First Grade at Elmer School

2010-06-17T16:55:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-10T12:32:00.000-07:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 6/11/10

Here’s an overview of what’s been going on in First Grade this week:

MATH: We finished up Unit 9 and completed the Assessment. The students seemed to enjoy learning about fractions and adding 2-digit numbers – and were happy to realize these are second grade skills to be further studied next year! Next week we’ll begin Unit 10 which is a review of all the First Grade Math skills. We will also squeeze in our Year-End Math Assessment before the school year ends.

READING: We began our fifth and final reading theme book this week with the fiction story, “The Story of a Blue Bird”. This will be our final reading test. For the remainder of the school year we’ll read the stories in our book and finish working in our “100 Words Kids Need to Read by 1st Grade” booklets.

BOOK BAGS: Congratulations to all the First Graders! They’ve all improved tremendously due to their hard work and your outside reading reinforcement. Thanks for being such good partners in their reading education! Since the Book Bag books needed to be inventoried and the Guided Reading Levels recorded on our reports to Pittsgrove for next year’s homeroom placement, last week was our final week of Book Bags. Look for their final Guided Reading level on their report card.

SPELLING: Next week’s spelling words will be long /a/ai, ay words:
day, say, sail, pail, pay, play, right, high, learn, join
Bonus/High Frequency Words: caught, cold, hurried, near, son, sure

Due to our busy schedule next week, Dr. B’s retirement assembly, ½ day, Field Day, etc. we will not be having a spelling test, but will just review these words and complete the workbook pages that go along with the next story, “Frog and Toad All Year.”

ART: This week we made a special “treasure” for the Dads under the direction of Mrs. Holtz. The kids enjoyed working with glitter paint in the gym and the homemade cupcakes from Mrs. Holtz. Thanks, Mrs. Holtz, you are very good to us!

SCIENCE: This past Tuesday the entire school enjoyed a Science Fair exhibition put on by the Third Graders. Our class got to walk around and see, touch, and even taste some of the experiments. Thanks, Third Grade, for sharing your scientific skills and methods with us! We learned a lot!

DR. B’S RETIREMENT ASSEMBLY: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 – 1:30; While some of this celebration is a surprise for Dr. B, we wanted to let you know that a few of the First Graders will be speaking and the class will be singing a song with Second Grade. Elmer’s long-time, favorite musician, John Flynn will be performing as well. Stop by to enjoy this time with us and our departing Principal.

SUMMER BIRTHDAYS: Reminder: Mrs. Johnson and I would like to celebrate the six First Grade summer birthdays on one day – Thursday, June 17th. If you have a child with a summer birthday and would like to send in a treat, please let us know! We’ll coordinate the celebration.

UPCOMING DATES:
6/16 – 1:30 pm - special celebration for Dr. B – parents are invited
6/17 – AM Snack Time -- Summer Birthday celebration
6/18 – 1:00 dismissal/Field Day
6/21 – 1:00 dismissal
6/22 – 1:00 dismissal/last day of school/whole school picnics

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions/concerns. Feel free to send a note in the homework folder or email me at dmahoney@elmerschool.com.

Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2010-05-27T17:36:00.000-07:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 5/28/10

Lions, tigers, bears, 20 First Graders and Chaperones – oh my! Thanks to our chaperones for braving the heat (and the bus ride) to make our Zoo trip a fun day for all!

Here’s an overview of what’s been going on in First Grade this week:

We had a busy week with a visit from our future First and Second Graders from Olivet as well as the First and Second Grade teachers! All were given a tour of the school, cafeteria/gym and playground. It was exciting to see that many students in Elmer School all at once. Next year looks to be an exciting year!

The students also enjoyed another picnic lunch on the lawn. No one seemed to mind the heat as they enjoyed each other’s company.

We got our Social Studies fill for the week by visiting the Fourth Grade Wax Museum on Tuesday. The entire school got to learn about many famous people in American history. It was great to see the Fourth Graders dressed in full character costumes and to hear the interesting facts. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with all of us, Fourth Grade!

The Book Fair was a real treat again and who can beat the “buy one, get one” deals! Thanks, PTA!

MATH: We began Unit 9 by learning more about place value and fractions. What is ½ of 10 pennies? How many ways can you divide a square into halves? This is a skill they will further develop in Second Grade. We also began adding and subtracting with tens using our number grid and filled in missing numbers from a number grid. Next week we will begin adding and subtracting 2-digit numbers!

This week we also completed a fact family quiz and simple addition quiz. Most students did great and this will help boost their grade even higher. Continue to practice basic addition and subtraction facts with your child. Inexpensive flash cards are the best!

# Scrolls: Students continue to work on these scrolls after their morning work is complete. Several students are in the 1,500’s! Keep up the good work. I can’t wait to see where they end up at year’s end.

READING: Our nonfiction story, “Busy, Buzzy Bee” gave us a great look into the life of a worker/drone bee and the queen bee. They are an interesting group of insects!
Due to the Memorial Day holiday and a a 4-day week, next week will be a review week. We will summarize and write about our favorite stories, take a post-test on Theme/Book 4, and a pre-test on Book 5 – our final book and theme for First Grade!

BOOK BAGS: Take the weekend off! Enjoy the time to relax and be with family and friends.

SPELLING: Next week’s spelling words will be a review of the previous 4-5 weeks. A review list will be sent home on Tuesday, June 1st. A review test of about 20-25 words will be given on Friday. We will spend the week reviewing, playing hangman, spelling line, and working on our Word Wall.

ART: The students made a messy, glittery fun Memorial Day art project under the direction of Mrs. Holtz and Mrs. Loufik. Thanks to both of them for helping (and cleaning up after) with this craft! We are so lucky to have such crafty, patient parents!

UPCOMING DATES:

5/31 – No School – Memorial Day
6/10 – 3rd Grade Science Fair
6/18 – 1:00 dismissal/Field Day
6/21 – 1:00 dismissal
6/22 – 1:00 dismissal/last day of school/whole school picnics

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions/concerns. Feel free to send a note in the homework folder or email me at dmahoney@elmerschool.com.

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2010-05-20T10:10:00.000-07:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 5/21/10

Congratulations to all our Talent Show participants! I heard the show was wonderful!

Here’s an overview of what’s been going on in First Grade this week:

MATH: We completed Unit 8 by learning how to equally divide objects into fractional parts – halves, thirds, fourths, etc. and learning how to write fractions such as ½, ¼, etc. Students also continue to practice making various amounts of money using different coins (dollar, quarter, dime, nickel, pennies) and learning the equivalent for each coin or dollar bill, identifying place value (ones, tens, hundreds), and completing fact family triangles.

Unit 9 will focus on more work with place value and fractions. Look for the Home Link 8.10 Family Letter for more details.

I’m happy to report that most students did very well on the Unit 8 Assessment. Only two units left in our First Grade math series!

READING: Because of our class trip this week, the students were given a break and we did not have a test on the fantasy story, “Little Bear’s Friend”.

Next week’s nonfiction story, “Busy, Buzzy Bee” is a favorite amongst insect lovers!

BOOK BAGS: Keep up the good work and continue to read them at least 2 times over the weekend and return them on Monday.

SPELLING: Next week’s spelling words will be /long o/o-e words:
bone, cone, code, rode, rose, those, my, try, again, blue
Bonus/High Frequency Words: another, change, field, touch, twelve, wait, wild

ART: This week we created zoo turtles made of polygons and added sequins for scales. The students had fun creating their turtles and talking about the animals they would see at the Zoo. Thanks to Mrs. Holtz and Ms. Menasse for helping us out at the last minute! We appreciate you!

If you’re interested in helping out with an art project on Wednesdays from 2-3:00, please let me know. We’ve been very fortunate to have so many crafty parents donate their time! Thanks to all our parents!

KITES: Even though the weather wasn’t in our favor on Tuesday for our kite flying, the entire school enjoyed a “kite parade” in the gym and got to see all the different types of kites made by each grade. First Grade had their own private kite flying on Thursday afternoon. All of us agreed it was a fun project to work on. Thanks MK!!

UPCOMING DATES:
5/25 – 4th Grade Wax Museum
5/26 – PTA Book Fair Night
5/31 – No School – Memorial Day
6/10 – 3rd Grade Science Fair
6/18 – 1:00 dismissal/Field Day
6/21 – 1:00 dismissal
6/22 – 1:00 dismissal/last day of school/whole school picnics

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions/concerns. Feel free to send a note in the homework folder or email me at dmahoney@elmerschool.com.

Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2010-05-13T12:19:00.000-07:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 5/14/10

I hope all of you enjoyed your Mother’s Day and the gifts from the children. They had a good time working on their secret projects. Did you get to see how cute they looked in the Today’s Sunbeam article featuring Dr. B’s retirement?!?!?

Here’s an overview of what’s been going on in First Grade this week:

MATH: As we continued Unit 8 we focused on making change using real-world “school store” examples. We also began to work on fractions – dividing items into equal shares (1/2, 1/3, and 1/4) which will prepare them for second grade.

