Weekly Update

This week in class we discussed how each of us are all different in very special ways by reading the  book Elmer. Then, we created our own colorful Elmer Elephants for the hallway and wrote what makes each of us one of a kind! We continue to practice neat handwriting by using the sky line, plane line, grass line, and worm line correctly.

In math this week, we began Topic 1: Solving Addition and Subtraction Problems to 10. Our focus for lesson 1 & 2 was creating part-part-whole robots. See if your child can draw a part-part-whole robot for you, explain it, and write a matching number equation.

In reading, we are reviewing letter sounds, high frequency words from kindergarten, tapping out 3 letter words, and reading simple books. Be sure your child collects all of the paper books that come home in a Ziplock bag. Pull them out to read on a rainy day, a car trip, or for practice anytime!

High Frequency Words from this week: little, where, play, my, here, the, look, favorite, this, we

Reminders:

• No School Monday, September 3rd- Labor Day
• Highlighter on the corner of math papers means it is homework, and due Fridays. 
• First grade boys had a 5 minute boy scout information meeting today and will bring home a flyer with more info to join.
• Indian Princess and Indian Guides flyer came home earlier this week, if you're interested.

First Week!

We had a great week in room 1! I have learned so much about my new students and I'm looking forward to getting to know each child better as the year progresses. This week we took the time to learn about our classmates by creating an All About Me foldable, which is displayed in the hallway for everyone to see. We learned the rules of our classroom and the rules to follow during recess and lunch. We've been reading stories about the first day of school that helped us discuss positive friendship traits and feelings.  After reading Billy the Bully, we created a class poster called Heart Smart. We say "Before you speak, think and be smart. It's hard to fix a wrinkled heart!" Ask your child if they can explain what happened in the story and talk about the wrinkled heart poster. In our language arts curriculum, called Wonders, we read our first two stories: Elephants and The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Your child should be able to read the following words we reviewed this week: he, can, I, like, do, to, you.

A few reminders:

• Remember to subscribe & confirm your email to receive automatic updates from this blog. 
• Every Friday, a Reading Journal will come home with a new entry that we worked on all week. Check the blue paper inside for directions to complete each weekend.
• If you wish to order books from the scholastic magazine, the due date for ordering is August 31. You can order online using our class code GZDXL or by sending in the order form and a check. The magazine was included in the folder from Open House. Here's the link https://clubs.scholastic.com/home Click on "parents" to get started.
• Friday, August 31st, bring in a canned food for the SOUPer Bowl. Avon Lake will be having a non-perishable item drive for the Souper Bowl Competition with Avon. Students can wear a hat if they bring in a non-perishable item to donate.

Welcome to First Grade!

Welcome to first grade! My name is Kim Kozar and I am looking forward to starting my 10th year at Redwood Elementary.  I am eager to meet my new class on our first day of school-August 22nd! It's going to be a wonderful year filled with great accomplishments and amazing memories.

Students and Parents are invited to join me for Open House @ Redwood on August 20th anytime between 4:30 and 6:30 PM in room 1. Please have your child bring his or her supplies this night and the student info sheet I sent home through the mail. Your child will be able to see the classroom, meet classmates, and sort supplies to help make your child's first day run smoothly.

Get a head start on subscribing to this classroom blog by entering your email on the left side of this page. You MUST check your email for subscription confirmation to accept updates. Subscribing will allow you to automatically receive blog post updates through email to stay up to date on all of the fun and exciting adventures happening in our class!

Please use this blog to find more information about the events and expectations of first grade. The tabs at the top contain a lot of details on what we're learning, links to important websites, and current academic ideas your child should know.

I am excited to start the school year and meet my new students in just 2 weeks!
~ Mrs. Kozar

8 Days Until Summer!

Thank you for stopping by our book report night to see what first grade baked up! The children did a fantastic job on their book reports and used the skills they learned all year to present their best work!

