Happy Holidays!

During the month of December, first grade will be a bustling with special activities. The students are very excited about the holiday concert on Wednesday, December 5. Also on December 5, we will visit the Holiday Shop, where students can purchase gifts for family members. Hat Day is December 7. Students can wear a hat in school all day by bringing in a canned good or nonperishable item for donation to the local food bank. Our cute canine friends will visit us on December 12. We will make special reindeer cards for them. On December 17, we will travel to the North Pole aboard the Polar Express, while wearing our pajamas and enjoying hot chocolate.  Friday, December 21 is a 1:00 dismissal day. We will return to school on January 2.

Academically, we are on Unit 3 in our Scott Foresman reading series. Look for the anthology to come home on Friday, December 7. You may keep it home for one week, and return it on December 14. Please have your child read a few stories to you each night. Be sure to commend them on their progress in reading! We are on Unit 5 in Everyday Math. This unit focuses on place value for tens and ones and adding two digit numbers. Please be sure to practice adding and subtracting on a regular basis. We have finished our realistic fiction stories in Writing Workshop. They will be coming home soon. During the month of December, we will be working on "how to" books. In Science, we are learning about how animals adapt to their environment and how baby animals learn from their mothers. In Social Studies, we are learning about maps, map keys, and the compass rose. Our author/illustrator this month is Jan Brett. We are really enjoying her fun stories and beautiful illustrations!

I wish you all a wonderful holiday season, full of joy and wonder. Be safe and enjoy every minute of this special time.

November News

November started off a bit crazy because of Superstorm Sandy. I hope that all of you are staying safe and warm during this trying time. If there is anything the school can do to make things easier for you, please let us know. We will be having a Hat Day to support the Red Cross on Friday, November 9. Students may wear a hat if they bring in a monetary donation, in any amount, for the Red Cross.

I enjoyed meeting with parents at conferences to discuss your child's progress. Report cards will be sent home on Monday, November 12. Please remember to sign and return the brown report card envelope. We will be learning about Veteran's and working on narrative fiction in writing workshop. We will be counting money and working on improving our addition and subtraction strategies. The ROCK dogs will visit on Wednesday, November 14.

Thanksgiving brings us a shortened week of school. We will have a 12:30 dismissal on Wednesday, November 21 and no school November 22 and 23. I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving!

October News

We will say good-bye to Mr. Bloom on October 12. It has been wonderful having him with us and we wish him all the best in his career as a teacher.

Many exciting topics are being "researched" by the first graders! We are learning about apples, pumpkins, bats, and spiders. They are using non-fiction materials to conduct their research. They are recording what they learned and what they continue to wonder about. We will use our research to help us write about these topics.


Speaking of writing, I hope you enjoyed the first pieces that your child brought home from writing workshop. We will focus now on "small moment" stories. Each student will choose a small moment from their life and write a story about it, focusing on zooming in and adding details. We will also focus on capitalization this month.

We are almost done with our first Scott Foresman unit. In Unit 2, we will be reading stories from the anthology. We have DRA tests on October 23. I will discuss the results with you at conferences.

We are all looking forward to the Halloween Party on October 31. We will have treats, costumes, and games, and of course, the parade!

Our therapy dogs have been to visit us this month. We love to read to them. They are a great motivator for us all. We are looking forward to their Halloween costumes.

Welcome to First Grade!

Welcome to First Grade! We are off to a great start! The students are eager to get into the routines of first grade and happy to see their friends. This first week of school is all about getting familiar with the classroom, each other, and routines. Next week we will start getting into our Everyday Math books and the Scott Foresman reading series. We will also be learning about Constitution Day and reflecting upon what it means to be an American. I look forward to seeing everyone at Back to School Night on Tuesday, September 18. If you cannot attend, please send me an email so I have your email address. Thank you!

June 2012

June 2012
Can you believe first grade is almost over? The students are ready, they have "grown too big for this little shell" and they are ready fot second grade. It has been a wonderful year and I thank you for sharing them with me.
June is going to be a fun month!

• June 5 ~ Sunglass Day for Spirit Day
• June 6 ~ Therapy dogs visit for the last time this year
• June 7 ~ Miss Davey will be here!
• June 8 ~ Lauren & Gina will spend the day with us! We will have an ice cream party!
• June 12 ~ First grade talent show, Pizza Party, Kiss a Cow and Sliming
• June 13 ~ Luau Lunch! Thank you PTA!
• June 14 ~ Field Day, 12:30 dismissal
• June 15 ~ Last day! 12:30 dismissal. We will order pizza, $1.00 per child

Have a fantastic summer! Be sure to visit the Warren County Library and sign up for their summer reading program. See you when you're in second grade!

May 2012

So many great things are happening this month! It is a month to showcase the hard work we have all put into this school year. On May 8 we will go on our class trip to the beautiful State Theater in Easton, PA to see a live musical of "Charlotte's Web." We have been reading the book by EB White, and the children are really enjoying it. We are all looking forward to the show. On Monday, May 14, Jenkinson's Aquarium will come to our school. They are bringing touch tanks with many aquatic animals for us to touch and learn about. This ties in perfectly with our study of the tidepools. On May 16, we will have our Spring Concert. This year's show features a Broadway theme. Students should dress their best for the concert. We will be doing DRA testing on May 18. The week of May 21 we will have the first grade standardized testing. Please be sure your children get plenty of rest that week, eat a nutritious breakfast before they come to school, and please be sure to get them to school on time. We will have our annual Ocean Night on May 24 from 6:00-7:30 pm. There is no school on Memorial Day, May 28. Please look for information about the first grade MARE project, which will be coming home soon. Have a marvelous Mother's Day!

