ANNOUNCEMENTS & SHENANIGANS

Wow! It’s hard to believe that we have finished half of 1st grade! We still have so much more to learn and explore in the second half of the school year but each child has already accomplished so much! I am so proud of each and everyone of them and I can’t wait to see how much more they continue to grow as 1st graders.

Thank you for a wonderful winter party today! I appreciate our room moms that got everything ready and all the volunteers and visitors who made our party go smoothly! We had a lot of fun!!!!

Thank you for all the wonderful cards, sweet and treats. and gifts. I am so blessed to teach your kids everyday and appreciate you sharing them with me! They make each day fun and exciting! Your generosity and kindness is truly appreciated. I hope you all have a wonderful winter break!!!!

 

We had a lot of fun during this short week. We still had some learning to do. We wrapped up our learning on time to the hour and half hour as well as fractions. Continue to practice time with your kiddos. They love being helpful and reminding me of the time throughout the day. We also started learning about objects in the sky and weather. We are excited to continue this learning when we return in January. We have some exciting this planned to show our learning that will be shown off during our STEAM night at the end of January!

 

We had our final German class this week. We loved getting to explore the German language each Wednesday!

We also had our school sing-a-long today before our winter party. This is always a fun tradition for our kids and Mrs. Martin does an amazing job teaching each grade level a song to sing for the school. She also has the teachers in on the fun as well. Be sure to ask your kiddos about the teachers performance at the sing-a-long. Here is a video of the 1st graders singing “We Will Jingle!” They voted as a group for this song! So cute!

 

Coach Barnard was also a great sport and was our Santa Claus when the teachers sang Must Be Santa Claus for the kids.

 

HEADPHONES AND NEW SPIRAL NOTEBOOKS:

We would like to have each child in first grade have their own set of headphones. They will be helpful as we continue to use iPads and integrate laptops into our classrooms. Too many noises coming from various computers can pose a problem, so having their own headphones is necessary. You can find inexpensive ones at places like Target or Five Below. Please send a pair of headphones with your child’s name on them in a Ziploc baggie.  The headphones are needed when they return from the Winter Break. In addition to the headphones, we are asking that children bring a new spiral notebook to school after the Winter Break to be used during our Math Workshop time. We have been documenting our learning and have gone through much of our fall spiral notebook already. Thank you for your help with these needed supplies.

 

Calling All Glue sticks!

We have worked really hard the first part of the year and you can tell by looking at our sad glue stick drawer. We use glue sticks daily for math workshop, gluing into journals, and so much more. We would love a refresh of our glue sticks when we come back. It would be greatly appreciated!

 

WINTER BREAK READING:
Over the Winter Break, the first grade teachers are asking that the students read a total of 12 times between the dates of December 17th – January 7th.  We will glue in new reading logs on December 17th and then your child will keep their planners with them until we return in January.  Reading over the break will help ensure that your child is ready to pick up where we left off.  Thank you for continuing this reading routine!

 

COOLER WEATHER AND JACKETS:
Now that we have enjoyed a few cooler days, we are seeing more jackets and sweaters on our students.  We are also finding these items left in various areas around the school without names on them.  Please label your child’s coats, jackets, and sweaters with their names.  (Also include lunch boxes and water bottles, too!)  This will prevent our lost and found from filling up.  Thank you!

 

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER

Dec. 20-Jan 7: Winter Holiday, No School

Jan 8: Students return to school

Jan 11: Parent Reader (Blake’s Family)

Jan. 21: MLK Holiday, No School

Jan. 24: STEAM Night

Feb. 14: Valentine’s Day Party

Feb. 18-19: Student Holiday

 

THIS WEEK AT A GLANCE…

READING:

– Revising our social contract

– Review reading workshop expectations
– Making inferences

– Introducing silent e in words (ex: like, bike, etc.)

WRITING:

– Using nouns and verbs in sentences

– Developing ideas for stories
– Continue to work on our handwriting

MATH:

– Introduce the make ten strategy for addition

– Understand that the equal sign means a balanced equation

SCIENCE:

– Observe and record the weather
– Learn about objects in the sky like the sun, stars, moon, clouds

– Prepare for STEAM Night

HOMEWORK FOR THE WEEK:

1. Read 10-15 minutes each night.

2. Record responses on reading logs.

 I hope you all have a wonderful winter break!  Hopefully it is filled with fun, family, rest, and joy! Happy Holidays and I’ll see you in the New Year…2019!!!

ANNOUNCEMENTS & SHENANIGANS

It’s hard to believe that we are about halfway through our first grade year together!  The children have worked so hard and have made tremendous academic progress since August! I love each and every one of your children.  They bring such happiness into this classroom and are the reason I love my job!

This week was as busy as it gets. With all the learning we still needed to do, we managed to get a special gift ready for our parents, saw the 3rd graders holiday performance, and even had holiday story time.

