. Each bouncer is $7.95 – STLC will receive $2.95 for each bouncer which will be donated to the Growing Brilliance campaign. Please remember to bring your socks and your signed waiver. See additional attachments for more information on participating.
April 20th- Last day to complete the school survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9QD6BMR .
April 21st- San Tan Golf Tournament
Please see visit our web-site, www.stlcgolf.com for registration in the Golf Tournament on April 21st. If you are unable to golf, we have other opportunities to participate to support teachers through helping with the baskets for the silent auction. Each grade is putting together themed gift baskets for a silent auction. Funds raised will go directly to our Growing Brilliance program, which helps fund the teachers and staff at San Tan Learning Center. The kiddos are very excited to help with this, so if each parent could donate anything related a classroom theme; we would appreciate it.
1st Grade
Theme: Cooking
This will be a great gift for the chef, cook and kitchen-lover that you know. This basket could be filled with all the ingredients to help a cook transform into a chef!!! Suggestions include cooking utensils, recipe books, specialty cooking wines, a gift card to Crate and Barrel or a specialty cooking store, an apron, cookie sheets and anything that would help this chef enjoy the kitchen!!!
April 28th- KA-POW! Superhero Adventure Run – The PE coaches will be posting additional information about this event on their website at http://www.santanlearningcenter.com/phys-ed/.
Smiles,
Miss Dana Wrede
First Grade Teacher
San Tan Learning Center
“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” Dr. Seuss
April 2, 2012
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
We have had a busy and FUN time learning about Native Americans this past week. I was amazed at their enthusiasm to learn about the Native Amercian culture and create some items that represent what they are known for. We made pottery, learned how to weave, painted tee-pees, and wrote a story using Native American symbols. This week I will introduce European explorers, Immigration to America, the orginating Thirteen Colonies, and the Westward Expansion.
We are starting a new math unit, Topic 14 Measurement: Capicity and Weight. Your students are really enjoying this unit as it has a lot of hands on learning. Math seems to be a favorite subject among most of my students.
Have a wonderful week!
Smiles,
Miss Wrede
First Grade Teacher
San Tan Learning Center
“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” Dr. Seuss
March 19, 2012
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
Welcome Back from Spring Break! I hope everyone was able to spend some time outside enjoying our beautiful weather this time of year. The rain and cooler temperatures this weekend was a nice surprise for me.
The start of a new quarter means the start of a new language unit, math topic, social studies unit, and science unit! Our ImagineIt Unit is titled “Courage” and will introduce students to story characters who act courageously when faced with frightening or difficult situations. Courage is often equated with boldness and daring. However, defending an unpopular point of view because it happens to be correct, trying something new in the face of possible failure, and staying calm in a frightening situation are all acts of courage. It is likely that students have performed brave acts some time in their lives, and students will begin an investigation of courage and bravery over the next five weeks.
Our new Envision Math Topic is Topic 13 Measurement: Length and Area. Students will be learning how to estimate and measure using concrete materials. I will introduce students to the different standard units of length (inches, feet, yards, centimeters, and meters) and how big these units are. Students will learn about perimeter and area, and properties of plane shapes.
Our Social Studies unit will teach students about Early Civilizations, Exploration, Colonization, the Westward Expansion, and Immigration to the United States. Our first lesson will begin by learning about prehistoric Native American cultures that lived in Central and Eastern North America.
Our Life Science will expand students’ biological understanding of life by focusing on our sensory, defense, and locomotion functions. Students will also identify the major parts and basic functions of the digestive system, respiratory system, and circulatory system.
I am looking forward to another fun and exciting quarter of learning and exploring with your student.
Smiles,
Miss Wrede
First Grade Teacher
San Tan Learning Center
“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” Dr. Seuss
School-wide Events:
Saturday, March 24: STLC Garage Sale from 7AM-3PM . Feel free to donate to the garage sale. Drop offs will be available in the mornings and after school on March 21st -23rd. (The drop off area is located across the school in front of the handicapped parking in the designated storage area.) In the near future there will be a Sign-Up requesting volunteers to help with the garage sale. If you have any questions regarding the sale, you can contact Sherri Goluba at (480) 813-2576. Thanks so much for all the support we have received from parents, teachers and students. You are the reason why our school has become such a success!