The students are also learning equivalents for the $1 = 100 pennies, $1 = 10 dimes, $1 = 4 quarters, and $1 = 20 nickels. When we are practicing these examples in class you can really tell which students “help” their parents shop and know coins and making change!

Please continue to reinforce these skills at home by having them add various amounts of coins together. Ask them to show you how to make a certain amount at least two different ways. Many students still need more practice than what a school day can provide.

READING: This week’s nonfiction story, “On the Job with Dr. Martha Smith” was an interview with a veterinarian who works at an animal shelter. The photographs were well done and prompted many discussions about our pets!

Next week’s story is a fantasy story, “Little Bear’s Friend”. This will be the next to last story in our fourth of five reading books. It’s hard to believe we will soon be working on our last book. I am impressed with the great job the students have done working their way through each themed book, decoding words, improving their fluency, and enhancing their comprehension. They are well on their way to becoming confident, Second Grade readers!

BOOK BAGS: Continue to read them at least 2 times over the weekend and return them on Monday. Send a note when you return the books to let me know how they “fit”. Remember the goal is to read independently at Level “I” by the end of First Grade. Many of our students are already at that level or past that level! Keep up the good work!

SPELLING: Next week’s spelling words will be /long i/y, ie words:
my, fly, by, why, sky, try, out, now, any, eight
Bonus (high-frequency) words: again, blue, hello, high, love, opened

ART: This week we created rainbow colored butterflies to hang on our windows. During creation of these butterflies the room looked a wreck but the end result was worth the clean up! We also created robots with our Math stencils and wrote about them.

We’re looking for a few good parent (or grandparent) volunteers to help us finish out our First Grade art schedule. Art is held on Wednesdays from 2-3:00. Please see me to sign up. We can help provide supplies if needed!

UPCOMING DATES:
**5/17 – Talent Show ** - New Date
5/18 – 2 pm - Kite Launching event – PARENTS ARE INVITED!
5/21 – First Grade Class Trip to the Philadelphia Zoo
6/17 – Last full day of school
6/18 – 1:00 dismissal/Field Day
6/21 – 1:00 dismissal
6/22 – 1:00 dismissal/last day of school/whole school picnics

ZOO CHAPERONE INFORMATION: It’s hard to believe it’s almost class trip day! Thanks to all our volunteers! We look forward to a great day at the zoo! The students are excited to see the new animal lego creations and get close to some small animals in our “Five Alive/Five Senses” class at the zoo.

Look for an informational memo coming home shortly with details about next Friday’s trip. Since we have so many parent volunteers, most chaperones will only be responsible for their child and one other student.

FYI: I will be out of school on Friday, May 14th and Monday, May 17th. Unfortunately I will miss the Talent Show on the 17th! Best of luck to all our talented First Graders! I know you’ll shine like the stars you are!!

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions/concerns. Feel free to send a note in the homework folder or email me at dmahoney@elmerschool.com.

Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2010-05-06T18:27:00.000-07:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 5/7/10

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! What a great week to be an Elmer School Teacher! Mrs. Johnson and I would like to thank you and all the kids for the flowers, cards, beaded necklaces, popcorn, coffee and bagels, candles, frames, drawings, homemade items, kind words, and hugs of appreciation. You all made us feel special!

Here’s an overview of what’s been going on in First Grade this week:

MATH: We began Unit 8 and a review of money. This week we added the dollar bill to our “bank” and learned place value for 100’s, 10’s, and 1’s using our coins and dollar bills. We put our money where our mouth is this week and had the students “buy” their daily class snack (even if they brought their own from home) with their “play” money. These real life money examples really helped some children strengthen these math skills. Please continue to reinforce these skills at home by having them add various amounts of coins together. Ask them to show you how to make a certain amount at least two different ways. Many students still need more practice than what a school day can provide.

READING: This week’s science fiction story “My Robot” was enjoyed by all the students. I hope you got to hear the story of Cecil the robot. The students enjoyed creating their own robot with a partner and sharing their dreams for the future of robotics with the class.

Next week’s nonfiction story, “On the Job with Dr. Martha Smith” is an interview with a veterinarian who works at an animal shelter.

BOOK BAGS: Continue to read them at least 2 times over the weekend and return them on Monday. Send a note when you return the books to let me know how they “fit”. Remember the goal is to read independently at Level “I” by the end of First Grade. Many of our students are already at that level or past that level! Keep up the good work!

SPELLING: This week we continued to work on alphabetizing our spelling words and sentence dictation.

Next week’s spelling words will be /ou/ow, ou words:
cow, how, now, down, out, round, nice, face, does, once
Bonus (high-frequency) words: any, Dr., busy, care, eight, took

ART: We’ve been busy, busy, busy! This week we completed a project with “Chi Chi” Carman, completed our bug kites with MK, made insect walking puppets with MK, and finished another in-class art project.

PROGRESS REPORTS: It’s hard to believe there are only about 30 school days left of First Grade! Look for the updated Marking Period 3 (MP 3) report to come home. Please review, sign, and return. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me or send in a note.

UPCOMING DATES:

5/18 – Kite Launching event
**5/17 – Talent Show ** - New Date
5/21 – First Grade Class Trip to the Philadelphia Zoo
6/17 – Last full day of school
6/18 – 1:00 dismissal/Field Day
6/21 – 1:00 dismissal
6/22 – 1:00 dismissal/last day of school/whole school picnics

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions/concerns. Feel free to send a note in the homework folder or email me at dmahoney@elmerschool.com.

Thanks again for all the ways you showed you care! Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2010-04-30T05:18:00.000-07:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 4/30/10

Here’s and overview of what’s been going on in First Grade:

MATH: We completed our chapter on Geometry this week with the study of 3-D shapes such as pyramids, cones, and cubes. The students had fun creating and cutting out objects that are symmetrical and finding examples of symmetry in magazines. Our week ended with the Chapter 7 Assessment and a review of name collection boxes, money, and time. Many students are STILL struggling with telling time. Please help them practice at home by asking them the current time, what time it will be in 5 minutes, and telling time using quarter before, quarter after, and half past the hour. Thanks for your continued reinforcement of these important skills necessary for 2nd grade.

Next week we will start Unit 8 and will focus on mental arithmetic, money, and fractions.

READING: This week’s fiction story “Tell Me a Story” was written using dialogue between a little girl (Camilla) and her Abuelita (grandmother). The students enjoyed reading about what it was like in “the old days”. Next week’s Science Fiction story, “My Robot” has been a favorite of First Graders for the past five years! I look forward to having the students illustrate and describe their own robot!

I was quite pleased with the results of the Mid-Year Reading Tests. We also took the Pretest on our 4th of 5 reading book themes “Time Together”. Look for the results in the blue take-home folder.

BOOK BAGS: Please read them at least 2 times over the weekend and return them on Monday. Send a note when you return the books to let me know how they “fit”. Remember the goal is to read independently at Level “I” by the end of First Grade. Many of our students are already at that level or past that level! Keep up the good work!

SPELLING: This week we practiced the skill of alphabetizing our spelling words and began sentence dictation. These skills are needed in 2nd grade. The students are showing real progress in their sentence writing.

Next week’s spelling words will be consonant /s/ c words:
ice, nice, rice, race, face, space, like, nine, why, most
Bonus (high-frequency) words: almost, always, does, even, once, pretty,
say, sound

ART: This week we worked on a “confidential” project for an upcoming holiday to celebrate an important group of females in our lives! Stay tuned for the end results.

Next week we will work on another “confidential” project with Chi Chi Carman and assist “MK”, our resident school artist, in a special school project as we put the finishing touches on our bug kites.

UPCOMING DATES:
4/30 – Mid-Marking Period 3
5/18 – Kite Launching event
**5/17 – Talent Show ** - New Date
5/21 – First Grade Class Trip to the Philadelphia Zoo
6/17 – Last full day of school
6/18 – 1:00 dismissal/Field Day
6/21 – 1:00 dismissal
6/22 – 1:00 dismissal/last day of school/whole school picnics

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions/concerns. Feel free to send a note in the homework folder or email me at dmahoney@elmerschool.com.

Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2010-04-23T03:43:00.000-07:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 4/23/10

Here’s an overview of what we’ve been doing in First Grade:

STAR STUDENTS: Our star students for this week were Chloe Gerstenbacher, Madison Holtz, and Brady Hoppe. Please ask your child what he or she can do to be the next star student in First Grade.

MATH: This week we began Unit 7 – an introduction to Geometry. The students learned about attribute rules, common geometric shapes (square, triangle, hexagon, trapezoid, rhombus, circles, and other polygons). We discussed and identified sides, corners, and faces of many geometric shapes, created polygons with straws and pipe cleaners, and shared the many 3-D shapes brought from home.

Please continue to practice simple addition and subtraction facts with your child at home. Inexpensive flash cards from the $ Store work great! These facts need to be committed to memory as we are phasing out counting on our fingers! Some students are still struggling with the value and addition of coins: quarter, dime, nickel, and penny. Have them count your spare change or make change in the grocery store.

READING: This week’s nonfiction story “At Home Around the World” showcased many different types of shelters around the world. The students got to describe and design their own dream house. We have quite a creative group of designers in First Grade!

