First Grade Friday News - December 17

Thank you for your chapel offerings during the last few weeks.  Our class was able to buy gifts for two children. 

Our class Christmas party will be on Friday, December 21, at 1:00.  Our room mothers are planning games and refreshments for the party.  All parents are welcome to attend.  For our gift exchange this year, each child should bring a wrapped gift ($5 value).  Boys should bring a boy gift and girls bring a girl gift.  The gift should be wrapped with a gift tag attached that indicates the name of the child bringing the gift.  These gifts should be brought to school any day before December 21.

This will be the last First Grade Friday News that you will receive in your child’s backpack.  We will try to save a few trees by going paperless for the rest of the school year.  I will continue to send the newsletter by email each Friday and I will also post it on our blog each week.

Dates to remember:

            Wed., Dec. 19             No chapel

 Thurs., Dec. 20          All school Christmas program at 6:30 p.m. (Be in our classroom at 6:00 dressed in your Christmas best – no jeans, please.)

 Fri., Dec. 21                Class Christmas party with gift exchange at 1:00, Tag day

                                    Dismissal at 2:00 (There will be aftercare.), End of Semester

Dec. 2 - Jan. 6           Christmas break

Mon., Jan. 7                School resumes

            Thurs., Jan. 10           Report cards go home

The week ahead:

Spelling words:  zero, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten

Religion:  The Ten Commandments, Jesus is born

Reading skill:  Setting

Math:  Buying things with dimes and pennies, Subtraction

Language/Writing:  Making sentences more interesting with adjectives

           Science/Social Studies:  Animals and habitats
                   

We are very sad to have to say good-bye to Neal and Tayler.  God’s blessings to them in their new schools.

 

 

 

Merry Christmas!

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.     Luke 2:11

First Grade Friday News - December 10

 

 

Chapel offerings during the second quarter will be collected to buy Christmas gifts for children in the foster care system in central Arkansas.  Our class has committed to buying gifts for two children.  We hope to collect $75 per child.  We have collected $80 so far!  That means we have enough for one child.  Let’s see if we can bring in enough for the other child this week.  Thank you for your generosity as we teach our children to share God’s love.

Our class Christmas party will be on Friday, December 21, at 1:00.  Our room mothers are planning games and refreshments for the party.  All parents are welcome to attend.  For our gift exchange this year, each child should bring a wrapped gift ($5 value).  Boys should bring a boy gift and girls bring a girl gift.  The gift should be wrapped with a gift tag attached that indicates the name of the child bringing the gift.  These gifts should be brought to school any day before December 21.

If you haven’t checked our class blog lately, you are missing out on seeing some great pictures of our activities in first grade.  Maybe Grandma and Grandpa would like to see our blog, too!

First graders will now be expected to pass at least one AR test each week.  Children may take tests over school library books, books in our classroom, or books from home.  Children may take tests on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.  Children who have not passed an AR test by Thursday, will be asked to read during noon recess.

Dates to remember:

            Fri., Dec. 7                Book orders due

Thurs., Dec. 20          All school Christmas program at 6:30 p.m.

Fri., Dec. 21                Class Christmas party at 1:00, Tag day

                                   Dismissal at 2:00, End of Semester

Dec. 22-Jan. 6           Christmas break

The week ahead:

Spelling words:  no spelling test

Religion:  The Ten Commandments, Jesus is born

Reading skill:  Drawing conclusions

Math:  Addition facts, Subtraction facts

Language/Writing:  Nouns and adjectives, Topic sentences and details

Science/Social Studies:  Animals and habitats

Nature Club: Planting bulbs in the courtyard

 

 

Journey North Tulip Test Garden

The kindergarten, first, second, and third graders at CLS planted a tulip test garden as part of the international science project called Journey North.  We will connect with hundreds of other schools in the Northern Hemisphere.  Each child planted a Red Emperor tulip bulb.  Next spring, we will share our local observations and track spring’s progress.

You can watch spring’s journey north by going to this website:

www.learner.org/jnorth/tulip/index.html

First Grade Friday News - December 3

 

Chapel offerings during the second quarter will be collected to buy Christmas gifts for children in the foster care system in central Arkansas.  Our class has committed to buying gifts for two children.  We hope to collect $75 per child.  We have collected $58 so far!  Thank you for your generosity as we teach our children to share God’s love.

 Our class Christmas party will be on Friday, December 21, at 1:00.  Our room mothers are planning games and refreshments for the party.  All parents are welcome to attend.  For our gift exchange this year, each child should bring a wrapped gift ($5 value).  Boys should bring a boy gift and girls bring a girl gift.  The gift should be wrapped with a gift tag attached that indicates the name of the child bringing the gift.  These gifts should be brought to school any day before December 21.

