Week of January 9th, 2012

Hi Parents:

We have a LOT going on... some of it new and exciting!
The spelling words for this week are as follows:

1.kitten
2.frog
3.dog
4.fish
5.pet
6.puppy
7.cow
8.lamb
9.horse
10.bird
11.snake
12.turtle

UPCOMING events:

Jan. 16th MLK Birthday - NO School
Jan. 23 100th Day of School WE will be wearing PJ's this day and having a lot of fun activities planned!!!
Jan. 24, skate country night
Jan. 30th Valentine Gram's go on sale
***Talent Show sign up's at the front office. You must give your permission in order for your child to participate!

Feb. 1 - dress down day $1
Feb 3 - end of mid-quarter
Feb 6-10 Love of Reading Week!!
Feb 8th Special dress down day $1 for the new character program
Feb 14th VALENTINE's Day - We WILL exchange Valentine's and have a small party if you wish to send in snacks or treats.
Feb 22 - Grandparents Day for K - 3rd grade You can wear your favorite western wear, jeans, and cowboy boots!
Feb 23-24 NO School Rodeo Break
Feb 23-26 Rodeo Carnival at the Lakeside campus
March 2- Dr. Seuss Birthday!! More details to follow

We have been HARD at work becoming budding scientists and learning about habitats. Our first one was the rain forest with emphasis on South America. We are learning about all the problems with the rain forest and how plants and wildlife are in danger due to many practices being done to the land there. We are going to be putting up some interesting facts and urging students to get involved to save the rain forest. I'm not 100% sure that the blogger will allow live video clips, but at the very least I will be posting still pictures and the facts each learning group has researched on a still format on the blog, and then trying to get it into iMovie later to set up a link so it can be accessed via email or some other format.

It was a steep learning curve when we broke into 6 learning groups with each group COOPERATIVELY deciding which animal/ rain forest facts to pick, and then draw the one selected on paper. We will continue to research ways to post our findings and report our fun science activities and experiments for the remainder of the school year!

P.S. As the "news flash" flyer suggested, it is a great idea to bookmark this blog so that you can refer to it often and check dates, spelling words and other information you may have missed!!

Happy New Year 2012

Parents:

The spelling list for this week is as follows:

1. is

2. are

3. was

4. were

5. has

6. had

7. have

8. come

9. them

10. then

11. We

12. January

There are a BUNCH of things that did not get to us before this week's newsletter went out:

This Wed. Jan 4 is our dress down day for $1

*** Talent Show sign up forms (requiring parent approval) are at the Front Desk all month!!

Jan. 16th NO SCHOOL MLK Birthday

Jan. 23rd: 100th Day of School... FUN activities planned all day

Jan 24th: Skate Night at Skate Country East

Feb 1. Dress down day $1

Feb. 6-10 Love of Reading Week... there will be additional info. going home as we get closer to this about special fun events/dress up, etc. all week

Feb 8: SPECIAL dress down day $1 to fund character charm program

Feb. 14: Valentine's day We WILL be exchanging Valentine's Day cards with our classmates!!!

Feb 22nd: Grandparents Day for KINDER - 3rd Grade ONLY

Feb 23-24 Rodeo break NO school

A special THANK YOU to the students and parents who made my holidays so special with home made treats, special gifts and cards!!! I loved it!! Be sure and continue reading NIGHTLY with your child and filling out the Pizza Hut "Book It" reading log. It must be turned in in the beginning of the next month with a parent signature!!

Thanks!! Mrs. C

Week of Dec. 5, 2011

This will be the LAST spelling test before report card day, which is Dec. 16th. Speaking of report card day, it is a Friday, Dec. 16th, which is a 1/2 day with NO after-school program and NO lunch. Please make arrangements to pick your child up promptly at 11:30 AM.

The spelling words for this week are:

1. Friend

2. Friends

3. game

4. games

5. kite

6. kites

7. toys

8. gifts

9. snow

10. snowman

11. December

12. holiday

Upcoming events:

Dec. 7 - Dress down day $1

Dec 9 - Responsibility character lunch and monthly character ticket movie winner

Dec 12 - MONDAY @ 2 PM in school cafeteria: 1st grade Holiday Performance. Please have your child wear a red shirt and blue jeans.

We need donated holiday cookies and punch or fruit juice for refreshments afterwards!

Dec 14- EXTRA Dress down day $1. This money will go towards our new character program.

Dec 16 - Report Card Day!! 1/2 day of school. School is out promptly at 11:30 AM. There is NO after school program and NO lunch.

***On going*** We are trying to win a party for our class by being the classroom with the MOST donated cans for the canned food drive!!!

Als0*** Parents please remember to have your child read to you or another adult or older sibling at least 20 minutes PER DAY and log this on the December reading log!!! This is a requirement, and it really pays off when you see your child jump several levels in his/her reading ability!!!

***Please LABEL all coats, hats, gloves, etc. Many children have similar coats or sweatshirts and it helps them (and us) keep track of individual clothing much easier!!!

