Suzuki Performance Week

Happy April.  With only 2 months left of school we are going to be jam packed with school activities, field trips, and a ton of learning!  There will be a calendar going home with all the events for the next two months.  It all kicks off this Tuesday with our Suzuki Violin performance at FHS.  Please read on for more information about that, as well as what we will be learning about next week in class.

Math:  We will finish up our unit on comparison of two digit numbers and begin addition and subtraction of tens (ex: 30-20=10).

English Language Arts:  We will be reading our Hartcourt story, "The Story of a Bluebird," and with it we will revisit nouns.  Also, we will learn a few new Daily 5 strategies.

Science:  Last week we had a special guest from Willow bend come speak to us about recycling.  Ms. Teller has introduced our new unit, and the kids are learning all about air.  They will be making and launching parachutes, and discussing how parachutes interact with air to work.

Social Studies:  The children will continue their map unit, making maps of the classroom with legends and a compass rose.  

Suzuki Night, Tuesday, April 3rd-  This Tuesday your child will be performing at Flag High's Hurley stadium.  Student's are encouraged to wear performance attire, and we will have bow ties available for the boys to borrow if needed.  All students are to arrive at 5:30 (it is not necessary to arrive any earlier), where the students will need to sit with me while parents find their seats.  I will let you know where we will be sitting on the stage so that you may sit in a prime spot in the auditorium to view your child.  The performance will start at 5:45 SHARP!  All family and friends are welcome to attend.  As your child leaves, we will have them help load their violin in a vehicle for transport back to school before releasing them back to you.  As a magnet school, Marshall is so proud to give every K-2 child this opportunity to learn violin, and this is such a great night to come and see what your child has been learning twice a week since the beginning of the school year.  Just one of the many programs that truly makes our school so unique.  I cannot wait to see everyone on Tuesday night!

BEARIZONA:    We are taking our very first field trip of the year to Bearizona! This will be part of the week that kicks off a two week unit of study all about bears, and what better way to learn about black bears than to go study them live!  We will be making our trip on Wednesday, April 18th.  The number of chaperones we can take under what we pay for adult to student ratio (which includes teachers and student teachers is very limited), and at this point we are still pondering how we are going to have this play out amongst our classes.  I can probably only have two paid chaperones in addition to Miss Teller and myself, but am not currently sure if that is how it is going to actually work out.  So please, hold off on asking if you can go along.  In the meantime, anyone who would like to join us in their own vehicle, which means you would pay your own admission fee of $22, is more than welcome to join us.  Please note, we would still have your child join us on the bus, and would still have you help with a small group.  We just do not have the funds to pay more than the chaperone ratio allows, and we are fine tuning how that is going to work amongst four classes.  I know this is always a popular field trip, but space is always limited.  Thank you for your understanding.  

Picture Canyon:  Bearizona not your thing?  We are looking for parents to join us for our field trip to Picture Canyon on Monday, April 30th.  More details and a permission slip to come.

Upcoming April Dates to Remember:

• Tuesday April 3rd - Suzuki Violin 5:30 at FHS Hurley Stadium
• Wednesday April 18th - Bearizona Fieldtrip
• Thursday April 19th - PTO Spring Carnival 5:30 - 7:00
• Monday April 23rd and Tuesday April 24th - School Closed - Snow Make Up Days
• Monday April 30th - Picture Canyon Fieldtrip

Hope everyone had an egg-cellent weekend.  (Waa waa, couldn't help myself) -Ms. Shaw

Spring Break 2018

🌷Happy Spring Break!  It sure was great to see so many families at conferences.  I was truly amazed at the number of parents who not only came to conferences, but who also reached out to make other arrangements to make a conference happen.  This has been a great group of involved parents and I want to let you know how much I appreciate you all!  If you were not able to make your conference for any reason, and would still like to touch base after break, please feel free to contact me and we can make it happen.  Here is what will be going on in our class when we return on Monday, March 25th:

Math:  We will be returning to place value, using dimes and pennies to represent tens and ones.  We will also be working on comparing quantities of two digit numbers and how to write the symbols to correctly compare those quantities (>, <, =).

