Important Dates:
Jan 18 Progress Reports Sent Home in Backpacks
Jan 21 MLK, Jr. Day (No School)
Jan 23 Sky Dome in WCS Gym at 8:45 for our class...please be on time to school
Jan 23 8th Grade Parent Information Night at 6:00 p.m.
Jan 24 Talent Show Auditions at 4:00 p.m.
Jan 25 Free Dress Day for our Class
Jan 25 WAVE Coffee Talk at 8:30 a.m.
Feb 18-22 Presidents Week (No School)
Mar 4-8 Parent Conferences & Report Cards (Early Dismissal Everyday this Week)
Apr 12 Explorit Science Amazing Animals Field Lesson in 1st Grade Flex Room at 8:40 to 10:50
Apr 25 Sacramento Zoo Field Trip
April 15-22 Spring Break (No School)
May 27 Memorial Day (No School)
May 30 First Grade Musical Play in WCS Gym at 5:00 p.m.
June 5 Last Day of School Year, Field Day & Class Nacho Potluck Lunch Bar
Classroom News:
Thanks so much for all the holiday gifts and cards; it was so very kind of you to think of me.
Hooray! Our class has earned a free dress day, fruit water drinks for a day and a special mystery reader by receiving 120 blue dots from our recess and lunch duty staff for making wise and responsible choices this school year. All of the students in our class will be allowed to wear what they want to school on Jan 25; they do not need to wear a school uniform. On Jan 24 the office will deliver ice water with fruit in it to our class for the students to enjoy throughout the school day. A special mystery reader will stop by to read to our class soon! Please be sure to congratulate your child and keep encouraging him/her to make wise choices at school.
Our class has been very busy learning about patterns in the sky with a focus on the stars and sun. Next week we will wrap up our reach for the stars unit by learning about the moon.
I am sending home student progress reports in your child's blue folders/backpacks this Friday for your review. Please sign one copy and send it back in your child's blue responsible folder sometime next week.
All the children took their NWEA reading and math computer tests this week in class. I attached a copy of their results to their progress reports. Our goal is for all students to be in the 50 percentile range or higher in both math and reading. We also like to see students improve their RIT score by a few points each time. One of the best ways for your child to improve their scores is to practice their reading everyday for 15 to 20 minutes at home and discuss what they read with you. To determine your child's independent lexile reading level subtract 50 from the top lexile range on their report (i.e. If a student lexile range is listed as 120L-270L minus 50 from 270 to get a lexile reading level of 220L. This is your child's current reading level).
Children can improve their math scores by reviewing and completing/correcting their math worksheets they should be bringing home daily to share with you. You can challenge your child by making up new math story problems or questions to ask them. For example, if we are working on place values you could ask your child, "Which number is in the hundreds place in the number 3,875?" (Answer: 8) Or "Katelynn has 1,000 red stickers, 600 blue stickers, and 89 pink stickers. How many stickers does she have altogether?" Try writing your math answers on a tablet, white board, piece of paper or shaving cream on your kitchen table (pudding on a cookie sheet is fun to write on too). (Answer: 1,689)
Please let me know if you have questions at [email protected]
Be sure to check our our volunteer page on this website to sign up for volunteer opportunities or click here to go to our volunteer link.
Look what we are learning in first grade!
Phonics/Spelling: long e-- ea, ee and contractions 've & 're (i.e. should've, could've, would've, we've, I've, you're, they're)
Reading: Cause & Effect, Structure
Writing: Editing our opinion papers & Writing a final draft on our chrome books. Focusing on writing a topic sentence and a closing sentence for our opinion papers.
Math: Place Values to 100, Skip Counting by ten, five, and two to 120...using skip counting skills to solve word problems ("Alex has 9 boxes of toy cars each box has 10 cars in it. How many toy cars does Alex have altogether?"), review bar graph surveys and read /record bar graph data
Theme/Science: Sun, Moon and Stars...patterns in the sky
Grammar: Describing Words (color/shapes/size)--adjectives
Sight Words: day, did, get, come, made, may, part, over (please practice reading these words at home and using them in oral sentences)
WCS Core Value: Inquisitive (How do you solve problems?)
School Wide News:
After-School Live Clubs: This winter session, middle schoolers are leading five after-school clubs for our Explorers. Click HERE for more information and to enter your student in the lottery for their first choice club. **We are still in need of adult chaperones for the two Tuesday clubs. The commitment is four hours over the course of four weeks (Jan 29, Feb 5, Feb 12, Feb 26). Email [email protected] to support our program and earn volunteer hours!
GATE Testing: The goal of the Westlake Charter School’s GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) Program is to provide differentiated learning opportunities during the regular school day for our students. All current 2nd graders and referred 3rd-8th graders will be given the opportunity to take the GATE qualification test. Click HERE for more information. Referral forms for students currently enrolled in grades 3rd-8th will be accepted from January 7, 2019 - February 1, 2019. Click HERE for the parent referral form.Click HERE for more information about the GATE program at WCS.
Standards Based Grading Parent Night: What is Standards Based Grading? Please join us on Thursday, February 7th, from 6:00-7:00 pm in the Cafeteria for a parent information night about Standards Based Grading.
ATS Testing: Academic Talent Search (ATS) Testing will be held February 5th from 3:45-4:45. If you have a 4th-8th grade student interested in taking this optional test to participate in a summer program at Sac State please look for a flyer sent home this week to get details on this testing.
