Monday, Monday...

I hope everyone had a restful weekend, and that you're all ready for a busy week! Please make sure you check backpacks today. I sent home quite a few things today, so make sure you take a look.

Last spring our PTC generously bought me 5 iPod touches to use in my classroom. If they were found to be useful, the thought was that maybe then we'd have a goal to buy some more for other classrooms later. I finally got them into the kiddos hands this last week. They are filled with fun and exciting apps that really help reinforce concepts with the kiddos. We are using this during word work at Daily 5 time, as well as when kids come in in the morning, and as they finish up early whatever activity we are doing at the time. They are also able to earn time on the iPods with good behavior, and it seems to be working for most of the kids. Not everyone has gotten on them, but we are pretty close! I'm currently working on creating a list of favorite apps that are useful and educational for first graders. When it's all done, I will definitely share it with you. Apps are expensive, so of course we are always looking for iTunes donations. :) Here's some fun pictures of some of the kids sharing the iPods with a partner.






I will be out of the classroom on Thursday and Friday, but will be able to check my email. Please make sure to send any changes by note to the office since I will not be there.

Have you checked out IXL yet? Please have your child get on as much as possible. Feel free to explore the site. Please send me an email if you need your child's password or username.

Thank you to those who made it in for a conference last week! It was nice to meet some of you. Don't worry if you didn't get a note for a conference. These were just optional, and regular conferences will be held in November the week of Thanksgiving.

Make sure to get in your Pinkalicious permission slips. We are looking for 6 volunteers per classroom. Please make sure you have been cleared through the district before signing up to volunteer.

We are still in need of weekly volunteers. If you have a few hours to spare, please let me know. We'd love to have you!

Have a great week!

Happy Wednesday!

Hope everyone is having a great week! I meant to get this up on Monday, but hopefully everyone found it in backpacks on Monday. Please make sure to also read the back side. There was a great letter giving you more information on Daily 5.

A few things to note:
* Book orders were sent home this week. This is a fantastic, and cost-friendly way to build your home library. Please send any orders back by next Monday, October 10.
*IXL usernames have gone home. Please have your child getting on the computer to work on IXL at home. Let me know if you need your child's username or password.
*If you got a conference paper, please return it asap. If you didn't get one, and would like to meet, please let me know asap as well.
*Please work on learning to tie shoes at home. I know it's hard for first graders to master {trust me, I have a first grader! ;-) } but it really saves huge amounts of time if they can tie their own shoes.
*Our class is quite chatty, and has some trouble getting focused and following directions. Please just check-in with your child and have a conversation about appropriate times to talk in class. Any support at home is a huge help in reinforcing the expectations at school. Thanks for your help!

Have a great week!

Yum, Yum Applesauce!

Today we wrapped up our focus on apples by making applesauce. We did a great sequencing activity, learned some new words, did a writing activity, a little bit of graphing and voila! We cooked it all day long, and it was Yum-my! Thanks for sending in the apples!

Don't forget our fundraiser starts today! The kids all brought home their packets to look at. Please only allow them to sell to people they know. With budgets as tight as they are, this really helps raise money for our classrooms, field trips, assemblies and supplies. The fundraiser goes until October 10th, so sell, sell, sell! Thanks for supporting our school!
Have a good weekend.

IXL

Today we FINALLY got to get on the computers! I introduced the kids to the website IXL, which our school has purchased accounts for. Each student has a username and password, and can access the site from any computer. This is an AMAZING tool for practicing and reinforcing math concepts that we are learning at school. A note with more information will come home today, including your child's log-in information. Please keep this in a safe spot. Practice at home is so much fun for the kids, and really helps them advance in their math skills.


Don't forget, tomorrow is late start. We are making applesauce tomorrow so please make sure you've sent in your apple. Have a beautiful afternoon!

Welcome to First Grade!

Welcome to our classroom blog! I am so excited to have all of your students this year! What potential these kiddos have, I can hardly wait to see what they do this year. This will be a fabulous way for you to stay connected to what we are doing in class this year. I will try to post as frequently as I can to keep you as updated as possible. You will also notice a weekly newsletter coming home on Mondays, which I will post on here as well. Please take a moment to read, it's full of important information.

