I know I may have mentioned this before but it is so cute and so special that I am mentioning it again (and will probably mention it more in the future.) If you ever want to see a mass number of unique facial expressions then watch 30 first graders cut paper! Brows furrow, lips pucker, tongues stick out! The concentration is immense and, from a first grade teacher perspective, SO adorable!!
POETRY RECITATIONS: When you were in first grade did you memorize poems and recite them, by yourself, in front of the whole class? I didn't. Your children do!! They stand up in front of all of their classmates and recite a poem that they memorized! I always sit at the back of the class so they have someone specific to focus on if they get nervous. Each recitation they need me less and less. More and more they are presenting to the class rather than me. It is incredible to witness! FIELD TRIP: On December 10th the first grade will be attending the Ballet Arizona’s student matinee performance of “The Nutcracker.” A letter and a permission slip has been placed in your scholar's red homework folder. The cost of the field trip is $10.00. Permission slips and field trip money are due no later than Friday, December 3rd. We will be sending more details about the field trip next week. 5 CHAPERONES NEEDED PER CLASS: Because this field trip involves reserved seating, we are only able to take five chaperones per class! Any person interested in being a chaperone for this field MUST complete the volunteer application on our website (Under the family resources tab, click volunteer, and it will direct you to the application page.) This is the link: https://www.greatheartsamerica.org/volunteer/ *Important notes: - If you are interested in chaperoning please e-mail us by Wednesday, December 1st. - If there are more than 5 people who express interest in being a chaperone we will do a random drawing of names. - Chaperones will be contacted by Friday December 3rd. - Masks are required on the bus to and from the field trip and the venue. There is no exception to this due to it being a federal mandate. PREPARING STUDENTS TO ATTEND A BALLET: Some students have had the opportunity to attend a live ballet performance, some have not. The venue is very beautiful. As students of all ages from many different schools are being seated, students have the opportunity to watch the dancers warm up. Teachers will be discussing appropriate behavior for watching a live ballet performance in a theater, but we do ask for your help as well. Simply talking about live performances and being respectful audience members (much like when they are listening to their classmates recite poems) is an immense support. With the exception of last year, our young ones have had the opportunity to attend a live ballet ever since our school opened. It is a beautiful experience for them! K-2 CONCERT ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 6TH (INFORMATION TAKEN DIRECTLY FROM THE WEEKLY ATHENIAN ECHO): - Monday, December 6 - Kindergarten-2nd Grade Concert, 6 PM, Archway Trivium East MPR (Students arrive at 5:15 PM) - Concert dress: Boys wear white collared dress shirts with black pants and black dress shoes. Girls wear a white blouse with a black skirt or black dress pants, or a black and/or white dress, and black dress shoes (open-toed shoes and reasonable heels are permitted). - Audience will be seated after the classes warm-up and practice BASED ON MANY YEARS OF EXPERIENCE: Make sure you scholar uses the bathroom before arriving!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GENERAL ACADEMICS: Spalding - Scholars will learn 10 new words on Monday, 10 on Tuesday, and 10 and Wednesday. The spelling review is on Thursday and the spelling test is on Friday. Math - Comparing numbers, using subtracting to compare, finding the difference *Note - Unit 9 "Friendly Notes" have been placed in your scholar's red homework folder. History - Early American Civilizations *Note - A study guide has been placed in your scholar's red homework folders. The unit test will be Wednesday. Science - The Human Body Systems Literature - Frog and Toad Together Grammar - Statements, questions, and exclamations Poetry - "The Pasture" by Robert Frost *Note - Last week my class and I discussed easy ways to memorize the poems. One of the ways mentioned was learning just one line each day. One student shared that she practices in the car on the way home. UPCOMING DATES (INCLUDING INFORMATION THAT IS FIRST GRADE SPECIFIC): Friday, December 3rd - Frist grade field trip permission slip and $10 fee due. Monday, December 6 - K-2 Concert, 6 PM, Archway MPR (students arrive at 5:15 PM) Thursday, December 9 - 3-5 Concert, 6 PM Friday, December 10 - First grade field trip to Ballet Arizona to see "The Nutcracker" ON A PERSONAL NOTE: When we attend the student matinee ballet I don't see much of the ballet itself because I am so busy watching wide-eyed, open-mouthed students as they watch the ballet. For at least a week after the field trip boys and girls alike are dancing out on the playground, attempting to mimic the leaps and spins they saw on the stage. Within weeks several boys and girls tell me that they have begun ballet lessons. NAMING THE GOOD: - I am thankful for the thanksgiving break. I didn't do any school stuff until Sunday afternoon. - The holiday season has officially begun! Have a nice week!
