3/4/08
Hello Parents,
I have posted conference sign-up's outside the classroom today. Please stop
by to sign-up. If you are unable to get to school please email me your
first three choices. I am having conferences every half hour: 3/17 3 - 4
pm; 3/18 3 - 5:30 pm; 3/19 3 - 5:30 pm; and 3/20 1 - 4 pm. I am also happy
to meet with parents at 7 or 7:30 am on Tue or Thur.
In the homework packet that will be going home this week is a parent letter
explaining the First Grade Race to the Sun. This is very similar to the
read-a-thon, where children are to read at home (either independently or
with someone) to win an ice cream sundae party. The big difference is that
a reading record sheet will go home every week and needs to be signed and
returned every week.
I will also be sending home a field trip permission slip for a stream
investigation at Sunol Regional Wilderness Park. Our class will be going
April 23rd from 9ish till 12:30ish. Cost will be $4 a student - chaperones
free.
The first grade will be having a spring celebration March 20th. We are
asking for every family to bring in 6 plastic eggs stuffed with non-
chocolate items such as stickers, erasers, candy etc. I am also looking for
parent volunteer to hide eggs for the children that morning, first thing.
Please let me know if you can help.
In centers this week, still going from last week, we are working on our pop-
up books, writing math stories, taking star reading tests, learning about
presidents in the science center and reading Arthur Meets the President for
the listening center.
2/21/08
Hello parents! Just a quick update to keep you abreast. Tomorrow is
Shawna's last day with us. We will be having a little party for her in the
last half hour of class.
A big thank you to Donna, Tamur's mom, for making the Chinese New Year so
exciting for the kids. We had a great day filled with a presentation of
Chinese culture, Chinese food, and of course the Chinsee New Year Parade to
the other first grade classes. We have also been watching a documentary on
the lion dance and Chinese Acrobatics over the last 2 weeks. In case you
have the time, the second largest Chinese New Year Parade in the States will
be this Saturday in San Francisco from 5:30 till 8 pm.
I just wanted to let all the parents know they too are welcome to share
lessons with the class. Just come and talk to me. Also, the new How To
books are outside on the bulletin board, as well the dragon the class
painted.
March 3rd the first grade will be celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday with a
fun filled morning of rotating classes like we did for Colonial Days.
This week in centers we are listing to Pirate Pete, making word ladders,
working on maps, reading about meercats in the science center and begining
our rough draft for the next pop-up book on Jack and the Beanstalk.
Last week in centers we made Valentine graphs, heart shaped animals, read
about the post office in the science center, made Feb calendars and listened
to It's Valentine's Day by jack Prelutsky.
2/4/08
A big thank you to all our parent volunteers and drivers who helped make our
ice skating field trip such a success. The kids all had a great time, and I
was amazed by how well they all skated!
This Friday is the 100th day of school! There will be a big celebration in
the MPR room this Friday from 8:30 till 11 ish and we are lucky enough to
have the help from middle school again to run all the booths for the
morning. There will also be a 100th day parade later in the afternoon.
Donna Wing will be spending the day with the class this Thursday, Feb. 7 to
teach the children about Chinese New Years. It will be a great day with art
projects, presentations, a parade and food.
In centers this week we are doing a math counting activity with tens and
ones, listening to Over in the Ocean, decorating our 100th day banners and
glasses, making paper fortune cookies and decorating Chinese New Years's
hats, and reading about Feb. Dental Health Month.
