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

Mummies and More

Hello families.  We are quickly approaching the start of our holiday season here at Marshall, officially entering our last full week of October.  Time is flying, and we have been busy.  Here is a look at what we have been up to in room 9...

Math:  We will finish up subtraction with word problems this week and head into subtracting 1 less and zero less.  

ELA:  The children have loved expanding their learning of Ancient Egypt with the help of Jack and Annie and the Magic Tree House story, "Mummies in the Morning."  We are halfway through the story, and should be wrapping it up next Tuesday, with a comprehension check on next Wednesday.  Of course, we are continuing our Daily 5 and reading from Nat Geo as well.

Science:  Last week we mummified our apple.  We will unwrap our apple mummy and record our data and write our conclusions this week, then begin the unit on our bodies.  

Social Studies:  Mrs. Ogg will continue to explore Ancient Egypt with our students.

Fratelli's Reschedule?:  As of now, due to the weather and scheduling conflicts with all four classes, our Fratelli's field trip is on hold.  We were trying to tie this field trip in with our want and needs unit (which 2 classes have finished and 2 are almost done with at this time).  All field trips should have an educational/standards based component.  With that, the kids still want pizza and we still need to make it tie into standards.  So the first grade team was thinking we could wrap up wants and needs/ goods and services with classroom stores.  Each store is going to sell a product and deliver to the other 4 classes.  Our store will be making...PIZZA - of course!  Which means we need some pizza supplies - by this Wednesday!  If you could help us out we could use the following items (enough for 4 classes),

• English Muffins
• Mozzarella Cheese
• Pizza Sauce

Please bring in items by this Tuesday so we will know if we will have enough to make this happen!  Thank You for helping in advance, your generosity is appreciated!  When we are done we will write a how to book about making Pizza!

Scholastic Book Orders:  October book orders went home last week.  If you wish to order please turn orders and checks in by this Friday (October 26th).  Remember, you may also order books online using our class code Q7YBM.  Happy Reading!

Halloween:  The big question is here, can we wear costumes.  For the first time ever I am allowing my first graders to wear costumes.  Here are my guidelines for costumes in my classroom however:

• 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. 

Thanks for sticking with these guidelines to keep this day fun for all.  Now, are we having a party is always the other question.  We will have a "Harvest Celebration."  As far as food, we will also enjoy whatever the kids bring in for us to enjoy.  I will not send out a sign up sheet for this.  If you want to make something for the class, please feel free to do so.  Please limit the amount of sweet treats however, the students will be getting plenty of candy if they go trick or treating.  Cheese and crackers, fruit, and veggies and dip are always a big hit.  Any questions, please let me know.

Announcements:  This weeks Thursday morning announcers were Karina and Derian.  They spoke clear and did a great job!  Way to go you two! 

Save the Date:  Mark your calendars for the following upcoming dates to remember:

• Wednesday, October 24th - Wants and Needs Celebration - Supplies due on Tuesday, October 23rd (Thank you!)
• Wednesday, October 31st - Harvest Celebration - Costumes permitted - Treats allowed - no sign-up
• Thursday, November 1st - 5th grade Taiko Performance @ 5:30
• Friday, November 9th - School Closed for Students
• Monday, November 12th - School Closed - Veteran's Day
• Wednesday, November 21st - Friday, November 23rd - School Closed - Thanksgiving Break.

Thank you all for all you do!  Hugs to the kiddos, I'll see them in the morning! -Ms. Shaw  

Mesopotamia Taste Testing 2018

Happy fall break!  I want to start by thanking my families for making it to conferences.  We had a very high turn out, and I was pleased to see such a large percentage of families show up to discuss their child's progress thus far!  Room 9 families are the best.  We have a lot of fun and a lot of learning on tap for the week ahead, please read on. 

Math:  We will continue learning to solve subtraction word problems in a variety of ways, which include drawing pictures and crossing off parts we know, drawing picture number bonds, and circling the parts we know.  Again we will be labeling our parts we know and identifying the part we are solving for.

Please remember, if you have any questions while helping your child with math homework you may visit my staff page via the Marshall website.  On my staff page I have a Eureka Math Homework Help link.  This will take you to a site that offers videos that walk you through each individual homework lesson.  For instance, if we are on Module 1 Lesson 24 homework, click that video.  The module is marked at the top of the homework page (1 1 mean grade 1 module 1)  and the lesson is at the bottom of the page.  These videos do an excellent job of explaining what we are looking for on the homework, how to solve the problems.  All homework is review, and viewing the video may be all your child needs to get them on track.  You may also access the homework help through this link here - https://www.fusd1.org/Page/10110.  

