Happy New Year!

It's been great getting to know the students so far! This week we completed "About Me" posters so I could learn all of their favorite things. Then we made New Years goals and made new years party hats, too. Wednesday we had a penguin day where we read about penguins, did penguin math, and wrote our favorite facts about penguins. In science, we started our unit on solids, liquids, and gases. We learned new vocabulary words: viscus, transparent, and translucent.

Yearbook: Yearbook order forms are due January 31. Order online or return the form to school. Forms went home Thursday.

COSI Volunteers: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080844ada623a31-cosi6
Volunteers are needed to assist with this traveling assembly, which will cover the topic "Exploring Ecology" with students in grades K-4 on Wednesday February 5, 2020. Our class visits COSI that day from (10-10:30) if you'd like to see your child during this time!

Kalahari Redwood Friends and Family Night is March 5^th!  Take advantage of the day off of school, treat the family, AND escape the cold weather!   Significant discount and it helps Redwood too.  See Flyer - Redwood Night Kalahari Flyer  Questions?  Email Jenefer Machovina - bmachovina@hotmail.com.

Glow Night: Glow Night is February 4th from 7-8:30 pm. We have new additions to make the night even more fun for the families of Redwood.  This year we will have a DJ Dance party!  Your child should have received a flyer this week.  Glow Walk 2020 (1).pdf   Register by 1/29 to get VIP Entry!  Questions?  Contact Bryan or Jenefer Machovina - bmachovina@hotmail.com. First graders are allowed to be dropped off or can be with an adult. All adults will need a ticket to enter the event, but volunteers get in free! Please read the flyer for more information.

Yoga Wednesdays: Yoga Wednesdays: We will begin having Yoga during the recess periods on Wednesday's beginning on January 13th. The form is here:Yoga Waiver.docx and will also be available in the office for those interested in participating. If your child is interested in participating in yoga on Wednesdays, please return the form to school.

Fitness Club Sign Up: Click this link to fill out form --> FILL OUT FORM
What: Fitness Club for students in grades 1 - 4 only (not kindergarten).
When: Tuesday’s starting January 21th through March 24th.
Where: Redwood’s gym and hallways from 3:20 - 4:05. Please be on time to pick them up no later than 4:05.
Why: To exercise and socialize with friends
How: Parent volunteers are needed to monitor the walking course. Please fill out the volunteer section of the permission slip to indicate your availability. Please come a little early to the gym between 3:15 - 3:20.
DEADLINE to fill out this form is January 17th..... no later please!

Welcome Back!

Hello Families!
Welcome back to school and Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great winter break and that you were able to have quality family time together. I am glad to be back in the classroom to finish out the reminder of the school year with your children. Please check this website weekly for important information, upcoming dates, and academic topics covered during the week. I typically update the information every Friday afternoon.

Field Trip Chaperones Needed: We are going to Avon Lake Public Library on Wednesday, January 15th from 1:15-2:45. I am looking for 5 chaperones to meet us at the library. Please email me at Kimberly.kozar@avonlakecityschools.org if you are interested. I will confirm back with you the final details, as I can only take 5!

At Home: 

• Math HW: Please continue to return math homework to school by Friday! As we progress towards second grade, you will find math homework coming home more frequently, about 2-3 times per week depending on the math lesson taught that day. 
• Raz-Kids: Read books on Raz-Kids at least once per week. Check the back of your child's folder for Raz-Kids login information. This is an awesome resource to build reading fluency and comprehension. Each student is given different books depending on their individual reading needs. Logging in once per week is recommended, but please feel free to have your child login more often if you choose!
• Mini Paper Books: Occasionally, we make and read small paper books in class. These typically correlate with the phonics skill we're learning that week. When we're done, they are sent home. Please have your child reread these books to you and then store them in a bag or safe place so they can be read again with you or independently!

Yoga Wednesdays: We will begin having Yoga during the recess periods on Wednesday's beginning on January 8th.  The form is here:Yoga Waiver.docx and will also be available in the office for those interested in participating. If your child is interested in participating in yoga on Wednesdays, please return the form to school. 

