11-9-09
*Our turkey now has FABULOUS feathers thanks to all of you! I hope that everyone enjoyed the
project. Our feathers are displayed in the hallway, so stop by and check it out! Today we wrote
“Thankful Thoughts,” and the lizards did an awesome job!
*We’ll continue counting money and making fair trades to $1.00, and counting bills to $20.00.
Please be practicing at home too! Please make up a word problem (subtraction, addition, or money)
with your genius, and send it in. We’ll add these word problems to our math journals. Please send in
your word problem by Friday ☺
*We are writing personal narratives with a “bold beginning, mighty middle, and excellent end.” We
have a FANTASTIC group of writers!!
*SIGHT WORDS THIS WEEK ARE: VERY, MAKE, GET, FIRST & BEEN
PLEASE make sure that your child can spell these words, and also please review sight words already
sent home. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! (in the car, while cooking dinner, or before bed)
*We’ll continue learning about Thomas Jefferson, and then Lewis & Clark. The students will make a
Compass Rose at the parent center. Check out these great sites—find the direct links from our class
web site under “Teaching Tee: Science & Social Studies.”
www.monticello.org/house/index.html
www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/thomasjefferson.htm
Thanks to Stephanie Yucius for being a copy helper and teaching us Adventures in Art, and to Cora
Towle for helping out with centers. Thank you Ellen Westbrock for being our Mystery Reader.,and
Christine Stoltz for helping with Science Lab.Thank you EVERYONE who sent in disinfectant wipes and
Lysol!
Book Fair is next week! Please send in your decorated balloon if you haven’t already! This is such a
busy time of year, and I appreciate all of the parental support! I know it seems like a lot at times, but
we are having SUCH a great year and the geniuses are having a BLAST! Thanks to Cora & Amy for
coordinating everything. I’m so THANKFUL to have such an amazing class!
Have a great week!
Maria Larsson
11-2-09
*Please be practicing addition and subtraction facts at home! (up to 12)
*We will have a summative test on numbers up to 99 on Friday
*Please be practicing math and reading skills from First in Math & Raz-kids. Also, please check out
the new links on our class web site under the teaching tees!
*Ask your genius about personal narrative writing, and using their “thinking” caps.
*PLEASE PRACTICE SIGHT WORDS!! This week they are: HER, HIM, ABOUT, TIME, & COULD
*NO SCHOOL TUESDAY-Fun day at Chuck E. Cheese
***THANK YOU***
Thanks so much to Rajiv Virmani and Stephanie Yucius (all the way from “Witchita”) for being our
Mystery Readers. Thanks to Meredith Lemmon and Cora Towle for helping with centers. Thanks to
Rebecca Bennett for helping with copies and laminating!!
Our Halloween Centers were a HUGE success! Thanks so much to the following people who made it
such a special day for the lizards!! Thank you: Dina Parker, Jordan’s Grandma & Grandpa all the way
from Delaware, Jennifer Brennan, Diane Bell, Ellen Westbrock, Robbie Stephens, Amy Pisciotta, Cora
Towle, Patti Neal, Diane Bell, Rebecca Bennett, & Christine Stoltz. Please let me know if I missed
anyone!
*We are need of more Lysol and disinfectant wipes. I know I’m a germ-a-phobe, but I definitely hope
that all of the preventative measures keep the flu bugs away from our classroom. The geniuses enjoy
doing the “Chlorox Boogie” before dismissal ☺
I’m so lucky!! Not only do I have the best students at East Side, but also the best parents at East Side.
I can’t believe that it’s already November. Time is flying by too quickly! Have a great week everyone!
Maria Larsson
10-26-09
*We had a BLAST at the Fabulous Fox Theatre! We were SO fancy and handsome!! Thank you Mrs.
Pisciotta for being our chaperone.
*Thanks Mr. Parker for helper out in Science Lab!
*Thanks to Rebecca Bennett and Seema Singh for being Mystery Readers! Thanks to Stephanie Yucius
and Christine Stoltz for helping with centers.
*SIGHT WORDS FOR THIS WEEK ARE: OTHER, INTO, HAS, MORE, WOULD
Sight words are getting more difficult, so PLEASE study with your genius. Also, please review Power
Points.