Now through March 28: STLC’s 2nd Box Tops Submission. Please drop off your Box Tops at the front office or to me. We already have earned $554 for the 1st half of the school year. (All money earned from Box Tops will go to help fund Campus Improvements. Please visit http://www.boxtops4education.com to see which products earn box tops and more information on the bonus programs.) If you have any questions regarding the program, please contact Sherri Goluba at (480) 813-2576.
Saturday, April 21: STLC’s 2nd Annual Golf Tournament at Superstition Springs Golf Club. For more information, including registration for the event, click here.
Monday, April 30 – Friday, May 11: Our last MAP & Benchmark testing sessions will take place.
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*Check the school calendar for further up-to-date information.
Attachments:
February 27, 2012
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
I sure hope you had a wonderful weekend and you were able to enjoy the beautiful weather we are having! My son turned 12 on Saturday and my family and I watched him pitch a winning baseball game. What a great birthday for Parker!
This week your student will be doing benchmark testing, so please help them do their best by making sure they get a good nights rest and a healthy breakfast. Your student will benefit from having a nutritious snack on these days to help them stay focused and energized.
Please be sure to check your email regarding our learning celebration project and the supplies your student will need for this. I want to thank all the family and friends that hosted “Flat Stanley” for a visit. It has been very exciting for the students to share pictures and letters with our class. So far we have about 15 Flat Stanley travelors that have found a special place on our bulletin board. Our furthest traveler has gone to Australia!
Parent/Teacher Conferences are March 8th and 9th.
To sign up, go to:
www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C0E4EA8AC2FA57-spring
Important Dates:
Wednesday, February 29th is an early-release day (and Leap Day). Registration for the 2012-2013 school year is also due that day.
Friday, March 2nd is the all-school field trip to Higley Performing Arts Center. No hot lunch will be served that day, so please have students bring a packed lunch and a snack they can eat later in the afternoon. Please have students wear their green STLC shirts that day as well. For more information on this trip, please contact Ms. Ball.
I have not assigned vocabulary words this week, only spelling words. Our language focus will be on a read a loud story I have started with the students called “James and the Giant Peach”. We are having a great time reading the story and also learning a lot about character, honesty, peaches, BUGS, and most importantly “friendship”. Reading this story is the highlight of their day and also mine!
Our “Jump Rope For Heart” event on Friday was a great success! Students had a great time jumping rope and learning about keeping their heart healthy. I don’t think I practiced enough……after jumping rope for 25 minutes I have some “REALLY” sore calve muscles!
Have a super week!
Smiles,
Miss Dana Wrede
First Grade Teacher
“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” Dr. Seuss
February 21, 2012
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
I hope you had a nice three-day weekend with your family, had time to relax, and your student is ready for a fun week of learning. Our language lesson starts with the story “I See Animals Hiding” and teaches students more about the Genre Expository Text. We will brainstorm and list possible ideas for students to write a fantasy story of their own. We will compare and contrast a fantasy story and a story written with facts and events that could happen in real life.
In math your student is continuing to learn about fractions. I was worried that this would be a difficult math topic and I see now that I really had nothing to worry about. We have had a great time learning about fractions using manipulatives and also using some really fun interactive math activities on our starboard.
Our school-wide “Jump Rope For Heart” event is this Friday, February 24th. I have been practicing jumping rope so I can keep up with my first graders! I look forward to participating in this wonderful event that raises the awareness of keeping a healthy heart, and raises money to help save the lives of children who are faced with heart complications.
Have a wonderful week!
Smiles,
Miss Dana Wrede
First Grade Teacher
“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” Dr. Seuss
February 13, 2012
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
Our FIRST, First Grade Field Trip was a sensational success!! I am so proud of my class and the way they behaved on the bus, and at the Wildlife World Zoo. I want to thank the five parents that volunteered their time to keep our children safe and guide them through their zoo experience. The five groups were able to venture off and explore on their own, and each time I saw the students, each one of them were having a great time learning about all the different animals. I saw students feeding giraffes, petting stingrays, laughing at monkeys, standing below a black leopard and staring into its gorgeous green eyes, and mesmerized by the beauty of a mother “Mona Monkey” with her baby clinging tight to her chest as she moved about proudly showing off.