Jan 18 Progress Reports Sent Home in Backpacks
Jan 21 MLK, Jr. Day (No School)
Jan 23 Sky Dome in WCS Gym at 8:45 for our class...please be on time to school
Jan 23 8th Grade Parent Information Night at 6:00 p.m.
Jan 24 Talent Show Auditions at 4:00 p.m.
Jan 25 Free Dress Day for our Class
Jan 25 WAVE Coffee Talk at 8:30 a.m.
Feb 18-22 Presidents Week (No School)
Mar 4-8 Parent Conferences & Report Cards (Early Dismissal Everyday this Week)
Apr 12 Explorit Science Amazing Animals Field Lesson in 1st Grade Flex Room at 8:40 to 10:50
Apr 25 Sacramento Zoo Field Trip
April 15-22 Spring Break (No School)
May 27 Memorial Day (No School)
May 30 First Grade Musical Play in WCS Gym at 5:00 p.m.
June 5 Last Day of School Year, Field Day & Class Nacho Potluck Lunch Bar
Classroom News:
Thanks so much for all the holiday gifts and cards; it was so very kind of you to think of me.
Hooray! Our class has earned a free dress day, fruit water drinks for a day and a special mystery reader by receiving 120 blue dots from our recess and lunch duty staff for making wise and responsible choices this school year. All of the students in our class will be allowed to wear what they want to school on Jan 25; they do not need to wear a school uniform. On Jan 24 the office will deliver ice water with fruit in it to our class for the students to enjoy throughout the school day. A special mystery reader will stop by to read to our class soon! Please be sure to congratulate your child and keep encouraging him/her to make wise choices at school.
Our class has been very busy learning about patterns in the sky with a focus on the stars and sun. Next week we will wrap up our reach for the stars unit by learning about the moon.
I am sending home student progress reports in your child's blue folders/backpacks this Friday for your review. Please sign one copy and send it back in your child's blue responsible folder sometime next week.
All the children took their NWEA reading and math computer tests this week in class. I attached a copy of their results to their progress reports. Our goal is for all students to be in the 50 percentile range or higher in both math and reading. We also like to see students improve their RIT score by a few points each time. One of the best ways for your child to improve their scores is to practice their reading everyday for 15 to 20 minutes at home and discuss what they read with you. To determine your child's independent lexile reading level subtract 50 from the top lexile range on their report (i.e. If a student lexile range is listed as 120L-270L minus 50 from 270 to get a lexile reading level of 220L. This is your child's current reading level).
Children can improve their math scores by reviewing and completing/correcting their math worksheets they should be bringing home daily to share with you. You can challenge your child by making up new math story problems or questions to ask them. For example, if we are working on place values you could ask your child, "Which number is in the hundreds place in the number 3,875?" (Answer: 8) Or "Katelynn has 1,000 red stickers, 600 blue stickers, and 89 pink stickers. How many stickers does she have altogether?" Try writing your math answers on a tablet, white board, piece of paper or shaving cream on your kitchen table (pudding on a cookie sheet is fun to write on too). (Answer: 1,689)
Please let me know if you have questions at [email protected]
Be sure to check our our volunteer page on this website to sign up for volunteer opportunities or click here to go to our volunteer link.
Look what we are learning in first grade!
Phonics/Spelling: long e-- ea, ee and contractions 've & 're (i.e. should've, could've, would've, we've, I've, you're, they're)
Reading: Cause & Effect, Structure
Writing: Editing our opinion papers & Writing a final draft on our chrome books. Focusing on writing a topic sentence and a closing sentence for our opinion papers.
Math: Place Values to 100, Skip Counting by ten, five, and two to 120...using skip counting skills to solve word problems ("Alex has 9 boxes of toy cars each box has 10 cars in it. How many toy cars does Alex have altogether?"), review bar graph surveys and read /record bar graph data
Theme/Science: Sun, Moon and Stars...patterns in the sky
Grammar: Describing Words (color/shapes/size)--adjectives
Sight Words: day, did, get, come, made, may, part, over (please practice reading these words at home and using them in oral sentences)
WCS Core Value: Inquisitive (How do you solve problems?)
School Wide News:
After-School Live Clubs: This winter session, middle schoolers are leading five after-school clubs for our Explorers. Click HERE for more information and to enter your student in the lottery for their first choice club. **We are still in need of adult chaperones for the two Tuesday clubs. The commitment is four hours over the course of four weeks (Jan 29, Feb 5, Feb 12, Feb 26). Email [email protected] to support our program and earn volunteer hours!
GATE Testing: The goal of the Westlake Charter School’s GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) Program is to provide differentiated learning opportunities during the regular school day for our students. All current 2nd graders and referred 3rd-8th graders will be given the opportunity to take the GATE qualification test. Click HERE for more information. Referral forms for students currently enrolled in grades 3rd-8th will be accepted from January 7, 2019 - February 1, 2019. Click HERE for the parent referral form.Click HERE for more information about the GATE program at WCS.
Standards Based Grading Parent Night: What is Standards Based Grading? Please join us on Thursday, February 7th, from 6:00-7:00 pm in the Cafeteria for a parent information night about Standards Based Grading.
ATS Testing: Academic Talent Search (ATS) Testing will be held February 5th from 3:45-4:45. If you have a 4th-8th grade student interested in taking this optional test to participate in a summer program at Sac State please look for a flyer sent home this week to get details on this testing.