Hard at Work, and our Plays!

Hello families!

We have been hard at work since returning to school since Spring Break!  I missed all the kids so much, so while it is hard to be away from Owen during the day, I'm having a blast with our students at school!  We just finished up our Measurement unit in math and took our test today.  Everyone did a great job.  Look for those tests to come home at the beginning of next week.  We finished up our plays today (see the videos below!) so we will beginning our final Reader's Workshop unit for the year.  We will be working on reading across genres.  In writing, we are learning how to write realistic fiction stories.  We have some awesome authors and great storytellers in our class!  In science, we have planted some plants and are learning about how they grow.  We will begin talking about our community and learning about maps in social studies in the upcoming weeks.

Check out the videos of our plays below! We had a blast learning about fluency, expression, and acting while we are reading.  We performed The Tale of the Turnip, Little Red Riding Hood, and Snow White.

Thanks for checking out our performances!

                                                                The Tale of the Turnip

Little Red Riding Hood

Snow White

This week

Hi families!

  Sorry I have not been using this as much.  Been so busy trying to get everything in after we had the last Monday and Tuesday off.  Well this week I am wanting to still do the Polar Express theme but it is seeming not to work as well.  All my ideas will not print off my computer.  If I can make it work today then I will stay with it!

Last Friday was the Chinese New Year.  All day the kids switched classes between all the 1st grade teachers and made a different craft and learned about the Chinese New Year.  This Friday is the 100th day of school.  I was wondering if at home you would be able to have your child make a t-shirt with 100 things on it.  Ideas are puffy paint dots, iron on stickers, writing numbers all the way up to 100 or even just writing 100th day of school on the shirt.  Please let me know if you need assistance with getting a tshirt and I will make sure your student has one.  It can be any color!!

  I hope you all like the blog for the kids.  They seem to like it and I am excited about all the posts I am seeing!  I have to approve all the comments so if your child comments and you do not see it right away, it is because I am waiting to approve it. 

That is abou it for today.  I hope you all have a great week!

Angela

Class update

Hello Families!
  What a great short week.  I wanted to have school Monday and Tuesday but the weather didnt listen to me!  I was able to spend more time with my kids at home so there was a bonus!  We decided that we are going to have our Polar Express next week so we have the whole week to do all the awesome activities!  I don't think I would Be able to squeeze it all in 3 days!  The kids were all very understanding!! 
  TOMORROW IS TWIN DAY!!  I do not know if you will all see this before then but I will also be sending a note home.
  The kids just finished up their "clubs" in readers workshop and they were able to show their posters.  If you get a chance, ask them about it.  They did a great job comparing ideas with their other club members and bering very creative!! 
In writers workshop, we are talking about opinions.  The students were put in groups of 3.  I had a fun game where they worked with their group and they came up with a pretend dog.  They would then have to come to the front of the class and I interviewed them like we were on TV and they had to explain why their dog was better than the other dogs.  It was very creative and funny their things they came up with.  Yesterday they had to work with their group and write everything down and draw a picture.  Since it was hard to attach their writing to the pictures (the writing was very big) I decided to have them type it out.  Ask them to tell you the details about their dogs!
  I hope you all have a great day and I will talk to you soon!

Just Dance....

Hi Everyone!  Hopefully your days are all going well!  Just wanted to share something so funny and cute.  We have been having indoor recess everyday for a while now and I know ho much these kids need to get their energy out so I threw on "Just Dance" on youtube and chose some songs for them.  One of their favorites is One Direction "You don't know your beautiful".  At one point I had the entire class dancing!  It was so funny!  You can ask them about it.  One student danced to every song I put on and then when it was time for lunch, he pulled his pants up over his knees cause he was so warm.  Just thought I would tell you something funny to make you days better!  Have a great weekend!!

Baby is here!!

Hi families!

  So I do not know if everyone has heard but Mrs. Wright had her baby boy!  Owen Daniel Wright arrived yesterday afternoon!  He is adorable and Mrs. Wright is doing fantastic!  The kids were so excited to see the picture that she sent to us! 

  I do not know if the kids have told you that we are starting "clubs" in readers workshop.  I assigned groups of 3 students and they were able to decide their group name and the topic they will be reading about.  They will have a topic in their group and they will read about this topic all week and next week.  Then at the end of the week they will be able to make a group poster and present it to their class, if they want to. I am so excited about this and so are the kids.  Some of the group names are so funny it's great!

