First Grade Feature: September 2020

Friday, September 25, 2020

Weekly Update

Happy Friday! Woohoo!

Thank you all so much for another wonderful week of learning with your child! We are still jumping hurdles, but please know that YOU are appreciated! Please take the time to review the information below. On Monday we will begin using Seesaw...YAY!

Daily Lesson Plans:

Click here to access next week’s daily lesson plans. Please remember to review the Parent Lesson plans the day/night before class. We are including some printable activities, as we feel some activities away from the screen are very important for first graders. We understand that not everyone may have access to a printer, so please feel free to modify any worksheet activities with a notebook and pencil.

Fall Literacy Assessments:

Our assessments began this week and I appreciate everyone who took the time out of their busy schedule to support your child in logging onto their assessment meeting! We need to finish our PALS assessments this coming week, so if you have not signed up for a time, please see the information below:

The two required assessments your child will complete are the PALS (Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening) and the DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment). You will need to sign up for a 30-minute time slot for your child’s PALS assessment. If your child needs more than 30 minutes for their assessment, we will prompt you to sign-up for another time to finish assessing. September 22nd to October 2nd will be our PALS assessments and October 5th to October 16th will be the DRA assessments. I will send out another sign-up for the DRA at a later date. There will be some time slots on our sign-up that are during our whole group synchronous learning. Those assessments will be administered by one of our wonderful resource teachers at Pinebrook. Lessons will be recorded for your child to watch during their afternoon asynchronous time. We ask that you be present during your child’s assessments to help support technology and logging your child into the Google Meet being used for the assessments, but know that the assessment piece will need to be completed by your child only. We need to accurately determine your child’s strengths and instructional needs. This will help us provide direction for our instruction. One piece of the assessment includes a whole-group spelling inventory, which will require you to take a picture of your child’s writing and sharing it via Remind or email. We appreciate your support in advance!

Click here to sign-up for your child’s PALS assessment time slot!

Spelling Paper for PALS Assessment:

If you have access to a printer, please click here to print the spelling assessment sheet for your child’s spelling test on Wednesday. If you do not have access to a printer, a notebook numbered 1-16 will work just fine! After taking the test, I ask that you take a picture of their assessment and send it to me via Remind or email. Please remember, this is an independent task that will help guide my instruction. Please do not help your child spell or sound out words, or correct their spelling after the assessment.

Independent Reading:

We are now implementing Reading Workshop in our daily schedule! Part of our workshop includes independent reading time. Students should have 3-5 books to read during this time. If your children are in daycare and do not have access to books there, please be sure to pack 3-5 books for them to use.

Supply Reminders:

We kindly ask that you remind your child to not use the provided handwriting paper and the Scholastic News magazines until instructed to do so. We will be using those materials for instructional purposes in the near future. Thank you!

At-Home Learning Spaces:

We survived the first three weeks of distance learning! This has been a HUGE adjustment for all of us and I understand that many of us are still adjusting to a new routine and schedule. As we continue to make this adjustment, I would like to give a friendly reminder that we need to treat our time from 8:10 am-2:30 pm each day as a normal school day. Unfortunately, this is our new normal and as soon as we can make that adjustment and model that for our students, they will also be able to begin to adjust. When thinking about a learning space at home for your child, please select an area where your child has a desk/table and comfortable chair to sit in. I also suggest having a basket or bin for your child to keep their school supplies/materials in next to their learning space, so they do not need to constantly be getting things in another room. Their learning space should also be quiet and free from distractions.

Please click here for some helpful tips on setting up an at-home learning space!

If you need any support or suggestions, please feel free to reach out!

Writing Booklets:

We included five writing booklets in student supply bags last week. These will be used during Writing Workshop. Click here to access more writing paper for your student if needed.

Scholastic News Payment:

Final Reminder! Payments due September 30th

In first grade we will be using Scholastic News magazines. They are weekly magazines that help build reading skills and increase science and social studies knowledge. They also align to our first grade curriculum and are interactive for our students. There are 4 issues each month. In order to continue ordering a class subscription, first grade teachers are asking for $7.00 per student. This year all Scholastic News payments will be accepted online. Your child received their first set of Scholastic News magazines in their school supply pickup bag. The online payment process will open on Tuesday, September 8th and run through Wednesday, September 30th. To make your payment, you can visit the Pinebrook webpage and and click on the online payments tab to access the parent portal for online payments, or you can click here to access the online payment portal. We will discuss a safe way to distribute these to our students every month with Mr. Thiessen.

