First 2 Days of School

Hello Marshall room 9 families.  The first two days of school were a huge success.  There were a few nerves at first, but after a very short while everyone settled down and it was all smiles from there.  I have included a few pictures from our first day of school at the end, but first a preview of what our first full week will look like.

Math:  We are diving right into our math curriculum this upcoming week.  We will be looking at embedded numbers, which means seeing parts inside of whole numbers (ex: inside of 5 we have the parts of 4 and 1, or 3 and 2, etc...).  We will also focus on making number bonds from the whole number and it's embedded parts.  Understanding number bonds now is very important because they will be part of nearly everything we do math for pretty much the rest of the year.

ELA:  The students will begin learning the Daily 5 process this week.  Along with our newly adopted curriculum (which we will start next week) I will use a variety of methods to teach your child how to read this year.  One of the methods that I have found to be proven most effective is Daily 5/CAFE.  Daily 5 is a series of 5 choices your child will make everyday during part of our ELA time.  CAFE is the methods I will teach them to implement while they are reading during Daily 5.  It may sound like a lot, but I will explain each part here in the blog as we come to it.  You may also feel free to stop by the classroom any day before or after class and I will be happy to explain it in detail.  This week during Daily 5 the students will learn how to read to self, which is broken into 3 parts - read the words, read the pictures, and retell the story.  During our ELA we will also begin working on grammar, focusing on learning about verbs, verbs in their infinitive form, and nouns.  These are just concept lessons, and we will come back and revisit them again throughout the year.

• Please note that since we are just beginning math and because we will not begin our regular ELA curriculum until next week there will NOT be homework until next week.  Again, homework will not begin until next week.  

Science:  We will be combining a fun science lesson with our growth mindset studies this week.  Growth mindset is a belief that your basic abilities come from dedication and hard work.  In first grade we start talking to ourselves about how you can train your brain by learning, how mistakes are proof that you are trying.  Last week we started a book called, "My Fantastic, Elastic Brain."  We learned about the different parts of the brain, and what those parts are in charge of and how they make us, well...us.  We will finish the book this week and learn about how we can help our brains grow through learning and with hard work.  We will learn how mistakes are the best ways to help our brains grow, and how every time we make a mistake it's ok because we learn what not to do and our brains are growing!  I love this so much!  Then we will do a fun science experiment of growing crystals (just like we grow our knowledge, and our brains).  Growth mindset will be a concept we will work on throughout the year, focusing on more ideas such as the power of yet, one of my favorites, and incorporating it with as much curriculum as possible (such as STEM challenges and ELA).  Again, I will keep posted here in the blog of these activities.  

Supplies:  Thank you to everyone who donated supplies from the extra supplies list.  We are very well stocked on everything from snacks to paper towels and everything in between!  I really appreciate your generosity.  If/when we should run out of something I will post it here.  There are 3 things that I did forget to put on the original mailed out list.  Only one will you need to worry about getting for your child.  The other two are needed but optional.  

• Earbuds - needed for each child during Daily 5.  Please bring in ASAP.
• Hand Sanitizer - Optional 
• Pencil Top Erasers - Optional

If you already purchased a ton of items, please do not worry about purchasing either of the optional items.  Let's spread the love!  Also, speaking of mailed supply lists, some of you stated that you did not receive a letter/info in the mail and asked for a copy.  I was not able to get to this before the end of the school week, but there are copies in your child's cubbies now.  If for any reason you need one and one still does not make it home to you, write me a note in the agenda and I will put a copy in there for you. 

Paperwork:  A set of paperwork went home in your child's agenda, attached to a letter explaining the agenda folder.  Please fill out and return those forms ASAP!  Also, as soon as you fill out the free and reduced lunch form on line, write me a note in the agenda so I can check it on my list that you did this.  Here is the link to the online form,   http://www.heartlandapps.com. This is one of the most important forms, because the more families that qualify for free and reduced lunch, the more Title 1 funds Marshall school receives.  These monies are used for so many things that directly impact your child's education here at Marshall.  These funds are used for our Magnet programs, including Suzuki Violin, which each K-2 student participates in for free twice a week, among a myriad of other programs and people that benefit all students here at Marshall.  Even if you do not think you will qualify, please take a minute to fill out the form anyway.  I did not think I would qualify when my son attended, and it turned out he was eligible for reduced pricing.  Although he ate home lunch, I was happy knowing that our completed form was helping Marshall earn funding.  Again, thank you for your time in doing this.  

