Final Blog of the Year!

Where has the time gone? I can't believe there are only 6 1/2 days left of school. The children have grown so much this year. We have worked hard but had a blast at the same time! I will so miss these precious smiling faces and loving hearts!

I will post more pictures on our class Shutterfly site over the next two weeks. Don't forget to check it out! There are SO MANY terrific pictures of your beautiful children. You can make a wonderful photo book of their year in first grade! In fact, I think they are offering 50% off right now.

Last week was another fun-filled week! Besides learning about crabs and penguins, using our research to work on our All About books, working on fractions, measurement, symmetry, and math facts, shopping for and reading more "Just Right" books, and taking some final reading assessments, we had a number of special activities as well. On Monday afternoon, three eighth grade students, Jessica, Caroline, and Scott M. (one of my former first graders) visited to share information about the sea star and sea urchin. On Tuesday afternoon, we had one final compliment party! A BIG thank you to Kimberly Burke for hosting a luau for the children, complete with leis, tattoos, and huge cookie sandwiches! On Wednesday afternoon, two more eighth grade students, Jacob N. and Santa B. (both former first graders of mine) brought a number of very cool and interesting specimens from the ocean to share with us. The coolest was definitely the baleen from a humpback whale! The children asked wonderful questions and shared their knowledge as well. Jacob shared with the children that his interest in the ocean began in first grade! On Thursday morning, we dissected blue crabs! A big thank you to Mai Nguyen, Debbie Boensch, and Julia Wenniger for helping us with this exciting hands-on learning opportunity! On Friday, the kids had so much fun at Friday Fun Day that I don't think they really missed Splash Day after all! Check out the pictures on E-bytes! We also celebrated two birthdays - Grace and Alexis! Also on Friday, after the birthday celebration for Alexis, her dad entertained us as our parent reader.

This week, we have our last dissection - the one the children have waited for all year! This morning we dissected... SHARKS! Another big thank you to Mai, Julia, Eva D'Agostino, and Natalie Ames for helping us with this fishy task! The children will also be finishing their All About books on their sea creature this week and working on the visual portion of their projects. We'll take our final math assessment and spend time reviewing many of the skills we've learned this year. On Friday, we'll also have our last visit to the computer lab this year.

We'll also be doing a lot of partying this week! We'll be celebrating the last three birthdays in our class. First, on Monday afternoon we'll celebrate Kayla's birthday. Then on Tuesday afternoon, we'll celebrate Jack's birthday. Finally, on Wednesday we'll celebrate Sam's 1/2 birthday! But the partying doesn't stop there! On Thursday afternoon, we will have our end-of-the-year party. Students should wear their "Commotion in the Ocean" t-shirts with jean shorts, etc. We will rotate through the four first grade classrooms with different activities in each room.

The last day of school will be next Wednesday, May 30th. Dismissal will be at noon.

Please be sure that your child brings the take-home folder and green bag to school each day this week and next! We will be cleaning out cubbies, desks, and clearing walls. There will be a lot to send home so we will send a little home each day.

I want to thank each of you for sharing your precious child with me. Each and every child has brought something special to our class. I have watched them grow in every way and they have continued to amaze me. They have brought smiles, laughter, and love. They remind me all the time of why I do this! I will miss each and every one.

Finally, I want to thank each of you for all the support you have given me each and every day. You have volunteered in countless ways. We could not have done everything that we did this year without you! I hope that each of you will stop in to say hello from time to time next year and let me know how you and your child are doing!

Have a wonderful summer!
Susan

Final Volunteer Schedule:

• Tuesday - Art - 12:05 - Natalie Ames
• Wednesday - Math Game - 1:15 - Susannah or Brian Malison
• Friday - Parent Reader - 2:15 - Eva D'Agostino
• Tuesday - 5/29 - Art - 12:05 - Mai Nguyen

Friday Fun Day Replacing Splash Day!!!!

