First Grade - First School Project

Two weeks ago, Luke came home with his first major school project. He's already written a report on a president (he was assigned JFK). This time, he had to write a 5 sentence report about an animal of his choice and create a "3 dimensional representation of the animal's habitat." I took that to mean a shoe box diorama. I feel so nostalgic!  Luke chose the tiger as his animal.




Tigers live in the forest and like water. They also hunt wild boar for food. We tossed out a couple of ideas, like using pipe cleaners for the tree trunks (instead of sticks from outside) and using dyed rice for the grass, but otherwise, all ideas, cutting, drawing, and coloring were his work. We did help with some of the gluing (especially the back piece).  I think he did a great job!





Special thanks to my husband for remembering to take pictures of it before it left for school this morning, since I forgot to do it last night.

Currently feeling: so proud!

First Grade ITBS and CogAT Scores

Luke's first official standardized test scores came home this week. Frankly, they didn't tell us anything we don't already know about him. For the ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills), he was at or above the 50th percentile in 5 categories, but somewhat below the 50th percentile in 2 categories: Vocabulary and "Reading: Comprehension", two of his well known weaknesses. His two highest scores were in "Reading: Words" at 93rd percentile (even his teacher says he is exceptional at sounding out words) and, ironically, "Listening" at 83rd percentile. I must admit, I am incredibly curious as to how they test that one! Clearly not by how well he listens at home, but I've said all along that as long as he is doing those things at school, I'm (somewhat) okay with that. I know standardized tests don't tell the whole story, and I'm trying not to be ruffled that a couple of the categories were less than stellar. I keep hoping the whole reading thing will click soon; it's driving us all crazy.

He also took the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT). Again, nothing we don't already know. In fact, it sums him up quite perfectly! First, let me define the categories, copied from the handout they sent home with the scores:

• The Verbal Battery measures a child's ability to remember and transform sequences of English words, to understand them, and to make inferences and judgements about them.
• The Quantitative Battery tests the child's understanding of basic quantitative concepts and relationships that are essential for learning mathematics. Tasks measure both the understanding of relational concepts and the student's ability to discover relationships and to figure out a rule or principle that explains them.
• The Nonverbal Battery measures reasoning using pictures and geometric shapes. This reduces the impact of language on the student's score. The Nonverbal Battery also appraises the student's ability to use her/his cognitive resources in new situations.

Ready?

• Verbal Reasoning: 48th percentile
• Quantitative Reasoning: 65th percentile
• Nonverbal Reasoning: 94th percentile
• Composite National Age Percentile Rank: 77th percentile

Yep, that's pretty much Luke in a nutshell!

The only thing I am truly frustrated about regarding any of these scores is that I don't know how to help him improve in the areas where he is weakest. Most of the suggestions revolve around essentially "practice practice practice." Yeah, YOU come make him practice! I'm trying to encourage him and help him and *maybe* require him to do a teensy bit of reading on occasion, but I don't want to just make him loathe it by pushing too hard. If I have one more person tell me "he needs to be reading 20-30 minutes every day," I'm going to cut out his or her tongue! It's such a difficult balance between getting him the necessary practice and keeping our sanity. I suppose we will all survive, and I am confident he will eventually learn to read (and more importantly, comprehend) effectively, it's just not going to be easy or quick. I need to accept that, but it's hard for both DH and me. Keep your fingers crossed, for all of us!

Currently feeling: a little frustrated, but also very proud

Have Capitalization Rules Changed?

Graded papers come home from school every Thursday. We do our best to review each one. He worked hard doing them, and the teacher worked hard grading them. We also want to be aware of what he is struggling with, so we pay special attention to questions he missed on tests. Most of the time, I can figure out and understand why he got them wrong, and most of the time, it's not a big deal. Every once in a while, we see he is missing something a lot and try to work with him on whatever that issue might be.

But this week, we were both really confused. It was a multiple choice question asking which of the following had the correct capitalization for the holiday:

A: fourth of July
B: Fourth of July
C: Fourth Of July

Luke had marked answer B. The teacher had marked that as wrong and circled C as the correct answer. Um, I don't think so. At least, it wasn't that way when *I* was in school! Then again, they don't teach the Oxford comma anymore (which I obviously still use!), you shouldn't use two spaces after a period anymore (which I still do half the time), and Pluto isn't even a planet anymore, so what the heck do I know?

I poked around on the internet, and as best I could tell, "of" is correct. Then, I asked around on Facebook and Twitter. Admittedly, those are not always the most reliable sources, but I trust my friends, and if the rules *had* changed, one of them was bound to know it. Again, all agree that "of" is correct. Hmm. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it, but this was on a test! If he had the answer right, I wanted him to receive credit for it.

I certainly didn't want to sound angry or accusatory, so I sent a note to his teacher asking if there is a source showing that "Of" is correct. Maybe the key was wrong and she didn't really "read" the question, just graded them according to the key? Or maybe the rules really had changed and she could show me.

