Mock First Grade and Field Day FUN!

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Role-Model Wednesday

Greetings! Today was our big "Mock First Grade" day! We hosted all 4 kindergarten classes in our room and did an activity with them to get them excited for first grade. Our kids did a great job as first grade leaders. We spent the morning role-playing for our visitors and practicing our manners. We working on introductions and making people feel welcome. Our kids did a wonderful job! Have your first grader tell you all about it. They are also bringing home a small flower. A HUGE thank you to Katina Holle for finding someone to donate the beautiful begonias that we were able to plant with our kindergarten friends and send home with each one. The flowers have wonderful symbolism. Ask your child to tell you what the flowers stand for.

We continue to review the math goals for this quarter. Our test will be next Tuesday or Wednesday. Help your child strengthen their already concrete knowledge by play the top 10 games under our "Math Games" category on this webpage.

We have been reflecting back on all that we have done in first grade and sharing our MEMORIES. We began a writing "web" that lists out all of the happy memories we have made this year. Ask your child to tell you 3 or 4 things that they wrote on their writing web. We are going to be using this activity to create a final writing project about reflections and memories. Encourage your child to share their memories of first grade with you at home.

Don't forget that THIS FRIDAY May 13 is our annual Field Day! It is a day jam-packed full of activities. Your child will need a sack lunch and tennis shoes. On the chance that it rains, we will have our make-up field day on Monday May 16.

We are on the home stretch on first grade. Please help your child continue on their school routine for a few more weeks. I just can't believe it's nearing time to let my little blooms grow into even bigger flowers. They are a treat to work with each day!

Happy May!

Monday = D Tuesday = A Wednesday = B Thursday = C Friday = D

Happy May Monday! It seems too chilly to be welcoming May. We have postponed our "Flower Day" one more day in order to avoid tonight's predicted frost (really?!?!). If you forgot to send a flower to school today for your child to plant in the first grade flower bed, you are in luck! You have an extra day to grab an annual and send it to school for your first grader to plant. I am planning on taking the kids out tomorrow to plant our flowers and get our first grade flower bed looking fabulous!

I completely forgot to send the May Lunch Calendar home today. I am SO sorry. I will be sure to send it tomorrow. Looking ahead to tomorrow's lunch choices, it looks like choice "A" is Chicken Nuggets, choice "B" is BBQ Chicken Leg and choice "C" is PB&J. Thank you for your understanding!

Your child is bringing home some important things in their backpack today. First, they are bringing their "Play Hospital" t-shirt home. This is the shirt they will need to wear on Wednesday's field trip. I am sending it home early in case you may want to wash it in advance. We were not given any choices on sizes, so if the shirts are huge, I apologize. They are a gift from Olathe Medical Center and I wasn't able to request specific sizes. When we are done with the field trip, maybe it will make a nice night shirt! Please be sure your child come dressed in their Play Hospital t-shirt on Wednesday May 4th. They will also need a sack lunch with a disposable sack lunch and NON-breakable drink.

Have you signed up for Family Access? USD 231 is establishing an on-line enrollment process for the 2011-2012 school year. If you have not already signed up for a Family Access password allowing you to enroll on-line, please stop by our office between the hours of 8:00 AM and 4:30 PM.

We have so many end-of-the-year things going on this month. Your child is bringing home a May calendar that they created with our special days labeled. Please have them tell you about all of the activities that they have marked on their calendar. We are sure to be busy in the upcoming weeks.

As always, don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions or need anything. The end of the year will be here in a blink. Be sure to love on your child a little more for being so wonderful and working so hard.

Barnyard MOOsical--April 21, 2011

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Ms. Beverage is BACK!

Thursday =B Friday =C
Monday=D Tuesday= A Wednesday=B Thursday=C Friday=D

It was so good to be back today and see all of my first grade friends. The kids seem to have grown up so much in 15 days, I just can't believe it. Mrs. Godwin raved about how wonderful our class is and they had a fabulous time with her. I am so proud of all they have accomplished in the time I was gone. It is hard to believe that in just a few weeks, they will be second graders. YIKES! What a year of milestones for all of us!

