Merry Christmas!

I hope that everyone has a fantastic holiday season! The kids sure got off to a great start today with our Christmas party. The book exchange was a great success, and everyone got to take home a new book. Thank you for all of your donations! The kids' eyes really lit up when they opened their new book. We also had a great time making our doughnut snowmen, although I definitely learned a few things for next time. Hopefully they weren't to squished when they came home. :) Please make sure to have your child reading over Christmas break. 3 weeks is a long time for the children to be out of school, and we don't want anybody regressing. We've worked so hard to get this far. Also, make sure you go on our new online math computer program IXL. With report cards, everyone got a username and password to use. If you have lost yours, please email me and I will get back to you. I will be checking my email every so often if you need anything. Again, have a wonderful Christmas, and enjoy spending this time with your little kiddos. I will miss them! See you next year!

Thank you for all of the wonderful Christmas presents! It was so thoughtful of you, and made me feel quite spoiled!

Book Exchange

Please don't forget to send in your book for the Christmas Book Exchange. Each child that brings a book will get to pick a new book to bring home. It can be a new or gently used in good condition. Please wrap and attach a tag that says who it is from. I need books by Wednesday, December 15th. Thanks for your help!

Christmas Party

Notes are coming home today about our Christmas Party, which is on December 17th at 2:00. Please return the paper asap if you would like to donate something to our special snack. I need to make sure we don't have too much, and that we have everything for our snack-craft that we will be making. Thanks ahead for your flexibility and helpfulness! We will also be doing a book exchange this year, so please send your book in by December 15th. This can be either a new book, or a gently used one in great condition. Check BiMart and HiSchool Pharmacy, because they have great books for only a few dollars. Every child will be then come home with a new book! We have a busy 2 weeks ahead of us as we prepare for the holidays, so here we go! :)

Good Citizens

Congratulations to McKenna Salvetti and Harliegh Riehle! They were our Good Citizens for the month of November.

Conferences

I hope that everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving with your families! I know that I sure enjoyed being able to spend so much time with my own kids, and to see family we don't get to see very often. However, I was disappointed in the cancellation of school last Tuesday. I look so forward to meeting with all parents, and talking about how your kids are doing at school. But unfortunately, we'll have to just do what we can, with the amount of time we have. So, if I wasn't able to meet you you because of Tuesday's school closure, then I will be sending your child's report card home tomorrow. Please look through it, as well as the stuff with it, and then let me know if you have any questions. If you would still like to meet with me for a conference, I do have a few times this week after school, but I won't be able to do night conferences. Please let me know as soon as possible if you'd like to reschedule. Again, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Now on to the Christmas season!

*A Few Notes From Conferences

• Please read and sign the Parent-Student-Teacher Compact and return it to school. This just reviews each of our responsibilities to your child's education.
• Make sure you have signed up for Flash Alert, and that the office has your most recent emergency contact information. If you get new numbers or addresses, please let us know!
• Our Title 1 program has purchased an online math program for kids to use to work on math concepts. There are math problems for kids to complete that are directly tied to the first grade standards. This is great for extra practice, as well as for review and something extra. A letter will be coming home with instructions, and user names and passwords. Please get on the site with your child, and have them play around. If you have any questions, please let me know. We will also be doing this at school as often as we can.
• Please make sure you continue to read the blog, and school newsletter. Don't forget that the new Monday envelopes come home on Mondays (or Tuesday this week) with the important papers for the week. Please read the information, and then sign the folder and send it back to school. This will keep you informed of what's going on in class, as well as in school.
  

Turkey BINGO tonight!

Hope to see everyone at Turkey BINGO tonight! We have some great prizes, and cards are only a dollar! Fundraiser pickup is also today starting after school at 3:30 until 7:30. Hope you can make it!

Monday Announcements

Ahhh, after a week of feeling pretty under the weather, I am finally starting to feel better! There are definitely some nasty colds going around, so please make sure you and your family takes the best precautions that you can to stay healthy. In first grade, we are really practicing coughing into our elbow, and lots of hand washing. Here are a few announcements for this week. Hopefully the rain will let up enough to enjoy the amazing fall scenery!