BOOK BAGS: Please read them at least 2 times over the weekend and return them on Monday. Feel free to send a note with the books to let me know how they “fit”. Keep up the good work!

SPELLING: Next week’s spelling words will be long i/ i-e words:
nine, line, like, bike, bite, while, funny, hurry, warm, water
Bonus (high-frequency) words: because, cook, front, listen, most,
picture, why, young

ART: We had another busy art week this week. The students put the finishing touches on their bug kites and are ready for the school-wide “Go Fly a Kite” day. The bug kites are proudly displayed in our classroom until the big day.

We also enjoyed a visit from Mrs. Eachus (Mrs. Johnson’s Mom). She helped the students with an Earth Day planting project. We’re enjoying watching our projects grow!

NOTE: PLEASE HAVE YOUR CHILD COLLECT SEVERAL FLOWER PETALS AND LEAVES FROM YOUR YARD FOR AN UPCOMING “CHI CHI” CARMAN ART PROJECT. PLEASE HAVE THEM COLLECT THE FLOWERS/LEAVES AND RETURN THEM TO SCHOOL IN A ZIPLOC BAG BY 4/30.

SUPPLIES: Thank you to the parents who restocked our snack cabinet! While a good number of students bring their own snacks daily, it’s nice to have snacks on hand for those who forget to pack a snack or to share with the entire class. Thanks again!

UPCOMING DATES:
4/27 – Elmer BOE Meeting
4/30 – Mid-Marking Period 3
5/18 – Kite Launching event
**5/17 – Talent Show ** - New Date
5/21 – First Grade Class Trip to the Philadelphia Zoo
6/17 – Last full day of school
6/18 – 1:00 dismissal/Field Day
6/21 – 1:00 dismissal
6/22 – 1:00 dismissal/last day of school/whole school picnics

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions/concerns. Feel free to send a note in the homework folder or email me at dmahoney@elmerschool.com.

Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2010-04-15T12:28:00.000-07:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 4/16/10

Here’s an overview of what we’ve been doing in First Grade:

STAR STUDENTS: Our start studentS for this week are Jacob Fogg and Hailey Nelson. Please ask your child what he or she can do to be the next star student in First Grade.

STUDENT OF THE MONTH(S): This is a school-wide by grade recognition which Dr. Berkowitz just implemented in March. First Grade’s Student of the Month for March – Hailey Nelson and Student of the Month for April – Madison Holtz! Congratulations to these role-model students! Look for their picture in the local papers!

CLASS GUMBALLS: The class has had a very good week and earned numerous gumballs. The gumball machine has around 85 gumballs. It won’t be long before they fill the gumball machine and earn their “gumball” party!

MATH: This week we completed Unit 6 and reviewed for our Unit 6 Assessment. This Assessment included adding with longs and cubes, finding the tens and ones place, name-collection boxes, greater-than and less-than equations, addition and subtraction problems, measurement, and solving turnaround facts. The students continue to do a great job solving their daily word problems and working on their number scrolls. A few students have made it to the 1,000 numbers! Next week we will begin Unit 7 which will be an introduction to geometry!

READING: This week’s nonfiction story “Me on the Map” gave us a chance to explore and begin to understand how to read maps. We looked at maps through the eyes of a young girl and explored maps of her bedroom, her house, her street, her town, her state, her country, and her world. The students got to draw a map of their own bedroom and compare the town in the story to Elmer!
We also began our Mid-Year Reading Assessment on themes 1-3. Next week’s nonfiction story is “At Home Around the World” which describes many different houses around the world.

BOOK BAGS: Please continue to read these books with your child. This is their chance to read books on “their” level and work towards the next level books. Please read them at least 2 times over the weekend and return them on Monday. Feel free to send a note with the books to let me know how they “fit”. Just as our First Graders are outgrowing their clothes because of physical growth, they are growing educationally in their reading and we want to make sure the books are a good “fit”! Keep up the good work!

SPELLING: Next week’s spelling words will be long e/y words:
jelly, belly, bunny, funny, furry, hurry, take, came, world, over
Bonus (high-frequency) words: above, different, hold, old, warm, water,
years

ART: We had a busy art week this week. The students were excited to work with “MK” our temporary grant-funded artist on bug kites! This week we designed the kites with tissue paper and glue and when they dry we’ll add the string and tail. The “Go Fly a Kite” event is scheduled for May 18th!

Also this week we welcomed back “Chi Chi” Carman to our class. She helped us create colored sand designed “vases”. Next week we’ll fill them with muffin cup flowers. After doing the “Chi Chi” dance, we enjoyed spring cupcakes made by Chi Chi. Thanks for a great art lesson, Chi Chi..

SUPPLIES: Seems like we just filled the snack cabinet, however . . . . we are almost out of snacks. If you can spare some extra snacks (goldfish, cheez-its, pretzels, graham or animal crackers are the favorites). Thanks for taking good care of us in First Grade!

UPCOMING DATES:
4/23 – 8 – 11:30 am – Free Health Screenings
4/27 – Board Meeting
4/30 – Mid-Marking Period 3
5/18 – Kite Launching event
**5/17 – Talent Show ** - New Date
5/21 – First Grade Class Trip
6/17 – Last full day of school
6/18 – 1:00 dismissal/Field Day
6/21 – 1:00 dismissal
6/22 – 1:00 dismissal/last day of school/whole school picnics

CLASS TRIP CHAPERONES:

The following chaperones are confirmed to attend the 5/21 trip to the Philadelphia Zoo:

Mrs. Meyers Mrs. Garrison Mrs. Wheaton
Mrs. R. Edmonds Mrs. Denins Mrs. Hoffman
Mrs. Killeen Mr. Journey Mrs. Castro
Mrs. Shriver Mrs. Nelson Mrs. Raudenbush
Mrs. Gerstenbacher Mr. Yelle Mrs. Leonetti
Mr. & Mrs. Hoppe Also attending: Mrs. Schulte, Ms. Menasse

Thanks to all the parents who volunteered to chaperone. The children are excited to visit the zoo and to check out the new Lego animal exhibits. As we get closer to the trip date, more details will be sent home.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions/concerns. Feel free to send a note in the homework folder or email me at dmahoney@elmerschool.com.

Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2010-04-08T16:43:00.000-07:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 4/9/10

Happy summer weather! First Grade has been enjoying the summer-like weather, eating lunch on the lawn and practicing spelling outside with sidewalk chalk! Here’s an overview of what else we’ve been doing in First Grade:

MATH: This week we continued our study of money and introduced the quarter and practiced adding quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies. Please continue to reinforce these skills by getting your child to count your spare change! We also learned about the digital clock and the analog clock and practiced telling time on each type. Our Math Reference Book was introduced and we had a fun “scavenger hunt” looking for information in the Reference Book and using the Table of Contents. The students also enjoyed a “hunt” for objects that were 1 cm and 10 cm long. Boy, were they creative in what they found in our room! The week ended with teams playing the Fact Family Game created by Mrs. Hoppe. Thanks, Mrs. Hoppe for sharing your games with us!

Next week we will wrap up Unit 6 and take the Unit 6 Assessment.

READING: Our realistic fiction story “A Bed Full of Cats” was enjoyed by all. I am proud of the way First Grade completed our usual 5 days of reading work in just 4 days! Way to go First Grade! Next week’s story will be a nonfiction story called, “Me on the Map.” Several students have read this as part of the Guided Reading (book bag) series. I’m counting on them to show what they know about this story!

BOOK BAGS: Please continue to read these books with your child. This is their chance to read books on “their” level and work towards the next level books. Please read them at least 2 times over the weekend and return them on Monday. Feel free to send a note with the books to let me know how they “fit”. Just as our First Graders are outgrowing their clothes because of physical growth, they are growing educationally in their reading and we want to make sure the books are a good “fit”! Keep up the good work!

SPELLING: Next week’s spelling words will be long a words:

came, game, gate, late, lake, take, feet, me, know, also
Bonus (high-frequency) words: country, Earth, over, special, town, world

ART: If you haven’t done so already . . . please send in a clean, clear, glass jar/bottle for an art project we will be doing next week. If you have extras, we’ll take them too! Thanks for your help with this project.

In addition to the glass jar art project, First Grade will also get to work with “MK”, our temporary resident artist, on making bug kites!

SCIENCE: The students worked in groups to create posters that showed “living” vs. “nonliving” objects and discussed what things a living creature needs (air, water, food) and that they grow and change.

UPCOMING DATES:

4/9 – (after school) Talent Show Auditions
4/13 – (after school) Talent Show Auditions
4/30 – Mid-Marking Period 3
5/18 – Kite Launching event
5/19 – Talent Show
5/21 – First Grade Class Trip

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions/concerns. Feel free to send a note in the homework folder or email me at dmahoney@elmerschool.com.

Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2010-03-25T16:11:00.000-07:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 3/26/10

Spring is in the air! Check out our bulletin board and see what spring means to the First Graders. Here’s an overview of what we’ve been doing this week:

STAR STUDENT: This week’s star student is Ava Carman. Ask your child what he/she can do to become the star student.