Seesaw:

This year we’re going to use Seesaw to share our learning. Please join our class Miss Drumheller's 1st Grade today using your child's Chromebook!

If you’re using Seesaw for the first time:

Find Seesaw on LCPSGo
Choose "I’m a Student"
Type in the code: BCHU WIPL. This code expires on September 30, 2020
Finish creating your account using your school Google account or email address (StudentIDNumber@lcps.org and password is your child's birthday MM/DD)

If you’ve used Seesaw before and have an account:

Find Seesaw on LCPSGo
Choose "I’m a Student"
Sign in using your school Google account or email address (StudentIDNumber@lcps.org and password is your child's birthday MM/DD)
Click on your profile icon on the top left
Click on the +Join Class button
Type in the code: BCHU WIPL. This code expires on September 30, 2020

I’m excited to share our learning in Seesaw this year!

Support Center:

Please click here to view a short video about how to submit a trouble ticket for technology issues. This could be trouble with your Chromebook device or LCPS Go applications!

Scholastic Book Club:

Dear Family,

Now more than ever it is so important for your child to have books in the home. Plus our class gets FREE books with every order!

When you checkout, make sure you have your books shipped to your home!

Thank you for encouraging the love of reading!

PS: Feel free to forward the class page link to extended family who may want to support your child's reading.

Class Code: PB4G4

I hope you have a super weekend! Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or feedback.

Friday, September 18, 2020

Weekly Update

Happy Friday!

I hope you all had a fabulous week! Take the time for lots of rest and relaxation this weekend! We will have beautiful weather and it will be perfect to spend some time outdoors! :)

Daily Parent Lesson Plans:

Below are the links for next week's parent lesson plans. Please remember to review the Parent Lesson plans the day/night before class. We are including some printable activities, as we feel some activities away from the screen are very important for first graders. We understand that not everyone may have access to a printer, so please feel free to modify any worksheet activities with a notebook and pencil.

Permission Click:

If you have not yet done so, please complete the Permission Click that was shared with you this week. Many of the resources we are hoping to begin using next week. If you have any questions about the permissions we are asking for, please let me know!

Independent Reading:

We will begin our Reading Workshop next week. Part of our workshop includes independent reading time. Students should have 3-5 books to read during this time. If your children are in daycare and do not have access to books there, please be sure to pack 3-5 books for them to use.

Fall Literacy Assessments:

Next week your child will begin to participate in our fall literacy assessments. The two required assessments your child will complete are the PALS (Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening) and the DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment). You will need to sign up for a 30-minute time slot for your child’s PALS assessment. If your child needs more than 30 minutes for their assessment, we will prompt you to sign-up for another time to finish assessing. September 22nd to October 2nd will be our PALS assessments and October 5th to October 16th will be the DRA assessments. I will send out another sign-up for the DRA at a later date. There will be some time slots on our sign-up that are during our whole group synchronous learning. Those assessments will be administered by one of our wonderful resource teachers at Pinebrook. Lessons will be recorded for your child to watch during their afternoon asynchronous time. We ask that you be present during your child’s assessments to help support technology and logging your child into the Google Meet being used for the assessments, but know that the assessment piece will need to be completed by your child only. We need to accurately determine your child’s strengths and instructional needs. This will help us provide direction for our instruction. One piece of the assessment includes a whole-group spelling inventory, which will require you to take a picture of your child’s writing and sharing it via Remind or email. We appreciate your support in advance!

Click here to sign-up for your child’s PALS assessment time slot!

Scholastic News Payment:

Supply Reminders:

At-Home Learning Spaces:

We survived the first two weeks of distance learning! This has been a HUGE adjustment for all of us and I understand that many of us are still adjusting to a new routine and schedule. As we continue to make this adjustment, I would like to give a friendly reminder that we need to treat our time from 8:10 am-2:30 pm each day as a normal school day. Unfortunately, this is our new normal and as soon as we can make that adjustment and model that for our students, they will also be able to begin to adjust. When thinking about a learning space at home for your child, please select an area where your child has a desk/table and comfortable chair to sit in. I also suggest having a basket or bin for your child to keep their school supplies/materials in next to their learning space, so they do not need to constantly be getting things in another room. Their learning space should also be quiet and free from distractions.

Please click here for some helpful tips on setting up an at-home learning space!

If you need any support or suggestions, please feel free to reach out!

Writing Booklets:

We included five writing booklets in student supply bags this week. These will be used during Writing Workshop. Click here to access more writing paper for your student if needed.

As always, if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or feedback, please reach out!

