Hanukkah Week 2018

Happy Hanukkah!  Welcome to the final week before break.  We have a full 5 days ahead, please read on for all the info on our final week of 2018.

Math:  We will be finishing up concepts from last week, subtraction of 9 from a 10 and from teen numbers.

ELA:  We will continuing our Daily 5 routines and finishing sight word testing.  Also focusing on long e words, with our spelling test probably taking place on Thursday of this week.

Social Studies:  Hanukkah is our third and final holiday study.  Again, we will be focusing on who celebrates, how, when, and why.  On Friday we will celebrate what we learned about this Jewish holiday by playing the dreidel game and making latkes.  I still need parent volunteers for Friday, as well as frozen hash browns.  Otherwise we are set!  If you can help us out please sign up on the SignUp Genius attached.   https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0e4fa4a72ca0ff2-cultural.  I will bring in the hash browns if needed, but would love a few helpers!  Thank you!

This week at Marshall:  We have many school wide events happening this week at Marshall.  Mark your calendars for the following....

• Wednesday, December 19th - 5:30-6:30 - PTO Craft Night.  Join us for a night of FREE family fun!  Make crafts, drink cocoa, and take a family photo.  Woo hoo!
• Marshall's Family Holiday Lunch - 1st grade eats at 11:35, but feel free to come a few minutes early to find parking and grab your kiddos to beat the lines.  Hope to see everyone there.
• Hanukkah Celebration - Room 9 - 9:00-10:30 - You may drop off supplies anytime during the week for this.

Grinch Day:  Grinch Day was so much fun, and a great way to spend a special early release.  Here are a few photos from our First Annual First Grade Grinch Day.

Christmas Craft Morning:  This is always one of my favorite days of the year.  Thank you to all my parent volunteers, as you could tell I cannot make craft day happen without you!  I am truly thankful for everyone who came in to help (including a special guest-my mom, aka "grandma"), and to everyone who donated supplies to make this event happen.  The kiddos love making their gingerbread houses and parent gifts, and enjoying cookies and juice while listening to some Christmas music.  It is such a team effort to make this happen, and all of us in room 9 want to thank everyone who contributed to make it such a memorable day!  Here are some pictures of our Christmas Craft morning for you to enjoy.

All I can say is this class makes my heart grow 3 sizes bigger everyday! -Ms. Shaw

Christmas Week 2018

Happy Holidays!  This week we will begin our study on Christmas.  More information below, along with some cute pics from the canned food drive and information on what is happening this week in room 9.  Here's the scoop...

Math:  We will be subtracting 9 from a 10 and from teen numbers. 

ELA:  We will be concentrating on a couple ofCAFE strategies this week.  Specifically use the beginning and ending sounds , and skip a word and come back.  These are strategies students can use to help them in their reading.  We will also be wrapping up our Nat Geo unit on animal life cycles.  

Social Studies:  This week we will begin our unit on Christmas.  We will focus on who celebrates Christmas, why, and how.  Friday will be our big Christmas craft morning!  This will be the day we make our parent gifts and decorate our gingerbread houses.  If you signed up for any supplies, please send them in by Friday morning!!  We still need graham crackers and frosting to make our gingerbread houses.  If you are a girl, please send in a box of graham crackers!  If you are a boy please send in a can of white frosting!  If you have already sent in your donation - THANK YOU!  We also still need some parent helpers to make Christmas Craft morning happen.  If you can volunteer your time Friday morning from 9-10:30 am please sign up on the SignUp Genius link attached.  There is a lot to do, and many hands are needed to  pull it all off.  If you cannot make it in, perhaps a grandparent or other family member can?  Here is the link...   https://signupgenius.com/go/60b0e4fa4a72ca0ff2-cultural.  Thank you.

Canned Food Drive:  Our annual canned food drive was a huge success, with Marshall students bringing in over 2,000 cans of food.  Our class brought in 154 can of food, earning us 3rd place unofficially.  Nice job kiddos!  Here are a few picture from the canned food parade.

