Hi All, Please enjoy this video of Dwankhosi Week at QAE! http://youtu.be/gksZx7s5Z88 It was a memorable week and we learned a great deal about our partner school in Zambia!! The 3rd, 4th and 5th graders have been talking about how QAE can participate in Dwankhozi Hope's “Raise for Maize Campaign.” Students at Dwankhosi experience a hungry season every Jan-Mar when crops stop growing due to the rainy season. With the help of donations from Dwankhosi Hope, the school is able to provide an additional meal at school to each child. The QAE 3-5th graders are asking fellow students to offer service to friends and family members in exchange for a Raise for Maize donation. Please check orange folders for more information. Math: 1st graders just completed a subtraction unit, and will begin studying geometry this week. Kinders are working on building/adding groups of numbers 11-20. Writing: We are continuing on with non-fiction “How-To” books. The concept of introduction/conclusion will be presented. PBL: Chris Lynch provided a fantastic presentation on Korea. We will be having presentations about Argentina and Germany this week. Our PBL is really helping students understand their place in the global community. Upcoming Dates:
Dear Friends,
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving break! Thank you for attending the fall conference - it is always so enlightening and fun to share and hear from families. PBL (Project Based Learning)- Right before break we had our first guest speaker, Mariah Day, who spoke about her experiences in Kenya. The kids were captivated and learned a great deal about Kenya and how day-to-day life there differs from their own. It was an incredible presentation and we can’t thank her enough If you have a personal connection or interest in another part of our world please let me know - there is no better way to bring our PBL to life than to see and hear from those within our own community. It could be something as simple as a slide-show, a read-aloud or even a movie- just say the word and we’ll find a time that works for you. It is Dwankhosi week at QAE this week! We will be learning about Dwankhosi and talking with people in our community who have visited our partner-school in Zambia. You can learn more about Dwankhosi here: http://dwankhozi-qae.weebly.com/ I plan to post a blog with recommended apps for both reading and math- I am hoping to have it sent by the end of the week. Stay tuned!! Upcoming Events:
Happy Monday!
What an amazing week we had last week. Our trip to SCT to see Rikki Tikki Tavi was fantastic and our Author Celebration was lovely. I am so proud of our writers! Their books are hanging on the wall in the hallway outside of our classroom. And if that wasn’t enough excitement for the week, our iPads arrived!! I am currently prepping myself for a crazy week. My husband and I bought a house and will be moving this Tuesday, hurray! On Wednesday, thanks to the QAE PTSA, I will be flying to San Diego to attend the International Dyslexia Association Conference along with our reading specialist, Laura Cooper. I am so grateful to work in a school that supports and encourages me to attend professional development conferences such as this. Kristen Teske, the ultimate QAE substitute, will be subbing in the classroom for me from Wed- Fri. Along with Ms. Anna, the kids will be very well cared for, I promise. If you have any important information to pass along (regarding pick-up, illness etc.) please be sure to call the office to ensure that it is communicated to Kristen. Math K- We are beginning a unit on counting and addition 1st- We are beginning a unit on subtraction strategies Writing K/1- We will kick-off our non-fiction writing unit this week PBL K/1- We are in the beginning stages of discovering where we are on a map. Ask your child if they know what continent/country they live in. Upcoming Dates:
Have a great week all! Shauna Dear Families,
I hope you all had a fabulous Halloween! Friday was so much fun! The classroom looked amazing, and it was wonderful to have so many families join us! We were not anticipating quite that many people to attend, I am sorry it was so crowded, thanks for making the best of it. I want to send out a huge shout-out to Christa for organizing and planning the festivities. We will be attending our first field trip to the Seattle Children’s Theatre this Tuesday. We’ve decided to eat lunch at school in the classroom before heading to the theatre, so a lunch box is now okay. We will be eating earlier than usual so hot lunch will not be unavailable. Nobody pre-ordered a sack lunch from the cafeteria, so ALL of the students will need to bring a lunch. We are almost finished publishing our first Small Moment story, and will have our first Author’s Celebration this Thursday at 3:00pm. We will gather in the cafeteria at 3:00 (along with 3 other first grade classes). After a brief whole group cheer, we will split up into small groups so that children can share their stories. If you’d like to come, please let me know by Wednesday, so I can place children in groups accordingly. We will have several author celebrations throughout the year, so if you can’t sneak away from work for this one, don’t worry, we’ll do it again soon!! Upcoming Dates:
