Week of October 31, 2016

What a great party we had in class today! A huge thanks to all of our parent helpers who organized such a wonderful Halloween party with centers & treats. The class enjoyed themselves very much. Smiles all around. :)

Thank you to our parent helpers this week in and out of the classroom! We appreciate you!!

Monday, October 31st is a staff work day so no school for students. Hope you can enjoy some Halloween fun with your child.

Friday, November 4th is picture retakes.

The next two weeks students will be dismissed at 1:15 for Parent Teacher Conferences. Here is our schedule: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c084ea4ad28a7f49-mrs

I hope you enjoy a fun Halloween weekend with your children.

Week of October 24, 2016

I’m happy to announce that we have a new student in our class.  Please welcome Jenni and her family to our class and community!

It was great to see many of you at the Walk-A-Thon last Saturday!  It’s always a fun event for everyone.  :)

On Tuesday, we will be working on our Clay projects, glazing them.  Set up starts at 12:30, if you’re interested in helping out.

On Wednesday, we will have Art Vistas from 11:00-12:00, please let me know if you’d like to help out with the project.

This Friday we are celebrating Halloween at school (The 31^st is a Staff Work Day, so no school for students on Monday 10/31).  I know your first grader can't wait to show off their costume!  It will certainly be a day filled with excitement!  On Friday, students should wear their costumes to school.  The Costume Parade starts at 8:30 on the Primary Playground.  It usually lasts about 20-30 minutes.   I will also attach the principals message about costume guidelines.

Our class party will follow recess from 11:00-12:00.  Parents are welcome to join us for the party.  If you'd like to contribute, please see the sign up under Volunteer on the Shutterfly Site.

We’ve been really good about returning our library books; let’s keep that up!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Week of October 17, 2016

I hope to see you tomorrow at the Walk-a-thon!  Make sure your child is wearing their Walk-a-thon t-shirt if they pre-registered, so they can collect lap tallies.  Here is the website if you need more information.  http://altavistawalkathon.org/about.asp

Don't forget to sign up for Seesaw.  We added another video today about our big buddies.  Click on https://app.seesaw.me/s/894-752-735 to sign up.

Please return your AV School Library book on Monday.  I do remind the students to check their backpack for their books, but I do not check it for them; if you pack the book for your child, let them know as well. :)

Thank you to our parent volunteers this week! 

Have a great weekend!

Week of October 10, 2016

This was our first week of "Cougar Time," RtI – instructional reading groups.  The students have done a great job lining up for their Cougar Time class.  It's a transition, and all of the first grade teachers are pleasantly impressed.  Cougar Time will be Mondays-Thursdays, 8:30-9:30.

We will start Centers this Monday from 1:00-2:00.  Here are the dates and signup.  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c084ea4ad28a7f49-classroom2

In math homework often asks students to “draw a picture” to match the number sentences (equation).  We’ve talked about this in class, and drawing pictures in math are simple ones.  They are pictures to represent the numbers; so circles, squares, lines, and other easy shapes will work perfect.

Students who have registered online for the Alta Vista Walkathon will receive their t-shirt in class on Friday.  If you haven’t been before, it’s a fun filled day.  Students like to walk laps with their friends and parents too!  So far we have 17 friends from room 1 signed up!  Yay!  www.altavistawalkathon.org

Please remember library books for Monday.

Have a great weekend!

Week of October 3, 2016

Dear Families,

We have had an exciting week! Thank you to all our parent helpers this week!

Our caterpillars have changed into their chrysalis state and soon will become butterflies.

This will be our first week of "Cougar Time," RtI – instructional reading groups. Monday will be a practice and “Getting to know” the students day. Cougar Time will be Mondays-Thursdays, 8:30-9:30. There is more information about RtI on our First Grade Webpage. altavista.unionsd.org

Here is a list of some of the websites we have been working on in class. http://bit.ly/AVFirst (It’s case sensitive)

I will send home a copy of your child’s log-ins on Monday. If you’d like them sooner, send me a quick email and I can get that to you for the weekend.

Don’t forget to register for the Alta Vista Walkathon. Even if you can’t make it that day, your child will receive a t-shirt with a $40.00 donation. The t-shirts are usually passed out in class on the Friday before the event. So far we have 12 friends from room 1 signed up! www.altavistawalkathon.org

Please remember library books for Monday.





Have a great weekend!

Week of September 26, 2016

You may have heard from your first grader, we are observing caterpillars.  Each student has a small container on their desk and each day we have been observing and recording any changes to size and action in our Caterpillar-Butterfly Journal. 

For Sharing, please help your child prepare 3 clues written on paper.  They should prepare by writing three descriptive words or sentences.

Monday will be our first Art Vistas lesson from 11:00-12:00, there is a volunteer sign up on our Shutterfly site.

Wednesday will be our first Clay project around 9:30, and the volunteer sign up is on our Shutterfly site as well.

Wednesday, September 28th is a School Spirit Day.  Wacky Wednesday meaning wear mismatched or backwards clothes.  Some other ideas were long funny socks; I know a lot of our students have these.  ;)

Friday, September 30th is School Picture Day.  If you wish to order pictures, please do so by Friday morning.  You can order online or with the form sent home last week.  For online orders, go to mylifetouch.com and use the Picture Day ID: BY416706Q0

We’ve been working with the iPads in our classroom.  Some of the Apps we have been using are Lexia Core 5 Reading, Zearn Math, Spelling City and Adobe Spark Video.  This year we are using mainly your child’s Google ID and password to log into their accounts.  I will be sending the account information home to you next week, then you can access all of the paid programs we have subscriptions to.

Today at 5:00 our school website is going though an upgrade.  Some information might be missing at first as we go through this transition.  Please let me know if you can’t find something on the new site.

Please remember to bring your child’s Alta Vista library books back on Monday.  I already have many of them.

I hope you have a great weekend!

Week of September 19, 2016 (Math homework samples for packet #4)

 

We had our first SPARK PE today, thank you to Peyton K.’s mom and dad! 

This morning we had an assembly about the Walk-a-thon, coming up on Saturday, October 15^th.  Whoo hoo! Don’t forget to register!  The Home and School Club will send out an email with the website and the time registration is opening.   The first 100 registrants will receive a Mini-Bundlet certificate.

Monday will be our first library visit.  We will visit the library Mondays from 9:30-10:00.  Students will be able to check out 1 book each week.  If your child forgets their book the following week, they cannot check out a new book.

On Friday (September 30^th), we will take class pictures.  You can purchase pictures online or with the order form that was sent home today.

I hope you can make it to Movie Night - Tonight!  The Inside Out Movie, starts at 7:30 and concessions begin at 6:00.  It’s good to have a meeting spot (before the movie starts) in case you get separated from your child.

If you have any questions or concerns about the homework or if your child is spending more than 20 minutes a day on the packet, please let me know.  If you would like help with the Eureka Math please see these homework help videos.  We saved the link to our First Grade Information Page. http://altavista.unionsd.org/Page/206

Currently we are in Module 1 (First Grade) of Eureka Math.  The Lesson is located at the top of the page.  I will also post a couple pictures on our blog of what we reviewed in the packet.

Have a wonderful weekend