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Our Mission Statement


School Supply List











 





 


 

 














 





 

















January Artworks


















2003-2004 School
Year


"Take Me to Work Day" Writings

Dinosaurs
Five Star Writers!
Our "Acts of Kindness"
Art Works Presentation 4
Our "Reading Buddy" Pumpkins!


Get Well Messages to
America

webmaster: n.anding
(andingna@vvsd.org)
updated:
October 21, 2008
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It is hard to believe we have
completed the 2007-2008 year of First Grade. I would
like to take this opportunity to thank you, the parents, for the
honor of working with your children. I am glad we were
together.
Please remember to continue
reinforcing your first grader's reading, math, and writing skills by
having your child read and do math daily and at least one day per
week have your child write and illustrate about an experience or a
book they are reading. This will help your child's comprehension
skills. Don't forget to remind your child to use his/her reading
strategies if he/she comes across a word he/she does not know. Also
reinforce the "Five Star Writing" framework: Your second grade
teachers will appreciate it in fall. DON'T FORGET OUR WEB
SITE! IT IS A GREAT RESOURCE FOR YOUR CHILDREN ON A RAINY DAY!
To ALL of my
first graders. .......



Here are the great leprechaun hunters looking for leprechauns
through, but of course, their leprechaun lookers!

.JPG)
Here are the first graders ready for Dr. Suess Family Book Night.
Horton hears a WHO?


Here are the first graders proudly
showing their great "sharing" spirit.
As a Valentine's Day service project,
the first graders made valentine's
cards and brought items in to send to
soldiers in Iraq and here in the states
who are still in training; just to let
them know we support them and
appreciate their sacrifice to keep us
safe and free!


Our Class with our special visitor, Chad
Greenway, Linebacker for the Minnesota Vikings Football Team.
Thank you, Chad!