PTO Craft Night:  Next  Wednesday, December 19th our PtTO will be hosting craft night.  This is a fun family night to come make some crafts, eat some food, and take a family photo.  Best of all - it's a free night of family fun!  Festivities begin at 5:30 in our gym.  Hope to see everyone there. 

Special Early Release:  This Thursday, December 13th is our special early release.  Students will be released from school at 12:25, so please make after school care plans accordingly.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.  I cannot wait for week two of our holiday studies to begin! -Ms. Shaw

Kwanzaa 2018

Happy December.  With three weeks left we are officially kicking off our holiday studies this week.  More information on all of that below.  Before that, please remember that with the snow and the cold we do go outside.  Please send your child with a warm winter jacket, and other weather appropriate winter gear (boots, gloves, snowpants, hat). Thank you!  Now, here's the scoop on the upcoming week...

ELA:  With our snow day we did not have the chance to finish Frog and Toad or explore animal life cycles with our NatGeo curriculum, so we will do all of that this week.  Also, we will look at main idea and details as part of our NatGeo, and as a CAFE strategy.

Math:  We are wrapping up making a 10 and moving into subtracting from a 10 and using these strategies in word problems.  

Social Studies:  We will not be doing our usual switch with Mrs. Ogg the next three weeks.  Instead our class will stay with me to teach them all about the holidays celebrated at this time of year.  Our first holiday will be Kwanzaa.  It is always fun to start with Kwanzaa because when we sit down to do our KWL (what do we know, what do we want to learn, what did we learn) they realize they do not know a thing about Kwanzaa.  By the end of the week they are overflowing with knowledge about this holiday, from who celebrates it, how, when, etc...  Next week we will learn about Christmas, and wrap up with Hanukkah.  

Holiday Cultural Sign-Up:  Thank you to everyone who has signed up on our SignUp Genius to bring in supplies for our next three Friday's.  In case you've missed it, we will be wrapping up each holiday we learn about with a cultural celebration that goes along with that holiday.  This Friday we will have a mini Kwanzaa feast.  Next Friday we will have a Christmas craft morning, where we will make our parent gifts and gingerbread houses, and the last Friday before break we will make latkes and play dreidel in honor of Hanukkah.  If you can help us with supplies to make these Friday's successful you can sign up on the link here ...   https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0e4fa4a72ca0ff2-cultural.  I will also send home a paper version of the sign up tomorrow, which you can add to and return to me ASAP.  I will send home a finalized version midweek, which will be updated from the online sign up.  I will keep both sign ups up to date.  Again, thank your for donations to make these Friday's happen!

Canned Food Drive:  Our canned food drive is underway.  We will be collecting nonperishable food items to benefit Marshall's in house Parenting AZ food bank, as well as the St. Mary's food bank.  All cans will be collected Friday at 9am during our annual Holiday Canned Food Drive Parade.  The class that collects the most cans wins a pizza party.  More importantly, our students have the opportunity to give to those in need.  Thank you for your contributions.

Scholastic:  Because of the snow day I did not have the opportunity to make the final book order collection.  Therefore, if you wanted to order books and did not get your order in, you still have one more chance.  I will collect book orders Monday and send them in!

Special Early Release:  Please remember, Thursday, December 13th is a special early release at 12:25.  Please plan for childcare accordingly.

Upcoming December Dates:

• Friday, December 7th - Kwanzaa Feast
• Thursday, December 13th - Special Early Release @ 12:25
• Friday, December 14th - Christmas Craft Morning
• Friday, December 21st - Hanukkah Celebration

Habari Gani...your kids will know what this means by the end of the week!  Ask them to teach it to you, along with everything else they learn about Kwanzaa!  -Ms. Shaw

Last Week of November 2018

Happy end of November.  I hope everyone had a very happy Thanksgiving holiday.  Only 4 weeks left before our Winter break.  Next week is pretty normal, then we will head into our holiday studies to wrap up the semester.  Please read on to get the whole scoop on what is happening for the rest of the year in room 9 and at Marshall.