First graders will now be expected to pass at least one AR test each week.  Children may take tests over school library books, books in our classroom, or books from home.  Children may take tests on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.  Children who have not passed an AR test by Thursday, will be asked to read during noon recess.

            Dates to remember:

            Fri., Dec. 7                Book orders due

Thurs., Dec. 20          All school Christmas program at 6:30 p.m.

Fri., Dec. 21               Class Christmas party at 1:00

                                  Dismissal at 2:00

                                  End of semester

Dec. 22-Jan. 6           Christmas break

The week ahead:

Spelling words:  is, are, was, have, like, the, they, with, good, play, help, you

Religion:  The Ten Commandments, Jesus is born

Reading skill:  Details

Math:  Addition facts, Writing number words

Language/Writing:  Nouns and adjectives, Topic sentences and details

Science/Social Studies:  Africa

Nature Club: Reindeer

 

 

Happy Birthday, Miss Guelzow!

All the students at CLS helped celebrate Miss Guelzow's birthday last week.  We sang "Happy Birthday" and watched her blow out her candles.  Then everyone got a piece of cake!

The First Thanksgiving

 First graders enjoyed learning about the first Thanksgiving.  We ended our unit of study by dressing as Pilgrims at lunch.  Our friends in kindergarten dressed as Native Americans.

First Grade Friday News - November 26

   

Chapel offerings during the second quarter will be collected to buy Christmas gifts for children in the foster care system in central Arkansas.  Our first grade class will buy gifts for two children. We hope to collect $75 per child.  We have $30 now, and only four weeks left to collect money.  You may send an offering any day – not just on chapel days.  Please continue to be generous as we teach our children to share God’s love.

Grandparents’ Day was a great success.  Children, teachers, and grandparents all enjoyed the day.

First graders will now be expected to pass at least one AR test each week.  Children may take tests over school library books, books in our classroom, or books from home.

Dates to remember:

Nov. 19-23            Thanksgiving break

Thurs., Dec. 20      All school Christmas program at 6:30 p.m.

Fri., Dec. 21           Class Christmas party

The week ahead:

Spelling words:  chip, chin, inch, itch, catch, match, wish, shop, how, many

Religion:  The Ten Commandments, David

Reading skill:  Setting

Math:  Odd and even numbers

Language/Writing:  Nouns and adjectives

Science/Social Studies:  Africa

Character Education: Citizenship

Nature Club: Planting bulbs

 

 

 

 

Fire Station Field Trip

 

We had a great field trip last week to the fire station.  We learned all about fire safety and got to practice getting out of a burning house.  We learned that sleeping with your door closed will help keep out smoke and that you should turn on your bedroom light to help the firefighters find you.  We got to see the bomb squad truck and learned that they use robots to check out bombs.  The firefighters showed us all their gear and even let us watch as they slid down the pole!

First Grade Friday News - November 12

 

 

Chapel offerings during the second quarter will be collected to buy Christmas gifts for children in the foster care system in central Arkansas.  Our first grade class will buy gifts for two children. We hope to collect $75 per child.  So far, we have $6, so we have a ways to go.  I will send home an offering envelope each Tuesday.  Of course, you may send an offering any day – not just on chapel days.  Please continue to be generous as we teach our children to share God’s love.

Grandparents’ Day is Wednesday, November 14.  We will begin with a special chapel at 10:00.  After chapel, we will eat lunch.  Then the children will have an opportunity to show their guests around our classroom and visit the book fair.  Children are invited to dress up for this day.  Children should wear school uniforms or nicer clothes.  No jeans, please.  Remember that we will still go outside to play, so choose clothing accordingly.

Dates to remember:

Mon., Nov. 12              PALS meeting and technology demonstrations, 6:30

Tues., Nov. 13             Book Fair tag day (Bring $1 and wear a sports team shirt to enter a drawing for free books.)

Wed., Nov. 14             Grandparents’ Day

Nov. 19-23                  Thanksgiving break

The week ahead:

Spelling words:  ship, shop, shot, wish, dish, dash, for, more, be, try

Religion:  The Ten Commandments, Ruth, Samuel

Reading skill:  Details

Math:  Fractions

Language/Writing:  Nouns

Science/Social Studies:  Thanksgiving

Character Education: Citizenship

Nature Club: Special speaker on dental health (postponed from last week)

 

 

First Grade Friday News - November 5

 

Chapel offerings during the second quarter will be collected to buy Christmas gifts for children in the foster care system in central Arkansas.  I will send home an offering envelope each Tuesday.  Of course, you may send an offering any day – not just on chapel days.  Please continue to be generous as we teach our children to share God’s love.

Dates to remember:

Tues., Nov.6           Field trip to the fire station (We will leave school at 8:30 and return by 11:00.  Children should wear blue CLS t-shirts.)

