Two weeks to go before Winter Break. There will be lots of special activities over the next two weeks. Please watch the blog for any “middle of the week” updates.

The PTA needs your help. They are hosting a Holiday Shop for the kids to purchase small gifts for their families. The students LOVE this event. To make this a successful event, the PTA NEEDS VOLUNTEERS TO WORK AT THE HOLIDAY SHOP. Please consider volunteering for a few hours. “Many hands make light work” is the saying. Please watch for a link in your email to sign up.

• Monday, December 12
  • Pizza Monday $1
  • We preview the Holiday Shop. The information about the Holiday Shop and paper for a list went home on Friday.
  • This is our library day, please have your child return their Geer Park Library book so that they can check out a new one.
• Wednesday, December 14 – Donuts with Dads in the Media Center from 8:15-9:15 am.
• Thursday, December 15 – Core Value Program
• Friday, December 16 – Popcorn Day! $1

Student Access at HOME to my Schoology Page and Blog Class Links

Most of the students have their login codes and passwords memorized. I am not sure who has a Chromebook or tablet at home, but if you do, here is the information to get on my Schoology page.

You will want to have a bookmark for the Dearbornschools.org webpage. https://dearbornschools.org

• Dearbornschools.org
  • Student Portal
    • Schoology
      • Your child will be taken to my Schoology page.
        • Click on COURSES
          • Click on Little Mrs. Korte (The kids know what that means.

The only thing that is not available at night or on the weekend is EPIC books. It is available to us, for free, during the school day only.

There is a black folder with parent resources and my blog available. They must click on the square with the arrow to have access to my blog and the quick links. The photos show exactly what your child will need to click on to have access to my Schoology and to the blog. The blog Class Links are right below the calendar. We have been practicing in the classroom, so it should be fairly easy for your first grader to navigate.

Mrs. Garcia, our school interventionist, is working to get a grade level subscription to IXL. It is a pay website, but it is excellent for NWEA ELA and Math practice. Crossing our fingers to get this for our first graders.

The next two weeks will be mixed with academics and fun for before the winter break.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE tell your first grader to get their reading bag. They need to read everyday. NOTE: if their card is in their bag, there is a new book. If their card is NOT in their bag, they NEED to read for fluency practice.

ELA

I will be starting the Developmental Reading Assessments this week. This is a one to one assessment for reading. Each assessment takes LOTS of time. I will do my best to have reading groups while assessing. I appreciate your patience during this time.

Spelling – the digraphs ch, wh, and tch. Yes, I know…I know…whim and clutch are strange words for a first grader to learn. It is in our spelling program. I will do my best to make them relevant.

• chop
• check
• chill
• which
• whim
• match
• clutch
• pitch
• once
• upon
• hurt
• that

Writer’s Workshop

We finished our narrative common assessment. This week we will start informational writing. This is just facts about a topic. We will write about jobs. This links nicely with our Social Studies.

Math

We are making a ten with the addend 8. An 8 needs to borrow 2 from the other addend to make a 10. I believe that we will be practicing this with a 7 as an addend too.

Social Studies

We learned about needs and wants. Our needs are food and water, shelter (a home), clothing, and love. Thank you for being the most amazing parents. Families provide for their children’s needs everyday. Wants are the things your child wants but doesn’t need to live. We will learn about jobs this week. Some jobs provide goods (something you can hold) and some provide a service.

Have a wonderful weekend and week. Thank you for your support. You are all terrific teaching partners.