Welcome back families! I hope you had a lovely week off with your first grader. We have a short week, but we will be jumping right back into classroom expectations, routines, and learning.

The penny wars end on Wednesday. All of the proceeds from our Penny Wars fundraiser will go to the Amity Foundation for their efforts in supporting the victims of Turkey and Syrian Earthquakes.

Let’s try to collect as many pennies for our class as possible. Let’s also try to put quarters, nickels, and dimes in other classroom buckets.

This is a short week.

• Monday – Wednesday – Penny Wars and Iftar tickets will be for sale in the office.
• Thursday – Our Iftar dinner will take place on Thursday, April 6th, 2023 at 7:30pm.
• Friday – No School

Grades were submitted Friday before Spring Break. Absences this week may result in lower grades in Math and ELA on the report card.

ELA BLOCK – We are finishing up the Unit 8 Benchmark booklet this week.

• Reading – I see almost all of the small groups every day. Fluency and comprehension are the focus. It is concerning when a first grader struggles with a past spelling word. Those are writing and reading words. They are interconnected with our Benchmark reading.
• Writer’s Workshop – We are starting our second scaffolded opinion piece on Monday. We will be writing our opinion about a favorite superhero.
• Spelling – The spelling test will be on Thursday. These words are R-controlled vowels. Please note and practice the patterns.
  • turn
  • burn
  • churn
  • skirt
  • shirt
  • squirt
  • stern
  • fern
  • every
  • near
  • school
  • earth

MATH – We are starting Module 5: Geometry. (Yes, we are temporarily skipping Module 4 so that we have exposure to Geometry before the Spring NWEA.) Math Homework will begin again on Monday. (I could not send it home during Module 3, because there were too many math manipulatives that the students needed to use. )

SOCIAL STUDIES/SCIENCE – This week we will be starting our Social Studies unit about the past, present, and future. We will be reviewing what we learned in our ELA benchmark book. We will practice reading a calendar and reviewing some federal holidays. We will also start our final science unit: Light and Sound.

Thank you for your support. Please work to have your child at school every day and on time.

Your partner in teaching.

Mrs. Korte

Good evening Geer Park Families!

This is a reminder that we will be holding our next Parent Education Meeting tomorrow, Wednesday, March 22nd @ 9:30 am in the Gym.  Our topic will be the Mental/Social Emotional Health of students.  

As always, we will have fresh coffee, snacks, and raffles.

We look forward to seeing you there.

One last week before spring break. Let’s work to make this a strong learning week with good attendance. The start of Ramadan is this week. I hope that the families observing have a blessed Ramadan.

Penny War fundraiser starts on Monday.

This is always a very exciting event and really generates fun rivalry and competition between the classes. All of the proceeds from our Penny Wars fundraiser will go to the Amity Foundation for their efforts in supporting the victims of Turkey and Syrian Earthquakes. Penny Wars will take place in the morning from 8:40am until 8:55am. Our fundraising committee and PTA will be counting money daily to keep us informed as to standings. Every teacher will have a tin can. Students are encouraged to drop pennies into THEIR class’ cans and nickels, dimes, or quarters into OTHER class’ cans. Pennies are added to the class total, nickels, dimes, and quarters are deducted from the total. The class with the highest amount, in the end, will win a Game and Ice Cream Party. The teacher also wins a free 45-minute prep. Let the Penny Wars begin!

Literacy Night is on Monday, March 20 from 4:30 – 5:30. Students must be with their parent to attend and participate, because we want this to be a family event. I will be in the bingo room.

Check the March is Reading Month calendar for the last week of activities. The kids really embraced spirit week last week.

• Monday – Penny War fundraiser begins. Literacy Night is from 4:30 – 5:30. (Children must be with their parents.)
• Wednesday – Parent Education Meeting at 9:30 – Please consider attending.
• Friday – I will submit the final grades for the 3 quarter report card.
• Saturday, March 25 – Sunday, April 2 is Spring Break
• Monday, April 3 – The start of our final quarter of the 22/23 school year.