• May 21-25 is Bike to School Week. As part of the health and wellness initiative, all of the elementary schools in Avon Lake will be participating in Bike to School Week again this year from May 21st through May 25th. All students are encouraged to ride their bikes to school. There will be a designated parking area for the bikes around our bike rack next to the flag pole. Please go over bike safety rules with your child. Please note: Students in grades K-2 should not ride alone to school, please ensure they have a responsible adult or group to ride with. Remember…be safe and wear your helmet!
• May 22- Silly Hat or Crazy Hair Day- Bring in a $1 donation for Imagination Library
• May 25- Field Day! Wear tennis shoes and dress for the weather. Our time is 12:50-2:50 pm. There is also a PTA picnic @ 11:30 to thank PTA members and helpers :)
• May 28- No School, Memorial Day
• May 31- Last Day of School, Report Cards home

May News

Senator Gayle Manning Presents Redwood with Award

for Disability Awareness Week

• Imagination Library Fundraiser is a city wide fundraiser to help young children receive books to promote early literacy learning.  The Avon Lake Public Library and about 8 day cares/preschools are participating.  The goal of the fundraiser is to raise $1,000 with each elementary building raising at least $100 by May 31st.
• Thank you for returning the West Side Market field trip forms. I will put together groups of students & chaperones and send home final details/ times. Chaperones will lead a short scavenger hunt at the market while buying 1 want and 1 need (no refrigerated items). 
• Book Report Night- Wednesday May 16th @ 6:00 pm. Come to Redwood to see our first grade book reports! Each student has chosen their own book to read and complete a report on in class. We are creating paper cakes to present to you on this special night. Please have your child bring in an apron (if you have one) to wear. No need to buy one, it's just an extra prop. Stay for a bit to walk around the gym and cafeteria to check out our hard work!
• Eagle Naming Contest- Return to school by May 18. We have 3 eaglets!
• Spring Pictures- If you purchase package, keep the pictures! If you do not want to purchase the pictures, return them back to school at no charge. 
• If your child is absent, please remember to call the attendance line and not Redwood's main office number. The ATTENDANCE LINE is: 930-8291.

Junior Achievement

Mr. Kos from Junior Achievement

Our first week back from break was a busy one! Mr. Kos from Junior Achievement came into our class to teach us about wants, needs, our community, businesses, good, services, and diplomas. The children had the chance to be entrepreneurs by inventing their own businesses with friends. We will have a chance to practice our new vocabulary at the West Side Market in May... More information coming soon. 

• BW3 reading cards came home this week. Just have your child read 10 books or chapters and initial the card. Take it to BW# for the incentive!
• Pennies for Patients has begun at Redwood for  Next week only, April 16-20.  Students can bring in coins in their penny bank provided. All donations 
• It’s time for the annual Redwood Elementary Library Fundraiser. The Barnes and Noble Bookfair is this weekend at Crocker Park.  This event is Sunday, April 15^th. Please make sure to use the B & N voucher if making a purchase which is good in the store on the 14th and 15th. Online sales are good 4-15/19. The ID#12319281 needs to be on the receipt so that the school will get credit. Buffalo Wild Wings in Avon Lake is also participating. Thank you so much for your support.
• This week in reading our big queston was "What sounds can you hear? How are they made?" We read the stories Now, What's That Sound?, Whistle for Willie, and What's That Sound? We practiced using the phonics sounds ou & ow as in OUCH!
• In math, we finished our measuring unit and even practiced measuring using inches. 
• Next Week: 
• Picture Day- April 18
• Spring Fling with Mom- 6:30-8:00pm
• Pennies for Patients

Last Week of School Before Spring Break

Disability Awareness Week

• Mom and Son Spring Fling Dance
  April 20th from 6:30-8:00 in Redwood gym and cafeteria. $10 check and ticket form due by April 13th. 
• Barnes and Noble Book Fair @ Crocker Park
  Sunday, April 15th from 12-2:30 pm.art work displayed, scavenger hunt, Redwood Choir Performance, and Story time with Curious George. See yellow flyer that came home Friday for more information. 
• Redwood Arts Night Next Week
  Come one, come all to the 3rd annual Redwood Art's Night! On March 28th, from 4-8 pm the halls of Redwood will be transformed into an art gallery, showcasing the talents of every one of our Redwood students. Come and see the amazing artworks that have been created this year. The Redwood Art Club will have 9 pieces of custom painted furniture that will be available for sale in our silent auction. To cap off the evening, the Redwood choir led by Mrs. Orr will provide entertainment with a special concert. Mark your calendars for this fun, festive evening of celebrating the arts at Redwood!
• District Staff basketball game
  On Tuesday, March 27th at 7:15PM at the high School Avon Lake Staff will play basketball. All proceeds go towards Avon Lake student scholarships. Adult tickets are $5 and student tickets are $3.
• Marco's Pizza Box Night
  Boxes are colored and ready for box night Tuesday, March 27. Remember to mention Mrs. Kozar's class online or over the phone so Redwood and our class get's the credit!! We are close to the $10,000 prize!
• In math we concluded our unit on basic fractions. Next week we will review previous skills and when we return from spring break we will finish our last 3 units in math for the year!
• This week in reading we read stories about the sky. We completed planet reports with a partner and practiced phonics skills while reading about astronauts. 

