Windy Wednesday

We had a very windy time on the playground today, but we enjoyed every minute of it!  It was wonderful to enjoy some warm and sunny weather and we hope to enjoy some more days like this before the end of the month. 

Planning ahead ~ we have a field trip next week to Belvedere Plantation and are still looking for some chaperones.  Please know that if you attend this trip you will still be able to go on our spring trip.  The more chaperones we have the easier the day is for everyone.  Please plan to send money and permission slips as soon as possible.

Homework ~ please make sure your child is completing homework each night.  Recording books on the reading log will be very important at the end of the month when Book-It Coupons are passed out.

Wednesday...

We had a busy day for a half day of school.  Our day began with specials at 9, lunch at 9:50, some math, and some reading.  Wow.  We got a lot accomplished for being at school for such a short time. 

School pictures will be taken on Monday (after lunch).  These are the pictures that are used in the yearbook even if you don't purchase any to keep for yourself.  You can send payments for pictures on Monday or you can pay online with a credit card. 

Please don't forget if you wish to send snacks for birthdays you must complete the form for Mr. Monroe's approval before sending anything.

Our school has a number of memberships for extra practice.  If you child can't remember them, please send me a not.

Tasty Thursday

Today was a day filled with a lot of hands of activities, wonderful parent helpers, and a lot of learning.  Who can go wrong with hands on learning that involves Oreo Cookies.  I will be posting our results tomorrow for everyone to see.  I will also post some information about how to try some of these activities at home.

Take Home Wednesday

Today was such a busy day our volunteer ran out of time to finish Take Home Tuesday papers.  They are almost finished and will go home tomorrow.

Today was filled with fast math facts, computers and lots of reading.  Know that your children were hard workers today.  Tomorrow will be filled with a number of apple products and activities.  Feel free to stop by in the morning for some taste testing (around 9:30)  or if you prefer Oreo cookies join us on Thursday.

Hope to  have more tomorrow!

Mighty Monday

Today we were very busy at school.  Learning new words, getting new books in our book bins, and practicing new routines.  We even learned a thing or two about plants.  Hopefully we are also learning that we can be a mighty strong class when we work together. 

This week we are going to be celebrating a number of special events.  The birthdays of students, Johnny Appleseed, and Oreo cookies.  We will be tasting a variety of apple products to celebrate Johnny Appleseed.  Oreo stacking, rolling, measuring, and graphing. 

Thanks go out to our fabulous parent volunteers who are helping both at school and at home.  It's not too late to volunteer.  Just send me a note if you want to help.

Running Club forms should come home tomorrow in Take Home Tuesday folders.  Please return those ASAP.

Wacky Wednesday

What a busy day in our garden today.  We began bright and early with a fire drill and 80 minutes of PE.  Following PE we spent time taking our PALS spelling test.  This is the only part of the PALS test that is completed as a whole group.  After we had lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon doing centers and working on the individual parts of the  PALS test.  I hope to finish up our PALS testing before the weekend.  (I have to enter the spelling scores tonight).  

Students also enjoyed some time of the playground and got to get some extra energy out by running around and having fun.

School picture day is coming up in October.  These are the pictures that are used in our yearbook.  Please try to plan ahead.  Your child should have brought home the paperwork TODAY.  If they did not bring one home, please let me know so we can get another copy home to you.

Again I want to thank the wonderful volunteers who have been in to help us and those who are offering to help at home.  I really appreciate the help (and my family does too).  THANK YOU! 

Don't forget with cold and flu season arriving to please send a note when your child returns from being out sick.

The hand drawing at the bottom of this page should go to the Adopt-A-Classroom web page.  Please feel free to share our link with family and friends.  Every little bit helps.

Up for Adoption

Yes, you did read it correctly. I have our class up for adoption on the Adopt a Classroom web page. I am hoping to get some funding for the Premium version of Spelling City. I wish that I had the ability to fund this, but right now I can't swing it. If you are interested in checking out our adoption page or helping with funding please click HERE! 

Today we also welcomed a new student to our class. We are all looking forward to getting to know her a little better. We know that our new friend will enjoy being one of Mrs. Richard's Roses. 

Computer Lab was extended today and we were able to learn about a new program called Fast Math. This program will help us to make all of our math facts FAST. I am hoping to make this part of our daily math time in the next few weeks. We also spent some time on RAZ Kids and working one-on-one with Mrs. Richard on the PALS test. I hope to conclude the PALS testing in the next few days. Look for the results to come home with your child's interims in October. If you really need to know sooner, please send me a note in your child's SEED Binder. 

