Books for Homework

Just wanted to let you know that your kiddos have gotten into the routine of choosing a new book each morning so they will be bringing a new book home to read tonight.  You do not have to have them read it this weekend.  If they want to, they can but otherwise, they can just bring it home again on Monday night.  Thanks! Have a super weekend!!! 

Sorry there are no pictures today!!  SUPER BUSY! :)

Keepin' Clean!

Just got back from gym!  Keeping our hands clean and germ-free! :)

Show and Share

So...originally I planned on having kids show and share every other week.  I've come to realize that is not realistic.  Kids LOVE to share things about themselves and their toys, etc, but I've found that it takes up sooo much time in class when we do that.  So... Instead, I've decided to have special days throughout the year when students can bring in something to share.

With that said, Tuesday is going to be stuffed animal show and tell!  Each kiddo should bring in a stuffed animal to tell the class about.  This is going to be in conjunction with learning about adjectives so the kids will describe their stuffed animals as they tell us about them.

I can't wait to see all of their furry friends!!

Email messages from your kiddos

Just a heads up!  If you recieve email messages or readings from your kiddos, please don't respond.  If you'd like to respond, send an email directly to me.  If you would hit reply to that email, it will just go back to the ipod that it was sent from and also to every other ipod in grades K-5.  So I'd be happy to give your kiddos a message back, just send it to my email.  msmith@hershey.k12.pa.us

THANKS! Enjoy listening! :)

Back to School Night

Your child and I would like to invite you to come visit our awesome classroom for Back to School Night on Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012!  Classroom visits are from 5:30-6:30 and a special outdoor concert starring Steven Courtney will follow from 6:30-7:30.  We hope to see you there!!! :)

Make 10!!

Today, the kids learned how to "make 10!"  They used teddy bears to find the different ways that they could make 10!

Observing apples in our writing center

This week, we're observing apples in our writing center.  We are drawing pictures and writing about what we see. :)

Book Orders

Book orders came in yesterday!  I still have a few books that need to be claimed.  I took apart the orders that were stapled together because I needed to place the order by type.  If your child didn't receive all of the books that you ordered, please email me with the names of the books that you're still missing!

Thanks!

Bag of Books!

Tonight, you will notice that your child is bringing home a clear folder with a book to read and a little composition book for you to record how they read.   There is a letter in the folder that explains how to record their reading.  Happy Reading together!! :)  Remember, if you are super busy on a night and don't have time to read the book, just tell your child to bring it home again the next night.  I will be sending a book home Monday-Thursday. 

THANK YOU!!!!

Thank you to Mrs. Boyle and Mrs. Gearhart for the pumpkin cookie treat and juice boxes that we had to celebrate our field trip!!!

Recognizing Numbers-Before and After

Looking to help your child practice some math?  We've been working on recognizing the number that comes before and after a number.  Example:  ____ 9 ____ Students have to say that 8 comes before 9 and 10 comes after nine.  For the first marking period, we are working on this up to 20.  Any reinforcement that you can do at home would be super! Thanks!

Word Bingo!

We're enjoying "word bingo!"

Meet My Sentence Kings and Queens!

Meet my sentence kings and queens of the day!!!  Ask them how they became royalty!

Just got back from Strite's!

We had an AWESOME time at Strite's Orchard today!! Thank you to our wonderful mom's who chaperoned today!  We couldn't have done it without you!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!

Enjoy the pics!!!!

BOOK BUDDIES!!

We met our new third grade book buddies today!! We read a book called "Don't Eat the Teacher!" and make sharks and shark teeth!  Ask your kiddo who their new buddy is!!

Wanna have lunch with your child?

Beginning on September 30th, parents are welcome to come eat lunch with their children.  Please call into the office in the morning if you wish to buy lunch so that the cafeteria knows how much food to make.  If you don't, you just sign in when you get here and join your child in the cafeteria for lunch.  You may not go out to recess with them though. That is a time for them to practice socialization with their friends.

Thanks!
Mindy

Assembly on Community

Mrs. Peter's and Mrs. Castleman presented an assembly on creating a positive community this morning.  Officer Kepple and Mrs. Miller, director of safe schools, were there to join us.

