November 4 - 8

It's November already!  This month we will be working on punctuation in our writing, and will be writing narratives using temporal words (first, then, last etc.) .  We will also discuss gratitude and write thankful lists.  In science, I have a group of SUU students that will be coming each Tuesday morning for four weeks.  They will teach the concepts of classifying and sorting information through art, movement and drama.

The October Reading record is now due!!! Please turn that in ASAP.  The PTA is adding another incentive for each student to hand in their reading records.  At the AR assemblies at the end of the month, Mr. Burton,  has agreed to have something done to him by the class that "wins" the opportunity.  This month on November 22, Mr. Burton has agreed to have a pie thrown in his face.  In order to "win" this opportunity we have to be the 1st grade class that has the most reading records turned in.  If there is a tie, there will be a drawing for the class that can throw the pie in his face.  I also give a certificate, a pizza coupon, and a small treat for those that turn in their reading records.  The ultimate prize though, is that your child will become a better reader!

On Thursday, November 7th, we are going on a walking field trip to the Paiute Tribal Administration Building for Native American Day.  We will leave the school at 12:40 and return by 2:30.  I will of course not walk the children over if it is snowing.  Please though, send your child with a warm jacket or coat.  I'm excited as we have two students Teyha and EchoMarie who have told me they are dancing in the program that day.  It will be nice for my students to watch their friends participate. If you haven't sent the permission slip back yet, please do so before Thursday (it is on bright yellow paper).

Some of you are not sending you child's homework folder back daily.  I gave them new folders and they aren't all coming back daily.  Please be diligent in checking you child's folder for homework and notes daily.  Sometimes there will not be notes or homework, but most days there is something there for you to see. 

I sent home the November Scholastic book order today.  The order will be due Wednesday, November 13th.  Since it's getting close to the holidays, if you would like me to keep something "secret" from this book order let me know.

We have had two students move out recently.   Brendan B. and Tohannie have both moved.  We will miss them both.  I have changed the Star of the Week schedule just a bit because of these moves.  I will not put on this blog when your child will be Star of the Week.  I will send information home on the Friday before your child is supposed to be the Star of the Week.  Thanks for helping with this at home.  My students LOVE the attention they receive when it's their turn to be the Star of the Week.

Happy Reading!  Your child should at least be working on Sight Word List #4.  Include sight word practice in your nightly 20 minutes of reading!

Beautiful Angela--October's Catch the Vision Winner!

Pumpkin Carving!!

Newsletter October 28-November 1

Wow!  What  a crazy windy day!  My students are excited for the possibility of snow--their teacher is not!

Tomorrow is our Dads and Pumpkins carving activity at 1:30 here in my classroom.  Thank you to those who have volunteered to help.  So far I have Echo's grandpa, Abbi and Kate's mom, and Easton's, Taryn's, Traysen's, and Kean's dads that have volunteered to help.  If you would like to still come let me know tonight and I will plan on you.  Remember that if you volunteered to come and carve pumpkins you also volunteered to bring a pumpkin with you.  Our class will smell like pumpkins and we'll have first graders smiling from ear-to-ear!

Next week, on November 7th we will be walking to the Paiute Center and participating in their tribal celebration.  I will send home a field trip permission slip  by Wednesday.  Watch for that in your child's homework folder.

The October reading record is due this Friday, November 1st.  I will also test those students that have not passed off Sight Word List #3 on that date.

Today we went to theater class with Mr. Seely.  The students each got in groups and sang a song in a Halloween voice (ghost, pirate, monster etc.).  My kids are still a bit shy, but I think as the year progresses the chances to perform will not be so scary.  At the end of the lesson, he read the students a Halloween book using different voices for the characters.  He recommended doing that when they read at home.  I thought that was a great challenge.  Encourage your child to read with expression and with different voices as they read to you.  In addition, when you read to them use different voices for the characters.  They will love reading that much more if they use expression and change their voice to match the characters.

In math today, we still did not complete lesson 3.6.  The doubles plus one and doubles minus one concept is a difficult one for my students to grasp.  I sent home the homework today, but I will not require that they complete that homework until tomorrow (Oct. 29).

