First Grade Friday News - December 13

I am overwhelmed by your generous offerings to buy gifts for children in the foster care system.  Our class was able to buy gifts for three children! 

Our class Christmas party will be on Friday, December 20, at 2:00.  Our room mothers are planning games and refreshments for the party.  All parents are welcome to attend.  We will have a gift exchange among the first graders. For our gift exchange this year, each child should bring a wrapped gift.  Please do not spend more than $5.  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 by Monday, December 16.

Dates to remember:

Wed., Dec. 18             No chapel

Thurs., Dec. 19           Children’s Christmas program at 6:30 p.m. (Dress nicely and report to our classroom at 6:00.)

                                    Dress rehearsal at 8:15 a.m.

Fri., Dec. 20               Classroom Christmas party at 2:00 (All parents are welcome.)

The week ahead:

Notice that we will have two spelling tests.                      

Spelling words: sir, dirt, bird, burn, fur, her, quit, when, work, grew (test- Monday)

red, blue, green, yellow, purple, orange, pink, black, brown, gray, white (test-Friday)

Religion:  Jesus is born                                                                           

Reading skill:  Setting

Math:  Adding two-digit numbers, Measuring with a ruler

Language/Writing:  Nouns and adjectives

• All students should take at least one AR test each week.  Please listen to your child read his or her AR book twice and discuss the story.
• Your child may take AR tests over books that you have in your home library.  Look on the accelerated website to be sure that the book is included in the AR list.  After your child has read the book twice, send a note with the title and author indicating that your child is ready to take a test.

 

 

Merry Christmas!

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.  Luke 2:10-11

Wings Over Arkansas

We have become enthusiastic bird watchers in first grade this year.  We have a bird feeder right outside our classroom window and have been excited to identify 12 different bird species at the feeder so far.  Bird watching teaches children skills of observation, sorting, and classification.  It also teaches an appreciation of nature and encourages children to be good stewards of God’s creation.  I would like to suggest that you make bird watching a family activity by participating in the “Wings Over Arkansas” program from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.  I’m sending home a packet with all the information that you need to get started.

How to Participate

·         Record each species you identify on the official Wings Over Arkansas Application Checklist. You may photocopy the checklist.

·         Mail application and bird records to Wings Over Arkansas Coordinator, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, 2 Natural Resources Drive, Little Rock, AR 72205. 

·         Allow six weeks for delivery of certificate and pin.

Official Rules

·    All bird listings must include species name, date and location of sighting.

• All birds listed must be in Arkansas when identified.
• All birds listed must be alive, wild and unrestrained when observed.   
• All birds listed must be identified by the person submitting the application.
• Retroactive bird lists are acceptable.

Children who identify 25 species will receive a Carolina Chickadee pin. You can start by listing the 12 species that we have seen at school.  I’m sure that every first grader can at least earn the Caroline Chickadee pin.  Keep me posted about your child’s level of achievement so that we can recognize their efforts during chapel announcements.

Happy Birding!

 

Hands On Math

We used real dimes and pennies to practice counting money as we "shopped for groceries".  We also enjoyed using our math manipulatives to learn about fractions.

 

Daffodils

We planted daffodil bulbs in the courtyard.  Won't they be beautiful when they bloom in the spring?

First Grade Friday News - December 6

 

Thank you for your generous offerings to buy gifts for children in the foster care system.  Our class is buying gifts for twin girls – 6 years old. 

Our class Christmas party will be on Friday, December 20, at 2:00.  Our room mothers are planning games and refreshments for the party.  All parents are welcome to attend.  We will have a gift exchange among the first graders. For our gift exchange this year, each child should bring a wrapped gift.  Please do not spend more than $5.  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 by Monday, December 16.

Dates to remember:

Tues., Dec. 9              Choir trip to nursing home

Fri., Dec. 13                Field trip to Nutcracker performance (All children should wear CLS spirit shirts and bring a sack lunch.)

Wed., Dec. 18             No chapel

Thurs., Dec. 19           Children’s Christmas program at 6:30 p.m.

                                    Dress rehearsal at 8:15 a.m.

Fri., Dec. 20               Classroom Christmas party at 2:00 (All parents are welcome.)

The week ahead:

Spelling words: sir, dirt, bird, burn, fur, her, quit, when, work, grew

Religion:  Jesus is born                                                                           

Reading skill:  Characters

Math:  Adding two-digit numbers, Measuring with a ruler

Language/Writing:  Nouns and adjectives

• Students may only wear white long-sleeved shirts under their logo shirts.
• I am seeing many mistakes on math homework.  Please help your child with the instructions and check over their work.
• All students should take at least one AR test each week.  Please listen to your child read his or her AR book twice and discuss the story.