1/17/08
The DEAR day was a blast! We truly read books the whole day: I started the
day with Biker Baby Cassidy's First Motorcycle Ride, then Amy B. read Walter
the Farting Dog (it was a huge hit!) and The Boy Who Grew Flowers, next the
Fire Chief read to all the first graders in the MPR, I then read a few
tales from Algernon & Other Cautionary Tales, next Rachel B. came in to read
Kiss, Kiss, I'm Sorry, Me & My Dad, and If You Give A Pig A Pancake, next
Susan B. came in to read The 5 Chinese Brothers and Is Your Mama A Llama?,
and finally before lunch our big buddies came in to read Owen & Mzee. After
lunch we read more Algernon, Molly Moon, and a few selections from Ripley's
Believe It or Not, then the children had some more free reading time and
then we played a few rounds of sight word bingo, then middle schoolers
Savannah and Carly came to read Dogs Don't Wear Sneakers and Pearl Paints,
after PE Donna A. came in to read Rikki Tikki Tembo which the children loved
too. A big thanks to all my volunteer readers - the day was a blast.
This week in centers we are working out of our math books, doing a history
center on Martin Luther King Jr., the first part of a how to book, a monster
drawing and writing art center, and listening to Snowmen At Night.
We are also watching an animated video on Martin Luther King Jr. Homework
will be going home tomorrow as usual and will be due Thursday the 24th.
Please study your child's spelling words with them every day.
Have a great three day weekend!
1/9/08
Happy New Year! The New Year has started and we are as busy as ever. Our
theme for the month of January is snow and we are planning an entire 1st
grade ice skating trip for the end of this month. Be on the look out for
more information going home soon.
This Friday is Bingo for Books, the big kick off for the read-a-thon. The
actual read-a-thon will begin on the 14th and will continue through the
27th. Lots of paperwork should have already gone home on this. This Tue.
the 15th will be a DEAR (drop everything and read) day. Children are to
come to school in their pajamas (sleeping bags and pillows allowed) and
should be prepared for a fun filled day of nothing but activites related to
reading. I am still looking for more volunteers to come in and read their
favorite book to the class. Little ones are welcome.
Our students must record 20 hours of reading time (being read to or reading
by themselves) to earn a gold dragon tag for the read-a-thon. Reading time
in class does count towards this 20 hours and we as a class will be
recording our time together. The sheet to record hours read at home went
home today. Your child will need to read about 40 mins every day to earn a
gold dragon tag.
Also, the class did attend the book fair preview today and will be going
back to the book fair in 1 week to purchase any books. Your child should
have brought home a list of books they are interested in buying.
We began the week with our usual centers: Antartica science center, January
pattern math center, "Big Bear, Little Bear" listening center, snow flake
mobile art center, and a phonics sorting center.
Finally, tomorrow's spelling test will be pushed back till next Thursday and
since we are ahead of the other classes with homework, I will wait until
next week to send homework home. Please use this homework free week to
study spelling words every night and to get in extra minutes of reading.
Thanks!
12/15/07
First off, I have two very big thank yous. I would like to thank Donna,
Tamur's mother, for spending the entire day on Thursday teaching the
children about the holidays Eid and Diwali. The children loved learning
about the different holidays, seeing the clothes, trying foods, and making
Eid cards and Rangoli patterns. I would also like to thank Susan, Ty's
mother, who spent Fri morning making a special art project with all the
children, which I won't mention as I believe it is a surprise. The children
were delighted to make the craft project.
This upcoming week will no doubt be a whirlwind of fun. Mon and Tue should
be normal days complete with regular centers. (Our centers currently
include a Jan Brett listening center, a 5 senses science center, a blends
phonic center, another math patterning center and a surprise art center.)
Wed morning will be the Holidays Around the World celebration in the MPR
room with the whole 1st grade. I am looking for parent volunteers to run
our craft tables from 8 - 9:45 and again from 10 - 11:25. I am hoping for
about 3 parents for each time slot.
And of course Thursday is our field trip to the Nutcracker in the morning
with out Gingerbread house making party afterwards. We are planning on
leaving for our field trip at 8:30 sharp and will be back in time for lunch
at school. The Holiday party will begin at 1:30 and the more parents who
would like to come the merrier.
A big thanks to Amy, Rachel, Kim and Teresa for all their help this last
Friday with the Polar Express morning. The children had a great day and
loved getting to wear their pajamas to school.
