April 2019

Happy April!  I cannot believe we are headed into the final two months of school.  Third quarter FLEW🌬 by way too fast.  Our final stretch promises to be busier than ever.  I will be sending home a paper calendar with a list of important events over the next two months.  Please post this where you can refer to it and add to it if necessary.  Here's the scoop on what is happening for this upcoming week...

Math:  We will finish our unit on comparing 2 two digit numbers this week (>, <, =).  This will include being able to write the correct symbol when comparing and being able to read the number sentence correctly.  Sometime this week we will also begin a new program called Reflex Math.  This is a fluency program that is designed to help us become quicker at our basic math facts.  I will share more details about this after I get it up and running this week, and have a chance to see how it goes this week.

ELA:  We will be reading stories out of our NatGeo series this week.  These stories tell about life long ago and compare to life now.  We will also spend the next few weeks reading and researching about two inventors, Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Graham Bell.  

Science:  Last week we began our motion unit where we learned about how an object needs to have a force acted upon it in order to move.  We also learned that two types of force are a pushing force and a pulling force.  Last week we experimented with a pushing force with tops.  This week we will experiment with spinners to better understand the concept of a pulling force.  

Social Studies:  The students have wrapped up their Civics and Government unit with Mrs. Ogg.  They are headed to Ancient Greece next.

SUZUKI Violin Performance on Tuesday:  This Tuesday, April 2nd is our 1st Grade Suzuki performance.  This is your first opportunity to come and see what your child has been working so hard at learning in Suzuki this year.  The performance will begin promptly at 5:45, with students asked to arrive at (but no earlier than) 5:30.  All family and friends are invited.  Students are asked to arrive in dress attire, there will be bowties for the boys to borrow if they should need one.  The concert will be held at FHS in the Hurley Auditorium.  I hope to see everyone there!

Guardian Air Landing:  Mrs. Ogg has arranged a special helicopter landing from guardian air.  They have received permission to land their helicopter so that they can come give a special presentation to our first graders about who they are and what they do.  This is going to be a special surprise for the kids on Thursday morning.  Thank you Mrs. Ogg and Guardian Air!

Field Trips:  You will notice on our calendar we are in the beginning stages of planning for several field trips for the end of the year.  As of now we have the dates and times solidified, but have not yet finished working on chaperones and permission slips.  These are in the works and information and slips should be out to you soon.  Our two big field trips are Harkins in April to see the Disney Earth movie on Penguins (we will be doing a Penguin study to go with this), and our annual Bearizona trip in May to go with our big bear research project.  Each field trip requires a certain amount of chaperones per a certain amount of students (which we split between the classes), and those chaperones are required to ride the bus with us without any other children for insurance purposes.  As soon as I know how many chaperones I will need for each field trip I will let you know.  For the Bearizona field trip, keep in mind that if you want to Chaperone you will be in charge of a group of 5 students for the entirety of the day, not just your student.  Other field trips include Heritage Square (I will need a couple of parents to help walk with to and from the square), the Library, and the last day of school we will be going to Thorpe Park (all are welcome to join us there as well).  As I said, there will be a lot more information on all of this as each event draws near.

What a way to kick off April!  So much great stuff happening.  By the way, tell the kids no spider jokes tomorrow-they do not work with me! 😀 💜-Ms. Shaw

Spring Break 2019

Happy Spring Break families!  I hope everyone is enjoying time with their loved ones, resting and getting reading for our final quarter of the year.  We will be hitting the ground running after spring break, here's the scoop on what will be happening in room 9 when we return from break...

Math:  The children learned how to make quick tens before we left for break.  We will apply this to learn how to add and subtract tens and ones from a two digit number.  Then we will learn how to compare two digit numbers (<, >, =).  

ELA:  We will move into our 7th 4 week unit in our NatGeo series, "Then and Now."  Students will read about and compare about life now and long ago, which we started before Spring Break with our Magic Tree House story "Twister on Tuesday."  The children were full of questions about one room school houses and started asking a lot of questions about what Marshall was like when if first opened.  Luckily, we have a homegrown expert - retired Marshall teacher Kristie Pagel.  Mrs. Pagel happened to have attended Marshall when the school was only 5 years old, and was the one who came up with Marshall's mascot - the Mustang!  Mrs. Pagel was in the building on Friday and stopped by to help answer all the questions out students had.  We even had the opportunity to take a photo with Mrs. Pagel. 

When we return from break we will also have new Spring Reader Theaters for Daily 5, and I am considering doing another Daily 5 Boot Camp - not only because it is a good refresher to remind them of our Daily 5 routines but because I have a small group who keeps asking for another Boot Camp since we did one in January (especially Liam!).