Friday, September 11, 2020

Weekly Update

Good Evening!

Happy Friday! We made it through the first week of distance learning! There were definitely some challenges along the way and will continue to be more, but we will come out on top! You have no idea how much I appreciate all of your patience this week! You are all my heroes at home helping support your child with their learning!

I have a lot of information to share with you again, and I apologize in advance for the lengthy amount of information. It will not always be like this! So, please read the information in entirety sometime over the weekend.

Daily Lesson Plans for Next Week:

These plans are meant for parents or anyone supervising students during learning. These may also be helpful to share with daycares. Student schedules can be found in Schoology in the “Assignments” page.

Student Chromebook Quick Cards

We understand that the student quick cards that came with your child’s Chromebook device may become lost or damaged throughout the year. Your student relies on their quick card to log onto their computer. Please click here to view directions to print a new quick card for your child.

Accessing Google Documents

Many parents are requesting access to our weekly student documents with their personal accounts. Due to safety reasons, they have been locked only for student access. Please make sure students are logged into their Google account to view schedules and other documents on Google.

Dry Erase Board Pickup

Students may come pick up their dry erase boards on Thursday, September 17th. I will send out the specific time next week.

Student Supply Pickup 2nd Round

If you were unable to pick up your student’s supply bag last week, you may come to pick it up on Thursday, September 17th 3:00-6:00 p.m.

Specials (Asynchronous and Synchronous):

Please understand that when students have asynchronous specials, they will not be on a live Google Meet with their specialist teacher. Students will need to visit the Schoology page for that special to participate in the asynchronous activity for that day. When students have a synchronous (live) special, they are expected to participate.

Logging Off Meets for Breaks and Specials:

We ask that your child logs off of our class Google Meet when going to specials or breaks. Some students have stayed on our Google Meets and we are not there to monitor behaviors. For safety reasons, each child will need to log off of our Google Meet at specials time and not re-enter until after their break at 10:30. Thank you!

Google Meet and Schoology Support:

Many of our young students still struggle with the technology pieces of our virtual learning, which is completely understandable for first grade students. We ask that there be an available adult around to support your child when transitioning to specials and breaks until they learn how to use the technology independently. This should only take a few minutes each day. Our students want to participate in specials and don’t know how to join the meets and activities. Also, it would be beneficial to sit down with your child and show them how to access LCPS Go and Schoology from their Chromebook device. The more that we teach them and show them, the more independent they will become. There have been times that I have tried to share my screen to show the students how to access what they need, but it is difficult for them to follow along. If you have any questions about using the technology, please let me know and I would be happy to help!

Virtual Meeting Expectations:

Social Emotional Learning Home Link:

This year our first grade students are participating in our social emotional learning curriculum. This takes place each morning in our morning meetings. Each week, there is a provided home learning piece that shares what your child will be learning about during their morning meeting and how you can support this social emotional learning at home. Please click here to view our Week 2 home link.

Scholastic News Payment:

In first grade we will be using Scholastic News magazines. They are weekly magazines that help build reading skills and increase science and social studies knowledge. They also align to our first grade curriculum and are interactive for our students. There are 4 issues each month. In order to purchase a class subscription, first grade teachers are asking for $7.00 per student. This year all Scholastic News payments will be accepted online. Your child received their first set of Scholastic News magazines in their school supply pickup bag. Please do not have your child complete their Scholastic News magazines at this point. We will have them built into our weekly schedules. Thank you!

The online payment process will open on Tuesday, September 8th and run through Wednesday, September 30th. To make your payment, you can visit the Pinebrook webpage and and click on the online payments tab to access the parent portal for online payments, or you can click here to access the online payment portal. We will discuss a safe way to distribute these to our students every month with Mr. Thiessen.

Remind:

Please sign up for our class Remind! Remind is a wonderful tool that allows me to contact you quickly. You can download the app to receive messages via text or you can even use it on your web browser. You can text @pnb1drum to 81010 to join or by visiting this link: remind.com/join/pnb1drum

Google Meet Code: pnb1drumheller

Miss Drumheller Google Meet

** Please remember that your child needs to be logged onto their student Chromebook device to access our Google Meets.

Class Directory and Parent Survey:

Please take the time to complete our class directory and parent survey! Our class directory is optional, and will be shared out to our classroom families once all who would like to participate have completed their submission. Please complete by Friday, September 11th if you are participating! Also, you can access the parent survey here. This survey includes questions that will help me better understand your family, child, and home dynamic. In order to support your child in the best way possible, it is important for me to understand the various factors that have shaped your child into the beautiful person they are today! I am not only here for your child, I am here for you as well. We are all in this together, as a team! I look forward to learning more about you and your child!