Thank you to our parent volunteers who have been very helpful at school and to those offering to help with some "at home" projects. If you are interesting in helping our classroom in some way, please let me know. We can always find you something to do in our garden.

Mild Monday

Our mild Monday weather had my class reaching for coats and sweaters for most of the day.  We did get to enjoy some outdoor recess, which could be the last time for a few days if the rain comes that the weather man keeps mentioning.

We will be PALS testing this week.  Please help your child to be successful by making sure they have gone to bed early.  Want to really help them?  Practicing any and all sight words your child has learned since they began school in kindergarten.  And by practicing, they should be able to read the word as quickly as they can name their colors.

I will be out tomorrow afternoon (Tuesday) to go back to the dentist.  Trust me when I say I would MUCH rather be at school than at the dentist office.  If you need something after 12:00 please call the office. 

We will be visiting the computer lab tomorrow to begin a new math program.  This program will allow individualized insurrection for all students.  Please try to ask your child tomorrow afternoon what they thought of the program.

www.mrsrichard.org is still a work in progress.  I hope to get plugging away on it some more this week.  I took on the task of refinishing the top of our kitchen table this past weekend ~ who knew it would take so long.  I think (and hope) that I have put the last coat on it after dinner tonight. 

Till Tuesday!

Growing Brain Muscles

We have been working diligently this week on growing our brain muscles so that we can increase our read-to-self stamina.  We have really been working hard on READING.  We have talked about what read-to-self looks like and what it doesn't look like.  We have practiced doing it correctly and incorrectly.  We know that ~ the more you read, the better you read.  Please keep up with the reading logs each night.

We are also practicing good hallway behaviors.  We are trying to walk the halls on the color tiles and not touch the walls.  It might sound silly, but if we can grow our brains by learning this habit right now, we will be able to get to places much faster and with much less disruption to other classes that might be going on.

Please remember to send a snack for your child each day.  I am not able to provide snacks for students who do not bring a snack from home.

Wild about Wednesday

I am happy to report that we are really growing in our classroom.  We are building our read to self stamina, learning routines, and all in all learning a great deal in our classroom.  In addition to learning new words and reviewing old skills we are learning to make good choices and ways to make and keep our friends. 

I would like to remind everyone that homework in our classroom is NOT optional.  Homework is required and must be turned in the day it is due.  Not completing homework will result in clipping down even with a parent note.  Please help your child be responsible in completing their homework.

If you are interested in volunteering at KGES, please send a note.  I have a number of projects that can be completed at home and at school depending on what works best for you.

Thank you for your help in Growing Lifelong Learners.

Only on a Monday

We have begun our first full week of school.  It will be very busy and a lot of time will be spent learning some new routines.  We will also spend some time celebrating birthdays.  (Yep, two this week).  And making sure I can read our schedule correctly.  We actually ended up going to recess an hour early because I looked at the clock wrong.  I think the class really enjoyed knowing that sometimes teachers make mistakes too.  I was so focused on meeting with my small reading groups that I didn't read my own schedule correctly or the clock for that matter.  Needless to say ~ only on a Monday.  Tomorrow we will really work on the routines and making sure we are in the right place at the right time.

Speaking of new routines - Spelling/Word study should have come home today in the SEED Binder.  Please make sure to read the instructions and make sure your child has completed their homework correctly.  Did you help them complete the Reading Log?  If not, please make sure to do this every day.  Just try to remember - the more you read, the better you read.  I know it is corny, but it is the truth.  I like to relate it to learning to ride a bike.  The more you practice, the easier it is and you fall off less. 

Web page Update - I spent a lot of time over the weekend updating www.mrsrichard.org It isn't finished being updated yet, but I hope to keep plugging away at it each day.  For now all of the pages you can reach from the home page button bar should be updated.

Facebook at School - I am sure your child has probably mentioned that we have facebook in our classroom.  Yes we do have it, but it isn't actually on a computer.  It is much more old fashioned - dry erase markers on laminated sentence strips with our pictures.  Right now we have been using our facebook wall as a way to gather data (which we graph), but it will also be used as a place where students can tell each other about the connections they have made with the texts and a number of other areas which we will be covering this school year.  If you are in the neighborhood, please stop on by and check it out.  We have also been getting Mr. Monroe and Mrs. Brown to update their status also. 