12/8/07
Happy Sunday Parents! There was a mistake in my last posting. The Holidays
Around the World in the MPR will be Dec 19th and NOT Dec the 12th as I had
originally thought. Sorry for the confusion.
Hopefully everybody received the pink eye notice that went home with your
child on Thursday. We had another child go home on Friday too. Please keep
a look out for pink eye symptoms! A quick call to the doctors, taught us
that the best way to prevent spreading the disease is to catch symptoms
early (as opposed to just using lots of lysol).
This Friday, the 14th, we will have Mrs. Morgan's class over to watch the
Polar Express. Children are encouraged to wear pj's and bring pillows. A
TADA list will be sent out shortly for hot chocolate and snack sign-ups.
This week in centers we are listening to Mrs. Wishy Washy, making stand-up
Christmas trees, making Dec. calendars with an AA,BB,CC pattern, doing a
phonics center with blends, and reading about dormice for the science center.
Thanks to all the parents who donated items or helped with last Wed.'s
latkas and dreidel games. It was a great time!
11/28/07
Hello room 15 parents! Thanks for all your help with making colonial days
such a success. The chidren had a great time! There are lots of upcoming
events for the month of December starting with Dec. 5th the 1st day of
Hanukah. Our class will be joining Mrs. Morgan's class after recess to
learn about a winter holiday, play dreidel with MMs, and to make latkas.
You should be receiving a TADA list from Jordan's mom, Kim, in the next few
days.
On Dec 19th all of first grade will be celebrating Holidays Around the World
in the MPR. More information will be coming but it will be during the a.m.
and we will need parent volunteers and supplies.
On Dec 14th Mrs. Morgan's class will be joining our class to watch the Polar
Express. All of first grade will be wearing pj's that day and children are
encouraged to bring in a pillow for the movie. This too will be first thing
in the morning and I am looking for parents to help make hot cocoa and
provide goodies.
And finally, on Dec 20th (the last day of school) our class will be taking a
field trip to see the Valley Dance Theater's performance of The Nutcracker
featuring our very own Ty! I am limited to 7 chaperones/drivers so please
let me know if you are planning on coming. Field trip permission slips went
home today and it would be a big help to get those back ASAP. Tickets are
$10 a person.
In class this week for centers we have been doing "The Great Turkey Rescue"
listening center, a history center on Squanto, a phonics sort with
diagraphs, a pattern continuation center, and a holiday wreath.
A big thanks to the room parents for organizing the Gala basket and a big
thanks to all of you who contributed. Thank you for my gala tickets - I
can't wait to go and I hope to see you there!
11/2/07
Hello Parents! Sorry I haven't updated this sooner but I have been more
than busy with Halloween haunted houses and assessments. I hope you all
received the email last night about parent teacher conferences. Sign-ups
are outside of my door or you may email me your 1st three choices and I will
do my best.
This last week in centers we have been doing the listening center,
scholastic science center, haunted house art, dem bones graphing, and Star
Assessment with sugar skulls.
Halloween was a fantastic day for all the children with the Halloween parade
first thing in the morning followed by a trip to the multi-cultural art show
in the MPR. The Halloween party at the end of the day was a blast too. The
children all got to decorate pumpkins and sugar cookies. Thanks to all the
wonderful parents who brought in supplies and helped out during the party
and all week!!!
Just a reminder, Wed. Nov. 7th is a half day and Mon. Nov. 12th is no
school.
And finally, I am still looking for scraps of wall paper or gift wrap that
could be used for repeat patterning. I haven't got any yet, so whatever you
have around the hosue would be a big help. Thanks!
10/21/07
Good news! I have talked with the art teacher and was able to schedule us
make-up art classes since our class missed art for the field trip last week
and will be missing art tomorrow due to the half day. If you see Ms. Modrich
around, please make sure to tell her thank you.