We've had a crazy few weeks as the kids adjust to first grade. We've been working really hard on following direction, paying attention, and learning how to work as a team. They've been working very hard, and I'm sure they are coming home exhausted! Please make sure they are getting to bed early as they adjust to being at school all day, every day.

Reading homework should be coming home regularly now, except on Fridays. Please take a few minutes to read to your child, as well as having them read to you. I can't stress enough how important it is for the kids to hear good examples of reading. It helps them develop fluency, comprehension, and really boosts their vocab. I know nights are crazy, been even just a few minutes a night will really make a big difference.

We will finally be getting on computers this week, and will be getting our IXL passwords. Please watch for a note coming home towards the end of the week with their login and password. This is an excellent tool for math practice at home. The kids love it, and it will really help solidify their math skills. More information to come...

Please make sure your child is doing their weekend writing homework independently. It is ok to help them with the occasional sounds, but please make sure they are working hard to listen to the sounds they hear, and to write those. This will help them become better writers. The point isn't to have a perfectly written paper, but for them to be doing some writing on their own.

It's going to be a great year! I hope to meet you all sometime soon, if we haven't met already!

Pictures will show up on our blog occasionally. If you do not want your child's picture on our blog, please let me know immediately. If you marked this on your blue form, I will keep their pictures off.

Let's have a great week!

Here is this weeks newsletter for this week:

Clipart courtesy of Scrappin' Doodles

Announcements

Hello families! My we have been busy little first graders this month! It's crazy how time flies, and how close we suddenly are to the end of the year. We still have so much to do, so make sure the kiddos continue to get enough sleep. I know it's hard with the longer days, but they really do so much better when they're well rested.

Reading groups are ending tomorrow, so we will really have time to do some fun bug activities! This is one of my favorite units all year so keep an eye on back packs for some great stuff.

Please send in any library books you still have at home, or the money to replace them. They will begin to hold kids in during recess who haven't brought them back yet.

If you still haven't brought your zoo permission slip back, please do so immediately. The deadline was last week, so we need them now.

Math and Literacy night is tomorrow Wednesday May 24th. This is a great family activity from 6:00-7:30. We hope to see you there!

Don't forget our music program is next Wednesday, June 1st at 7:00pm. Please try to get here a few minutes early so we can have the students prepared.

We are assessing beginning this week, and I'm so excited for the first graders to show you all how much they have progressed this year. Thanks for letting me have the opportunity to work with all of your fantastic kiddos!

Spring Projects

Hello families! We are getting ready to do some very important next week. But, we need your help! We need each child to bring in a recipe and a glass jar. Peanut butter jars, jelly jars, mason jars, mayo jars, glass drink jars, anything will work. The more interesting shape, the better. So go through your recycle, and send one in! Please just make sure that the wrappers are removed, and they have been washed out. If you are able to send in more than one, we would really appreciate it. Thanks so much!

Healthy Earth Tree

I am so sorry it's been so long! Mrs. Johnson and I recently started a teacher blog, and it's taken up much of my computer time. But I'm back!

This week we are celebrating Earth Day, which is Wednesday April 22nd. Today the kids will bring home a few leaves for their family members to participate in an Earth Day activity. We are making a healthy earth tree, with pledges of what we will do to help keep the earth healthy. Please take a minute to write down something you will help do on the leaf, and return them to school tomorrow. We will be making our own leaves at school on Wednesday, and then we will be displaying them in the hall, along with staff leaves. Please join us in keeping the earth healthy!

If you'd like to view our teacher blog, you can see it http://firstgradefanatics.blogspot.com/
You can also click on the button on the side of this blog. Have a great day, and get out and enjoy the sunshine!