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We have been reading the literature book Frog and Toad are Friends. The last story in that particular book is titled "The Letter." It is a very sweet story. Toad is unhappy because he never gets any mail. Frog discovers the source of Toad's unhappiness so he runs home and write a letter to his friend. Frog then gives the letter to... a snail! Frog runs back to Toad's house to wait for the letter. They have to wait four days for the letter to arrive!
After we read "The Letter" each scholar was assigned a partner. The scholars had to write a letter to their partner, put it in an envelope, and deliver the letter. The delivery and reading of the letters was a very special moment to the scholars. There was a very quiet hum in the class as they read their letters. What they didn't notice (but I did) was the smiles that were on each of their faces as they read. Each of my students felt very special. GENERAL ACADEMICS: Spalding - Full review of all 70 phonograms, practice applying knowledge of phonograms and spelling rules to unfamiliar words Math - Unit 7 Geometry/Shapes with a focus on how shapes fit together and how some shapes can put put together to form completely different shapes Literature - Frog and Toad are Friends Grammar - Practicing sentence dictation Poetry - "The Goops" by Gelette Burgess poetry recitations UPCOMING DATES: Wednesday-Friday, November 24-26 - No School: Thanksgiving Break ON A SIDE NOTE ABOUT UPCOMING DATES AND EVENTS: December is fun and very full. It is amazing how much can be packed into that three weeks of school before Winter break. Please be watching for e-mails and red folder letters with information about first grade events. ON A PERSONAL NOTE: Sometimes you reach a point where you just have to stop pushing and focusing on everything you still have to do. Sometimes you have to recognize everything you have accomplished. NAME THE GOOD: - The classroom is full of beautiful moments every day. I appreciate choosing a profession that has daily special moments. - Christmas cards are a hobby. Not a chore. I love to write and had the opportunity to write several letters the past weekend. They are beautifully written (if I do say so myself!) ;-) Happy Thanksgiving! We had several historical and literary figures visit us on Friday. Let's see how many I remember...
We had: Gretel King Arthur A composer (He couldn't remember his character's name.) Owl Aphrodite Amelia Earhart Cinderella Little Red Riding Hood King Tut Hapsetshut Amelia Bedelia Santa a princess I was Eleanor Roosevelt MID-QUARTER REPORTS: I am sending home a Mid-quarter grade report tomorrow. The mid-quarter reports are not a required thing for teachers to send out, however I feel like it is a good communication tool. Please note that the mid-quarter reports are informal reports. Be on the look out for them tomorrow. GENERAL ACADEMICS: Spalding - Students will learn 10 new words each on Monday - Wednesday. The 30-word review is on Thursday and the spelling test is on Friday. Math - Unit 7 - Shapes with a focus on characteristics of shapes, sides, corners, closed shapes vs. open shapes, and patterns *Note- A unit 7 "Friendly Notes" information packet was placed in today's red homework folders. History - Early American Civilizations with a focus on the Maya and the Aztec civilizations. Literature - Frog and Toad are Friends *Note - If your scholar does not have Frog and Toad are Friends at school please send it in his/her backpack tomorrow. Grammar - Exclamation sentences Poetry - "The Goops"(Table Manners) by Gelette Burgess UPCOMING DATES: November 15 - November 19 - PSO Food Drive in support of St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance Friday, November 19 - Family Game Night, 5-7 PM Wednesday-Friday, November 24-26 - No School: Thanksgiving Break Please see the weekly Athenian Echo for more information about upcoming dates and events. ON A PERSONAL NOTE: My students this year are so into arts and crafts. Last Friday I mentioned that I was excited about the crafts I was going to make over the weekend. I had group that remembered! During the first recess they came up and asked me about what I made over the weekend. My cats helped me grade papers this weekend. Splat helped me by trying to use the laptop as a nap space. Grease helped me by laying on the papers I was grading. They both kept getting very offended whenever I moved them. NAME THE GOOD: - The geometry unit is so much fun to teach!!!! It is one of my favorites. - Some of my students used Spalding to read and spell rectangle, triangle, square, and circle. Have a nice, calm, mellow week. I have some future historians in my class. I get so many questions about the ancient cultures and the ancient languages. I can answer some of the questions. Many I can't. Our class has had a few conversations about how some people's jobs entail studying a specific ancient culture to learn their customs and language. Some of my students say stuff like, "That is cool, but I am going to be a doctor." Other students glow at the possibilities. One day I overhead a student talk about being a "story-ian" when he grew up.
ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS REGUARDING GRADES: I have received a lot of different questions about grades in the last several years. This week I decided to list the most common questions. I hope you find it helpful. What do the numbers 1-4 mean? 1 - The scholar has not shown that he/she understands or has learned the skill or concept. 2 - The scholar has not consistently shown understanding or knowledge of the skill or concept. 3 - The scholar understands and demonstrates understanding and knowledge of the skill or concept. The scholar is right where he/she needs to be. 4 - The scholar shows an ability or understanding above grade level expectations of a skill or concept. What is a deficiency notice? A deficiency notice is formal e-mail notifying parents of low grades in a subject(s). What should I do if I receive a deficiency notice? Contact your child's teacher via e-mail to ask questions or schedule a conference so you can better understand where your child is at academically. Why does my scholar's grades fluctuate from quarter to quarter? Different concepts are taught from quarter to quarter. Students find some concepts more challenging than others. The concepts themselves build and become more challenging as the school year progresses. My scholar had a lot of 4s last quarter, but now he/she has 3s. Should I be worried? No What do I do if I feel concerned about my scholar's grades in a subject(s)? E-mail your scholar's teacher. Express the concern or questions that you have. The teacher will either be able to answer via e-mail or may request to schedule a conference in order to go into more detail. HISTORICAL AND LITERARY FIGURE DAY Students may dress up as a historical character or a classical literary character this Friday, November 12th. *Reminder* - pop culture characters are not allowed. Here is a list of characters that students have dressed up as in the past: Classic fairytale characters Classic book characters Aesop's Fables characters (One year a student dressed up Jack's cow from Jack and the Beanstalk.) Ancient Egyptian Characters Frog or Toad from Frog and Toad Owl from Owl at Home Winnie the Pooh haracters Sherlock Holmes George Washington Abraham Lincoln Famous painters and composers (I have seen some students come as a famous painting.) Robin Hood Albert Einstein and other famous scientists More information is also located in the Athenian Echo. GENERAL ACADEMICS: Spalding - Students will learn 10 new words on Monday and Tuesday, review the 20 words on Wednesday and take the spelling test on Friday. Math - Numbers to 20 with a focus on: - How addition and subtraction are related to each other - Solving story problems *Note - The math WB homework for Monday is pg. 131 - column 1 only. On Tuesday students will complete column 2. Don't do the whole page in one day. That would be way too much work! History - Ancient Egypt unit review and test Literature - Folktales Grammar - Subject and Predicate Poetry - "The Caterpillar" by Christina Rossetti *Note - Recitations are this week. UPCOMING DATES: November 8-10 - PSO Book Fair Parent Shopping Night - Monday, November 8, 5-7 PM Thursday, November 11 - No School: Veterans Day Friday, November 12 - Literary/Historical Figure Day November 15 - November 19 - PSO Food Drive in support of St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance Friday, November 19 - Family Game Night, 5-7 PM *Note - I usually try to attend game night but will not be able to this year as I already have a plans. Have fun, though! Please refer to the Athenian Echo for more information about upcoming dates and events. ON A PERSONAL NOTE: I saw a quote a few years ago that made me laugh. It went something like this: "You won the super bowl? Well, I taught school after Halloween. Now who should get the parade?" I remember that quote every year, especially on the years when the holiday falls at the beginning of the week. ;-) NAMING THE GOOD: The book fair is here! In person! I love new books. New books smell so good! There is no such thing as having too many books! Hi! So today was (and continues to be) a teensy bit busy. My blog will be super short today.
GENERAL ACADEMICS: Spalding - 10 new words on Monday - Wednesday, review on Thursday, spelling test on Friday. Math - Focus on subtraction methods for numbers to 20. A "Friendly Notes" went home in folders today. History - Ancient Egypt Grammar - Statements vs. Questions Literature - Folk Tales and Legends Poetry - "The Caterpillar" by Christina Rossetti UPCOMING DATES: Friday, November 5 - Half Day Dismissal, 12 PM: Academy In-service * Trivium Spirit Day * November 8-10 - PSO Book Fair Parent Shopping Night - Monday, November 8, 5-7 PM Thursday, November 11 - No School: Veterans Day Friday, November 12 - Literary/Historical Figure Day November 15 - November 19 - PSO Food Drive in support of St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance Friday, November 19 - Family Game Night, 5-7 PM Have a good week. :-) |
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May 2022
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