SPELLING WORDS
where, why, when, what

NEXT WEEK
On Monday I will be at an Adaptive Schools training in Springfield. My sub will be our former secretary, Ms. Lisa. On Friday, I will be in Wisconsin for my brother-in-law’s wedding. My sub will be Mrs. Whisler, who will also be student teaching in our classroom beginning in January!

HOMEWORK
Our first homework assignment came home today! This particular project is not due until November 16th.
Please have your child cut out his or her turkey and then dress it up in a disguise— so he doesn’t get caught for Thanksgiving dinner. This is a fun project that the students always enjoy! They will use their turkey for a writing assignment later in November. Some ideas from past years are things such as Santa, a ballerina, Batman, Sponge Bob, a cow, etc.

YOU ARE INVITED!
If you participate in trick-or-treating and are looking for a place to take your children, you are welcome to participate in Trunk or Treat at National Heights Baptist Church. The event begins at 6:30 and is located at 3050 N. National Springfield, MO 68503. This is at the very north end of National Ave— close to the intersection of National Avenue and Norton Road.

Ask your child about…
Changing seats, food chains, sticking to the main idea, RAZ kids, and filling our Tiger Token Chart!

HELPER SCHEDULE
Mon.– Marley
Tues.– Mia
Wed– Party!
Thurs.– Michael
Fri.– Rhett

REMINDER
I will be gone tomorrow and I may not be able to check my email. Please call the office if you need assistance.

SPELLING
Next week will be a review week. There will be no spelling test : )

RED RIBBON WEEK
Red Ribbon week is next week. The days are:
M– Superhero Day
T-Red, White, and Blue
W-Pajama Day (student may wear slippers but need tennis shoes for recess, too!)
TH– Tiger Pride / Black and White

NO SCHOOL
School will not be in session on Friday, October 26th!

HOMEWORK
During second quarter I will be sending homework home some weeks. If it is a homework week the assignment will come home on Friday and will be due the FOLLOWING Friday. These will be quick activities that reinforce concepts that we have been learning in class.

Ask your child about the life cycle of a pumpkin, comparing apples and pumpkins,  fire safety visit from Mr. Basham, and  playing counters in a cup during math. 

HELPER SCHEDULE
Mon.– Aidan Happy Birthday!
Tues.– Hope
Wed.– Jayme
Thurs.– Maggie AND Elija—Happy Birthday, Elija
Fri.– No School

 

This week we learned all about ants! We read several fiction and non-fiction books about ants and soaked in as much information as we could! Then, we piggy-backed our ant discussion and practiced identifying antonyms. The students got a kick out of this and they did such a great job with the activity. Plus, they LOVE saying the word "antonym" because they know how smart it makes them sound!

As our learning continued through the week we added to this Ants brace map. We listed things that ants can do, things that ants have, and described ants. THe students were facinated with the things they discoverd about ants this week!

We also learned about the parts of a plant and the things a plant needs to survive during science this week. We made an anchor chart together as a class before students made and labeled their own plant.

SPELLING WORDS
my, make, they, there, will

FALL PARTY
Don’t forget that we will hold our fall party on Wednesday, October 31 at 2:30. Cristi Davault, Mia’s mother, is looking for parents who would like to help. If you would like to help either by donating items or by assisting with the party, please contact Cristi at 833-5093 or you can email her at cristidavault@yahoo.com.

UPCOMING NEEDS
I know it seems so far away right now, but December will be here before we know it! The first grade team does a very exciting economics unit during the month of December. Students learn about topics such as needs and wants,  supply and demand, and scarcity. During the unit, students will have the opportunity to earn and spend tickets for various things. At the end of the unit, we have a class store / auction. The first grade team will be needing additional items for our store including markers, gel pens, stickers, McDonalds toys, books (gently used is great!), and coloring books. All donations are greatly appreciated by both the students and the teachers.

SPRINGFIELD NEWS-LEADER UPDATE
The reporter from the News-Leader had to reschedule her time in our classroom. I will keep you posted as to when it is rescheduled.

RED RIBBON WEEK IS COMING!
Red Ribbon week is October 22-26. The days are:
M– Superhero Day
T-Red, White, and Blue
W-Pajama Day
TH– Tiger Pride / Black and White
F- No School

Ask your child about… ants, opinion writing, parts of a plant, antonyms, and sorting shapes during math.

We have had several cases of pink eye in our classroom. Please watch for signs of this with your child. We have also talked about the importance of good hand washing and keeping our hands away from our faces!

HELPER SCHEDULE
Mon.– Rhett
Tues.– Caleb
Wed.– Elliot
Thurs.– Emerie
Fri.– Hayden

 

FIVE new iPads were delievered to our classroom on Thursday afternoon!!! My students were super excited about this addition, and I must say- I was pretty happy myself! They are now charged, in sturdy cases and ready to use. In fact, several students got to use them today to do RAZ Kids during Daily 5!

The Willard District provided these iPads to the kindergarten and first grade classrooms. I feel so blessed to work in a district that views technology as a priority!
I hope to be able to add a few keyboards to our inventory to allow the students to use with the iPads through out the day.

We also wrapped up our apple experiement! Each table had an apple that they weighed each day and took notes of their observations of how the apple changed over time. They were looking pretty gross by Monday!

We also wrote shape poems this week about apples, leafs, and pumpkins! Students brainstormed "juicy words" about their object, wrote a rough draft and finished off the week by publishing their poem!

MRS. KRAMER ABSENT
I will be at a training on Monday. Please make sure to call the office if your child will be going home a way that is different then normal.

Just a reminder: Friday, October 12th will be a 1/2 day for students. School will dismiss at 12:30. 

SPELLING WORDS
here, come, came, have, like, little

SPECIAL GUEST NEXT WEEK
A student from the high school will be shadowing me all day next Tuesday and Wednesday.  She is a member of Future Teachers of American and is participating in the Cadet Teacher program offered by the high school.

Ask your student about… our apple experiment, RAZ Kids during open computer lab time, shape poems and writing numbers to 120!

HELPER SCHEDULE
Mon.– Maggie Happy Birthday!
Tues.– Bradley
Wed.– Brookelynn
Thurs.– Michael Happy Birthday!
Fri.– 1/2 day

It is so hard for me to believe that the end of first is just around the corner! The first grade team is assessing students to monitor the progress that has been made since day one. There is one area that seems to be tricking some students and I thought this might be something you would want to practice with your child at home! For the grade card, all first grade students must count to 120 starting at any number (meaning I might randomly say 73 and they begin counting at that point and continue to 120), write their numbers in sequence to 120, and recognize numbers to 120 out of sequence.  You can click {here} or on the picture to download this page I created to help your student practice!