Looking ahead…

• Thursday, April 6 at 7:45pm – The Geer Park Ramadan Iftar – The Ramadan Iftar tickets are $10 per person. Our Iftar Dinner will likely sell out and we hope that as many as possible will join us for a very special evening! Families may purchase tickets from the main office before or after school. 

Grades are submitted Friday. Absences this week may result in lower grades in Math and ELA on the report card. Your child will not have enough time to make up assessments and I will not have time to grade the work.

ELA BLOCK – We have switched our literacy block to the afternoon to match the other first grades. It is our largest chunk of time in the learning day. I will still give spelling tests on Friday in the morning though. That is when we are most alert.

• Reading – I am no longer sending the literacy log cards. I will be sending the book bags every night. If there is a new book, please sit with your first grader and listen/practice it. On all other days, they need to read their books for fluency. Fluency is reading smoothly like talking without sounding out words or errors. I’m going to start having a word list in each bag too. Your child should practice the yellow highlighted words. (It will take me a bit of time to get a list to everyone. If I have a parent willing to come and help, please email me.)
• Writer’s Workshop – We are finishing writing our opinion paper on our favorite candy at school. These are all guided and scaffolded pieces. We will have an assessment in about 5 weeks. Your child is expected to independently apply what I am teaching during these lessons.
• Spelling
  • corn
  • born
  • horn
  • core – the central part of something, for example your stomach area are your core muscles of the body
  • more
  • chore
  • boar – a male pig
  • roar
  • away
  • move
  • laugh
  • change

MATH – We will finish learning about data with some number stories. We will have our formative assessment for data this week on Wednesday and our Summative assessment for Module 3 on Thursday. If your child is absent, unfortunately, I must enter a zero in the grade book. A zero will drop their math grade on the report card. I will not have time to make up assessments.

SOCIAL STUDIES – We will be finishing up Geography by making a map of our classroom and practicing Right, Left, In front, and Behind. Our assessment will be on Thursday. Again, if your child is absent, he/she will have a 4 in Geography. They will not have time on Friday to make this assessment up.

Thank you for your support. Please work to have your child at school every day and on time.

Your partner in teaching.

Mrs. Korte

Well, Friday was a surprise. Believe it or not…I’m a bit behind because of it.

• Monday – Pizza Monday
• Wednesday – PTA/Parent Ed Meeting at 9:30 in the Media Center.
• Thursday – Parent-Teacher Conference (If you did not receive a slip, you do not have a conference.)
• Friday – 1/2 day of school

This is Spirit Week for our March is Reading Month

• Monday – Wear your clothing backward today.
• Tuesday – Dress like your favorite Wishtree character.
• Wednesday – Wear Plaid because we are mad about plaid
• Thursday – Wacky Hair Day
• Friday – Wear Green

ELA – We are starting our 8th unit booklet in our benchmark series.

SPELLING – The words this week have the -ar spelling pattern.

• car
• far
• star
• chart
• smart
• part
• yar
• hard
• four
• great
• boy
• city

WRITING – We are writing our opinion about a candy. We are using a bubble map and a flow map to help us complete our blueprint.

READING – I went to a special class with Mrs. Faraj and several teachers, two weeks ago. It was about the importance of choice in learning for deeper understanding. Other than one group who is reading a chapter book, I am allowing the students to pick their reading group book based on their interests. I am no longer sending home the cards to sign. I am hoping you will read with your first grader.

MATH – We will take a quiz tomorrow about non-standard units of measurement. Then we will finish up Module 3 with data collection.

SOCIAL STUDIES – We are working on human and physical characteristics in geography. Then we will learn about how the land is changed or modified.

Have a great week.

Mrs. Korte

Tomorrow is pajamas for March is Reading Month. I will be reading my FAVORITE bedtime story to the first graders.

There are activities on your GREEN READING MONTH calendar. For example, here is our beach towel Read in Day. All of the first graders had a blast spreading out and reading with all their friends.

• Pizza Monday
• Wednesday, March 8 – Late Start
• Thursday, March 9 – Pajama Day
• Friday, March 10 – Geer Park Shirt Day

I must apologize for being out twice this week, but we were in good hands with Ms. MacDonald. We taught together, in first grade at Howard, for about 15 years. I have some new strategies for teaching and learning to try to implement.

