Hello Parents,
Our class is working so well together, and I am proud to be their teacher. They are fantastic kids! This week we finished our safety book, and we are beginning our unit on fables. We are also learning the difference between our city, state, country, and continent (this is a VERY difficult concept for 1st graders). This will be the first week for us to check out books during library time as well. FIRE DRILL - We will have our first fire drill tomorrow morning, so please take some time to talk with your child about this if you feel like they might need the extra confidence boost. I will also help them, to the best of my ability, to feel comfortable with the whole process. MATH/LANG ARTS CLASSES - We are beginning our second week of leveled math and reading classes. If you have any questions about who your math/language arts teachers are, please let me know. We have a really fantastic team of first grade teachers, so your children are all in good hands. ASPIRE - Last week I sent home student i.d. Numbers along with instructions for setting up your ASPIRE account. If you have any questions, please feel free to call Ms. Withers in the front office or send your question to me. My grades are not yet set up in ASPIRE just yet - my apologies. I am having some technical difficulties but am trying to resolve the situation quickly. CARNIVAL - Our carnival is coming soon - September 10, from 4-7 p.m. I hope that you will plan to come. This is a very fun time for our families. You can pre-purchase tickets at a discounted price through the front office until September 5th. If you would like to donate items for a prize basket, the first grade team is collecting Legos (and Lego-related items) and gift cards to any bakeries/sweet shops in the area. LIBRARY VOLUNTEERS - We are in need of parents, grandparents, or other relatives who would like to come and help in our library. There are two opportunities: one is helping kids check out books during our library time (Thursdays 1:30 - 2:00). The other is helping with the HRP program, which is preparing readers “baggie books” for kids to take home. If you are interested in either, you can go to this link to sign up, or you can email Ms. Beckstrand, our librarian. https://signup.com/client/invitation2/secure/2403241/false#/invitation or [email protected] LABOR DAY & SCHOOL LUNCH - Please remember that there will be no school on Monday, September 3rd. I know that your children will enjoy the extra time with you over the holiday weekend. When we return to school on Tuesday, September 4th, our school lunch program will begin. If you are purchasing lunch for your child, Please be sure that they know. Thank you! Have a great week!
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Hello Parents,
We had a great first day of first grade! This is what our day looked like: MORNING FIVE - We learned and practice our “Morning Five” routine. This is what your child is responsible to take care of when they enter the room in the morning: Hang up their BACKPACK, put LUNCHBOX on the shelf, move their LUNCH CLIP, get their HOMEWORK FOLDER out, and get two sharp PENCILS ready for the day. They may then read a book quietly at their desk. SCHOOL SUPPLIES - I distributed supplies to each of the students. THANK YOU SO MUCH for donating so many wonderful supplies and getting our class off to a great start! There are a few students who do not have a pencil pouch/box yet, and a couple who had broken zippers. Will you please ask your child if his/her pencil pouch is working well. READING - We read the book Ten Rules for Being a Superhero by Deb Pilutti. We will read it again tomorrow and talk more about our class rules. Today the students learned our first rule: One Person Talks at a Time. GETTING TO KNOW YOU - We practiced rule #1 by taking turns sharing our “All About Me” pages. We will take some more time to finish sharing tomorrow. If your child has not completed this, please have them turn it in by Friday. The kids also drew their beginning-of-the-year self portraits. They are fantastic! MATH / READING ASSESSMENTS - Today we began our reading assessments and our math fact assessments. We will continue with spelling and math assessments this week, so that they will be ready to begin their leveled math and language arts classes on Monday. SCOREBOARD - We also practiced our “Mirror/Repeat” responses today, and we earned our first dot on our class reward chart by having more “yes!” points for following directions than “oh no!” points. By the end of the week I will introduce our dot charts for individual rewards. You can read more about this here: CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS Here are a couple of things that I wanted to clarify for you: WATER BOTTLES - We do not allow students to leave the classroom during class time to get a drink, so PLEASE send a water bottle to school for your child. We leave the bottles in the classroom throughout the week and take them home on Friday to be washed. If you would like them to come home more often, please just let your child know to take it - I am fine with that. MORNING SNACK - The students may bring a snack for their morning recess (10:00), as long as it is a healthy snack. I will not allow them to take cookies, candy, or desserts out to recess. Please package morning snacks so that your child can easily spot it in his/her lunch box. Thanks for doing such a great job supporting your child’s learning. Your partnership means so much to me. I am so happy to be working with all of you this year! Thank you for coming to BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT!
It was so wonderful to meet you, and to see many familiar faces. I am so happy to be working with all of you this year. THANK YOU for all of the school supply donations. I am always amazed to see the great impact we make together when everyone is willing to give. I am looking forward to a great year! Hello, my name is Ms. Novotne, and I am so excited to have your child in my class this year! First grade is such an exciting time of growth and discovery. We are going to have so many wonderful learning adventures together.
BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT - I can’t wait to meet you and your child! Please come by our classroom anytime between 4:00 - 6:00 p.m., on Monday, August 13th. You can bring your school supplies, meet your marvelous teacher ;) , and let your child get a “sneak peek” at our classroom. This is a great way to help ease any back-to-school jitters. There will be a New Parent Meeting from 4:00 - 4:20 and 6:00 - 6:20 on August 13th, so if you are new to Odyssey, I would encourage you to find out more about our amazing school. FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL - School begins on Wednesday, August 15. Your child will need to bring a backpack, pencil box, and a water bottle. Please be sure that your child knows whether he/she will be ordering a school lunch, or bringing a lunch from home. Our first day together will be an early out day (dismissal at 1:30 p.m.). Enjoy these final days of summer. I look forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks! |
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