Welcome Back!!!

Wow! I sure am missing all my sweet little firsties! It has been way too long!  I knew I was going to be out last Thursday and Friday because my little brother was getting married. Then a dear friend of mine’s 2 week old was in the NICU at Children’s Hospital in Birmingham,  so I went to be with her on Wednesday.  I am happy to say that the wedding was perfect and my sweet little friend is at home and doing much better!  I hope you all enjoyed every day of spring break and made lots of fun memories! 

    

What’s happening in Room 123 this week??

This week our focus sound is /y/ as in yarn and /a/ as in ago.

Our word wall words are:

better, called, calling, those, yes, doing.

As always, continue to read each night, library book and read well homework stories. Children should be prepared to take 3 AR tests a week.

Due to the short week we will just review grammar rules that we have learned.

We will start Chapter 24 this week ~ Time.  We will learn to identify the parts of a clock, tell time using an analog and a digital clock, and  learn how to correctly tell time to the hour and the half hour. 

Monday, April 2 – Nancy’s Italian Ice! LABEL your money.  With the record high temperatures I am sure everyone will want a cool treat!

Standardized testing will begin April 9 for third-fifth graders, so please be on time next week. The schedules will be frozen and we won’t be able to have guests for lunch the week of April 9. To get the third-fifth graders excited about testing, each day this week has a special theme. The entire school will be participating. Check out the special day’s events for the week.

Monday, April 2: We are going to "shine bright on testing!" Wear your sunglasses with your uniform.
Tuesday, April 3: "Good Luck Day!" Wear a green shirt with your jeans as we wish good luck to our testers.
Wednesday, April 4: "Sock it to testing!" Wear your pants rolled up with your crazy socks.
Thursday, April 5: "Team Up for testing!" Wear your Blount shirt or other favorite team jersey!
Friday, April 6: No school - weather make up day!

Report Cards – April 5th

Have a great week! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

Hugs!!

We love BOOKS!

What an amazing time we had celebrating our love of reading last week!

A big thank you to Mrs. Lancaster and Mrs. Owens for coming and reading to us!

Our letter sound for the week is /f/ as in frog. We will learn about frogs and their life cycle.

Word Wall words for the week are: bring, green, one, fly, sing, two, get, three, one

As always, continue to read each night, library book and new homework story. Children should be prepared to take 3 AR tests a week.

Along with the usual practice of previous rules and morning message we will learn about homonyms. Friday’s grade will be some of the exact sentences from Monday and Wednesday’s sentences.

We will continue to work on Chapter 21~ Fractions and test probably on Wednesday. Look for the review sheet to come home the day before we test. After this chapter we will go back to Chapter 15 on plane shapes.  Math Facts tests should also be taken regularly in class in order to earn Blount Bucks. Practice at home will help to pass levels when taking the actual test at school.

Nancy’s Italian Ice – send $1 in a labeled envelope.

Doughnuts for dad A-L Tuesday and M-Z on Wednesday. Hope to see lots of sweet Dads this week!

We are still collecting items for the Humane Shelter.  You may send your items in any day this week.

The information for our Walk for Diabetes came home Friday.  Mark your calendars and join us for this fun walk in raising money for a great cause.  The walk will be Thursday, March 15 at 9:00.

Friday, March 16 we will not be in school.  It was on the calendar as a weather day. Enjoy!

I LOVED all the book characters that came to school on Friday.  Thank you for your help in our celebration of reading. We had a great time!!

Have a Happy Week!

Hugs!

February Friends!

Field Trip Fun!

First Grade News!

Please remember we will be going to the Let’s Pretend Hospital tomorrow.  Wear your green first grade shirt and jeans or khakis.  We are looking forward to a fun time.  Also, remember tomorrow is Monday if you would like to purchase Italian Ice send your money in a envelope or baggie (labeled).

Now on to some fun learning!

This week our focus sound is /g/ as in gorilla. 

Word wall words ~ big, so, saw, go, tells, there, got, them, no, white

Please read each night with your sweet little firstie! Each friend should be taking at least 3 AR test each week. 

We will begin Chapter 21 on Fractions tomorrow.  The students will learn how to identify parts of a whole with two, three, or four equal parts.  Please also continue to practice Math Facts in a Flash.  The children are really doing a great job.  The Blount Math Store will open soon and each student will receive money (Blount Bucks) to spend at the store.  I will send home a letter explaining how the children earn their Blount Bucks soon.

We will be working on Rule 15 contractions this week.  We have already done a lot with contractions this year, so this is not a new skill.  Remember to look at your child’s DOL on Monday and Wednesday nights.  Friday’s grade will be some of the exact sentences.

Thank you for joining us for Muffins for Moms.  Donuts for Dads will be Tuesday, March 6 and Wednesday, March 7. More information is on the front of February's Blount Newsletter.

Class picture money is due this Friday. Checks made payable to Capitol Filmworks.

I will be out of the room on Tuesday.  I will leave detailed plans so the day should go as smooth as if I were there.