Science:  We are returning to our science kit begin our motion part of our balance and motion unit.  

Social Studies:  When we return from break we will be rejoining Mrs. Ogg for Social Studies.  The students will be learning about Ancient Greek, and then making a turn into Mayans, Aztecs, and Incan's.

1st Grade Suzuki Performance:

Tuesday, April 2nd will be the first grade Suzuki performance.  This is your first opportunity to come and see what your child has been busy learning in Suzuki all year long.  The performance will be held from 6:30-7:30.  No final word where, but it is usually at Flag High.  I will let you know when I have word on the venue.  Students will be required to wear performance attire, and bowties will be available for the boys to borrow if they need.  I hope to see everyone there.

Parent University/Conferences:  

Thank you to everyone who participated in our Parent University sessions and our group style conferences.  I don't know about you but our time together seemed a little shorter than I would have liked.  A few of you did reach out to me with follow up questions.  Please, if you feel like you have any remaining questions or concerns, reach out to me via email.  I want to make sure we communicate about your child's education fully, and now is the time.  Thank you to those who also signed up for individual conferences.  Those who did not feel a conference was necessary at this time, your child's report card did go home in their purple folder that was full of the information given at Parent University.  Please review it, and again, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Pledge and Announcements: 

Our class had the opportunity to make the announcements and say the Pledge this last Thursday.  The honors went to Sula and Dakota.  Here is a picture of them coming back into class after they did a very remarkable job!  As always, our sweet class gave them a round of applause as they entered the doors!  Love that they always think of doing this to celebrate each other!  I also love that Dakota had to check and fix his hair before I could take their picture :)

Have a safe and fun Spring Break.  See everyone back on Monday, March 25th! -Ms. Shaw

March 11th-15th 2019 Updates

Happy Tuesday before Spring Break. I apologize that this weeks blog is a little later than usual, this weekend was busy with report cards, lesson plans,  and getting ready for Parent University.  I am exhausted but all set and very excited for this week!  Although are days are short this week, we still have a lot of learning planned.  Here's what we have happening in room 9:

Math:  We are working on place value concepts such as writing a two digit number as an addition sentence (ex: 24=20+4), and finding 1 and 10 more, and 1 and 10 less than a given number.  

ELA:  We will be supporting our recent NatGeo stories about weather by spending this week reading The Magic Tree House story Twister on Tuesday to learn more about tornadoes.  Because we will be doing this lit study, we will not have a list of spelling words or a spelling test. 

In case your kids have not informed you yet there will not be any homework this week at all!  

Science:  We will finish our Earth Science unit on weather learning about tools meteorologists use to determine the weather, how to read weather tools, and dive into learning about tornadoes to reinforce our lit study.

Social Studies:  Due to our short days we will not be switching with Mrs. Ogg this week.  We will continue our studies after Spring Break when we will study Ancient Greece and then move into Mayan, Aztecs, and Incans.

Parent University/Conferences:

Tomorrow is Parent University from 5:00-7:00.  If you need a refresher on how Parent University is going to work you can read all about it here...       https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=782437860974803553#editor/target=post;postID=8503161623167765080;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=2;src=postname.  We are hoping to see as many families as possible for the group conference from 6:05-6:30 in our room.  If you feel your family would benefit more from an individual conference you can sign up for that as well.  Sign-Up is online via this link-https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0e4fa4a72ca0ff2-parent.  If you opt out of any type of conference report cards will go home with your child on Friday.  

Conference Week Early Release:

Don't forget, Wednesday through Friday are early release days due to elementary conferences.  Here are the release times for all 3 days:

• Wednesday, March 13th - Extra early release at 11:10
• Thursday, March 14th - Early release at 12:25
• Friday, March 15th- Regular early release at 12:25

Please plan for childcare on release days accordingly.  Thank you!

Science Fair:

We had 3 students who participated in this years science fair.  Ady, Liam, and Yossarian all did an amazing job working on their science fair projects of choice, and all 3 earned ribbons.  Ady and Liam earned 1st place, and Yossarian earned 3rd place!  Each student presented their science fair project to the class before they were taken to the gym for judging.  Last week our class had the chance to walk around the science fair, and celebrate our classmates successes!  We are all so proud of these three!  Here are some pictures of them presenting, and of them with their award winning projects.

THINK Assembly - Trustworthy:

Our Positive Behavior Support Committee has been hard at work this year.  One of the things they have revamped is the blue ticket system, and having the kids earn them when they are caught "THINKing like Mustangs".  This past Friday we held an assembly where two students from each class who showed trustworthiness were given an award.  In our class the awards went to Karina and Derian.  Karina and Derian can always be trusted to make good decisions and do the right thing even when an adult is not watching.  They can be trusted to help do a job, help a friend, and act with kindness. Nice job Karina and Derian!  One of the things I love about this class is how excited everyone was for the two of them when they earned the trustworthy award.  I truly have a class who is always cheering for one another.  Below are some pictures of Karina and Derian receiving their awards.   

