COSI Volunteers and Walking Club Sign Up

Duber, the bear, has been donated to each classroom from Duber Automotive, which is sponsoring Avon Lake's One District One Book (ODOB) this year. The students will each have a chance to read to Duber as we get ready for ODOB in April. We haven't revealed the book yet, last year's book was The Mouse and the Motorcycle.

This week in reading & social studies, we finished reading folktales such as The Mitten and The Gingerbread Man. The students learned soft c (as in nice) and soft g (as in gym). Our HFW words were any, from, happy, once, so, upon. Then, we began our new topic: Long Ago and Today. We read stories about life, homes, and chores long ago. Our HFWords are: ago, boy, girl, how, old, people.

In math, we are learning to count by 10's and 1's up to 120. We found missing numbers in hundred chart puzzles, and writing numbers 101-120. We began leaning about the place value spots (hundreds, tens, and ones) and will dig deeper into this topic next week.

A Few Updates:

• Volunteer to help with COSI- Our class is going to COSI from 2:10-2:45 on Jan. 30th if you would like to volunteer during our time slot, click on the link:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080844ADA623A31-cosi4
• Walking club starts Jan. 15th after school on Tuesdays. Last call to sign up, before the signup closes next week.  https://goo.gl/forms/rHSq0AJkZK1FJOTe2
• January 21- No School. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• January 24- Report Cards Home
• Glow Walk forms came home Friday and if you're buying discounted tickets in advance, return the form by January 30th. The Glow Walk is February 8th from 7-8:30 PM.

Polar Express day

Polar Express Day 2018

• Reading Challenge papers due back January 3rd for a chance to win hot coco and a movie with Mr. Ebert
• Yoga Permission Forms were emailed by Mr. Ebert on 12/20/18. If your child wants to participate in yoga once per week during recess time, sign and return the form. 
• Writing Journals were sent home today! Some kids have a few pages left to write in at home! We will be getting new journals in January for the rest of the school year!
• Happy Break, see the kids on Thursday, January 3rd, 2019!

Christmas Time & PJ Day!

Christmas Concert 2018

• The kids did a fantastic job singing at their concert on Wednesday! It was adorable and fun to see them all dressed up for their performance.
• This week in reading, we focused on the long i & silent e, as in pine, ride, smile, and white. We learned to mark up the words and read them in stories and poems. We also read a few plays with character parts and will continue to practice these story plays into next week. 
• In math, we completed topic 5 (finding missing addends) and moved onto Topic 6: Graphing Data. Today we created tally charts and learned to compare information using those charts. 
• Coming up next week:
• Monday and Tuesday are normal days for first grade. 
• Wednesday December 19th- Polar Express Day, first grade only. We will continue our tradition of wearing pajamas, slippers, drinking hot coco, and watching the movie The Polar Express. We also have Innovation Room with Mrs. Brady and guidance with Mrs. Speier. We will try to fit everything in!!
• Thursday- December 20th- Another Pajama Day for the whole school. We have our class party at 9:45, and a school wide movie in the gym at 1:30. We will finish the day with our Redwood Pride assembly. 
• No School December 21-January 2, 2019. School will resume on Thursday, January 3rd, 2019. 

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

~Mrs. Kozar

Hour of Code & Snowflake Shop Info

The pictures above show our students in the Innovation Room this week with Mrs. Brady. The children learned basic coding skills and practiced coding on the website "Hour of Code Angry Birds." They were thrilled to learn and to celebrate their successes in each level of coding! Click the link if your child would like to continue Angry Bird coding at home! https://studio.code.org/hoc/1

This week in reading our big question was: How can you find your way around? The answer is maps! We read stories that focused on using maps to find places in towns, parks, treasure islands, in the United States and around the World. We continued to learn digraphs (wh, sh, th, ch, ck, ph, kn) and are practicing the HFWords: around, by, many, place, walk. Remember, all of these books and phonics games can be found on the Wonder's Website! WONDERS LINK Your child's password is on the back of the take home folders.

In math, we began Topic 5: Working with Addition and Subtraction Equations. We're learning to find missing addends (4 + __ = 9), and balancing equations (3+5 = 6+__ ). We've also been proving if equations are true or false (6+3=10-4... false). All of these concepts can be tricky for students to learn the steps to solve. See if your child can solve a few math problems you write down.