• Conference schedules will come home on Tuesday, so please return them ASAP. It takes some time to fix any blips in the schedule.
• We are having a CAN FOOD DRIVE to benefit Molalla Communities That Care starting today, and running through Tuesday of Conference week. This is a school competition as well, so please send in any donations that you can and help us collect more food than any other class. The winning class gets a ride on a fire truck!
  
• Congratulations to Oytillia and Will who where our Citizens of the Month for October. Way to go!
• There is no school on Thursday due to Veterans Day.
• Turkey BINGO is on Friday Nov. 12th at 7:00pm. Fundraiser pickup is also Friday starting right after school. Book fair will stay open late!
• Halloween pictures will be up tomorrow. Thanks for being patient!
• Word Wall words fro the last 2 weeks, and for this week are: ABOUT, HAD, IF, SOME, UP, HER, DO, WHEN, SIX, SO. Due to the short week, and trying to get assessments done for conferences, we won't be adding any new words this week. We will continue with the word wall next week, so watch for our new words!
  

Beanie Baby Reading Strategies

You may notice a poster coming home on Monday with reading strategies that we've been working on in class. These are the Beanie baby decoding strategies and believe me, they work like magic! Please reinforce them at home when your child gets stuck on a work. For instance, if they are stuck, ask "What would Flippy Dolphin tell you to do?" The kids love these characters, and have really started using them when trying to figure out a word. Let me introduce you to our reading friends!

Stretchy Snake- Stretch it out
Eagle Eye- Look at the pictures
Lips the Fish- Get your lips ready
Chunky Monkey- Chunk the word
Flippy Dolphin- Flip the vowel sound
Skippy Frog- Skip it, skip it
Tryin' Lion- Try it again
Helpful Kangaroo- Ask for help

The kids will also be getting book marks to keep in the book boxes, as well as one to take home to help them remember. Later in the year, we will also introduce some comprehension friends as well. If you would like more information or copies of our posters or bookmarks, please make sure to email me.

Daily 5

We have finally finished setting up our reading block in our classroom! We are using a framework called The Daily 5, in which the kids are given choices for skills to work on. we will have 2 20-25 minutes sessions each afternoon, with mini-lessons before and between each session. During this workshop time, the kids will have a choice of 5 things to work on. They may Read to Self, Read to Someone, do Word Work, Work on Writing, or Listen to Reading. They get to pick what they will do, as long as they don't do the same thing twice (unless they want to read twice). The listening station that we have set up currently has 3 ipods, and since it's in such high demand in the class, we have a rotating schedule. When the kids read, they are reading from their own book boxes, where they have "good fit" books. These are books that are at their own reading level. They can read the words, understand the words, and they are interested in the content. This has become my, and the kids' favorite time of the day. It has taken a LONG time to get it up and going, because it takes a lot of training. The kids all must work independently so that I can pull small groups to work on specific skills. It has been worth the wait though, because it is going so well. If you have any questions about it, or would like to volunteer during this time, please let me know. This is a great opportunity to get involved in the classroom, even just to listen to kids read, or read with them. Don't forget to send in your child's head phones or ear buds if you don't want them sharing.

Pumpkin Patch

Thank you so much to the parents that helped us out at the pumpkin patch! The kids had a great time petting and feeding the animals, running through the hay maze, watching them make apple cider, getting to taste the FABULOUS cider and doughnuts, and picking their pumpkin.Bauman Farms is a great place to visit! Here are some pictures from our trip!

Word List week 7

The words from the word wall for this week are:

they
pink
good
one
me

Please make sure you are practicing these words at home. Thanks!

Volunteer Training

Have you taken the online Child Abuse training yet? The district now requires volunteers to complete the training and criminal background check before being able to volunteer or chaperon field trips. This is to help keep all of our students safe. Please make sure to take the training if you think you might volunteer or attend a field trip. We are having a little problem with low numbers of grown-ups who have been cleared to chaperon our field trip. Also, if you would like to come to the pumpkin patch with us, please let me know. We are still in need of some chaperon. Thanks and have a great weekend!