Thursday, February 29 ~ Wear a Silly Hat (or a regular hat will do) to school.

Friday, March 1 ~ The Book Character Parade at 9:30. Come dressed as your favorite Book Character. Please make sure you  have a sign to tell us what character you are! Or better yet, if you  have the book, just bring it!

The sign for the Character Book parade is simple. Wear one around your neck or you may carry the book if you have it. The sign must have the character and the name of the book.  The parade starts promptly at 9:30. parents will go to the lunchroom so be sure to allow time to sign in at the office.

Have a great week and let me know if you have any questions!!

Valentine Fun in Room 123!

Hugs!

February Fun!

Whole group sound is /b/ as in bat. This week’s word wall words are: black, by, little, does, first

Be sure to look over word wall words from January 23 through February 27. We will have a word wall assessment this week.

Continue to read homework stories and help your child be ready to take at least 3 AR tests this week with 100% correct.

We will continue to work on verbs this week. We’ll have sentences on Tuesday and Thursday and Morning Message on Wednesday. DOL will continue to be a grade using the sentences taken from Tuesday and Thursday.

We will test on Chapter 18 Wednesday and Work on parts of Chapters 19 and 20. You can begin practicing those chapters in the Practice workbook. Continue also with Math Facts in a Flash at home. I encourage the children daily to take Math Facts tests. I would like for everyone to have passed enough levels to earn Blount Bucks in order to purchase something from the Math Store at the end of the month.

FIRST GRADE COMMNUNITY SPIRIT PROJECT

 

The Community Spirit project for the Kindergarten and First Graders this year is the Montgomery Humane Society. A representative from the Humane Society will be here tomorrow for a presentation to kick off our project. Students in all grades are encouraged to donate to this project. We will begin collecting Tuesday February 21 thru March 2. A list of needed items can be found on Blount PTA’s website (www.blountpta.org). Thanks so much for helping out with our Community Spirit project.

Muffins for Moms –Tuesday, Feb. 21 for last names A-L and last names M-Z, not to worry, your day is Wednesday Feb. 22. Come join your child for a yummy way to start the day. I’ll be there to take pictures. More information is found on the front page of the Blount Newsletter that went home last Friday.

February 27 - Field Trip to Let’s Pretend Hospital. Permission slips will be coming home tomorrow. Due to limited room we will not need any chaperones for this field trip.  However, I promise to take lots of pictures!!:)

Read Across America

{February 27 - March 2}

Monday - Door Decoration

Tuesday - D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read)

Wednesday - Volunteer Readers (If you would like to read a book to the class, please let me know. It can be any day not just on Wednesday. I am very flexible during the week and I know your schedules are busy so we will work with your schedule.)

Thursday - Silly Hat Day (Wear a silly hat ~ if your child doesn't have a silly hat, just wear any hat)

Friday - Character Parade at 9:30 We would LOVE for our parents to watch the parade in the cafeteria. We will walk across the stage so you can get pictures. Students will dress as a character from their favorite book. They also need a sign - or the book - to carry in the parade.) Please try to be creative with costumes and avoid, Halloween type costumes.

Looking forward to a wonderful “short” week!

Hugs!!

Looking forward to a “sweet” week of learning!

 

This week - /o/ as in otter

Be sure to check your child's progress on the Read Well Assessment Check sheet located in the take-home folder. Please make sure you’re reading over the homework stories every night. Also keep up with the Word Wall calendar and review those words each night. If your child is able to read the words with ease, then they should practice spelling them correctly.

Word wall words for this week: not do well they before

We will continue Chapter 19 this week. This chapter includes doubles, and doubles plus 1 along with addition of sums to 20. Continue practicing math facts at home, this will become important when the Math Store opens in February. I sent home a note about the store last week. The children will earn Blount Bucks for levels passed on Math Facts in a Flash and other activities, for example, making an A on math tests. {More info on that later.} The children will use their Blount Bucks to shop at the math store once a month. Their bucks can be saved or spent all at once. We have a preview day Thursday for the children to see what they can buy with their bucks.

We will continue the format of DOL sentences on Monday, Wednesday and a grade on Friday. Morning Message on Tuesday and Thursday allows the children to put in practice the skills we’ve been learning and practicing all year. Next week we will learn about verbs.

We will rotate tomorrow to Coach Rader for the next three weeks.

Nancy’s Italian Ice – Monday ~ Money needs to be labeled and cannot be accepted after 8:10.

                            

Valentine’s Party – Tuesday 1:30-2:15. Thank you so much for helping by sending in items for our ice cream party, it’s sure to be a fun time. Please be sure to send in your item by Tuesday morning. The children are VERY excited about this party.

February 21 – Humane Society Speaker will speak with us and kick off our First Grade service project. Details to come home soon.

 February 27 -  Field Trip to Let’s Pretend Hospital. Permission slips will be coming home soon. Due to the limited space at the facility this field trip is only for students, but I promise I will take lots of precious pictures!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend! I want to leave you with these adorable pictures from our fun and exciting 100th Day of School!

Have a great week!
Hugs!