Picture Canyon Communication Updates

Hello families.  I want to send one quick blog before our official #RedForEd educator walk out begins.  First of all the first grade team has decided to cancel our field trip to Picture Canyon on Monday, April 30th.  As a whole we had very little permission slips signed and returned (I had 5 as of today) and we have no time to send out new slips and get them back before Monday morning.  A good amount of children who need their slips were not in attendance today, and we would not have time to make contact with those parents on Monday morning before the bus was scheduled to leave.  Knowing we needed to give transportation a heads up, and after much deliberation, we decided it was best to go ahead and cancel.  We also agreed that if school is in session on Monday, it will be well needed classroom teaching time that we are happy to have back.  Our apologies for any disappointments or inconveniences this may cause.  Thank you for your understanding.

I also need to let you know that I will not be blogging any further updates, or responding to emails after tonight until the teacher walk out is over/school resumes.  Again, sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, but the district has recommended that since we are walking out we are not to be working during this time.  Please continue to refer to the district home page for all of your updates on school closure/school resuming operations updates, where your child can go for free breakfast and lunch during our closure, and child care opportunites.  Here is a link to the FUSD home page   https://www.fusd1.org/Domain/1.  Speaking of free breakfast and lunch, Marshall just so happens to be one of the schools that will be serving meals to kiddos who need it.  Breakfast will be served from 7:30-8:30 and lunch from 11:00-12:30.  Again, if you live closer to another school, check the FUSD homepage to see if that school is serving free breakfast/lunch.  Also note, these meals are for anyone 18 years of age and younger, not just students of the school!

PLEASE READ TO YOUR CHILDREN EVERYDAY or HAVE THEM READ TO YOU for just 15 or 20 minutes.  This is their homework while we are out.  It is the best thing you can do for them during this time.  Tell them Ms. Shaw said so, 😀 because it is what we do to become better readers.  

Thank you to those of you have emailed or communicate your words of support and thanks during this time.  I have been so touched and encouraged by this, and I can't tell you how much it means to me when you take the time to so.  I want everyone to know that I will be thinking of your children everyday and will be  ready to continue teaching just as soon as we resume operations.  I love my first grade families!  -Ms. Shaw

Bearizona Pics and End of April Update

Happy unusually short week of school ahead!  Many of you may have already heard that schools will be closed beginning this Thursday, April 26th until further notice due to educator  participation in statewide #RedForEd walkouts.  For now this means that we will have school one day only this week, Wednesday, April 25th.  This will be a full and meaningful day, so please make sure your child is in attendance.  Please check the district homepage for further communication and updates in regards to closures, school resuming operations, childcare for those already enrolled in FACTS and free breakfast and lunch provided on days schools are closed.  You may click on this link for easy access to all this informaiton.  https://www.fusd1.org/  So what will we be doing for our one day?  Here's the scoop....

Math:  We will begin exploring fractions, learning about equal parts of a whole.

ELA:  We will wrap up our bear research so that when we return to school we may begin writing about our bear of choice.  Also, we are going to begin a lit study on the book "Bear Snores On" where we will incorporate expanding our vocabulary (a Daily 5 CAFE strategy),  learn about synonyms, use evidence from our text to draw conclusions about our story,  and more.

Science/Social Studies:  We will conduct a fun experiment to learn about air.  There will be no social studies on Wednesday.

Hat Day Fundraiser:  Wednesday will be a fundraiser to show our support for our beloved school secretary Malinda, as she continues her battle her with breast cancer.  The children may wear their favorite all day for just one dollar.  All money will be collected and given directly to Malinda to aid in her medical costs.  Some have inquired if they can just make a flat donation and the answer is yes!  Let's all wear our hats this Wednesday and show her our love and support!  

Picture Canyon:  I have yet to receive all the permission slips for our picture canyon field trip (Monday, April 30th).  I will send home another permission slip on Wednesday with any child who has not returned their permission slip to me as of yet.  This means that they will have to have it signed and returned to me on the morning of the field trip.  If they do not, they will have to stay behind in another class for the day.  If you have not seen said permission slip, please check your child's backpack/blue folder before Wednesday, it is probably there.  Thank you for your cooperation.  Please note,  if school has not resumed by this time the field trip will be cancelled.  

Heritage Square Suzuki Violin Performance:  Next Thursday, May 3rd will be our annual Heritage Square Suzuki Violin Performance.  Violinists will begin at noon.  Permission slips will go home on Wednesday, and will need to be returned immediately!  As in our next school day.  We will need a few parents to join us on our walk down, so please feel free to contact me via agenda, email, or phone call if you care to walk with us.  Otherwise, I hope to see the rest of you at the square next Thursday.  Please make sure your children have a water bottle for the day, a hat, sunscreen, and that they wear their Marshall blue shirts!

  For one day that seems like a lot of updates!  I will save all our May updates for next week, so please stay tuned for all that information!  For now I will leave you with pictures from our Bearizona field trip. 

 

If you didn't notice already, please take them time to scroll back up and check out the picture of Jaxon picking the bears nose!  This truly captures first grade life.  It totally cracked me up when I saw it.  We miss you already Jaxon!  Good luck in California.  We love you! -Ms. Shaw

Week of 4/16/18 - Bearizona Updates

Hello families.  Another full week of learning and activities lay ahead.  Please read on for the whole scoop.

Math:  We will continue our geometry lesson with 3 dimensional shapes and part whole relationships with composite shapes.  