ELA:  Next week we are begin our cross curricular unit of study on Ancient Egypt with a read aloud from the Magic Tree House book "Mummies in the Morning."  If your child would like to bring in their own copy of the book to follow along they may, please make sure to label their copy with their name.  This is such a fun unit, and we love incorporating it within other subjects.

Science:  As part of our Ancient Egypt unit we will begin the week by learning about the mummification process and then mummifying an apple, all the while using the inquiry process.  After that the students will read and learn about pyramids and then break into teams to try and complete a STEM challenge of building a pyramid using certain material and guidelines.

Social Studies:  The children will begin studying about Ancient Egypt with Mrs. Ogg.

Fratelli's Field Trip:  Monday is our walking field trip to Fratelli's.  It is going to be cold, barely above freezing when we are walking.  Not the weather we would have ordered, but you never know what mother nature is going to hand you in this town.  Therefore, we are going to need to bundle up!  Please make sure your child has a big jacket, a hat, and gloves, as well as warm walking shoes!  If you have not signed and returned the permission slip, it has been in your child's blue agenda folder since Tuesday, please search backpack and return.  Unfortunately anyone without a signed permission cannot join us, and no one wants to miss out on a Fratelli's field trip.

Gallop Money Due:  This is it, the last week to collect pledges and donations for our one and only fundraiser of the year, our Gallop.  Please make sure to make that final push for funds for our school, 100% of which go right back to Marshall and our students!  Money is due this Friday, October 19th.  Thank you all for your efforts, we truly cannot raise money for our students and our school without you and we appreciate the time and energy you put into helping us out.  Remember, there are prizes for the class that collects the most money as well as the class with the most participation.  Let's do this!

Box Tops:  Box Tops are also due on Friday, October 19th.  Thank you to all who have been saving and turning in thus far!  Every box top counts!  Again, there is usually a prize for the class that turns in the most box tops...so ask grandparents, friends and neighbors to collect as well!

Taiko Drumming:  Our students will have the opportunity to enjoy being a part of our annual Taiko Drumming artist in residency with Mr. Tony Trapasso.  They will learn about the ancient art of Taiko drumming, and have opportunities to play these drums during their music times over the next three weeks.  The fifth graders will be learning to play these drums quite intensely during this time and will be putting on a performance to showcase their skills on Thursday, November 1st at 5:30 pm. 

Scholastic Book Orders:  Book orders will be going home on Tuesday of this week.  Lot's of great fall and Halloween titles.  A few of my recommendations are Crankenstein and the Sloth book (both just because they are personal favorites).  If you are looking for books that are gook for progressing your readers, I recommend the pigeon series.  This is about the perfect level for the majority of our students and everyone loves the pigeon-very engaging!  Again, book orders will go out on Tuesday and you will be allowed to order online as well using our class code Q7YBM.

Mesopotamia Taste Testing:  On Friday we joined Mrs. Ogg's class to wrap up our social studies unit on Ancient Mesopotamia with a little taste testing.  Even our most reluctant of taste testers came around at the end, and tried a few of the items.  Surprisingly, the goat cheese was a hit.  A few other favs were the pita bread and the cantaloupe.  Not so popular were the figs and dates, but our brave first graders did give them a go.  Here are a few pictures of our yummy morning.  You can see they were a little apprehensive at first, but as they tried the grapes and realized it was pretty good they started to dig in.  A big thank you to Ady's family for some of the donations, we appreciate it.

Save the Dates:  A few upcoming dates to remember...

• Friday, October 19th - Gallop Money Due
• Friday, October 19th - Box Tops Due
• Monday, October 22nd - Possible Field Trip to Basha's (trying to solidify - hopefully will hear back soon.  More info to come)
• Thursday, November 1st - No School for Students (Professional Development Day for Teachers)
• Monday, November 12th - School Closed - Veteran's Day

Hope everyone is having a fun filled fall break.  Stay warm and dry!  Rumor has it there is some snow headed our way Tuesday. Please remember to bundle up our babies! -Ms. Shaw

Gallop/FHS Parade 2018

What a fun first week of October.  Friday was such a blast, and I have included a lot of pictures of our students at the gallop and watching the FHS homecoming parade.  The gallop is always one of my favorite Marshall events, and to fall on the same day of the parade was extra special.  I heard one of the students say, "This is the best day of school ever!"  It sure felt that way, I hope you enjoy the pics below.  First, here is what is happening for our upcoming short conference week.

