They did such a great job!  I am so very proud of them.  I hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday with friends and family.

WOW!!!  Thanksgiving already??? Where has the time gone???  Your sweet kiddos are doing great and working so hard!  Just a few reminders about this week then I’ll fill you in on what we are learning.  We will be having our Thanksgiving Reader’s Theater on Friday at 11:30.  Please come to our room and be amazed at how well your kids are reading and projecting their sweet little voices.  Remind them to practice every night so they know their parts and aren’t nervous.  The play will last about 20 minutes and you are welcome to take your kiddo with you afterwards.  If you can’t make it I will be posting a video on our blog for you to watch.

No school next week at all so that we can enjoy the holidays with family and friends.

We will have a spelling test tomorrow on the 5 words we have worked on. (what, all, but, were, when)

We are working on plural endings in phonics.  S and ES at the end meaning more than one and when to use s or es.  We use ES when the words end in s, z, ch, sh, x

Math we are working on “strong arm subtraction” and 3 digit addition.  3+4+7=14

Science/Social Studies:  We learned about U.S. symbols and now we are learning about Thanksgiving and the Mayflower.  The kids are doing a science experiment in Research the “Magic Dancing Corn”.  They are having to follow the directions themselves and be true Scientists!

Writing:  We are trying to finish up our class story on our Turkey named Rosie.  All of the students are at such different levels in writing so I focus on different things with each kiddo.  By now I hope that finger spaces and legible writing is taking place so that we can begin to really focus on the story elements.  My focus this week is finding those no-excuse words and circling them to make sure they are spelled correctly.

Just a friendly reminder that tomorrow is early release for teacher training.  Primary releases at 11:30!

No new spelling words this week.  With all the “activities” going on this week I felt it best to concentrate on the words already introduced that we are still having a hard time with.  We are working on ABC order to the second letter this week.

Math:  We will begin introducing subtraction to your kiddos while still moving forward with addition with three addends( 3 + 4 + 5 = 12).

Writing:  We are beginning to focus heavily on making sure our no-excuse words are spelled correctly in our writing.  Each student is at a different level of writing so the focus will be different for each kiddo.  Please ask your student what we have discussed them working on.  If you have questions please contact me!  Most of your kiddos are having a hard time with writing a story with a beginning, middle, and end.  They start off with a great beginning and then stop.  Please continue to discuss with your kiddo what makes a great story.  They know that they do not have to finish a story in one day or on one sheet of paper, they just need to tell everything they are thinking!!!

Science/Social Studies:  Your kiddos are busy planting seeds, dissecting owl pellets, and learning about American Symbols (Liberty Bell, Statue of Liberty, Flag, etc…).

I am absolutely loving your kiddos and our time together!

Just a little reminder for you guys.  Please make sure your little sweetie has on blue jeans and, if they have one, a white oak shirt for tomorrow’s field trip. We will not be dressing up like Genius’.  They climb on things like hay and rope that will hurt their little legs if they don’t have something long on them.  They need to bring a SACK lunch with their names on them.  We will leave at 9:15 and should arrive around 9:45 for those of you who are wanting to enjoy the day with your kiddo.  You may only walk with your child and take only your child home at the end of the day.  Please let me know if you have any questions!

Spelling test will be on Wednesday over these words: be, this, from, I, have, or, by, one, had, not

Thanks for all you do!!!

Please remember to turn in the Field Trip permission slip with the $7 by tomorrow.  We will be sending a note home asking if we need to provide a lunch from the lunch room or if you will be sending a sack lunch with your kiddos.  Please know that your child will NOT be able to go on the field trip if I do not have the permission slip signed by you allowing them to attend.  Please let me know if you have any questions!!!

Hey guys!  Hope everyone had a great weekend.  Just a few little reminders before I get to telling you what all we are learning.  Remember to turn in your field trip form before Friday of this week with the $7.  Please let me know if you are having trouble coming up with the money for the field trip!!!  If you are planning on coming to the Pumpkin Patch with us remember you will need to take your own vehicle and follow us there.  Red Ribbon week is next week and I will post what each day will be next Sunday night. No school this Friday for the kiddos.  The end of the 9 weeks is this Friday and report cards will go home next Thursday.  Please call or e-mail me with any questions you may have when you get their report cards.

Spelling words: be, this, from, I, have, or, by, one, had, not  We will have a spelling test next Wednesday because of field trip day that Tuesday.  Our kiddos are doing great on their spelling test now if we can just get them to apply it when they are writing their stories:)

Math:  We will continue working on joining sets along with attributes of 2 dimensional shapes (what makes each shape special). We will also begin talking about subtraction.  This is a new concept for our kiddos so they will need a little more support in the beginning.

Writing:  We are still focusing on a story having a beginning, middle, and an end.  Finger spacing, penmanship, and punctuation will be worked ALL year as well.  We are writing a classroom story to model what our personal stories should look like.