Fitness Club Sign Up: Click this link to fill out form --> Fill out form

What: Fitness Club for students in grades 1 - 4 only (not kindergarten).

When: Tuesday’s starting January 21th through March 24th.

Where: Redwood’s gym and hallways from 3:20 - 4:05. Please be on time to pick them up no later than 4:05.

Why: To exercise and socialize with friends

How: Parent volunteers are needed to monitor the walking course. Please fill out the volunteer section of the permission slip to indicate your availability. Please come a little early to the gym between 3:15 - 3:20.

DEADLINE to fill out this form is January 17th..... no later please!

Pick - up Procedure: We are asking the 1st and 2nd grade students exit the front main entrance and 3rd and 4th grade students exit the cafeteria southwest exit. Older siblings must pick up younger siblings and go to the southwest exit (between cafeteria and music room). Please be very specific about what your child should do at dismissal. For example: meet me at the flag pole, sit with your brother on the bench outside the gym, look for our car as I pull around the circle. Please be patient the first couple of weeks with dismissal.

We will keep track of cumulative miles walked after each club meeting. These miles will take us on a visit to many interesting places throughout the world that we will speak of in class. Interesting facts will be shared with students over the morning announcements.

********Please fill out a separate form below for each of your children to attend. DEADLINE is January 17th. ********
Fill out form
Questions? Contact Jason Hayne by email Jason.Hayne@avonlakecityschools.org

Field Day

What a GREAT year we had in first grade! Thank to to all of the students for working so hard and creating amazing memories! And thank you to the families for all of your support along the way! I hope everyone has an awesome summer and spends time playing outside. 

• Reading challenge papers came home in report card envelopes. It is through the ALPL this year. There is a Reading Challenge kick off party at Avon Lake Public Library on June 8 from 10am-12pm (https://alpl.librarymarket.com/node/2231). Here's the link for more info on the reading challenge. https://alpl.librarymarket.com/node/2557

Summer Reading Program @ ALPL

End of Year Dates:

• 5/27- No School, Memorial Day
• 5/28-5/31- Bike to School Week
• 5/31- Field Day- wear tennis shoes & dress comfortably for the weather
• 6/4- Last Day of School

NEW THIS YEAR!  SUMMER READING MADE SIMPLE!

No more keeping track of summer reading for both the library and Avon Lake schools.  Reading totals completed for the Avon Lake Public Library (ALPL) Summer Reading Club will be shared with the Avon Lake City and St. Joseph schools. Totals will count toward recognition at each school in the fall as well as summer prizes at the library. Your reading log can be turned in to either the library during the summer or to your school in the fall.

Reading logs are being sent home with all Avon Lake Public School and St. Joseph students in grades K-6, can be printed from the library or school websites, or picked up at the ALPL Children’s desk, beginning June 1.  After reading for 10 days, bring the log to the library and collect a small prize and mission badge. With each prize, you’ll also enter a raffle drawing for additional prizes. The first prize will be available June 17.  For further information, contact the Children’s desk at 440-933-8917 or visit www.alpl.org.

Summer Reading Club Launch Party

Saturday, June 8, 10:00 am-noon

Avon Lake Public Library South Lawn, weather permitting (Waugaman Gallery, rain location)

Blast off on a reading mission!  Spend your morning creating and launching all kinds of rockets--water bottle rockets, paper rockets, pool noodle rockets, and more.  You can even launch yourself into the air in the bounce house! Enjoy a tasty rocket pop (what else?) and a cup of Tang to get you in the mood for space adventures.  

More summer fun at the library....

Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing by reading a universe of stories.  Visit the library for some out-of-this-world tunes at the Friends of the Library sponsored Pop Rocks concert series. Get ready for extraterrestrial art & science, space-themed book discussions, alien veggies in Mary’s Children’s Garden, galaxy slime, marshmallow fusion and more! Check out ww.alpl.org for summer program information and registration.

