Fall Celebration Tomorrow

Tomorrow will be a busy day celebrating fall and having some Halloween fun.

Your child is welcome to wear their Halloween costume. It will be a bit chilly, so plan accordingly, please.

Fall Photos

Fall photos will be available tomorrow. They are $3 each.

Remember…

  • Friday is a half day of school.
  • The pumpkin drawing will be at 11:45.
  • Dismissal is at 12:05.

I will be posting grades to the report card on Friday afternoon. We have had some formative and summative assessments this week. If your child has been absent, there might be a blank grade in some areas. I will still administer the assessment to your child, but the grade might be on the next report card. All final grades are due, by the teachers, Friday afternoon.

Newsletter for the Week of October 24 – 28th

Wow! We had snow during the week and then summer temperatures on Saturday. Crazy Michigan weather. Hopefully, you had a chance to get out and enjoy Saturday with your first grader. I went to two soccer games. We intended to go get our pumpkins, but we all fell asleep in the car while Mr. Korte drove home. Oops.

Even though the weather was warm this weekend, it will not last. This is Michigan and even though it is fall… we must remember that winter is coming. Please check the temperatures before leaving. If it is cold, dress your first grader in a warm coat. I will always monitor the temperature before all recesses. If it is warm, we can leave the coat inside.

This is going to be a busy week. Please watch for notification from the school.

  • Wednesday, October 26 – 9:30 Parent Education Meeting – Screen Time and the Brain – Please mark your calender and please consider attending.
  • Wednesday, October 26 – 10:30 PTA meeting – Again, please consider attending.
  • Thursday, October 27 – 10:00am – 1st Grade Pumpkin Patch
  • Thursday, October 27 – 2:15pm – 1st Grade Parade
  • Friday, October 28 – Half Day of school Dismissal at 12:05

Thank you for your support at home

I want to thank all of the families who are reading, completing the math homework, and completing the spelling homework. I CAN see a difference in the overall understanding and application in the content we must learn. It will make a huge difference in the overall growth for the year too.

A side note, if your first grader is sick, yes please keep them home. Other than that, please send your kiddo to school. Their attendance directly correlates to their academic success. Your child will come home completely exhausted, because we exercise our brain all day long. FYI, some of them tell me, “I’m tired” at 3:00. Yes, they all are tired by the end of the day. We really do work hard in the classroom. You should be so proud of your first grader.

Again, thank you for your help and support.

ELA

We are using our second Benchmark unit booklet. We are learning about characters in stories. The kids are having a great time hearing many variations of Little Red Riding Hood. Some are really funny. We are also learning that the author tends to have a purpose in these stories. They are trying to teach the reader a lesson.

Please let your first grader read their book bag books to you and sign their literacy log. It is your way to monitor when I meet with your child, their new books, their old books to read for fluency, and it is my way to monitor if they are reading at home.

Spelling

This week is the short u sound

  1. rug
  2. bug
  3. hug
  4. fun
  5. run
  6. sun
  7. up
  8. cup
  9. come
  10. here
  11. of

Math

We are going to start subtraction as a known addend. Their understanding of a number bond is really important to fully understand this concept.

Science

We took a small break from science. We will resume next week.

Social Studies

We are almost finished with our Civics unit. I will be assessing this week.

Have a great week! Mrs. Korte

Classroom News for the Week of October 17 – 21, 2022

What a beautiful weekend! Mine was super busy because my youngest, a freshman, had homecoming, a cross-country race, more homecoming, and a soccer game. At least most of it was outside, where we could enjoy the lovely changing of the leaves.

The temperatures have really dropped this weekend. The forecast for the coming week is cold temperatures. Please SEND YOUR FIRST GRADER WITH A HEAVY COAT. I promise to check the temperature before all recesses. If it is in the 60-70s we will leave them in the room. I cannot risk your first graders getting sick.

Please send your child’s library book back to school. I sent home reminders for families on Friday.

  • Monday, October 17 – Library Day, and we will participate in Math-a-thon in the afternoon for fun. Fast math facts! We’ve got this.
  • Tuesday, October 18 – We have P.E. Wear your gym shoes, please.

Pumpkin Raffle

The pumpkins are starting to fill up the display case by the cafeteria. They will be raffled off. Tickets will be sold outside before school starts. They are 50 cents a piece.

Thank you to all of the parents who have been working diligently with your first grader. With me teaching and practicing in the classroom and with you working on the math homework, spelling homework, and reading/signing the literacy log, I have seen a huge improvement in understanding of academic learning goals.

Thank you so much for your help.

ELA

Reading Instruction and Reading Groups

We have a workbook that we read, annotate, and write in every day. It is at grade level. I will be sending Unit 1 home so that you can see all of the work we do together.