ELA:  This will be week two of our Bee unit.  Therefore we will continue with our Hartcourt story, "Busy Buzzy Bee."  In addition we will read different bee books to enhance our bee studies.  This week we will really focus on the lifecycle of a bee, which will include some writing to show our learning.  Instead of a normal spelling test we decided to have a "fun" spelling test with some bee terms.  There will be 2 bonus words that will be the "4 pointers" in lieu of the spelling sentences this week.

Science:  We are beginning our earth science unit on air and weather.  This is a really fun unit in which the students really discover how air works and how if affects many aspects of our life, including the weather.  

Social Studies:  More maps.  When we return they will be doing a "Me on the Map" activity, tying in with their prior knowledge from our previous story.  This will give them a better understanding of where they live on this great big planet, and where exactly the city of Flagstaff sits. 

Extra Scoop of Information:

We are in need of snacks and hand sanitizer!  If you are able to contribute with either of these items we would greatly appreciate it!

I am hoping to try some different seating options in our classroom by the end of this year.  I want to try flexible seating and see how it works for our students.  The idea behind flexible seating is to give students an array of seating options, and everyday they will choose the option that they feel will best suit their educational need for that day.  Of course, as with anything else this will be preloaded with learning about how each seating option will work, the rules and agreements on how they will use ("behave" with) flexible seating, and the understanding that if their choice is not working to optimize their learning and that of others, I have the ultimate right to pick their seating for the day.  Before we can get to all of this however, I need to purchase our seating.  I have set up a fundraising account with a company called donorschoose.org.  Basically, anyone can click on the following link  

https://www.donorschoose.org/project/sitting-for-success/3120256/

and give any amount of money to help with the purchase of these items.  I would greatly appreciate it if you could share this link with any friends or family members who you think would love to support this cause.  I do not have facebook or any other social media, so I am a little limited on my ability to reach out to a large amount of people.  Please let them know that if they give within the next few days and use the code LIFTOFF donorschoose.org will match their donation up to $50.  What I really do not want is for you all to give your money to this.  I feel my families already give so much to our class and to your child's education that I want you to understand I really am not asking for you to give to this as well.  I just need help spreading the word to a large audience!  The cool part of this organization is that once they post it publicly, other foundations can view and match funds, and from my understanding this happens often.  Of course, if this project does not happen this year, I will probably end up purchasing most of the items myself over the summer.  This is just something I thought I could try to get a little financial help, and to see if I could make it happen on some level for this years kiddos.  Thank you for helping spread the word, that is all I need from my families!  

Save the Dates:

• Thursday, March 29th - Family Fitness Night - 5:30-7:00 So much fun, I really hope you make time to attend.

• Tuesday, April 3rd - 1st grade Suzuki performance at FHS - Details will be in letter going home Monday! 

• Saturday April 14th - Flagstaff Sights and Sounds at the Mall - We have decided we will set up a display to promote our robots, and parents will not have to sit and "man the booth" so to speak.  

• April 16th - 20th - Scholastic Book Fair in the Library - More details to come.  

• Monday, April 23rd and Tuesday, April 24th - School Closed (Currently) Snow Make Up Days.

I hope everyone's Spring Break is off to a great start.  I hope families and students find time to relax and ways to refill and rejuvenate mind and soul.  I will see you all Monday, March 25th. -Ms. Shaw

Conference Week 2018

Hello Families, and happy conference week.  Your child should have gone home with a final conference schedule so that you know your scheduled time.  If you need another copy, please write a note in the agenda and we will send one home.  Remember, Wednesday-Friday are early release days because of conferences so please plan accordingly.  Wednesday we release at 11:10, and Thursday and Friday at 12:25.  Also, homework will be limited to spelling and story only, no math for the week.  I'm sure students and parents alike will be saddened by this, but I hope you will enjoy your small reprieve.  The week may be short, but we have many exciting things planned.  Here is the scoop for the week ahead...

Math:  We will be wrapping up our coin unit this week.  The students seem to have enjoyed identifying pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters, and telling how much they are worth.  Try pulling out coins and seeing what they know.  You can even give them practice by asking them what other coins could they use to equal the value of a dime, or a quarter, etc...  

ELA:  Our Hartcourt story this week is "Busy Buzzy Bee."  This story kicks off a 2 week unit on bees.  We will learn all about the many jobs of the different bees, what goes on in the hive, and the lifecycle of the bees.  