Science/Social Studies:  We have been focusing on nocturnal animals and how they are different.  Hope they HAVE been driving you crazy for more knowledge on this.  We have a few experiments we will be doing to go along with these fun animals.  We also have learned about Fall and how it is different from Summer.  Our kiddos are also learning how to use Facts4me to gather information and teach others what they have learned.

I have a super sweet group of Firsties and hope that your kiddos are loving school.  As always, please feel free to call, text, or e-mail me with any questions or concerns.

Just a quick reminder of a few things coming up.

Parent Orientation tonight from 6:30 to 7:30.  Please try to come and visit with me tonight.  It will start in the cafeteria and then we will come down to our classroom so you can learn about our room and what goes on daily.  I will walk you through what to expect in reading, writing, and math.

School pictures are tomorrow.  Your kiddos are bringing home the order form tonight in their folders.

Hope to see you guys tonight!!!

I hope everyone is enjoying First Grade as much as I am!!!  I will post on my blog every two weeks to keep you guys posted on what we are learning in all subject areas.  As soon as I can get our class photos up and running you will also get a chance to see pictures of your kiddos during the day.

Spelling words for the next two weeks are; he, for, was, on, are, as, with, his, they, at.  Again, please try to have fun with these words.  Let them locate them in other words, locate them in their books, write them in the sand with a stick, make it a game of some sort.  We practice them here at school but they love to show you what they know.

Phonics:  We are focusing on long and short vowels.

Math:  We are learning how to join sets of numbers (3+5=8).  We have learned how to use a number path, cubes, and pictures so far.  We are also learning greater than and less than and number orders.

Science/Social Studies:  This week and next week we are learning about primary colors and mixing them to make other colors in our research/science center and in Science we are learning about our 5 senses.

Writing:  We have started writers workshop and the kids love it.  We are practicing starting our letters from top to bottom and how to form them correctly.  We have talked about complete sentences and what makes a story (beg, middle, and end).

Thank you for being patient with us while we finish testing and begin guided reading.  I should be able to begin guided reading no later than Thursday of this week and your child will bring a new book home on his/her level each night.  Please make sure you are listening to your child read and not giving them the word but telling them to get it started, what could make sense here, look at the picture for clues, etc…

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.  Thanks for letting me love your child this year!!!

WOW what a great start to First Grade we have had!!!  Your kids are amazing and so creative.  I have so many different personalities that is creating an awesome environment for learning.  You should expect (in a perfect world) a blog post about every two weeks letting you know what your kiddos are learning and how you might be able to help them.  If you have any questions at all please e-mail me or call me at (903) 291-2156 and leave a message.  I will call you back at 1:15 or after school.

Spelling words last week and this week:  the, of, and, a, to, in, is, you, that, it  Please have fun with these words, it’s not all skill and drill.  Let them write them with markers, shaving cream, sand outside with a stick, etc…  It is important for them to know these words but I don’t want them to dislike the practice.  When my kids were little I would make a chart of all of the spelling words and then I would do different things like hide the words in the house and when they found them and could identify them they got a sticker on that word.  I would write them on funny paper or funny things etc… but when they could identify them they got a sticker and when the chart was filled they got some little prize.  Just a thought and suggestion.

We do spelling test every two weeks usually on a Tuesday.  You child will bring home a preview the day before a test to let you see what they may need to focus on.

Phonics:  We are learning about long and short vowels and are starting to get use to our workstations.  I am still testing reading levels so please understand that your student is picking out his/her own book right now so if it is too hard just read it to them.  Pretty soon I should know where they are and be able to begin Guided Reading with you kiddos.  I will let you know when this begins so you can help monitor your students progress!

Math:  We are working on basic word problems, adding using pictures, number paths, and 120 charts.  We are working on vocabulary like greater than, less than,  basic number skills and basic addition.

Social Studies/Science:  Our focus right now is team work and right choices vs wrong choices.  We are reading a ton of Kevin Henkes books to get us going.  I will begin introducing STEM to our kids at the end of this week.

Again, please don’t hesitate to call me for anything!  Thank you for sharing your sweeties with me.  I am having a great time getting to know them.

I hope your kiddos are having a great first week in First Grade!  I already love them all so much.  We are going to have a great year.

Just a reminder about Pep Rallies:  You will need to send a note in the planner if your child will be attending the Pep Rallies.  Please send a new note each week to let me know.  Please be here by 2:45 to get your kiddo in the cafeteria.

Also I had you guys fill out a volunteer form at meet the teacher if you were planning on volunteering outside of the classroom parties, I should’ve waited because you need to fill out a criminal history background form.  I am so sorry and I am sending those home again today.  If it is just parties you are wanting to help with you do not need to fill these out but if you plan on volunteering for any other event at school you will need to fill out the criminal background check.

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful kiddos with me this year.