Halloween Week Updates

Happy Halloween Week.  Please remember, no costumes on Tuesday.  However, we will be wearing our pajamas!  Remember to wear shoes and jackets for outdoors as well.  Also, if you would like to send your child with a healthy snack for our "party," feel free.  Do keep in mind we have a friend with a peanut allergy, so please check labels!  We could also use some paper plates as well.  Thank you parents and grandparents! Here's the scoop on what is happening for the rest of the week:

Math:  Our students are really grasping subtraction using pictures to find the difference.  They have learned how to label their number bonds, which helps them understand what the numbers in their number sentences stand for, and to really think about which part they are solving for.  They have learned the importance of making math drawings in neat rows.  Now we will move on to subtracting one and zero, a and subtracting a number from itself, while using 5 group rows.  It sounds simple, but these are concepts that take some thinking for our first graders on why and how it makes sense.

Science:  The kids are doing an amazing job making learning about their bodies and making the bodies, and having fun making their bodies on a bag.  Next week we will continue learning about our stomach, esophagus, and intestines before heading into our bones.

Social Studies:  Ms. Reger is teaching our kids all about the first Thanksgiving with the return of the Magic Tree House series.  She is actually reading two texts to teach them, the fictional text with our beloved Jack and Annie, and the accompanying nonfiction text that supplements their learning. 

Language Arts:  Next week, in addition to our Hartcourt story we will read Anansi the Spider, and spend a few days on Hansel and Gretel.  I thought it would be fun to read these stories for the holiday and focus on some fictional story elements along the way.

Extra Scoop:

• There will be no homework assigned for Tuesday.  This is not a trick, my treat for you!  

• We are in need of snacks!  We currently have 21 kiddos in our class.  Morning snacks are important fuel to keep our little ones ready to learn throughout the long morning.  Thank you for taking your turn in providing snacks for your child's class.  It is appreciated!

• Family Thanksgiving Lunch will be on Monday, November 6th.  The RSVP form will be attached to your child's agenda communication log.  If you plan to attend please fill out the log and return it in the agenda folder.  Please do not send money, payment is made on the day you eat lunch.  

Halloween Cherry on Top:

Save the Dates-

Tuesday, October 31st - Halloween Pajama Party

Monday, November 6th - Family Thanksgiving Lunch @11:35

Friday, November 10th - School Closed (Veteran's Day)

Wednesday, November 15th - Parent University @ 4:30 (Look for Flyers soon)

Wednesday, November 22nd - Friday, November 24th - School Closed (Thanksgiving)

October 23-27 Updates

We have an unusually quiet week this week.  Sounds almost too easy!  Here's what is happening:

Math:  Subtraction, subtraction, subtraction.  Relating it to addition.  Drawing pictures to solve problems, and drawing it in regular and picture number bonds.

Language Arts:  This week will be concentrating on our Hartcourt story "Space Pup."  I have added the story to the homework packets.  Please make sure to read the story once every night with your child.  This is good practice, giving them an opportunity to read a story they are familiar with will help build success!

Science:  We have started our bodies unit.  We learned about our heart and ribcage last week, this week we will learn about our lungs and begin to build our bodies on a bag.

Social Studies:  Ms. Reger will be doing an Ancient Egypt wrap up and then head into a new unit all about THANKSGIVING!  

Halloween Reminder - NO COSTUMES - However, as a sort of compromise my class will be having a pajama day instead!  The kids are really excited about this.  Please remember to have them wear their shoes for recess, and a jacket if the weather calls for it.  Also, we will have a "fall/harvest" party.  No sign up, we will eat what the students bring in.  Again, please limit sweets, they will get plenty if they go trick-or-treating that evening.  Fruit, cheese, crackers, veggies, dip, etc...will be perfect.  Thank you in advance.   

Mark you Calendars:

• Wednesday, November 1st - PTO Meeting @6:30 in Library (childcare is provided)
• Monday, November 6th - Family Thanksgiving Lunch @ School (details to come)
• Friday, November 10th - School Closed - Veteran's Day
• Wednesday, November 15th - Parent University (more info to come...mark your calendars now!)
• Wednesday, November 22-Friday, November 24th - School Closed - Thanksgiving Holiday

That's it for this week, relatively quiet.  Enjoy 😃 Ms. Shaw

October 16th-20th Updates

Happy beginning of the second quarter.  😀   Thank you to all the families who came in for parent teacher conferences.  It's always great to touch base about your child's education, set goals, and work together to ensure educational success for each student.  I appreciate everyone taking time out of their busy schedules to come in and meet with me.  I also appreciate everyone taking the time to read our blog every week to catch up on what is happening in our class and at Marshall.  Here is this weeks scoop...