LOST TOOTH: It was Liam Journey’s turn to lose a tooth this week. Appropriately so, the students are enjoying listening to me read Junie B. Jones “Toothless Wonder” to them. We certainly can relate to Junie B. losing her teeth!

MATH: This week we began Unit 6 by learning simple addition and subtraction facts, name-collection boxes, fact triangles and fact families. The students are really getting good at simple addition facts! You can help by picking up a set of inexpensive addition and subtraction flash cards to practice with them at home. The First Graders are also getting really good at solving our Daily Word Problems. Some of them even have the problem solved before I’ve finished reading the problem!

READING: This week we read the fable “The Fox and the Stork,” and learned that being kind to others is the right thing to do. The students shared examples of how friends have been kind to them. It was great to hear the many examples of kindness shown in First Grade.

Next week we will not have a reading story. We will work on the small group books associated with this story, take our theme unit posttest and our mid-year reading test.

BOOK BAGS: Continue to have your child read these level-specific books to you at least two times over the weekend. For some, fluency is the skill they need the most work on. Improvement in this area comes from practice, practice, and more practice and hearing fluent readers read to them. Keep up the good work! The results will be well worth the effort!

SPELLING: NO NEW SPELLING WORDS NEXT WEEK. We will catch up on our grammar work, play sight word bingo, and add to our word wall.

ART: This week’s project was a tissue paper rainbow. Mrs. Hoppe and Mrs. Leonetti spearheaded this craft. Although during the creation of the rainbows our classroom looked like a tornado went through it, the kids had a great time and the rainbows looked great decorating our windows.

Compliments of a state grant, all the grades in Elmer School will be participating in a kite-making craft. This week we got to meet the “artist” who will be instructing us and got a first look at the kites we will be making. A school-wide kite-launching event is scheduled for May 18th.

SUPPLIES: Thank you to all the parents who sent in supplies this week. We appreciate how you take care of all of us!

UPCOMING DATES:
4/1 – ½ day – Easter Egg Hunt/Easter Party
4/2 – No School (Spring Break)
4/5 – No School (Spring Break)
4/9 – Talent Show Auditions
4/13 – Talent Show Auditions
4/30 – Mid-Marking Period 3
5/18 – Kite Launching event
5/19 – Talent Show
5/21 – First Grade Class Trip*
*Our trip will be to the Philadelphia Zoo. Chaperones are needed. Tickets will be $10 payable in advance and you will ride on the bus with your child. A separate information flyer will be sent home shortly.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions/concerns. Feel free to send a note in the homework folder or email me at dmahoney@elmerschool.com.

Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2010-03-18T18:07:00.000-07:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 3/19/10

Here’s an overview of what we’ve been doing this week:

NEW JERSEY PROGRAM: Wow, what a show! All of the Elmer students did well, but I am most proud of the First Grade “stars” that really showed everyone how bright they shine on stage! Great job, First Grade!

STAR STUDENTS: Speaking of stars . . . . this week we have had several: Cindy Loufik, Samuel Long, Jimmy Shriver, and Alex Meyers.

LOST TOOTH: Justin Leonetti lost a tooth while sampling some of our NJ Beach salt water taffy. Way to go, Justin!

MATH: This week we practiced and reviewed all the skills we’ve learned so far this year and took our Mid-Year math assessment. I was very pleased with the grades! Look for the graded test in your child’s take-home folder today.

READING: This week we had fun reading Scholastic News, small group books, books of our choice, and practicing our fluency. We will resume our regular reading/spelling schedule next week with a fable called “The Fox and the Stork.”

BOOK BAGS: THERE ARE NO BOOK BAGS COMING HOME THIS WEEKEND! Enjoy the time reading a book of your choosing to and with your child. Book bags will be sent home again next week.

SPELLING: This week we reviewed our words from the last five stories. We had fun practicing these words by playing spelling hangman, spelling line, and the Phonics Wheel game. Next week our words will be long o, /ow/, /oa/ words:

low, bow, row, road, soap, boat, wiggle, middle, talk, school
Bonus (high-frequency) words: door, kind, made, who, would

SUPPLIES: Thank you to all the parents who sent in supplies this week. We appreciate how you take care of all of us!

UPCOMING DATES:
3/20 – Spring Begins!!
5/21 – First Grade Class Trip (more details to follow; chaperones will be needed)

GOOD-BYE: We are sad to see our friends Sophia Riccio and Lea Perez leave us to go to a new school. We will miss their friendship and their beautiful smiles. Best of luck girls and keep in touch!

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions/concerns. Feel free to send a note in the homework folder or email me at dmahoney@elmerschool.com.

Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2010-03-14T07:38:00.000-07:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 3/12/10

Happy (almost) Spring! Here’s an overview of what we’ve been doing this week:

NEW STUDENT: We welcomed a new student, Olivia Lum, to our class this week. Although First Grade is now bursting at the seams, all the students were excited to show Olivia around and get her used to Elmer School. Welcome Olivia!

RECESS BEFORE LUNCH?!?!? Newly implemented at Elmer School this week! Ask your child how they liked having recess before lunch. Our First Grade class tally poll showed that most students liked being able to run around outside before they ate lunch. I’m happy to report that most students came back from lunch more relaxed and ready to settle in to work. Studies show this is one of the benefits of reversing the recess and lunch periods.

LOST TOOTH: It’s a First Grade first! Chloe Gerstenbacher lost 2 teeth in school in this week! Although Chloe’s great smile looks a little different now, she was excited to have her name on the Lost Tooth chart twice in the same week!

PTA COVERED DISH DINNER/PROGRAM: The students are doing an excellent job practicing their songs and their lines for our Tuesday, March 16th program. Don’t forget to dress your child in beach gear (shorts, t-shirts, flip flops, crocs, etc.) for that night. You (and the TV reporters that may be there) are in for a real treat! I am very proud of how they are performing on the stage and learning their parts.

MATH: This week we worked on learning basic addition and subtraction facts, rule and function boxes, and money comparison number stories. We reviewed for and took our Unit 5 Assessment. Next week we will review the many math skills we’ve learned so far this year and take our Mid-Year Math Assessment.

READING: Our story this week was a nonfiction story entitled, “Friends Forever.” We discussed what it means to be a good friend and what activities good friends do together.

Since next week is a short week we will not have a Reading story or test. We will use this time to read our Book Bag books, small group books, and decodable books. This will be a good week to just have fun reading and catch up on our Grammar work!!

BOOK BAGS: Please take the time to have them read and REREAD these books to you. They should read each book at least 2 times over the weekend and work up to reading them 4 times each. Book Bags are to be returned on Mondays.

FYI: The reading goal is to have first graders be independent at Level I upon completion of first grade. Several of our students are already there or past that level!

SPELLING –
Since next week is a week filled with half days, we will have a review spelling week. The words will be:

chip, chin, inch, itch, catch, match, how, many
far, farm, arm, art, cart, card, live, soon
quit, quick, quiz, whiz, which, when, who, there
sir, dirt, bird, burn, fur, her, work, grew
middle, fiddle, wiggle, giggle, puddle, cuddle, were, four

SUPPLIES: Thank you to all the parents who sent in supplies this week. We appreciate how you take care of all of us!

UPCOMING DATES:
3/16 – PTA Covered Dish Dinner and Program (1st graders presenting on NJ Beaches)
3/17 – 1:00 Day/2nd Marking Period Conferences
3/18 – 1:00 Day/2nd Marking Period Conferences
3/19 – 1:00 Day/2nd Marking Period Conferences
3/20 – Spring Begins!!
5/21 – First Grade Class Trip (more details to follow; chaperones will be needed)

WEDDING CONGRATULATIONS: First Grade wants to extend our congratulations to Mrs. Johnson on the wedding of her daughter Courtney this weekend. We are all missing Mrs. Johnson as she takes a few days off to get ready for the wedding, but we look forward to seeing the photos and hearing the great stories from the wedding. Congratulations Courtney and Sean!

CONFERENCES
I look forward to seeing all of you at next week’s conference and sharing your child’s progress with you.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions/concerns. Feel free to send a note in the homework folder or email me at dmahoney@elmerschool.com.

Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2010-03-04T17:42:00.000-08:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 3/5/10

Wow! We were actually able to complete a FULL week without any interruptions from snow! This week’s overview includes:

PTA COVERED DISH DINNER/PROGRAM: The students are busy practicing their songs and their lines for this important program on Tuesday, March 16th. Don’t forget to dress your child in beach gear (shorts, t-shirts, flip flops, crocs, etc.). Requests will be sent home next week for special “props” for your child to use during the program. You’re in for a real treat!

LOST TOOTH: Karlee Quenzel lost a tooth this week. This is the third time she’s made the “Lost Tooth” Chart. The tooth fairy certainly is busy at Karlee’s house!

MATH: This week we worked on comparison number stories – who has more money and how much more money; how much do two items weigh all together?; how much more/less does one weigh?; We also continued to work on greater than and less than number sentences, learned several turn-around facts, and began to explore estimation – is 15 closer to 10 or 20? The students are doing a great job in solving our daily math word problems. Soon we’ll be testing on Unit 5 and having our Mid-Year Math assessment. Time sure flies when you’re having fun in Math! Keep working with your child to reinforce these skills we’ve learned in class. Check out the Math links on our 1st grade posting.