Also, we are finally going to order class shirts. I will send out an email
about this in the next week, but it will be a few weeks before the shirts
are ready.
Jordan Beakey's mom, Kim, is working on the room contact list for the
classroom. It should be sent out soon.
This week for centers we are doing a Halloween listening center, a
Scholastic science center, witch art, fruitloop patterning, and a word
family building activity with letter tiles.
A big thank you to all the parent volunteers this week. It is a pleasure to
have you in the classroom.
Oh, and I'm still hoping to receive strips of wall paper or wrapping paper
that has patterns on it. Thanks!
10/11/07
Hello Room 15 parents,
The kids and I are looking forward to the upcoming pumpkin patch trip.
Thank you to all the parents who have offered to drive. I trust that you
are all cleared through the office at this point to drive on field trips.
If for some reason you are not, please let me know immediately. If you have
not yet paid the $7, please do so by Monday. Don't forget that every parent
or sibling who comes on this trip will have to pay $7.
A big thank you to the room parents who are organizing the gala gift basket
and planning a little Halloween party. Expect to hear from the room parents
soon.
At this point, no one has asked not to be included in the room 15 contact
list so I will send one home soon. If there is a parent who can volunteer
to type one up, please contact me.
I grabbed pumpkin pictures for your children to color from Trader Joes. I
will be turning them back in to Trader Joes next week where they will be
hung up. (The children are only allowed to put their first name on the
picture.) Stop by the Livermore Trader Joes to see your child's artwork
next week. And of course, if you don't want your child's artwork hung up
then just let me know.
Please turn in October book orders by Wed. October 17th.
We started new centers yesterday. The 5 new centers for this week are Oct
calanders with an ABB pattern, the scholastic reading/writing center, a
phonics sorting center (vowels), finishing their pop-up books, and the
listening center for this week is Pumpkin Hill.
My school email is working!!! The email address is abaird@lvcs.org
Have a great week and I will see many of you on Monday.
10/4/07
Hello Room 15 Parents! Sorry for not keeping this more update but I will do
my best.
There was some confusion as to when homework was due, but all the children
were reminded on Wed. that homework is due on Thur. since we have our
spelling tests on Thursday. Your children will be taking new homework
packets home tomorrow and those will be due on the 11th. I hope that you
are all continuing to read books with your children throughout the week.
If you have not yet turned in your field trip permission slip and the $7,
please do so next week. FYI - Even the chaperones have to pay the $7
entrance fee. Sorry. If you are planning on driving, please make sure you
are cleared through the office. I am sorry that this trip is not local, but
the other first grade teachers assure me that this is the best pumpkin patch
to attend.
Thank you to Kim Beaky, Jordan's mom, for offering to run the Tada list.
Also, a big thank you to all the parents who continue to volunteer and
donate. I am still looking for a library parent to help check in and out
books on Wednesday from 12 - 12:30.
After finishing up with apple tasting and graphing activities on Mon and Tue
(come see the bulletin board outside of the class) we started new centers on
Wed. There is the listening center (Jan Brett's The Umbrella) with a follow
up writing activity, the Scholastic Science and reading center, the phonics
sorting center, the queen's pattern (math) center, and the start of the pop-
up book center which children are very excited to start.
FYI - Coach Karter and I are starting a running/walking club before school.
The club will be on Mon and Wed from 7:30 till 7:55 am, starting Oct. 22,
and we are encouraging parents to come and run/walk with their children or
just to come and help with the club.
As always feel free to contact me on my cell phone or at my personal email
address with any questions, concerns or comments you may have. I just
received my school laptop this week and I am hoping to get a school email
account soon.
Thanks!
-Alison
9/23/07
Please read the last email for the most recent updates.
Don't forget Monday is an early release day(noon)and Friday is Apple Fest
(8:30 - 9:45). Please bring in your old magazines on Monday so the students
may decorate their new morning journals.
We are still collecting Box Tops; please send them in with your child.
Thanks!