The Mouse and the Motorcycle!

Reading in the Hall for Read Across America Week

The big reveal for The Mouse and the Motorcycle

• This week in reading we read the stories The Lost Button, A Barn Full of Hats, and Sort it Out! We classified objects by size, shape, and color. Our High Frequency words were: four, large, non, only , put, and round. In phonics, we learned the r-control sound "ar" like car and star.
• In math, we continued to explore 2D and 3D shapes. Next week we start parts of shapes and basic fractions. 
• Disability Awareness week will begin the week of 3/19. We will learn about and celebrate people with disabilities to create awareness and acceptance. We will have an assembly, $1 hat day 3/20, meet a famous para Olympian, wear tshirts 3/23 and conclude with an assembly.
• Donuts with Dad at Redwood Elementary! Please RSVP below for Donuts with Dad (or Grandpa, Uncle, brother, etc.) One adult only please. Donuts with Dad is Weds. March 21 from 8am-8:45am AND Thursday March 22 from 8am-8:45am (choose one). Donuts, coffee and milk will be provided. Scholastic Book Fair will be open to purchase books and items from the Spring Book Fair! Please click this link to RSVP: Fill out form

Jump Rope For Heart & Disability Awareness Week

• Jump Rope for Heart information came home Tuesday! Our jump party in gym will be on March 27th and all monetary donations to the American Heart Association is collected on or before this day as well!
• Read Across America week is March 12-16th. We will read in class, read in the hallway, read with buddies, wear a shirt with words on 3/16, and kick off the One District One Book again this year. The special book will be revealed during an assembly that week. Each child will receive the book to read at home and a fun packet to complete for the chance to earn prizes at school.
• Disability Awareness week will begin the week of 3/19. We will learn about and celebrate people with disabilities to create awareness and acceptance. We will have an assembly, $1 hat day 3/20, meet a famous para Olympian, wear tshirts 3/23 and conclude with an assembly.
• Donuts with Dad is @ 8:00 am on 3/21 (last names A-M) or 3/22 (last names N-Z). Children can bring dad, an uncle, or older male friend during this time. 

Basketball Jones Assembly

• Basketball Jones came to Redwood this week to spread kindness and encourage good work habits in our students. He had many important messages like: Keep on trying if you don't succeed, have courage to try new things, spread love not hate, stand up and do the right thing!
• This week in Reading we learned how animals and people can work together to help one another. We learned the high frequency words: found, hard, write, woman, & near. 
• In phonics, we learned that when words end in y or ey they sound like long e, as in monkey and key. 
• This week in math we explored 2D and 3D shapes. We learned to describe the shapes by their attributes like: size, shape color, # of vertices, # of flat faces, and # of edges. 

COSI!

• COSI was so much fun this week! The kids got to participate in hands-on experiments, wear their own goggles, and make slime! They learned a little bit about chemistry by mixing different ingredients together. 
• Reminder: No school Friday March 2nd because of conferences. 
• Marco's Pizza Night is Tuesday 2/27...  Redwood is currently in 3^rd place and if we finish first, we can win $10,000 for our Redwood students so..... order those pizzas and mention Redwood!
• If you have a child attending kindergarten next school year- Kindergarten Registration is 2/26-2/28 in the Performing Arts Canter @ ALHS
• In reading this week, our essential question was: How do animals survive in nature? We read stories about vultures, tigers, bears, ostriches, frogs, elephants, hippos, and alligators. In the stories, we practiced this week's HFW: find, food, over, more, start, warm. Next week's words are: caught, flew, know, laugh, listen, were.
• Children can log into their own Wonders accounts anytime at home and practice the current week's skills with games, stories, and HFW word practice. The content changes weekly, to match our curriculum. Passwords can be found on the back of their school folders.  https://connected.mcgraw-hill.com/connected/pictorialLoginSchool.do?code=n4z7
• In math this week, we learned to tell time to the hour and to the half hour. We briefly discussed telling time to the five minute & minute, but our quiz next week will just focus on time to the hour and half hour. We read The Grouchy Ladybug and followed her journey through the day to practice telling time. 
• I can't believe we are almost in March! March brings so many activities and important dates for the students. Be sure you check the "Important Dates" section on the left side of this page and this classroom blog to stay up to date!