December Star Students!

Jaiden and John are our two December star students. They both are very respectful and polite. John and Jaiden enjoy math and reflex math. Congrats to these two on their hard work! 

Upcoming Dates to Remember

 Parents,
Please assist your child with completing the home learning for the break.  Also, I highly encourage them to log into iReady and Reflex math as much as possible.  Please return the iReady log, two leveled books, and worksheets that are in the Ziploc on Monday, Jan 5th.  I hope you all have a wonderful winter break and holiday season!!!! 

Dec 19th - Jan 4th: NO SCHOOL (return on Mon, Jan 5th)
Jan 7th: Early Release
Jan 16th: No School (teacher planning day)
Jan 19th: No School (MLK Day)
Jan 28th: Early Release

November Star Students

Emily and Noah were our November star students.  Both of them enjoy reading and are wonderful class helpers!

How To Writing

As part of our functional (how to) writing unit the students participated in making butter using heavy whipping cream and a jar. Each student had a turn to shake up the jar and watch the cream turn into butter. At the end we all sampled the butter with crackers. Afterwards they each wrote their own How To Make Butter stories.

Star students

JD and Tessa were star students for the month of October. They are both great classroom helpers and a great friend to classmates. Congrats JD and Tessa!

Say No To Drugs Week

The students have been participating in Say No To Drugs week Oct 27th - 31st. The class made a door decoration to show why they would say NO to drugs while they grow up. A BIG thank you to Mrs. Hawkins for helping with this project!!!!

Pattern Blocks

The students have been learning attributes of different 2D shapes and making patterns with them. This is an example of composing shapes to make a pattern block design.

Updates

Upcoming October Events and Dates to Remember:
- Oct 15th: picture day
- Sat, Oct 18th: Fall Carnival 
- Oct 24th- Planning Day/ No school for students 
- Oct 29th: Early Release  (not the 22nd- it skips a week this month)

Fire Safety

Captain McAvoy (fun fact - he is Mrs. Pugh's brother) came in to teach the 1st graders about fire safety.  Students learned about what to do if a fire started at home, how to get help, and fire fighter equipment.  Thank you Captain McAvoy for sharing your safety tips!

September Star Students!

Layel and Will H. are our two September Star Students! They were chosen for great behavior and always doing their best work.  Congrats to Layel and Will H!!!!

Five Senses with Popcorn!

The class enjoyed some yummy popcorn while learning about the 5 senses.  We heard the popping, smelled the buttery smell while it was cooking, felt the popcorn to describe how it felt, wrote about how it looked, and the best of all tasted the popcorn and recorded down butter, salty, and delicious. Thank you to the families who donated popcorn for this fun activity!

REFLEX MATH and iReady!

Reflex math is an excellent way to practice addition and subtraction facts in first grade.  At school students will rotate turns logging into this program daily.  I highly encourage you to use this at home as well if you haven't already done so.  The students love it and last year I was able to see noticeable math gains where students no longer had to use counters or fingers to solve quick addition or subtraction problems with 0-10.  Each student has their username and password glued into the front of their planners. Please let me know if you have any questions!  iReady is another program students will be able to use to practice reading and math lessons and skills.  iReady is currently not available for use yet so be looking for that login information in the near future.

There's No Place Like Alimacani

 

I am so excited to have your child in my class this year!  We are celebrating 25 years of academic excellence at Alimacani with our 2014-2015 theme "There's No Place Like Alimacani".  In room 34 we will be following the yellow brick road to success in reading, writing, math, science, and much more!  I hope everyone can join us at Open House on Sept 11th to learn about classroom procedures, schedules, and academic expectations.  I am looking forward to another great year!

May Star Student

Isabella is one of our May star students.  She enjoys writing and playing games.  Her Mom, Dad, and step Dad joined us to celebrate her.  They brought in cupcakes and fruit snacks for everyone. Yum!

May Star Student!