READING: Our story this week was a fantasy story entitled, “On the Way to the Pond.” The students did a great job summarizing the story, describing the setting, and discussing the characters in the story. Next week’s selection is a nonfiction story entitled, “Friends Forever.”

BOOK BAGS: Pay special attention to the Book Bags. Many of our students have completed all the books in their current level and the next level books have been sent home. Please let me know how the new level books “fit” your child by completing the form in the bag. I will be asking them to read one of their book bag books to me in the next week or so.

Please take the time to have them read and REREAD these books to you. They should read each book at least 2 times over the weekend and work up to reading them 4 times each. Book Bags are to be returned on Mondays.

FYI: The reading goal is to have first graders be independent at Level I upon completion of first grade. Several of our students are already there or past that level!

SPELLING – Next week’s spelling words are words that end with /-le/:
middle, fiddle, wiggle, giggle, puddle, cuddle
fur, bird, were, four
Bonus (High Frequency Words):
each, great, other, place,
school, talk, together

SUPPLIES: First grade is still in need of the following items: snacks (goldfish or animal crackers would be great), large bottles of hand sanitizer, and boxes of soft, non-school-issued tissues! Thanks for making First Grade a clean, comfortable place to learn!

UPCOMING DATES:
3/16 – PTA Covered Dish Dinner and Program
(1st graders presenting on NJ Beaches)
3/17 – 1:00 Day/2nd Marking Period Conferences
3/18 – 1:00 Day/2nd Marking Period Conferences
3/19 – 1:00 Day/2nd Marking Period Conferences
3/20 – Spring Begins!!
5/21 – First Grade Class Trip (more details to follow; chaperones will be needed)

CONFERENCES
Please complete and return the yellow conference schedule form if you would like to set up a conference with me for the 2nd Marking Period. Report cards will be given out at Conferences.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions/concerns. Feel free to send a note in the homework folder or email me at dmahoney@elmerschool.com.

Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2010-02-25T16:05:00.001-08:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 2/26/10

This week’s overview includes:

STAR STUDENTS: Students who showed real leadership and were classroom role models: Emily Edmonds, Sam Long, Jordan Hoffman, Karlee Quenzel, and Madision Holtz! Ask your student about this and what he or she can do to become the next Star Student.

100 DAY EVENTS: We were finally able to celebrate our 100th day of school on Wednesday, 2/24/10! All the students did a wonderful job on their 100th day Math projects. Stop by to view the projects on the tables outside of our classroom and see how creative our 1st graders are! No two projects are the same!

I am also happy to report that we collected 100 cans for Peter’s Pantry (thanks to a generous donation by the Shainline family). Other 100 day activities on Wednesday included writing about what you would do with $100, drawing 100 symbols (stars, hearts, etc.), writing our numbers in descending order 100 – 1, being quiet for 100 seconds, having a special “100” snack (a pretzel rod for the number one and 2 small donuts for the two zeros), and proudly wearing our “I Am 100 Days Smarter” stickers! We ended the day with a music assembly from Appel Farm.

MATH: This week we continued to work with base-10 blocks (cubes, longs, flats), explored place value – tens/ones, solved greater than/less than number stories using weights of animals, amounts of coins, and simple addition problems. Please continue to work with your child at home to solve simple addition and subtraction problems using counters of all kinds (macaroni, cereal, candy, etc). Have your child add and subtract amounts of coins you have at home. Students really need this extra reinforcement at home!

READING: Our story this week was a biography entitled, “Tomas Rivera” about a boy who loved listening to his Grandpa tell stories and eventually ended up becoming a teacher and then a writer because of his love for books. The students discussed their favorite books and who they enjoy reading with. Next week’s selection is a fantasy story entitled, “On the Way to the Pond.”

BOOK BAGS: Pay special attention to the Book Bags this weekend. Many of our students have completed all the books in their current level and the next level books have been sent home. Please let me know how the new level books “fit” your child by completing the form in the bag. I will be asking them to read one of their book bag books to me next week.

Please take the time to have them read and REREAD these books to you. They should read each book at least 2 times over the weekend and work up to reading them 4 times each. Book Bags are to be returned on Mondays.

SPELLING – Next week’s spelling words are R-controlled vowel words /ur/, er, ir, ur words:
sir, dirt, bird, burn, fur, her, quit, when, work, grew
Bonus (High Frequency) Words: find, follow, found, four, full, these, way, were

SUPPLIES: First grade is in need of the following items: snacks (goldfish or animal crackers would be great), large bottles of hand sanitizer, and boxes of soft, non-school-issued tissues! Thanks for making First Grade a clean, comfortable place to learn!

UPCOMING DATES:
3/16 – PTA Covered Dish Dinner and Program (1st graders presenting on NJ Beaches)
3/17 – 1:00 Day/2nd Marking Period Conferences
3/18 – 1:00 Day/2nd Marking Period Conferences
3/19 – 1:00 Day/2nd Marking Period Conferences
3/20 – Spring Begins!!
5/21 – First Grade Class Trip (more details to follow; chaperones will be needed)

CONFERENCES
Please complete and return the yellow conference schedule form if you would like to set up a conference with me for the 2nd Marking Period. Report cards will be given out at Conferences.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions/concerns. Feel free to catch me before/after school, send a note in the homework folder, or email me at dmahoney@elmerschool.com.

Enjoy your weekend! Think Spring!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2010-02-25T16:05:00.000-08:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 2/19/10

This week’s overview includes:

STAR STUDENTS: Students who showed real leadership and were classroom role models: Emily Edmonds, Sam Long, Jordan Hoffman, Karlee Quenzel, and Madision Holtz! Ask your student about this and what he or she can do to become the next Star Student.

100 DAY EVENTS: We were finally able to celebrate our 100th day of school on Wednesday, 2/24/10! All the students did a wonderful job on their 100th day Math projects. Stop by to view the projects on the tables outside of our classroom and see how creative our 1st graders are! No two projects are the same!

I am also happy to report that we collected 100 cans for Peter’s Pantry (thanks to a generous donation by the Shainline family). Other 100 day activities on Wednesday included writing about what you would do with $100, drawing 100 symbols (stars, hearts, etc.), writing our numbers in descending order 100 – 1, being quiet for 100 seconds, having a special “100” snack (a pretzel rod for the number one and 2 small donuts for the two zeros), and proudly wearing our “I Am 100 Days Smarter” stickers! We ended the day with a music assembly from Appel Farm.

MATH: This week we continued to work with base-10 blocks (cubes, longs, flats), explored place value – tens/ones, solved greater than/less than number stories using weights of animals, amounts of coins, and simple addition problems. Please continue to work with your child at home to solve simple addition and subtraction problems using counters of all kinds (macaroni, cereal, candy, etc). Have your child add and subtract amounts of coins you have at home. Students really need this extra reinforcement at home!

READING: Our story this week was a biography entitled, “Tomas Rivera” about a boy who loved listening to his Grandpa tell stories and eventually ended up becoming a teacher and then a writer because of his love for books. The students discussed their favorite books and who they enjoy reading with. Next week’s selection is a fantasy story entitled, “On the Way to the Pond.”

BOOK BAGS: Pay special attention to the Book Bags this weekend. Many of our students have completed all the books in their current level and the next level books have been sent home. Please let me know how the new level books “fit” your child by completing the form in the bag. I will be asking them to read one of their book bag books to me next week.

Please take the time to have them read and REREAD these books to you. They should read each book at least 2 times over the weekend and work up to reading them 4 times each. Book Bags are to be returned on Mondays.

SPELLING – Next week’s spelling words are R-controlled vowel words /ur/, er, ir, ur words:
sir, dirt, bird, burn, fur, her Bonus (High Frequency Words):
quit, when, work, grew find, follow, found, four
full, these, way, were

SUPPLIES: First grade is in need of the following items: snacks (goldfish or animal crackers would be great), large bottles of hand sanitizer, and boxes of soft, non-school-issued tissues! Thanks for making First Grade a clean, comfortable place to learn!

UPCOMING DATES:
3/16 – PTA Covered Dish Dinner and Program (1st graders presenting on NJ Beaches)
3/17 – 1:00 Day/2nd Marking Period Conferences
3/18 – 1:00 Day/2nd Marking Period Conferences
3/19 – 1:00 Day/2nd Marking Period Conferences
3/20 – Spring Begins!!
5/21 – First Grade Class Trip (more details to follow; chaperones will be needed)

CONFERENCES
Please complete and return the yellow conference schedule form if you would like to set up a conference with me for the 2nd Marking Period. Report cards will be given out at Conferences.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions/concerns. Feel free to catch me before/after school, send a note in the homework folder, or email me at dmahoney@elmerschool.com.

