THE FINAL FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 6/18/10

It’s hard to believe the school year is over! What a wild ride it’s been!

STUDENTS OF THE MONTH: Justin Leonetti was May’s Student of the Month. For June we had two Students of the Month – Emily Edmonds and Cynthia Loufik. Congratulations to our “stars.”

SUMMER BIRTHDAYS: What a “sweet” day we had! Thanks to Karlee’s Mom, Hailey’s Mom, and Jack’s Mom and Dad for sending in treats. We enjoyed a celebration in the morning and another quick treat in the afternoon. Happy Summer Birthdays to all!

SUMMER WORK: The students will be bringing home their unfinished class workbooks (Phonics, Language, Practice Book, Spelling Practice Book, Handwriting, and Math Journal). Please take some time over the summer to complete the books, read, practice math facts, count change, read, etc. Summer is a time to relax, but many valuable skills can be lost if not practiced and reinforced.

Suggested Writing for the Summer: Use the journals to have the students write down details about their day or about a special vacation. Have them write letters to their friends! Complete the remaining pages in their Handwriting book. Penmanship is important. Next year they will begin cursive writing so their manuscript writing needs to be the best it can be!

Suggested Reading for the Summer: Encourage your child to read chapter books (if they are not doing so already). The following are suggested chapter books to read: Amelia Bedelia, Henry & Mudge, Little Critter, Junie B. Jones, Ready Freddy, and Frog & Toad. Continue to read with your kids and have them read to you. Take time to complete the reading workbooks (Phonics, Language, Practice Book, and Spelling Practice Book). Encourage your child to play “school” with a friend or a sibling.

Suggested Math for the Summer: Count change, make change, play store, and practice Math facts with flash cards. Take time on rainy days to work through the remaining Math journal workbook pages.

MEMORIES: When I think back to the beginning of this First Grade school year, I remember:

Our first get together in August: the Summer Show and Tell where we met each other, shared a summer memory, and met our new friend, Sophia.

September brought an eager, energetic group of students ready to take on a new teacher, new rules, and new procedures. We began to eagerly learn to read, wore our favorite hats for hat day, and chanted “name and date, name and date, First Graders are really great!” We enjoyed weekly craft projects with wonderful parent volunteers and met you parents on Back to School Night.

October included Fire Prevention Week and the poster contest. We got to paint pumpkins and make a Columbus day craft. And who could forget our Halloween party/parade?! The students enjoyed sharing classwork and lunch with some VIP family members. We learned about teamwork from our Flyers Assembly.

November was a short school month but included Parent/Teacher conferences, Reading tests being read by the students not the teacher, and our staff vs. 3rd and 4th graders soccer game. Luckily no one got hurt!

December was a month of change in motion in First Grade, but the students weathered it well! We welcomed our new student Lea. The students performed well during the holiday music program, enjoyed the Santa’s Secret Shop, a trip to the Pitman movie theater, and a musical program by John Flynn to ready us for our holiday break.

In January we started the New Year off fresh, added a Daily Word Problem to our Math routines and began to edit sentences. We braced ourselves for the cold weather of February.

In February we enjoyed our Jump Rope for Heart, snow, snow, and more snow, our
Valentine’s Day party, and finally, our 100th Day of school party/projects,

March is where our class really began to shine. Our “On the Way to Cape May” act really stole the show. First Grade is full of stars! Weeks after the program the students were still singing this song while swinging on the swings. Music to my ears! Sadly we said goodbye to our friends Sophia and Lea, but are glad we can still keep in touch with them through Madison.

In April we welcomed sings of spring and our new student Olivia. We had our Easter egg hunt, planted seeds for Earth Day, and some went to work with their parents for the day. Chi Chi was “in the house” for many fun and lively crafts.

In May we were able to work with our resident artist MK on constructing bug kites. Although the weather didn’t allow for an outdoor kite parade, we were able to still enjoy an indoor parade! This month also brought Teacher Appreciation week – our students and parents were so thoughtful. Despite the hot, steamy weather and bumpy bus ride, we enjoyed our class trip to the Philadelphia Zoo and got to see the last Elmer Talent Show featuring some of our very own talented First Graders.

June finds us saying thank you and Happy Retirement to Dr. B., working hard on polishing our language, handwriting, and spelling skills, improving our guided reading levels, and learning new math concepts to ready us for Second Grade.

Throughout the year we were constantly losing teeth, trying to stay on “green”, writing and illustrating our class booklets, reading/repeating/returning our book bags, earning class “gumballs”, becoming star students, getting free snacks for good work and behavior, and completing our morning work quietly and independently, and working on our never-ending number scrolls!

I have enjoyed watching your children grow and learn over these past nine months. We have learned a lot from each other. Thank you for the privilege of teaching your children. I hope I have instilled in them the will to always “Try Your Best!”

Best of luck to all our future Second Grade students. Next year will bring changes for all of us, but I do believe the best is yet to be! Enjoy your summer and keep in touch! I hope that our paths will cross again and that you and your children will have fond memories of their First Grade year at Elmer School. I know I will!

A special thanks to Mrs. Johnson for all that she’s done for me, for First Grade, and for Elmer School. The First Grade students and I have been blessed to have her as their teacher, their helper, and their friend for the past two years!

Mrs. Mahoney