Science:  We are wrapping up our motion unit with an assessment.  We will also incorporate our bee unit into our science this week, learning about pollination.

Social Studies:  Social Studies will continue with Ms. Reger and Miss Kelly after we return from Spring Break.

This weeks conferences are followed by Spring Break.  School will be closed from Monday, March 19th - Friday, March 23rd.  Hope you all find time to rest, relax, and enjoy your families.  Report cards will be sent home this Friday for those opting out of a conference.

Save the Date:  Thursday, March 29th is PTO's Family Fitness Night.  Come ready for an active night full of fun!  

Tuesday, April 3rd is 1st grade Suzuki night.  This is your child's first chance to show you what they have been busy learning all year long.  This is their night to dress up and shine!  More information to come on when and where.   All family is invited.

Looking forward to seeing families at conferences.  -Ms. Shaw

Conferences and Robots!

Happy March!  What a week, ending with our robots!  They caused us some challenges, but they were a huge success at the end.  At the end of this blog are some great pictures from this fun Friday morning.  Before all that, here's the scoop for this upcoming week....

Math:  We will begin our unit on money.  Our goal is for students to be able to identify pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters by their image, name, and value, and to be able to decompose these coins into smaller coins that equal their value.  Then we will return to place value to use money in understanding tens and ones.  We will also visit money when we begin comparing quantities.

ELA:  Our Hartcourt story of the week is "Little Bear's Friends."  Such an adorable story!  We will also continue working on Daily 5 CAFE strategies.  Last week we learned to blend the sounds of tricky words, stretch the words and reread.  This week we will learn how to trade a word/guess a word that makes sense and skip a word and then come back.

Science:  We hope to wrap up our discoveries on the motion of push and pull this week and then move onto other areas of motion.

Social Studies:  Ms. Reger will begin our 1st grade unit of geography next week.  All about cardinal directions, map keys and symbols, reading and making maps, and looking at and understanding various types of maps.

Extra Scoop:

Don't forget the following upcoming important events:

NAU STEM Night -  5:30-7:30  If you said you planned on attending for a one hour block of time to have your child show the public their robot, we will have the robot there for you.  When your time is up, please leave the robot if you plan on attending any amount of time at the upcoming Flagstaff Festival of Sights and Sounds.  If you do not wish to attend Flagstaff Festival of Sights and Sounds you may take your robot home!

Parent Teacher Conferences are Wednesday March 14th -Friday March 16th.  I will not be holding PM conferences on Friday.  This round of conferences are optional, but I do encourage anyone who would like to touch base about their child's education to do so.  I will be sending home the sign-up sheet on Monday.  Please select 2 or 3 options that work best for you, indicating choice #1, #2, etc... I try hard to try and give everyone one of their top 2 time slot preferences if possible, but it is first come first serve.  Also, conferences are early release days.

  Wednesday, March 14th - 11:10 Dismissal

Thursday, March 15th - 12:25 Dismissal

Friday, March 16th - 12:25 Dismissal 

Also, please note that these conferences are scheduled for 15 minutes each, back to back.  If you are extremely late, we will reschedule.  Or if you wish to speak about matters more in depth we may schedule more time on another day, which I am happy to do.  However, I will wrap things up at the end of our 15 minutes to respect the next group of parents who had to schedule time out of their day to attend the time slot they picked that worked best for them.  I will not keep them waiting past their time.  Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

Wednesday, March 7th - Rescheduled Kindergarten Registration

Monday March 19th - Friday March 23rd - SPRING BREAK!  Need I say more?

Thursday, March 29th, 5:30-6:30 - PTO Family Fitness Night.  Mark your calendars for this night!  This is truly one of the funnest nights of the year.  A night where kids come and learn about playing healthy, eating healthy, and being healthy.  Healthy minds, bodies, and choices.  So many vendors and companies come out to give the students a hands on experience.  From flag football to gymnastics, and yoga to hockey,  plus so much more!  In the past the have made healthy snacks, essential oils has been on hand.  Not sure what will be in store this year, but my guess it will be much like this.  My favorite part (besides it is FREE FAMILY FUN) is that the kids play so hard they go home exhausted and get a great night sleep!  I highly encourage all my families to make time for this event!