I am also meeting with your child in a reading group. The instruction at your child’s reading level. It is crucial that your child read their book to you to build their independent reading capabilities.

Spelling

List 4 has the short e sound like at the beginning of elephant and entrance.

  • ten
  • men
  • pen
  • let
  • met
  • wet
  • fed
  • bed
  • look
  • are
  • to
  • my
  • said

Writer’s Workshop

During direct writing instruction, called writer’s workshop, we are writing a narrative (story) about a time when we were brave. This process takes about two weeks.

Math

We are finishing up looking at mathematical patterns. We will have a topic quiz and a mid-module assessment this week. By the end of the week, we will start subtraction. It will look different from how we learned. Our math series relates it to addition.

Social Studies

We are almost finished with our Civics unit in Social Studies. Last week, we voted on an activity for the next indoor lunch recess. Some of the kids were disappointed that their activities did not get picked, but we learned that “majority rules”. We also learned that if you vote for both, your ballot is null and void.

We will learn about being a good citizen at school and some symbols that are linked to the United States of America, like the American flag, the Statue of Liberty, the White House, a bald eagle, and several more.

Science

We will learn that animals’ body coverings help distinguish them from other animals. The can be groups accordingly too.

Again, thank you so much for your support. Have a great week and bundle your little one up this week.

Mrs. Korte

Weekly Newsletter for the Week of October 10 – 14, 2022

I hope you are having a great weekend. I try to make Fridays a bit more relaxed and fun like I did this past Friday. I loved pajama day. We were so relaxed and comfortable. We had snacks on the carpet, enjoyed the story Zombies Don’t Eat Veggies, and then we enjoyed the quick links on my Schoology page.

We enjoyed ice cream on count day. We had 100% in attendance. Yay! Thank you.

We also earned all of our Mrs. Potato Head body parts, so we earned popsicles on Thursday. Yay! It was the perfect day to have a popsicle too. It was very warm outside.

  • Wednesday, October 12 – LATE START – School starts at 9:55
  • Friday, October 14 at 9:45 am – PICTURE DAY! Wear your smile!
  • Bring back your Geer Park library book. We go to the library next on Monday, October 17th.

Reading

Mrs. Garcia and I just started reading groups. When your child brings their book bag home, please take a few minutes and allow them to read to you. They will improve with all of us working together. I hope to get everyone their book bags this week.

Spelling

List 3 Short o sound, like octopus.

  • mop
  • top
  • hop
  • lock
  • rock
  • sock
  • hot
  • not
  • have
  • one
  • jump
  • for
  • no

Please, please have your child do their spelling homework on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. You can keep it at home in a safe place and send it in on Friday. I must have it on Friday.

Also, I will send home your child’s Spelling Test booklet. Please take a peek. It has a grade for spelling and a grade for printing. The rubric is at the front of the book for printing. Sign and return the booklet the next day.

Writing

We are going to start Writer’s Workshop this week. We will be writing a narrative story about a time when we were brave.

Math

We are finishing up balancing an algebraic equation with the equal sign on Monday. We will take a formative quiz on Tuesday. Then we will start learning about doubles and doubles plus 1.

Science

We learned that animals need to move, they need food, they sometimes have camouflage to keep them safe, they have to care for their young, and they need shelter too.

We will learn how plants grow from seeds. They need good soil, water, and sunlight to grow.

Social Studies

We learned that mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, and older aunts and uncles can make rules in their homes. They have power with authority. At school, the principal, teachers, substitutes, lunch ladies, and bus drivers can make the rules. They have power with authority. These people keep us safe and help us to make respectful and responsible choices.

This week we will learn about people who try to have power but they do not have the authority to do so. (strangers, siblings, bullies) We will also learn about fairness.

Thank you for your support. Have a great week.

Mrs. Korte

Newsletter for the Week of October 3-7, 2002

I want to thank any and all parents who attended the Parent Meeting last Wednesday. It was a huge success. There will be a meeting each month. These meets will be very beneficial to you as a parent so that you know what is going on in the building with the students, the staff, and the curriculum. If you were in the groups who were able to visit my room, I hope you were pleasantly surprise by our amazing first graders. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me or ask me at student pick up. I am here for you.

To be completely transparent, I am not in the building on Monday, October 3. I needed to help my oldest child with something in Colorado Springs. She is a cadet at the United States Air Force Academy. She doesn’t ask much of use as parents, but needed us this Monday. I will be back on Tuesday, October 4th and quickly bring myself up to speed on anything that occurred in my absence.

  • Monday, October 3 – Thursday, October 6 – Spelling Homework – Last week we practiced each day and expectation together. This is the first week for your child to complete the activities at home. Please use both the front and back of each page. This will conserve paper and make the booklet last longer. Please monitor spelling and printing. Return to school on Friday morning.
  • Friday, October 6 – This is a half day of school with the release at 12:05. It is also a Pajama Day for a fundraiser. Donate $1 and wear pajamas all day.

