Thank You So Much

Dear Families,
I want to thank you soo very much for the extremely thoughtful gifts that were given to me today. There was so much thought put into each one of those gifts. You know me so well. It was such a pleasure to have your children in my class this year. I loved my third graders, but am so happy that I made the switch to first grade. It opened a whole new world for me! I have learned so much from each and every one of them. The biggest thing that I learned from your kids this year is to slow down and appreciate life. I will never forget when I gave a child a pencil, the kind where you pull it out of the bottom when it's dull and push the little piece in the top to get a new pencil point, and he looked at me and said, "How does this work?" It was amazing to watch his reaction as he discovered this new thing. The students' love for life, carefree attitudes and open hearts helped me gain a whole new meaning of life and an even bigger appreciation for my own little ones. Thank you for sharing your children with me this year! I've enjoyed every moment. The laughs, the tears and the smiles.....
Love,
Mindy :)

Class Party

Just a reminder! Our class party is on Wednesday at 11:30. Parents are welcome to attend! We'll be heading over to Cocoa Castle afterwards! Students should bring sunscreen and a frozen water bottle with their name on it. See you then! :)

YELLOW

Wear yellow for field day tomorrow!!!!! And bring sunscreen and a water bottle!

Monday

Just a reminder that MONDAY is field day for staff and students.  Please send in a frozen water bottle for your kiddo with their name on it!  Also, please send in sunscreen that students can apply themselves.  I will monitor them. 

Thanks!

PARADE PICTURES-Some are sideways-I can't figure out why!!!!

 

Donations for End of Year Party

 

We are still in need of a sweet treat and grapes for our end of year party!  If anyone is willing to donate them, please let me know!  Our party is Wednesday, June 5th. Thanks!!

End of School Year Activities

Wednesday, May 29th 9:30 Parade
Parents are welcome to come watch.

Monday, June 3rd Field Day. 
This is for students and staff only.  Please send in a frozen or cold bottle of water with students name on it for the day.  Also, make sure they wear sneakers and put sunscreen on prior to the school day.

Wednesday, June 5th End of Year Party
11:30, followed by a trip to Cocoa Castle.  Parents are welcome to attend, please make sure kiddos wear sneakers and put sunscreen on prior to the school day.  If you or siblings would like to eat pizza with us, please send in $1 per slice by this Friday.

Thursday, June 6th Last day of school.  Dismissal is at 10:20.

Parade Route

Just a reminder that tomorrow morning at 9:30am, the kiddo will be marching in the Wild About Reading Parade!  We will parade in a large circle starting from the ECC, around the elementary building via the bus corral and then back to the ECC.  Additional parking can be found between the middle and elementary school buildings.  The best spot to view will be out front of the elementary school, across the parking lot, on the grass.  Or on the side of the elementary building, on the middle school side.  We are excited to celebrate a fun year of learning!!!! Hope to see you all then!

PARADE!

Our animal parade is tomorrow!  It starts at 9:30.  Please remind the kiddos to wear all black for our parade tomorrow!  If they didn't already bring in a white t-shirt, please send it in.  Remember, you won't get it back.   

I haven't been told the route of the parade yet, but it is outside as long as we have good weather.  We look forward to seeing you all tomorrow!!

Our last visit with our book buddies!

Today, we had our last visit with our buddies at Cocoa Castle.  I took lots of pictures but for some reason, whenever I try to post them, they are sideways!!!  Sorry!!

T-SHIRTS and PARADE! :)

Don't forget to send in a white t-shirt for your child ASAP!  Remember, you will NOT get this t-shirt back (nor will you want it back) ;)!

Our parade is on Wednesday, May 29th.  Please wait outside to see the students when they come through for the parade.  Please don't come to the classroom! We want it to be a surprise!  :)

I'm not sure of the exact route, but I'm sure you will see people and other classes outside watching.

Can't wait to see you then!!!

A BUSY MORNING! :)

This morning, we were very busy!! Room 21 got to visit the elementary building for a tour! The kids were very excited to see where they will be going to school next year!  They saw new things and even some things that will stay the same for them!  Ask them about their visit!

While we were there, we stopped by to see our book buddies because they just hatched baby chicks!!!

The Dollar Dice Game

This week, the kiddos will be learning a new game to count money.  It's called the Dollar Dice Game.  All you need are some coins and dice. 

I'll be sending directions home on Friday.  It's a great, fun way to practice counting money! :)

Spelling Words

There will not be a formal spelling test this week.  However, these are the words that we will be practicing throughout the week.