Make sure you've sent back you child's permission slip!!! ;-)

Click on the link for the child abuse training:

http://courses.orvsd.org/moodle/course/view.php?id=254

Box Tops for Education

Please read the information that is coming home today about collecting Box Tops. This is a very easy fundraiser for our school, and it won't cost you anything! These are the products you already buy. Please make sure to watch for these, clip them and send them to school. Each one is worth $.10 so they add up quickly. For more information, visit http://www.boxtops4education.com/
Thanks for your help!

Word Wall Week 6

This week's word wall words to practice:

be
have
he
ten
I

Word Wall Words so far

Here is a list of the word wall words we've been practicing so far. Pleas continue to practice reading and writing these words at home.

the a is you to and black we that in not for at with
red it on can will are of this your as but

October is here!

Wow, what an exciting month September was! We were so busy getting to know each other, and learning how to be a community that we didn't have much time to post. Hopefully things will begin to get calmer from here on out. We really focused September on becoming friends, and learning how to work together. We have gotten all of our beginning of the year assessments out of the way, and are really diving into first grade. Here's some of the great things we've been doing!

• We learned about our Reading framework, called Daily 5. Each day, for about an hour, the kids will have the choice of 5 different "Dailies" to choose from, during 2 different sessions with some mini-lessons in the middle. They may Read to Self, Read to Someone, and work on Word Work. In the next week or two we will be adding Work on Writing, and Listen to Reading. It's quite the lengthy process of training the kids how to be independent in their choices, and giving them the responsibility to make good behavior choices. When it's all up and running, it is really a great time of the day, and will make the kids better readers. They each have their own book boxes with good fit books targeted at their own individual level. The kids love it, and it's so fun to watch it in progress. While kids are working on their dailies, I am working with either individual students or small groups. I can't wait to have all 5 going!
• We've learned about different shapes, and are starting addition in math. We have also just begun Math All-Stars, which are class-sized math groups working on different areas based on kids needs.
• Our writing work shop has gotten under way as well. Please don't be alarmed if writing comes home that may look uncorrected, or unfinished. The kids work on their own pieces of writing, and then turn in their best to me. Those should have comments on them, so make sure to read them with your child.

As you can see, we've been really busy! In October, we will focus on Habitats, will mix in some fun night creatures, and Halloween activities. Please don't forget some important dates coming up!

• Tomorrow, Wednesday October 6th is Picture Day! Don't forget to send in picture money!
  
• No School Friday October 8th
• No School October 14th and 15th, for Optional Conferences
• Pumpkin Patch on Thursday October 21st. Please return permission slips asap!

Please let me know if you'd like to set up a time to volunteer! I always love the help! :)

Congratulations to Layla and Alonso who were September's Good Citizens in our class!

¡Wow, que emocionante fue el mes de septiembre! Estabamos tan ocupados con conocernos y aprender a ser una comunidad que no tuvimos mucho tiempo para escribir en el blog. Esperamos que todo será un poco más tranquilo de ahora en adelante. En septiembre enfocamos mucho en ser amigos y aprender cómo trabajar juntos. Hemos terminado con todas las tareas del principio del año, y estamos haciendo progreso en el primer grado. Estas son unas de las cosas fantásticas que hemos estado haciendo.

• Aprendimos de nuestro tiempo de Lectura, llamado el Daily 5 (5 diario). Todos los días por más o menos una hora, los niños tendrán una elección de 5 actividades durante dos sesiones distintas, con unas mini-lecciones en el medio. Pueden leer a sí mismo, leer a alguien, y trabajar en Trabajo de Palabras. En las próximas dos semanas vamos a agregar Trabajar en Escritura y Escuchar Lectura. Es un proceso largo entrener los niños en cómo ser independientes en sus elecciones, y darles la responsabilidad para tomar buenas decisiones para su conducta. Cuando han aprendido bien el sistema, es un tiempo bueno del día y ayuda mucho a los niños a mejorar en la lectura. Cada niño tiene su propio caja con good fit books, que son libros de su nivel individuo de lectura. A los niños les encanta, y es muy divertido verlo en progreso. Mientras que los estudiantes hacen sus actividades, yo estoy trabajando o con estudiantes individuos o en grupos pequeños. ¡No puedo esperar para tener todas las 5 actividades!
  