Saturday April, 14th - FUSD Festival of Sights and Sounds

Cherry On Top:  

Here's what you've all been waiting for.  Pictures from robot day!  Thank you to all the Grandpa's, Dad's, and Mom's who came in and helped us with our robots.  The kids love them.  Some wires came out at the end, but after the kids left I fixed those few, and as of now we have 100% of our robots working.  With that being said, if your child's robot should wiggle loose a wire all you will need to do is reattach the wire with electrical tape and the robot will be up and wiggling in no time.  Please make sure wires stay attached exactly as they are or they will overheat!  The robots did not go home yet because those who said they are going to STEM will need them then.  Also, I will be sending home a paper asking who plans on attending the above mentioned Sights and Sounds Festival.  If you do, I will need to keep your robot.  If you do not, I will let your child take home their robot by Friday of this week.  Now for the pictures!

Great Stuff!  The students had so much fun.  Lots of smiling, even when they encountered robot issues.  It was a great morning.  One of those teacher "I love my job" kind of days!       -Ms. Shaw

Last Week of February '18

Happy end of February.  The month may be short, but it sure is always packed with learning and events.  This week is no different.  Before we get to all that, a quick reminder that students are not allowed down the halls and in the classrooms before the 8:35 bell rings.  They are to take their backpacks outside with them to morning recess, which begins at 8:20.  Those that eat breakfast must go to breakfast at 8:15 and then out to the playground (please remind your children who eat they must go eat first, and then go outside - not vice versa).  Our morning time is used to prepare for our day.  With Miss Teller taking over, this is even more important because we are often talking about her lessons, making sure she is prepared and ready.  If you arrive with your child early you may sit with them on the couches in the lobby until the bell rings.  However, if there is an important matter which you need to discuss with us, we do understand and our door is always open to parents for these types of situations.  Thank you for your understanding in this, and for taking time to discuss the above with your children.  Now a look at our week ahead...

Math:  We will spend a few day's on learning how to make quick tens (leading to understanding of ten rods and their value) and using them to understand how to identify 10 and 1 more and less than a given number.  After that we will stray for a while to learn about identifying coins and their values.

ELA:  Our Hartcourt story next week is "My Robot."  This was supposed to go with our engineering project of building robots, see note below.  We will also be focusing on a few Daily 5 CAFE strategies.  

Please note - our Wednesday Robot building may possibly be postponed.  This is for several reasons.  First, our robots are having difficulty running with consistency.  Out of a number of times being built only twice have they ran, and only for a short amount of time.  We need this to work 88 times without stopping or we have 88 sad first graders on our hands.  Therefore, we are in the process of remodeling our robot so that we have 100% success 100% of the time.  Second, we believe there may be weather on the way, which would cancel our robot day anyway (no guarantees - it is Flagstaff, just going on weatherman rumors).  With that being said, this is where we stand.  we are going to make some type of robot with the children.  We are hoping to have them built either on Wednesday the 28th or possibly make up date of Monday the 5th.  I will notify all parents who have volunteered via the agenda tomorrow of final plans.  Thank you for your patience and understanding.  We just really want to make sure the kids have a working robot and walk away happy and excited.

Science:  We finished our class science fair project.  Thank goodness it snowed and I was able to collect a jar full of snow!  The kids all had a hand in measuring and writing up our board, and in gluing and putting it all together.  They also did a great job remembering the scientific process and in using their brilliant little brains to conclude why our results were what they were.   We asked "What has more water in it, snow or ice?"  Ask your kiddos about our results.  Our board will be on display at the Science Fair Family Night this Wednesday from 5-6:30.  Special shout out to Lovely who did an individual science fair project!  She shared her project with us on Friday and we loved seeing all the hard work she put into it!

Social Studies:  Ms. Reger will be wrapping up her unit on American Symbols with the Liberty Bell.

Parent Teacher Conferences:

Science Fair Family Night is this Wednesday, the 28th.  This is a chance for families to come check out all the amazing science fair projects from our Marshall students.  

Our spring conferences are just around the corner.  There will be early release all three days, and I will send a paper sign up soon.  These conferences are optional.  More information to come.