1. mouth
2. house
3. found
4. our
5. out
6. cloud
7. ouch
8. shout
9. round
10. count
11. should
12. loved

Enjoying lunch on a beautiful day!!!

Reading Homework Books

I can't believe the year is coming to a close already!  Today, I collected the reading books that the kiddos take home to read each night.  I am missing A LOT of books!!! Please look around your house and send any that you find back to school ASAP!

Thanks!!!!!!

REMINDER!!!

Just a reminder-Thursday night is Young Learner's Showcase!  Don't forget to stop in between 6 and 7:30 to visit our classroom and see some fun things that the kiddos have been working on this year!  What amazing progress they've made!! I'm sooo proud of them!!!  Thank you, parents, for all of your support and enthusiasm for your child's learning!  It's been an amazing first year in first grade for me!! :)

Chugging right along with reading.....

Spelling Words Unit 5 Week 1

1. brown
2. growl
3. now
4. down
5. how
6. clown
7. cow
8. crowd
9. frown
10. town
11. eyes
12. never

Social Skills

Today, we practiced taking turns when talking to others!  The kiddos did a TERRIFIC job!!  Here are the three steps in case you would like to use this at home:

Step 1: Look at the person.
Step 2: Hear what they are saying.
Step 3: Do-Answer their question and ask them a question back

Pictures, pictures and MORE pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Do you want a copy of all of the pictures that I've posted here on the blog, plus a bunch more????  Send in a pen drive and I'll be happy to copy them over for you!!! :) 

FIELD TRIP PICTURES!!!!

About our field trip.... Told by: Angelica, Katie and Taylor

On our field trip, we saw a lot of animals.  They were soft.  We got to touch skunk fur, fox fur and bear fur.  By Katie

We learned that the nose is one of the important things on the bear.  By Taylor

We got to go on a hike. We saw a robin and a cardinal.  We went on a hike through the woods and on a wobbly bridge.  By Angelica

Get your technology ready for Young Learner's Showcase!!!

If you have a device (iphone, ipad, ipod, etc) where you can download apps, please download a QR Reader app prior to Young Learner's Showcase!  Once you download the app, all you have to do, is scan the QR code when you come at Young Learner's Showcase Night!  The kids will teach you how to scan codes if you don't already know.  You can find a free app for this! just search "QR code reader."  Let me know if you have any questions!!

Mindy :)

Coming up.......a PARADE!!!

Coming up....the ECC will have a parade for parents on Wednesday, May 29th in the morning.  I will post times when it gets closer.  I believe it will be at 9:30. 

Our class will be dressing up as a.........I can't tell you! It's a SECRET!!!  In order to prepare for this parade, I need the following:

1. Please send in an old, plain white t-shirt or tank top that you DO NOT WANT BACK! 
2. Please dress your child in all black on the day of the parade!

YAY!!! I'm sooo excited!!!!!!!!!!!!

REMINDER ABOUT FIELD TRIP

Just a reminder-Our field trip is tomorrow!!!  Please send a packed lunch with your child!  We're excited for some fun!!

Filling up buckets....

Today, the kiddos got to read the nice things that peers wrote about them to fill their buckets. :)

Measuring....

Today, we reviewed measuring to the nearest inch. We worked in partners to see how big we are!

Spelling Words-Unit 4, Week 6

1. slowly
2. careful
3. quickly
4. useful
5. painful
6. playful
7. sadly
8. gladly
9. nicely
10. wonderful
11. because
12. across

Hanging out with my buddies!

Speaking of summer school.....

If anyone has any of the following to donate for summer school, I would greatly appreciate it!!!

*toilet paper and paper towel rolls
*empty plastic dishwashing bottles, ketchup bottles (any kind of bottles that can squirt water!!) :)

Thanks for checking!!!!

Summer School Info

Just a heads up-summer school information is coming home in your child's folder TODAY! :)

Takin' a little brain break after our spelling test! :)

Sorry about the blur! They were dancing their sillies out! :)

Summer School Fun!

Summer school packets will be coming home soon!  Just a heads up if you're interested or if you know anyone that is interested:

I'll be teaching all three weeks of summer school.  For the first week, look for:

Water's the Name, Fun is the Game-We're going to be playing lots of outdoor water games, team games and doing crafts, too!  This class is going to be super fun!!  I hope to see a lot of my current kiddos join me for it!

