Merry Christmas!!

                                

I hope everyone is having a wonderful break! We have been busy baking, wrapping, looking at Christmas lights and seeing friends we don’t get to see often enough.  Speaking of friends, I hope you enjoy these pictures of our fun December in Room 123.  Sorry I haven’t posted these earlier.  I miss my sweet firsties and can only imagine their excitement as Christmas Day is very close!!  I can’t wait to hear all the details from each little first grade friend!

December was certainly a wonderful time in our classroom! I am so blessed to get to spend each day with these precious children! I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas and a Wonderful 2012!

Christmas Hugs to all my sweet friends!!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

                          

We had a wonderful time last week learning, singing, reading, and making lots of Christmas crafts! The children did a great job tracing, cutting and putting their elves and reindeer together.  We did these projects in stages which made it much more kid friendly. Are they not presh-ious, :) just like the children!

We are not finished yet! Many more exciting activities happening in Room 123 for the next two weeks.

A huge thank you to everyone who has sent in PJ’s for our Pajama Drive! We will conclude our collection this Friday and celebrate with our own PJ Party! So don’t forget to wear your pajama’s on Friday.  No slippers please.

Also, thank you for sending in your holiday party donation money and the pencils! Please mark your calendar for Thursday, December 15th from 1:30 – 2:15 as we celebrate the season in Room 123.

Many children are out of glue sticks.  If you would please try and pick up some new supplies (glue sticks, crayons, markers) during the holidays, we can replenish when we return.  Everyone likes to start the new year with fresh supplies.  We are also running low on Clorox wipes if anyone would like to donate some.

Take a look at what we are learning this week!

This week our focus sound will be /sh/ as in sheep.  Our word wall words are: could, should, would, she.  We will also be reading several holiday versions of the Gingerbread Man.  We will make connections from what we have read to ourselves, and continue to practice using our schema. Schema is what we already know, applying our schema helps us to better understand what we read. 

 

In language I will not introduce a new rule this week. We will begin to talk about adjectives as well as practice identifying adjectives in a sentence. In DOL we will continue to apply all the rules we have learned so far this year. Keep in mind that on Friday I choose one sentence from each day of the week and the children correct those sentences independently. It is a good idea to review the sentences your child brings home. Also, on the back of the DOL is their dictation. Ask your child to tell you the sounds and words and spell them correctly.

We will complete and test on Chapter 10 this week.  Please look for the review sheet to come home the night before the test.  The children have done an amazing job with place value.  I can really see the results of the calendar companion.  It is so assuring to know that the children have such a solid number sense! Way to go first graders! Also, due to the limited number of school days this month we will not bring home calendar companion sheets at the end of December.  We will pick back up in 2012.  Continue to practice those math facts.  We have some new technology in our classroom that helps more people complete their math facts during the day.  It is a portable type computer that is connected to the program REN PLACE that we use for math facts.  The children have loved using it, not to mention they can take these portable computer keyboards to their desk. How cool is that?!

Wednesday, December 7: Spirit Night: Applebee's

Friday, December 9: First Grade wears pajamas to school to watch Polar Express {no slippers} also, last day to send in PJ donations

Tuesday, December 13: Spirit Night at Jason's Deli
Thursday, December 15: Christmas Party 1:30-2:15, you are welcome to join us! 
Monday, December 19-Tuesday, January 3: Winter Holiday Break
Wednesday, January 4: Students return

Have a wonderful week and please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!!

Christmas Hugs!

December Already?!

I cannot believe that this week will be the beginning of December! Look at these precious little Indians from room 123!

Are they not the cutest little Indians you have ever seen? I hope everyone had a wonderful time with family and friends during the Thanksgiving break. Your children are too precious and I am so very thankful for each and every one of them!

Now on to a new month! Take a look at what we will be learning this week!

This week our focus sound will be /r/ as in rabbit and /ea/ as in eagle. Our word wall words are: want, wants, eat, three, ran.  Continue to listen to your child read and re-read their homework stories and library books, along with any other books that you have at home.  I would like to see everyone taking a minimum of three AR tests a week.  When reading AR books at home it is a good idea to read it to your child first, then go back and talk about the book.  Look at the pictures and discuss different parts of the book, the setting, the problem in the story and how it was solved.  Then let them read to you.  Make sure they are using their finger and tracking the words as they read.  Let me know if you have any concerns.