English Language Art (ELA)

Spelling

We took our first spelling test last week. Your child will have 2 grades. The first grade will be for the spelling itself. It will be written as the total correct over the total amount of words. Remember, there will always be 3 words that match the spelling pattern that we did not learn. Those are called cold words. They show whether or not your child understands the spelling patterns learned and can apply them to make new words. There is also a printing grade. On the report card it falls under L1.1 This is graded as a 1, 2, 3, or 4. It is similar to the report card. 1 exceeding expectations of a first grader, 2 meeting expectations, 3 progressing, and 4 concern. Our goal it to show change over time and improvement in the area. Remember, printing is our way to publish for others to read. It is important that your child becomes fast and flexible with printing the correct way.

Reading

We have started Unit 1 Benchmark. We are annotating text together. We are doing shared reading and writing in our Unit 1 Benchmark booklet. Unit 1 is about how living things grow and change.

Starting this week I will start meeting with small groups for guided reading instruction. This instruction will be at your child’s reading level as indicated on the Developmental Reading Assessment. Your child will have a book bag and a book inside. Please sit with your child and allow them to read to you. Then sign their Literacy Log card and send both the book and card back to school the next day. By working together, your child will make the most progress.

Writer’s Workshop

We had a 5 day write last week to get an initial writing score. We will start Writer’s Workshop instruction this week. We will be taking a topic from ideas, on a Circle Map, to a published piece. This takes time. I will keep you posted on the progress.

Math

This week we are working with the equal sign. REALLY, it is a symbol used for algebraic express of an equation to show that both sides are balanced or they are the same. Kind of crazy to think that your first grader is doing basic algebra.

Social Studies

My goal last week was to discuss power with authority and power without authority. Things always take a bit long and sometimes our plans get pushed back a bit. We will be discussing this concept in Social Studies this week.

Science

Science is actually meshing with our Unit 1 benchmark. Last week, we learned that living things have a life cycle. We learned about a frog and the life cycle of a frog. This week we will learn that plants, specifically an oak tree, has a life cycle too.

Thank you for your constant support. I appreciate you.

Mrs. Korte

Weekly Newsletter for September 26-30, 2022

The kids did great last week. They completed their NWEA testing, we learned 4 types of workstation rotations, and all of our Developmental Reading Assessments are finished. They were also the best behaved, well-mannered grade level during lunch, so they earned ice cream on Friday. Yay! I am so proud of them.

Please encourage any of the parents you know from our classroom to sign up for this blog. Again, it is my main form of communication for the week. https://iblog.dearbornschools.org/kortej/2022/09/25/weekly-newsletter-for-september-26-30-2022/

Please be sure to check the weather and temperature in the morning. It has been pretty chilly lately to start the day. Then, sometimes it warms up in the afternoon. It would be a good idea to have your first grader wear a coat in the morning. We can always take it off if the temperatures warm up.

Buddy Reading

Spelling Homework

Starting the first week of October, I will be sending home a composition to practice spelling words every week. This week, we will do all of the practice in the classroom. That way, the kids and you will know what I expect for the practice. This will help expand their vocabulary for writing and reading.

This week’s words are: ran, can, fan, pat, bat, hat, had, mad, go, the, see, she. There will be 3 cold words on the spelling test that will apply the understanding of how words rhyme. For example, if your child learns how to spell: ran, can and fan, then they can spell tan, man, and pan.

Again, no spelling homework this week. It will begin the week of October 3.

Chromebooks

We will be starting to use our chromebooks in class soon. I worked all weekend on the schoology page. It has quick links for the students. I worked on their assigning usernames and passwords too. We are almost set. I have a few technical difficulties that I am working through. For example, I purchased a licence for the students to use a reading program. It is not working. I’m a bit disappointed because it was expensive. I hope I can either get it working or get my money back. I am hoping for the best.

As soon as everything is set. I will send home username and password information to you. Thank you for your patience.

  • Wednesday, September 28 – Parent Education Meeting at 9:30 in the library. There will be opportunities to see some classrooms in action, including ours. Please consider attending.
  • Friday, September 30 – Our first spelling test. Please practice with your child.
  • Monday, October 3 – Library Day – Please make sure your child brings back their library books.
  • Friday, October 7 – 1/2 day the release is at 12:05 and it’s PAJAMA DAY!!! Fundraiser – Students pay $1 and wear pajamas all day! Yay!

English Language Arts

Writing

Throughout the school year, we will have formal writing instruction: Writer’s Workshop. We will be writing a narrative for the first time to get a baseline assessment of what the students know this week. After this week, I will have writer’s workshops sessions.