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

First Grade Friday News - November 22

HAVE A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

We are off to a great start on our Christmas Giving Tree project.  Thank you for your generous offerings to buy gifts for children in the foster care system.  Our class is buying gifts for twin girls – 6 years old.  I have a list of gifts that these girls have asked for and we will also buy each one outfit and a pair of sneakers.  Since they are twins, we need to buy clothes and shoes that are similar, but perhaps in different colors.  If any of you would like to donate an item instead of sending money, please let me know.  I can tell you what specific items we need.  We have some things in the $5 range up to $30 or $40.  Just tell me how much you want to spend on the item you buy.  We can’t get them everything they want, but I would like to get each girl two or three gifts in addition to the clothes. 

Dates to remember:

Nov. 27, 28, 29         Thanksgiving break

Tues., Dec. 9             Choir trip to nursing home

Fri., Dec. 13               Field trip to Nutcracker performance (All children should wear CLS spirit shirts and bring a sack lunch.) (Let me know if you can drive.)

Wed., Dec. 18            No chapel

Thurs., Dec. 19          Children’s Christmas program at 6:30 p.m.

                                    Dress rehearsal at 8:15 a.m.

Fri., Dec. 20              Classroom Christmas party at 2:00 (All parents are welcome.)

The week ahead:

Spelling words: quit, quick, quiz, whiz, which, when, arm, card, who, there

Religion:  The Ten Commandments, Daniel

Reading skill:  Sequence

Math:  Dimes and pennies, Fractions

Language/Writing:  Nouns and adjectives

Social Studies:  Life Long Ago

• Students may only wear white long-sleeved shirts under their logo shirts.
• I am seeing many mistakes on math homework.  Please help your child with the instructions and check over their work.
• All students should take at least one AR test each week.  Please listen to your child read his or her AR book twice and discuss the story.

 

First Grade Friday News - November 15

We are off to a great start on our Christmas Giving Tree project.  Thank you for your generous offerings to buy gifts for children in the foster care system.  We will continue to collect money for this project through November and December.  Our class is buying gifts for twin girls – 6 years old.  I have a list of gifts that these girls have asked for and we will also buy each one outfit and a pair of sneakers.  Since they are twins, we need to buy clothes and shoes that are similar, but perhaps in different colors.  If any of you would like to donate an item instead of sending money, please let me know.  I can tell you what specific items we need.  We have some things in the $5 range up to $30 or $40.  Just tell me how much you want to spend on the item you buy.  We can’t get them everything they want, but I would like to get each girl two or three gifts in addition to the clothes. 

Shhh!  It’s a secret!  To celebrate Miss Guelzow’s November wedding, we are having a pantry shower.  Each student is asked to bring something to stock her pantry in her new home.  You may bring canned or boxed items or paper goods.  Please send these to school by November 15. 

Dates to remember:

Nov. 27, 28, 29          Thanksgiving break

Fri., Dec. 13                Field trip to Nutcracker performance (Let me know if you can drive.)

Wed., Dec. 18             No chapel

Thurs., Dec. 19           Children’s Christmas program at 6:30 p.m.

                                    Dress rehearsal at 8:15 a.m.

Fri., Dec. 20               Classroom Christmas party at 2:00 (All parents are welcome.)

The week ahead:

Spelling words: far, farm, arm, art, cart, card, chin, inch, live, soon

Religion:  The Ten Commandments, Solomon, Elijah

Reading skill:  Fiction and nonfiction

Math:  Addition and subtraction facts

Language/Writing:  Topic sentence and details

Social Studies:  The First Thanksgiving

Science:  Sun, moon, and stars

 

• Students may only wear white long-sleeved shirts under their logo shirts.
• I am seeing many mistakes on math homework.  Please help your child with the instructions and check over their work.
• All students should take at least one AR test each week.  Please listen to your child read his or her AR book twice and discuss the story.

 

 

Fall Farmers

We picked our sugar snap peas from the garden and ate them for a snack.  They were crunchy and delicious!  We checked our carrots, but they weren't quite big enough to eat yet.

Stop Drop and Roll

We learned all about fire safety on our field trip to the fire station.  Did you know that the ladder truck can squirt out 1000 gallons of water every minute?

First Grade Friday News - November 8

We are off to a great start on our Christmas Giving Tree project.  Thank you for your generous offerings to buy gifts for children in the foster care system.  We will continue to collect money for this project through November and December.

Shhh!  It’s a secret!  To celebrate Miss Guelzow’s November wedding, we are having a pantry shower.  Each student is asked to bring something to stock her pantry in her new home.  You may bring canned or boxed items or paper goods.  Please send these to school by November 13. 