Save the Dates:

• Wednesday, February 28 - Kindergarten Registration
• Wednesday, February 28 - Science Fair Family Night
• Wednesday, March 5 - STEM Night @NAU Dome
• March 14 - 16 Optional Parent/Teacher Conferences
• March 19 - 23 Spring Break

See you tomorrow morning.  -Ms. Shaw

President's Week Post (February 19th-23rd)

Happy President's Day.  I hope everyone is finding time to relax and enjoy our blustery weather.   Short week this week.  Here's what we have happening...

Math:  We begin our unit on place value this week.  We will be counting be tens, understanding that some tens plus some ones equals a certain amount of ones (ex: 2 tens and 3 ones equals 23 ones), and naming tens and ones (ex:17equals 1 ten and 7 ones).  We will also move into bigger concepts such as writing two digit numbers as addition sentences (ex: 18 = 10 + 8), and identifying 10 more and less, and 1 more and less than a given number.  

ELA:  Our Hartcourt story this week is "Tell Me a Story."  During Daily 5 orur CAFE strategies will be "flip the sound" (teaching students to use different vowel sounds) and "blend sounds, stretch and reread."  

Science:  We started our inquiry process to our class science project last week.  Our experiment is "What has more water in it, snow or ice?"  We have made our hypothesis, and plan on melting a jar of both snow and ice to discover our results. We will finish our process and our board this week.  The only thing we need is a mason jar full of snow.  Hmmm.....  I do have a plan for snow results if our dry spell continues, no need for concern.  Also, we are hoping to have a little time for our motion unit.  

Social Studies:  More American symbols, perfect for President's Day!  Ask your children what they have been learning about with Ms. Reger.

Extra Scoop of Information:

Box Tops due Wednesday February 22nd!  This is a easy way to make a small chunk of change that comes directly back to your child's school!  If you have been busy collecting now is the time to turn them in.  Thank you!

If your child has been doing an individual science fair project it is due on Friday!

Next Wednesday, February, 28th we will be building our robots!  This is in correlation with our story, "My Robot."  We have very high hopes that this is going to go well.  I have had a couple of volunteers so far (YAY!  Thank you so much!)  but we could definitely use a handful more!  If you are available next Wednesday from 1:30-3:00 we would love to have you come in and help us build robots.  First grades goal is that every student will have a working robot.  We plan on taking these to STEM night at NAU and Flagstaff Festival of Sights and Sounds at the Mall, before they get to take them home.  

Mark Your Calendar:

• Wednesday, February 22 - Box Tops Due
• Friday, February 23 - Science Fair Projects Due
• Wednesday, February 28 - Kindergarten Registration
• Wednesday, February 28 - Robot Building Day @ 1:30-3:00
• Wednesday, March 5 - STEM Night @ NAU Dome
• March 14th - 16th - Parent/Teacher Conferences (Information to Come)
• March 19th - 23rd - Spring Break

See everyone back at school on Tuesday.  -Ms. Shaw 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentines Day❣  Our kiddos had so much fun today celebrating their friendship and love for one another.  There were so many smiles, I just had to take some pictures of our valentines celebration and share them with you all!  Thank you for for spoiling Miss Teller and myself as well, we definitely felt the love!  My families are simply the best, and I love and appreciate all you do to support my class and our students!  Enjoy these fun pictures.

Busy Checking out their valentines.

Always time for a photo.

This was cute because Xochitl called for a group picture.  The more the merrier! 

Showing off our valentines.

Examining their bounty.

These three were having so much fun toogether!

Aly was so excited to have her dad join us for our celebration! 

Batgirl was enjoying her Valentine's Day!

Cute valentine friends!  

Love this valentine smile!

These two!  Such good friends.

Someone insists on being camera shy.

Group superhero valentine photo!  Everyone struck their best superhero pose.

The next two picture are very similar, but I couldn't pick one.  They are hilarious.  Check out Joey enjoying some Valentine candy, Davinee showing off her valentines, and the photo bomb by Sasha.

Now Xochiltl gets in on the action, Sasha hangs in there, and Davinee's face is hilarious!  Love this!

Such a fun day!  Thank you parents for giving me the opportunity to teach these amazing little people.  They make me smile! -Ms. Shaw