Enjoy your weekend! Think Spring!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2010-02-18T16:03:00.000-08:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 2/19/10

Snow? Did someone say snow? We’ve sure had our fair share this year! Here’s an overview of what we’ve been doing in First Grade these past 2 crazy weeks:

STAR STUDENTS: Students who rose to the occasion and showed real leadership and were classroom role models were: Harry Raudenbush, Jack Wheaton, Justin Leonetti, and Chloe Gerstenbacher. Ask your student about this and what he or she can do to become the next Star Student!

MUSIC BANNER: FIRST GRADE ROCKS MUSIC CLASS! For the second time this year, 1st grade brought home the music banner for “perfect” score for behavior in Music class. Way to go 1st grade!

LOST TOOTH: Karlee Quenzel lost a tooth on our first day back after the long, snowy break! She was happy that it came out in school and that she made the “Lost Tooth” Chart for the second time!

MATH: This week we moved into Unit 5 and began to learn about cubes, longs, and flats which teach us place value. We also practiced place value with calculators, and solved math problems using greater than, less than and equal to symbols. Continue to work with your child at home on simple addition facts (2+1=3, 3+1=3). Encourage them to use a number line or counters to figure out these problems. As part of our daily routine, the students continue to work on their number scrolls—some are in the 400s now!!

READING: Our fiction story this week was a play entitled, “Did You See Chip?” The students enjoyed taking turns reading and acting out the story parts.

BOOK BAGS: These bags will be come home again on Friday and should be returned on Monday. These books are individualized to your child’s reading level. Please take the time to have them read and REREAD these books to you. They should read each book at least 2 times over the weekend and work up to reading them 4 times each.

SPELLING – Next week’s spelling words are /kw/qu/hw/wh words:

quit, quick, quiz, whiz, which, when, arm, card, who, there

Bonus (high-frequency) words:
about, books, by, family, grew, read, work, writing

FYI: If for some reason your child doesn’t have the list of Spelling words, feel free to check the school website--First Grade class page which lists the weekly spelling words in the copy of this letter.

SUPPLIES: First grade is in need of the following items: snacks (goldfish or animal crackers would be great), large bottles of hand sanitizer, and boxes of soft, non-school-issued tissues! Thanks for making First Grade a clean, comfortable place to learn!

ART:
First graders enjoyed a busy, craft-filled week last week! They completed their elaborate Valentine’s Day cards, under the guidance of Chi Chi Carman and Mrs. Killeen and were treated to a sweet treat at the end. Mrs. Holtz treated the kids to their own individual foam mailboxes which they got to decorate and store their class Valentines in. I must say, many classes admired the mailboxes from afar! Mrs. Hoppe assisted the class in making a Beary special Valentine magnet craft while Mrs. Leonetti organized the treat bag decorating session!

The first graders and I want to say a special thanks to all our parents who helped make Valentine’s Day so special (even if it was a day or two later than planned!). Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Wheaton for organizing the Valentine’s Day party. The students enjoyed all the special treats!

UPCOMING DATES:
2/19 – Jump Rope for Heart – 9:30-10:30
2/22 – PTA Gym Night
2/24 – 100th Day of School (100th day Math project due)
2/24 – Appel Farm Assembly for students
3/16 – PTA Covered Dish Dinner and Program (1st graders presenting on NJ Beaches)

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions/concerns. Feel free to catch me before/after school, send a note in the homework folder, or email me at dmahoney@elmerschool.com.

Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2010-02-04T17:15:00.000-08:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

2/5/10
Dear First Grade Families:

Here’s an overview of what we’ve been doing in First Grade this week:

STAR STUDENTS: Yet another way to incentivize the first graders to “do the right thing”, the Star Student award recognizes the student who is a role model in our class. This week’s Star Students are: Hailey Nelson, Jordan Hoffman, and Jenna Killeen. Ask your student about this and what he or she can do to become the next Star Student!

MATH: This week we practiced our skills for our Unit 4 Assessment. These skills included telling time to the quarter hour, using a ruler to measure/draw inches, completing number grids, frames and arrows, 1more/1 less than, counting money and making amounts of money with less coins, and addition facts. The students are enjoying working on their number scrolls—some are in the 300s already!!

READING: Our non-fiction story this week was “I Am a Butterfly”. We completed our Reading Test and the students created a chart on the life cycle of a butterfly.

Since the next two weeks are short weeks due to the President’s Day holiday and our busy February 11th (Jump Rope for Heart and Valentine’s Day party), our next Reading test on “Did You See Chip?” will be on Friday, February 19th.

BOOK BAGS: These bags will be come home again on Friday and should be returned on Monday. These books are individualized to your child’s reading level. Please take the time to have them read and REREAD these books to you. They should read each book at least 2 times over the weekend and work up to reading them 4 times each.

SPELLING – Next week’s spelling words are /ar/ words:

far, farm, arm, art, cart, card
chin, inch, live, soon

Bonus (High Frequency Words): city, house, sometimes, take, there

FYI: If for some reason your child doesn’t have the list of Spelling words, feel free to check the school website--First Grade class page which lists the weekly spelling words in the copy of this letter.

ART: Chi Chi returns! This week the students enjoyed making special Valentine’s Day cards under the direction of Chi Chi Carman (Jenna and Ava’s grandmom) and Mrs. Killeen. This was part 1 of 2 great art lessons with Chi Chi. The students also got to decorate their own Valentine’s Day cupcake. Thanks again Chi Chi for all your devotion to 1st grade. Thanks, also, to our parent helpers Mrs. Hoppe and Mrs. Holtz!

UPCOMING DATES:
2/8 – Schalick Basketball Assembly (1:00 – 1:45)
2/8 – PTA Gym Night
2/11 – Jump Rope for Heart – 9:30-10:30
2/11 – 1st Grade Valentine’s Day Party – 2:00
2/12 – School Closed – President’s Weekend
2/15 – School Closed – President’s Weekend
2/22 – 100th Day of School
2/24 – Appel Farm Assembly for students

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions/concerns. Feel free to catch me before/after school, send a note in the homework folder, or email me at dmahoney@elmerschool.com.

Enjoy your possibly snowy weekend!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2010-01-28T16:43:00.000-08:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 1/29/10

Here’s an overview of what we’ve been doing in First Grade this week:

GYM REMINDER: Students must wear/bring sneakers for Physical Education (gym) which is scheduled for Wednesdays and Fridays. Wednesday’s gym is with Mr. Worthington and Friday is with me and Mrs. Johnson. We sometimes combine our Friday gym with the 3rd grade class (because they need the gym at the same time we do) and play some fun team games and relays.

CLASS LIST: A class list will be sent home today for your child to use when completing their Valentine’s Day cards. If your child chooses to send Valentine’s Day cards, please encourage them to send them to ALL of their classmates.

MATH: This week we learned to tell time to the quarter hour. This is a skill that needs to be practiced and reinforced at home. Ask your child what time it is at a quarter past the hour, half past the hour, and a quarter to the hour. We also studied timelines and began our number scrolls. Thanks for sending in all the paper towel tubes! The number scrolls will be independent work for the students to complete in class (with teacher check points along the way). They are writing numbers higher than 100 – and are being challenged to go far as they can go!

READING: We completed our reading test on “Fun With Fish,” and slightly transformed our classroom into a fishbowl with hanging fish models the children decorated!

I’m happy to report many great grades on the Posttest for our 2nd Reading Book! This shows me (and you) that the students have mastered a majority of the skills from this book. We will begin our third Reading book next week with the story “I Am A Butterfly.” Please make sure to cover these books – a paper bag cover works great!

BOOK BAGS: These bags will be come home again on Friday and should be returned on Monday. These books are individualized to your child’s reading level. Please take the time to have them read and REREAD these books to you. They should read each book at least 2 times over the weekend and work up to reading them 4 times each.

SPELLING – Next week’s spelling words are /ch/ words:
chip, chin, inch, itch, catch, match
wish, shop, how, many
Bonus (High Frequency Words): air, animals, around, fly, live, soon, turns

FYI: If for some reason your child doesn’t have the list of Spelling words, feel free to check the school website--First Grade class page which lists the weekly spelling words in the copy of this letter.

ART AND/OR GUEST READERS:
This week the students enjoyed making Valentine’s Day cards under the direction of Mrs. Holtz. There was a lot of “stamping”, glittering, stickering, and laughter going on. Hopefully you’ll be a recipient of one of these beautiful creations.

We have numerous other Valentine’s Day crafts scheduled for February thanks to you great parents!

UPCOMING DATES:

2/8 – PTA Gym Night
2/11 – Jump Rope for Heart – 9:30-10:30
2/11 – 1st Grade Valentine’s Day Party – 2:00
2/12 – School Closed – President’s Weekend
2/15 – School Closed – President’s Weekend
2/19 – 100th Day of School
2/24 – Appel Farm Assembly for students

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions/concerns. Feel free to catch me before/after school, send a note in the homework folder, or email me at dmahoney@elmerschool.com.

Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2010-01-21T15:56:00.000-08:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 1/22/10

Shorter week . . . shorter letter. Here’s an overview of what we’ve been doing in First Grade this week:

SUPPLIES NEEDED: Please send in as many empty paper towel (not toilet paper) rolls as you can. Each student will need one to make number scrolls in math.