We will be finishing up our Science Unit about Mammals and their habitats, and starting our Social Studies Unit which will begin with maps. We continue to have visits from Flat Stanley and his amazing travels around the world. He has visited Australia, Germany, Wisconsin, Utah, and Virginia.
This week we will celebrate the “100th Birthday of Arizona”! How exciting to be a part of a Centennial Celebration in our own state! I am still looking for volunteers to help decorate our classroom door. I have collected some fun memorabilia and made decorations for us to use……..I just need some extra hands to decorate.
Valentines Day is Tuesday and students will be allowed to exchange a valentine with each other at the end of our school day. We have 23 students in our class and I ask that students bring a valentine for each child in our class. Stickers, pencils, erasers and other non-food items may be exchanged (no candy, cookies, or sugary items).
Have a great week!
Smiles,
Miss Dana Wrede
First Grade Teacher
“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” Dr. Seuss
February 6, 2012
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
We had a very busy week learning about some of the different habitats and the animals that live there; the desert, the rainforest, and fresh water habitats. This week we will continue our learning and visit the savannahs, the polar region, and the ocean. I am replicating these habitats on our classroom door (inside) and the students have been anxiously awaiting each new edition.
After our science unit I will begin our social studies unit and start introducing students to maps and how they are used to understand physical and human features of our world. As a part of our learning celebration I will be having the students create a 3-D map of a community in which they would like to create and live in. I will send out an email in the next week with information about this project and what materials our class will need.
As a part of our “100th Birthday Arizona” celebration at STLC, I am looking for volunteers that would help with decorating the outside of our classroom door. If you are interested in helping, decorating, or donating decorations please email me and let me know. This should be a very exciting day for our students to participate in this celebration and learn about the history of Arizona becoming the 49th state.
Lastly, I wanted to discuss a few important things that are not consistently happening in our first grade classroom. I have students that are not coming to school every day with their agenda and homework folder. These are two very important means of communication with my parents about what your child is learning, how they are performing, and what your student may need help with in their learning. When I see a parents initials in their students agenda I know they reading about their childs day. When I place papers in an empty homework folder, I know parents are taking the time to look through students work. Every Friday your student writes a letter to their parents in their “Nothing Notebooks” about their week at school. I am seeing quite a few notebooks come back to school without a written response from a parent. It is very disappointing for the students to see that other parents write back and some parents do not.
Please remember to send your student to school with a water bottle each day, and also a snack for the afternoon. It is a disruption from learning for a student to ask to leave the classroom for a drink when they are thirsty. Your student has a busy day of learning and having a healthy snack in the afternoon helps them stay energized and focused.
Have a great week and thank you for supporting your student in their learning.
Smiles,
Miss Dana Wrede
First Grade Teacher
San Tan Learning Center
“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” Dr. Seuss
January 30, 2012
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
We are having a lot of fun learning about mammals and their habitats, and sharing information we researched for our mammal reports. On Friday each student thought about a mammal they would like to be for a day and painted a picture of this mammal with water colors. I am so impressed with all their paintings! I will have them proudly displayed in our classroom this week.
Your child is so excited for our field trip to the Wildlife World Zoo! I am excited to have so many parents want to volunteer to spend the day with us. I want my parents to know that our field trip will be an educational experience for their student, with fun activities for each parent chaperone to do with their group of students as they tour the Wildlife World Zoo. For the field trip each first grade class is allowed one parent chaperone for a group of five students. Our class will have five chaperones: Mary Beth Baniecki (Annalise), Christine Mar (Devin), Brooke Quickel (Payton), Melissa Vacca (Athena), Janelle Turnbull (Sophia). Our first grade class will take one more field trip this year, so I would like to have parents that were not able to chaperone this time have the opportunity to chaperone for our next field trip.
February is a busy month for us at San Tan Learning Center and here are some important dates for you to add to your calendar:
- Spring Clubs start on January 30th.