Save the Date:

• Wednesday, August 29th - Open House 5:30-7:00 PM 

• Monday, September 3rd - School Closed - Labor Day 

First Day Jitters:  On the first day of school we read a book called, "First Day Jitters."  At the end it turns out it is the teacher who is nervous about the first day of school, which the kids thought was pretty funny.  Then we talked about who had first day jitters, who was excited, etc.  We graphed our feeling about the first day of school and made and tasted Jitter Juice, to help get rid of any left over jitters from the morning.  What do you know, jitter juice magically worked and made us all feel calmer and happier about school.  Check out the pictures from some of our first day jitter activities below...

One more thing I would like to mention is how well these students are doing with the flexible seating.  We went over how the seating will work, and my expectations for choosing and keeping a seat.  The students have done an amazing job sitting and listening respectfully in their spots and caring for their supplies.  I have truly enjoyed the start of this school year and that is because of these students.  They are good listeners, kind and respectful, and so very sweet!  I cannot wait for our year together! -Ms. Shaw

Welcome to the 2018-2019 School Year!

Welcome back students and families!  This is our class blog, Ms. Shaw's Scoop,  where you will find all the information you need to stay updated on all the happenings at Marshall and in room 9 for the 2018-2019 school year.  This post, our first of the year, will be full of information you need to know before the school year begins. Here's your first scoop of the year 🍧...

You've got snail mail:  I have mailed out the beginning of the year letters.  This includes a supply list, general information sheet, and family information sheet.  Please fill out the family information sheet and return to me as soon as possible.  I look forward to having this information on all the children, and the how does your child get home section is extremely important to know by the first day of school!  If you have not received your letter in the mail please let me know via email and I can resend this information as soon as possible.  Sometimes this happens if you have moved and did not update your address with the office.  If this is the case, please call the office and update your address immediately.

Supply list:  Our Parent Teacher Organization decided they wanted to help Marshall families by buying the supplies the teachers usually request at this time of the year. Almost everything I usually ask for on the beginning of the year supply list has been purchased by them organically.  However, some bulk items are still needed. All of this information is in the letter sent home before school started, but I have enclosed the list here as well.  The following still needed items are:

• 1 Box Kleenex (Girls)

• 1 Roll Paper Towels (Boy)

• 1 Container Disinfectant Wipes (All)

• Wipe Off Markers (Skinny Black)

• GLUE STICKS! (A LOT!)

• Pencils

• Playdough for Daily 5 Reading Program

• 1 Set of earbuds for your child's personal use (forgot on mailed list)

• Hand Sanitizer (also forgot to add to mailed list)

• Snacks for 25 Students

I wanted to give you this list at the beginning of the year so that you could purchase them at beginning of the year prices, if you should choose to do so.  Your help with these items is greatly appreciate, as we will run out of these items throughout the school year.  Whenever we need supplies or snacks I will notify everyone here on the blog!  Thank you for your help, it is always appreciated!

Paperwork:  During the first days of school you will be receiving a packet of paperwork (yay).  This will be inside your child's agenda, along with a note explaining how the agenda works, and what all those papers mean.  These papers are required to be filled out and collected at the beginning of every year.  One of the most important forms is the free and reduced lunch form, which I believe can only be done online.  Here is the link to apply for free and reduced lunch http://www.heartlandapps.com.  Please, even if you do not think you will qualify, log on and apply.  Even if you never plan on feeding your child a school lunch, log on and apply.  Every child that qualifies means more Title 1 funds that come back to our school.  Here at Marshall all of those monies go straight back to your children!  A win win, but it only works if you take the time to log on and apply.  This one little thing is so helpful to our school, and we thank you for taking two minutes of your time to do so!  

Box Tops:  As we do every year, we will be collecting box tops a couple of times this year (dates to be announced).  Please start collecting box tops now! 

Blog:  After the initial round of letters and paperwork are done, this blog will become my official "newsletter"  and I will not be sending home any paper newsletters the rest of the year.  I will update the blog weekly to let you know what is happening in our classroom and at Marshall.  Checking it every week will ensure you will never miss any important events or information, and that you will always know what your child is learning.  Every now and then there will even be pictures to allow you to peek into your child's day at school.  Thank you for checking in and staying informed!