March 2013

March will bring us Read Across America, St. Patrick's Day, and the first day of Spring. We will celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday by performing fairy tale plays for other classes. The students are very excited to do shows of Chicken Little, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, and Little Red Riding Hood. We will also share the narrative stories we wrote. It will be a fun day, celebrating literacy with our friends.
During the month of March, our whole school is continuing the character education work out. We are spending time with lessons on courage, optimism, respect, responsibility, empathy, citizenship, and trustworthiness. We work with our 8th grade buddies during phys ed time to complete related activities.
This month  I will travel to Columbia Teachers College for their Reading and Writing Project Saturday reunion. This is an amazing event, free to all teachers, and thousands of teachers will be there. I can't wait to try all of the new things I will learn there with my group of first graders.
We will conduct a science unit on Balance and Motion. We will use the FOSS kit to explore balance, motion, counterweights, rolling, spinning, axles, wheels, rotation. This is a fun, hands on unit using various manipulatives. Look for a parent letter to come home. Students will want to share all we are doing in class with this unit!
In math, we are beginning Unit 7. This unit is on Geometry. Key concepts include sorting attributes blocks according to attribute rules, extending familiarity with polygons, identifying 3 dimensional shapes, and exploring symmetrical shapes. Please continue to practice basic addition and subtraction facts.
Writing Workshop will focus on informational texts. The students will choose a topic that they are "experts" on, then write about it. I can't wait to start this unit!
Castle projects are due on March 19. Please use recycled materials. The students have been learning about castles and their purposes. They should have good ideas to contribute to this project.
Report cards will come home on March 28. There is no school on March 29, as this begins our Spring Break. I would like to wish everyone a very happy Easter and spring!

February 2012

We kicked off the month of February with a fun study of Groundhog Day. The students enjoyed learning about this holiday and making their own groundhogs. We even made one for Mr. Magnuson's birthday. The groundhog was wearing an argyle vest and party hat!
February is Kindness Month. Our student teacher, Miss Davey, has created a beautiful bulletin board displaying what the children think kindness is. We have many events going on this month involving kindness of heart, including Pennies for Patients for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. We are still collecting soup for our Souper 100, and the K-Kids are collecting shampoo and conditioner. Thank you for your kindness and generosity.
The 100th day of school will be this month. Students are asked to create a display of 100 items. These displays will be on the bulletin boards in the first grade hall.
We have started Unit 7 in Math. It is a Geometry unit. The students will learn about attributes, patterns, 3 dimensional shapes, polygons and non-polygons, symmetry and congruence. Miss Davey will be doing many fun learning activities with the students during this unit.
Writing Workshop is focusing on narrative writing this month. We are trying to incorporate writer's craft. We will be adding things like action, dialogue, feeling, and thinking to our stories. We will also be completing an "About the Author" page. The students are having a lot of fun writing narratives.
We will celebrate Valentine's Day on Tuesday, February 14th. Students can bring in Valentine cards to give to their classmates. No food or candy please.
I will be testing the students DRA levels for reading this month. I will also be administering the DIBELS test this month.
Remember, there is a half day for students on Friday, February 17 and no school on Monday, February 20. Enjoy President's Day!

Happy 2013!

The new year brings us to the half way point of first grade. Students will be tested for mid-year progress in math, DIBELS, and DRA at the end of January and beginning of February. Look for report cards to come home at the end of the month. They will be the same format as last marking period. The students are growing and learning so much each day, it is very exciting!
Writing Workshop this month focuses on persuasive writing. We will start by writing persuasive letters about things we feel strongly about, and try to convince others to see our point of view. The students have already written letters to me about their desire to have a class pet. They are now working to earn 200 blue tickets so we can get a Beta fish for our classroom. We will also be making speeches about topics we have strong opinions about. Be prepared for some interesting letters to come home from your students!
Our phonics lessons will reinforce short vowels, hard and soft c and g, r,l, and s blends, and contractions. We are doing an author study of Mo Willems. We are also reading about snow, ice, and polar animals.
Social Studies will focus on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We will tie this in with our character education lessons and discuss how it feels to be excluded and what we can all do to be part of a solution to the problems of prejudice and stereotyping.
Math skills to focus on this month include basic addition and subtraction facts, and geometry concepts, such as attributes, polygons, 3D shapes, and symmetry.
In Science, we will be discussing how the weather affects us and how animals adapt to their environment. We will do some experiments with ice, snow, and water. We will make frost and compare that to how snowflakes are made.
There is no school for students on January 21. This is an in-service day for teachers. Our therapy dogs will visit on January 9. We will have our Spelling Bee on January 11. January 18 has been declared a Hat Day. Students should bring in a monetary donation for cancer research.



I am looking forward to a great month with these awesome first graders! Stay warm and healthy!