- Arizona Centennial is on February 14th. To celebrate this occasion, we will be having a red, white, and blue day as well as a school wide Door Decorating Contest with all things Arizona. Start your wheels on ideas for our classroom door.
- First grade team to Wildlife World Zoo on February 10th
Kindergarten team to Phoenix Zoo on February 17th
- Jump Rope for Life during PE times, date to be set soon and more info to come from Coach Aleesa
- Dental Assemblies for Dental Awareness Month will be held on the following dates and times: February 6th – Kinder at 9:00, First at 9:30, and February 7th – Second-Third at 9:00 and Fourth-Seventh at 9:30.
- March 2nd our all school Music field trip to Higley Performing Arts. Permission slips will be sent out towards the middle of February. This field trip will be at no cost to our families. As we get closer to the date, chaperone information will be sent out.
- Benchmark Testing will start on February 27th.
Our school year is happening so quickly for me, can you believe we are already planning for the month of February? I treasure each day I have with your child and cherish their smiles, laughter and the growth that I see in their learning.
Have a great week!
Smiles,
Miss Wrede
First Grade Teacher
San Tan Learning Center
“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” Dr. Seuss
January 23, 2012
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
I want to thank all my parents for helping their students write their mammal report for our “Student Treasures” book. The students worked hard this past Friday illustrating their mammals and finishing their final drafts.
We will be starting Unit 4 of ImagineIt and the theme is “Look Again”. Children have a natural curiosity about animals. This unit draws on that curiosity and offers students the opportunity to learn about one aspect of animals: their camouflage. Because camouflage depends on the nature of an animal’s environment, this unit also allows the student to deepen their understanding of the relationship between animals and their ecosystems.
The first grade classes will be taking a field trip to the Wildlife Zoo in February, so be on the look out for information to come home this week.
I hope everyone has been able to print the new reading log that is available on my website. This can be kept in their homework folder and turned in to me on Mondays. Each student received a new homework folder on Friday. I was able to find some fun colorful folders that should last us to the end of the year.
Have a great week!
Smiles,
Miss Wrede
First Grade Teacher
San Tan Learning Center
“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” Dr. Seuss
January 17, 2012
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
I hope you and your family enjoyed the three-day weekend together, and found time to enjoy the weather and the beautiful outdoors we have in Arizona this time of year.
This week your first grade students have some exciting things happening in their classroom, and I wanted to make sure that each of them remembered what they needed.
Tuesday, January 17th – Our new reading log is ready for you to print and start using, remember “The More Things You Read, The More Things You Will Know”.
Wednesday, January 18th - Your students ”Animal Report” about their assigned mammal
is due for editing and writing their final draft for our “Student Treasures” book. If you would like to purchase a copy of the book the price is $19.95 and money and permission slips need to be turned in by Friday, January 20th. You do not need to purchase anything for your student to be published in our book, I just need to have a signed permission slip by a parent. There are two students that I did not get signed permission slips from
their parents at conference time, I apologize and I did send home the
slip in your students back pack this last week (Payton and Gavin). Please let
me know if you did not receive it and I will send home another one to you.
Wednesday, January 18th- “100th DAY OF SCHOOL” at San Tan Learning Center! The only thing I am asking for each student to bring to school is 100 of something that
will fit into a large zip lock bag. We will use these items throughout our
day with our learning so please send in things that are not edible. Some ideas
would be buttons, puzzle pieces, leggos, coins, or tiny erasers. I have
some projects planned for the students – I will give them each $100 and ask
them to write about how they would use it or spend it, students will draw a
picture of what they will look like when they are 100 years old, and can they
do something 100 times?
Wednesday, January 18th – Their item is due for J.L.’s “Happy 100th Birthday Arizona”
project. Each student was asked to bring in an item that represents Arizona. The item needs to fit in small ring box.
Smiles,
Miss Wrede
First Grade Teacher
San Tan Learning Center
“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” Dr. Seuss
January 10, 2012
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
Happy New Year and Welcome to a New Year of Fabulous Learning in First Grade!