This week we will begin talking about question marks. In DOL we will continue to apply all the rules we have learned so far this year.  Keep in mind that on Friday I choose one sentence from each day of the week and the children correct those sentences independently.  It is a good idea to review the sentences your child brings home.  Also, on the back of the DOL is their dictation.  Ask your child to tell you the sounds and words and spell them correctly.   Once again, let me know if you have any questions.

WOW! Some of the first graders in our class are doing an ah-mazing job passing their Math Facts In a Flash on the computer.  These children are so smart!! Continue to practice those facts at home and please let me know if you are unable to use the REN Place at home to practice.  It is a wonderful tool!!

While we will continue to work on our addition and subtraction facts we will begin Chapter 10 this week.  Chapter 10 will teach us tens and ones place value and the “teen” numbers.  This should come easy for the children since we do it each day in our Calendar Companion.  Look for the review sheet to come home the night before our test.

TOMORROW if your child would like Nancy’s Italian Ice please send in $1.00. Please put ALL money in separate envelopes or baggies and label them! Thanks!!

Wednesday, November 30: Spirit Night at Nancy's Italian Ice
Thursday, December 1: book orders due
Wednesday, December 7: Spirit Night: Applebee's

Friday, December 9: First Grade wears pajamas to school to watch Polar Express

Tuesday, December 13: Spirit Night at Jason's Deli
Thursday, December 15: Christmas Party 1:30-2:15
Monday, December 19-Tuesday, January 3: Winter Holiday Break
Wednesday, January 4: Students return

We are having a little pencil problem in class.  Everybody likes a good sharpened pencil! At the end of every day I sharpen pencils, etc.  Well I have quickly become an expert on pencils! And pencil sharpeners, and erasers, etc.  You get the picture! I don’t want to sound like a pencil snob, but if you are out and get a chance we would love a pack or two of these pencils…..

From my experience these are the best!! The lead doesn’t slide out after you sharpen them and they erase great!! I bought these at Target for $1.77.  I am sure they have them other places also.  For obvious reasons pencils are very important in first grade! Thanks so much!!

Have a wonderful week!

HUGS!

1 little, 2 little, oh my 20 little First Grade INDIANS!

Look how presh these little Indians are! Oh how I love them!

  

The future is so bright, I gotta wear shades!

Take a look at what the future holds for the intelligent first graders! When I am old and gray I can’t wait to tell the world  I got to teach, love, and care for these amazing children!They make me proud!!

Career Day 2011

Safe & Secure in Room 123!

As a mom, I know the first thing that comes to your mind when the sirens go off is your family.  As I reminded the boys and girls today, we are a “school family” and I was their “school mom”! I took great care of your precious little ones today and they were wonderful!! I couldn’t have asked for them to behave any better than they did today in the mist of all the bad weather.  They followed directions, listened, were kind to one another, I could go on and on.  Just let me say you would have been proud of them.  We stayed in the hall for quite some time, then we even got to have a PICNIC!…..in the hall.  Now that was different! We made the best of it, I even pulled our fan out in the hallway to get a little air moving.  Needless to say, I am very thankful that the damage wasn’t very bad in our area and that all of you and your families are safe! Counting my many blessings!

                      

                        

                        

                          

                                    Nothing like a picnic on a rainy day!

Precious Little Pilgrims

I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend! Our family had a fast and fun trip to see lots of family and friends. 

I have so very many things to be thankful for and I want you to know that I am so thankful for your precious little ones that I get to teach each day.  They are the reason I just love my job! Their love for learning, friends, and life just makes my heart smile. I love each and every one of them to pieces!

Look at these precious pilgrims we made last week!

 

This week our sound will be /c/ as in cat.  We will continue learning about mammals and their characteristics.  Our word wall words are: a, hasn’t, isn’t, wasn’t, can.  Be prepared for a comprehensive word wall test this week. Continue to read and re-read your Read Well homework stories in your take home notebooks. Also keep up the good work reading those library books.  It looks like it is time to raise some reading levels and encourage some children to check out at least 1 or 2 nonfiction book/s during the week.  Way to go firsties!!!

We will also continue to investigate and learn about the First Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims, and the Native Americans.  Be sure and ask your child what the have learned each day.  You will be amazed at what they can tell you! These firsties are wayyy smart! :)

We will continue to review all grammar rules, nouns and ABC order this week. We will also learn about compound words this week. I have several fun activities that help the children understand what compound words are and how to identify them. Each Thursday, in addition to sentences, we have a worksheet related to the rule for that week.  It is taken as a daily grade. 