Just a few reminders as we approach the end of the year chaos:

This Friday April 29 = CARNIVAL!

Wednesday May 4 = FIELD TRIP

Friday May 6 = Mrs. Morgovnick's retirement party (3:45) and MOVIE NIGHT

Friday May 13 = FIELD DAY

Thursday May 19 = TALENT SHOW

Monday May 23 = 1st grade graduation ceremony and awards

Tuesday May 24 = Last day (Boo Hoo!)

Thank you so much for all of your support and kindness as we welcome and adjust to life at home with our newest little blessing. You are all a wonderful bunch of families and I am blessed to know each one of you. Thank you!

It's A GIRL!

Hi families! Just wanted to let my families know that we welcomed Georgia Rose tonight after a very long day. Our new baby girl weighed a whopping 10 pounds, 10.3 ounces and is 22 inches long. What a BIG girl! We will post pictures asap. Thank you all so much for all of your well-wishes and support. Give your kiddos a big hug from me and tell them I miss them already. :)

'Twas the night before baby...

Monday = A Tuesday = B Wednesday = C Thursday = D Friday = A


Hi families! I just wanted to give you a quick update and let you know that starting tomorrow, I will be gone on leave. We are hoping to meet our baby tomorrow. The kids and I celebrated our last day together for a few weeks with an all-class lunch bunch and food math day. Have them tell you all about it!
We have been working hard the last few weeks as we near our final month of first grade. I am so proud of our kids' growth this year. It has been amazing! Last week in math we worked hard at double digit addition without regrouping. The kids seem to have mastered this concept quickly, as long as they remember to "break it down". We also worked hard at telling time to the half hour and challenged it up by reading times to five minute increments as well. Whew! This week we are working at learning FRACTIONS. So far, we have learned 1 whole, 1/2 and 1/4. Have your child show you what they know by asking them to tell you about fractions (2 key words = EQUAL and PART) and even invite them to show you a fraction with a cookie, piece of bread, cracker, etc. We used food (graham crackers and cookies) today to learn fractions. We will continue to write and match fractions and remember that a fraction is simply an equal part of ONE WHOLE item.

Don't forget that next Tuesday is our last PTO meeting and all-school ART WALK! Please come by our classroom and admire all of our amazing artwork! Also, the field trip permission slips went home last week. If you have not already done so, please return the slip to school asap.

Feel free to check our webpage for any updates on baby. I will be sure to let you all know when our baby makes his/her debut! Thank you all for the well-wishes and support. It means more to me than you can know! Have a great night...

Monday, Monday

Monday = D Tuesday = A Wednesday = B Thursday = C Friday = D

What happened to our early spring? I hope you had a great weekend despite the yucky return of the snow! We journaled about our weekend this morning and it sounds like you all had a great time. We started a new story today in our reading book. Your child should be bringing home their orange basal book and reading you The Kite today. We talked about fantasy stories. Ask you child to tell you why this story is fantasy. We also reviewed the long u sound. Quiz your child by asking them to give you five words that have a long u sound in them.

In math today, we learned about telling time to the half hour. Many of our kids were already experts at this! Good job at home! Keep practicing telling time to the half hour. Have your child tell you how they count around the face of a clock. They should be able to tell you that we count by 5's.

We are working on creating expressive and symmetrical clown faces for our art project this week. I can't wait to see how they turn out. Ask your child to tell you what kind of expression they have chosen for their clown face.

Don't forget that this Friday is Movie Night! We will be showing "Tangled". Power Drills are due on Thursday and the last day to take AR tests that count toward the KU award program is this Friday, too! It is looking like a busy week! As always, let me know if you have any questions! Have a wonderful evening.

Welcome Back!