MATH: As we continued our study of measurement this week, we used the 6-inch ruler, 12-inch ruler, and tape measure to measure various school objects (and elbows, wrists, hand span, ankles, etc.) in class. We also measured and compared the height of all the first graders, “wrote” our name with the straight edge of a ruler, and made designs with the geoboard. Please continue to work with your child on telling time: ask them what time it is currently, what time it will be in 30 minutes, what time they get up, what time they eat dinner, what time they go to bed, etc. Next week we will move on to telling time to the quarter hour (8:15).

READING: Our non-fiction story this week was “Fun with Fish.” READING TEST WILL BE ON TUESDAY, 1/26. This is a story filled with facts, information, and beautiful photos of fish. I hope you enjoyed listening to your child read this story to you. Upon completion of this reading test, we will complete the Posttest on this reading book and prepare ourselves for our third out of five reading books!

BOOK BAGS: These bags will be come home again on Friday and should be returned on Monday. These books are individualized to your child’s reading level. Please take the time to have them read and REREAD these books to you. They should read each book at least 2 times over the weekend and work up to reading them 4 times each.

SPELLING – SPELLING TEST WILL BE ON TUESDAY, 1/26.

This week’s spelling words are /sh/ words: ship, shop, shot, wish, dish, dash
for, more, be, try
Bonus Words (or high frequency words): away, food, funny, hide, how, many, some, their

No new spelling words for the week of 1/26/10.

ART AND/OR GUEST READERS:

This week the students enjoyed listening to the book “Mittens” read by our guest reader, Mrs. Garrison. The students then decorated mittens of their own to display in the hallway. Thanks, Mrs. Garrison!

HELP!! We have decided to open our “Art” time slot to allow for guest readers. If you have a favorite book you’d like to read to our class, please let me know. You can bring a coloring page or have the students “illustrate” a part from the story.

Our art schedule is completely open for March – June 2010 and is scheduled on Wednesdays from 2-3 pm. If you’re interested please see me, email me, stop me in the hall, etc. The students sure do enjoy the break from my teaching and love to have guests in the room!

UPCOMING DATES:

1/25 – PTA Skating Party
2/8 – PTA Gym Night
2/11 – Jump Rope for Heart (parent volunteers will be needed; details to follow)
2/12 – School Closed – President’s Weekend
2/15 – School Closed – President’s Weekend
2/24 – Appel Farm Assembly for students

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions/concerns. Feel free to catch me before/after school, send a note in the homework folder, or email me at dmahoney@elmerschool.com.

Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2010-01-14T16:21:00.000-08:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 1/15/10

Here’s an overview of what we’ve been doing in First Grade this week:

MATH: Our daily word problems this week have been about dolphins. The students have really “warmed” up to the daily word problems and are being challenged to read the problem, circle important information, and create number sentences to solve the problems.

Math Unit 4 deals with all types of measurement. We learned to measure temperature, how to read a thermometer, and compared our temperature to other U.S. cities and to Moscow, Russia where one of our classmates is visiting. You think it’s been cold here! To measure distance we used our own body parts – digits, forearms, and wingspans. The students especially enjoyed measuring with their own “feet” and a standard foot-long foot. It did get pretty stinky when all the students took off their shoes to make and measure their feet. Oh, the things we do in the name of education!!! Thanks for being good sports and letting them measure your feet too. We ended the week measuring objects with a ruler and learning what an inch looks like.

LANGUAGE ARTS: Our fiction story this week was “Try Your Best.” From our reading, we learned how to always try our best no matter what task is in front of us. As a daily reminder to all of us, the class will be making a “Try Your Best” sign to post in the front of our classroom.

To allow for more individualized instruction, the class was split in three reading groups. This gives me the chance to work with each group on their own level and gives the students some independence in completing workbook pages and a writing assignment to summarize the story.

Next week’s story is called, “Fun with Fish.” Feel free to have your child bring home their reading book every night to practice the current story and future stories (just return it to school each day). Given the short week next week, we will stretch our story and its activities out and test on Tuesday, 1/26 instead of Friday, 1/22. Since this story completes the second reading book, we will also take the posttest for this book. I look forward to seeing how much the students have learned.

**Several of you have asked about improving your child’s comprehension strategies. Check the blue folder for information sent home to help you help them in this critical area. **

SPELLING – The electronic whiteboard continues to capture our attention. The students are enjoying learning how to use the whiteboard and how to spell at the same time. This week we practiced spelling our words many different ways, looking for patterns, and phonetically spelling words we didn’t know, which will enhance their reading skills as well.

Next week’s spelling words are /sh/ words:
ship, shop, shot, wish, dish, dash, for, more, be, try

Bonus Words: away, food, funny, hide, how, many, some, their

**Due to the short week next week our Spelling test will be on Tuesday, 1/26 instead of Friday, 1/22.

BOOK BAGS: Each Friday your child will bring home a bag of books geared toward their reading level. They are to read and reread these books to you over the weekend and return the bag on Monday/Tuesday. Remember: Read/Reread/Return/Repeat!

A new set of books will be sent home each Friday. Please note that each book has a sticker with a letter on it. The goal is for first graders to read independently at Level I by the end of first grade. Let me know how your child makes out with their books – too easy, too hard, too long, too short, or just right.

ART AND/OR GUEST READERS: HELP!! We have decided to open our “Art” time slot to allow for guest readers. If you have a favorite book you’d like to read to our class, please let me know. We can try to find a coloring page or drawing the students can do after the story is read to them.

Our art schedule is completely open for February – June 2010 and is scheduled on Wednesdays from 2-3 pm. If you’re interested please see me, email me, stop me in the hall, etc. The students sure do enjoy the break from my teaching and love to have guests in the room.

This week the students cut out and glittered some beautiful snowflakes thanks to Mrs. Holtz and Miss Brianna (Madison’s cousin who is studying to be a teacher). We are grateful to them for their time and patience and we were glad to show Brianna what it’s really like to be a first grade teacher!

UPCOMING DATES:
1/18 – NO SCHOOL – MLK Holiday
1/25 – PTA Skating Party
2/8 – PTA Gym Night
2/11 – Jump Rope for Heart (parent volunteers will be needed; details to follow)
2/24 – Appel Farm Assembly for students

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions/concerns. Feel free to catch me before/after school, send a note in the homework folder, or email me at dmahoney@elmerschool.com.

Enjoy your long weekend!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2010-01-07T16:32:00.000-08:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 1/8/10

Happy New Year! I trust all of you enjoyed the holidays with your families. Check out our new bulletin board, “It’s SNOW Secret We Make a Great Team!” The first graders (and I) have settled into our routines and are getting back on the learning track!

INCENTIVES: We have many positive individual and group incentives first graders can strive for. Each student has a star chart and earn stars for random acts of kindness, good work, great answers, suggestions, and being caught doing the right thing. Once their star chart is full, they receive a free snack in the cafeteria.

This week we instituted a class incentive “gum ball” machine. When the class is on the right track they earn a gum ball (a colored dot sticker) to place on the empty gumball machine. Once the gumball machine is full, the class will vote on their reward. Such suggestions have been: a PJ day, pizza party, movie day, dance party, “Alvin and the Chipmunks” dance party, and being allowed to chew gum in school for a day. We’ll have to convince Dr. Berkowitz about that idea! I’ll be in touch to solicit some parent volunteers for the reward party!

Of course we still have the green/yellow/red day incentives and students continue to strive to stay on “green” each day. Some days this is easy, some days it’s not, but every day is a new day!

MATH: We have added a daily word problem to our Math lessons. The students enjoyed working on word problems about seals! This week we finished up a review of Unit 3 and had our Unit 3 Assessment. This review and assessment covered the topics of adding and exchanging money (nickels, dimes, pennies), frames and arrow problems, telling time to the ½ hour, odd and even numbers, and making number sentences. While half of the class earned A’s, many of our students need more practice at home with these skills. Suggestions for extra practice: have them count your spare change; use counters such as macaroni, cereal, M&Ms, etc. to make addition and subtraction number sentences; have them tell you the time to the ½ hour (8:30, 9:30, etc.), ask them whether a number is even or odd (remember: 2,4,6,8 first graders are really great!)

LANGUAGE ARTS: Our non-fiction story this week was “Where Do Frogs Come From?” From our reading, we learned about the life cycle of a frog, what each stage looks like, and what the frog eats. We were able to tie in Science as the students made a frog life cycle paper chain for our Science bulletin board.
To allow for more individualized instruction, the class was split in half this week –half reading the story with me and the other half independently completing workbook pages and a writing assignment (with Mrs. Johnson’s assistance). This is an ongoing goal and challenge for me! Next week’s story is called, “Try Your Best.” Feel free to have your child bring home their reading book every night to practice the current story and future stories.