BEHAVIOR CHART – I made an error in the days on the March behavior chart. I will swap them out on Monday. I’m sorry.

SPELLING – These are going to be tricky…start practicing. Remember, they are all from our Benchmark series.

• find
• kind
• mind
• fly
• shy
• right
• night
• light
• again
• round
• they
• country

MATH

We measured with centimeter cubes, but we need to practice with rulers. We will have a bit of practice before looking at non-standard units of measurement. No homework for right now because I do not have the math supplies to send home.

SOCIAL STUDIES

I am hoping to make homemade playdoh with the kids and have them make models of landforms and bodies of water. My fingers are crossed.

Short newsletter for this week. Thank you for your patience with the new dismissal procedure. Bad weather aside, I think it went well.

Mrs. Korte

PLEASE READ

Geer Park Families, 

Due to the unfortunate events that occurred at Michigan State this past week and with this violence being the second event in Michigan over the past 14 months, we want to revisit our safety and security measures in the building.

Starting on Monday, February 27th, ALL students will be dismissed on the blacktop next to the playground at the end of the day. At 3:50pm, teachers will begin walking students out to their numbered cones on the blacktop (same cones in the morning). We are asking ALL parents to remain BEHIND the gate in the parking lot area. Teachers will send students to parents once they see them. PLEASE do not approach your child’s cone. Your child will walk to you. 

Additionally, we are asking parents not to stand beyond the gates in the morning during arrival. Establishing consistency will ensure that safety measures go into effect smoothly. If you prefer to stand with your child, keep them with you beyond the gate and allow them to go to their line when you see their teacher arrive to pick them up. 

We are making this change to eliminate the congestion of traffic at the front of the building. You will need to park your car either on Prospect or one of the side streets: Woodworth, Lapham, or Charles. Do NOT leave your car running in the middle of the street or double parked, we have been forwarding pictures of license plates to Dearborn Police and will continue to do so to ensure none of our families are hurt during this high traffic period. We are asking that you exit your vehicle and walk up to the gate to pick up your child(ren). 

Older siblings who are Geer Park students will not be permitted to pick up younger siblings without an adult present. Older students cannot be responsible for the handling of multiple younger students. 

Preschool Parents: We ask that you do not wait inside the building if you have older children who dismiss at a later time. Please do not allow the preschoolers to play on the playground between 3:30pm-3:55pm. You may wait outside of the gated area in the parking lot or in your vehicle until it is 3:55pm. 

For the safety of all, no one will be permitted to enter the building without calling the office first and making arrangements. Please do not ring the bell without calling the office first. If you need to notify us of any changes to your child’s transportation, please call ahead. You should inform whomever is picking up your child of these safety measures: older siblings, neighbors, grandparents, etc. Older siblings who are not Geer Park students will NOT be allowed in the building for any reason. We care about the safety of our students and staff and know that you will continue to respect the security measures that will keep everyone safe. We can remain a welcoming, collaborative, school community when we ALL work together to honor safety procedures for the sake of our children and teachers. When parents or guardians decide they may adjust and bend security measures to suit their individual needs, it places the entire school community at risk. Traffic safety improved when we all did our part. Please know how important your role is in all of this. We appreciate your support!

Finally, this plan will not work if we do not drop off students before 8:55am and pick up by 3:55pm. Teaching our children punctuality and time management is a life skill! We will be calling home to families who are chronically late for arrival or to pick up students.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call the office at (313) 827-2300. 

Mrs. Faraj, Principal

Geer Park Elementary

Hopefully this newsletter finds you doing well after all of the power outages from last week.

The Book Fair will extend to Wednesday, March 1st.

Lunch with Grandparents’ has been reschedule to Tuesday, February 28 during our lunch at 11:20.

Core Values Assembly has been reschedule to Wednesday, March 1 at 2:15.

New Dismissal procedure will begin soon. Please watch for communication to come. Your patience and cooperation is appreciated during this transition. Again, please watch for communication to come.