Heads Up Regarding Tomorrow

Hello everyone! I just wanted to give you a heads up that I will be absent from school tomorrow.  My son wasn't feeling well this morning and had a fever when I picked him up from daycare today.  What began as a low fever, has now progressed to a high fever. :(  If you read this, just give your kiddos a heads up.  I left fantastic plans for the substitute so the kids should have a fun, smooth day.  Tell them I'll miss them!  And don't worry-I'm a nut about washing my hands so that everyone stays healthy!!

WE LOVE TECHNOLOGY!!

Cara had a blast play educational games on the Ipod today!!

 

Reading Skill-Problem and Solution

Check out room 21 working so nicely together!  We read "Crazy Hair Day" and drew pictures of the problem and solution.  Ask your kiddo about the book! It's a fun read!  Next time you're reading with your child, ask them who the main character is in the story, what the setting is and what the problem and solution is. 

Learning Sight Words!

Look how much fun we're having as we play a spelling game to learn our sight words!  Words of the day are: look and was

Everyday Math Website

www.everydaymathonline.com

Above is the website to get onto Everyday Math.  Everyday Math is the program that we use to teach math.  On-line, you can find information and games for the kids to play.  They each have a log-in.  I will be sending their student login information home within the next couple days.  Students have not had a chance to login yet, so this is all new for them.  Feel free to help them explore and use this website at home to practice math skills. 

We are currently working on Unit 2, Lesson 1 in the classroom.  I will be sending homelinks home for that unit today.  Just a reminder that they are to be used for practice, as necessary, but not to be returned to school. 

Hope you're having a super day!!
Mindy

Wemberly Worried

Today, we read a story called "Wemberly Worried" which is about a little mouse who worries about everything, including school.  The kids shared their worries with me, which were mostly about sleeping at night, monsters and the fear that when they wake up no one will be home.  I reassured them that monsters are just in our imagination, not real and that their parents will always be there when they wake up.  Just wanted to give you a heads up in case they have trouble going to sleep tonight or come home and share their worries.  That's how the discussion started.

Do you know what turtles do??

We're making turtle puppets while we read about turtles and find "verbs" that tell what turtles do!

Ask your kiddo to tell you an example of a verb!

Having Fun in Centers!

This week, in our writing centers, the kids are observing Mr. Potato Head and writing down their observations.  Then, like usual, they are allowed to free write.  In the first couple weeks, many kiddos were copying words from a Quickwrite book.  Now, I am seeing the kids form sentences and add capitals and punctuation!!  If you see them writing at home, remind them to make sure their sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a period!

Another popular center today, was the Ipad center.  The kids LOVED getting on the Ipad!  First, they listened to some stories, then they were able to explore the other applications.  Definitely a hit!!  I'll let you know which apps the kids really enjoy so that you can put them on your Ipad or Ipod once we really get into using them.

PJ PARTY!!!

Sorry!! We were SOOO busy today that I didn't have time to blog!!!  Here we are at PJ day!!!!!

DON'T FORGET PJ'S AND SLIPPERS!!!

Don't forget-tomorrow is pj and slipper day!!!!!!!!!!!!  Kiddos should wear their pj's to school and bring their slippers in their backpack!!!!

Book Order

are due tomorrow!  Don't forget-no cash, checks only! Thanks!

From the School Nurse

Due to the amount of children (not in our class, but in first grade overall) that are having difficulties with wetting their pants, Mrs. Tice, our school nurse, has asked that students bring an extra change of clothes, including underwear to keep in their backpack.  I have an extra drawer that I could keep the kids clothes in also, so that they wouldn't have to keep taking them back and forth from school.  You know your kiddos best, if you think that your kiddo might need that extra change of clothes someday, please send in an extra set.  If you're pretty sure that they won't and you don't find it necessary, that's fine too.  I trust your judgement.  Thanks so much!!

Thanks for the snacks!!

Thank you for all of the snacks that you've been sending in!  The kids enjoy the nice variety that they have to choose from!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Exploring Manipulatives

Students had a fun time exploring math manipulatives today, including geoboards, templates, dominoes, base ten blocks and measuring tapes!

Word of the Day

Everyday I wear a necklace with a sight word.  Today, the word is "have."  We sing songs and practice that word throughout the day.  Today, I recruited a special helper to also wear a word of the day.  David's word of the day is "to."