The PE staff is so excited for this Friday May 18, 2012. Our regularly scheduled "Splash Day,” will have to be modified in order to comply with recent water restrictions. The PE staff has arranged for a large inflatable maze to be delivered in place of the water slide. We will also provide multiple play areas and other (dry) activities that are sure to put a smile on your child's face. Spirit wear will take the place of swim wear for our "Friday Fun Day.” We are certain our students will enjoy what we have in store for them and we appreciate everyone's flexibility in this matter. We can't wait!

Week of May 14, 2012

Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!
 

I can't begin to tell you how very proud I am! Your children were absolutely amazing in Commotion in the Ocean on both Thursday and Friday! They brought tears to my eyes and kept me smiling all day Friday! I could not even begin to count the numerous compliments we received from parents, faculty, and students! All of the hard work certainly paid off and they had so much fun! You would think they would have had enough, but at recess Friday afternoon, they wanted to take my CD player and sing and dance on the playground! So cute! We have lots of pictures on our class shutterfly site, thanks to
Susannah Malison! If anyone else has pictures to
share, please do! I will also soon be giving you a link to the
pictures that Mr. Schiaparelli  took.

Don't forget that each day this week that your child brings in a donation for the children of Burkina Faso, he/she may wear a spirit shirt to school that day (with uniform bottoms). A flyer went home last week regarding this. Thank you to those of you who have already contributed! Following is the information again.

Flops and Tops for Burkina
Lower Division Service Project
Benefiting Hope for Burkina, May 8th – May 17th

Help make a child in Burkina Faso smile.
Donate a baseball cap, a pair of flip-flops, Crocs, or sneakers and
wear a spirit shirt and/or hat (with uniform bottoms) to school!

• Donations may be used or new.
• Donate as many shoes/hats as you can spare. 
• Wear your spirit shirt every day you donate!
• Collection bins will be located in each LD hallway.

Burkina Faso

• A West African country located south of the Sahara Desert and north of Ghana.  
• A land-locked country about the size of Colorado (105,900 sq. mi)
• Climate is tropical.
• Burkina has 16.3 million people that make up 60 ethnic groups and 4 primary religions.
• The Burkinabe people speak 6 languages.
• Burkina is one of the poorest countries in the world.

The People of Burkina Faso

• Over half live on less than $1/day.
• Only 41% of school age children are in school and most don’t finish.
• 3 out of 10 children die before they turn 10 years old.
• Malnutrition and water borne illnesses are the nation’s biggest threats. Less than 50% of Burkinabes have access to clean drinkable water.

source: http://hopeforburkina.org

The show may be over, but we still have lots  going on in our class!

Language Arts/Reading Workshop: We will be reviewing the vast sight word vocabulary that we have learned this year (our word wall) and using those words in different activities. We will be using the many reading strategies we've learned as we read. We'll be reading lots of nonfiction as we read to learn! There will be different centers and activities to choose from to continue practice with the many concepts and skills covered this year. Some include contractions, compound words, homophones, verbs, nouns, alphabetical order, etc.



Science: This week we will be learning about some of the other creatures of the sea such as the crab, seahorse, and penguin. In addition, we will spend some time researching the sea creatures for our project. Please continue to help your child gather information at home this week and keep it in the folder they created for their research. That folder should stay in their take home folder so that it is available when researching whether at home or in the classroom this week. All of the research is due no later than Friday. You may use the resources listed in the letter that came home last week to help them.  The graphic organizer is self-explanatory. We have talked in class about what makes a "good fact" - numbers, names, good descriptions, etc.  For instance, "my animal is 25 feet long" rather than "my animal is big" or "my animal lives in the Indian and Pacific Oceans" rather than "my animal lives in the ocean". In addition to the All About book they will be writing during Writing Workshop on the creature, they will be creating some type of graphical or physical project that also presents their research - a poster, diorama, shadow box, sculpture, etc. We have basic supplies like paints and construction paper, but any additional supplies (poster board, boxes, photos, etc.) will need to be brought from home. Construction of this project will be done in class the week of the 21st. Please feel free to print any pictures, maps, webpages that they find useful or can use in their final project. 



