Building a community that CARES

Hello families! This post will be short and sweet as it has been a short week, devoted to setting the routines and expectations for the year in room 4. This work will remain a large part of our focus in the following couple of weeks too. Students learned about our schedule, morning meeting routines, how math centers work, transitions, hallway and cafeteria rules. Students also learned about our classroom positive reinforcement system (pom-pom jar) and the CARE tickets. We have some returning students, but also new ones, so we reviewed a lot of the CF rules as well as CARE values. I hope your child is adjusting. It does take time, but I am here to help however I can. Feel free to email me with questions or concerns.

Please remember to read each night, fill out the reading log and send in each Monday, send a snack with your child, and if dismissal plans change, send a note. We had a lot of math, reading and counselors helping students in Room 4 and throughout the school this week. We are so lucky to have many caring teachers. I hope your child feels valued and safe. Next week we will start the math curriculum, continue with handwriting and start Superkids. The biggest change your child will see if the pace and volume of the work load. Please remind your child the importance of listening and being respectful to the teacher and peers in the room. I know we have some creative thinkers who bring a lot to our room 4 community. I can't wait to see more of what they know and watch them grow.

Enjoy your 3-day weekend! 

Welcome to First Grade 2017-2018

Welcome Families to the 2017-2018 school year and to First Grade! I am thrilled to get to know your child and your family. Throughout the year I will use this blog as a place to update you on our classroom learning, ways to support learning at home and for reminders. I look forward to a great year!

Congrats and Happy Summer!

Hooray! You've an awesome job in first grade and you are all officially 2nd graders! Enjoy your summer! I will miss you! Love, Ms. Pratt

A day early, but thank you to all of the wonderful fathers who

are part of our Room 4, 1st grade community! Your kids love you!

Final Days in First!

In less than a week, students will graduate first grade and step out into their summer break. They are ready for 2nd grade and they have, without a doubt, earned a vacation. This week students celebrated the end of the year and all their hard work at Look Park. Thank you to all of you who joined us and/or those who sent food. It was a lot of fun! 

This last week of school, we will be reviewing some academics, and doing some fun end of the year projects. Students will be bringing home work and projects. Please let me know if your child will not be with us through the last day of school so I can make sure they bring home their portfolio and end of year materials. Students will also be saying  goodbye to their reading buddies.

Please keep practicing the baseball and Crocker Farm song at home. We will perform this at our end of the year assembly on Wednesday. If you have a hat please be sure to send it with your child prior to Wednesday. As a reminder, Thursday, June 22nd is our last day and dismissal is at 1:20. 

I look forward to a fun last week! Congratulations to you and your child. Thanks for a wonderful year and have a wonderful Father's Day. Here we go...

Goodbye Chicks!

Hi Room 4 Families! Summer is on the way and the sun is coming out. As we approach the end of the year and wrap up our academics with assessments and progress monitoring, I hope to balance this with some more outside time for students. We say goodbye to our chicks this week, as they head back to the farm. They are growing fast and will need more space. These little feathered friends have loved being part of our classroom community. Here's a quick look at some of the learning we took part in this week:

Monday's Fun Centers:

On Monday, due to rescheduling our field trip, the three first grade teachers ran centers. Ms. Bartolini did a face painting center, Ms. Donoghue did a STEM building center, and we did a slime science project in my classroom. It was fun for students to get to work with each of the teachers in all three classrooms.

Reading:

R controlled vowels is a new focus in Superkids for unit 5. Students continue to read each day in guided reading groups and also work on pattern words with -or, -ur, -ir, -ar, -er words, where the /r/ sound controls the syllable.

Math:

Students worked on measurement this week and used other objects as a standard unit of measurement. We used cubes, paperclips, tiles, and other objects in the room. Students looked at our feet as a way to measure and they noticed that because we all have different size feet, we cannot use this as a reliable way to measure something. For the remainder of the year, students will be reviewing math we have learned throughout the year.

Unit Study and Writing:

Students had a flexible week in writing and unit study. We did some read alouds and discussions and also had the opportunity to do some open-ended writing prompts and take out the chicks,a couple last few times. Tara Luce continued to work on Mindfulness in our class and students are doing a wonderful job!

Reminders and Wish List:

• Our Field Trip to Look Park is on Thursday, June 15th. We hope to see you there!
• We would love some table wipes to get us through the end of the year!
• Please practice singing, "Take me out to the ballgame," with your child at home and the "CF version" too, at home with your child. We will sing this at the June 21st assembly. If you have one, please send a baseball cap in with your child prior to this date to wear for the song. We will return it with your child on the 21st. If your child wants to wear his/her Crocker Farm shirt on this day or a baseball Jersey, that's great too. A baseball mitt, is great too!
• If your child will not be there through the last day of school, please email me or send a note, so I can send all work and end of year things home with your child in advance. 

Wish List

Hi Families! We are on our last tub of Chlorox table wipes. If you would be willing to donate a tub to get us through the remainder of the school year, we would really appreciate it!