I cannot wait to meet you and your first grader on the first day of school, Thursday, August 9th.  Until then - enjoy the rest of your summer! -Ms. Shaw 

Last Day of School/Thorpe Park Pictures

Happy last day of school.  I cannot believe our students are officially second graders!  It has been amazing watching them grow this year.  As promised, here are pictures from our field trip to Thorpe Park.  We had so much fun and the weather was perfect for our day at the park.  Check out all our fun....

Getting ready for our walk.

Just hanging out on the firetruck.

Some good ol' fashion sliding fun.

Corey and Shayden were quite content swinging away.

Diego practiced his balancing skills as well...

and finished with a smile.

Getting together a game of tag.

You're IT!

This is the best.  I'm not sure if this many children are suppose to be on it at one time, but they had fun. I did make a rule that there could be no jumping in or off when the spinny was spinning.

Not quite sure what this is called but it went up and down like a teeter totter.

It's also a four seater!

Leander found some quiet time on the dinosaur.

It has been an amazing year watching your children grow.  I love and miss these cuties already!  Have a safe and glorious summer!  I can't wait to see everyone back on Thursday, August 9th.  -Ms. Shaw

Last Blog of 2017-2018...ALMOST

Happy almost last blog of the school year.  I thought this would be it, but I realized I will be taking and posting pictures during Minute to Win It and our End of the Year Field Trip to Thorpe Park.  That will be the very last blog, therefore this is not the last one after all.  Not a long week but I am still going to try to pack in as much as possible.  For this week I am going to just break it down day by day for you. 

• Monday:  School Closed - Memorial Day

• Tuesday:  The students will continue with Daily 5 so that we may finish our testing and that they may continue their reading.  We will also begin our memory books.  It will also be our final day of Art and Music and a special Fit Kids.

• Wednesday:  Our big Minute To Win It morning.  We do need volunteers for this morning!  We ask that parents stay when the morning bell rings to help set up their station and then it runs until 11:00 (ish).  We do a quick and easy tear down/clean up and we are out of the gym be 11:15 at the latest.  If you can volunteer your time we would really appreciate it!  We cannot make this work without 10 parent volunteers minimum for the duration.  If you have the time Wednesday morning please sign up on the sign up attached.  If you can only do part of the time please note on the sign up and maybe someone can pick up the other half of the shift.  As long as a complete time slot is filled that will work.  We are asking for volunteers from other classes as well, so this is a total of ten from all classes.  Thank you in advance!   https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0e4fa4a72ca0ff2-minute  After all the fun and excitement we will work on our memory books a little more in the afternoon, before making sure the children have all their materials/notebooks and such to go home.  This will also be our last day of Daily 5...reading until the end!

• Thursday:  Last Day of School.  We will celebrate our amazing year together with a trip to Thorpe Park.  Please note that every child will need a sack lunch from home this day  because we will not be getting lunches from the cafeteria.  Also remember sunscreen and walking shoes.  Permission slip goes home on Monday.  Sign and return immediately please!  Three important things to remember about the last day of school:

1. Students may not bring a backpack to school on the last day of school.
2. Report cards will go home with your child.
3. Dismissal is at 12:25

Lost and Found:  Check out lost and found for anything your child may be missing.  Lunch boxes, jackets, stuffed animals, etc....  After dismissal on Thursday everything will be loaded and given to charity.

I want to end this blog by saying what an amazing group of students this has been.  Every year is a unique bunch.  This years group has been filled with so many fun personalities that have made me smile and laugh all year long.  They are a group of brothers and sisters, and act like it in every sense of the word. They love each other and support each other and enjoy each other.  They empathize with each other and argue with each other and have been quick to forgive each other.  They have accepted each other and helped each other in many different ways.  They have reminded me why I love to teach so many times this year, and I will treasure my time with your children always.  Again, thank you for entrusting me with the care and education of your children this year.  We have learned so much, and there has been so much growth in our soon to be second graders.  I absolutely love this group of first graders! -Ms. Shaw

P.S.  Don't forget to sign up for the summer reading program at the library!  Read! Read! Read!  

Ice Cream Week! May 21st-25th

Happy last full week of school.  And it's ice cream week🍦!  Doesn't get any yummier than that!  I will explain all about ice cream week below so read on to get the whole delicious scoop on ice cream week...

Math:  Monday we take our final math assessment on time.  Then we return to addition of tens and ones to a two digit number for the remainder of the week and into Tuesday of next week.  I know the year is almost over but I will teach math up until the last day of school.  