· Thursday, November 6th- Picture Retake Day · Tuesday, November 11th- Veteran’s Day, No School. · Week of Nov. 24th- No school due to conferences and Thanksgiving Have a great week! Shauna Hi All,
We will be attending the play, Rikki Tikki Tavi, at the Seattle Children’s Theater on Tuesday, Nov. 4. We have enough tickets for two parent chaperones to attend the play with us (without a sibling). If you’ve completed volunteer training, and would like to attend, please let me know ASAP. We will be traveling to the play on a school bus that will leave mid-morning. We will eat sack lunches at Seattle Center before the performance begins. If you’d like to purchase a school provided sack lunch for that date, please let me know by this Tuesday. I will be sending permission slips home on Tuesday, as well, please return them to school by this Friday. Halloween is fast approaching! There will be an all school Halloween parade at 2:15. Costumes are welcome in my classroom all day long. If your child does not wish to wear their costume to school, but wants to wear it to the parade, please plan to arrive at school no later than 2:00 so you can assist them in getting dressed. Christa Winquist is planning our classroom party, which will begin promptly after the parade ends. Siblings are welcome at the classroom party! Be on the look-out for an email from Christa with more detailed information. Thank you Christa!! I will be locking up our Conference Time Sign-up this Friday. Feel free to confirm or change your sign-up time here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wwb2ba7a6dqRD8NbpzCdpY-dBq7W91sPX98mYqufcKY/edit?usp=sharing Below is a message I was asked to share in regard to the QAE-Dwankhozi Partnership “As the QAE partnership continues to grow and there is more interest from a parent perspective, we thought it might be meaningful to create a sort of parent group that can center around the program. We could meet regularly to discuss the impact this will have on our kids, how to support the school & teachers and how to involve other parents who are interested." https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ARfnj_fgQHzTzAbK_1NWlUJcmU1swoMivHkkIYRcaoA/edit?usp=sharing Additionally, some updates have been done to the QAE-Dwankhozi partnership website. This is a great resource for parents and teachers who are wanting to learn more about this partnership. The website has the partnerships mission, FAQ's by parents, a QAE teacher blog, trip blog archives, and tons of videos! This website can be found with the ink below or it is on the QAE website under the "school tab-Dwankhozi hope partnership" http://dwankhozi-qae.weebly.com/” . Math in Focus Home Access Families now have access to digital versions of our Math in Focus textbooks, as well as some online activities connected to them for home practice. From home, the online resources may be accessed from any computer: http://spscatalog.seattleschools.org/onlineresources In order to access the Math in Focus textbooks (and other online resources) from home you must log on:
Have a great week!!! Shauna Upcoming Dates:
Hi All,
The Jog-a-thon was so much fun!! Thanks to all who worked to make it a huge success. READING We just finished our 3rd week of Reader’s Workshop, and things are going very smoothly. I am meeting with 3 small groups each day, working on book reading/ phonemic awareness and phonics skills, while the rest rotate through: RAZ Kids (http://www.qaelibrary.org/raz-kids.html), handwriting, partner reading, and arts/craft. MATH Kindergarteners will be taking their Unit 1/2 assessment early this week. I will send them home by Friday. Our next unit is “Ordering by Size/Length, or Weight. First graders are in the midst of Unit 3 “Addition of Numbers 1-10.” Our new math program places a high priority on understanding/using math concepts and vocabulary. All of the students struggled with a component of our last lesson that asked them to complete sentences like this: 9 is 6 less than_____ ______ is 5 more than 8. We are going to take a few extra days next week to explore and practice with this concept before moving on. Mastering this skill will ensure children are successful with the next unit, “Solving Word Problems.” GENERAL REMINDERS
:) Shauna Upcoming Dates: Tuesday, Oct. 21, 6:30- Family Game Night Thursday, October 23, 2014, 8pm- Dwankhosi Partnership Event Friday, October 24, 6:00pm- QAE Oktoberfest Celebration Wednesday, October 29, 1:40- 2 hour Early Dismissal Wednesday, October 29th, 7pm- PTA Meeting Friday, October 31st, 1:15- QAE Halloween Parade and Celebration (in class afterward) Tuesday, November 11th- Veteran’s Day, No School. Hi All, What a fun week we had this week!! Our parent volunteers began working in the classroom, which allowed us to do a lot of exciting things! My heart-melt-moment-of-the-week came during recess yesterday afternoon. I looked over and realized that almost our entire class was playing with one jump rope together, without conflict. This class really cares for one another, and enjoys spending time together. Reading- We read the book Word Wizard, and practiced being a wizard with our own words. Many kids were fascinated to learn the purpose of the word “an”. We practiced what it means to “retell” a story.