We got so carried away with our Thanksgiving activities that we did not test on Chapter 3 last week.  We will test on it tomorrow.  The test will only contain simple subtraction problems.  The children are very prepared and will do fine I am sure.  This week in math we will continue to work on problem solving with addition and subtraction.  We will also review writing numbers, reading number words, and placing numbers in the correct order.

 

D Nancy’s Italian Ice on sale tomorrow.

DPlease remember to let your sweet firstie bring in a “favorite” book that I will read to the class.  We will not be able to read all the books in one day, so if they bring their book to and from school please know that it will take us several days.  Thanks for sharing part of your library with us! Room 123 LOVES to listen to books, to read books, and to re-read books.  We know that these are all things good readers do all the time!!

DI hope you have had a fun time with your child brainstorming about what they want to be when they grow up! I know we have some smart and creative children in our class.  I can’t wait to see what the future holds for these precious little ones.  Please allow them to come dressed in the career of their choice on Wednesday.  We will go outside so send tennis shoes if you need to.

DWe will be making our “Blessings Mix” this week.  I hope everyone had a chance to pick up their item.  If not that is fine, just send it when you can.  We won’t make it on Monday, I just try and get everything in ahead of time to be sure I have enough.  I tend to worry that I may be short something at the last minute. Do you ever do that? B

T Thursday is the 2nd Annual Blount Holiday Market. 
5:30-8:30pm in the Blount Lunchroom!
Come shop from 19 booths selling personalized items, kitchen goods, cake
testing, jewelry, skincare, candles, girls bows and much more! Food
vendors - Jason's Deli and Nancy's Italian Ice! 19 Door Prizes to win!
Plus our very own school    T Choir and Band   T      will be performing!
Help spread the word! All booth fees and raffle sales for door prizes go
to support our school!  Admission is FREE!
Interested in having a booth?  There's still room!  Contact Holly Harris -
treasurer@blountpta.org.

Tuesday, November 15:  Spirit night at Burger King (Chantilly Pkwy)
Wednesday, November 16:  Career Day - dress as your future job
Thursday, November 17:  Holiday Market at Blount
Friday, November 18:  Wear your favorite college t-shirt
November 21-25:  Thanksgiving Break
Wednesday, November 30:  Spirit Night at Nancy's Italian Ice

Have a wonderful week and please contact me at any time with questions.

Thankful for your family and especially your precious little first grader!

Thanksgiving Blessings & Hugs!

 

Still here…..I promise!

I am sorry for not updating sooner.  November came quickly and it has not slowed down!

We are busy each day and are having a great time learning about the Pilgrims, Indians, and the Mayflower.  This is such a fun time in room 123! I did want to let you know I will not be at school on Thursday but I have a wonderful substitute lined up so everything will go as normal.  My sweet little brother is getting married this spring so our family is taking advantage of the Veteran’s Day holiday and going to an engagement party for him and his precious fiancé.

 

This week our whole group reading will be /h/ as in hippo.  We will also learn all about mammals and their habitats.

Word wall words are quick and easy:

he, had, him

  We will continue to review nouns and ABC order next week.  Each Thursday, in addition to sentences, we have a worksheet related to the rule for that week.  It is taken as a daily grade.  We will have a Language test sometimes this week with previous sentences to correct.

We are still on subtraction this week.  We will spend this week focusing on problem solving –solving word problems by writing the related number sentence and drawing a picture to solve and using a number line to count back. We will test on Chapter 3 on Wednesday. We will also spend some extra time on Math Fact in a Flash.  We have some new technology that will allow more students to have access to Math Facts in a Flash.  Continue to practice at home.

{American Education Week ~ November 14-18, 2011}

Next week is American Education Week.  On Wednesday, November 16, the children may come to school dressed up as their future careers.  I know how busy families can be so I wanted to give you plenty of time to listen to your child's ideas and create his/her dream job.

Also during American Education Week,  I would love for the children to bring one of their favorite story books to school.  I will take time during the day to read their book.  Please help your child decide on a book that they would like to share with the class.  I always come away from this week going to purchase a few more books to add to our class library.  Every year the children introduce me to their favorites and there is always one or two that I am not familiar with.  Not having boys at home, last year I learned about SuperHero ABC…….it quickly became a HUGE hit and favorite in room 123.  If your little boy doesn’t have this book, I encourage you to get it! The children (boys and girls) LOVE this book!! Can’t wait to see what books come in next week!

On Friday, November 18th the children can wear their favorite team shirt,

Tuesday, November 8:  Grade level t-shirt order forms due
Tuesday, November 8:  PTA meeting at 6:00
Friday, November 11:  Veteran's Day (no school)

A special THANK YOU to our military families for the sacrifices they make for our freedom!

