Weekly Update

Hi Everyone!  Happy Friday!

I love Teacher Work Days.  I spend the day organizing materials, decluttering our classroom, moving desks, and preparing for the weeks ahead.  The coffee pot is on, the music is playing, and I am in my Happy Place!  :)

SOL Vocabulary Parade:
The Vocabulary Parade is next Tuesday, January 31st.  Please send your child's Vocabulary Parade project to school on that day.  Parents are welcome to attend and watch the parade. The 1st Grade Parade is from 9:00-9:30 am in the gym at school.  

100th Day of School:

The 100th day of school is coming!  Weather permitting, we will celebrate our 100th day on Tuesday, February 7th.  I have some super cool, really fun stations planned for 100th day!  I sent home a food permission slip in yesterday's Thursday folder because 2 of the stations involve food.  Please kindly sign and return the permission slip as soon as possible.  If we have any snow days before the 7th, I'll adjust our celebration to align with the 100th day.  I'll notify you if this happens.

Valentine's Day Party:

Mark your calendar...our classroom Valentine's Day party will be Tuesday, February 14th from 12:45-2:15 pm in our classroom.  All families are welcome to attend.  The kids will exchange Valentine cards at the party.  If your child brings Valentines, please be sure he/she has one for every student in the class.  If your child wants to attach a little "something" to his/her Valentine cards, please don't attach candy or food... little items like pencils, erasers, tattoos, stickers are fine.  Our Room Moms will be providing bags for your child's Valentine cards.  Please watch for more details and a food permission slip soon!

Calling All Colored Pens, Pencils, and Markers:
Are you looking for a new home for the gently used colored pens, pencils, markers, and gel pens collecting in your junk drawer? Please consider donating them to our classroom writing center.  The kids absolutely LOVE the writing center, and it's largely because of the various writing tools with which they can write.  Many of our pens and markers have begun to dry up.  I appreciate any donations you may provide to keep our writing tools stocked. 

STEAM Expo:
The annual Pinebrook STEAM Expo will be held on Friday, February 24th during our regular school day.  This day is filled with tons of fun and engaging hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math exploration.  We need many volunteers to make the STEAM Expo a success!  Come spend the day with us! Please volunteer by clicking HERE.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will explore nonfiction text features, such as tables of contents, headings, maps, diagrams, and glossaries. 
• Writing:  We will continue writing to inform as we focus on editing for mechanics, punctuation, and proper sight word spelling.
• Math:  We will begin our Geometry unit.  This is a quick little unit in which we explore shapes in the real world, and count the number of sides and vertices of various shapes.
• Social Studies:  We will continue our Famous Americans unit, in which we discuss the lives and contributions of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington Carver, Benjamin Franklin, and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Enjoy your weekend!  We are going to an "after-the-Holidays" party at my husband's company!  Just when I fit into my clothes again....

Weekly Update

Happy Friday!

I DVR'd the Inauguration, and can't wait to watch!  Regardless of who the President is, I feel so blessed to live in a country where our leader is freely elected by the people (even women!), and which exhibits a peaceful transfer of power every 4 years.  These are significant and profound principles.  I talk to my boys often about the blessing of being an American.  We recently got our passports, and I'm old enough to shamelessly admit I cried.  (Fine.  I know I cry at everything.)  I told them, "Your passport is like paper gold.  It declares:  I.  Am.  An.  American."  #endofcivicslecture

Mid-Year Literacy Testing:
I am finishing our mid-year literacy testing, and couldn't be prouder of the progress the kids are demonstrating!  Please help this momentum continue by ensuring your child reads every day.  Please follow the guidelines on your child's homework sheet for how to discuss your child's daily reading with him/her.

SOL Vocabulary Parade:
I'm excited to see the projects the kids are creating for our SOL Vocabulary Parade on Tuesday, January 31st!  A friendly reminder to not send completed projects until that date.  Parents are welcome to attend and watch the parade. The 1st Grade Parade is from 9:00-9:30 am in the gym at school.  