 

We started diving into time to the half hour this week. This is a hard concept to grasp since the hour hand sits in between 2 numbers when it is half past the hour. It takes some time to train them about what hour we are in. This is a great thing to practice when looking at an analog clock. We made a clock during our small group time and had lots of discussion about it.

 

This week, Asha was our last superstar of 2018! It was great learning more about her. Our superstar will pick back up when we return in January! Our pineapple friend will be taking a restful winter break too!

Nidheesh’s mom came and read to us on Friday. She read some great nonfiction stories all! The kids loved it. We will not have a parent reader this next week since it is a short week. We look forward to more parent visitors in January!

WINTER PARTY
Our winter holiday party will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 19th from 2:00-2:50 and will be a very exciting time for the first graders.  We encourage you to come and be a part of the fun that day and spend some special time with your child.  Our wonderful room moms, Ricki and Shweta, have put a lot of time into planning this party and making sure that it’s a memorable one for our kids!

Thank you to those parents who have already signed up to help with the party.  Please make sure to complete the necessary district background check before the party.  It takes about 72 hours to process and is requirement before volunteering in the classroom.  It must be completed each school year.

Here is the link for easy access: https://partners.roundrockisd.org/volunteer/

 

HEADPHONES AND NEW SPIRAL NOTEBOOKS:

We would like to have each child in first grade have their own set of headphones. They will be helpful as we continue to use iPads and integrate laptops into our classrooms. Too many noises coming from various computers can pose a problem, so having their own headphones is necessary. You can find inexpensive ones at places like Target or Five Below. Please send a pair of headphones with your child’s name on them in a Ziploc baggie.  The headphones are needed when they return from the Winter Break. In addition to the headphones, we are asking that children bring a new spiral notebook to school after the Winter Break to be used during our Math Workshop time. We have been documenting our learning and have gone through much of our fall spiral notebook already. Thank you for your help with these needed supplies.

 

WINTER BREAK READING:
Over the Winter Break, the first grade teachers are asking that the students read a total of 12 times between the dates of December 17th – January 7th.  We will glue in new reading logs on December 17th and then your child will keep their planners with them until we return in January.  Reading over the break will help ensure that your child is ready to pick up where we left off.  Thank you for continuing this reading routine!

COOLER WEATHER AND JACKETS:
Now that we have enjoyed a few cooler days, we are seeing more jackets and sweaters on our students.  We are also finding these items left in various areas around the school without names on them.  Please label your child’s coats, jackets, and sweaters with their names.  (Also include lunch boxes and water bottles, too!)  This will prevent our lost and found from filling up.  Thank you!

 

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER

Dec. 19: Winter Party

Dec. 20-Jan 7: Winter Holiday, No School

Jan 8: Students return to school

Jan. 21: MLK Holiday, No School

 

THIS WEEK AT A GLANCE…

READING:

– Review elements of a fictional story

– Read & respond in writing to literature
– Share favorite winter activities

MATH:

– Discuss time to the hour and half hour

SCIENCE:

– Observe and record the weather
– Demonstrate that air is all around us and observe that wind is moving air
– Learn about objects in the sky like the sun

HOMEWORK FOR THE WEEK:

1. Read 10-15 minutes each night.

2. Record responses on reading logs.

If your family is traveling over the winter break, be safe and enjoy your destination!  I wish you all the best this holiday season…may your break consist of fun, family, friends and some much needed relaxation!

Happy Holidays and I’ll see you in the New Year…2019!!!

ANNOUNCEMENTS & SHENANIGANS:

It’s hard to believe that we are about halfway through our first grade year together!  The children have worked so hard and have made tremendous academic progress since August!  I just love watching their confidence blossom!

 

We had a special treat at school on Thursday when the Grisham band, orchestra, and choir came and put on a holiday concert for us.

We also had a guest reader this Friday. Blake’s dad came by and read to us. We love having parent readers. They always look forward to seeing their families in the classroom.

We loved learning about our friend Ethan this week while he was the superstar.

 

WINTER PARTY
Our winter holiday party will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 19th from 2:00-2:45 and will be a very exciting time for the first graders.  We encourage you to come and be a part of the fun that day and spend some special time with your child.  Our wonderful room moms, Ricki and Shweta, have put a lot of time into planning this party and making sure that it’s a memorable one for our kids!

 Thank you to those parents who have already signed up to help with the party.  Please make sure to complete the necessary district background check before the party.  It takes about 72 hours to process and is requirement before volunteering in the classroom.  It must be completed each school year. Click here to fill out the volunteer application. 

 

HEADPHONES AND NEW SPIRAL NOTEBOOKS:

We would like to have each child in first grade have their own set of headphones. They will be helpful as we continue to use iPads and integrate laptops into our classrooms. Too many noises coming from various computers can pose a problem, so having their own headphones is necessary. You can find inexpensive ones at places like Target or Five Below. Please send a pair of headphones with your child’s name on them in a Ziploc baggie.  The headphones are needed when they return from the Winter Break. In addition to the headphones, we are asking that children bring a new spiral notebook to school after the Winter Break to be used during our Math Workshop time. We have been documenting our learning and have gone through much of the notebook already. Thank you for your help with these needed supplies.