David sang our word song with the class to start off our morning! :)

Cupcake Words

We use cupcakes to practice our sight words!  The kids read a sight word and then look at the back of the word.  If there's a smiley sticker on the back of the word, they get to use a special pencil!

Introducing......Our new behavior plan

As teachers, each year we get a different group of kiddos with different types of needs.  Although I will be keeping with some parts of my behavior plan-the Cocoa Stars and the positive reinforcement, I do feel it necessary to change just slightly another piece of the plan.  Currently, for positive reinforcment, students can earn stickers for their Cocoa Star and when they fill it up, they get to pick a prize from the prize box.  Currently, if students are off-task, talking too much, etc, they earn a stop sign and when they get three stop signs, they get a sad face in their daily behavior log.

This is how the plan will change: From now on, each student will start the day with three green "go" signs.  (A much more positive way to start the day.)  When students are not following classroom and hallway expectations, they will lose a "go" sign.  If students lose all three "go" signs, they will get a sad face in their behavior calendar.  After losing all three "go" signs, if students are still breaking classroom and hallway expectations, they will earn the three stop signs.  After earning all three stop signs, that student will sit during their last recess of the day.  (It's about 15 minutes.)  They will still have their lunch recess though.  This provides 6 warnings before missing recess, but hopefully after losing the three "go" signs, that will be enough to kick them into the correct gear.  During recess time, they will either stay in the classroom with me and practice what they earned their stop signs for or they will sit outside during recess, depending if I have duty or not.  They will be allowed to look at books while they are sitting outside.  They just won't be allowed to run around and socialize.

For those students who still have "go" signs at the end of the day, they will get rewarded.  Those students will earn one smiley sticker for each of their go signs.  They will put their smiley sticker on their name in the hallway.  After earning 10 smiley stickers, that student will have a free choice time at the end of the day.  Right now, students read/look at picture books for about 15 minutes at the end of each day.  Those students who earn 10 stickers, will have the opportunity to make a free choice each time they earn 10 stickers.  Instead of reading, those students will be able to choose computer time, ipod time, ipad time, board game/ building time, or drawing time.  (all of which are provided by me)

Yay!  Let the fun begin!  I'm embracing this idea because I feel like it's more of a positive approach to discipline.  Hip, hip, hooray!!  And it might sound complicated to you, but I promise it isn't!  The kids will catch on quickly and those that are really on-task will be grateful for the change!

Prize Winners!!!

PRIZE WINNERS!

COCOA PRIZES WERE EARNED TODAY!!!

Congrats to Jessica and Katie, our first two friends to fill up their Cocoa Star!  They were the first to pick a prize from the treasure box!  Way to go girls!!!

Yeah! We earned our PJ PARTY!!!

The kiddos earned their PJ Party!!  Send them to school on Friday in their PJ's!! They can bring slippers to wear in the classroom too.  Just be sure to have them wear shoes to school so that they have them for recess!  Wahoo!! :) 

Next, they are working to earn pieces of Mr. Potato Head for some extra recess time!

Word Families

Last week and this week we've been working on the word families "am", "at" and "an."  If you're practicing words with your kiddos, you can create words with those endings.  See examples below!

"at"
pat
mat
sat
cat
rat
that

"am"
yam
jam
ham
slam

"an"
can
man
ran
pan

For those kiddos that need a challenge, feel free to add more than one letter to the beginning sound of a word!  Such as "splat, exam and swam!"

When they've mastered those word patterns, create sentences for them to read.  Some sight words that you can use in your sentences that we've been working on are: like, is, it, the, see, in, me, we, that
and one.

Some examples include:
The cat sat on the mat.
Can I pat the cat?
I like ham and jam.
Is that a fat cat?
I like to see the cat.
The man ran with the cat.

Sunny Weather=Snacktime outside!

We just couldn't resist the sunshine streaming through our windows!  We had to have our snack outside today!  Thank you to everyone who has been sending snacks in!!!  The kids belly are very happy!

Two More Parts!!

We only need two more parts to go on Mr. Potato Head to earn our PJ party!!!!!

So Sweet!!!!

So sweet!!!! The kiddos are practicing writing their last names and I said, "I know this is hard, but you can do it!" and Sammy said, "It's not hard since you taught me."  So sweet!  I LOVE MY JOB!!! :)

What reading unit are we currently working on for the read-its??