  Also next week I was talking to the students and we all decided next week that we are going to have a "Polar Express" theme.  If everything goes good during the week, then on Friday we will take some time and watch the movie the "Polar Express" and we will have a PJ day so they can have the full experience.  I will let you know how the week goes and what the plan for next Friday!

  I hope you all have a great day!

Ms. Sweeney

Hello Families!

Hi everyone!  I'm Angela Sweeney, Mrs. Wrights long term sub.  I just wanted to say hi and introduce myself.  All your children will have a letter telling you about myself, just so you can get a feel for who I am.  If you ever have any questions, please feel free to email me, contact me on here or call me.  You can reach me at Mrs. Wrights school number.  Today went fantastic!  Some of the students are trying to see if they can walk all over me, but they are learning quickly they cannot!
Mrs. Wright did not have her baby boy yet, we are all in big anticipation for that, and I will let you know as soon as she does.  I am sure she will send you all emails, but just incase I will post it on here.  Ok, I have to go get the kids from gym!  Can't wait to meet and talk to all of you :)

Long Term Sub, Box Tops, and Updates

Hello families! I hope you all had a wonderful winter break and are staying warm in all this cold weather! After a winter full of cold temps and lots of snow, I think we're all looking forward to Spring! We've had too many indoor recesses I think!

I wanted to update you all on important news for our classroom. I'm now in my last month of my pregnancy, and my due date (January 27th) is fast approaching! We found out that Angela Sweeney will be our long-term substitute teacher. The kids had her for one day at the beginning of the school year, and I have every confidence that she will be great! The kids loved her, and she has the perfect personality for first grade. Her plan is to continue with all the things we've been doing in our classroom and helping the kids continue to learn and grow both academically and socially. She will be sure to either continue updating our blog, or send home other forms of communication so you can get an idea of what's been happening in our classroom. I will be taking 12 weeks off and most likely return right after spring break. If the baby comes sooner, then I'll likely come back sooner too! All of our students have been doing such a great job and I'm sure this transition will be an easy and positive one! Don't hesitate to reach out to her if you have any questions or concerns about your child's progress...she will gladly update you and answer any questions!

 The Box Tops & Labels for Education Contest is upon us again! Starting Monday, January 6th, please send any Box Tops or Labels for Education to school with your child. Each correctly cut Box Top and Label will be counted as two points for our classroom!  The winning classroom in each pod will earn an ice cream party, and the winning classroom in the school will win a pizza party!  This is an exciting contest for students and great for our school, as we can raise so much money!  Please continue sending in any Box Tops and Labels you have through the end of January...the contest ends Friday, January 31st.

As we are nearing the mid-way point in our year, please remember to continue encouraging your child to read at home every night!  Reading is our most important homework, and students should be spending 30 minutes most night engaged in a reading/talking about reading activity.  Kids can read the just-right books in their book bags, as well as books from their own bookshelves, library books, books on an ipad or tablet, or even magazines!  This habit promotes strong reading behaviors that will continue over extended breaks away from school, which will lead to a strong literacy base for the rest of their lives.  I know many students only read a day or two over winter break, and while I understand that the breaks get busy fast, it is important to try to incorporate reading into some of each day...even if it's only for 10 minutes!  Please do your best to remind your child to read each and every night...they can read aloud to you, you can read to them, or they can read by themselves!  (You may not believe it, but we are reading for 45 minutes independently each day at school...I know they can do it at home, too!)

In class, we've been working hard in reading and working on reading nonfiction texts...we are really working on developing our comprehension and problem solving tricky words.  The kids are really enjoying reading nonfiction text!

In writing, we recently finished up our unit on writing informational texts--you've probably seen some non-fiction "chapter books" that came home before break.  The kids expanded their writing abilities greatly, and did an awesome job writing more and more.  It's amazing what they can do!  Until I leave, we will be reviewing some small moments writing as well as focusing a bit on handwriting and word study.  Once Mrs. Sweeney takes over, she will begin teaching the class about Opinion Writing.

Our current unit in math is all about developing more subtraction strategies.  I'm happy to see that these things are beginning to get easier and easier for us...we've come a long way since the beginning of the year!  Please continue to help your child with his or her math homework at home as well!

In Science we will begin learning about Penguins in January, and in Social Studies we talked a bit about New Years Resolutions.  Near the end of January we will begin learing about famous African Americans for Black History Month (February) and we will also celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Thanks for all your support at home...all your efforts with your children are really making a big difference...they're doing great and learning so much!  As always, if you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to contact me!