Math:  The moment we've all been waiting for...subtraction!  We will be working on our subtraction for a while, beginning with learning how to subtract on a number line, relating subtraction to addition, and writing corresponding number sentences.  

Language Arts:  We did not quite finish our Mummies in the Morning book last week, so we will finish it this week.  The students are learning so much from this story, and have had so much fun with this unit!  I can't wait for them to take home their packets and share everything they have learned with you at home.  Also, we will be reading "Boots for Beth" from our Hartcourt series.

Homework:  Please notice I have added the weekly story to the weekly homework packet.  Please have your child read this out loud to you once every night!

Science:  We will finish Ancient Egypt with the students working in teams to build their pyramids, which they did not get to because our mummies took a little longer than expected.  After that the next couple of weeks we will work on a human bodies unit.

Social Studies:  The students will get to continue learning about mummies and tombs, and design their own sarcophagus.  

Extra Scoop:

• Gallop Money Due This Wednesday, October 18th!  All money you have so graciously worked hard collecting for this important fundraiser is due this Wednesday.  Thank you for you support of our school!  We appreciate your time and efforts!

• Box Tops are also due on Wednesday October 18th!  You get to send everything in on one day!  Whoo hoo!  

• Fall Harvest Party - On Tuesday October 31st we will have a "fall harvest" party.  If you wish to send in treats, you may.  I will not send a sign up sheet, we will enjoy what we get.  I ask that you refrain from brining in sugary treats, the students will be getting plenty on this night.  Some ideas are fruit trays, cheese and crackers, veggies and dips, string cheese, applesauce, etc.  Trust me, the kids LOVE these, and devour them like you wouldn't believe!  Also NO COSTUMES!!!  I will make any child who shows up in costume change into regular clothing from the nurse, sorry. 

Save the Dates:

• Tuesday, Oct. 17th - Site Council @ 4:30 in Library - Looking for some parents to join!
• Wednesday, Oct/ 18th - Gallop Money Due/Box Tops Due
• Wednesday, Nov. 1st - PTO meeting @ 6:30 in Library
• Monday, Nov. 6th  - Family Thanksgiving Lunch @ School (more info to come)
• Friday, Nov. 10th - School Closed - Veteran's Day

Hope everyone had a relaxing and rejuvenating four day weekend!  -Ms. Shaw

Conference Week and Post Gallop Updates

Hello Families.  I want to begin this blog by thanking our amazing PTO for putting together another amazing Mustang Gallop!  Our class had the best time racing around the track, and they looked so adorable while they did it!  Below you will find a bunch of pictures of Shaw's Shooting Stars zooming around, making as many laps as the could to earn pledges for this fundraiser.  I have to say, this class loved making their cute little headbands more than any class in recent memory, and they enjoyed race day to the max!  PTO gave each child a free Harkins cup and Marshall pencil just for participating, and at the end of the race they provided our runners with water and grapes and bananas.  It was one of the best Gallops ever!  Please read on for more info about when money is due and how prizes will work, and thank you to every family who is collecting pledges for our school!  With that being said, here is the scoop on what is going on this week in our class...

• Math - We will practice to build fluency with math facts to ten, and finish our short week with an assessment.  When we return from break we will begin subtraction and working with number lines.

• Language Arts - This short week we will wrap up our adventures with Jack and Annie in our Magic Tree House Mummies in the Morning book.  The students have loved this story, and it has taught us new things about Ancient Egypt, while reinforcing concepts we have learned in social studies and science.  We will take our spelling test on Wednesday.  This is when homework will be due as well.

• Science - This week we will "unwrap" our mummies.  The students asked what would happen if we covered an apple in natron mix and made their hypotheses last week.  This week we will collect our data and draw our conclusions. 

• Social Studies -  Our kids made some amazing King Tut illustrations to add to their Ancient Egypt pockets last week.  This week they will learn more about King Tut and his influence on Ancient Egypt.

Extra Scoop:

• More Gallop Info! - Now that the running is over, it is time to collect those pledges!  As always, there are some pretty nifty prizes attached to our collections.  The class that brings in the most money wins a field trip to Lowell Observatory-how cool!  There is also a prize for the class with the highest percentage of pledge participation (that means if each child brings in at least one pledge our class could win for highest participation, which would be really cool).  Individually, each child will be entered in the gift raffle just for collecting at least  $5 in pledges.  After that, they will earn a ticket for every $25 in pledges they earn, with a prize for the top individual earner in the whole school!  Remember, this is our biggest fundraiser of the year, with all proceeds going directly back into Marshall!  This years proceeds will go into STEAM material for our students.  Gallop money is due on October 18th. 