I hope you had a wonderful winter break with your family and friends, enjoyed some beautiful weather, and made lots of new memories together to start your 2012 year. I am very excited to start our third quarter together, and I hope your student is too! We have a busy, but fun 8 weeks of learning together and I am very excited to greet each of my students on Tuesday morning and start our new year of learning together. Please take time to look through my website pages and read about all that we will be learning in first grade this quarter. Remember to pay careful attention to spelling word lists, some of my students changed groups based on their Words Their Way Spelling Inventory score for 3rd quarter Benchmark Testing. Please remember to read at least 20 minutes with your student each night. This is not only going to help them become more successful, but it is a wonderful way to show your child you care and reading is important. Reading Log pages will be available for you to print from my website this week. To help me reduce the number of copies that I make I will be scanning the reading log for you to print at home for your student. I am making some changes and I hope that your student will find it more fun to log their reading minutes and also write about what they are reading that week.
Smiles,
Miss Wrede
First Grade Teacher
San Tan Learning Center
“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” Dr. Seuss
December 19, 2011
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
I am happy to say that our Benchmark Testing went very well this quarter. I think our students are more accustomed to the routine and know what the expectations are during our testing. I am very proud of each one of my students and their accomplishments, and I am looking forward to meeting with my parents to share this.
Our learning days this week will be half days, but I plan on making the most of our learning time together before our Winter Break. We will be finishing up our Topic 11: Geometry Unit and having our test on Thursday morning. I will not have assigned spelling or vocabulary words this week, but we will be reading different literature that is focused on our current ImageIt Unit.
Our Learning Celebration on Friday was very impressive with so many parents visiting our classroom! Thank you for taking the time to visit and see what your student has been busy learning and making in first grade this quarter. I will be sending home your child’s projects this week in a large ziplock bag to help protect them. The one thing I can’t promise a safe trip home is their vegetable seeds they planted, but I will do my best to allow you to savor some lettuce and carrots grown by your student.
Have a wonderful week!
Smiles,
Miss Wrede
December 12, 2011
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
Our first week of Benchmark Testing went GREAT! Your student was focused and eager to show me all that they have learned. We will be finishing up this week with our MAP testing which seems to be their favorite part. Please remember to make sure your student is getting a good nights sleep and eating a healthy breakfast this week. I do make sure that the students are getting some extra recess time each day between our testing.
We will be working on finishing up our Learning Celebration projects in preparation of Friday, December 16th. Remember students will be anxiously awaiting your arrival to their classroom to share with you what we have been learning about “Plant and Insect Life Cycles”. We are looking forward to showing you all that we have been learning, growing, and observing.
Here is information about San Tan Learning Center’s Winter Music Celebration:
1st and 2nd Grade Program: Tuesday, December 13
Please arrive at 6:30 pm.
Please remember to give yourself enough time to find parking. Students are meeting up with their class in the music room. There will be teachers at the gate to send them to the music room so that you can find seats in the gym.
Program starts at 6:45 pm.
When the program is finished, please exit the North Door of the gym and proceed to the East Field to pick up your student.
If your student is unable to attend the concert, please let Ms. Ball know via email. tball@santanlc.com
Have a wonderful week!
Smiles,
December 5, 2011
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
It is beginning to feel a lot like WINTER! I am absolutely loving our weather right now and the cooler temperatures. It is fun to finally be able to wear long sleeves and even a sweater some mornings. The change in weather is definitely getting me in the holiday spirit. I enjoy driving through my neighborhood at night and seeing all the houses decorated with lights and snowmen.
Benchmark Testing will begin on Monday, December 5th so please make sure your student gets a good nights sleep and a healthy breakfast each morning. The testing is spread out over two weeks and we will do it in small sections as to not overwhelm students. There will be paper and pencil tests along with MAP testing (reading and math) that the students will do on the computer.
I will do a language and math lesson each day, and when students are testing I will have some fun activities planned for students to be working on practicing their math, money, reading, and sight words skills.
Our new Imagine It! story is “In The Money: A Book About Banking”. This should be interesting to see the students learn about what a bank is and the importance of saving and keeping your money safe. I am anxious to hear their stories and all they will have to share about this topic. We are continuing to learn about money and should finish up the week with our Topic 5 test.
Below are some important dates and information about what is happening at San Tan Learning Center.
