Goodbye April, Hello May

Welcome to our final month of school.  I cannot even believe it is May, nor do I want to think about the end of the school year.  I am literally going to take this one week at a time, and be in denial until the very last day.  As always, we manage to pack so much into the end of the school year.  Here is what is happening this week in Room 9...

Math:  We are finishing learning about 3 dimensional shapes and then we will move onto making new shapes out of 2 dimensional shapes.  

ELA:  Our NatGeo focuses on map stories.  We will also wrap up learning about Antarctica this week.

Science:  The students will review and test on the steps of the scientific (or inquiry) process one more time for the year.  

Social Studies:  The kiddos are wrapping up their last unit with Mrs. Ogg.  They are putting their finishing touches on the Incas, Aztecs, and Mayan's studies.  Their last day with Mrs. Ogg will be next Wednesday, May 8th.

Heritage Square:  Our final Suzuki Violin Performance of the year is this Thursday, May 2nd.  Permission slips should have gone home on Friday, but I have a feeling they did not.  Therefore, if I find them on my back table (which I think I will) I will send them home in the blue agenda folders Monday.  Please sign these and return them immediately!  If you would like to walk to Heritage Square with us, please let us know.  The students will be walking with Ms. Roth and we could use a few extra hands getting there and back.  There will be a place to indicate you can help on the permission slip, please check there.  You may also write a note in the agenda or feel free to e-mail.  Performance starts at noon, and all are invited to attend.  Please remember to sunscreen your child that morning!  Hats are a good idea.

May Dates to Remember:  Lots happening the remainder of the year.  Not every event was put on the end of year calendar I sent home last month.  Feel free to add any omitted dates so as not to forget.  As of now here is how the rest of the year looks:

• Monday, May 6th - Bearizona - We currently have Cila Salt and Maribel Salazar Chaperoning.  We need one more parent chaperone.  If you are available and willing, please let me know.  First come, first serve.

• Friday, May 10th - School Closed - Snow Make Up Day

• Wednesday, May 15th - School Carnival - This will be held outside this year.  More details to come. 

• Thursday, May 16th - Special Early Release @ 12:25

• Monday, May 20th - Field Trip to Library @ 10:00

• Tuesday, May 21st - Bike to School Day

• Monday, May 27th - School Closed - Memorial Day

• Thursday, May 30th - Last Day of School - Field Trip to Thorpe Park and 12:25 Release

I will give you more updates on the bigger events as dates draw near.  If any other events arise between now and then I will let you know.  

As I said, so much to do in so little time, it is best to take it week by week.  If you have any questions about anything, please feel free to reach out. -Ms. Shaw

Spirit Week 2019

Happy Spirit Week.  Here is the scoop for our week ahead...

Math:  We are beginning our geometry unit.  We will begin with attributes of shapes this week.

ELA:  Last week we wrapped up our then and now unit by making butter.  Students shook up heavy cream in jars until it turned to butter, and then we tried our butter on top of some crackers.  Most liked it, some did not.  This week we will be researching and studying penguins and Antarctica.  

Science:  We will begin our final science unit of the year, sound.  

Social Studies:  The students are still going strong learning about Incas, Aztecs, and Mayans.  They are putting together a really cool cumulative project for this unit, and I can't wait for them to share the final project.

Spirit Week:  One day down, 4 to go. Rest of week is as follows:  

Tuesday - Crazy Hair Day

Wednesday - Favorite Sports Team

Thursday - Backwards Day

Friday - Future Self Day

Harkins Field Trip:  Our field trip to the movie theatre was awesome.  Our students were very well behaved, and the Penguin movie was great.  Below are a few pictures from our fun day.

Heritage Square:  Grab your chairs, next Thursday, May 2nd is our final Suzuki Violin Performance of the year.  This event will be held at Heritage Square in beautiful downtown Flagstaff.  It will begin at noon.  We will need a few parents to walk to and from the square with us.  Permission slips and volunteer forms should be going out soon.  All family and friends are welcome to join us downtown.  Please make sure to wear sunscreen and a hat, it has been known to get rather warm. Also, please make sure to sunscreen your child this day, and have them wear a hat as well.  Students will also need to wear a blue Marshall t-shirt if they have one.  If not, a blue shirt of any kind will do.  If you can transport a case of water for us, please let me know.  I am buying the water, but if someone can get it to the square ahead of time it would be helpful so that we do not have to carry it ourselves. Just let me know via email or agenda.  Thank you.

Hope everyone had a happy Easter weekend. -Ms. Shaw

Harkin's Field Trip Week 2019

Super exciting week ahead.  Here is what is happening in room 9 this week...

Math:  Addition of tens or ones to a two digit number is our focus this week.  After this we will move into our geometry unit.

ELA:  We will finish our unit on inventors this week.  We will also briefly talk about Penguins to go with our upcoming field trip to Harkins to see the penguins movie.  

Science:  We will wrap up our motion unit this week.  

Social Studies:  The students will finish their studies on the Incas, Aztec, and Mayans.