• Hemos aprendido de figuras diferentes, y estamos comenzando la adición en las matemáticas. También hemos comenzado Math All-Stars, que son grupos de matemáticas trabajando en áreas distintas según las necesidades de los niños.
  
• Nuestro taller de escritura también está en progreso. Está bien si su hijo trae a casa escritura que se ve como si no estuviera corregida o no estuviera terminada. Los niños trabajan en sus propias escrituras, y las mejores me entregan a mí. Esas tendrán comentarios de mí, entonces no olvide de leerlos con su hijo.
  

¡Como usted puede ver, hemos estado muy ocupados! En octubre, enfocaremos en Hábitats, aprenderemos de unas criaturas de la noche, y haremos actividades de Halloween. ¡No olvide que hay unas fechas importantes por venir!

• Mañana, miércoles el 6 de octubre, es el día de fotos. ¡No olvide de mandar el dinero para las fotos!
  
• No hay clases en viernes, el 8 de octubre.
  
• No hay clases en el 14 y el 15 de octubre, para las conferencias opcionales.
  
• Vamos al jardín de calabazas en jueves, el 21 de octubre. ¡Devuelva la forma de permiso tan pronto como pueda!
  

¡Por favor dígame si quisiera planear una hora para venir como voluntario. ¡Siempre me encanta tener ayuda! :)

¡Felicidades a Layla y Alonso, quienes fueron los Ciudadanos Buenos para el mes de septiembre de nuestro salón!

A few Announcements

Wow!!! What a busy few weeks! Sorry I haven't updated, but we have been working so hard getting used to First Grade! I'm still waiting on a few forms to ok pics on our blog, so I will begin adding pictures soon. I hope everyone has had a great start to the school year, and that we are all adjusting to being back. The kids are doing a great job so far! We've just gotten our groups up and running, so let the learning begin! Here are a few announcements for the next few days:

• Open House is tomorrow from 6:30-7:30. Please join us to meet Mrs. Scott, and see our classroom!
• PTC is tomorrow right before Open House at 6:00 here at MES.
• Book Orders are coming home today, so please take a look. Orders are due back at school October 4th.
• Thanks for helping your child get their homework done. Please remember it is not meant to be extra work, or challenging work. It is simply extra practice for home, and to get the kids used to the process of having homework and returning it to school.
• No school on Friday, it is a teacher inservice day.

Unos Anuncios
¡Wow! ¡Hemos pasado unas semanas muy ocupadas! Discúlpenme por no haber actualizado, pero estamos trabajando muy duro en acostumbrarnos al primer grado. Todavía estoy esperando unas formas de permiso para fotos en nuestro blog, entonces comenzaré a añadir fotos pronto. Espero que todos comenzaron bien el año escolar, y que estén acostumbrándose a estar en la escuela de nuevo. ¡Hasta la fecha los niños hacen muy bien! Aquí son unos anuncios para los próximos días:
- La Casa Abierta es mañana de las 6:30 a las 7:30. ¡Por favor vengan para conocer a la Sra. Scott y para ver el salón!
- El PTC se reune mañana inmediatamente antes de la Casa Abierta a las 6:00 aquí en MES.
- Las formas para pedir libros irán a casa hoy, por favor mírenlas. Los pedidos deben ser entregados para el 4 de octubre.
- Gracias por ayudar a su hijo a completar su tarea. Recuerde que no es trabajo extra ni trabajo muy difícil. Sólo es un tiempo para practicar en casa y para acostumbrar los niños al proceso de tener tarea y regresarla a la escuela.
- No hay clases en viernes, es un día de entrenamiento para maestros.

First few days...

We have had such a great start to our school year! The kids are adjusting to being here everyday very well, and they are doing such a great job at being respectful, responsible and safe. They are following directions, and learning when it's their turn to talk (always a tough concept for the first graders to learn). Thanks to those who have returned their parent contact info to me, and to those who have returned the blue enrollment forms. If you haven't please do so asap. I already have a project in need of some parent volunteers, so if you have time next week, please let me know. Hopefully the kiddos are tired by the end of the day, and they are getting to bed early. Don't forget to be reading EVERY night with your child. Let them read to you, but even as they are learning to read, keep reading to them. I promise it will make them a better reader! Tomorrow is a regular day, so there is no late start. Have a great day!