Please Subscribe to My Blog!

Please take a moment to subscribe to my blog by entering your email address in the box to the right that says "Follow by Email." You will receive a confirmation email to verify your subscription. Please click the link in the email to verify your email address. You will then receive an automatic notification each time I have added a new post. I will post my weekly parent communication blog post every Friday by 5:00 p.m., so you have the weekend to review upcoming class information for the following week.

First Grade Feature Classroom Blog

I hope you all have the most wonderful weekend! I hope we have some sunshine!

Please reach out with and questions, comments, concerns, or feedback.

Thursday, September 3, 2020

Welcome Back! First Grade Information

Hello Families!

Thank you for joining us on Monday for Back to School Night! It was wonderful to be able to share information with you about distance learning this year. We are excited to make this year special for your child and their first grade experience! We know that it will take lots of patience and many helping hands, but we are all in this together!

Distance Learning Class Schedule:

You can find our class schedule by visiting our Schoology page! There is an A week and a B week schedule. We will begin our school year with the A week schedule! You can also access our schedule by clicking here.

Scholastic News Payment:

In first grade we will be using Scholastic News magazines. They are weekly magazines that help build reading skills and increase science and social studies knowledge. They also align to our first grade curriculum and are interactive for our students. There are 4 issues each month. In order to purchase a class subscription, first grade teachers are asking for $7.00 per student. This year all Scholastic News payments will be accepted online. Your child received their first set of Scholastic News magazines in their school supply pickup bag. Please do not have your child complete their Scholastic News magazines at this point. We will have them built into our weekly schedules. Thank you!

School Supply Bag Materials:

Today your child received their teacher supplied school materials. Please take the time to review the information on the pink information page carefully to ensure that materials are being used appropriately. Many of the materials we will not use until the start of school or a few weeks into the school year. We understand that our students are excited to start using their supplies, but we ask to wait so they last throughout the school year.

***Our dry erase boards are currently missing from your school supply material bags. They were ordered last week and did not arrive in time. We will provide further information about dry erase boards when they arrive.

To view a digital information page about our provided school supplies, please click here.

Raz-Kids Code: hdrumheller

This is a digital reading room located in LCPS.GO that students can use during independent reading. After we complete our first literacy assessments, I will be able to assign students to appropriate reading levels. For now, they are welcome to go in and explore on their own! My suggestion would be to start with books between level A-D. If your student used Raz- Kids in Kindergarten, their account has now changed to a first grade account. You will find helpful directions and a login card in the supply bag you picked up today. Please pay close attention to the teacher username and your student’s password, as this has changed since Kindergarten.

Dreambox:

School URL: https://play.dreambox.com/login/kwah/pinebrooke

School Code: kwah/pinebrooke

Class Code: 27641

Dreambox is a fantastic math resource located in LCPS.GO. It automatically sets the pace for learning based on student’s performance. I am also able to go in and check progress which will help guide my teaching. You can find this under the folder “Math” in LCPS.GO.

Epic!

You can access our classroom Epic! Account through LCPS Go or by entering our classroom code: rkd3856

Schoology:

We ask as a first grade team, that you please take the time to access Schoology sometime before Tuesday morning. Your child’s Schoology page will provide them classroom information. Your child can access Schoology from their assigned Chromebook device and by entering LCPS Go.

Google Meet Code: pnb1drumheller

Miss Drumheller Google Meet

** Please remember that your child needs to be logged onto their student Chromebook device to access our Google Meets.

No Specials on Tuesday!

Students will not have specials on Tuesday, September 8th. Teachers will not be providing instruction at that time, so students may use their assigned specials time as a break. We will begin a normal specials schedule on Wednesday, September 9th.

Class Directory and Parent Survey:

Please Subscribe to My Blog!

First Grade Feature Classroom Blog

BTSN Video:

We understand that some of you may have not been able to attend our Back to School Night virtual meeting, so you are able to view our recorded meeting by clicking here!

Weekly Parent Plans:

As a first grade team, we have put together weekly parent plans so parents can help support their child with their daily routines and understanding what is expected of their child each day. On the plan, you will see the topic(s) we will be covering in each subject area, times your child will need to be meeting live with their teacher, and a list of materials needed for the lessons.

Tuesday, September 8th

Wednesday, September 9th

Thursday, September 10th

Friday, September 11th

As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions, comments, or concerns!

Have a wonderful long weekend! See you Tuesday!!