Tuesday, November 15:  Spirit night at Burger King (Chantilly Pkwy)
Thursday, November 17:  Holiday Market at Blount
November 21-25:  Thanksgiving Break
Wednesday, November 30:  Spirit Night at Nancy's Italian Ice

Let me know if you have concerns or questions. Have a great week and a fun long weekend!

Hugs to all my sweet firsties!!

Happy, Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Fun!

Next week our whole group sound will be /i/ as in insect.  We will be discussing insects along with things related to Thanksgiving.  November will be a fun and busy month!  Word wall words are:

did, in, it, this, sit

Make sure your child is able to read these words upon site for the unannounced word wall checks we will have during the nine weeks period.

In our DOL this week we will not learn any new grammar rule.   We will continue practicing all previous rules learned since the beginning of school.  If you look closely at your child’s DOL you will notice that we have been underlining the NOUNS in each sentence.  Each Thursday we have a worksheet related to the rule for that week that is taken as a daily grade.

We will finish up chapter 3 on subtraction and test on Wednesday.  Be sure your child has finished Chapter 3 in the Practice workbook. Our next chapter in Math will be Chapter 7.   Continue to encourage your child to practice Math Facts at home.  If you are still having problems logging in to Ren Place to practice your facts please let me know.   

The Book Fair Is Here!

The Book Fair will be in the library this week.  We went Friday to preview all that is on sale and there are some great books to choose from this year!  Children may go to the book fair only if they have money. In the past I have had parents come and join us for lunch and then take their children to the book fair.  If your schedule permits and you would like to shop with your child after joining us for lunch you are welcome to! If not they will still be able to shop at our scheduled time.  There are other items besides books for sale, like “Dollar Tree” type items.  Please discuss with your child what they may/may not purchase and label money intended for the book fair. There are volunteers in the library but each day when the children who have money go to the book fair I do not go with them. I always try to encourage them to purchase books that they can read and make wise choices when shopping, however please remember they are pretty much shopping on their own. 

Nancy’s Italian Ice on sale tomorrow.

PTA meeting Tuesday November 8. Treat mom to a night off from cooking and come enjoy pizza, trivia and slide show of Blount activities.

Thank you for all your participation in Red Ribbon Week! It was too precious to see the children coming in each morning in their socks, shades, hats and team shirts! I wish you could have heard the sweet comments to each other about what they were wearing.  This really is such a kind group of friends!

Halloween Hugs to all my favorite firsties!!

Our First Field Trip in First Grade!

A New Beginning!

On Friday we changed desks, got new crayons and new glue to start the beginning of the new nine weeks in First Grade! We are ready!!

 

This week our sound will be /w/ as in wind.  Our word wall words are: we, was, don’t, off & right.  Please make sure that your child can read ALL word wall words that have been introduced this year upon sight.  (instantly)

We will begin learning all about Nouns this week. (Grammar Rule 9) 

We will begin Chapter 3 on Subtraction.  We will still review addition facts daily and will continue to practice our Math Facts in a Flash.  Check your child’s take home notebook to see what lesson we did in class each day.  Please continue to practice flash cards at home each night.  We want the children to memorize their addition facts, we are working on not using counters or our fingers.

• A HUGE thank you to everyone who helped to make our Fall Festival a success.  I think everyone had a great time and our PTA is the best!
• Another BIG thank you to all the parents and grandparents who joined us on our field trip to the Pumpkin Patch.  Everyone had such a fun time and I bet it is safe to say everyone slept well that night! I know I did!!
• This week is Red Ribbon Week.  We will celebrate making healthy choices for our bodies.  Each day has a theme to emphasize

“SAY NO TO DRUGS!”

Monday:  "We are proud to be drug free"  Classes make red chains to hang outside their classroom to show they are drug free.  Each student will sign his/her link in the chain.  The children are asked to wear a RED uniform shirt.

Tuesday:  "Sock it to drugs and slip into good character"  Students wear crazy socks and slippers.

Wednesday: "Hats off to not using drugs"  Students wear their favorite hat to show they are drug free.

Thursday: "We are too cool to do drugs"  Students will wear their sunglasses to shade out drugs. 

Friday:  "Team up against drugs"  Students wear their favorite team's jersey.

• Tomorrow Nancy’s Ice will be for sell for $1.00 please make sure you send your money in a baggie or an envelope marked with your sweet firstie’s name!

Thanks for sharing your precious children with me! Have a wonderful week and as always please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

Hugs!