The test came back today, with a return note on it. She agreed that it was a grading mistake on her part and updated his score accordingly. Whew! I know my grammar isn't perfect, but it's nice to know I'm not losing my mind and things haven't changed *that* much since I was in school.

Currently feeling: relieved

First Grade Awards Day - Winter 2011

A note was sent home last week announcing that Luke would be receiving an award at First Semester Honors Day. The note didn't say what the award was for, but I suspected it was for his grades.



(Sorry for the blur; should have taken the big camera!) He was awarded a certificate for being on the Principal's Honor Roll - All A's and S's. Sounds really awesome, and it is, but keep in mind that about 2/3 of the First Grade was on the Principal's Honor Roll. Most of the remaining kids received an award for being on whatever Honor Roll covers A's and B's (can't recall the name right now). Then, the remaining few received "Academic Improvement" for bringing up their grades since the first of the year. Basically, every kid received something (or it sure seemed that way, which is fine). There were some other things, like Good Citizenship awards and one for having finished the First Grade Reading List (doubtful Luke will even get that one by the end of the year, which is fine).



I wanted to include this shot for a sense of scale. Notice how much taller he is than most of the others. But also notice on the far right! Yes, that is "Hermione", the little girl from our neighborhood that we photographed at Halloween and again at the First Grade musical program. She was more or less his height at Halloween. Now look at her! She's got 1-2 inches (3-5 cm) on him (though her shoes are also taller than his (I looked!)).

Well done, First Graders!!

Currently feeling: so proud

First Grade Musical

Remember the musical program put on by the Kindergarten classes last year? We were so very impressed! So when Luke came home a few weeks ago singing songs from the musical Oklahoma, I couldn't wait for this year's show! So imagine my surprise when the First Grade musical performance at the PTA meeting was so.... disappointing? There really isn't another word for it (well, there is, but I'm trying to be nice). Apparently, the former music teacher retired and they have someone new. I'm trying to resist the urge to send her video from last year and say "If they were capable of *this* in Kindergarten, then imagine what they can do now. You are squandering their capabilities; please give them more credit!" Also, instead of doing a single longer program for all of First Grade, they sent the classes up on stage 1 or 2 at a time to do "musical interpretation and assistance in reading." Translation: the music teacher read the book while the kids either "sang" the book's refrain (if there was one) or added sound effects. Yeah.



DH and I suspect that this was her master's thesis or something, how music can assist in reading. And I'm sure it can and does! But I really wanted something more, um, traditional when it was advertised as a "musical program." And naturally, Luke's group was the last to go, so all of the kids who had already performed (and their parents) were wiggly and not very respectful. I was not a happy camper. I know it's her first year, and I'm trying to cut her some slack, but I expect much more next year.



But he did look terribly adorable on stage. He almost got upset when it looked like all of the xylophone seats were taken, but there was one spot left, next to "Hermione" from Halloween (that's not her real name, but I think it's a good code name for her for now).

Also, I don't think the PTA has children. Otherwise, I can't imagine they would have started the program at 7PM (already too late, IMO, though I understand many parents can't be there any sooner), then the after school music program group performed (which was *much* better, given that it is still managed by the former music teacher), then the four groups of kids each performed one reading/song that lasted about 3 minutes, not to mention the extra time it took getting four groups of children on and off the stage. It was nearly 8PM by the time we left, WAY past my son's regular bedtime. Do normal children stay up that late? Maybe we're the weird ones putting him to bed around 7:30, but when he gets up at 6AM, he needs it! Here's hoping next year's program is better.

Currently feeling: underwhelmed

Luke The Giant

We were informed today that Luke is officially tied with another boy for the tallest person in all of 1st grade. That's about 100 kids! Given that he is on the 90th percentile height line for his age, that means there should have been at least a few more about his height or taller. Should be fun to see them all standing on stage singing at the PTA meeting next week.

Currently feeling: huge

Open House - First Grade

Today was open house at Luke's elementary school. They were a little better organized this year, splitting the arrival times up by last name so there wasn't such a huge crowd when we arrived at 8 AM. We showed proof of residency, paid our PTA dues and other required fees (don't get me started). And then it was off to meet his First Grade teacher!

I really like his teacher as a person. Mrs. C is young with a big smile and obviously a big heart. Guess it remains to be seen what she will be like as a teacher, but I think she will be great for Luke. She is both very sweet and very down to earth, which I think is a great combination for a 1st grade teacher. I am kicking myself for not taking any photos while we were there. I should have at least taken his picture sitting at his assigned desk. He looks so grown up sitting at a real desk! (They only used tables with chairs in Kindergarten.)

After the usual hi-how-are-you type pleasantries, the first words out of her mouth were "wow, he's big!" LOL She even had him test out the desk and chairs to make sure his knees would fit under! They did, with a couple of inches to spare, but his legs are so long that the tops of his thighs are angled up towards his knees when he sits in the super-short chairs. I give him less than a week before he's flipped his chair over backwards while sitting in it (he likes to tilt them back, especially when the chair is too small/short for him). Can't believe he starts back on Monday!

Currently feeling: ready (well, maybe he is; not sure I am)