It's Cool Growing Up!

When the children entered the classroom upon returning from Spring Break, the first thing I noticed was how tall everyone grew during the nine days off!  With the remaining weeks of school, we will be practicing being first graders!  That means tightening up on discipline and higher expectations on completing classroom work. 

Testing continues this week for grades 3-6.  Please help the testing atmosphere by having your child at school on time and avoiding check ins and outs.  Because we eat lunch so early and testing will not end until 11:30 or later, please do NOT join us for lunch on testing days to avoid any distractions.  The testing dates are:
Monday, March 28
Tuesday, March 29

Box Top collection is Thursday, March 31.  Please send in any box tops/labels you have at your house.  Every little box top helps our school during this funding crisis!

In reading this week, we are investigating "Oo" as in octopus in the office.  The word wall words are: have, saw, must.  

I will send home a letter on Tuesday about our classroom scrapbook.  The classroom scrapbook is optional.  

In math we are working with the numbers 11-20.  We are beginning to focus on addition.  If you want to work on this at home, get a pair of dice.  Roll the dice and add the spots.  Make sure your child understands that with addition that you are taking two sets and putting them together to make a bigger number.

I pride myself on staying current on the latest children's literature and reading books to your children that are of quality.  I model for them comprehension skills and we read for enjoyment.  There is always a book that is requested over and over again.  I was taken aback by the most requested story from last week.  It wasn't even in book form, rather it was a story I showed them on the dry erase board.  I was teaching them the word wall word "are."  The following is the most requested story from last week:  A, R, and E were best friends.  They did everything together.  They were trying to think of a name to call themselves.  A wanted the group to be called "A", E wanted the group to be called "E", and R wanted the group to be called "R."  Nobody could agree on a proper name.  So one day, R put a piece of tape on A and E's mouth and announced their name would be pronounced "R."  When it came time for dictation on Friday, one child retold the story of "are" on his dry erase board and it caught on like wildfire.  Here are the students who wanted their picture taken with their "are" story.



I will be out of the classroom on Thursday beginning after lunch.

Email me with any questions or concerns you may have.  Have a great week!

The Beginning of the 4th Nine Weeks

Welcome Back.  I hope everyone had a restful week.  I'm so excited to get back to work and listen to the spring break news of Room 115.  I cannot believe that we are beginning the fourth nine weeks.  I need time to slow down!

For the next two weeks the students in grades 3-6 will be taking standardized tests.  Please help the testing atmosphere by having your child at school on time and avoiding check ins and outs.  Because we eat lunch so early and testing will not end until 11:30 or later, please do NOT join us for lunch on testing days to avoid any distractions.  The testing dates are:
Tuesday, March 22
Wednesday, March 23
Monday, March 28
Tuesday, March 29

This week we are studying the letter "Ll" as in lobster in the lighthouse.  Word wall words are:  was, come, well, are, now.

Be sure to check out our poetry journals in Friday's back pack.

Report Cards will be issued on Thursday.  Please sign one copy and return to school.  You may keep the second copy. 

In math, we are working on number sense, counting to twenty and beginning to put number combinations together.  We can identify the coins but now we are learning their value.  Busy, busy times in math.

Remember that I want each child taking at least ONE Accelerated Reader test a week.  Let me know if you need additional AR tickets.

Please tell family members and friends who have a child entering Kindergarten next year to join us for a Kindergarten Open House this Thursday, March 24 from 5:30-7:00 pm.  This program is for parents and children that will begin Kindergarten next year.

Check out the previous post on the blog that has pictures from the Character Book Parade.  The children looked adorable!

Classroom needs:  boxes of tissues and cap erasers.  Thank you for supporting our classroom.

We worked so hard to catch that Leprechaun that was loose in our classroom.  Room 115 is a class full of problem solvers.  Unfortunately, we were unable to catch the Leprechaun.  Thank you so much for your assistance.


Contact me with any concerns or questions.

Becoming Lifelong Readers

Thanks so much to Mrs. Martin for taking the photos of  Room 115 during my absence.  When I look at these photos I see children who love books and are on their way to become life long readers.  I could bore you with facts after facts about the impact reading has on a child but I know you would much rather look at the pictures.  If you want facts, please email me!

A Return to Normal

 Oh, how I've missed Room 115!

In all the seventeen years of teaching I don't think I've ever missed four days of school in a school year except the years I  went on maternity leave.  I am so ready to get back into the classroom and see my special friends.  Thank you for understanding my absence and for the prayers.  They were needed and felt.  I have missed working in Room 115. 

This week I will review "Ff" and introduce "Gg" as in goose in the grass.  The word wall words are said, would, ran, in, could, just.  

I will be assessing word wall words on Wednesday. 

I will also be assessing for report cards this week so reading groups will be abbreviated.  I'm not sure if we will get to the reading homework sheets so just check the folders each nightly.

Doughnuts for Dads is this Wednesday and Thursday.  If you did not send in the RSVP found on the front of the March newsletter, do so on Monday.

There is a leprechaun loose in our classroom. Your homework assignment this week is to make a leprechaun trap to catch the leprechaun.  Let your child dictate the trap with you available for help.  This project is due on Friday.  Please do not send your trap in early because I do not have room to store the traps.  Don't let this project put stress on your family, use items from your house to help us catch the leprechaun.  The only guideline is to let your child use his/her imagination in building a trap.

I will send home a book order on Monday.  Book orders will be due on Thursday.  Our class' code for ordering online is GL88R.  Book orders are optional.

If you need help with dinner tomorrow night, Mellow Mushroom is having spirit night.  Be sure to tell them you are from Blount.

Remember that Spring Break is March 14-18.  Have a wonderful time with your child.  This school year is flying by.  School starts back on March 21.

Email me with any questions or concerns.  Thanks for your support of our classroom.