Dates to remember:

Nov. 27,28, 29           Thanksgiving break

Wed., Dec. 18             No chapel

Thurs., Dec. 19           Children’s Christmas program at 6:30 p.m.

                                    Dress rehearsal at 8:15 a.m.

Fri., Dec. 20               Classroom Christmas party at 2:00 (All parents are welcome.)

The week ahead:

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

Religion:  The Ten Commandments, David

Reading skill:  Long vowel words

Math:  Telling time

Language/Writing:  Nouns

Social Studies:  Africa

Science:  Owls

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bird Watchers

We are becoming bird watchers in first grade!  We have a bird feeder right outside our classroom window.  We have learned to identify several birds and hope that we will see many more different birds at our feeder this winter.

Red Ribbon Day

We are learning to say "NO" to drugs.   

First Grade Friday News - November 1

 

Hooray!  Our cafeteria repairs are finally finished.   Beginning Monday, we will use the gym parking lot for morning care, morning drop off and afternoon pick up. We are getting back to our normal routine!

Shhh!  It’s a secret!  To celebrate Miss Guelzow’s November wedding, we are having a pantry shower.  Each student is asked to bring something to stock her pantry in her new home.  You may bring canned or boxed items or paper goods.  Please send these to school by November 13. 

Dates to remember:

Nov. 4 - 8                    Book Fair

Tues., Nov. 5              PALS meeting at 6:30 (We will have a speaker who will talk about how you can help your child to be successful in school.)

Thurs., Nov. 7             Field trip to the fire station at 9:00

                                    (Children should wear blue CLS spirit shirts.)

The week ahead:

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

(Our spelling tests will now include a sentence dictation part.  Sentences will use words that are posted in our classroom or words that contain sounds that we have already learned.)

Religion:  The Ten Commandments, Hannah’s prayer

Reading skill:  Long vowel words

Math:  Counting dimes and pennies, Symmetry

Language/Writing:  Nouns

Social Studies:  Africa

Science:  Fire Safety

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Grade Friday News - October 25

 

Shhh!  It’s a secret!  To celebrate Miss Guelzow’s November wedding, we are having a pantry shower.  Each student is asked to bring something to stock her pantry in her new home.  You may bring canned or boxed items or paper goods.  Please send these to school by November 13. 

Dates to remember:

Fri., Oct. 25               Tag Day (Bring $1 for the privilege of dressing out of uniform.)

Thurs., Oct. 31           Red Ribbon Day (drug-free education)

Thurs., Nov. 7             Field trip to the fire station at 9:00 – Please email me if you can drive.

The week ahead:

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

(Our spelling tests will now include sentence dictation part.  Sentences will use words that are posted in our classroom or words that contain sounds that we have already learned.)

Religion:  The Ten Commandments, Martin Luther

Reading skill:  Cause and Effect

Math:  Subtraction

Language/Writing:  Nouns

Social Studies:  Europe, Germany

Science:  Drug Education

 

 

 

 

 

First Grade Friday News - October 18

 

Our math lessons are getting longer and some children may not finish all of the “A” side at school.  If I have not written “OK” on the top of the page, it means that there was not time for me to check it.  Please make sure that both sides of the math page are completed and checked before returning the page to school. 

Dates to remember:

Mon., Oct. 21              No school

Thurs., Oct. 24          Reading through the seasons – Notes were sent home with details about that evening.  Come and enjoy fun activities around our campus.

Fri., Oct. 25               Tag Day (Bring $1 for the privilege of dressing out of uniform.)

Thurs., Oct. 31           Red Ribbon Day (drug-free education)

Thurs., Nov. 7             Field trip to the fire station at 9:00 – We need drivers.  Please email me if you can drive.

The week ahead:

Spelling words: sing, sang, hang, rang, ring, bring, us, must, your, when (Our spelling tests will now include sentence dictation part.  Sentences will use words that are posted in our classroom or words that contain sounds that we have already learned.)

Religion:  The Ten Commandments, Jericho

Reading skill:  Predictions

Math:  Subtraction

Language/Writing:  Nouns

Social Studies:  Europe, Germany

Science:  Pumpkins

 

 

 

 

Harvesting Our Garden

We are already enjoying some of the vegetables that we planted in our garden.  We picked enough lettuce and radishes so that everyone could have a taste.  Those radishes were spicy!
Mrs. McGilvray helped us make pesto from the basil that is growing in the garden.  It was easy to make and very yummy.

Chapel

Our kindergarten and first grade classes led the school in worship this morning.  Our chapel message was titled "Joy, Peace, and Hope".

Frist Grade Friday News - October 11

Our math lessons are getting longer and some children may not finish all of the “A” side at school.  If I have not written “OK” on the top of the page, it means that there was not time for me to check it.  Please make sure that both sides of the math page are completed and checked before returning the page to school. 