I may be gone on Thursday and Friday (I am crossing my fingers that I don't have to miss Halloween with these darling kids), but I might have jury duty.  I will not know until Wednesday evening.  It is school policy that the students do not dress up for Halloween.  I have planned a Halloween movie with Mrs. Wininger's class, and the school will have a Halloween sing that day, as well as we will work on Halloween math activities. 

We received a new student today.  His name is Darrell Lee and he will fit nicely into our classroom family.

Our October Catch the Vision winner was Angela Neeley.  She was an easy choice!  She's such a wonderful student and friend to all!

Happy Reading!

Newsletter October 22-25

Welcome back after a nice break and welcome to the 2nd quarter of this school year.  I hope that you all had a nice break.  The weather surely cooperated.  I will print off your child's grades tomorrow and send them home in your child's homework folder on Thursday. I hope that reminds you to send your child's homework folder back with them everyday!

This week is Red Ribbon week.  Today we started by participating in a rotating class schedule.  There we learned about the dangers of drug use, we were able to see what drugs actually looked like, and talked about healthy eating.  All of the students signed a pledge to be drug free and were given a red bracelet to wear.  Please encourage your child to wear these bracelets everyday this week.  I sent home two notes about the highlights of this week.  Tomorrow is pajama day and read-a-thon day.  Your child is welcome to wear their pajamas to school tomorrow.  They can also bring a pillow, blanket, stuffed animal, treats, or books from home to read.  Our read-a-thon will be after lunch tomorrow.  On Thursday, the students can dress up as a "hero".  Please make sure if your child participates in this dress up day, that they actually dress up as a "hero" not in their Halloween costume.  On Friday, it's wear red day. 

Next Tuesday, October 29th, at 1:30.  I've scheduled our Dads, Uncles, Grandpas, Big Brothers, step-fathers etc. and pumpkin carving day.  I sent home a note today explaining that activity.  If you can help us carve pumpkins that day please let me know through e-mail or a note.  You could also call the school and let me know.  My students always ask if their "mom" can come and help and I only want "male" volunteers this time.  Every year I have had several Dads of all kinds that help out.  It's a fun activity and one that is a big hit every year!

We had a fun time at the Braithwaite gallery last week.  We were able to view the art of a Cedar City artist Jim Jones.  We then used i pads to match the colors on the paintings using a color palette.  Then, the children created masks reminiscent of Mexican "Day of the Dead" masks.  The mask making correlated perfectly with the art, since Jim Jones spent the winter in Mexico and several of the paintings in the gallery depicted his time in Mexico.  We also visited the Natural History museum.  In that museum the children were able to identify skulls of various animals and then they participated am ancient fish identification process called Gyotaku from Japan.  In that identification process the fishermen would coat their catch in ink and press it onto paper in order to identify the fish they caught.  Now, it has developed into an art form.

Starting in November I will include two sentences with the list of spelling words for the test on Friday.  If your child is consistently missing several words then that indicates that they need more practice at home.  The students practice those spelling words independently during our reading groups in the morning, but sometimes extra practice at home is needed.  I will test on Sight Word List #3 on Friday, November 1st.  If you child hasn't passed off that list yet, please make sure you are working on that at home too.  The faster they master these words the better readers they will become!

Happy Reading!

Newsletter October 14 - 16

We are going on our walking Field Trip tomorrow to SUU.  We will visit the Braithwaite Art gallery and the Frehner Natural History museum.  We are leaving East Elementary at 12:40 and will return at approximately 3:20.  I hope the weather stays nice, but please send a jacket with your child as it is cool.  If it is raining, or snowing (please not yet!) we will not walk to SUU. Several students have not returned their permission slip for this field trip.  It is on coral paper and I need that tomorrow (Oct. 15) in order to take your child with us.

We will not have spelling words this week due to the shortened week.  Have a great break!  Remember that we will not have school on Thursday, Friday or the following Monday (Oct. 17,18 and 21).

We have 32 ipods in our classroom.  We use these mostly to listen to books during our literacy block in the morning.  The kids love this activity, and it's very beneficial as they follow the print and listen to someone else read to them.  I have many books that I switch out every month.  One of those ipods is missing.  I really feel like it's been misplaced, but my hunch could be wrong.  Would you please talk with your child and see if they took that ipod home with them and have them return it?  I would hate for that privilege to be taken away from our class because of missing ipods.  The ipod would have a sticker on the back stating it is the property of the Iron County school district, and the #2 on the back.  Thanks for talking to your children about this, and returning the ipod if found.