Valentine's Day Party:

Mark your calendar...our classroom Valentine's Day party will be Tuesday, February 14th from 12:45-2:15 pm in our classroom.  All families are welcome to attend.  The kids will exchange Valentine cards at the party, and I sent home a class roster in yesterday's Thursday folder for those of you wanting to get a start on those. (Shout out to the Type A peeps!)  The card exchange is completely voluntary, although historically, the majority of the class participates.  If your child brings Valentine cards, please be sure he/she has one for every student in the class. If your child wants to attach a little "something" to his/her Valentine cards, please don't attach candy or food... little items like pencils, erasers, tattoos, stickers are fine. Please watch for more details regarding the party soon!

STEAM Expo:
The annual Pinebrook STEAM Expo will be held on Friday, February 24th during our regular school day.  This day is filled with tons of fun and engaging hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math exploration.  We need many volunteers to make the STEAM Expo a success!  Come spend the day with us! Please volunteer by clicking HERE.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will explore personification in stories.  Personification is when an author gives human qualities and characteristics to an animal or object. 
• Writing:  We will learn about writing to inform as we continue to focus on editing for mechanics, punctuation, and proper sight word spelling.
• Math:  We will finish our place value unit.
• Social Studies:  We will begin our Famous Americans unit, in which we discuss the lives and contributions of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington Carver, Benjamin Franklin, and Eleanor Roosevelt.

So.....today is our wedding anniversary!  Leo and I have been married 21 years.  I'm not sure whether to be happy or frightened because it means I'm old!  We are celebrating with homemade pizza (YUM!), cheesecake, the Inaugural coverage, and our boys.  (Calories don't count today.)  Have a great weekend!

Weekly Update

Hi Everyone!

We've hit that nice lull in the school year where the calendar isn't overwhelming, the kids have mastered our classroom routines, and we find some rhythm to our days. I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts...I know if I blink, it will be June!  

I cleaned all the nooks and crannies of our house over Winter Break.  While looking through my own school pictures, I showed my boys a photo of myself in 1st grade. They couldn't believe the little girl in this picture is me!  I had some fun framing it, and bringing it to school to show the kids.  It's in our classroom now.  I hope you can see it.  (The words say, "This is Mrs. Lombardo in 1st grade!  The year was 1980!")

Anyway, in my 2017 1st Grade World, I have just a couple of things for you...

SOL Vocabulary Parade:
Our SOL Vocabulary Parade will be Tuesday, January 31st.  I sent home an explanation of the parade, along with your child's vocabulary word, in last week's Thursday folder.  Please allow your child to complete this project as independently as possible.  The finished product should be an authentic representation of his/her own work.  Your child should bring the project to school on January 31st; please do no send completed projects to school before that day.  

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will talk about cause and effect in stories we read.  
• Writing:  We will write "how-to" pieces (in which we teach our reader "how to" do something), while focusing on editing our writing for capital letters, punctuation, spacing, and properly spelled sight words.
• Math:  We will continue our place value unit.  We will build numbers, decompose numbers into groups of tens and ones, and write numbers in their expanded form.
• Social Studies:  We will talk about the life and contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Enjoy the long weekend!  Both Savey and Jonah get braces on Monday, so they are spending the weekend chewing gum, eating popcorn, and enjoying Swedish Fish (or that's what they tell me).  I am spending the weekend scrounging my home for loose change to pay for said braces.  I hope you have something fun planned! 

Weekly Update

Happy Friday!

I couldn't resist this meme on our first delay day.  My boys are surely grateful for the extra sleep, and I am grateful for an extra cup of coffee in my jamas!

Meantime, we are settling back into our normal classroom routines.  As much as I love to spend endless days in my workout clothes, I have to admit it feels really good to see the kids (they always grow so much over a break!), reestablish procedures, and get back to business!

We had fun in math this week.  We started our Fact Families unit with a story about 3 numbers named Wee-Little 2, Cool Cat 3, and Big Daddy 5.  We had SO much fun saying "Big Daddy 5" with lots of attitude.  In fact, we're still saying it around Room 9.  Ask your kiddo about it.  (*fingers crossed* they remember!)