ELA:  Our Hartcourt story of the week is "Poppleton Everyday."  I will work on our final testing for sight words during our ELA time this week as well, which you will see on progress reports. We will also read a story that tells us how us cream moves from cow to carton, although the name of it escapes me right now.  This will be followed by lots of ice cream activities throughout the week.  Then on Wednesday we will be making ice cream!  We will need some supplies for this so please see sign up below.  We will also be writing our ice cream recipes out so that you can spend hot summer day shaking your own delicious bags of ice cream.  Entertaining and yummy!  

Science:  Balloon rockets are on tap for this week!  So much fun.  This is carried over from last week, but I want to make sure this happens.  At some point we will also review the scientific process and test on it one final time.

Social Studies:  One more week with Ms. Reger to wrap up Arizona. 

Ice Cream Week:  As mentioned above, we will be celebrating ice cream week this week.  We need some items in order to make this happen.  Attached is a link to a sign up genius for supplies we will need by Wednesday morning at the latest!  www.SignUpGenius.com/go/60B0E4FA4A72CA0FF2-icecream  Thank you in advance for your donations.  I'm sure your children will appreciate it as well!  🍨 😎

Library Field Trip/School BBQ:  Monday is our school wide BBQ.  Our serve time is 11:20, though showing up 5 minutes early is a good idea (think parking).  After that we will leave school at 1:10ish and head to the public library to learn all about their summer reading program.  Most of the children have their permission slips turned in for this event.  For those who don't, I put another copy in their blue agenda folders on Friday, please check and return to me on Monday morning!  

Bike Ice Cream Social Event:  Tuesday is Bike to School Day.  As part of the festivities there will be a Kidical Mass Bike Ride that leaves from the parking lot across from Marshall (gather at 4, leave at 4:15).  After the ride you will return to take part in an ice cream social where Fratelli's will be on hand to provide dinner.  Bring your bikes, helmets are required for your little riders.  This is not a Marshall event, but I wanted to let you know because it sounds like fun and is right across the street.

Last Week of School:  Here are some important dates for our last week of school:

• Monday, May 28th - School Closed - Memorial Day
• Wednesday, May 30th - Annual First Grade Minute To Win It - We need volunteers so please mark your calendars if you can come in from 8:45-11:15.  We cannot pull off this event without lots of parent help!  Look for information later this week!
• Thursday, May 31 - Last day of School - Field Trip to Thorpe Park (permission slips will go home this week) - 12:25 Dismissal

Supplies Needed:  We are out of snacks!  We don't need a lot, maybe 2 more for 23 students to close out the year.  Also, we are out of disinfectant wipes, which we need for our end of the year cleaning.  If you can help us with either of these, we would greatly appreciate it! 💛 

Cherry On Top - Suzuki Pics:  Thank you to all parents and grandparents who walked with us to Heritage Square and back on Wednesday.  A very special thank you to Ms. Amanda Roth who walked with our class.  This event is always a highlight of the year, when our sea of Marshall blue descends upon Heritage Square and 300 tiny violinists perform in the heart of downtown Flagstaff!  Marshall is truly amazing with it's one of a kind programs!

So proud of all our students!  -Ms. Shaw

Updates May 14th - 18th

Let me begin by saying Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing mom's, grandmother's, sisters, aunts, and other amazing women who help care for these wonderful babies in room 9!  You are all awesome in what you do for our children and I appreciate every one of you! Happy Mother's Day!💜

Math:  We have begun our unit on telling time.  The children made some take home clocks and will be using more realistic clocks over the next week to tell time to the hour and half hour.

ELA:  Our Hartcourt story of the week will be "The Puddle."  We will also practice our fluency and the kids will have new end of the year reader's theaters soon!

Science:  Our air exploration continues with air rockets this week, before moving on to air and weather for the rest of the year.

Social Studies:  Ms. Reger will continue on with learning all about our great Grand Canyon state.

Suzuki Performance:  Our Heritage Square Performance was rescheduled for this Wednesday, May 16th.  Performance starts at noon.  At this time I have not received back many permission slips for this event.  Any child without a permission slip will have to stay at Marshall in another classroom.  I will send home another permission slip to those who have not returned one on Monday, please sign and return on Tuesday.  If you would like to walk with us to Heritage Square, please let me know.