¡Hemos tenido un buen comienzo al año escolar! Los niños están acostumbrándose a estar aquí todos los días, y hacen bien en ser respetuosos, responsables, y seguros. Están siguiendo las instrucciones y aprendiendo cuando es su turno para hablar (siempre un concepto difícil para niños del primer grado). Gracias a los que han devuelto su información de contacto, y a los que han devuelto las formas azules de inscripción. Si no lo ha hecho todavía, por favor hágalo tan pronto como posible. Ya tengo un proyecto que necesita unos voluntarios, entonces si tiene tiempo en la semana próxima, por favor dígame. Espero que los niños estén cansados para el fin del día y que estén acostándose temprano. No olvide de leer TODAS las noches con su hijo. Deje que él/ella lea a usted, pero incluso mientras ellos están aprendiendo a leer, siga leyéndoles. ¡Les prometo que servirá de ayuda en aprender a leer! Mañana es un día regular, no hay comienzo retrasado. ¡Que tengan un buen día!

Welcome Back!

Welcome to First Grade! We have a big year ahead of us, and we will be busy learning all sorts of new things! Enjoy these last few days of your summer, and have fun shopping for school supplies. Make sure to get lots of sleep, eat a good breakfast, and make sure you're reading every day! I can't wait to meet each of you, and to get to know our class! See you in a few days!

More Reminders

Good Morning! I hope everyone had a great weekend!

• Zoo permission slips were due today. If you haven't returned yours, please do it ASAP. We need to order tickets, and need to make sure we have an accurate count. Also, if you still need to pay, please do that as soon as you can.
• ALL Library books are due back on Friday, May 21st. Any class that has them all in wins a $25 gift card to the bookfair, so please return you books this week.
• PTC meeting tomorrow, May 18th at 3:45.

This is our last full week of school, so we only have a short time left. Please make sure you are reading at home, and working hard until the very last day. Have a great week!

Happy Mothers Day!

I hope everyone had a great and relaxing weekend! The kids worked very hard on their Mother's Day Presents, so I hope you enjoyed them! If you didn't get yours yet, there are some coming home today. I left a small piece at home on Friday, so some kids decided to wait. I apologize! ;)

A few reminders:

• Please make sure to empty backpacks everyday, and read the MES weekly newsletter coming home today. It's filled with great information!
• Don't forget to return Zoo permission slips asap.
• PTC is next Tuesday 5/18 at 3:45.
• Family Math Night is next Wednesday 5/19 beginning at 6:00
  
• We've had a rocky first week transition back to Mrs. Scott, but this morning the kids are doing GREAT! Keep up the hard work kiddos!

Zoo Field Trip

Field trip permission slips came home yesterday, so make sure you check your child's backpack. We are going on Monday June 7th if you'd like to chaperon. The cost is $3 for kids, and $8 for chaperons. Please return your forms as early as possible. Don't forget if you'd like to join us, you must fill out the volunteer forms in the office, and have your background check information current. Thanks!

Meet Olivia!

Here she is! The reason I've been on maternity leave for the last 4 months. Olivia Erin Scott was born on January 14th, 2010. She is a very happy, easy baby and is incredibly adored by her big brothers. Needless to say, there is now lots of pink at our house!

We need jars!

Please make sure you remember to send in a jar with your child by Monday, May 3rd. We will be doing a project upon my return, and every child will need their own jar. Any size will work, and it is preferred that it have smooth sides, although we can work with what you have. Lids are not needed. Thanks for your help!

Maternity Leave

So sorry I've been off the map for so long! It was a crazy fall because I was pregnant. I had my baby girl in January and have been on maternity leave ever since. Glad to say I will be returning to school on May 3rd, so more posts to come! When I get back to school I will try to post posters and such for the reading strategies as I see they are being coveted. So, one more week or so and I'm back. Until then...