For the second week of summer school, look for:
Legos for girls-Pairing up with Mr. Pegher, I am going to introduce some new, fun lego challenges for girls!  You won't want to miss this!!

For the last week of summer school, Mrs. Pierce and I are excited to teach:
Cheerleading Rocks!-This class is for cheerleaders of all ages with all experiences.  During this class, we will dance, cheer and tumble!  So get ready to improve your skills while having a super fun time!!

Hope to see some of my kiddos in my summer school classes!!!
Mindy :)

Enjoying lunch outside on a beautiful day!

One more date....

I forgot one!!

Young Learner's Showcase is on May 16th from 6-7:30.  Please stop by your child's classroom to check out the impressive work that they've done this year!

Upcoming Dates

Just a reminder of some upcoming dates-

May 8th-Field trip to Messiah College.  Remember to dress your child comfortably and to pack a bagged lunch for the day.  I am still in need of chaperones if anyone wants to join us!  Just let me know!!  Chaperones must have their clearances to attend the trip! 

May 23rd-Our trip to Cocoa Castle with our book buddies.  Please dress your child appropriately to play outside at Cocoa Castle.  No parents needed for this.

June 5th-Our class party and playtime at Cocoa Castle.  Parents are welcome to join us for the party.  It starts at 11:30 in our classroom.  If parents or siblings would like pizza that day, please send in $1 per slice. 

SNACKS

Thank you to those of you who have sent in snacks for our classroom! We are still in need of snacks if anyone else can help donate!!!!!

QR Codes

Sorry for the lack of photos and blog posts this week-I've been fighting a bad sinus cold!

Guess what?! Your kiddos learned about QR Codes this week!  They scanned codes to find words to make compound words.  Ask them about it!!

Spelling Words Unit 4 Week 5

1. backpack
2. outside
3. baseball
4. herself
5. flashlight
6. bluebird
7. lunchbox
8. suitcase
9. inside
10. brainstorm
11. picture
12. remember

Today's Lunch

Just in case your kiddo comes home with a full lunch in their lunchbox, or they tell you that they didn't buy school lunch today, please know that Oyinkansola's parents are buying pizza for the whole class for her birthday.  They'll also enjoy drinks and cupcakes!  Oyinkansola is moving next year so this is an extra special celebration for her.  :)

DIBELS

YAY FOR ROOM 21 FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Students in room 21 were tested on Wednesday for the last time this school year.  They were tested on how many nonsense words they could read in a minute and how many real words in a passage they could read in a minute.  My class ROCKED those scores!!!

Coming home in your child's folder tonight is a visual graph that I created of their scores.  The WWR means whole words read (these are the nonsense words).  The ORF means oral reading fluency and that's how many regular words from a passage that they could read in a minute.  I drew a black line where the end of year goal is.  Most kiddos have surpassed that end of year goal already!  A few are still working on it but very close! 

Besides looking at the end of year goal, be sure to look at the progress that your child has made.  The growth made from September to January was great, but the growth made from January to April was even more impressive!!!!

WOOHOO!!!!! I am thrilled with their scores!!! Make sure you treat them to a special ice cream or something for working so hard this year! :)

Mindy :)

SNACKS!!

We are desperately in need of snacks!  We only have enough for today and tomorrow.  If you're able to send in a snack next week, we'd greatly appreciate it!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! :)

Take Your Child To Work Day

Today is an extra special day because it's "Take Your Child To Work Day!"  My daughter is learning how much work a teacher really does and your children are having a super fun day!  We made it a ticket day, played hangman and are acting out reading stories.  They are having a blast!!

Check out these cool rock houses!!! .

Observing clay....

Today, we observed clay and the kiddos made boats out of clay.  We tried putting them in water, but they all sunk!! Hmmmm... they are trying to figure out why???

Permission Slips!!!

HEADS UP!!!

Three permission slips will be coming home with your kiddo today-a field trip to the Oakes Museum, a visit to Cocoa Castle with our book buddies and our end of year celebration at Cocoa Castle.  Please fill them out and send them back so we can have lots of fun!!

Thanks,
Mindy :)

Spelling Words Unit 4 Week 4

1. lie
2. tie
3. high
4. might
5. right
6. night
7. bright
8. light
9. pie
10. tight
11. above
12. laugh

Test Update .

Hello everyone! Just wanted to let you know that the kiddos are back to taking the reading test themselves.  I graded their tests today and it looks like they really listened to my test-taking strategies and used them.  There were much better scores today! Woohoo!!!

Observing river rocks....