English Language Arts:  We will continue week two of our Hartcourt story "Fishing Bears," so that we may continue our research on bears.  Last week we learned about Brown Bears and Polar Bears.  This week we will focus on American Black Bears and Panda Bears.  

Science:  The students will continue their study on air with a fun experiment on how they can use water to show how air takes up space.  

Social Studies:  Students continue to learn about goods and services and will have an opportunity to include some writing in their learning this week with Ms. Reger.

Bearizona:  Our field trip to Bearizona is this Wednesday, April 18th!  We currently have 3 parent chaperones joining us on the bus (Nevaeh's mom, Arthur's mom, and Avery's dad).  We are in need of one more chaperone on the bus!  Remember, anyone joining us on the bus cannot be bring siblings on the bus with them, due to insurance purposes.  Bus chaperones will have their entry fees paid for and will be in charge of a group of students.  If you are willing to chaperone a group of children at Bearizona, please let me know ASAP!  I will take the first person who contacts me to help!  Remember, if you cannot join us on the bus but would like to attend the field trip, you are welcome to drive yourself (or carpool), but you are responsible for paying your own entry fee of $22, as this is not an additional fee the school can occur.  Just let me know if you plan on joining us so I can place you with your child's group (a note in the agenda will work).  Thank you for your understanding, and thanks to our chaperones for volunteering to help!  

Annual Scholastic Book Fair:  Our annual book fair is next week.  Your child will have a chance to view the book fair during our library time on Monday.  They may make purchases before school starting at 8am and after school until 4pm.  We hope you find time to come in and check out the book fair with your child.  This is a great way to raise some funds for your child and get a jump start on purchasing some books for summer reading!  If you cannot make it to the book fair in person you can click the link below and any purchases will still go to Marshall.   https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bookfairs/cptoolkit/homepage.do?method=homepage&url=marshallmagnetschool

Happy Reading!

Spring Carnival:  Our annual spring carnival is this Thursday, April 19th from 5:30-7:00.  There will be pizza, and lots of games and prizes.  Tickets are on 25 cents each, and each game is only 1 ticket.  This is just a night of family fun with all funds going straight back to all participating teachers.  Hope you can join us!

School Closed:  Due to unused snow days there will be no school Monday and Tuesday of next week (April 23rd and 24th).  Enjoy your long weekend.  Just FYI, I will be gone this Friday as well, a bit of an extra long weekend for me.

Picture Canyon Field Trip:  Monday, April 30th is our field trip to Picture Canyon.  Buses will be leaving at 8:50 and we will return to school at 1:30.  We will be sending home a field trip permission slip from tomorrow, so please sign and return immediately.  

That takes us up through the end of April.  It seems like we pack so much into the end of the year.  I will cover May next week, and I will probably have some fun Bearizona  🐻 pictures to share as well. -Ms. Shaw

April 9th - 13th Updates and Suzuki Pictures

What a performance our little violinists gave us on Tuesday night!  We are so proud of what they have accomplished so far.  Scroll down for pictures.  Thank you families for coming out to support your children and our Suzuki program.  If you missed this performance there will be another chance for you and your family to come see them when they perform at Heritage Square on Thursday, May 3rd at Noon.  More details to follow soon.  In the meantime, here is what is happening this week in our classroom...

Math:  We are moving into our geometry unit.  We will begin to classify shapes by their attributes, and identify and name 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional shapes.  

ELA:  Our Hartcourt story of the week is "Fishing Bears."  This story will help kick off a two week research unit all about bears.  In our class we will learn about Brown Bears, Polar Bears, American Black Bears, and Panda Bears.  We will include a field trip to Bearizona on April 18th to reinforce our learning (see below for more information) as well as watching the Disney Nature movie "Bears" to solidify what we learn about our Brown Bears.  Our first week of spelling will be from the story "Frog and Toad" (which we are currently skipping because we did it earlier in the year) and our second week of spelling will be from "Fishing Bears," so please do not be confused when you see that on the homework.  

Science:  We will continue learning about how air works.  

Social Studies:  The students have concluded their map studies with Ms. Reger and are moving on to goods and services.

Bearizona Field Trip:

We will be taking our first field trip of the year to Bearizona on Wednesday, April 18th.  Permission slips were sent home last Monday.  Please make sure to check if you will be sending your child with a lunch or if they will need a lunch from school.  I need all permission slips turned in no later than this Friday.  Also, after much discussion we will be looking for a few chaperones to help us on the field trip with groups of children.  Because of pricing, each class can take 3 chaperones.  Chaperones must be able to ride the school bus with us.  Due to insurance reasons, that means 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.  We will be taking chaperones of a first come, first serve basis, so please let me know if you would like to attend as a chaperone.  After that, anyone wishing to join us is more than welcome, but will have to drive yourself down and pay the entrance fee.  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.

Picture Canyon Field Trip:

We will also be going to Picture Canyon on Monday, April 30th.  Good news - all parents are invited to attend this field trip with us, and we are delighted to have you join us.  More information to come.

Upcoming April Events:

• Thursday, April 19th - School Carnival @ 5:30

• Monday, April 16th - Friday, April 20th - Scholastic Book Fair

• Monday, April 23-Tuesday, April 24th - School Closed

• Monday, April 30th - Field Trip to Picture Canyon 

Cherry on Top:  Encore!  Encore!  Check at your amazing little violinists.  They did so amazing!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures of your kiddos.  Can't wait for tomorrow and the beginning of our bear unit!  -Ms. Shaw