Valentine's Day and 100th Day Information!

Students will be creating their own valentine holders using clear gallon milk jugs. Please send one (must be cleaned out WELL) in to school at any point before 2/10. I will send home a list soon with names for valentines. Please remember we have a no food policy so this also applies to valentines (no candy attached). Thank you!

I will be asking for parent volunteers to do some craft stations on this day (similar to Halloween). If you are interested, please email me. I am hoping to get five different stations going. :)

Our 100th day is scheduled to be on February 11th as of now. Please think about how you can have your child dress as they are 100 years old! I will send home a detailed letter soon but this is a fun way to dress up on this day! It is optional. Be thinking suspenders, gray hair, pearls, etc.  I have pictures on this blog from last year for some ideas!

Thank you! 

Gumball Math!

Hi Families!
Today a notice was sent home regarding our new "Gumball Math" activity. I explained this to the students today and will continue to do so throughout the week. Friday will be our first quiz. I stressed the importance of both "no bragging" as well as "working hard to beat your own score, not someone else's". I want the students to feel proud when they earn a gumball but not discouraged if they don't. This is a fine line with first graders. This activity is for the children to challenge themselves each week and to practice facts that they each need to practice. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to email me. I will try to send home the quizzes scored on Fridays but I may not always get to correct them since we do them at the end of the day. If I can't score them before the weekend they will be sent home on Monday. 

I also wanted to let you know that sometimes I will post from my IPad. When I post a new entry, the font can't be changed and the pictures come out a bit fuzzy and not always centered. I have to then go into my laptop to format it! So if you have noticed a change that is why. 

This week we are learning all about the American Symbols. Be on the lookout for a challenge soon!  

Also, a reminder that this Thursday is Literacy Night at our school! I'd love to see my students there! I will be there doing a read aloud as well as some other teachers. Please send back the forms if you would like to come! There is still time.

Learning About Martin Luther King, Jr.!

This week we spent a lot of time learning about the life of Dr. King! The students were very engaged and I think they should be able to tell you all about why he is so important to our country and whole world. Here are pictures of some MLK activities from this week.

So now for a challenge question! Please email me your child's answers. 2/3 correct earn a little prize.

1. What was it called when black people refused to ride the bus until they were able to sit where they wanted?

2. What words were carved into his gravestone?

3. When others said "hate", Martin said _____________.

Thank you! Have a wonderful long weekend! 

Zones of Regulation

Mrs. Murphy, our school psychologist, has been coming to visit our classrooms to teach us about the zones of regulation. These four different zones are color coded and each go with different descriptors for how our brain and body might be feeling. The green zone is similar to "ready to learn" on our clip chart. We are learning how to identify the zones and then will learn what we can do when we want to move out of a particular zone and move into another. Students will also learn strategies for handling situations in which someone near us is demonstrating that they are in a different zone. Here are a few pictures from today's lesson.

Fiction VS. Nonfiction?

Welcome Back!

Hi everyone!

Welcome to 2014! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and break with your families. I just wanted to give info regarding the homework pass.  Please attach the pass to the homework that your child wishes to not do and send in the day it is due. If your child wishes to use this it can only be for one assignment, not multiple a night. For example, if I assign a Math homework and they also have their sight word packet, they can only choose one. If the homework that your child wishes to not do is a night of the sight word packet, just attach the homework pass to the whole packet, leaving that one part blank. I encouraged the students to think about saving it for a busy night or warmer weather when they might want to just get outside and play. Thank you! Any questions please email me!