Welcome to our web site.
MISSION STATEMENT:
First graders will work hard to "Meet"
their goal of being prepared for second grade.
They will follow through on all expectations in all areas of
curricula (reading, math, writing, science, social studies, health), not only as a first
grader, but as a student at Wood View: They will be
Responsible, Respectful, and Safe!
I
The key to success in first grade (or any grade) is “practice – practice – practice”
every night!
Your
child cannot be successful without us!
Check-out
all of the cool things we are doing. Just click on the left
menus!
ENJOY!
LANGUAGE ARTS
·
Level of Reading Ability
The standards-based
report is designed to give you as much information as possible for
you to be informed about your child’s progress in first grade.
Although math, science, social studies, health, art, music, physical
education, are very clearly defined curricula, reading is a
combination of several components which, when being utilized
successfully by your first grader, give him/her the power to be a
successful, life-long reader.
The table below gives you the extension of the “stages of readers”;
namely, correlations between the “stages”, “reading levels” (the
“just right” level at which a child can comfortably read with
comprehension) and “grades”:
|
Stages of Readers |
Reading Levels |
Grade |
|
I - Emergent |
1-4 |
Kindergarten |
|
II - Early |
5-16 |
First Grade |
|
III - Transitional |
17-28 |
Second Grade |
|
IV - Fluent |
29-44 |
Third-Fourth Grades |
The table below represents the district benchmarks (expectations)
your child must meet per quarter to be successful in first grade and
be prepared for second grade. These benchmarks are in
alignment with the State of Illinois standards (student
expectations), which drives our instruction. These are the “Meets”
benchmarks for each quarter of first grade. If your child is
reading below OR above each of the quarterly levels, the benchmarks
correlate (“Below, Warning, Exceeds”). As you will note, the
exiting first grade benchmark is level 16.
|
Quarter |
District Reading Level Benchmark (Meets) |
|
First – October |
3-4 |
|
Second - January |
7-8 |
|
Third - March |
11-12 |
|
Fourth - June |
15-16 |
Consequent to the above, on this quarter’s report card column,
“Level of Reading Ability”, you will now see your child’s specific
reading level data (as noted from both tables above) and the
corresponding standard: (W)arning, (B)elow, (M)eets, (E)xceeds.
In first grade, we utilize many resources and styles of reading to
address all types of “readers”. These resources include, the
use of a core reader: It’s purpose is to work on reading
strategies, readability, word work, comprehension, fluency, writing,
and extension activities that are relative to all first graders –
regardless of his/her reading level. Each story is
complimented with a variety of “leveled” readers to address each
child’s specific readability. The first graders have daily
opportunities to make independent reading choices during learning
centers and/or self-selected reading time to find a book he/she will
enjoy
reading at his/her reading level– not looking at pictures or
browsing. Our library of books ranges from levels 0 through30
(including chapter books); so, your child can find the book that is
“Just Right”!
In addition, we utilize “small group” leveled reading groups in our
classroom to build and reinforce skills in small group “learning
centers”. These “small group” centers are “reading level”
specific to each student: The are used to reinforce curricula
in all areas, i.e., reading, math, science, health, social studies,
art, computers, writing, etc.
You have also seen these “paper” books come home for your child to
read. Look on the back page of the booklets: They
indicate the level of the book.
Some of our leveled books are also used in “whole group”, curricula
activities and are used as a learning tool in curricula themes
(weather, animals, etc). Although some of the books may seem
“lower” than what your child is capable of reading, these
non-fiction (fact) books give your child “information” which is
relative to first grade curriculum (science, math, social studies,
health). The use of non-fiction (facts) books is a valuable
learning tool to build comprehension of text: Your child must
be able to understand AND retell what he/she has learned while
reading in several formats (verbal, written, etc.): This is the
well-rounded reader.
Further, your child meets in small “leveled” groups in the Wood View
Reading Room four day’s per week, 25 minutes per day. Between
me and three other reading teachers, we work on reading strategies,
word work, comprehension, fluency, writing, etc. These
small groups are driven by each student’s specific reading.
Your child is assessed every two weeks on his/her ability to read a
book at a certain level in the classroom AND the Reading Room
environment. Each level assesses a student’s ability to read,
use strategies to correct “word” errors, and comprehend (read with
meaning) what has been read. Use of reading strategies (What
Good Readers Do) to decode unknown words is essential to reading
success.
In any/all of the above environments, when your child is assessed on
his/her readability, if he/she demonstrates a reading accuracy of
95% or above and is able to verbally give information back about
what he/she has read, he/she is moved to the next reading level
(Yeah!). If a child struggled through reading the text and
made numerous reading errors (which he/she did not correct by using
reading strategies) he/she is maintained at his/her existing level:
Skills at that level are reinforced to build and strengthen the
knowledge base.
Although the categories below are listed separately on the report
card, they are also important components in your child’s reading
success.
It should be noted that although your child may be a solid reader,
this does not always mean he/she is using strategies to solve a word
or words he/she does not know when reading. Many “high”
readers tend to “skip” an unknown word rather than use strategies to
“figure it out”. This can have an impact on the
“comprehension” component of reading a story: When one just
skips a word, one loses the meaning of the text.
Consequently, the benchmarks (W, B, M, E) in the areas below may not
necessarily match your child’s “reading level”.
·
Uses Phonics & Word Structure Clues
o
daily oral assess of child’s use of reading strategies when reading
which includes
o
Knowledge of letter sounds, phonemes, alliterations, etc.
·
Identifies Story Elements (character, setting, plot,
problem, solution)
·
Reads with understanding/comprehension
(can independently read text and independently answers questions
about what he/she has read
·
Recognize high frequency/Vocabulary Words
Your child will be assessed on his/her
word recognition using the
Quarterly
“High Frequency Words” assessments:
Students are given the next quarter's high frequency word list.
Teachers use this method as a tool to evaluate the student's word
knowledge at an ending quarter (“post-test”) and a “pre-test”
of the student's knowledge for the upcoming quarter. Also,
this gives students the opportunity to show performance in the
"Exceeds" level. The first grade expectation is
that your child can read 212 high frequency/Vocabulary words.
Below are the quarterly benchmarks:

MATHEMATICS
-
Count numbers to 100.
-
Perform addition sums to 20.
-
Perform subtraction differences from 20.
-
Gather, organize, describe, and label graphs.
-
Identify even and odd numbers.
-
Recognize and extend patterns.
-
Problem Solve.
-
Money
(pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters)
-
Number Sense (greater - less than, more - less, least - most)
-
Describe fractions (1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/8, whole)
-
Describe chronological order (first, second, third, etc.)
-
Describe, label, and answer questions about graphs


READING/Writing/Language Arts
- By the end of the fourth quarter of first grade your child will be
expected to recognize 212 word wall words and apply them
appropriately in reading and writing. In reading, the
benchmark is independent read ing at a level 16 readability WITH
comprehension (ability to read "with meaning", i.e., able to
retell and answer questions about what he/she has read in several
formats, i.e., verbal, written, etc.). Oral fluency in reading
is also an expectation (reading smoothly, projecting voice, reading
with expression, etc.). Your child should be able to pick-up a
book and read without assistance, using the strategies as outlined
below to resolve a "word problem" he/she encounters during his/her
reading.
In writing, your first grader should
be consistently applying the elements of our "Five Star Writing"
framework", i.e, capital letters, word spacing, handwriting,
spelling, punctuation. He/She should be able to express
himself/herself in writing with 3-5 complete sentences on one topic with 1
beginning, 3 middle, and 1 ending sentence.
Refer to and use these
frameworks to guide your child in his/her reading and writing.

(click to
enter"Strategies" guideline)
(click to
view framework)
The first graders will be expected to
write a minimum of five, complete sentences (minimally) on a topic.
Using the "Five Star Writing" rubric, all elements of this framework
will be expected to be used appropriately and consistently.
Known words will be expected to be written correctly and will now be
assessed as Spelling. Writing
unknown words "phonemically" will be acceptable (saying,
hearing, and writing specific "letter" sounds within words is a
basis for writing words); however, all "heard" sounds will be
expected to be written.
What You Need To Know About Our Homework
Please check your child's
RED "Take Home" folder daily. All
communication between school and home as well as your child's work
is transported in this folder. Please make sure your child reads
everything in the "Reading Bag" to you: Please make sure you
sign your child's reading log.
Everything in the "Reading Bag is returned in the "Reading Bag" to
school in the RED "Take Home" folder.
Thanks for your support to help your child be successful in first
grade!
If you have any questions or require any further
information, please do not hesitate to contact me:
andingna@vvsd.org
(630-739-0185)
In
the meantime, I welcome you to first grade. I am excited to be
working with your child and you and look forward to a successful
year for all of our first graders!

The following are web sites that your
child can visit to reinforce/maintain the skills which we have
worked on all year:

Our
Reading Series Web Site
Fountaindale Libary
Our local library's web site gives
you all of the information you need to give your child the best gift
of all: The gift of lifelong reading. Fountaindale
Library's Summer Reading Program, "Super Heroes" is a well-rounded
program chock-full of great reading incentives and activities.
Click on the above link to check it out!
www.starfall.com
Excellent web language arts web
site encompassing letter/sound recognition, word work, reading,
comprehension, and writing activities. This web site
interfaces with the Starfall Journal-Level II workbook and "Little
Readers" workbook I distributed to your child at the end of the
year.
Between the Lions
Get Wild About Reading
This website is designed for parents and
kids to surf together. Stories from the popular PBS show are posted
online with links to associated games.

www.Iknowthat.com
Cross-curriculum web
site which has great, skill-builder activities. It is
categorized by grade level and curriculum. It is excellent for
all school-age members of the family.
PARENT RESOURCES
Helping Your Child To Read
with activities for children
from infancy through age 10
Please e-mail to
let us know what you think of our web site and our resources:
Your comments, feedback and suggestions are always welcome.
Below, we have
been honored with several honorable mentions and awards for web site
educational excellence. We appreciate the opportunity to
utilize the internet as another communication resource to strengthen
the school-home partnership.
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