Thanks!!! Mrs. C

Hello!

Thanks to all who brought in corn for our yummy Thanksgiving feast! We had a great time. Hopefully everyone had time to look at the class cookbook and try a recipe or two.

Please don't forget the tax credit deadline which is December 31, 2011. You get a dollar-for-dollar tax credit and the school gets money (earmarked for my class) to purchase more iPads for our class! It's a win-win for everyone!

Also, Austin's mom was kind enough to donate 20% of any sales from her Avon on-line catalog to our class! It's a great time to stock up for the holiday stocking stuffers!

The spelling words for this week are:

tap

tape

rip

ripe

not

note

lane

mane

as

ate

snowman

December

***Don't forget the EXTRA dress down day December 7th for $1. This money will be used for the character charm program. Your child must wear one of the character colors: red, blue, yellow or green shirts and jeans.

December 1: cookie dough delivery

Dec 2 - end of holiday shop

Dec 2 - Pancake breakfast with the principal

Dec 7- Dress down day $1

***Dec 12 - 2 PM in school cafeteria - 1st grade holiday program. Wear RED shirt and Jeans

Dec 13- Cookies with Santa 6-8 PM

**Dec 16 (Friday) Report card day. 1/2 day with NO after school and NO lunch

Dec 19-Jan 1 Winter Break

Jan 2- School resumes!!

We will need donated cookies and punch for the Dec 12 holiday program!!!

Dec

Week o Nov. 21, 2011

Dear Parents:

Wow... can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving!!

We STILL need corn for our Thanksgiving feast for students and staff this Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011.

That will be our last day of school for the week. We are off school Wed-Thurs-Friday for Thanksgiving break.

Due to the short week there is NO homework this week and NO spelling or testing.

The Class Thanksgiving cookbook is your to KEEP. Enjoy it :)

Mrs. C

Planning ahead for the holidays.... our first grade (only) Holiday Concert is Monday, Dec. 12th @ 2 PM in the school cafeteria. We will be asking for donations of juice/punch and holiday cookies!!

****Your student should wear blue jeans and a red shirt for the performance!!

Week of Nov. 14, 2011

Dear Parents:

Mrs. Childress Spelling list for the week of November 14, 2011

There will be a spelling test (during normal 5-day weeks) each Friday morning. It will greatly benefit your child and improve their confidence if you help them review the weekly spelling words.

1. No
2. So
3. Rode
4. Nose
5. Stone
6. Hope
7. Those
8. Never
9. Thankful
10. Family
11. winter
12. holiday

This will be our last full week of school prior to the Thanksgiving break. Please help your child remember his/her snack... otherwise we run low on snacks.

Nov. 22, is our annual teacher/student Thanksgiving Feast! Our 4 first grade classes have to supply CORN for the entire school (almost 500 people). You can help by either sending in cans of regular corn ahead of time, or dropping off a hot dish of corn the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 22nd. Please label your container with some masking tape or something with your name, your child's name, my 1st grade and room # so that we can make sure you get your container back!!!

Please also help your child to remember to fill out his/her Nov. Reading Log. This is a REQUIREMENT.. every month your child should be reading 15-20 minutes per NIGHT to an adult or older sibling. We have classroom "bubble gum" machines taped up in the library.. we earn bubble gum pieces for the machine by everybody participating in the reading event!! I have sent home several Nov. reading logs... if your child has misplaced their's, please write me a note on plain paper stating that your child has read 15-20 minutes per night and sign and date it and send it in at the beginning of the next month. (For example: the Nov. reading log should be turned in the 1st week of December)

Your children will earn a free Personal Pan pizza from Pizza Hut and more importantly become much better readers!! We are also looking for small inexpensive items to "stock" our classroom bank. We are learning about money, how it is made and it's value. We are starting small... with pennies, nickels and dimes... Your child has the opportunity to "earn" money whereby they color in various amounts of money at various times during the week. This Friday, we will be redeeming their value in the school "bank."

Thanks!! Mrs. C

Week of Nov 8, 2011

Hi Families:

We have a busy few weeks ahead of us!

There is NO school this Friday, Nov.11 in honor of Veteran's Day.

Your child should have brought home the NOvember "Pizza Hut" Book it reading log to be completed for the month of November. He/she should be reading to an adult or older sibling at least 15-20 minutes per night and coloring in the date for each night read. We have a bubble gum machine up in the library that will track our number of hours read each month. We need EVERYBODY to participate in order to get "gum balls."

I am starting to collect small inexpensive items to stock our classroom "store." Please help your child find fun things to bring in for this. We will be earning pretend money in the amounts of 1, 5 and 10 cents (to start) to buy items once a week out of the classroom store.

There is NO spelling test this week due to the short week!

Remember - we do need CORN for our Thanksgiving Feast on Tuesday, November 22nd. You can bring in canned corn or hot corn the morning of the feast. If you bring in a container that you would like returned, please make sure you have it labeled with tape with your name, your child's name and my class room number or name.

Thanks, Mrs. C