Mr. Powell's Blog

The Transition Has Been Made

2010-10-20T16:20:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Well, this is day three of my new second grade class. It was the best day so far. The students are getting use to me and I am learning more about how to meet their needs.

Each student needs to improve their reading, writing and math skills.

I am trying very hard to find extra time each day to encourage reading. I am working on improving my library and bringing in a large variety of reading materials.

I am excited by what could happen in this class. I just hope I can reach each child.

Important Information Coming Home Wednesday

2010-10-12T18:22:00.000-07:00

Hello,
Just a heads up....I'll be sending a flyer home on Wednesday with some important classroom news. Please look for it in your child's backpack.

Thanks

Week in Review

2010-10-08T16:05:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone, (the two of you),

We had a fun week this week. My favorite part of the week occurred on Friday. We were learning about rights and responsibilities. We had a great discussion of what a right is and what a responsibility is. (ask you child what his/her responsibilities are at home and at school...too cute).

Then we used a 'complex' sentence frame to make complete sentences. Here is the sentence frame:

Children have a responsibility to _______________ when __________________ because___________________.

For example: Children have a responsibility to try their best when Mr. Powell is teaching a lesson because they want to become smarter.

See if your child can make up his/her own sentence frame.

Enjoy

Welcome

2010-10-07T15:49:00.001-07:00

A big "Welcome" to our new followers.....That makes a total of 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay!!!!

Welcome

Fluency

2010-10-06T15:55:00.000-07:00

Hello Family Members,

I have just completed a recent fluency 'test' for all students. I have a wide range of reading abilities in my class. Please read with your child every night. This will help each and every child reach grade level expectations by the end of the year.

On a good note; I have students who are reading over fifty words per minute right now.

On a bad note; I have students who are reading 2 words per minute now.

We ALL have our work cut out for us this year.

Please join me in helping these kids this year.

Many Thank

Sight Words They Should Know Quickly:

2010-09-29T16:10:00.000-07:00

he, is, you, play, have, , I , can, we, like, do, this, said, are, she, and, has, little, go, to, see, the, look, where, what, for, with, me, was, here

Make sure your child can read these words quickly and easily.

Thanks

I Just Ordered 100 Dollars of Books...for the class!!

2010-09-24T19:03:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

I just ordered 100.00 dollars of books for my classroom to help build a love of reading. These books will not be kept in a safe bookshelf away from little tiny hands.......oh no!!!!!.......these books will go right into the hands of my eager 1st graders.

Through the www.adoptaclassroom.org organization I have had families donate to our room. Through the generous donations of these families (only 2 so far) we have been able to add to our classroom library.

I can't wait to see how excited the students will be when I bring in that box of new books and show them and distribute them to each student. There is nothing more wonderful then getting a brand new book and reading it for the first time.

So...thank you to my two families that have donated so far....and please consider donating yourself. Many Thanks

Fun ABC video/song hip hop

2010-09-24T10:41:00.000-07:00

The kids LOVE this. Play it for them and get them singing and dancing.

Week in Review for Sept 10, 2011

2010-09-10T16:39:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Well we finished two weeks of school!!!!!!!!! The students are really improving so well and so quickly.

I have very high behavioral expectations and they are really meeting them.

Here are a few highlights for the week:

In our reading program we are working on identifying the beginning, middle and end of a story. Students are speaking in full and complete sentences using academic language.

Encourage your child to speak in full and complete sentences.

Here are some sight words they should know and words that we have reviewed:

I, can, we, like, see, the, go, to, have, a, play, you, he, is, she, and, said, are

In Math: We have been practicing reading and writing number from 0 to 100.
We have been identifying the different parts of numbers. For example; 8 is 3 and 5.

This coming week we are going to practice comparing groups; greater than and less than.

Thanks so much for your help and support.

Welcome Back 2010

2010-09-03T16:10:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to school. The first full week of school is now over. I sit in my empty classroom, completely exhausted and prepare for another week.

I have met some wonderful parents this week. Please make sure we meet face to face.

The class is working very hard and we have already started learning many new things.

Please check this blog and 'follow' it for continued updates and information.

Remember, no school on Monday.

See you on Tuesday.

Photos of Perfect Attendance

2009-11-13T21:33:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos taken for our October Perfect Attendance Celebration.
Students with perfect attendance were invited to wrap their teachers up with TP into mummies.
Here you see me being wrapped up. It was a lot of fun and the kids did a pretty good job of wrapping me up quickly.
Next month????? Who knows what will happen?

The Week in Review

2009-11-07T18:24:00.000-08:00

Ahhhh, the week is over and I just wanted to let families know about some of the learning that took place this past week.

In our phonics/Language Arts lessons we have learned three new digraphs: the 'th', 'sh' and 'ch' (and 'tch'). Using Open Court these sounds correspond to the sounds spelling cards called: thimble card, shell card and chipmunk card (respectively).

In math,we are continuing to work on adding and subtracting numbers as well as identifying whether a story problem is a 'joining' story, a 'separating' story or a 'comparing' story.

Enjoy your weekend,

Scott Powell

Nouns: Thinking Maps

2009-11-01T18:22:00.000-08:00

You might have hear your child talk about thinking maps. Thinking maps are simply a group of graphic organizers designed to help children with specific thought processes. When used consistently in classes and across grade levels, thinking maps help children organize their thinking and ultimately assist with writing and the organization of writing.