The October Scholastic book order will be due this Wednesday, October 16th.  That date is the end of the 1st quarter, so all work needs to be handed in by that date also.  I will not accept late 1st quarter work after that date.

On Friday, October 25th at 1:30 we will have a Dad's and Pumpkin Carving day in our classroom.  I would love any Dads, Grandpas, Uncles, etc. to come and help carve pumpkins with our class.  I know that it's not possible for all Fathers to come, so I will divide the students up and have one Dad take a group of students.  Please contact me through e-mail or note and let me know if you will be able to carve pumpkins that day.  If you are planning on coming, please supply one pumpkin for carving and then you will be able to take that pumpkin home.  

Again, have a great break and Happy Reading!

Newsletter October 7 - 11

I have such a great class this year.  I constantly brag about your children to my colleagues and family.  They are darling children, eager to learn, and respectful.

Tomorrow we are heading to the pumpkin patch in the afternoon.  We will leave the school at 1:00 and return by 3:00.  If you haven't sent back your child's permission slip and $1.00 donation please do so by tomorrow, or I cannot take your child with us.  Watch the weather and send a jacket with your child.  Speaking of jackets, I would just send one with your child daily now.  Weather in Cedar City is unpredictable, and all students will go out to break even if they do not have a jacket.  This is especially true during our longer lunch break.

This week we will wrap up our math unit on subtraction. We reviewed today and I will test on Wednesday morning.  Thanks for helping your child nightly with their math homework.  Please make sure that your child's name is on their homework.  Today as I was putting grades in at lunch time, I threw away five math homework assignments without names.

In writing, we will finish our apple opinion pieces.  Each child will state their opinion, give three reasons for that opinion, and provide an appropriate closing for their text.

Our reading groups are continuing very well, I am noticing improvement with many of my students.  Thanks also for reading with your child every night.  Today, I gave the students that handed in their September reading record a certificate, a little treat (that most of them already ate in class), and a certificate for a free personal size pizza from Pizza Hut.  Please use these as an incentive to read.  I used to take my children to Pizza Hut monthly to redeem their coupon.  They loved it!

If your child has not passed off Sight word list #2 please practice that list with them diligently.  They should be working on List #3 or beyond. Mastering these sight words is an important component to becoming a fluent reader.

This week our library day will be on Thursday, instead of our regular Friday time.  Please help to remind your child to return their library books by Thursday this week instead of Friday.

I sent home October's Scholastic book order today.  Those orders will be due, Wednesday October 16th, the day before we get our for Harvest Holiday. Use the online code to order, which is the easiest way, or send back your order by October 16th.  

Remember our school's PTA Halloween carnival this Saturday, October 12th, starting at 11:00.  It should be a lot of fun and the funds raised will be used directly for needs at our wonderful school.

Happy Reading!

September 30 - October 4

It has been nice meeting with you for SEP conferences.  I really enjoy meeting with you and your wonderful children. They are quick appointments, so feel free anytime to communicate with me through e-mail, note, phone call, or in person if you have any questions or concerns.

Today, October 1st, the September reading record is due (paper with apples on it).  Please make sure that you sign it and have your child write their name on the paper.  This is now worth 100 points.  I hope with the point value you realize how important I think reading at home with you child is.  Your child should be reading to you.  Please make sure you are honest and diligent, it WILL make a difference!

If your child has not passed of Sight Word List #2, they will be tested tomorrow. 

I mentioned this to you at SEP's, but we have two upcoming field trips. One is on Tuesday, October 8th, from 1:00 - 3:00.  We will be going to the pumpkin patch in Paragonah.  We are waiting for approval from the bus garage.  The second one will be Tuesday, October 24th, also from 1:00 -3:00.  We will be walking to the Braithwaite gallery at SUU. I welcome volunteers that would like to accompany us on these field trips.  Let me know if you would like to come with us.

I put an East Elementary t-shirt order form in your child's homework folder today.  That order will be due back on Monday, October 7th. 

Fall is definitely in the air.  Our 1st quarter ends on Wednesday, October 16th.  Please make sure that your child has all missing assignments turned in by Monday, October 14th. 

Our September Catch the Vision winner was EchoMarie Jake.  She is an outstanding student and friend. 

Echo our Catch the Vision winner!

Happy Reading!