Harkins Field Trip:  This Thursday is our field trip to Harkins.  Buses load at 8:45, so please make sure your child is at school ON TIME Thursday morning.  At this point we have one parent joining us for this field trip, Tate's mom.  This means we have room for one more parent if anyone wishes to come along.  If you volunteer to chaperone, please remember our insurance states no siblings on the buses.  Also, for this field trip our chaperones will also need to pay the $5 fee before Thursday as well.  If you have not signed the permission slip and turned in the money, please do so ASAP.  Any child who does not have a signed permission slip will not be allowed to attend the field trip, and will stay at school in an alternate classroom until we return.  Thank you for all for your cooperation and understanding on all matters.

Spirit Week:  April 22nd-26th is Spirit Week.  The days are as follow:

Please, when dressing your child as favorite book character the same guidelines apply as they did for Halloween.  No face masks or face paint, absolutely no weapons at all, make sure whatever they wear can be removed easily for bathroom purposes, and nothing scary, violent, or gory at all- or I will call you to bring a change of clothes for your child to change into.  Remember, this is suppose to be favorite BOOK character, please keep it age and grade appropriate.  Thank you.

Looking forward to the week ahead.  I hear we may be in for a visit from the teacher bunny on Friday! 🐇 -Ms. Shaw

First Week of April 2019

 From April Fools to a helicopter landing, and everything in between, we had a very eventful first week of April.  Pictures of our busy week are below.  However, let's start by taking a look at the week ahead...

Math:  Last week we finished our unit on comparison of two digit numbers.  The students really enjoyed our unit on greater than and less than.  The coolest part of my week was when I heard one of the kiddos say in the middle of our unit test, "I like this math!"  I'm hoping the sentiment remains as we move into our next topic, addition and subtraction of tens.  

ELA:  My second favorite quote of the week came when I was reading a "Then and Now" story with a group and one of the students commented how the old pictures looked like they came from "a really long time ago, like the 90's."  This week we will continue reading our "Then and Now" stories from NatGeo and incorporate it into our studies on inventors Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Graham Bell.      

Science:  We will wrap up our unit on motion with learning about how things roll by experimenting with wheel and axels.  

Social Studies:  The students will continue their studies of the Mayans, Aztecs, and Inca's this week.  

Science Fair Regionals:  Marshall students did an amazing job at the regional science fair in Prescott.  From our class Adyley went on to earn 3rd place, and Liam earned on honorable mention.  Way to go Liam and Ady!

Harkins and Bearizona Field Trips:  Plans have been finalized, and we are all set for our field trip to Harkins on Thursday, April 18th and Bearizona on Monday, May 6th.  Here are the details for both:

Harkins:  This is a combined 1st and 2nd grade field trip.  We will leave by 9 and return by lunch (11:30).  We will be asking every family for $5 towards the price of admission and to make sure each child receives a popcorn snack pack.  Due to limited space on both the bus and the theater, each class will only have room for two additional parent chaperones at the most. There will be a $5 fee for chaperones as well. 

Bearizona:  We will leave by 9 and return about 1:30ish.  There will be no additional cost for families for Bearizona.  We will only have space for 3 additional chaperones on this field trip, due to cost and space.  Chaperones must be able to ride the school bus with us.  Due to insurance reasons no siblings may accompany chaperones because we cannot have siblings on the school bus.  However, if you would like for you and a sibling to attend, you may drive yourselves down and pay to enter the park.  Thank you for understanding and working with us on the pricing and space and insurance constraints we have to work under.  It is always difficult for us, and we appreciate your understanding. 

I will be taking chaperones on a first come, first serve basis.  If you would like to attend one of the field trips please let me know ASAP (email is always fastest - ashaw@fusd1.org). After all spots are filled I will put people on a chaperone waitlist.  Thank you for your understanding.

  Permission Slips will be going home for both field trips on Monday.  Please fill them out and return them with the $5 Harkins fee ASAP.  I will also be sending home a permission slip form for the Library, and a combined Thorpe Park/Tree Park form some time next week.  The library and Thorpe park are great opportunities to join us for a field trip, as is Heritage Square, and there is no limit to the amount of parent helpers on these three events!  You can just let me know via agenda as these dates draw near.

Suzuki Violin Performance:  Our first graders did an outstanding job last Tuesday night, showing us what they have been working so hard learning twice a week in Suzuki!  I am so impressed with how well they did.  Here are a few pictures from performance night.

Group Photo #1

Principal Photobomb - Love the look on Adinidiin's face, he wasn't too sure where Principal Reasor had popped in from. 

Group photo #2

They all asked if they could do a silly face photo.  Who am I to say no?!

Guardian Air:  A special thank you to Guardian Air for landing their helicopter on our field this Friday.  The students had the opportunity to see the helicopter land and take off, as well as sit inside the helicopter and learn all about how the crew of Guardian Air helps people in our community.  This was quite the treat for our first graders, and Sula described it as "EPIC!"  The crew even gifted us with pencils, tattoos, and helicopter wings.  Here here some pictures of our epic day.

AWAITING THE ARRIVAL -

THE FLY BY AND LANDING -

CHECKING OUT THE HELICOPTER - INSIDE AND OUT -

Hope your weekend was restful.  - Ms. Shaw