Reading

I have finished our Developmental Reading Assessments. We will start reading groups soon. I will see how they fit into our day. When the book bag comes home in your child’s backpack, please let your child read to you. Sign the literacy log card. Send them back the next day.

Spelling

The rhyming words have a short a vowel sound and 5 high frequency words. High frequency words are words that appear most often in print. The goal is for your child to recognize them immediately when reading instead of “sounding them out”.

  1. pat
  2. bat
  3. hat
  4. can
  5. ran
  6. fan
  7. had
  8. mad
  9. and
  10. go
  11. the
  12. see
  13. she
  14. ? Something that rhymes with pat
  15. ? Something that rhymes with can
  16. ? Something that rhymes with had

Math

We have a topic quiz on Monday. This will be on adding to find the sum and also figuring out missing addends.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday your child will be identifying the greater number in a number sentence and then counting up or counting on by 1, 2, or 3.

We will have another topic quiz on Friday.

Topic quizzes are formative assessments that test your child’s understand of mathematics concepts in small chunks.

Social Studies

Last week, we learned about rules at school. Then we talked about rules at home. Some are the same. All rules help us to get along with one another. This week we will learn about the word consequence. We will discuss consequences at school and consequences at home. Then we will learn about the concept of Power with Authority and Power without Authority.

Power with Authority = people who have the right to make the rules and enforce the consequences. (Mom, Dad, guardians, principals, teachers, etc.)

Power without Authority = people who do not have the right to tell you what to do. (Bullies, strangers, sometimes your peers.)

Thank you so much for your support. Have a great week. If you have any questions, please email me at kortej@dearbornschools.org

Mrs. Korte

Newsletter for the Week of September 19-23, 2022

The resource we use for our English Language Arts is called Benchmark. The first 20 days are a review for success. We are finishing up this review in the next 2 weeks. We will pause our review on Monday and Tuesday, because we are going to take our Reading and Math NWEA. Please encourage your first grader to take their time. I will do the same. Remember, I cannot help your first grader, but we can use the results to guide our learning this year.

By the way, if a form for free lunch came home in the blue take home folder, please send it back as soon as possible. Thank you.

Class Library Day Window Poster by yearthreewithruby | TpT

We get to go to the library this Monday. To check out a book, your child must have all their borrowed books returned. There are a few first graders with books out from the summer. Please take a peek around your house. These are the titles checked out by a few families.

  • Dirty Larry
  • Geronimo Stilton
  • Star Wars: The Force Awakens
  • Plant A Rainbow
  • Splat and the Cool School Trip
  • Madeline
  • Snowballs
  • Creepy Carrots
  • Only You
  • I Spy Little Animals
Mark Your Calendar! - Stamp Candy | Calendar clipart, Calendar, Clip art
  • Monday, September 19 – NWEA reading and we go to the Library to check out a new book.
  • Tuesday, September 20 – NWEA math
  • Wednesday, September 21 – LATE START – School begins at 9:55
  • Thursday, September 22 – Parent Education Meeting at 9:30 in the Media Center. Please consider attending.
Each day is a new beginning, I know that the only way to live my life is to  try to do what is right....and to put my trust in God." Queen Elizabeth

English Language Arts (Reading, Writing, Spelling)

We will be taking the Reading NWEA on Monday. We will try our best on this fall assessment.

We will be reviewing the letters Kk, Hh, Bb, Uu, Rr, Gg, Ee. We review the sounds and how it is written. We also connect the letter and sound to a real item.

We will be learning about syllables or word parts. Understanding how many syllables a word will help your child when reading and writing longer words.

We are working on writing without worries. I am modeling how to write about a topic. My goal is to get the kids to start writing about a topic without worrying about “how to spell” a word.

Math

Math Vocabulary:

  • sum = The sum is the answer to an addition sentence. It is the total or whole.
  • addend = The parts in an addition sentence.

We will be analyzing number stories (word problems) and deciding how to solve them based on the information. I call them number stories, because calling them word problems can make them seem hard. They are not hard if you can then about them in a positive way and work out the answer step by step.

We will also be working on unknown or missing addends. We will know the sum and one of the addends.

Thank you for monitoring the math homework. It makes a huge difference in your child’s understanding of math. Remember, it must be written by your child.

Social Studies

We will start Social Studies this week. We just learned about the Constitution of the United States because Constitution Day was on Saturday. The Constitution is the highest law of the land. We wrote our own Classroom Constitution. It is the rules for our classroom. Our rules are to be respectful, responsible, and safe. We do that with integrity and honesty.

This week we will learn how rules help us get along with one another. We will also learn about power with authority and power without authority. We will learn about the different people who have power with authority (mom, dad, grandma, babysitter, principal, teacher) and the people who try to have power without authority (bully, strangers)

Thank you for all of your support. Mrs. Korte