Math:  Our students will continue to solve subtraction word problems by learning how to draw the word problem and cross out the part they know.  They will also learn how to start labeling the number bonds that match the number sentence for the word problem.  This is important because it helps them start thinking about what the numbers stand for and what is the number they are truly solving for.  This also helps them to write a more correct number sentence.  For example if they know that they have 4 leaves and 3 are red and the rest are yellow, they should be able to label 4 as T for total or L for leaves.  The 3 should be labeled R for red and then the 1 should be labeled Y for yellow.  They can then know they found the missing part of 1.  Therefore their number sentence should be 4-3=1.  They subtracted the 3 because it was the part they know.  They found the 1, therefore the number sentence 4-1=3 is not as correct.  Learning how to label their parts will help them in this thought process.  

ELA:  Because of our short week our ELA will be put on hold until after the break.  However, because of Friday's festivities we were unable to get to our spelling test.  Therefore I will send home the same list for two days worth of spelling homework and will administer the test on Wednesday morning.  This will be the only homework the students will have this week!

Science:  We will wrap up our plant unit this week.  The students had a great time giving their grass a "haircut" last week, and reading about how seeds travel.  This week they will watch a fun video about how seeds travel and make a book to go with it.  Then we will try to squeeze in a review about the inquiry process, and if time allows we will take our first assessment on this.

Social Studies:  Mrs. Ogg will be wrapping up her unit on Ancient Mesopotamia this week as well.  On Wednesday we will be combining the two classes for the grand finale.  We will be giving the kids a taste of Ancient Mesopotamia with a sampling of some of the foods from that region.  If you could help out by bringing the following contributions we would greatly appreciate it:

• Apples (sliced)
• Honeydew (sliced)
• Cantaloupe (sliced)
• Pita Bread
• Grapes
• Figs
• Dates
• Goat Cheese
• Grapes
• Sesame Seeds

Again, thank you for your help.  These activities are such a great way to expand our lessons and give the students a better understanding of the times, and they are only possible with your contributions.

Parent/Teacher Conferences:  Congratulations room 9 families, for the first time ever I have 100% of my families signed up for a conference.  You all are so amazing.  Your children should have gone home with a final conference schedule on Friday.  If you forget your time, please feel free to email me or call the office.  Don't forget all three days are early release days, so plan for child care accordingly.  Monday and Tuesday are 12:25 release and Wednesday is an extra early release time at 11:10.

Clothing Exchange:  While you are here for your conference don't forget to swing by the clothing exchange, located in our science lab.  It's a chance to shop for some "new" gently used clothing.  We have all sorts of clothes and footwear of all sizes for every member of the family (including babies to men).  You do not have to bring in clothes to shop, and everything is FREE!

Walk to School Day:  This Wednesday, October 10th is International Walk to School Day.  If you would like your child to participate please drop them off at the Armory across from Thorpe Park, where there will be teacher's there to walk with groups of students starting about 8am.  If you would like to join us in walking, please do.  If your child rides a bus they will need a signed permission slip to be dropped off by the bus driver at the Armory.  Permission slips will go home on Monday.  Please DO NOT send these back to school, these are to stay with your child and to be given TO THE BUS DRIVER on WEDNESDAY morning.  Thank you. 

Box Tops:  Box Tops are due on Friday, October 19th.  Keep collecting!  Thank you for all the box tops that have come our way so far.

Morning Announcements:  Every morning a group of students announce the Pledge of Allegiance over the intercom.  Our class has been chosen for this honor on Thursday morning's for the month of October.  This first week Tate and Nevaeh made us proud, and announced the pledge loud and clear.  The rest of the class was so happy to hear their classmates over the loud speaker, and greeted them with a round of applause as they entered the room.

Marshall Gallop:  Our gallop was a huge hit, and fun was had by all.  A huge thank you to our amazing PTO for providing T-Shirts commemorating Marshall's 65th birthday to every single student and staff member!  One of the students put on his shirt and looked at me and said, "Ms. Shaw, we match!"  Huh, imagine that😄! So funny.  A thank you also goes out to our food services for providing water, oranges, and bananas after the run.  I have already received a few pledge packets back.  Money is due on Friday, October 19th.  Remember, the class with the most money collected and the class with the most participation wins a special prize.  I would love for this class to win one of these for all of their hard work.  This is our one and only fundraiser for the year, and we appreciate all your efforts!  As promised, here are some amazing pictures from the Gallop.  Check out the video, I love how the kids were dancing and just so happy.  This is them all the time, and I love it!

FHS Homecoming Parade:  The Gallop was followed by the FHS parade.  The students lined the curb in front of the street and clapped and cheered FHS, who are celebrating their 95th birthday this year!  The parade even featured our very own Mr. Billy in the Purple Heart truck.  Here are some photos of all the parade fun.

I cannot begin to explain to you how happy these children make me.  I feel so lucky every day I come to work.  They make me smile and laugh all the time, and I love my job because of these happy, smiling faces.  We have so much fun together, and I just love, love, LOVE these kiddos!  Thank you for sharing them with me. -Ms. Shaw