Back in the Garden

We have made it two days and everyone seems to be off to a wonderful start.  We read some really great books together today.  I think the favorite was Charlie Cook's Favorite Book.  It was fun to read and it got us thinking about our interests.  Each person might have different likes (or dislikes) and we can always find something to read about. 

My favorite part of the day was our lesson on I PICK a Good Fit Book.  I came to school with  a bag of shoes from my closet, my husband's closet, my son's closet, flip-flops, rain boots, dress shoes, and lots of other shoes from around the house.  We talked about how we wear shoes for many reasons and we grow into bigger shoes as we get older.  We tried to relate that choosing a "Good Fit" book is like finding a pair of shoes that fit "just right."  While those flip-flops are great for the pool and the beach, they aren't such a good fit when you have to walk in the snow.  We also talked about the fact that not everyone wears the same shoe to school because every one's feet are different ~ just like the books of our friends may not be the same as our own and that is OKAY. 

We are also getting to know each other and the rules and procedures of our classroom.  Please make sure you are checking the folder inside the SEED Binder each night.  This is where you will find all of the important papers from me. 

Reminder - please make sure you have returned all of the forms to school as soon as possible.  The office is after me to get everything turned in right away.  Thank you to those who have already completed and returned all the forms, it really makes life easier for everyone :-)

A BIG thanks to those who have turned in their T-shirt order forms and money.  If you haven't done this already, please try to do it as soon as possible.

First Day of School!

We made it - we survived the first day of school  and I think everyone had a good day.  We had a few tears this morning, but I think everyone will come back for more tomorrow.  I am excited about really getting started on all of our academics tomorrow. 

Today we learned about our classroom rules and procedures.  We read some great books and learned that students are not the only ones who get nervous about the first day of school.

Please don't forget to check the agenda and sign off on the reading log each night.

Drill Day!

We made it!  We passed our drill day.  We did not have any problems and everyone did a WONDERFUL job following directions.  Yeah!

Apologies for my lack of posts last week.  We had to make a very difficult choice about our dog last week.  On Saturday we had to say goodbye to him.  It is amazing how much our pets become part of our families.  

We will test on Thursday this week.  I have to be out on Friday of this week.  We are also having a 2 hour delay on Friday, which will make testing rather difficult.

Snow, No Snow, Snow

The snow was a big hit today.  It was all the kids could talk about all morning.  It was almost as if they had never seen snow before.  I am sure we will see the snow again, but it may not this year.  Everyone was thrilled to hear that we would get to go home early.  I just wish the snow had stuck around so the kids could have played in it when they got home. 

Interim reports went home today.  Please send a signed copy back to school tomorrow.  If you are interested in having a conference, please let me know so that we can schedule a date and time.

Thursday Mania

Today we had a number of guest readers visit our class.  It was a joy to hear the students interacting with our readers and talking about what they heard in the funny stories.  We are also learning some lessons from Dr. Seuss and his books.  We have learned to take care of the environment, not to give up, be responsible for the choices we make, and you are never too important to apologize.  Hopefully all the students are realizing Dr. Seuss is for all ages.

Oobleck and Leap Day!

Today we listened to Bartholomew and the Oobleck  made Oobleck with Ms. Dyer.  It is a mixture of cornstarch and water (food coloring can be added, but can/will stain clothing).  If you want to make some at home don't put it in the drain when you are finished unless you want to have a visit from the plumber.  If you would like the recipe, most sites use this recipe:
- 1 cup water
- 1.5-2 cups corn starch
- a few drops of food coloring of your choice

Our other readers today included Mrs. Stephanie Gardner and Mrs. Diane Hutchinson.  Again thank you to all readers.

We have also gotten some students on the iPod Touch.  Thanks to an iTunes gift card I was able to get all students access to Teach Me First Grade.  A number of students had a chance to try it out today.  I can't wait to get some more students trying it out tomorrow.

Read Across America WEEK!

Our class is celebrating the birthday of Dr. Seuss all week with guest readers.  We will have even more over the next few days.  Thank you to all who have been reading to us and who will be reading to us over the next few days.  We are hearing a lot of fun stories before the week is out.  Are you reading at home?  If not, pick out your favorite Seuss book and see what tongue twisters you can read as a family. 