Math:  As mentioned last week, this week we will continue with making a ten and dive into some deeper thinking with comparing efficiency of strategies and critiquing peer solutions.  I love how our students are asked to think about their strategies and made to figure out which strategies are used when comparing problems with these lessons.  

ELA:  We will be reading the first 5 chapters of Frog and Toad Together.  Each student will have their own copy of the book, and we will use the stories to work on comprehension and reading skills.  This series will go hand in hand with our Nat Geo stories, focusing on animal life cycles.  This week we will learn about the lifecycle of a frog and create a cute project that helps us to understand that concept.

Science:  We will wrap up our body unit this week.  We will finish our body bags and have an assessment with a labeling activity.

Social Studies:  The students will wrap up their Thanksgiving unit with Mrs. Ogg this week.  This will be our last week of switching until we return from winter break.

Cultural Holiday Celebration Sign-Up:  The 3 weeks in December we will spend learning about the different holidays celebrated during this time of the year.  Each week we will learn about a different holiday, who celebrates it, how they celebrate, when they celebrate, and why - the importance behind that particular holiday.  The first week is Kwanzaa, followed by Christmas, and Hanukkah.  On each Friday of these 3 weeks we will end with a celebration for the holiday we are learning about.  December 7th we will have a mini Kwanzaa feast to celebrate the harvest, the 14th we will have a Christmas craft morning where we will be making our parent gifts and gingerbread houses, and the 21st we will make latkes and play dreidel game.  We will need your help with supplies in order to make this happen, and I will need volunteers on the 14th and 21st as well.  You can sign up to help with all our festive fun by clicking on our sign up genius link here   https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0e4fa4a72ca0ff2-cultural.  I will also send home a paper version with the names of our online sign up added on and send home about midweek for those who prefer.  Thank you all for your help in making these moments happen for our kiddos.  I absolutely love these Friday's in December.  The students learn so much and it is such a magical time of the year!  

Scholastic Book Orders:  Book orders are in the cubbies.  Again, this will be the last one until we return from Winter Break, which means this is the last chance to purchase any books you may want for the holidays.  Book orders will be due Friday, November 30 to ensure that all orders will make it in on time well before we go to break.  Remember, you will also be able to order online using our classroom code Q7YBM.  Remember, if you are purchasing books for gifts for your child just let me know and I will make sure to get them to you without them knowing!  Thanks for ordering.

Special Early Release:  Thursday, December 13th is a special early release day.  Students will be dismissed at 12:25 for a teacher report card prep day.  Please plan for after school care accordingly.  

Marshall Gallop:  Our Marshall Mustang Gallop was a huge success this year.  The school raised over $15,000, the most we have made in many years!  Our class raised quite a good chunk of that!  Mrs. Hulls' class was the class that brought in the most money and Ms. Grimmett's class earned the nod for highest percentage of participation.  It was a great year for our Gallop and for our PTO and I cannot thank everyone who raised funds and participated in this event enough!  You are amazing and we are thankful for your help in making this one of our most successful Gallops we have had in a while!

I look forward to seeing everyone rested and ready for tomorrow! -Ms. Shaw

Thanksgiving 2018

Happy Thanksgiving week!  Although it is a short week, I wanted to send a quick update anyway.  Here's what our two day's will look like academically.

Math:  We will take our first assessment on unit two (three addend addition, making a ten when one addend is a 9) after reviewing a little more.  When we return from break we will continue with making a ten and dive into some deeper thinking with comparing efficiency of strategies and critiquing peer solutions.

ELA:  We will be reading about turkeys to learn about turkey facts.  We will use these stories to focus on concepts such as main idea and details, finding information in our text, and using text to answer our questions.

Science:  We will be adding our intestines and stomachs to our body bags, and learning about these organs and labeling all the parts we have learned about.

Scholastic Book Order:  I will be sending home a book order on Tuesday.  This will be the last one until we return from Winter Break.  This means this is the last chance to purchase any books you may want for the holidays.  Scholastic books are great for under the tree or as stocking stuffers.  If you would like to purchase for any of these reasons, let me know via email or agenda and I can sneak them to you without our first graders knowing.  Book orders will be due Friday, November 30 to ensure that all orders will make it in on time well before we go to break.  Remember, you will also be able to order online using our classroom code Q7YBM.  Be on a lookout for the holiday flyer on Tuesday.