• Parent/Teacher Conferences - Most of you have signed up for a conference next week.  I did send home a final paper copy informing you of your day and time.  Please fill free to email me if your child did not hand this back to you.  If you did not sign up for a conference, email me and we will set up a time for you.  Please remember, early release Monday and Tuesday at 12:25, Wednesday at 11:10!

• Clothing Exchange - The clothing exchange will be taking place all next week as well.  This is a great time to come in and do some free shopping!  Come check it out!

• Save the Dates -Box Tops are due Wednesday, October 18th!

           No School Thursday, October 12th and Friday October 13th

Cherry on Top:

As promised, here are some great Gallop pictures.  Our class even got to kick off the festivities, being first at the starting gate.  All I saw was smiles all morning long! Enjoy! -Ms. Shaw

Pre Conference and Gallop Week Updates

October is here.  And with it brings the cooler weather.  Parents, please start dressing your children appropriately for the weather.  This may mean a small jacket and closed toed shoes.  Our heaters are not on, and oddly enough our class is sometimes colder than it is outside!  The kids often wear a small jacket in the morning, until it warms up.  Please make sure to write their names inside their jackets, sweatshirts, and any other winter gear they may need.
Here is what is happening academically in our class:

• Math - Whew.  We have worked so hard on our math concepts!  We have finally wrapped up our unit on the commutative property of addition and finding true number sentences, and fixing false number sentences.  These were difficult concepts that we took a few days extra to understand. We will continue to revisit these concepts throughout the year.  This week we will finish our doubles and doubles plus one. 

• Language Arts - Along with our story from Hartcourt, we will continue reading from the Magic Treehouse series, "Mummies in the Morning."  This is a part of our cross curricular Ancient Egypt unit of study.  Again, if your child would like to bring in their own copy of the book to follow along as we read, they may.  

• Science - As part of our Ancient Egypt unit we will be learning about the mummification process and then mummifying and apple, all while using the inquiry process.  After that, the student will read and learn about pyramids, and then break into teams to try to complete a STEM challenge of building a pyramid with certain materials and guidelines.  

• Social Studies - It's all about the Nile!  Ms. Reger has been teaching them all about this region, and now they are moving on to learning about hieroglyphs.  The kids will also get a chance to practice scribing.  I love the way Ms. Reger always make social studies so hands on for our students.  After this, the kids will learn about the famous Pharaoh, King Tut.

Non-academically we have a lot going on as well!  Here are our two biggies....

1.   Marshall Mustang Gallop  -  I hope everyone has been busy helping our little ones collect pledges from friends, family, and neighbors!  Remember, we run this Friday, the 6th at 9:30!  This year we are going with a space/galaxy theme.  I was thinking our name could be "Shaw's Shooting Stars"  and our colors could be purple and yellow.  This means everyone wears purple and yellow clothing, and absolutely anything with stars on it!!  This is our biggest, and only, fundraiser of the year.  Please, please, please, get out there and collect those pledges.  Every dollar counts!  If you need a pledge packet, let me know and I will get you one.  We have already had a few parents volunteer to help on Gallop day.  If you would like to come see your star shoot across the finish line, your are more than welcome to join us!  Just meet us in our room at 9:15.

1.   Parent/Teacher Conferences - I have had a good amount of parents already sign up for conferences.  Monday I will send home the list with your final conference time filled in.  If you have not signed up for a conference, you may pick 2 choices from the remaining spots, and return the slip to me by Wednesday.  At that time I will make a final conference schedule and hand that out by the end of the week.  

Please note, I will not send homework home until Tuesday of this week.  We will not have our spelling test until the week of conferences.  

The Clothing Exchange will be taking place in the science lab during conferences.  This is a great opportunity to stop in before or after your conference and go shopping for free.  There is clothes for the whole family, as well as household items.  Come check it out!

Mark Your Calendars:

Wednesday, October 4th - Walk to School Day - permission slips for busers will be in blue folders, attached to conference schedule.

Monday, October 10th and Tuesday, October 11th 12:25 Early Release for Conferences
Wednesday, October 12th 11:10 Special Early Release for Conferences

Thursday, October 12th and Friday, October 13th - School Closed Fall Holiday

This is October at Marshall!  Can't wait to see our little ones run on Friday, and I can't wait to see all the parents at conferences! 

-Ms. Shaw