Green BINGO Basket

Coming up on Friday April 15^th, PTC will be hosting a BASKET BINGO night. Each classroom chooses a theme for our prize basket. We then ask for parent donations to fill the baskets that will be given away as prizes. This year our class basket will be GREEN GALORE. Donations can include balloons, gardening tools, candy, army men, toys, books, socks, hats, dishware, bubbles, home décor, water toys, art supplies, beads, school supplies, candles, or anything green that you can thing of. Our only limitation is that it is green. We’d really appreciate any donation that your family is able to make, so please be creative and have fun! If you would like to donate, but don’t have time to shop, you can donate cash, and I will do the shopping for you. Even just $1! We need to have the baskets done early, so please have donations in by Friday April 8^th. Thank you so much for your support! This is a great fundraiser for our school and it has had great success the last several years. It also makes for a great time at PTC BINGO so make sure to come out and play.

Happy Spring Break!

I hope that everyone has a great spring break! I sent home a decent homework packet of math and writing, and I believe that most reading groups sent home reading homework as well. Please just make sure that your kids are reading everyday, or that you are reading to them. Have a great week and enjoy the extra time with your kiddos!

Conference Wrap Up

Thank you all so much for coming to conferences! We had a FANTASTIC turnout, so I really appreciate it! I just flew in from Philadelphia last night, so I will try to get some recent pic up tonight. Last week just got too crazy.
Few things to remember:
*Thursday is St Patrick's Day so don't forget to have the kids wear green.
*Make sure to check backpacks daily, and return your Monday folder. (Because of my sub yesterday, they didn't go home)
*Read every night and have your child get on IXL as often as possible. We are going to start a weather unit today, so we will be doing a lot of science for the next few months.
*Make sure to sell you cookie dough! Packets are due back after Spring Break, Tuesday March 29th.

Have a great day!

Time flies when you're having fun!

Where has the time gone? I've blinked and 3 weeks have passed. We have been awfully busy here in first grade, especially with conferences coming up this week. Thank you to everyone for returning your conference papers so quickly. Now please just make sure to make your appointment. Conferences are a critical part of your child's education, and it's so helpful for parents to be involved. If something comes up and you are unable to make it, please call and let me know. Also, please be mindful of others, and try to be on time. Our schedule is very tight so we could accommodate all of the busy schedules, so please be ready when we are.

We have had some big happenings in class, like 100 day, and Valentines Day, so later today I will try to post some pictures. The kids have been doing so well on all of their assessments. I am so happy with all of the progress that they have made. Please make sure you're doing their weekend homework with them. Writing is a big focus of our school this year, so I'm asking you all to work on it at home as well. Please HELP your child hear the sounds in the words, and write them. Please don't go crazy spelling everything for them. Part of becoming a good writer, is trying new words, and developing an independence. I can't wait for you to see what they've done!

Happy Monday! More to come later...

McTeachers Night!!!

Tonight is Mc Teachers Night at the Molalla Mc Donalds. Please join us for dinner or treats and help us raise money for the 5th grade swimming lessons. Teachers will be working from 5-7pm, so come on down! The PTC gets a portion of all sales, so bring your friends and family! Drive-thru sales count as well. Thanks and hope to see you tonight!

Welcome Giovanni!

We added a new student today, so welcome to our class Giovanni! Please note that he was not on our list for Valentines, so make sure to add him. Also, since I sent our Valentine note home, Miranda and Tanya have both moved. Please make sure to update your list! Thanks and have a great day!

Word Wall Week 15

Happy Monday! We had a bit of a crazy day today! Some kids were super tired, others were bouncing off the walls. Please make sure to have kids going to bed early so that they are ready to go every morning. Thanks to those who have sent in cereal boxes, we still need a few more so if you have one handy, we'd love to use it! We are learning about the Presidents this month, so if you have any books at home, I'd love to have the kids bring them in. Our Mr. Earl fundraiser came home today so please check backpacks. Just have the kids fill out the postcards, and return them to school. That's all you have to do! Please hand them in by Friday, and the kids will get their prizes.

Here are the word wall words this week:

four
them
little
man
has

Pictures!

Here are some pictures of the recent work we've been doing in 1st grade!

Buddy Reading with Ms. Raethke's 4th graders:












Practicing counting and identifying coins in math:















Our Brown Egg and White Egg:


Working on building complete sentences:




Learning about nutrition with Mrs. Moore from Oregon State University:





Making pictures that have symmetry with pattern blocks:






Now we have 5 party sentences. Look what we wrote!