Junior Achievement and Field Trip

Field Trip to ALPL: Solids, Liquids and Gasses

Catching Boo Bubbles with Dry Ice

Mr. Kos with Junior Achievement: Our Community

• On Wednesday, we went to the public library to learn about solids, liquids, and gasses. The children had a great time participating in experiments that included mixing solids and liquids, exploring the volume of objects, comparing types of liquids, and learning about atoms and matter. It looked like their favorite part was holding Boo Bubbles, made from dry ice!
• Mr. Kos from Junior Achievement came in this week to teach the class about Our Community. The children learned about our neighborhood, businesses, jobs, goods, and services. They played a Wants or Needs game and also guessed Mystery Jobs when given 3 clues. The students had a chance to be entrepreneurs by creating a business. They created an advertisement for the company and added details such as:  the company's name, what the business was selling, how much items in the store cost, and drawings of their store.
• In phonics this week, we learned the sound "oo, ue, ew" as in food, glue, and flew. Our high frequency words were: answer, brought, busy, door, enough, eyes
• Our essential question was: How can we work together to make our lives better? The stories we read were Super Tools, Click Clack Moo, March On, and Working Together.
• For math this week, we learned to subtract using tens frames, place value, hundreds chart, and mental math. We learned the short cut of sliding our fingers up the hundred chart row and looking at the place value to find the answers.
• The students also started working on their book reports in class! Our book report night is May 15th from 6-6:45 pm. Everything will be done in school and we will set up tables in the gym to present the reports to family and friends. Our theme is "Baking Up Cakes" and if your child wants to bring in an apron to wear for book report night, send an apron to school by May 15th. Aprons are optional, please don't feel that you need to go out and purchase one. The presentation will be about 10 minutes long, so feel free to walk around and see other students' reports!
• West Side Market permission slips and chaperone forms will come home Monday next week. 

Looking Ahead:

• May 8- COSI- our class is from 2:10-2:45 pm
• May 15- Book Report Night in gym 6-6:45 pm
• May 22- West Side Market Field Trip
• May 27- No School
• May 31- Field Day
• June 2- Last Day of School

Pennies for Patients April 15-18th

This week in math we focused on Topic 10: Use models to add tens and ones. We learned how to draw longs and cubes to model and solve story problems with addition. Some problems require "regrouping & carrying" so we learned how to "Circle it to make a ten." We will quiz on this concept early next week.

In reading, our essential question was: How do things get built? We read about the building process of bridges, boats, ships, and houses. This students invented their own boat or bridge and wrote a paragraph in their journals about their structure.

Our phonics sound was oi/oy as in "oil" and "boy." HFWords this week were: above, build, fall, knew, money, and toward.

Dates Coming Up:

• April 13- BW3 Fundraiser all day
• April 15-18- Pennies for Patients
• April 15- Math MAPS
• April 17- Spring Pictures
• April 18- One District One Book Closing Assembly
• April 19-28- Spring Break, No School
• May 1- Field Trip to ALPL
• May 8- COSI- our class is from 2:10-2:45 pm

Wear Indians Clothes on Monday

Balancing Equations During Center Time:  9+3 = 8+4

This week in reading, our essential question was: What inventions do you know about? We read a story about a robot inventor and how he kept improving his invention to make them work better. The students wrote about their own inventions in their journals. They had to include details such as: the name, what it does, how much it costs, where you can buy it, and what it looks like. What did your child invent?!

In phonics, we worked on the r-controlled sound of -or (corn), -ore (tore), and -oar (soar). Our HFWords were: began, better, guess, learn, right, sure

For math this week, we began our unit on Measuring Lengths. We identified objects as longer or shorter and measured objects with cubes. Next week we will learn a little about rulers and how they can be more accurate when measuring.

Dates to remember:

• March 29- Daddy Daughter Dance, tickets available at door
• April 1- Wear Cleveland Indians Gear or colors for opening day
• April 1- One District One Book- We will have an assembly to reveal the book for this year. Each child will receive their own book and packet of questions to take home and return the questions to school for prizes!
• April 8- MAPS Reading- Get a good night's sleep on Sunday to be well rested and prepared for best effort on Monday.
• April 15- MAPS Math-Get a good night's sleep on Sunday to be well rested and prepared for best effort on Monday.
• April 17- Spring Pictures
• April 19-28- Spring Break

Wear Green Friday!