Don't Forget -  No School Wednesday, November 21st - Friday, November 23rd.  Happy Thanksgiving!🦃 

I am particularly grateful for this group of first graders this year!  This group of kids is that group.  That group that makes you love getting up in the morning and coming in to work.  That group that is the very reason you love teaching.  That group that makes your heart swell with happiness.  That group that makes you smile and laugh out loud all the time.  I cannot tell you enough how much joy this group of students brings me, EACH AND EVERY ONE!  I am thankful for each unique and wonderful little personality.  I wish you all could spend a day in our class so you could experience my daily joy!   I am thankful to my parents and grandparents who pour so much love and time and effort into these little beings, you are the reason they are who they are.  Thank you for allowing me to be a part of their lives!  Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.  -Ms. Shaw  

Veteran's Day Post

Happy Veterans Day weekend families.  Reminder school is closed tomorrow (Monday, November 12th) in observance of this holiday.  That means a short and busy 4 day week ahead.  Here's the scoop on what's coming up...

Math:  We did not get quite as far as I wanted in math last week as 3 addend addition took a couple of days longer to teach to a level of understanding that I was happy with took a little longer than I thought it would.  My guess is making a ten when one addend is 9 might take a little extra as well, which we will dedicate this week to.  That means that is 7ish days on these 4 lessons, with an assessment this Friday.  This is fine with me, these are concepts that I rather spend extra time developing an understanding of rather than moving on quickly.  So, we will still be concentrating on the concepts described in last weeks blog.

ELA:  We did not have a chance to read enemy pie last week because I choose to read "Americas White Table" to teach the students about Veterans Day.  We learned what is means to be a veteran and a soldier.  The children are making Veteran Day lap books, which we will complete during the beginning of the week.  Then we will move onto "Enemy Pie."  We will also be reading stories from our Nat Geo curriculum over the next couple of weeks, having to do with animals and life cycles.  

Science:  We continue with our exploration of the human body.  We will be adding inflatable lungs to our body bags, as well as stomachs and intestines.  We will also learn the functions of these organs.  

Social Studies:  Our students continue to learn about the first Thanksgiving with Mrs. Ogg and our friends from the Magic Treehouse series, Jack and Annie.

Here Comes the Bus:  Many of you have asked about, or at least have heard from your kids about bus tags.  What are they and what are they for?  The tags will be going home on Tuesday, attached to your child's backpack.  This is where they must stay if they are a bus rider or if you ever wish to track them when they take a bus on a field trip.  Here comes the bus is an app you can download and create an account.  This app will allow you to monitor your student getting on and off the bus (they will scan their card for this) and track the bus while in transit.  You will need the 5 digit school code (83662) and your child's 16 digit identification number, which is located on the back of their bus card.  Also on the card was their first and last name, but I have taken a sharpie and blacked out this part of the card, which I was told was allowed.  To me this is a safety issue and nobody needs to see any type of name identification on the outside of your child's backpack. This is one of the reasons they do not yet have their cards.  The use of this app is optional, but I will be placing the cards on their backpacks even if they are not bus riders (again - for field trips if you want to monitor those excursions).  Please do not remove them from their backpacks if they are a bus rider, as the district will be able to use this system to track busers as well.  You may visit this link for more information as well...  https://herecomesthebus.com/getting-started/.  Our two newset students were not sent cards from the district, Erin has been notified and she has ordered them.  As soon as she gets them they will have them as well. On a side note, the kids are really excited about having these cards.  They feel very grown up, and some are convinced they now have access into the building 😂.  Although it is very funny they might need a reminder that these cards are not a toy and they should not remove them and play with them either.