Oops! Forgot to mention. We are on Unit R, Week 2. 

Read-it's!

Your kiddos will be bringing home a paper today that says "Read it!" at the top.  You will see that on the paper, there are words and sentences separated by unit.  The words on this sheet are the words that we'll be working on reading for each unit.  Feel free to practice the words with your kiddos as needed.  If they get stuck on a word, remind them to say the sound that each letter makes.  The words that are underlined are sight words and that trick won't work for those.  Those words will need to be recognized from memory.  Don't forget to flip the paper over-there are words on the back!

C-O-C-O-A

We had a COCOA assembly today to talk about the COCOA principles!  Ask your kiddos how they can earn a COCOA ticket!!

Book orders are coming home today!

Just a heads up-book orders are coming home today!  If you are interested in ordering books for your kiddo, please have the order turned in to me by Friday.  Although I'm pretty technology savy, I don't like doing book orders online; I still prefer the paper method for book orders.  Please make sure you send a check with your order.  No cash, please!  Thanks!

Box Tops

Did you know that Box Tops earn our school money??  The PTO collects them and then plans fun things for the kids to do each year, such as assemblies.  There will be a box top collection sheet coming home with your child today.  Just read the directions and start collecting!  There's a reward for three lucky kiddos each month!

Show And Share

First graders LOVE to share things from home!  Toys, pictures, etc!  I am going to rotate between boys and girls every other Friday.  So...today would be girls show and share.  I realized that I forgot to blog about it yesterday, but some of the girls remembered to bring something in so they are going to share today.  If your girl forgot, she can bring it in to share on Monday.  Boys can share something next Friday, September 14th.  Happy Sharing!

Class Pictures

Class picture info is coming home today!  Pictures are scheduled for September 13th at 2:40. 

Mr. Potato Head earns some parts!

Today, Mr. Potato Head finally earned a few more parts!  When Mr. Potato Head has all of his parts, we are going to have a pajama day!!  We can't wait!!  I'll let you know when he's earned all of his parts!

Presenting.....

 

The main character of our story today..... Mr. Frog!!!

Meet Our Pet Monkey

Meet our pet monkey!  We brainstormed names, voted and Rebecca's name was the favorite!  Ask your kiddo what his name is!  We use our pet monkey to play games, read and snuggle with!

Mrs. Smith is having fun!

The kids are at music right now.. I am having way to much fun in first grade!!

Brain Break!

I know it's a little blurry-We were shakin' and jumpin'!!  :)

Time to buckle down!

Just wanted to give you a heads up that a few kiddos earned 2 stop signs today.  Stop signs are earned for not following classroom expectations.  Classroom expectations include: being kind to others, listening and following directions, using good manners, raise hand to talk, talk quietly in the classroom, taking care of our things and doing our best.  Students will earn a stop sign if they repeatedly aren't following classroom expectations. The first two stop signs are reminders.  If they earn a third stop sign, they will get a sad face in their behavior calendar and we will talk about what to do to make that behavior change.  That might mean spending a few minutes one-on-one during recess.  I've been a bit too lenient, allowing the kiddos to get used to being back at school, but now it's time to buckle down so that valuable learning can take place!  Don't worry, we'll still have a great time, but we have to follow the classroom expectations in doing so. 

Thanks for your support!  Happy Wednesday!

Mrs. Smith :)

Email FYI

Just an FYI... I don't ever check my email associated with this blog.  If you want to send me an email, please use the school email.  msmith@hershey.k12.pa.us.  Thanks!

And the winner of our number challenge is....

 

 

THE GIRLS!!

 

 

Strite's Field Trip

Just a heads up!  A permission slip for the Strite's Field Trip is coming home in your child's red folder today.  Please sign and return ASAP.  Also, thanks to the following chaperones for volunteering to come along:

Mrs. Bortel
Mrs. Gearhart
Ms. Jones
Mrs. Cronin
Mrs. Essis

Chaperones-Please meet us at the clasroom at 8:50 that day.  (Monday, September 24th)  Thanks!!

Slap the spelling word!

Today, we worked in small groups to practice our spelling words.  We played "Slap the spelling word!"

Great citizenship

WOW!  My class is blowing me away today!  They are showing such great citizenship!!  Kudos to Taylor for earning her sticker for citizenship this morning for using kind words of encouragement to others!