November 28, 2011
How wonderful it was to see so many San Tan Families at our Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Celebration! I hope that everyone had a wonderful time enjoying their lunch in the beautiful sunshine with their friends.
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, as it allows me to reflect each year about all that I am thankful for. This year I am so thankful to be able to include my students and families, and our unbelievable staff at San Tan Learning Center.
As we start our new week, we also start a new topic in enVision MATH and a new unit in our Imagine It! Our next math topic is “Counting Money” and should be a fun and challenging topic for my students. I have many different hands-on activities planned using money in both coin and paper for learning. If you are able to send in a ziplock baggie containing real coins for our learning the students would certainly appreciate it.
Our Unit 3: Around the Town will allow the students to learn about the different places in and around their community, and why they exist. We will learn about the different people who make up our communities, why they choose to live in a small or large community, and what is important to our community.
I hope my families were able to enjoy special family time together and come back to school well rested and ready for another engaging fun week of learning in first grade!
Smiles,
Miss Dana Wrede
First Grade Teacher
San Tan Learning Center
November 21, 2011
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
We have been very busy learning about the life cycles of plants and insects. After watching our Painted Lady Butterflies fly into their next life cycle, we started a new cycle and planted vegetable seeds this week. It was very funny to have the students decide whether they wanted to plant lettuce or carrots. They each had a very good reason why they chose one over the other.
This week I will not have assigned vocabulary and spelling words for the week. We will be practicing for the school spelling bee and practicing the words in our classroom on Monday. Within our ImagineIt lessons we will be starting Unit 3 after our Thanksgiving Holiday, and I would like to review our phonics, vocabulary and language lessons this week.
Our Envision Math Topic will be changing from two-digit addition to money. I will finish two-digit addition this week and introduce money using manipulatives. I have play money that closely resembles real money, but I would appreciate it if your student would bring to class a small ziplock baggie that contained a variety of real coins for our math.
I am very excited about our “Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” and the opportunity to celebrate this special day with my students and their families. I will have my children with me on Wednesday at school, and I am looking forward to introducing them to my school families.
Smiles,
Miss Dana Wrede
November 14, 2011
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
After a few days of not so nice weather we were finally able to release our beautiful butterflies on Wednesday morning. The children and I walked over to the playground near the preschool and kindergarten classrooms and watched each of our nine butterflies fly into the beautiful sunshine and start their life cycle over again. The children loved having the butterflies and I am trying to figure out what other kind of living “creature” can come and visit in our classroom, or stay as a pet.
Our next ImagineIt! story is “Tell Me, Tree”. The Genre is Expository Text and is written to explain or inform its reader. It contains facts about real people, things, or events. Students will learn about the different kinds of trees, how they grow, what types of leaves or fruit they produce, and how trees are used. Does your student have a favorite tree? Do you have a really interesting tree that grows near your home? Your student can bring in leaves, fruit, or seeds from your tree to share with the class. Please be sure they know what kind of tree it is and facts that they can share with the class.
Our next math topic will be Topic 8: Adding Two-Digit Numbers. The traditional addition algorithm is based on breaking apart numbers by place value and adding digits with the same place value. Breaking apart and adding by place value turns the complex calculations into a set of simpler calculations where all one needs to know is place value and basic facts. The use of connecting cubes and place value mats helps the students use a model that represents the regrouping the students need to see to understand this addition.
With our cooler temperatures please make sure your child is dressed with warmer clothes and a sweater or jacket. Our flu season is upon us and we saw many students leave school last week with flu symptoms of fever and vomiting. Let’s do our best to keep our students healthy and keep children home if they are complaining of a stomach ache, running a fever, coughing or have a runny nose. I do my best to keep our classroom clean and germ free by cleaning our tables and chairs each day afterschool.
I hope you have a wonderful week!
Smiles,
Miss Dana Wrede
November 7, 2011
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
Your students were able to welcome into our classroom nine beautiful Painted Lady Butterflies on Thursday and Friday. It was amazing to watch them come out of their chrysalis and open their wings for the first time. To do this they pump blood into their wings to open them which is a little messy, but the kids thought this was so exciting to watch. To feed them we have placed cotton balls soaked in sugar-water in a dish and also have given them fresh flowers sprayed with the sugar-water. In order for them to survive and be healthy we will release them this week at school.