Mon., Nov. 12         PALS meeting and technology demonstrations

Wed., Nov. 14        Grandparents’ Day

Nov. 19-23            Thanksgiving break

The week ahead:

Spelling words:  or, for, corn, cork, fork, more, hang, ring, two, from

Religion:  The Ten Commandments, Joshua

Reading skill:  Character

Math:  Even numbers, Capacity of containers

Language/Writing:  Writing a sequence story

Science/Social Studies:  Safety

Character Education: Citizenship

 

 

 

Love, Honor, Serve

The kindergarten and first grade classes led our school in worship at last week's chapel.  Our theme was Love, Honor, Serve.  Our message included songs, poems, scripture, and pictures that the chidlren drew.

First Grade Friday News - October 29

 

Chapel offerings in October will go to The Rice Depot to help feed the hungry here in central Arkansas.

Don’t forget to invite grandparents (or substitute grandparents) to our Grandparents’ Day celebration on Wednesday, November 14.  We want to serve lunch to all of our special guests that day, but we will only have lunches prepared for those who have registered by October 29.  Please help us to get all grandparents registered before the deadline.

For Nature Club this week, we need each student to bring 5 or 6 leaves of different shapes, sizes, and colors.  The leaves should be flexible (not crunchy), pressed flat (under a book), then put in a Ziploc bag labeled with your child’s name.  You may send them any day this week.

Dates to remember:

Sun., Oct. 28              Trunk or Treat, 4:00-6:00

 Fri., Nov. 2                 Red Ribbon Day (drug awareness)

Tues., Nov.6               Field trip to the fire station

Mon., Nov. 12              PALS meeting and technology demonstrations

Wed., Nov. 14             Grandparents’ Day

The week ahead:

Spelling words:  sing, sang, hang, ring, rang, bring, bus, must, your, when

(Our spelling tests will now include a sentence dictation portion.  Students will write one dictated sentence made up of previously learned words.)

Religion:  The Ten Commandments, Entering the Promised Land

Reading skill:  Details

Math:  Counting dimes, Telling time to the hour

Language/Writing:  Writing an informational story

Science/Social Studies:  Safety

Character Education: Citizenship

Nature Club: Leaves

 

 

Proud Gardeners

Here is a photo of twelve proud gardeners showing off the radishes they picked last week.  The radishes have finished and we are anxiously waiting for carrots.

First Grade Friday News - October 22

 

 

Chapel offerings in October will go to The Rice Depot to help feed the hungry here in central Arkansas.  Children are urged to bring a cash offering or food item from the Rice Depot “wish list”.

I will be meeting with the parents of each student on October 25 and 26.  Your assigned time is going home today. 

Don’t forget to invite grandparents (or substitute grandparents) to our Grandparents’ Day celebration on Wednesday, November 14.  Each child took home two invitations last week.  Let me know if you need more.   We want to serve lunch to all of our special guests that day, but we will only have lunches prepared for those who have registered by October 29.  Please help us to get all grandparents registered before the deadline.

Dates to remember:

Wed., Oct. 24        Report cards go home

                             First grade and kindergarten lead chapel at 8:15.  Come and worship with us.

Thurs., Oct. 25      Parent/teacher conferences, 3:15-6:00

Fri., Oct. 26          Dismiss at 2:00

                             Parent/teacher conferences, 2:30-5:00

Sun., Oct. 28         Trunk or Treat, 4:00-6:00 (Come and enjoy games, pumpkin painting, a hayride, a cupcake walk, and decorated trunks and candy!)

Tues., Nov.6           Field trip to the fire station, afternoon (Let me know if you want to drive.)

The week ahead:

Spelling words:  red, blue, yellow, green, purple, orange, pink, black, white, brown, gray

(Our spelling tests will now include a sentence dictation portion.  Students will write one dictated sentence made up of previously learned words.)

Religion:  The Ten Commandments

Reading skill:  Details

Math:  Counting by 10’s, Adding 0

Language/Writing:  Topic sentences and details

Science/Social Studies:  Safety

Character Education: Respect

Nature Club: No Nature Club this week

 

 

 

 

FIrst Grade Friday News - October 15

 

Chapel offerings in October will go to The Rice Depot to help feed the hungry here in central Arkansas.  Children are urged to bring a cash offering or food item from the Rice Depot “wish list”.

I will be meeting with the parents of each student on October 25 and 26.  Your schedule sign-up note is going home today.  Please fill it out and return it to me as soon as possible.  I can also meet with parents after school on Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday of the following week.  Let me know if you want to meet on one of those days after school instead of on October 25 or 26.

Mrs. Olsen is conducting a preschool survey.  Please help her out by following this link and answering any questions that pertain to you. 