Our readers and books so far have included:
Ms. Ashton Williams ~ Green Eggs and Ham
Mr. Ronald Monroe ~ The Things You Can Think
Ms. Debra Dyer ~ Bartholomew and the Oobleck
Mrs. Nancy Swink ~ Hooway for Wodney Wat & I Ain't Gonna Paint No More!
Mrs. Mary Behre ~ Horton Hatches an Egg
Mrs. Yvonne Richard ~ Fox in Socks

We are looking forward to hearing from:
Mrs. Stephanie Gardner ~ The Lorax
Mrs. Diane Hutchinson ~ ??
Mr. Scott Elchenko ~ Oh, the Places You'll Go!
Mr. Stanley Jones ~ ??
Mr. Joe  Grzeika ~ ??
Mrs. Roselyn Dale ~ ??
Mrs. Robin Morgan ~ Daisy Head Maisy
Ms. Laura Jo Darcy ~ ??

I am very excited to have all of these people come to our school to help teach a lifelong love of reading to our class.  If you want to come and read but can't make it this week, PLEASE let me know and we can schedule a time that works for you.

Don't forget that this Friday is an early dismissal for students.  Please make sure your child has someone who will pick them up from school or the bus stop.

Thankful Thursday

A huge Thank You to E's family for sending an iTunes card for our class iPod Touch.  Several students have had a chance to use it this week and they are really enjoying it.  I spent a good part of the weekend loading lots of free apps for reading and math.  If you are interested in getting some apps for your iPod or iPhone, send me an email and I will be happy to share some names of ones that we have found to be very helpful.

Our class is still looking for some guest readers for next week.  If you are interested in coming to read to our class, please let me know. 

Happy 100th!

Happy 100th day!  We survived 100 days of school.  We had rotations with all the first grade classes, made a 100 day craft, and in general had a ton of fun.

I would like to say a special thank you to Stephanie Gardner from Fit For This World for coming to KGES and exercising with our first grade students.

We will bring our 100 items home later this week.  We had so much going on today in class that we did not get to fully explore all of our 100 items.

Happy Valentine's Day

Thank you for all the help at the party and all the yummy snacks that were sent in.  The party was a big success and I think everyone had a great time.  Tomorrow is our 80 minute planning day and we will also have rotations in the afternoon to celebrate the 100th day of school. 

Also thank you to all who ordered a copy of our class book.  If you missed out, but still want a copy, please send back the order form tomorrow.  I will be able to get it to the librarian before she heads to the post office at the end of the day. 

On another note, I will be out of school most of the day on Thursday for professional development.  I will be back late in the afternoon and the rest of the first grade teachers will be visiting our classroom to see a lesson that we developed as a team and I will be teaching my class.  The rest of the team will be teaching the same lesson to their classes over the next few days with the added bonus of seeing what went well and what did not. 

Back in the Saddle

We are back in our normal routine this week.  Normal homework, mostly normal schedule, and hopefully normal for everyone at home.

Our duck tape book labeling is going well.  If anyone is out and about and can pick up a pack of leopard pattern tape, it would be great!  I seem to be a little short on that one.  If you would like to come in and check out the tape in action.

I hope everyone has a great week.

Wild Wednesday

Can you believe it is February 1st?  I can't believe it, the weather has been so warm it seems more like March 1st.  We are learning some new centers in class this week and will be ready to put them into use next week when we really jump back into a normal schedule.

I am also working on a way to organize our classroom books.  I am hoping to do this by using lots of different colors of duct tape.  If you have some left over from a crafting project and are willing to share, that would be wonderful.

Tuesday Tidbits

Well today was full of interesting tidbits.  We celebrated a birthday, got take home Tuesday papers, started planning for a class book, and enjoyed outside recess.  In reading we spent some time talking about real and make believe.  Our big hint - animals don't wear clothing.  In math we spent some time working on word problems.  We have been using pictures to help us to solve our problems.

I will be getting reading logs on Friday.  PLEASE make sure they are in the folders.

Busy Days

I hope everyone can be forgiving.  I wear a lot of hats at KGES and at home.  These past several weeks have been over the top busy.  Today for example I was scheduled to be in three places all at the same time.  I finally made it home tonight around 7:20 pm.  It was a very busy day and for the most part very successful.

On a school note, we celebrated a birthday today for one of students, tried to go to the computer lab (which was closed for benchmark testing), and practiced writing our numbers up to 50.  While it was a very daunting task for some students, a lot of them took the challenge and pushed all the way to writing up to 100.  We also learned about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Our students had wonderful conversations with one another about the changes he made possible. 

Hope to get back to more regular blogging in the next few weeks.