September 17, 2012

Here are our spelling words for the week:

1. pick

2. peck

3. what

4. like

5. bit

6. bet

 Report cards will go home on Friday, September 28^th. This is also a half day with no after school. All children must be picked up at 11:30am on September 28^th! The parking lot will be very crowded because all students are being picked up at the same time, so please be patient.

There will be no school for fall break October 1-5^th. Enjoy the time off with your children! 

I will be holding parent teacher conferences the week we come back from break. I have posted a sign-up sheet on our classroom door, so please sign up for a time. I would like to meet with all parents so if you cannot meet any of the times on the sign-up sheet, please let me know and we can arrange something. If you sign up for a time and cannot make it please send a note in your child’s folder or call the front office and ask them to put a note in my box. 

Spelling City

I have uploaded all of our spelling words to spellingcity.com. This is a free website where your child can play games, practice their spelling words and take practice spelling tests. I uploaded this weeks list as well as our past lists so your child can get continue to review and practice those words. The easiest way to get to my spelling page is to go to this address:

http://www.spellingcity.com/MissCochran5/

You can also go to spellingcity.com, click on find a list, and then search for Jenna Cochran.

Let me know if you have any problems!

September 10, 2012

Things are continuing to go well in first grade! I am so proud of how hard all of the kids are working. It is exciting to see the progress that they are already making. I only have a couple of announcements this week.

Please work with your children at home on tying their shoes. We do not teach that in first grade, but it is a very important skill for them to have!

We are going to be learning about apples for the next couple of weeks. We will be doing an apple tasting and making applesauce in class. I will provide the apples for the apple tasting but am asking for donations for the applesauce. If you are able to donate a red apple or two, please send it in to school anytime between now and next Monday. If you would prefer that your child not take part in the apple tasting or eating the applesauce please let me know right away. Thank you!

The entertainment book sale ended last Wednesday. If you have not returned your child’s entertainment book or the money for the book, please do so as soon as possible. The cost for the book is $30. I am sending home a separate note with the children whose books I still need. 

As always if you have any questions or concerns please let me know! You can e-mail me at jcochran@lpatucson.org and I will get back to you within 24 hours.

Spelling Words

Here are the spelling words for the week of September 10th:

1. milk
2. mist
3. dog
4. moss
5. said
6. up

September 4th, 2012

Here are the spelling words for this week:

1. has
2. hop
3. staff
4. hits
5. is
6. she

Thank you to everyone who came to open house! It was great to get to talk to, and meet so many of you.

Entertainment book money is due by September 5^th. If you have not sold the entertainment book please return it to school by September 5^th. 

Thank you for doing such a great job helping your child with their homework! Homework is not graded, but it is checked for completion and understanding. Please make sure that you are helping your child with their homework, but you are not doing it for them. All homework, except the reading log, needs to be done in your child’s handwriting. If it is not in their handwriting they will have to do it over again during our Fun Friday activities. 

This Wednesday is dollar dress down day. If your child brings a dollar to school they may dress down. The money from dollar dress down day is used in our classroom for various supplies and items that we need throughout the year and so we can do science experiments and other fun projects. Thank you for your support!

Picture day is this Thursday. Please make sure your child is in uniform for these pictures. Order forms went home today so if you would like to order pictures please return the order form and money to school by Thursday morning.

You may have heard from your older children or the Link that progress reports are being sent home today. I do not send home progress reports at this point in the year. The children are still showing what they can do, and are still getting used to first grade. If you have any questions or are concerned about your child’s progress please let me know. For the most part, it is too early in the year for me to have any major concerns about any child’s progress. We will have conferences at the end of first quarter after I have a better idea of your child’s abilities.

As always if you have any questions or concerns about anything please let me know! My e-mail address is jcochran@lpatucson.org and I will do my best to get back to you within 24 hours. I am more than happy to answer any questions about anything at all so please do not hesitate to let me know!

Spelling Tips

By far, the question I get most at the beginning of first grade is how you can help your child do well on spelling tests. Spelling tests are new for many children and some struggle with them at first. If your child is not doing well on spelling tests, it is not necessarily a cause for concern at this point. It takes a few weeks for some children to do well on their spelling tests. Here are some things you can do to help your child be successful on spelling tests and with spelling in general.

• Make sure your child practices reading the word as much as they practice spelling the word. When your child is used to what the word looks like they will more easily be able to tell if it is wrong when they write it down.
• Make flash cards that have the spelling words on them. Have your child read the words to you. Mix the words up so that they are not memorizing the order.
• Give your child mock spelling tests. Have them practice writing the words down on paper as you read the word to the student. Again, mix up the words so they don't just memorize the order.
• While driving in the car to and from school, or running errands, name off the words and have your child spell them for you, or have your child read the word off the list or flashcards and spell it for you. Even if they spell it while looking at the card it will help your child remember the spelling.
• When reading a book or when you see a spelling word written somewhere ask them to point it out or show it to them and ask them to read to you. We want the student to be able to recognize the word in actual writing, not just for spelling tests.
• Write the word on the paper with a few misspellings of the word. See if your child can identify which word is spelled correctly.
• Ask your child to use the word in a sentence. If they cannot use it correctly help them come up with one.
• Have your child practice writing the words in a variety of ways. Let them use marker, pen, watercolors, crayons or even glue to write the words. Also have them practice forming the letters of the word with play doh, yarn, string, pipe cleaners, etc. Writing the words in more fun and unusual ways can help them remember them and make them more willing to practice. I have yarn and pipe cleaners I am more than willing to send home if you are interested in trying this. Just send a note in your child's folder. 
• Help your child practice saying the word slowly and stretching it out to spell it. They might especially need help hearing the vowel sounds.
• Practice letter names and sounds with your child. When your child knows what letter makes each of the sounds they will be more successful at sounding out all words, including their spelling words. 
• Review words from past weeks. We want to be sure the students don't forget the words just because the test is over!

The most important thing about spelling tests is for the children to remember the words and be able to read and write them even after the spelling test is over. Having them go over the word in a variety of ways and making sure your child practices reading the words as much as they practice spelling them will help with this.