For school families:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/clspssurvey2012

For church families:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/clcpssurvey2012

Dates to remember:

Wed., Oct. 24        Report cards go home

                             First grade and kindergarten lead chapel at 8:15.  Come and worship with us.

Thurs., Oct. 25      Parent/teacher conferences, 3:15-6:00

Fri., Oct. 26          Dismiss at 2:00

                             Parent/teacher conferences, 2:30-5:00

Sun., Oct. 28         Trunk or Treat, 4:00-6:00 (Come and enjoy games, pumpkin painting, a hayride, a cupcake walk and decorated trunks and candy!)

Tues., Nov.6          Field trip to the fire station, afternoon (Let me know if you want to drive.)

The week ahead:

Spelling words:  us, bus, bug, rug, mug, must, with, then, she, use

(Our spelling tests will now include a sentence dictation portion.  Students will write one dictated sentence made up of previously learned words.)

Religion:  The Ten Commandments

Reading skill:  Cause and effect

Math:  Counting on to add

Language/Writing:  Topic sentences and details

Science/Social Studies:  Nutrition, Dental Health, and Germs

Character Education: Respect

Nature Club: Bats

 

 

 

Our First Harvest

We harvested our first vegetables today from the school garden.  We planted these radishes the first week of September and have been watching them grow.  We washed them and sliced a small taste for everyone.  Most agreed that they were crunchy and spicy!  We will have many more radishes in the next few weeks.  We will keep watching our carrots grow.  They should be ready to eat sometime in November.

First Grade Friday News - October 8

Chapel offerings in October will go to The Rice Depot to help feed the hungry here in central Arkansas.  Children are urged to bring a cash offering or food item from the Rice Depot “wish list”.

I will be meeting with the parents of each student on October 25 and 26.  I can also meet with parents after school on Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday of the following week.  We will send home the official schedule sign-up note next week, but you are welcome to let me know now if you have a preference for day and time.

Dates to remember:

Fri., Oct. 12              Book orders due (Order online or make your check out to Scholastic Books.)

Wed., Oct. 24           Report cards go home

                                 First grade and kindergarten lead chapel at 8:15.  Come and         worship with us.

Thurs., Oct. 25         Parent/teacher conferences, 3:15-6:00

Fri., Oct. 26              Dismiss at 2:00

                                 Parent/teacher conferences, 2:30-5:00

Sun., Oct. 28            Trunk or Treat, 4:00-6:00 (Come and enjoy games, pumpkin painting, a hayride, a cupcake walk and decorated trunks and candy!)

The week ahead:

Spelling words:  them, then, this, that, path, with, men, set, was, said

                 (Our spelling tests will now include a sentence dictation portion.  Students will write                  one dictated sentence made up of previously learned words.)

Religion:  The Ten Commandments

Reading skill:  Cause and effect

Math:  Subtraction number sentences

Language/Writing:  Telling parts of sentences

Science/Social Studies:  Healthy bodies, Columbus

Character Education: Respect

Nature Club: Spiders

 

 

 

 

Pumpkins and More!

We had such fun on our first field trip of the year to the pumpkin patch. We began by cheering for Hamlet, Raphael, Miss Piggy, Porky, and Wilbur in the pig races. Then we fed and petted goats, pigs, and donkeys at the farm zoo. After that, everyone climbed onto the hay wagon for a trip through the Christmas tree farm. Then we raced through the hay maze and took turn riding on the Cow Train. Even Mrs. McNabb and Mrs. Parscale climbed aboard for the bumpy ride. After playing on Hay Mountain, each child picked out a pumpkin to take home. We hope all of our field trips will be this much fun!

First Grade Friday News - October 1

Chapel offerings in October will go to The Rice Depot to help feed the hungry here in central Arkansas.

Please join us on Wednesday, Oct. 3, at Larry’s Pizza on Bowman.  This evening is such fun – a chance to visit with friends and meet new families at CLS.  CLS will receive a portion of the cost of each buffet purchased that evening between 5:00 and 8:00.  Your teachers will be your servers.  In order for us to receive our percentage, you must present a CLS coupon when you pay for your dinner.  Coupons may be printed off of our website.  We will also happily accept tips.  See you there!

Dates to remember:

Wed., Oct. 3          Larry’s Pizza night, 5:00-8:00

                    (Come and eat, have fun, and let your teacher be your server!)

The week ahead:

Spelling words :  hen, pen, men, end, send, set, all, call, very, that

                         (Practice these words at home for our Friday spelling test.)

Religion:  Moses leads God’s people

Reading skill:  Setting

Math:  Addition double facts, Using a balance

Language/Writing:  Naming parts of sentences

Science/Social Studies:  Australia, Healthy bodies

Character Education: Respect

Nature Club: Spiders