We are reading the Mercy Watson series, by Kate DiCamillo during read aloud. It is a fan favorite by all. Math- We will begin our Math Fact Workshop next week. (Individual levels). Math fact memorization is crucial to a solid math foundation. Most kindergarteners will begin by memorizing/recognizing numbers on a ten-frame. What is a ten Frame? See here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6RaMGDPfJg K students just finished up chapter 2 on #s 1-10. The tricky part of this unit was learning how to form numbers correctly. With a lot of perseverance, they got it! 1st grade students finished up chapter 2 and took their test on Number Bonds. I will send these home on Monday. Writing- We are still working on Small Moment Narratives. We will publish our first story in the next two weeks, and will have an author’s celebration in late October- stay tuned for the date! Social/Emotional Learning- We began our work with the Zones of Regulation on Tuesday. Project Based Learning- We will begin a geography unit titled, “Me on a Map” in the coming weeks. If you have a personal connection to a country, or a region of this country you’d like to share with the class, please let me know. A slide show, a food item, a craft project, a book you’d like to read aloud…… I’m open to anything, and will gladly help brainstorm ideas with you. Let me know. MAP Testing- My sincere apologies. In my effort to keep you informed, I somehow jumped ahead one week on my calendar and gave you the wrong information about when we will be doing the MAP. 1st graders will take the MAP this coming week. Again, I am so sorry. Conference Sign-up- If you haven’t signed up for a fall conference yet, please click here. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wwb2ba7a6dqRD8NbpzCdpY-dBq7W91sPX98mYqufcKY/edit?usp=sharing Got any great pictures from class? Adam Brandt and Ankur Kothari have set up an account so we can email/text classroom pictures to them and they will upload everything to a slideshow on the classroom blog on a regular basis. Email pictures to [email protected] or send a text to 206-251-4392. Have fun at the playdate on Friday, I wish I could be there!! :) Shauna Upcoming Dates: Friday, Oct. 17th- QAE Jog-a-thon Tue. Oct 21st- QAE Family Game Night Fri. Oct 24th- QAE Oktoberfest (adults only) Wed. Oct. 29th- 2 hour early dismissal. Tues. Nov. 4th- Field Trip to Seattle Childrens’ Theatre. Tues. Nov. 11th- Veteran’s Day, No School This Week's Happenings! Math: K- Learning numbers 1-8 (how to count and write) 1st- Number Bonds- What is that? See Below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNOg7mYXNBU Reading: K and 1- Our sounds chant and choosing Good Fit books. We are all readers!!! Writing: K- Stretching out our words like a rubber band to hear sounds. Working independently. 1st- Adding details and juicy words to our small moment stories. Working Independently. Thanks for coming to our Cucciculum Night, it was great to see all of you. I mentioned I was hoping to begin sending Book Bags home next week. Ms. Anna is hoping to help fill bags with kids one-on-one, so it may take a few days to get through the whole class. Please don't stress if your child doesn't bring one home on Monday. You may keep them as long/little as you need. Always return Poetry Books on Monday. The act of play is your child's most important homework!! Important Dates: Monday 9/29 Parent Net Meeting at 6:30 Wed. 10/1 Volunteer Orientation at 7:00 Thur. 10/2 Picture Day Fri. 10/10 No School Fri. 10/17 QAE Jogathon Questions? Let me know! Shauna |
Mrs. Diller
K/1 Teacher at QAE. Archives
June 2015
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