Dates to Remember for Rest of Year:

• Thursday, May 17th - Special Early Release @12:25
• May 14th - 18th - Teacher Appreciation Week @ Marshall
• Monday May 21 - All School BBQ - 1st grade serving time @ 11:20
• Monday May 21 - First Grade Field Trip to Library in PM (combined permission slip for tree park was sent out, please return ASAP!)
• Tuesday May 22 - Bike Ice Cream Social Event
• 1st Grade will make ice cream during this week (21-25) Info coming
• Monday, May 28 - School Closed - Memorial Day
• Wednesday, May 30 - First Grade Minute to Win It in the Gym 8:45-11:00 am.  Volunteers needed!  Info to come.
• Thursday, May 31 - LAST DAY OF SCHOOL - Field Trip to Thorpe Park - 12:25 Dismissal

As the events come closer I will give you more information.  In the meantime, please continue to check your child's backpacks for informational flyers and those all important permission slips.  Thank you parents!  -Ms. Shaw    

WELCOME BACK!

Hello families, and welcome back to the end of our school year!  I cannot tell you how excited I am to see our students tomorrow.  Thank you all for your patience and support during this unprecedented time in Arizona education.  Now it is time to return to doing what we teachers love most, educating our students.  With 19 days left, there is so much to do, and I promise you I will not be slowing down!  Keep on reading for information on how we are going to be spending those 19 days.

Math:  We are continuing on with our fractions unit tomorrow and next week, focusing on quarters and halves.  After we have our assessment next week we will head straight into telling time, a unit the children always enjoy!

ELA:  We will officially begin our "Bear Snores On" lit study tomorrow, and carry it through next week.  Our Hartcourt story will be "How to Be a Nature Detective."  We are hoping to pair this with a walking field trip across the street to the pond to do some detective work of our own, so please be on the look out for that permission slip to go home tomorrow (Friday). 

Science:  We will focus on air with a few more really cool air experiments and hopefully have time at the end of the year to talk about the relationship between air and weather.

Social Studies:  We continue our switch with Ms. Reger, who will begin a fun research project with our students all about Arizona.

Heritage Square:  Although our Suzuki performance at Heritage square was cancelled we are working hard at rescheduling it for Wednesday, May 16th.  I will keep you posted with more details as the plan becomes more solid.  As always, be on a look out for a permission slip for your child to attend this performance, as we will be walking from the school to Heritage Square.

School Days:  Just to help clear thing up here is what I currently know about what days school is open and closed for the rest of the month, including early release information:

May 4th (Friday) - School Resumes - No Early Release - 3:20 Dismissal

May 10th (Thursday) and May 11th (Friday) - School is now Open no information regarding Friday release time at this time.

May 17th (Thursday) Special Elementary Early Release Scheduled - 12:25 Dismissal No information regarding a change to this date at this time.

Friday May 18th and Friday May 25th are scheduled early releases as usual, but these times are subject to change.

 May 28th (Monday) - School Closed - Memorial Day Holiday

May 31st (Thursday) - Last Day of School - Dismissal @ 12:25

I will get a new paper calendar out to you as soon as I hear final word on some of these dates, and I will update this blog with those updates as well.

Ice Cream Week:  May 21st - 25th will be ice cream week in first grade.  We will begin the week with a field trip to the public library where we will learn all about their summer reading program (and yes, I will be sending home a permission slip for you to sign😃) and eating popsicles when we return....sorta ice creamish?  Then later in the week we will be reading a cool story about how ice cream goes from cow to grocery store!  After we will make our own ice cream.  Stay tuned for more information about ice cream week to come.

Last Week of School Events:

We have two fun events the last week of school.  On Wednesday, May 30th will be our like millionth annual (seriously) First Grade End of the Year Minute to Win It Extravaganza in the Gym.  We will need many parent volunteers to pull this off, so please mark your calendars now.  More details to come very soon!  This will be followed by our last day of school field trip to Thorpe Park.  Which means, you guessed it, another permission slip to fill out.  Whoo hoo.  I will combine the Thorpe Park and Library Permission slips so it cuts back on some of the paperwork.

I think I have covered just about everything.  If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to email me.  Homework will continue next week, and for the next two weeks after that.  No homework the last week of school, but no need to tell the children that just yet!  LOL.  On a serious note, I am so thrilled to have my kiddos back with me tomorrow.  I have missed them dearly and we have so much great learning still to do!  -Ms. Shaw