Above is a picture of a thinking map we did in school recently designed to help children identify different types of nouns.

We discussed what a noun is; a person, place or thing, and then we looked through magazines to identify what is and what is not a noun.

Take a look at our class generated thinking map, called a circle map (used to define whatever is in the center of the circle map).

Then take a look at some student generated circle maps.

Later, I'll show you a map called the tree map. The tree map is used to categorize items. We'll soon use it to categorize different types of nouns.

I hope you enjoy seeing this.

If you'd like more information, please let me know.

Thanks,

Scott Powell

Information

2009-10-30T06:37:00.000-07:00

Mark your calendars: The third week of November is Parent Teacher Conferences. I'll be sending home information regarding this in early November.

Also: The computer graded math tests are completely WRONG! I will hand score the tests and give you a REAL test score for your child ASAP. So sorry about this.

Have a great weekend.

Scott Powell

News

2009-10-22T17:27:00.000-07:00

Congratulations!! Our class has successfully placed an online order from scholastic book clubs.

I sent home a username and password to families. Now families can order books directly from scholastic.

The books are good quality, literature based books. And they're oh so inexpensive.

Thank you to families for adopting this new way of ordering books.

Thanks,
Scott Powell

Information

2009-10-19T10:19:00.000-07:00

Hello Families,

I just wanted to touch base with all of you.

In class students are preparing for their report cards which will be ready the third week of November.

To help your child, you can read every night. Students should be reading with families for about 20 minutes every night.

Practice sight words every night too. By the end of first grade the students should be reading about 300 sight words quickly and correctly.

Also, make sure your child can complete a 100 chart correctly too.

Many thanks,

Scott Powell

Back to School Night

2009-09-11T06:37:00.001-07:00

Thank you all for coming to Back To School Night.

If you have any questions for problems, please let me know.

Please sign up on this blog to receive emails for blog updates. I will be putting spelling words, vocabulary words and enrichment ideas on this blog.

I will also be place important information on this blog and you can communicate with me through this blog.

Again,

Thanks for visiting school last night.

Scott Powell

Quick Notes

2009-05-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

The school year is nearly over.

Please make sure you turn in your public library books.

You can visit the public library all summer long and enjoy their free reading program with tons of prizes.

Practice reading every day.

Report cards will go home only on the last day of school.
If you can't come to school on the last day of school, the report cards will be in your student's file.

Any questions, just see me.

Many Thanks,

Scott Powell

Almost Over!

2009-05-15T14:13:00.000-07:00

Hello, The school year is almost over! Can you believe it?
All the students are working so hard and trying their best.

Please remember that even though your child is reading wonderfully now...he/she must continue to practice reading over the summer vacation.

They must continue to improve their fluency ability to prepare for second grade.

Consider taking your child to the Desert Hot Springs Public Library located on West Dr. The public library offers free reading programs that the children will LOVE.

Please chat with me after school if you would like some more ideas on how to encourage reading over the summer.

Many Thanks,

Scott Powell

220 Sight Words

2009-04-24T14:09:00.000-07:00

I will be testing students to see who can read all 220 of our first grade sight words.

Right now, 4 students can read all 220 sight words.

I will be sending home practice sheets to those students who need to practice.

Please practice these words with your child.

Voy a mandar las palabras de vista a ustedes para practicar con sus hijos. Los estudiantes tienen que aprender estas palabras.
Gracias por su ayuda.

Mr. Powell

Math Practice

2009-04-02T15:45:00.001-07:00

Hello All,

Just a quick reminder: each child should be adding numbers with sums to twenty quickly and hopefully without using any helpers...like fingers or counters.

This will help prepare them for second grade.

Practice every night.

Many Thanks,

Scott Powell

Vocabulary Words

2009-03-26T16:15:00.000-07:00

Here are some new vocabulary words to practice with your child:

inquire
seek
swerve
drift
mighty

Conferences:
Thanks to all those parents who came to report card conferences. I had all but one family make it to conferences. Way to go!

New Vocabulary

2009-03-11T16:22:00.000-07:00

Here are the vocabulary words for this week:

cycle
underneath
spin
lovely
transform

Test your child. Do they know how to use these words?

Report Card Conferences

2009-03-11T16:18:00.000-07:00

Report card conferences will be held all next week, starting on Tuesday, March 17, 2009.

All week students will be released from school at 1:00.

Please make sure your child is picked up promptly at 1:00 each day.

If you can not make your appointment, please call the school at 215-7244.

Wenzlaff Elementary School

Thank you,

Mr. Powell

Updates

2009-02-27T14:13:00.000-08:00

Hello Families,

It seems like I find less and less time to update everyone on this blog. I'm so sorry about that.

We have been learning about trying, working hard and not giving up.

If you have some time you might wish to read some of these books with your child:

1. Frog and Toad, The Kite, by Arnold Lobel
2. The Itsy Bitsy Spider
3. Frog and Toad, The Garden, by Arnold Lobel

All of these books will help you and your child discuss the theme of: Keep Trying.

I just completed our most recent reading fluency test. I'm so happy to say that nearly half of the class is reading at or above grade level proficiency at this time.

I'm so proud of them and all the work you have been doing at your homes.

Many, Many Thanks,

Scott Powell