Anthony is one of our May star students.  He loves math and enjoys reading books at home.  He has solved 34,000 reflex math facts this year! His Dad, Mom, and Grandmother joined us to celebrate and brought in fruit snacks to share.

April Star Student!

Mykayla was one of our April star students.  She enjoys reading and spending time with her friends and family.  Her Mom and Gigi joined us to celebrate.  They shared popcorn, water, and fruit snacks with the class.

May Star Student!

Gabi is one of our May star students.  She enjoys playing video games and reading.  Her Mom brought in yummy cookies and fruit snacks to celebrate her hard work. 

Adding Tens and Ones

Today the class added together groups of 10's and 1's using linking cubes to represent 10's rods and 1's cubes.  This is a skill we have been working on in class.  Students practiced counting all the 10's first and then the1's.  When solving higher double digit addition problems, students are encouraged to draw 10's and 1's to help them solve the problem more quickly and efficiently.

Welcome Home!

We had a surprise welcome home for Arabella's Dad who has been deployed to Afghanistan since the beginning of the school year.  Her Dad surprised Arabella and her sister by coming home earlier than they expected and came into our classroom to pick her up. It was a wonderful surprise for us all! Welcome home Mr. Rose!!!! 

April Star Student

Trey is one of our April Star Students.  Trey enjoys playing baseball and wants to be a scientist when he grows up. Trey's family joined us in celebrating his hard work and shared muffins and fruit snacks with the class! Yum!

Spring Garden!

The class had a great time planting our spring garden!  It looks beautiful! Thank you to all the parents who were able to volunteer their time and those who donated items for this project.  The students are very excited to take turns caring for the garden and watching it grow and change.

Spring Updates!

Upcoming Important Dates:
4/4 No School- Planning Day
 4/9 AND 4/16: Early Release *This will be 2 weeks in a row*
4/11 Field trip form and money due
4/18 - No School
 

March Star Student

Melaina is one of March Star Students.  She enjoys Math and playing the piano.  Melaina's Mom joined us in celebrating her excellent behavior and brought in pirate's booty, raisins, and cheese sticks for the class! Delicious!

March Star Student

Evan is one of our March Star Students.  Evan likes Math and plays football.  Evan's Mom joined us in celebrating his hard work and good behavior and brought in cookies to share.  Yum!

Flag Raising

The first grade classes performed "Fill Your Bucket" at the March Flag Raising.  Each student made their own hat which included ways they can help one another and be a "bucket filler" such as showing love and kindness for one another.  Thank you to all parents who were able to join us for our fabulous performance!

Valentine's Day

The students loved exchanging valentines with one another.  Great job on all the "love boxes" made at home! This month we have been discussing kindness and charity.  Our Valentine's Day exchange was a great way for the class to celebrate our classroom family and show kindness for one another.

February Star Student Ray

Ray is one of our February Star Students.  Ray loves Math and playing soccer.  His Dad joined us in celebrating Ray's hard work and excellent behavior.  He brought in juicy clementines and yummy crackers for the class. 

January Star Student Jacob

Jacob's Grandmother joined the class in celebrating his hard work and great behavior.  Jacob loves to read and help others.  His Grandmother brought in delicious cookies and popcorn to share!

Celebrating Multicultural Month

Ben's Mother came into the class to share facts about where she and Ben grew up in Uruguay.  She brought in artifacts and shared photographs.  She also made yummy cupcakes for the class to enjoy. A big thanks to Ms .Maria for coming in.

January & February Updates

Important dates to remember for January/ February:

- Jan 20th- NO SCHOOL

- Jan 22nd EARLY RELEASE

- Jan 27th- Zoo money due, Multicultural Project Due

- Feb 5th EARLY RELEASE

- Feb 7th- Zoo Fieldtrip

- Feb 17th- NO SCHOOL

- Feb 19th EARLY RELEASE

January Star Student Emma

Emma is one of our January Star Students.  She enjoys reading and playing her with new baby brother Noah.  Emma's Mom and Dad joined the class to celebrate her hard work and brought cupcakes to share. Yum!