Mrs. Dick's Darlings

News for Nov. 28-Dec. 2, 2011

Hard to believe that

 December is almost here! We actually have a pretty normal week this week, so we should be able to get a lot of learning in! We will be taking a trip cross-country with Lewis and Clark this week, and learning about how Sacagawea made the trip much easier for them. (You know that they would have gotten lost without her since they wouldn't have stopped for directions!)

In reading, we are going to be talking about how we can make connections with books. These are to make connections to our own lives, to other books we have read or heard before, and also to what we know about the world. As your child reads at home, ask them about how they connect to the story that they are reading. Making connections help us to understand and remember what we read better.

In math, we will be starting our geometry unit on solid (3D) and plane (2D) shapes. Visit the Harcourt site under the "websites" post to find an online shape activity. The IXL website also has some appropriate geometry activities as well.

Websites For Learning Practice

PBS KIDS

Harcourt Math- (password-Andrews)

Telling Time with Willy

 Cool Math 4 Kids 

Funbrain

Starfall

Weekly Reader 

Primary Games

Eduplace Social Studies -(Username-cobbstudent1  Password- password)

Go here to practice oceans/continents at home.

Think Central Science - (Username and password are dick1)

Sheppard's Software Kids Corner- another place to practice globe skills

Skills Tutor- individualized math fact practice based on your child's fact masteryPBS Kids(username- student ID number, password-cobb, site- baker03)

BookFlix- (login info will be sent home. This site is by school subscription only.)

This Week's Secret Message

The secret message for this week (Nov. 28-Dec. 2) is

 "It's beginning to look like Christmas!"

Email or send in writing and your child will get an extra reward sticker on the character board. Thanks for visiting the blog.

News for the Week of Nov. 7th

Well, it may not be Thanksgiving yet, but it certainly will be looking, smelling, and feeling that way this week at Baker. This week, we will have our Friends and Family lunches on Wednesday and Thursday. K,2,4 will be on Wednesday and 1.3.5 on Thursday. Our lunch time will be changed on both days to accommodate the scheduling of classes. Wednesday we will eat at 10:40. Please make sure to send in a snack for Thursday since we will be eating so late (12:46). Parents/family planning on attending on Thursday should meet us down by the lunchroom. Afterwards, feel free to take your child to our Fall Book Fair or come back to the room where you can read with your child or participate in a variety of language arts/math games and activities. A sign-out sheet will be available in the classroom should you choose to take your child with you for dismissal on that day.

Don't forget to return your Family Turkey Projects this week. The first grade will have the 200 hallway lined with all of them. We will send them home the following week so that they can be displayed at your home for Thanksgiving. We appreciate the time you have spent on these. The ones that have been turned in early are awesome!

The PTSA Food Drive for Thanksgiving will be held this week.

Relay for Life will sponsor a Date Night on Dec. 9th. For $10 ($5 each additional Baker student) your child will be entertained while you finish some Christmas shopping or just enjoy some time with your "honey". Reservation forms came home last week. Let me know if you need another and I will locate one for you. I worked these evenings last year, and the kids have a blast! Due to child safety reasons, this is by reservation only. No child may be dropped off that evening that has not pre-registered for the event.

Hope to see many of you at school this week.

News for October 10-14, 2011

 This week we will be learning all about Ben Franklin and his contributions to American life. Many of us remember that he helped to draft the Declaration of Independence along with Thomas Jefferson and John Adams and that he published Poor Richard's Almanac with his

  many famous sayings. ("early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise" and "A penny saved is a penny earned".) But did you know that he also invented the bifocals, a rocking chair that churned butter at the same time, the lightning rod, the Franklin stove, the odometer, and an instrument called the armonica? He was also the first postmaster general, started the first volunteer fire department, is credited with the first public library in Philadelphia, and started what is now the University of Pennsylvania. These are just a few of the interesting things that your child will be learning about Benjamin Franklin this week. Here is a website designed for kids that you can visit with your child to learn more. It is http://bensguide.gpo.gov/benfranklin/

You can also go to PebbleGo biographies on the Cobb Virtual Library. Your child can help lead you there from the Cobb website. Don't forget you will need the username and password. I sent those home last week on a red bookmark. Email me if you need me to resend them to you. Enjoy! This is new to PebbleGo this year and will be of use as we continue to study the impact of other American heroes throughout this year.

News for Oct. 3-7, 2011

 CogAT testing on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Make sure that your child is on time to school. We will start the testing immediately after the Baker News each of those three mornings. The testing is divided into two sections with a short break in-between. Remind your child to do their best listening, because the test directions specifically state that directions for each item can only be read ONCE! Our lunch schedule has not been changed as I previously thought possible, so we will still eat at our regular time.

School pictures came home last week. If you are not happy with them, a make-up day later in the month has been scheduled. You will need to return your current package at that time. Also, new students to the school will also get their photos taken that day so that they will be included in our yearbook. Look for the date on a future newsletter.

News for the Week of Sept. 26th

 

Field Trip to the North GA Fair will be this Thursday. Make sure that your child has a sack lunch if you elected to pack one from home. Lunches should all be in  disposable bags so there is no chance of leaving lunchboxes behind on the bus. We will hope for nice weather- not rainy, too warm, or too cold. Make sure your child is dressed comfortably for the weather and all the walking they will be doing.