Monday = C Tuesday = D Wednesday = A Thursday = B Friday = C

Welcome back after what I hope was a wonderful Spring Break for your family! I could tell that I had some sleepy kids today. It was so great to see all of my first grade friends and get started with our last quarter together. We spent today getting back into our first grade groove. We each wrote a book page telling about our Spring Break adventures and activities. We reviewed ABC order with festive March words. This was a tough activity, but our kids didn't give up and gave it their best try! YAY! We let our creativity flow today by making kites to celebrate the first full day of spring. Our room is feeling very balmy and festive! Come on by and visit us.

Today in math we started our first offical "Mad Minute" today. Have your child tell you all about it. It should actually be called the "Mad THREE Minute", because the child are given 3 minutes to complete 30 addition problems. Ask you child to tell you about their first test. We graphed our answers and learned how to check them ourselves, too. It's the big time in first grade!

Have a super night.

Happy Spring Break!

Monday March 21 =C Tuesday March 22=D Wednesday March 23=A
Thursday March 24=B Friday March 25=C

The kids are wound up and ready for their Spring Break! We wrapped up our third quarter with our math post test. The kids did a WONDERFUL job! Please find time to celebrate your child and ALL of the amazing things they have learned in three quarters of first grade. It is unbelievable that we only have one quarter left before they graduate on to second grade. Boo hoo hoo!

This week we wrote letters to the tooth fairy. Come by our room to read your child's letter. Many of them have very HIGH hopes for their tooth fariy treats...just thought you'd like to know! :)

In math, we had some fun with St. Patty's Day. We used Lucky Charms cereal to create graphs. Edible math is always a hit! Ask your child to tell you what symbol in their cereal bowl was their most popular. We also used symmetry to create symmetrical leprachauns. These projects are coming home for you to admire today.

You may notice that your child brought home a great deal of unfinished paperwork in their backpack. We did a MAJOR desk clean-out today and emptied out our work folders. All of the work from 3rd quarter that did not get finished is now Spring Break homework. Please continue to encourage your child to try hard to get their work completed and handed in on time, as this is an essential second grade skill and we are well on our way! WOW!

A few look ahead dates:

*April 12--Art Walk, 7pm

*April 21--First Grade Musical

*April 25--NO SCHOOL

*April 29--Carnival, 5-8pm


I hope you have a wonderful, safe and restful Spring Break. Keep your kids reading and learning. We are on the final stretch of our journey when they return on the
21st!

Fun Friday!

Monday = C Tuesday = D Wednesday = A Thursday = B

WOW! Thank you so much to all of my families for the wonderful surprise baby shower this morning! I still can't believe that all of my first graders kept it a secret for so long. I had NO idea. It was so much fun. From the bottom of my heart, thank you all so much.

It was hard to get back on task after today's surprise party! We worked hard perfecting our portion of the first grade graduation movie. The kids worked together in groups and practiced super hard to get their lines right and read with expression. We will show our first grade scrapbook movie at our graduation in May. It should be a treat.

We wrote our own math subtraction stories today about frogs. Ask your child to tell you about the story they wrote. What did they have happen to their frogs in their subtraction story?

A few reminders about next week:

1. No school on Friday March 11
2. Monday is a Library day!
3. Identi-kid in March 10


Have a super weekend. Thank you all so much, again, for your kindness and generosity. Today was so special to me. Thank you!

Thursday Reminders

Hope this post finds you all enjoying a beautiful day! As the week winds down, I have a few reminders to share with you.

1. Please return you slip from Mrs. Neeley, our music teacher. She sent home a white note with information about our barnyard musical and requested feedback from you. If you have the note at home, please return it to school with the requested information. Our musical is NEXT MONTH! These shows are unbelievable!

2. March 10 Identi-kid will be at Sunflower. Parents have the option to participate. More information should be coming home, but I just wanted to give you a heads up.

3. Thank you to the families who attended last night's Literacy Night. Great turn out for our age group!

4. Remember, no school next Friday March 11th! We are wrapping up our third quarter and getting ready for spring break. ENJOY!