*Thanks for all of the positive feedback on Raz-kids! I hope everyone will also enjoy First in Math.
Please hold on to the First in Math card with your child’s username and password.
*Please decorate hot air balloon, and write a story about where you think the balloon has traveled?
Mrs. Kennedy from the Media Center visited us on Friday, and told us all about the balloon contest.
We’re hoping for 100% class participation! Also, your genius could win a prize for his/her balloon
and story.
Have a GREAT week, and I hope that everyone has a fun and safe Halloween!
Miss L.
10-23-09
Dear Parents,
We are all SO excited about our field trip to the Fox Theatre on Monday to see Junie B. Jones! Please
remember to dress "fancy" (and I totally believe in whatever is "fancy" to your little genius, is what
they should wear :)
Miss L. will be wearing a "fancy" hat with feathers (thanks Mrs. Stephens!)
Here's a link to all things Junie B. if you have a fan that just can't quite wait until Monday morning:
http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/junieb/
Next week is also Red Ribbon week!
On Monday, they'll receive red ribbons.
Tuesday: Wear something inside out
Wednesday: Wear team shirt to team up against drugs!
Thursday: Wear mix-matched clothing--don't mix with drugs!
Friday: Wear your favorite cap/hat to put a cap on drugs!
HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!!
Miss L.
10-19-09
We will continue skip counting, place value, and greater than/less than in math. In theme we’ll be
discussing magnets and sound. We will work on our NEW WRITING GOALS for the 2nd 9 weeks. The
following writing goals are the MINIMUM EXPECTATIONS (please reinforce at home as well):
Your child must start all sentences with a capital letter, write at least two sentences, put punctuation
at the end of each sentence, and reread to be sure their sentences make sense! We have been busy
working on pattern books, and will continue those this week along with Narrative Writing. Sight
words that your genius needs to practice this week are: THEN, MANY, SOME, THESE, LITTLE. The
digraphs that we’ll practice are “th” and “wh.” Please go to our class web site and practice links
under any of the “Teaching Tees” for extra math and reading practice.
*Wed. is EARLY RELEASE! Dismissal will be at 12:10 p.m.
*Please return report card signature card AND envelope if you haven’t done so yet.
*Junie B. Jones field trip is Monday the 26th. DO NOT WEAR CLASS T-SHIRT!!! All of first grade is
dressing “FANCY” or “HANDSOME” since we’re going to the fabulous Fox Theatre! I’ll make sure to
take lots of pictures and post them on our web site.
Attached is a fun game that you can play with your genius while reviewing math at the same time!
It’s great to practice math facts daily.
Have a GREAT week!
Maria
10-15-09
Just a few things:
*T-shirts sent home today (they are SUPER cute). Please make sure that you send in the $8 if you
haven't already.
*Progress Reports were not sent home by first grade this week since there will be comments on the
report card. The progress reports will be neon yellow for the next nine weeks. They'll be sent out on
Mondays for the PREVIOUS week's behavior/progress.
*REPORT CARDS (Being sent home tomorrow):Please sign and return the white card AND envelope to
school. The copy of the report card is yours to keep. PLEASE DO NOT SEAL THE ENVELOPE.
*Thanks to Amy and Cora for organizing the Halloween Centers! The geniuses will be thrilled. We
also have two new additions to our class-2 miniature frogs...names TBD.
THANK YOU: Molly Banko and Lisa Kaste for helping with our centers this week!! Thanks to Seema
Singh who'll be our Mystery Reader tomorrow.
Thanks to Cora Towle, Amy Pisciotta, Patti Neal, & Meredith Lemmon for volunteering to help out as
parent subs during teacher collaboration. Y'all are very brave! Just kidding--our class is
AWESOME!!!!!!
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
Maria
10-7-09- Our Water Relays have been rescheduled for 10/16.
*Class pictures are up! I'll continue to post more.
Calendar:
October 2009
7Wednesday
Walk to School & Wear Green Day
10Saturday
Story Telling & Book Signing with Leah and her aunt at Barnes & Noble (Barrett Pkwy location)
10Saturday
Pajama Day for the Lizards!
12Monday
Columbus Day! Bring a fact to school!
16Friday
Report Cards sent home
19Monday
Reflection Entries Due & Bus Driver Appreciation Day
21Wednesday
EARLY RELEASE DAY! Dismissal @ 12:10
26Monday
Red Ribbon Week this Week!
