January 29, 2018

Parents, please send a clean, empty tin can to school with your child for an upcoming art project. Any size can will do, but we won't be able to use drink containers. If you have extra cans and could send them along, that would be great, as some children may not have any tins, or may forget theirs. Thanks!

Student-led conferences will be held this week - tomorrow for our first grade class. (I will be away for Wednesday's conference, so moved it up a day.) Students are welcome to bring their parents in to show them what we've been up to here in Room Four! Drop in any time between 3:30 - 5:30; the conference shouldn't take more than a half hour to forty-five minutes.

February book orders went home today. If you'd like to order anything for your child, please return the order forms and payment by this Wednesday. Thanks.

The first graders' spelling lists have been short lately, as our focus for the Friday spelling test has expanded to sentence writing - complete with correct capitalization and punctuation. The students are all coming along very well with this!

The first graders' envelope reading today concentrates on the "j" sound made when an "e" follows a "g" or a "dg". Look for words like edge, badge, hedgehog, etc.

January 24, 2018

Thanks so much to the parents who came out to help with our school's skating event yesterday! We really appreciate your time and efforts; we couldn't have carried off the afternoon without you!

The first graders' book for tonight is The Clumsy Rabbit.  Happy reading!

January 22, 2018

We've begun a review mode of our words of the day and today reviewed the word "initial" in Grade One.

We go skating at JPL tomorrow. Please send children with appropriate attire for skating, and remember to send skates and a helmet. Any parent who'd like to come and help tie skates is most welcome to do so! Parents who will be coming should plan on driving themselves, as the buses will all be quite full that we'll likely be pinched for space - and you'll enjoy a much quieter ride in your own vehicle! Our Grade One/Two class leaves the school at 1:40 and leaves JPL  for our return at 3:00. If all goes well, we should be back just in time for the afternoon dismissal bell.

The first graders all brought home some Oobleck today, to go along with the Seuss book Bartholomew and the Oobleck. The Oobleck has some Borax (a whitening agent for laundry) in it, so PLEASE don't let your child put any near his/her mouth. Also, please have them wash their hands after playing with it.

January 16, 2018

Grade One students have a new word of the day: ecstatic. The at-home reading envelope has an extra book in it today - one that the class made up, based on Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham. Enjoy!

The students and staff are invited to dress up as a Dr. Seuss character this Friday morning. (Remember that Friday is a noon dismissal day.) If you're stuck for an idea, you can always find a piece of paper, label it "Thing 1" and pin it to your child's shirt ...

January 15, 2018

New spelling list for the first graders went home today. The words are all "question words" - where, when, why, etc.

The envelope reading for today is "Snow Fun".

A note regarding our school's Read-a-Thon went home in agendas today.

Thanks to everyone who wore blue today!

January 12, 2018

First grade spelling books went home for parent signatures today.

The first graders' envelope reading for the weekend is The Good Cook.

We've begun learning how to use quotation marks in Grade One. The students are progressing well with this learning; chances are good that we'll incorporate some quotation sentences in next week's spelling test. Stand by for some excitement!

I've updated my online Scholastic Book Club profile so that parents will be able to order online. (Thanks to Bella's mom for bringing this to my attention!)

Everyone is invited to wear something blue on Monday morning, to participate in our school's Wellness Challenge. (We're trying to chase away the January "Blues" by having some shared community activities.) We'll do a class photo Monday morning, so check your dresser drawers and laundry hampers and see if you can come up with some blue duds, everyone.

Enjoy the weekend - and the warmer temperatures it promises to bring!

January 11, 2018

Remember you have a spelling test tomorrow, Grade One students!

Book orders for Grades One and Two are due tomorrow.

Notes regarding a school-wide skating trip to JPL went home with agendas today. Please sign and return the note's permission form if your child has your permission to attend the event. Thanks!

Here are some photos of all the proud new parents here in Room Four at JES!

January 8, 2018

Welcome back, everyone! Here are a couple of reminders/notifications for you:

The first graders have begun a "Word of the Day" program. The word for today is initial. The new words will appear in agendas, along with reminders to read. (Today's book is The Brave Hunter.)

Please remember to send back your child's shoes, if they went home for the holiday.

Please be kind and leave your wet footwear at the school entrances. The students often leave their shoes in their lockers and walk through the halls in sock feet; leaving wet footwear on the mats at the entrances will help keep socks dry - and will prevent people from slipping in puddles. (I've seen some pretty nasty falls from people slipping in wet spots in the hallway.) As well, the school has just been cleaned from top to bottom, and it would be great to keep it shining the way it was this morning! Thanks for understanding!