• Monday, February 27 – Pizza Monday

ELA

Writing – We are finishing up our informational writing assessment this week. Informational writing shares facts with a reader. We will start learning how to write an opinion. An opinion states how you feel and gives reasons for feeling that way about a topic.

Reading – We are a bit off on our small group reading instruction due to the “snow” or should I say “ice” days. We will get back small group instruction this week

Spelling – This is a bit of a mess, to be honest. Per communication last week, I was going to push the test to Friday, March 3, but I think I need to change that. The kids were mostly ready last Friday. So this is what we are going to do. We will test on Tuesday the long o words. I will start instruction on the ee and ea words on Tuesday. We will test on Friday the new list. (Pacing is crucial when it comes to our ELA Benchmark series. They must be aligned.)

• street
• greet
• fleet
• feed
• seed
• seat
• meat
• cheat
• all
• where
• people
• draw

MATH – We are learning to measure with centimeter cubes this week. It is important to have a common endpoint and no spaces between cubes when measuring. It stresses the convenience of having a ruler with the unit measurement.

SCIENCE – We are finishing up our Earth and Space Systems unit with learning about a thermometer. A thermometer is a tool that measures the temperature of the air around it. It measures in 2 different units: Fahrenheit and Celsius. We will learn how to read a thermometer and understand what this tool is telling us about the air temperature.

SOCIAL STUDIES – We are continuing our geography unit. We only dabble in this subject because our focus was on Science for the past month. We will shift the focus to Social Studies. Please start practicing your address with your first grader. This is crucial for the foundational understanding of an absolute location. When your child is older they will learn that an absolute location is more the longitudinal and latitudinal location. For us, it is an address.

Thank you for your patience and understanding last week and this week.

Mrs. Korte

I hope you had a lovely weekend. It is much needed unstructured rest. We finally have better temperatures, but please continue sending a WARM coat. It is not warm enough to go without a coat yet.

I would like to be completely transparent with my teaching and the classroom. I will be out of the classroom several times in the next two weeks due to conferences and workshops. If you need to reach me on those days, please email me. I will check periodically. I do expect the best behavior for our students and I will be leaving rigorous lessons for the guest teachers.

• Tuesday, February 21 – We will preview the selections at the Book Fair. A wish list will come home.
• Wednesday – Friday – Send your book fair money. Your child will be allowed to go down and purchase if they have their money.
• Thursday, February 23 – Core Values Assembly 2:15 – First grade will be presenting their representation of citizenship. If you are planning to attend, please check in at the office first.
• Monday, February 27 – New dismissal procedure via the blacktop area.

ELA We are starting Unit 7 this week. The theme is about the past, present, and future.

Writer’s Workshop – We have in the middle of our informational writing assessment. I have model, scaffolded, and practiced 3 informational writing pieces: Jobs, The Sun, and get to know a student at Geer Park. This writing assessment is linked to technology and inventions. It is about how robot/technology help us everyday.

Spelling – This week it is the long o sound with three different patterns.

• low
• bow
• glow
• cold
• hold
• goat
• moat
• float
• found
• your
• know
• always

MATH

We started Module 3 last week. It is all about measurement with standard and nonstandard units of measurement. We are also comparing the length of objects using the words: longer than, shorter than, and the same length as. Teaching your first grader to make sure the endpoints are the same is important. We are not measuring to the 1/2 unit.

SCIENCE

We are finishing up with constellations this week. A constellation is a group of stars that make a picture in the sky. We will then learn about how to read a thermometer. I know… that is kind of odd to throw it in at the end of the unit, but temperatures have been perfect lately. I am looping back around to seasons and weather and reminding the kids that temperature is linked to the seasons, but the weather can trick you. It might be sunny, but the temperature can be really cold. Conversely, it might be cloudy but the temperature is really warm.

SOCIAL STUDIES

We will be fully in our social studies Geography unit next week. We already talk about what the Earth looks like from space. Next week we will talk about the landforms, bodies of water, and how humans modify the two.

Again, please read Mrs. Faraj’s letter. I will send a copy home tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your Monday and the rest of the week. Please, also remember I am available to you if you have any questions.

Mrs. Korte