• December 3 & 10- We have MAPS testing on 12/ 3 & 12/10 for math and reading. Make sure your child goes to bed early and gets a good night's sleep on Sundays. We don't stress about MAPS testing in first grade, we just "Always try our best!"
• December 5- Snowflake Shop is next week on Wednesday, December 5th. Our class shops at 9:00 am. If your child is participating, please bring cash, a list of people to shop for, and the filled out labels.  The presents will be wrapped and taken home at the end of the day!
• December 12- Holiday Concert 12:30
• December 19- Polar Express Day in First Grade- Wear your pajamas, pack your slippers. We will change into slippers at school and do a few activities centered around The Polar Express.
• December 20- Whole school Pajama Day- Wear your pajamas, pack your slippers for day 2! Class party and movie in gym.
• Redwood Eagle calendars are on sale and can be purchased with check or cash for $15. Flyers will be sent home in the next few days for students to order and we will send the calendars home with your child. You can also stop in the office to purchase starting Friday, November 30, 2018. The calendar features 13 pictures taken of the bald eagles that have made Redwood Elementary School in Avon Lake their home. Money collected for the calendars will be put towards the educational resources to promote the Redwood bald eagles. The pictures were taken by local photographers who visited the eagle nest which is on the school grounds. The school received more than 120 submissions for the calendar. A committee selected the 13 images and also the names for the pages. The calendar also includes a timeline of the eagles from building the nest, to laying eggs and having eaglets.

Pilgrim Buddies

We made pilgrim hats with our third grade buddies! Happy Thanksgiving!

• Today in reading, we began Unit 2 Week 4 of Wonders: Let's Help. Our Essential question is: How do people help out in the community? We read the story Thump Thump Helps Out and practiced the digraphs th, sh, ch, ck, wh, ph, and kn. We are working on identifying the characters, setting, and event on each page of the story. 
• Our new HFWords are all, call, day, her, want
• In math, we are using addition to subtract (if you know 4+5=9, then you know 9-4=5) and solving subtraction story problems by drawing pictures & models, using number lines, and brain power. We played Around the World to help with fact fluency. 
• Snowflake Shop is December 5th. Our class shops at 9:00am. If your child is participating, please send back the zip lock bag with cash, a list of people to shop for, and the labels filled out. The children will shop and bring home wrapped gifts! No checks please.

Dates:

• No School November 21-25th for Thanksgiving Break
• Nov. 26- Reflections Art Projects due to school with completed entry forms
• December 5- Snowflake shop
• First grade's Holiday Program will be December 12th from 12:30-1:00 PM in Redwood's gym. Come early for parking :)

RSVP Muffins with Mom

• This week, we began a new topic in reading: Where do animals live together? We read Babies in the Bayou, The Busy Pond, The Best Spot in the Forest, and Meet the Meerkat. We focused on finding the main idea and details in these stories. 
• Our new HFWords are: eat, no, of, under, who.
• We learned the suffix -ing, as in jumping and playing. We continue to work with blends and glued sounds (-ink, -ank, onk, -unk, -ing, -ang, -ong, ung, am, an, all)
• In math, we learned subtraction on the number line and fact families. Ask your child if they can write a fact family for 4,5 and 9.
• We have a student from ALHS coming to our room in the afternoons on Thursdays and Fridays as part of the Teacher Education Exploration Program. Her name is Ms. Elizabeth and she will be learning to become a teacher in our room for the next 6 weeks. 
• RSVP to Muffins with  Mom on 11/14 or 11/15 using the link below: 
•  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/108fEfTTj07JB6OHRi2czEhg4iHkAY_Uu0hhI5s-SvIY/edit
• The Scholastic Book Fair will be open next week Nov. 12-15 & during muffins with mom
• M&Tu- 3:30-5:30 pm
• Wed 8-9 am, 3:30-5:30pm
• Th- 8-9 am, 3:30-6:30pm
• No School November 21-25th for Thanksgiving Break
• First grade's Holiday Program will be December 12th from 12:30-1:00 PM in Redwood's gym. Come early for parking :)