Picture Retake Day:  Thursday is picture retake day.  If you missed picture day or were not satisfied with your child's pictures Thursday is your opportunity for a redo!  The good news is these pictures are taken in the morning (as opposed to after lunch recess like last time) so any and all hair do's should last and children should remain clean.  

Thanksgiving Break:  Wow, already?  Wednesday, November 21st - Friday, November 23rd school will be closed for Thanksgiving break.

Save the Dates:  

• November 21st-23rd - School Closed - Thanksgiving
• December 5th (Wednesday) - PTO in library - all are welcomed to join!  Free childcare is available.
• December 13th (Thursday) - Special Early Release @12:25
• December 7th (Friday) Kwanzaa feast - details to come soon
• December 14th (Friday) Christmas Craft Morning - details to come soon
• December 21st (Friday) Hanukkah Celebration - details to come soon

Happy Veterans day and a huge thank you to all who have served and to their families!  Freedom is not free and your service and dedication to our country is appreciated!  See everyone back on Tuesday.💙-Ms. Shaw

First Week of November 2018

Happy November.  I love this time of year.  Crisp air and the beginning of the holiday season.  I promise to keep you update on all the excitement and activities that will take place over the next couple of months, there will be many.  Here is the scoop on our upcoming short week.

Math:  We are officially done with Module 1, moving into Module 2.  This is the unit where I start to get excited about the cool stuff our students will be learning.  We will begin with learning to add 3 addends (ex: 9+2+1) and using our commutative and associative properties of addition to make 10 to solve 3 addend problems.  We will also start adding sums greater than 10 by making a 10.  This is a really cool method that always blows my mind, which will look something like this... 

                 and   

                              9+1=10

                     10+2=12, so 9+3=12

It looks like a lot, but I will break it down and teach it in the steps so that it makes sense to the students.  The cool part is that every year they see the pattern inside the problem, which helps them to solve the equation as well.  This is just another method they can choose to solve problems, but I find it exciting to teach and to see them connect with it!

ELA:  Now that mummies are concluded, we will be moving on.  This week we will be reading "Enemy Pie" and creating a bulletin board that coincides with the story.  Then it will probably be on to some Frog and Toad stories.  We will continue with Daily 5 and learn the CAFE strategy for accuracy - back up and reread.  

Science:  We have begun our unit on our bodies.  Last week on Halloween we learned about our bones.  This week we will begin assembling our body bags, gluing our heart, lungs, rib cage, and pelvic bones onto our bags.  We will also learn about the function of our heart and lungs.

Social Studies:  Our students will begin learning about the first Thanksgiving with Mrs. Ogg this week.

Veteran's Day Weekend:  Don't forget, this week and next are both 4 day weeks, as school will be closed this Friday, November 9th (Teacher Professional Development Day) as well as Monday, November 12th for Veteran's Day.  Enjoy your 4 day weekend!

Thanksgiving Break:  Wednesday, November 21st - Friday, November 23rd school will be closed for Thanksgiving break.

Looking Ahead:  In December we will not be switching for science and social studies.  I will be keeping our kiddos so that I may teach our holiday studies unit.  The first week I will be teaching Kwanzaa, followed by Christmas, and wrapping it up with Hanukkah the last week.  We will be learning who celebrates these holidays respectively, how, and why.  Each Friday we will have a celebration in honor of each holiday.  December 7th we will have a Kwanzaa feast, the 14th will be Christmas craft morning, and the 21st we will have a Hanukkah celebration, making latkes and playing the dreidel game.  I will need classroom volunteers on the 14th and the 21st, more information as December draws near.

December Early Release:  Thursday, December 13th will be a special early release for report card prep.  School will release at 12:25, please plan for child care accordingly.  

Can you feel the holiday magic in the air?  Now all we need is some more snow!  Hug your babies for me.  - Ms. Shaw

Halloween Week 2018

Happy Halloween week.  We have a week full of exciting activities.  Here's the scoop on all that's happening...

Math:  We are wrapping up Module 1!  We will learn about subtracting a number from itself (yes, it equals zero),  relating subtraction facts relating fives and doubles (8-4=4 so related double is 4+4=8 or 8-5=3 and 8-3=5), and relating subtraction from 10 and 9 to corresponding facts.  As always, we will end our unit with an assessment on Friday.

