Updates Jan 29th-Feb 2nd

Hello Families.  I cannot believe we are wrapping up the end of January.  It seems like our second half of the school year is moving at full speed.  With no snow days and no holidays, it has set a nice tone of consistency to our routine and learning environment here in room 9.  I like the no interruptions even if I do miss the well needed snow.  I wonder if Punxsutwaney Phil will be ordering Winter or Spring for us this year?  The kids will let you know on Friday, as they delve into some Groundhog's day activities.  If he calls for 6 more weeks of winter, let's hope he orders some snow to go with it!  Here's what will be happening in our class prior to all our Friday festivities...

Math:  Monday we test on RDW (read, draw, write word problems) and true and false number sentences.  Then we jump into measurement!  Students will learn to compare lengths of objects.

Language Arts:  On Monday we wrap up our "Hat" and "Mitten" unit with the students writing an opinion page about if they would prefer wearing mitten's or gloves.  Then on Tuesday we begin a chapter book, "My Father's Dragon."  Each child will have their own copy to follow along with as we join Elmer on his retelling of his father's adventure to save a dragon.  Student's will be working on various concepts such as making predictions, and comprehension.  In Daily 5 we will work on the strategy "chunk letters and sounds together."  Our Hartcourt story of the week will be "A Bed Full of Cats."  

Science:  We will continue working on balance activities this week!

Social Studies:  The student's wrapped up their ancient civilizations unit on Friday with a hot chocolate party.  On Monday they will begin their national symbols unit.

Classroom News:

We need glue sticks!  If anyone can buy a pack and donate to the class community pile it would be greatly appreciated!  

Please remember to check and sign agendas daily!  We are seeing an increase in some behaviors and the agenda is not being signed to let us know that you are aware of this.  When first graders know that their parents are not checking in on their day, the yellow and red faces become relatively useless.  Therefore, the behaviors increase instead of decrease.  This is not what we want to see happening.  As a result, I will be keeping students with yellow and red faces in from recess if their agenda is not signed that night.  If it is not signed on the second night I will make a phone call to make sure parents are aware of the behaviors taking place in class.  It is important students know that parents are aware of what is happening during their day, and if they are being disruptive, their parent will know about it that night, and they will have a discussion that will help reinforce set in place here at school.  This helps us keep everyone safe and helps us to focus more on learning and less on discipline.  Thank you all for your understanding and cooperation on this matter!

The science fair is coming!  Be on the lookout for more information.

Save the Date:

• Wednesday, February 7th - PTO in the library (all are welcome - childcare is available)
• Monday, February 19th - School Closed (President's Day)
• February 12th - 16th - Random Acts of Kindness Week sponsored by PTO
• Wednesday, February 28th - Kindergarten Registration

Can't wait for our week ahead!  See everyone Monday morning. -Ms. Shaw

January 22nd-26th Updates

Happy middle of January.  I hope everyone enjoyed their snowy weekend.  I don't see any snow on schedule for this week, but it looks like real cold weather is on tap.  Please, please, please make sure to dress your children appropriately for the weather for the rest of the winter.  This looks like they will be needing BIG winter jackets to keep them warm, winter hats, and perhaps gloves.  Also, our playground has a tendency to get very muddy and puddly after rain and snow, making boots a real good idea.  You might want to pack extra socks in their backpacks as well.  Please remember to label all this clothing!  Thank you for helping us keep your kids warm.  We do go outside in all sorts of weather and temps, and will not keep children in (we do a good job of keeping track of wind chill and that sort of thing, and do keep them in when it really is too cold).  If you feel your child is too sick to go outside, they should probably not be at school.  If they are at school, we will send them out, so please keep this in mind. Now that we tended to those few important items of business, here's the scoop for the week...

Math:  We are wrapping up Operations and Algebraic Thinking with some big concepts this week.  We are learning to solve word problems with addition or subtraction when we have either a missing part or when we need to find the total.  We are solving problems using the Read, Draw, and Write (number sentences and statements) method.  We will also be working a little more on true and false number sentences, and making false sentences true.

Language Arts:  We will be reading the fable "The Fox and The Stork" from our Hartcourt series, making puppets later in the week so the students can do a story retell.  We will also read "The Hat" and "The Mitten" by Jan Brett, comparing and contrasting the two stories.  We will also work on story elements such as character, setting, and problems,  and sequencing events.  

Science:  The children will continue working on using counterweights to find stable position with arcs and triangles, as well as other fun balance activities.  

Social Studies:  Ms. Reger will complete her studies on the Inca's next week, following her wrap up with an assessment on all three ancient civilizations.

Extra Scoop:  Tuesday is the 100th Day of School!  We will be celebrating with some fun activities on Tuesday.  We always encourage every child be in attendance on Tuesday for attendance purposes, not to mention - no one wants to miss out on all the fun!