    

 

Spring Break:

Don't forget, after all the excitement of this week, next week Spring Break.  School will be closed from Monday, March 18th - Friday, March 22nd.  I hope you find time to spend with your loved ones.  Be safe, be warm, and have fun! -Ms. Shaw 

Parent University/Conference Sign-Up 2019

Parent University/Conference Sign-Up:

Hello parents.  I have attached a link to the sign-up genius for Parent University Night and parent teacher conferences.  This Wednesday is our highly anticipated Parent University night from 5:00-7:00.  Our class conference will take place that evening from 6:05-6:30 in our room 9.  Our hope is that every family will attend our class conference during this evening, and take advantage of a few other informative sessions while they are here.  Remember, childcare is available this night if you need it, and Fratelli's will be providing dinner.  With dinner and childcare covered, it's almost like date night!  There are options for individual conferences on Thursday if you feel that option best fits your needs.  Some families feel comfortable where their child is academically and do not feel a conference is necessary.  If this is you you are still highly encouraged to attend the group meeting during Parent University, but do not need an individual conference.  For more information on Parent University please read last weeks blog.   http://shawsscoop.blogspot.com/2019/03/parent-university-conferences-2019.html.  The link for the sign-up genius is here...https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0E4FA4A72CA0FF2-parent.  If any of the options do not work for you please feel free to reach out and we can make other arrangements.  We are trying to get an idea for our Wednesday night turn out, so please sign up and let me know if you plan on attending Wednesday night.  All report cards and informational folders will go home during conferences, and for those who opt not to have a conference yours will go home Friday with your child.  Hope to see everyone next week. -Ms. Shaw

Parent University Conferences 2019

Hello Mustang families.  I wanted to dedicate this blog to explain all about our upcoming Parent University and Parent/Teacher Conferences.  As you know our spring conferences are usually optional, and are usually held over the course of the 3 days before Spring Break.  This year we have decided to do things a little different.  This year our parent teacher conferences will be part of our Parent University night.  So let's explain Parent University for those who are new to Marshall, or did not attend last year.

Parent University is a night where you can come attend several informational sessions to learn about a variety of topics pertinent to your child's education.  These are topics that were chosen by Marshall parents in our survey that went out previously, and include things such as Raising Readers, School Safety, Making Mathematicians, Active Parenting, Positive Behavior Interventions and Support, and more.  These session option can all be found in the Parent University brochures that went home with your children tonight.  This year you will have the opportunity to choose from 3 sessions, as well as attend your child's conference session.  So how will this night look?

Parent University/Conference Night will take place next Wednesday, March 13th from 5-7pm.  There will be 4 sessions that you may choose from, if you choose to attend all four sessions.  The run time for these sessions are:

• Session 1 - 5:00-5:25
• Session 2 - 5:30-5:55
• Parent/Teacher Meeting - 6:05-6:30  (This will be our group parent/teacher conference time where we will meet in our room)
• Session 3- 6:35-7:00  

At the group conference you will be given your child's individual report card.  We will review what goes on our report cards, as well as our first grade progress report information.  We will look at and discuss the data we use in the first grade on these reports, and you will be able to privately see your child's progress thus far.  If you feel you still would like an individual conference after this (or even in lieu of if you still prefer) I will be sending home an individual conference time sign-up sheet tomorrow.  However, having done the group data conferences before, I feel you will find it unnecessary to attend both, and am hopeful you will choose to attend the Wednesday night conference as your option.

You might be thinking sure, but it sounds like a long night.  I hear ya, but here is the beauty in Wednesday night.  You can make it look the way that works best for you.  Only want to attend the conference?  That is an option.  Want to attend the conference and one or two sessions?  You may do that as well.  Or you may choose to attend all 3 sessions and the conference time.  Our main goal is to have as close to 100% attendance for the conference time (6:05-6:30) as possible.  The rest of the sessions you can pick and choose according to your schedule and what works best for you.

Dinner will be provided.  Pizza will be available in the gym all night long, and you may stop in and grab dinner as you make your way in and out of sessions.

Childcare will also be provided if needed.  Children in childcare at 5:45 will receive dinner as well.

If you have any questions regarding Parent University/Conference Night please feel free to email me, and I will get back to you immediately.  Hope to see everyone Wednesday, March 13th for our conference! -Ms. Shaw