Writing Workshop: We continue with our non-fiction writing unit. Our main focus is on informational writing... writing books that teach! Our big focus for the next couple of weeks will be on writing "All About" books on the sea creature each child chose to research. In writing their All About books, the children will be incorporating many features that they have learned about nonfiction writing, such as titles, table of contents, headings, and labeled diagrams. They may also reflect and add their own thoughts about what they are writing about!

Math: We will continue working with fractions this week and two digit adding and subtracting.  We will be taking our Unit 9 assessment early next week.

Volunteers this week:

* Tuesday - Art - Debbie Boensch (12:05)
* Wednesday - Math Game - Kelli Cross or Susannah Malison (1:15)
* Friday - Parent Reader - Marshall or Natalie Ames - 2:15)

Other Important Reminders/Dates/Information:

This will be the last week of the formal homework calendar.








Splash Day this Friday, May 18th.  Please send a towel to school with your child and be sure that he/she either brings an appropriate swimsuit to school to change into or wears the swimsuit to school under the uniform. They will need water shoes to wear as well. The children will change into their regular school uniform after PE. So, if they wear the swimsuit under the uniform that morning, don't forget to please send in underwear to change into as well! And don''t forget socks and tennis shoes to change into! Please also apply sunscreen to your child before coming to school. That will save us time! You may also send a hat with your child if they don't have one at school already.

End-of-the-Year Party - Thursday, May 24th - Students should
wear their "Commotion in the Ocean" t-shirts with jean shorts, etc.


Last Day of School - Wednesday, May 30th -noon dismissal

Have a great week!
Susan

Week of May 7, 2012

"Commotion in the Ocean" is finally here! The kids are so excited! We begin rehearsing in the theater this week for our big show on Friday! I hope that you will be able to be there! We will have a dress rehearsal on Thursday morning for the lower school students and teachers. Please have your child wear jean shorts, pants, skirts, or skorts on both Thursday and Friday this week. I will have the t-shirts they made waiting to put on them Thursday morning. They will only wear them for the dress rehearsal so they will stay clean for Friday. Please send in a full uniform to change into after the rehearsal. We will send the t-shirts and jean bottoms home on Thursday afternoon. The children should come to school dressed in them Friday. Please don't forget!

I want to thank you for practicing the speaking parts with your children. Please continue to practice with them all this week on volume and expression!

As you may have heard, your children were asked to choose a specific animal they want to research for their final project of the year.  After they have chosen the animal, they will research to find information about the animal's habitat, diet, anatomy, and other interesting facts. They will use this research to then write an All About nonfiction book about their animal and create a visual project to present. We will start the research in the classroom and in the computer lab, but will ask you to help your child gather the remainder of the information needed at home with your guidance. A paper with helpful websites will be coming home today. If your child has not chosen an animal, please help them decide so they can tell me the animal's name on Tuesday.

SHARK WEEK! As if the children aren't excited enough about rehearsing in the theater this week, they are doubly excited that it is shark week in our class! In science, we will be reading and researching about these fierce predators, writing about them, observing them in video, exploring their attributes, and comparing them to the mammals of the sea that we have been learning about.

In reading and writing workshops, the children are becoming more and more adept at using the features of non-fiction to help them read, research, write, and learn.

In math, we will review fraction concepts, compare fractions, and introduce the idea that fractional parts of a whole have many names (equivalent fractions).

Volunteers this week: 

•  Tuesday - Art -  12:05 - Jill Emerson
• Wednesday - Math Game - 1:15 - Kimberly Burke
• Friday - Parent Reader - 2:15 - Mary Harris

Other Important Reminders/Dates/Information:

Library check-out has ended. All library books are due back no later than Thursday of this week!

Our program is Friday at 8:30 a.m. in the Janet Root Theater. Don't miss it! It will be a regular day of school after the program.

Splash Day is May 18th.  A flyer came home last week with information.

End-of-the-Year party is Thursday, May 24th after lunch. 

Last day of school is Wednesday, May 30th, noon dismissal.

See you Friday!
Susan