Also, the science fair is coming.  We will be doing a project as a class.  Although first graders are not required to partake in individual projects, you are encouraged to do so if you wish.  More info will be headed your way soon.

Dates to Remember:

• Tuesday, January 23rd - Fratelli's 10% Tuesday for Marshall
• Wednesday, February 7th - PTO
• Monday, February 19th - School Closed - President's Day
• Wednesday, February 28th - Kindergarten Registration
• 
  

See you all on Monday morning! - Ms. Shaw

Updates MLK Week Jan. 15-19 2018

Happy Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  I hope you are enjoying the extra day off with your child(ren).  We have a short week ahead, but one full of learning, especially with the return of RTI this week.  Here's the scoop on what else is going on this week in room 9...

Math:  More subtracting from teen numbers, and from groups of ten.  Also, solving by making math and 5 group drawings.  We are nearing wrapping up our operations and algebraic thinking unit.  Measurement is in our near future.

Language Arts:  Our Hartcourt story for the week is "Friends Forever."  During Daily 5 the kids will also be introduced to listening to stories using QR codes on the iPads.  Now that we have wrapped up "Over and Under the Snow" we will be moving on to comparing Jan Brett's books "The Mitten" and "The Hat."

Science:  We are currently in the balance part of our balance and motion unit.  The students learned last week that in order for an object to balance they need to use counterweight.  This week they will learn about stable position and how to use counterweight to find stable position.

Social Studies:  More learning about the Inca's!

Extra Scoop of Information:

Parent Helpers:  I have had a lot of inquiries into helping in the classroom.  If you would like to help, please see me and we can set up a time that not only works for your availability, but that will also be most beneficial to our classroom needs.  I appreciate all the parents who have helped us in various ways last semester, and those who are planning on coming in this upcoming semester!  

Cherry on Top (aka Save the Dates):

• Tuesday, January 23 10% Tuesday @ Fratelli's Fundraiser
• Wednesday, February 7th PTO
• Monday, February 19th School Closed (President's Day)
• Wednesday, February 28th Kindergarten Registration

That's all for this week.  Hope everyone is rested and ready for our short and busy week ahead! -Ms. Shaw

First Post of 2018!

Happy New Year!  Welcome back.  It was so great to be back in class, getting into our routine, and seeing your smiling and happy children.  Everyone seems rested and ready to get back to learning! Here is what is happening this new year in our classroom...

Math:  Back to subtraction!  We are going to be using to subtraction to solve word problems, as well as subtracting 9 from teen numbers.  Both of these are very big, important math concepts.  

ELA:  Our first week back we did a Daily 5 boot camp, where we reviewed one Daily 5 choice a day, and everyone worked on that concept.  We also read the story "Tomas Rivera" from our Hartcourt series, and started a two week unit on a book called "Over and Under the Snow."  We will continue the story "Over and Under..." this upcoming week, focusing on vocabulary, writing prompts, comprehension, and prepositions throughout.  We will also be incorporating an art mural of the scenery and animals from the book, which will hang on our bulletin board when it is finished.  This upcoming week we will also continue with "Tomas Rivera" and use the same spelling words (qu and wh words).  I did not test on these words this Friday because I did not feel like the students had enough time to study them in class or at home.  

Science:  This week we started our new physical science unit of balance and motion.  This is a super cool, super fun unit and I can't wait to really get into teaching it to our kiddos!  They are going to have so much fun and learn a lot!

Social Studies:  Ms. Reger has already kicked off her new unit on Central American Civilizations. They will be learning about various things such as architecture, uses of land, first use of the cacao beans, etc...  This week she taught the students all about the Mayans, next week they will be learning about the Aztecs.  

In More Room 9 News...

Joining us this semester will be Ms. Teller, our student teacher.

"Hello, my name is Rachel Teller I was born and raised here in Flagstaff. I graduated from Flagstaff High School in 2011, and have never left this beautiful town. I was originally an education major, then switched to a biology major for two years. I realized after struggling with the science classes that I missed education classes, so I switched my major back to education. Since then I have been loving every minute of it! I am on the deans list and will graduate with honors in May 2018, graduation cannot come fast enough I am so excited to get started on my life and career. Kids have always been my passion, and I am so excited to work with your children and help them grow in their knowledge throughout this semester!"

We have a few other new faces as well - 2 new friends!  Welcome Cash and Davinee!  That brings us to 23 amazing first graders in room 9.  

Save the Dates:

• Friday, January 5th - Report Cards went home.  Please sign the yellow report card cover and return back to me ASAP.  I will reuse these for the next time we send home report cards.

• Monday, January 15th - School Closed, Martin Luther King Day

• Wednesday, February 7th - PTO 

• Monday, February 19th - School Closed, President's Day 

Again, I am so glad to have everyone back....getting into our routines.  Please remember if you have any questions or concerns this last semester, feel free to reach out through email or call the school. I hope everyone has a restful weekend.  - Ms. Shaw