Our new ImagineIt! story is “Birdhouse for Rent” and it is a Fiction story about a bird house and all of its tenants that come and live in it. We will be learning about long e sounds and spellings, writing a comparison using a Venn diagram, identifying adjectives, and our comprehension will be determining an author’s point of view.
We will be finishing up our Topic 6 Math Unit and reviewing for our test this week. Students were learning strategies to add two-digit and one-digit numbers. This was challenging for students to learn to add up to the next ten and then add ones to solve their addition problems. Our next topic teaches money, and the first grade teachers have chosen to move onto Topic 8: Adding Two-Digit Numbers, and then teach Topic 7: Money. To help with Topic 7: Money I would like each student to bring in a ziplock baggie or small plastic container containing a variety of coins (three or four dollars) that they could use while learning about money, coin value, and counting coins to equal a dollar. I have looked at purchasing play money for our classroom, but the coins don’t closely resemble the appearance of real coins and could be more confusing.
In science this week we will continue our learning of the life cycle of our butterflies and we are creating caterpillars and butterflies based on the story by Eric Carle ”The Very Hungry Caterpillar”. We were very busy painting on Friday and we will start cutting and putting them together this week. I am so impressed with my students creative side and their true enjoyment for art! I am a believer in allowing children to express themselves through their artistic creativeness, and our first graders are very impressive artists.
I look forward to our week of learning together and experiencing first grade with your children. Remember, any time you can share with us in first grade would be so appreciated not only by your student, but by the other students as well!
Smiles,
Miss Dana Wrede
First Grade Teacher
“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” Dr. Seuss
October 31, 2011
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
We ended our week with nine chrysalis being put into our butterfly habitat! Each day the students were so excited to enter the classroom and observe the changes of our caterpillars. I actually had to start locking my classroom door while I was at morning duty to keep them out before school started. We should be welcoming butterflies by the end of the week.
We finished our Topic 4 Math Unit on Friday and our next topic will be Mental Addition. Students will learn how to use models, mental math, and a hundred chart to add two-digit numbers.
Our ImagineIt! story is titled “Hungry Hoppers Grasshoppers In Your Backyard”. The Genre is Expository Text and tells a wonderful story about grasshoppers and every fact a child would like to learn about them.
As a part of our science unit this quarter, the students are learning about the life cycle of plants. On Friday the students had a great time doing some estimation, measuring, weighing, and counting while we carved and dissected pumpkins. I had some wonderful parent volunteers come into the classroom Friday afternoon and work with a group of students as they learned a lot about pumpkins! Our biggest pumpkin weighed 6 pounds and we had a pumpkin with over 400 seeds (that was great skip-counting by 10′s practice!).
I am looking forward to another fabulous first grade week of learning with your students. I started having morning duty at the student drop-off and I absolutely love greeting the students and their families in the morning! What a great way to start my day!
Smiles,
Miss Dana Wrede
First Grade Teacher
“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” Dr. Seuss
October 24, 2011
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
We have a very exciting week planned in our classroom! The students were told on Friday that I have Painted Lady Butterfly Larvae to bring into our classroom on Monday. The larvae will spend about 7 to 10 days in this stage of life. As the caterpillars enter the pupal stage, they will harden into beautiful iridescent chrysalis. This stage will take 7 to 10 days. At this time I will then gently move them to a butterfly habitat and we will anxiously await the arrival of our butterflies into their new home. We should be able to keep the butterflies in our classroom for a few days before we have to release them. As we watch the life cycle of our butterflies we will be writing in a journal each day about our observations and our predictions. I am anticipating some very eager scientists to learn and explore about the life cycle of our butterflies!
To go along with our life cycle unit I have planned for us to learn about the life cycle of plants and have the students plant vegetable seeds and watch them grow. We will plant carrots and lettuce, and also lima beans. On Friday I have planned for a dissection of a pumpkin! We will estimate the pumpkin’s size, weight, and number of seeds. We will explore our pumpkin inside and out, and then create our own life cycle of a pumpkin.