31Saturday
HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!
10-5-09
Happy Monday!
*What a wonderful weekend we had! It was great seeing everyone at Fall Festival, and our movie
outing was FANTASTIC! Thanks to all of you for joining the fun! This is the LAST week for the first
nine weeks-time certainly flies by! We’ll be finishing up our summative assessments this week. Our
theme this week will be weather—hopefully no meatballs! Please go to www.theweatherchannel.com,
or watch the Weather Channel with your child sometime this week. Sight words that your child needs
to master this week are:
their, said, which, do, & will.
*We’ll be having water relays on Wed. when the Cobb Co. Water System comes for a visit to teach us
all about H2O! (Challenge question for your child—What does H2O stand for?)
*The Foundation Campaign will run through Friday Oct. 9th! We’ve currently got 38.8% participation
—let’s make it 100% participation! Any amount given counts as participation. The Foundation does
SO much for students and teachers here at East Side.
*Since we have such nice manners in the cafeteria, we’ll be celebrating on Friday by wearing our
school appropriate PJ’s to school.
*Speaking of manners, please join our very own Leah Banko at Barnes & Noble (Barrett Pkwy.
Location) this Saturday 10/10 @ 11 a.m. She’ll have a special story telling and book signing with her
Aunt Lola, author of Please Pass the Manners.
*Thanks so much to ALL the volunteers we’ve had! Our Mystery Readers & Center Volunteers: Scott
Pisciotta, Maddie’s Grandma, Cora Towle, Molly Banko, and Robbie Stephens. Thanks also to: Cora
Towle, Dina Parker, Molly Banko, Amy Pisciotta, Stephanie Yucius, and Rebecca Bennett for supplying
our class donations for Fall Festival. (Please let me know if I’ve left anyone out!)
*Have a great week, and as always, contact me anytime genius parents!
Miss L.
9-21-09
We will be working with money for the next two weeks. Please be sure that your child can identify
ALL the coins, and dollar bills up to $20.00. Please practice counting and trading coins up to 30
cents, and bills up to $20. We will be using the 6+1 traits in writing, and be doing a lot with our
writing binders. Your child will be talking a lot about “hamburgers” at school…this has to do with the
writing process. We’ll be concentrating on spacing between words, capitals in their proper places,
and punctuation. ABC order is coming up—please get a head start! Also, please practice sight words:
had, but, what, all, were!
We’ll finish our Ben Franklin unit by making inventions tomorrow and Wednesday. Our summative
test will be on Thursday, and this week in centers we’ll be making our own Ben Franklin, creating a
quote that suits him, and making our own spectacles!
The Fall Festival is Saturday October 3rd from 10-2 p.m. Please let Cora Towle know if you can
volunteer/donate items. I’ve donated the following items to the teacher auction:
A “Fancy Afternoon”-nails, make up, and a fancy treat with Miss L. (2 students)
A bedtime story for your whole family-the genius gets to keep the book, and I bring cookies as a
bedtime snack! (1 student & their family)
Movie and popcorn in the classroom (10 students)
Thanks so much for all of the contributions from our wish list!
The movie outing on October 4th is going to be great!! It will be an afternoon movie, so that you can
spend Sunday morning with your family. As soon as we know a time, I’ll let you know!
Stay dry!! ~Maria
Hello genius parents! Testing went well, and the students were so well behaved during this new
experience. The landform projects look spectacular, and the paint is drying as I type. The healthy
landform pizza was a big hit! Thanks to Mrs. Yucius for helping us create our pizzas. Thanks to Mrs.
Towle for sending out our class directory. Thanks to Mrs. Bennett for being our copy/laminating
helper! Thanks again to all of you who are volunteering, and to Mrs. Pisciotta who is sending me a
list of all the volunteers. It was great seeing many smiling faces at the East Cobber parade—and
thanks to Maddie and Mr. Lemmon for walking with me. Thanks Mrs. Stoltz for being a Mystery
Reader—please let me know if I’ve missed anyone!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! We are
replenished with tissues!