Dates to remember:

Wed., Oct. 16             Kindergarten and first-grade students lead chapel.  Come and worship with us at 8:10.  You may sit behind our class in chapel or anywhere else that you can find a seat.  After we finish our message, you child may come and sit with you.

Thurs., Oct. 17           Report cards go home

Fri., Oct. 18                Parent/teacher conferences, no school – Notes have gone home explaining how to schedule your conference online.  I need to meet with parents of all first graders.

Mon., Oct. 21              No school

Thurs., Oct. 24          Reading through the seasons – Notes were sent home with details about that evening.  Come and enjoy fun activities around our campus.

Fri., Oct. 25               Tag Day (Bring $1 for the privilege of dressing out of uniform.)

Thurs., Oct. 31           Red Ribbon Day (drug-free education)

Thurs., Nov. 7             Field trip to the fire station at 9:00 – Let me know if you can drive.

The week ahead:

Spelling words: us, bus, bug, rug, mug, must, with, then, she, use (Our spelling tests will now include sentence dictation part.  Sentences will use words that are posted in our classroom or words that contain sounds that we have already learned.)

Religion:  The Ten Commandments, Jericho

Reading skill:  Cause and effect

Math:  Sorting objects, Weighing objects

Language/Writing:  Nouns

Social Studies:  Europe, Germany

Science:  Fall

 

 

 

Nature Club Gardeners

We spent some time in our garden this week pulling weeds from around our vegetables.  We tried not to step on or pull up any of the good plants.  We have radishes and lettuce that are ready to pick.  Our sugar snap peas are blooming and our carrots have a long way to go.

 

First Grade Friday News - October 4

Thank you for your patience and understanding during my absence last week.  I have a beautiful granddaughter, Lily Elizabeth.   Mother and baby are both doing well. 

Your children are bringing home some tiny books to cut and staple.  These little books will allow your children to review the vocabulary from the reading book that we just finished.

Our math lessons are getting longer and some children may not finish all of the “A” side at school.  If I have not written “OK” on the top of the page, it means that there was not time for me to check it.  Please make sure that both sides of the math page are completed and checked before returning the page to school. 

Dates to remember:

Wed., Oct. 16             Kindergarten and first-grade students lead chapel.  Come and    worship with us at 8:10.

Fri., Oct. 18                Parent/teacher conferences

Mon., Oct. 21              No school

Thurs., Oct. 24          Reading through the seasons (Come that evening to enjoy fun activities around our campus.)

Fri., Oct. 25               Tag Day (Bring $1 for the privilege of dressing out of uniform.)

Thurs., Oct. 31           Red Ribbon Day (drug-free education)

The week ahead:

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

Religion: The Ten Commandments

Reading skill:  Sequence

Math:  Addition facts

Language/Writing:  Parts of sentences

Social Studies:  Christopher Columbus

Science:  Fall

Nature Club:  Weeding our garden

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Grade Friday News - September 20

Chapel offerings for the first few weeks will go to support Lisbeth, our Compassion International student in Guatemala.  Our offerings will help Lisbeth’s family with food, clothing, and education expenses.  Chapel offering envelopes are sent home each Tuesday.  Look for them on the homework side of the folder.

Your children will experience a different routine this week.  I am flying to Austin on Monday afternoon to help my daughter.  She will be having a c-section on Tuesday.  This was unexpected and a bit early.  She will need some help after surgery with new baby and my precious two-year-old granddaughter.  Please pray for healthy mom and healthy baby.  I’ll be back in the classroom on Tuesday, Oct. 1.  Mrs. Pat Dierks will be substituting in the mornings and Mrs. McNabb will have the whole group each afternoon.  There will be no First Grade Friday News on Sept. 27.  Please direct any questions to Mrs. McNabb.

Mrs. McNabb would like each student to bring one apple, washed, not sliced, in a Ziploc bag on Thursday.  It can be any variety.

Dates to remember:

Thurs., Sep. 26           Field trip to pumpkin patch (We will leave school at 8:30 and return at 11:30.  Children should wear their blue CLS spirit shirts.  Drivers will be Litwa, Lamb, and McGilvray.  Riding along will be Denman.  Parents, be sure to bring $5 for your admission to the pumpkin patch.)

Fri., Oct. 4                  Early dismissal, 1:30

The week ahead:

Spelling words: all, call, fall, ball, tall, wall, on, not, so, of (test 9/27,

                        hen, pen, men, end, send, set, all, call, very, that (test on 10/4)

Religion:  Moses

Reading skill:  Details

Math:  Doubles addition facts

Language/Writing:  Handwriting upper and lower case letters

Science:  Farms

Social Studies:  Australia