Our language unit story is”If You Find a Rock” and it is focused on learning about soil and rocks. If your child would like to bring in a really COOL rock or fossil, and share it with the class that would be great. The students absolutely love doing this, and it builds their confidence in speaking in front of their peers.
In closing I want to say “Thank You” to my parents for their support in their child’s learning. I am seeing growth in each student from our first day of school to our “52nd” day of school, and I am so proud of them. Each one of them have their own little personality and their own style of learning, and each day I encourage them and nurture them to their next level of learning. If you can visit and share in our learning we would always welcome you to our first grade classroom.
Smiles,
Miss Dana Wrede
First Grade Teacher
“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” Dr. Seuss
October 18, 2011
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
Welcome back from fall break! I hope you were able to spend time relaxing and enjoy the beautiful weather. I spent some time traveling here in the state and visited Prescott, Jerome, and Sedona. I was excited to see some fall color beginning in the mountains and became anxious for our fall season to begin for us.
We will begin our 2nd quarter focusing on our new character pillar “Trustworthiness”. I want the students to understand that trustworthiness means living with integrity, being honest, reliable, and loyal. We will discuss what these four character attributes mean and participate in some role-playing exercises. We did this when learning about responsibility and the students had a lot of fun with it.
Our Language Theme for ImagineIt! is “Let’s Explore”. We will explore the natural world around us by focusing on living things and nonliving things. Our first story is “ANTS! They are hard workers!” and it discusses the life cycle, anatomy, and daily routine of ants. Since both boys and girls are fascinated with bugs at this age our exploration of ants should be fun and interesting for everyone.
We will start our science unit understanding characteristics of weather conditions, climate and the four seasons. Before the students went on break we had an apple tasting party and tasted seven different varieties of apples (Honey-crisp was our class favorite!). The students started creating an “Apple Book” that will show the four seasons and changes an apple tree will go through. When our apple books are complete we will then identify and create cumulus, stratus, and cirrus clouds through observations, text and video.
In social studies we will be identifying differences among natural resources, human resources, and capital resources. We will have another share day where students can bring in examples of our different resources, just as we did during our learning of solids, liquids, and gas in science. We watched ice change from solid to liquid, and we experimented with bubbles and observed liquid change to a gas. I can’t wait to see what the students will bring in this time! Students can start bringing in examples of resources this week.
Remember, there is no school Monday, October 17th.
To celebrate our 50th day of school on Wednesday, October 19th, the first grade classes are participating in a 50′s Dress-Up Day! Feel free to dress up in your coolest 50′s clothes! (This is optional!)
I am looking forward to Tuesday morning and greeting my 23 little friends on the playground. We definitely have an exciting 2nd quarter of learning together!
Smiles,
Miss Dana Wrede
First Grade Teacher
“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” Dr. Seuss
October 3, 2011
Dear Fabulous First Grade Families,
I am very excited about our first quarterly Character Assembly at San Tan Learning Center. This assembly celebrates students’ efforts in demonstrating good character in class and in our learning community at school. One student from each class was chosen to receive the character award for our first Character Pillar “Responsibility”. I know my fabulous first graders will be so happy to celebrate our character award recipient!
Since our week is short with only two full days of school and three half days, I thought I would assign spelling and vocabulary words that aligned with our Imagine It reading “A Log’s Life”. It is a short story that helps introduce the children to our first story “ANTS! They are hard workers!” This story will start our second language unit “Let’s Explore”. We will learn about exploring the outdoors, and discovering the natural world around us. With the thought of cooler temperatures this will be a wonderful unit to begin!
Our next math topic is Topic 4 Place Value: Numbers to 100. We read through the Home-School Connection on Friday and played the game on the back. The children modeled tens and ones using base ten blocks. This game can be played at home also with the use of small objects that can be grouped into groups of tens and ones (dry beans, pasta, buttons, Cheerios).
Once again I am looking forward to meeting with my parents for conferences. Your children delight me every day with their smiles and adventurous personality. They are so eager to learn and they work very hard.
Smiles,
Miss Wrede
First Grade Teacher
San Tan Learning Center
“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” Dr. Seuss