Be on the look out for field trip forms etc. It will seem like A LOT at once. The science in house field
trips are for the year (total of 4). The Performing Arts slips I need back regardless of a donation or
not. We will also be sending home a form soon for Junie B. Jones at the Fox Theatre, as well as
forms for the first grade t-shirts (probably the first week in October).
I’ll be sending out Power Points on sight words that you and your genius can go over at home. Sorry
in advance for clogging up your inboxes! Great way to incorporate technology while reviewing words!
You could even make it into a game.
Have a great week!
Maria
Information for this 4 day week! ☺
If you’re sending in Landform Pizza supplies, please send them in NO LATER THAN THURSDAY!
Thanks again for all of the donations/volunteers! If you haven’t sent in a shoebox yet, please do that
asap.
We will be testing Wed., Thurs., and Fri. We’ll be taking the CogAT (Cognitive Abilities Test). Please
make sure your genius eats breakfast, and is on time to school. Testing will be approximately 1 hour
each day. We’ve been practicing filling in circles, and using our “offices” for privacy. The creative
assignments that we have completed in class have been good study tools. We’ve also had Mrs. Lyjak
(Target teacher) teach us some problem solving activities. Please just remind your cutie patootie to
DO THEIR BEST and TO LISTEN TO DIRECTIONS (I am only allowed to read the question ONCE).
The HW this week is the “Landform Search.”
Thanks to all of you who attended Open House, and for the kind e-mails and notes. I really
appreciate it! Thanks also to Amy Pisciotta for teaching us all about Volunteerspot, Cora Towle for
putting together our class directory (please send her your info. if you haven’t already
cctowle@gmail.com). Thanks to everyone who signed up to volunteer!
If you have an extra tissue box at home, please send one in. ‘Tis the season for germs, and it seems
to have started early this year. Lots of runny noses! Our hand washing skills however need to be
applauded, and the students are exceptional at getting hand sanitizer throughout the day.
Have an awesome week!
Maria
Update on our landform pizza! Thanks for helping!!
Mrs. Bennett-shredded lettuce
Mrs. Brennan-Bugles
Mrs. Yucius-carrots & one batch of clay
We still need:
4 cans of the crescent roll "sheets"
small container of blue food coloring
molding clay OR volunteers to make the "no bake clay" (very easy)
Recipe:
NO BAKE CRAFT CLAY
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water
Mix together, refrigerate for a few hours, then store in a ziploc bag or container
Your lizard will love it!!
8-31-09
OPEN HOUSE tomorrow 9-1-09 @ 6:30 p.m.
Please go to the cafeteria first for a PTA meeting, and then come to our room afterwards.
Looking forward to seeing everyone!
SHOE BOXES! Please send in a shoe box with your by THURSDAY September 3rd.
PICTURE DAY is Thursday September 3rd. Bring a big SMILE :)
8-18-09 Happy Tuesday!
HW packet #1 is being sent home today, and will be due next Tuesday. I'm already so proud of the
little
lizards, and it's only been a week. We have done some creative assignments that we'll be turning into
class books, and we have quite a creative bunch. Very fun!!
Please let me know if you'd be interested in being a "Foundation Friend" for our class. You will send
out information from East Side's Foundation.
We're also looking for parent volunteers during Science Lab.
Thanks!!
8-10-09 WOW! What a busy day we had! I have the sweetest group of geniuses, and I know this is
going to be a great year. Please send in an empty paper towel roll with your child (preferably by
Monday
8/17). We will be making time capsules!! If anyone has extra rolls, then please send them in.
8-7-09
It was so nice meeting the little geniuses, and the genius parents yesterday! I hope that you all felt
welcome in our classroom.***Please send me an e-mail at Maria.Larsson@cobbk12.org so that I can
add you to my contacts.*** Our lunch time is 10:15-10:45, so please send in a healthy snack with
your
child for later in the day. We have a 10-day specials rotation, and we will have science on the first
day
of school. Please feel free to email me anytime! I look forward to a FANTASTIC year!
Specials Rotation:
Science
PE
Music
FREE
Art
PE
Computer
PE
FREE
Guidance
Pictures from last year are posted under the camera icon on our class web site. Here you can see a
preview of the fun and engaging things that happen in our class!
Under the various "Teaching Tees" you'll find fun and challenging web sites. Check them out! Many
of
the math sites are used during guided math centers.