November 2nd

Halloween 2018

• This week in reading, we are exploring the essential questions: What buildings do you know? What are they made of? We read the story Cubs in a Hut and The Pigs, the Wolf, and the Mud to learn how different homes can be built. We reviewed nouns (person, place, thing) and continue to explore the characters, setting, and events of stories. 
• With 46 days of school, we started quarter 2! Report cards will be coming home next Wednesday and will include a new list of High Frequency Words to learn for Quarter 2. Please work with your child to learn these words! Make it fun by having word hunts in the house or making a goal to learn all words each week and highlighting the words they know from the list. 
• We are reviewing Topic 3 in math: Using strategies to solve addition facts to 20 and will quiz Topic 3 next week.
• Link to volunteer during scholastic book fair preview Friday, Nov. 9th: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0948AFA822A5F94-redwood
• Coming up:
• 11/12-11/16- Scholastic Book Fair 
• 11/14- Muffins with Mom 8 am- last names A-M 
• 11/15- Muffins with Mom 8 am- last names N-Z 
• 11/21-25- Thanksgiving Break
• 11/26- Reflections Art Projects Due date (optional, forms came home today)

Halloween Week!

• Halloween Info- The children should wear their Halloween costumes to school on Wednesday, October 31st and pack a change of clothes in their book bags. Please leave toy weapons at home. You are invited to watch the Redwood Parade which will begin a little after 9:00 AM! After the parade, we will have our class party from about 9:30-10:30, depending on how long the parade lasts. 
• We had a great time at our field trip last week learning about needs of living things. The children planted a bean plant and we will watch it grow in the classroom.
• Tonight, Tuesday, October 29th is MARCO'S Pizza night. We decorated out boxes and they are ready for pizza delivery tonight!
• November 2nd is picture retake day! Forms were sent home last week, if interested. 
• 11/12-11/16- Scholastic Book Fair
• 11/14- Muffins with Mom 8 am- last names A-M
• 11/15- Muffins with Mom 8 am- last names N-Z
• 11/21-25- Thanksgiving Break

On Friday, our class read the reader's theater "The Hare and the Tortoise" to kindergarten classes.

• In reading, we wrapped up Unit 1 in Wonders, and began Unit 2: My Community. The kids were word detectives and used their magnifying glasses to fins words with blends and the suffix -s. We learned the new HFWords: again, help, new, there, use
• In phonics, we continue to work with blends and just learned the new suffix -ed. The suffix -ed can make 3 sounds:
• d as in played
• t as in walked
• ed as in printed
• For math this week we used doubles facts to solve doubles +1 and doubles +2. We also drew open number lines to help us add two numbers. 
• In our writing journals we wrote about which color apple is our favorite and why. We added details to our topic sentences about apples. Continue to practice writing at home with neat handwriting, capitals, and periods. 
• If you have any thin wire hangers to donate, please send them in by Friday, October 26th for a project we are doing in the innovation room. The wire hangers usually come with dry cleaning clothes and are easy to bend. Thank you for your help!
• Coming up:
• 10/24- ALPL Field Trip
• 10/29- No School
• 10/31- Halloween Parade 9:00 AM. Please send kids to school wearing their costumes with a change of clothes underneath or in their book bags. Masks should be kept in book bags until they arrive at school. Please do not send any toy weapons or props larger than your child! thank you :) We will parade and party, and then change out of our costumes before recess & lunch. 

Pumpkin Festival Volunteers

This week in science we used our knowledge of living and nonliving things to observe and reason with gummy worms and real earthworms! The kids used magnifying glasses to observe their worms and record their findings.

In phonics, our essential questions was How does your body move? We read Move and Grin, Move It!, and Ready, Set, Move to practice blends and the high frequency words: jump, move, run, two

In math, we solved word problems by drawing pictures, models, or using a number line. We took a quiz on Topic 2, and will begin Topic 3 next week: Addition Facts to 20.

In writing, we learned the bacis parts of a paragraph: topic sentence, details, closing sentence. We practiced with a topic sentence and closing sentence given, the children were asked to fill in their own details about what they play with their friends.

It was great to meet with everyone at conferences! Thank you for stopping in!

Coming Up:

• Wednesday October 17th is WOW walk. Have your child wear bright colors to school!
• We will be gone on our field trip for the 10/24 WOW at the library.
• I'm looking for 1 more volunteer for our field trip to Avon Lake Public Library on October 24th from 1-2:15 pm. Please email me if you're interested. I will email back a confirmation. 
• Pumpkin Festival Volunteers needed! Please click the link if you are interested in volunteering your time or items for the Pumpkin Festival. Pumpkin Festival Volunteers: Pumpkin Festival 2018
• Pumpkin Festival Pre-Order Forms are due 10/17 if interested
• Stoller Fundraiser Order forms are due October 24, if participating.