 

SUPERSTAR: Our Superstar this week is Asha! We are really excited to learn more about our special friend. She will be our last superstar of 2018! We are excited to learn about more friends in 2019!

 

This past week,we spent an hour learning computer code under the guidance of our Instructional Technology Specialist, Donna Owen.  She gave great insight into the world of computer science and explained the computer language of coding.  The students were fully engaged in the process and persevered through some really fun challenges.  What smart, tech-savvy students!!

 

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER

Dec. 14: Parent Reader (Nidheesh’s Family)

Dec. 19: Winter Party

Dec. 20-Jan 7: Winter Holiday, No School

Jan 8: Students return to school

Jan. 21: MLK Holiday, No School

 

THIS WEEK AT A GLANCE…

READING:

– Review features of traditional literature: fables, folktales, and fairy tales

– Read & respond in writing to literature

WRITING:

– Continue to write brief stories of interest

MATH:

– Partition 2D figures to make equal parts

– Read and understand fractions that represent halves and fourths

– Discuss time to the hour and half hour

SOCIAL STUDIES:

– Continue our study of holidays and celebrations

HOMEWORK FOR THE WEEK:

1. Read 10-15 minutes each night.

2. Record 4 reading responses a week (Mon-Thurs.).

ANNOUNCEMENTS & SHENANIGANS:

We had a great week back from Thanksgiving break. Everyone was excited to see each other and we jumped right back into our learning. We were lucky enough to start our week of with one of Mrs. Hougham’s lessons. It’s always a joy to have Mrs. Hougham come teach us a lesson on kindness.

We learned how to navigate Google Classroom this week as well. Mrs. Owen came and helped us activate our Google Classroom and she also showed us how to practice our math skills with a pixel picture activity.

In math, we have started Geometry and we have really enjoyed exploring shapes and then seeing how we can use shapes to create other shapes.

Finally, we ended this week with our parent reader, Luke’s mom. Of course Luke picked some funny books and we loved getting to have his mom read to us. We also got to learn a lot about Aaron this week while he was our Superstar.

HEADPHONES AND NEW SPIRAL NOTEBOOKS:

We would like to have each child in first grade have their own set of headphones. They will be helpful as we continue to use iPads and integrate laptops into our classrooms. Too many noises coming from various computers can pose a problem so having their own headphones is necessary. You can find inexpensive ones at places like Target or Five Below. Please send a pair of headphones with your child’s name on them in a Ziploc baggie when they return from the Winter Break. In addition to the headphones, we are asking that children bring a new spiral notebook to school after the Winter Break as well to be used during our Math Workshop time. We have been documenting our learning and have gone through much of the notebook already. Thank you for sending another spiral notebook with your child after the Winter Break so we can continue to show all that we know during the second half of our year!

 

LUNCH:

Just a few reminders regarding lunch as we are getting to the middle of the year. Please make sure that your child knows their lunch plans before coming to school. Talk about if they are buying, bringing a lunch box, or if you will be dropping off their lunchbox on the red cart for them to pick up. If you are sending in lunch money, please send it with your child so we can get it to the cafeteria first thing in the morning. That way the line can run smoothly during the rush of lunch time. If you are bringing  your child’s lunch, please make sure to have it here on time. Our lunch starts at 11:14 and ends at 11:44. Lastly, the cafeteria only makes enough for what has been ordered in the morning. If you are coming to have lunch with your child, please bring your lunch and any siblings’ lunches with you. Thanks!

 

TAG REFERRAL WINDOW NOW OPEN:

The TAG Referral Window is now open and all paperwork is due back to Mrs. Henrichs and Mrs. Hamilton by December 7th.

 

COOLER WEATHER AND JACKETS:

Now that we have enjoyed a few cooler mornings, we are seeing more jackets and sweaters on our students.  We are also finding these items left in various areas of the school, but there are no names on them.  Please label your child’s coats, jackets, and sweaters with names.  (Also include lunch boxes and water bottles, too!)  This will prevent our lost and found from filling up.  Thank you!

 

SUPERSTAR: Our Superstar this week is Ethan and we are really excited to learn more about our special friend.

 

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER

Dec. 7: Parent Reader (Blake’s Family)

Dec. 19: Winter Party

Dec. 20-Jan 7: Winter Holiday, No School

Jan 8: Students return to school

 

WEEK AT A GLANCE:

LANGUAGE ARTS:

• Respond to literature

• Practice reading/writing words with digraphs (ch, sh, th)

• Continue exploring fables, fairy tales and folktales

MATH:

• Analyze attributes of 2 dimensional shapes and 3 dimensional solids to develop an understanding of their properties

• Introduce fractions: halves and fourths

SCIENCE: 

• Discuss customs and traditions that shape our community

Have a great weekend!