ELA:  We have officially finished reading our Mummies in the Morning book.  We have a few more things to complete in our comprehension packets and Ancient Egypt will officially be a wrap (no pun intended).  We will be exploring African folklore by reading some Anansi the spider stories this week.  I LOVE these stories, and they are perfect for this week.  

Science: Last week we had a shortened science week due to our wants and needs celebration so we did not get to check on our apple mummy.  We will be doing this on Monday, which means it is going to look extra awesome!  We did however have the opportunity to build our marshmallow pyramids.  It did not go quite like I expected, but the students had a good time, and I was able to get some good pictures of them working in their teams building and showing off their final projects.  Love how they even climbed on top of the tables to help their teammates!

 This week we will begin cutting out our body pieces for our body bags, thus beginning our body unit.

Social Studies:  Mrs. Ogg will also be concluding Ancient Egypt before moving onto her Thanksgiving unit.

PINK OUT:  Tuesday, October 30th will be Marshall's first annual PINK OUT in support of raising awareness of breast cancer!  All students and staff are encouraged to wear pink on Tuesday for this cause that is very important to our Marshall community.  And yes boys, real men wear PINK! 💗 

Halloween:  Wednesday is Halloween.  We have a very exciting day planned.  We will be learning about bones in science, and sorting and graphing Cheetos bones in math.  We will be having a harvest celebration, again if you wish to send in any sort of treats please do.  There will not be a sign up, we will just enjoy and be grateful for whatever come our way :)  Please, if you do send in something try to limit the amount of sweet treats, students will be getting plenty of candy if they go trick or treating later that night.  Cheese and crackers, fruit, veggies and dip, applesauce are a few suggestions that I have seen go over quite well.  Thank you! 

Costumes will be allowed for the first time ever in my class.  I am not quite sure how I really feel about this.  I have a few guidelines that are in accordance with the school guidelines as well.  Please adhere to these so that I may allow this tradition to continue in the future.  They are:

• NO masks or face paint at all.
• NO weapons of any kind at all.
• Make sure costumes are easy for students to remove/ unbutton/ unzip independently for bathroom purposes.
• Students must still wear weather appropriate footwear and jacket for recess.
• Absolutely NO scary/violent/gory costumes - keep it first grade appropriate or I will call you to bring a change of clothes for your child to change into.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.  As long as all guidelines are followed it should remain fun for the students.

Wants and Needs Celebration:  Thank you to everyone who donated supplies to our wants and needs extravaganza!  The students had a great time making pizza for all 4 first grade classes.  Each student made 4 pizzas for a total of about 80 pizza's.  Then they delivered their goods to each class.  They also enjoyed the treats made by all the other classes and determined if each treat was a want or a need.  Check out the pictures below of your little pizza makers:

Taiko Drumming:  This week is the end of our 3 weeks of our Taiko drumming residency with Mr. Tony.  Our 5th graders, and some of the fourth graders, have put in some extra time with Mr. Tony and will be putting on a Taiko Drumming performance for parents and families this Thursday, November 1st.  It will be held in our gym at 5:30.  They will be giving a repeat performance for the students Friday morning.

Thursday Announcements:  This weeks announcements were broadcasted by Ella and SequoiaRain.  Ella had been asking, and when I asked for a boy who would not get nervous Sequoia very confidently raised his hand and proclaimed, "I can do it!"  They led the school in the pledge and entered the class to a round of applause.  Nice job Ella and SequoiaRain!

Dates to Remember:

·       Friday, November 9^th – No School for Students – Professional Development Day for Teachers

·       Monday, November 12^th – School Closed – Veteran’s Day

·       Wednesday, November 21^st-Friday, November 23^rd – School    Closed – Thanksgiving Break

I believe that is all for this week.  I feel I always forget something every week.  If so I will add it when I remember and let you all know.  Until then, have a safe and enjoyable Halloween weekend!  -Ms. Shaw