In other news...

Mid-Year Literacy Testing
Over the next month, I will administer the mid-year Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA).  Remember, the DRA tests a student's ability to decode words, read fluently, and retell / comprehend a story.  In preparation for our mid-year testing, please ensure your child is reading each night at home.  Please use the discussion guidelines on your child's weekly homework sheet to talk about his/her nightly reading.

Vocabulary Parade:
I sent home a letter about our school-wide SOL Vocabulary Parade in yesterday's Thursday folder.  Please review this information, sign the slip at the bottom, detach it, and return it to school.  The parade will be Tuesday, January 31st, with a snow date of Tuesday, February 7th.  I have assigned your child a vocabulary word related to our 1st grade curriculum.  Your child should create a visual representation of this word to help convey its meaning...a poster, a t-shirt, a costume.  The sky's the limit on creativity, but your child's word must be displayed on the front of his/her project. During the parade, classes view each other's projects, and each student says his/her word.  I expect all students to participate in the vocabulary parade.  Please do not send your child's poster, t-shirt, or costume until the day of the parade.  If you have any questions, please email me.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will talk about point of view in stories we read.  We will answer the questions:  Who is telling the story?  A character?  A narrator?  Someone inside the story?  Or outside the story?
• Writing:  We will write stories with a beginning, middle, and end while focusing on editing our writing for capital letters, punctuation, spacing, and properly spelled sight words.
• Math:  We will finish our Fact Families unit and begin our Place Value unit.
• Social Studies:  We will continue our Economics unit.

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.

It's going to be cold this weekend!  Time to make soup in the slow cooker, and curl up on the couch with a blanket and coffee.  I hope you have a relaxing weekend planned after the intensity of the holidays.

Happy New Year and Quick Update!

Hi Everyone!

Happy, Happy, Happy New Year!  I have had coffee, cookies, and too many carbs.  I have read books, slept late, spent endless days in my workout clothes (even if I never got around to working out!), and cleaned out the DVR.  I suppose it's time to return to routines, wear pants with buttons, and cook something with vegetables.  Can I get an AMEN?  :)

This week, school will also be about reestablishing routines, reminding the kids about rules and expectations, and reconnecting as a classroom family.  To that end, we are slated to welcome a new student to our class on Tuesday!  The kids are excited to meet Anish, and the boys are especially happy that as a boy, he will tip the classroom gender balance in their favor.  We'll now have 23 students total...11 girls and 12 boys.  (Although if I'm included in the count, I guess it's still a tie!)

Here's the rest of your classroom news:

Mid-Year Literacy Testing:
Over the next month, I will administer the mid-year Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA).  Remember, the DRA tests a student's ability to decode words, read fluently, and retell / comprehend a story.  In preparation for our mid-year testing, please ensure your child is reading each night at home.  Please use the discussion guidelines on your child's weekly homework sheet to talk about his/her nightly reading.

No Written Homework or Sound of the Week:
We will not have new sight words or a new Sound of the Week this week, so there will be no written homework.  Please get back into the routine of reading every night for 20 minutes.  Please remember to record your child's reading in his/her agenda.

Focus Areas for the Coming Week:

• Reading:  We will be reviewing our good reader strategies for our mid-year literacy testing.
• Writing:  We will write about our New Year's goals and resolutions.
• Math:  We will begin our Fact Families unit.  A fact family is made up of 2 addition sentences and 2 subtraction sentences.  All 4 math facts are related (thus the term fact "family") because each fact uses the same 3 numbers.  For example, the fact family for 2, 3, and 5 looks like this:
• 2 + 3 = 5
• 3 + 2 = 5
• 5 - 2 = 3
• 5 - 3 = 2
• Social Studies:  We will begin our Economics unit.  We will discuss the differences between wants and needs, goods and services, and consumers and producers.  We will talk about the importance of saving money now for future wants and needs.

As 2017 begins, I remain thankful for the blessing of your sweet children, you, and the support you offer each day.  Please let me know how I can assist you!