 
  Monday, we are celebrating the life of John Chapman, AKA "Johnny Appleseed". His birthday is September 26. He is one of six folktale heroes that we will learn about in first grade. This is one of our "Book Cooks" for the year. Mrs. Scneider will be coming in to read a book about Johnny Appleseed and then will do an "edible" craft activity with the kids for snacktime. We still need a few more Book Cook parents for the year. Three months are still open. Books and ideas for an edible craft will be provided. If you are interested and have not already signed up for one, contact me by email for the available months. Dads and grandparents are also invited to sign up, if they are interested in doing a special activity with the kids in the class.

Our first PTSA Skate Night will be on Tuesday. PTSA will send home a flyer with details. The class with the highest percentage of participation will receive the "Golden Skate" award to display in their classroom.

Next week we will participate in the Read for the Record program. We will do some activities with the book Llama, Llama, Red Pajama. I am looking for an optional activity to do at home with your child so that he/she can share the story with you as well.

 
Next week, all 1st graders in Cobb County will take the CogAT (Cognitive Abilities Test) on Wednesday through Friday. It will take about an hour each day. We will begin as soon as the Baker News is over those three days. Please make sure that your child gets a good night's sleep and a good breakfast so that they can do their best and we can get some good information regarding your child's verbal, non-verbal, and quantitative abilities. 3rd and 5th will also test those three days as well as the ITBS all of the following week. Because of all the grade levels involved in testing, the lunch schedule and specials schedule will need to be "tweaked". As soon as I know the altered lunch schedule, I will let you know on the newsletter in case you plan on coming for lunch any of those 8 days.

Have a great week. Happy Fall!

Weekly Newsletters

Download Weekly Newsletter for 9-26

Download Weekly Newsletter for 9-19

Download Weekly_Newsletter_for_9-12

Special Event Coming Up

What are you doing on October 6? How does breaking a world reading record while raising awareness about America’s achievement gap sound?

Join us as we participate in Jumpstart’s Read for the Record® presented in partnership with Pearson Foundation. Its a national campaign that mobilizes adults and children to close the early education achievement gap by setting a reading world record.

This annual campaign allows Americans to demand that all children receive the quality early education they deserve. On October 6, 2011, more than 2 million voices will call for an end to America’s early education achievement gap by reading Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney – setting a world record in the process!

Get involved at www.readfortherecord.org to help Jumpstart close the early education achievement gap:

1. Pledge to Read: Submit your official pledge and help us reach more than 2.1 MILLION children.
2. Spread the Word: Use our simple tools to educate your friends and family about America’s early education achievement gap and invite them to read.

For more information visit www.readfortherecord.org

News for the Week of Sept. 12, 2011

What a beautiful weekend. I hope that your family was able to enjoy it with a special outdoor activity!

The Back-to-School Luau on Friday night appeared to be a great success. I saw Antwan, Benjamin, Larah, Zia, Seth, and Sy'raiah all having a good time. If you were there and I didn't see you, I hope that you had a great time as well. (Some of you were really putting down some dance moves!) Hope to see many of you at our next PTSA event, Skate Night at Sparkles, during the last week of September.

We were able to book a spot for the N GA Fair tours this month. Permission slips and sack lunch orders will be coming home at the beginning of this week. This is a very reasonably priced field trip since we only have to pay transportation costs. Students will stroll through the various exhibits showcasing GA products and will get to see some local and exotic animals from some of the continents we have been talking about. Since we are going at a time that the fair is not open to the general public, we will not have access to rides, games, shows, and foods that are offered to the publc on weeknights and weekends. We encourage parents to take their families for the full fair experience during regular fair hours. The students will receive a "goody bag" at the end of their visit. If you are able and interested in chaperoning a small group of students from our class, let me know this week (we will leave around 9 and return about 1 or so). We have about 130+ school kids/personnel to transport on the 2 school buses, so will be unable to take parents on the bus. If I know who will be coming, we can work out a carpool. I am looking forward to our first field trip! Please return your permission slips and lunch slips (if your child will need a sack lunch from school). Lunch orders are due by Wed.

This week we will begin our weekly spelling check-ups. As mentioned at Parent Night, I do not assign a list of spelling words to "memorize". Students will be introduced to "phonics families" and will be expected to apply beginnings sounds to spell a variety of words. Our families this week are _an and _at. We will also have some high frequency sight words to learn to spell each week so that they can use them as well in their writing. These will come from the shared reading books that we will do in whole class setting weekly. Check the newsletter weekly for the families and sight words to practice.

In writing this week, we will focus on the first of the six traits that improve student writing. In "Ideas", we will work on picking a topic, making the message clear, including interesting details, and maintaining focus. We will be working on narrative writing first because students can write about what has happened to them or what they enjoy. I look forward to reading some great pieces!

Zia will be our first Star of the Week. She will present a poster that she has been working on for the past week. Another student will be chosen at random each Monday to receive a poster to complete for presentation the following Monday.

In science this week, we will be learning about the weather. Let's hope Mother Nature doesn't throw us a curve ball this week. (Although, for the sake of interesting daily journaling, I hope to see some variety!)

Have a great week. Make sure to check out and send in the secret message!

Weekly Brainbuster

 Mrs. Hailey is going to be posting the Brainbuster on the Media Center Blog. Rather than duplicate, you can visit her Media Center Blog via the Baker website to view.

 Don't forget that you must tell the source you used to verify your answer. (If online, you must list website.)  Parents can help , but should not do it for your child. We are trying to teach the students where and how to locate information as a part of one of our standards. Good luck!

Remember that answers must be turned in by Thursday at 2:00 each week to be eligible to win. Bring it to school and we will transfer it onto the official Brainbuster form.