This week in writing, we created a paragraph on: How to Catch a Leprechaun. The students listened to a story about creating traps and then imagined their own. we wrote the steps of how to catch a leprechaun using "first, next, then, last" in our journals. TOmorow we will bring home our plans and a leprechaun craft!

In phonics, we learned about bossy R! The R is SO bossy, that when reading words with "ar" we can't even hear the vowel, as in barn. Then, we learned bossy R for er, ir, or, and ur (fern, bird, word, turn). Our HFWords are another, climb, full, great, poor, through.

Our essential question is :What can you see in the sky? We read two fantasies called A Bird Named Fern and Kitten's First Full Moon. The strategy was cause and effect.

In science, we continue to learn about the sun's energy. We know it can provide us with heat and light energy, electricity, and solar power.

In social studies, we're learning map skills and how to use a compass rose with North, South, East, and West. We are mapping out the United States and taking a tour across the country.

Coming Up:

• 3/15- Wear Green!
• 3/17-3/21 Scholastic Book Fair
• 3/20- Donuts with Dad- Last name A-M @ 8 am
• 3/21- Donuts with Dad- Last name N-Z @ 8 am
• 3/28- Art Night @ Redwood 4-8 pm
• 3/29- Me & My Guy Dance 6-8 pm

DONUTS WITH DAD

Please RSVP using the link below for Donuts with Dad (or Grandpa, Uncle, brother, etc.)

https://goo.gl/forms/wLD4YZoytPoCsMLD2

One adult only please.

Donuts with Dad is Weds. March 20^th from 8:00 AM-8:45 AM

AND Thursday March 21^st from 8:00 AM-8:45 AM (choose only one).

Donuts, coffee and milk will be provided.

Scholastic Book Fair will be open to purchase books and items from the Spring Book Fair!

Donuts with Dad

DONUTS WITH DAD

Please RSVP using the link below for Donuts with Dad (or Grandpa, Uncle, brother, etc.)

https://goo.gl/forms/wLD4YZoytPoCsMLD2

One adult only please.

Donuts with Dad is Weds. March 20^th from 8:00 AM-8:45 AM

AND Thursday March 21^st from 8:00 AM-8:45 AM (choose only one).

Donuts, coffee and milk will be provided.

Scholastic Book Fair will be open to purchase books and items from the Spring Book Fair!

• Me & My Guy Dance- March 29th, 6-8 pm. Girls can RSVP using the red permission form. Return to school with $.
• Next week is the last walking club meeting of the year. 
• Raz-Kids books were just updates! Log in for new reading levels and earn those stars!

Read Across America Week

Read Across America Week: The students celebrated literature and Dr. Seuss' birthday by reading in the hallway, reading with 3rd grade buddies, and by listening to high school students read rhyming books on Friday.

In math, we started our topic on 2D  shapes. We learned how many straight sides and how many vertices each basic shape has. We discussed closed shapes and that we define a shape's name by the number of sides and vertices, not what color or size a shape is.

In reading, we focused on: How do people work with animals? We read stories called Puppy to Guide Dog, Koko & Penny, Saving Mountain Gorillas, and A New Puppy. Then, we sequenced the events in the stories in order from: first, next, then, and last. These stories helped us read the new phonics "long e" sound and spelling: ey (as in key) and y ( as in berry). We learned the HFWords found, hard, near, woman, would, write.

In science and writing, we completed out unit on insect by learning the different adaptations of animals and how these adaptations help them survive in nature. We invented our own insects and included the major body parts of insects. We wrote an informative paragraph about our insects and the students had to come up with their own topic and closing sentences. They had to include at least 3 facts in their paragraph to describe their bugs.

Coming Up:

• Sunday March 3-Reflections Art Fair @ Avon Lake High School 
• 3/6- Conferences 4-7:30 pm
• 3/7- No School- Conferences 7:30 am-3:30 pm
• 3/8- No School
• 3/17-3/21 Scholastic Book Fair
• 3/20- Donuts with Dad- Last name A-M @ 8 am
• 3/21- Donuts with Dad- Last name N-Z @ 8 am
• 3/28- Art Night @ Redwood 4-8 pm
• 3/29- Me & My Guy Dance 6-8 pm