**Several of you have asked about improving your child’s comprehension strategies. I will be sending home some information next week to help you help them in this critical area. **

SPELLING – The students (and I) are enjoying using the electronic whiteboard to enhance our lessons. This week we practiced spelling our words many different ways, looking for patterns, and phonetically spelling words we didn’t know, which will enhance their reading skills as well. Next week’s spelling words are r-controlled /or/ words: or, for, corn, cork, fork, more, hang, ring, two, from; bonus words (or high-frequency words for the weekly story): be, good, Mr., need, our, right, saw, time, try. Each week our list of words will include several review words and high-frequency words;

BOOK BAGS: The book bags are finally ready to go home. Hooray! (Now you know what I did over my Christmas vacation). Each Friday your child will bring home a bag of books geared toward their reading level. They are to read and reread these books to you over the weekend and return the bag on Monday. Read/Reread/Return/Repeat! A new set of books will be sent home each Friday. Please note that each book has a sticker with a letter on it. The goal is for first graders to read independently at Level I by the end of first grade. The goal was to leave Kindergarten at a C or D level. Some did, some didn’t. Please work with your children as they continue to improve their reading skills. Those at the higher reading levels are also responsible for completing a short book report on their book bag books.

WRITING: We continue to work on our class book that showcases each student’s writing. We will display our “masterpieces” during the next Parent conferences. At the end of the school year each student will get to take home their own pages to keep as a souvenir of their first grade accomplishments!

ART: HELP!! Our art schedule is completely open for the rest of 2010. Our Art time is scheduled on Wednesdays from 2-3 pm. If you’re interested please see me, email me, stop me in the hall, etc. The students sure do enjoy the break from my teaching and love to have guests in the room. Thanks to all who helped with crafts over the Christmas holidays!

UPCOMING DATES:
1/18 – NO SCHOOL – MLK Holiday
1/25 – PTA Skating Party
2/8 – PTA Gym Night
2/11 – Jump Rope for Heart (parent volunteers will be needed; details to follow)
2/24 – Appel Farm Assembly for students

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, please feel free to email me at dmahoney@elmerschool.com, call me at school (7:45 am – 3:45 pm), send in a note, or stop by the classroom.

Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2009-12-14T10:38:00.000-08:00

Dear First Grade Families,

Hello! Time is flying and lots of winter events are quickly approaching. Today is the holiday concert, please encourage your student to sing their songs at home tonight! We have been practicing in the classroom. We have worked hard this week, below are some of the things we did:

MATH: We learned about dimes, line plots, and practiced adding with dominoes. Please review trading coins for others of smaller or bigger values, counting, and addition.

LANGUAGE ARTS: Our story this week was “Space Pup.” We talked about fantasy stories, helping people, and dogs. We did not take a test on this story. We will be working with this story again this week. The test will be on Thursday of this week.

SPELLING: This week we worked with words that include the /u/ sound, as in the word bus. The students all did very well with this sound. There will be no spelling test this week.

ART: This week Mrs. Hoppe and Ms. Evans helped us make Rudolph crafts. These handprint ornaments were awesome!

SUPPLIES: First grade is in need of a few snacks other than pretzels. We love our pretzels but wish for a little variety, if you can help us with this need we would appreciate it greatly!

We are going to be working on a few crafts this coming week that involve paint. Please send your student an over-sized shirt or apron to use as a smock. Thanks!

We are looking for new parent volunteers to help us with our art lessons in January! Art is held at 2:10-2:45 on Wednesday afternoons. If you can help us with this program we would appreciate it greatly! Any sort of craft or activity will do! We’ve done everything from flower arrangements to coloring pages and we’ve had a lot of fun with it all! If you’re interested in participating with our class please let me know what date you can teach!

(over)
UPCOMING DATES:

12/14 – 1:00 Day and 7 pm – Holiday Music Program
12/17 - Movie Day trip to Pitman Theater. Please return permission slips!
12/18 – Report Cards
12/23 – 1:00 Day and start of Winter Recess/John Flynn Concert
1/4 - Return to school.

If you have any need to contact me at all, please call me at the school, or e-mail me at cburlingame@elmerschool.com.

Miss Burlingame
Mrs. Johnson

2009-12-07T10:42:00.000-08:00

Dear First Grade Families,

Hello! Our first grade classroom has been a busy place this week! Not only are your students getting to know a new teacher, but I am getting to know them! We have been very busy and we are already looking forward to the rest of the school year.

I hope you don’t mind if I take a moment and introduce myself. I live in Stow Creek with my mom, dad, and younger brother. For the past five years I attended Rowan University, where I studied Elementary Education and Geography. I spent a semester abroad in Granada, Spain, where I learned a lot of Spanish. I did my student teaching last fall in Millville. After I graduated last December, I taught basic skills and test prep at Stow Creek Township School and then a fourth grade class in Millville as a long term substitute. I am thrilled to be here at Elmer Borough School and look forward to meeting all of you as the year progresses.

MATH: This week we learned about clocks (to the nearest half-hour), frames and arrows, and counting on a calculator. Please continue to practice telling time on an analog clock, counting and skip counting, and basic addition and subtraction. Ask your student what time it is. Help them count by 1s, 2s, 3, 5s, and 10s.

LANGUAGE ARTS: Our story this week was “Boots for Beth.” We talked about wild animals, growing, and a few other topics. We have been working hard on the “th” sound! Many of our spelling words for the week helped us practice that important sound.

We are continuing work with both the Daily Language Review and running records. Hopefully, next week we will send home our first book bag books.

SPELLING: As I mentioned, this week we worked with words that included the “th” sound. Next week we’re going to be working with the short /u/ sound. The words are: us, bus, bug, rug, mug, must, with, then, she, and use.

SCIENCE: This week our class conducted an investigation and learned about the scientific process. We investigated fruits and discussed why it is important for fruit to have a peel. We also followed a picture story in our books about balloons and compared the weight of a full balloon versus an empty balloon.

ART: This week Mrs. Hoppe and Ms. Evans helped us make adorable handprint Santa Clause crafts! We are looking for new parent volunteers to help us with our art lessons in January! Art is held at 2:10-2:45 on Wednesday afternoons. If you can help us with this program we would appreciate it greatly! Any sort of craft or activity will do! We’ve done everything from flower arrangements to coloring pages and we’ve had a lot of fun with it all! If you’re interested in participating with our class please let me know what date you can teach!

SUPPLIES: First grade is in need of a few snacks other than pretzels. We love our pretzels but wish for a little variety, if you can help us with this need we would appreciate it greatly!

UPCOMING DATES:

12/8 – 7 pm – Public Board of Education Meeting regarding the potential “merger with Pittsgrove
12/14 – 1:00 Day and 7 pm – Holiday Music Program
12/17 - Movie Day trip to Pitman Theater. Please return permission slips!
12/18 – Report Cards
12/23 – 1:00 Day and start of Winter Recess/John Flynn Concert @ 12:00.

Thank you to all of the parents I had the opportunity to meet this week and to all who have welcomed me to the Elmer School Family. I am looking forward to the rest of the year working with your students! If you have any need to contact me at all, please call me at the school, or e-mail me at cburlingame@elmerschool.com.

Miss Burlingame
Mrs. Mahoney
Mrs. Johnson

2009-11-19T15:33:00.000-08:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 11/20/09

Our first graders have been working really hard this week and I am very proud of how well they are writing and adjusting to the ever-increasing expectations of First Grade.

MATH: This week we learned about number-grid patterns, how to count hops on a number line (which will lead to adding/subtracting on a number line), how to determine if a number is odd or even, explored with pattern blocks and dominoes, and learned about less than, greater than, and equal to equations. Please keep practicing simple addition and subtraction problems with your child. Pull out the leftover Halloween candy and let them add and subtract with the pieces. Let them eat their homework practice when you're finished! Help them continue to get familiar with money by counting any spare change you have around the house.

LANGUAGE ARTS: Our story this week was “Dan’s Pet”. Each student brought in a picture or drawing of their pet and wrote a story about that pet. The students loved sharing their pictures and drawings with their classmates. Thanks for sending them in! Since next week is a short week due to the Thanksgiving holiday, we will not start a new story. We will work on small group reading books and paper picture books.

We have incorporated the Daily Language Review book into our morning work along with our Phonics practice. The students are also rising to the expectations and enjoying completing the written morning message on their own. It’s rewarding to see how much they are able to accomplish in the morning. It really sets the tone for the rest of the school work day!

We continue to work on our class book that showcases each student’s writing. Keeping with the theme of our reading story, our next page is about what their favorite animal is and what that animal can do. We hope to display our “masterpieces” shortly. At the end of the school year each student will get to take home their own pages to keep as a souvenir of their first grade accomplishments!

I have begun conducting running records to determine at what level each student is reading. The goal for the end of first grade is to be independent at Level I (more details to follow). Once this process has been completed, individualized book bags will be coming home. In conjunction with running records, I am also individually testing them on sight words to see what words they can and can’t recognize at first "sight".

SPELLING: This week we studied short /e/ words and had six bonus words. Due to the short week next week, we will review sight words, word wall words, and practice sentence dictation using previous spelling words.

SCIENCE: Our focus this week was on instruments used in Science such as: measuring cups, droppers, magnifying boxes, hand lenses, rulers, tape measures, balances, and forceps. We also discussed safe science practices. The students loved the “hands-on” practice with the science tools.

SUPPLIES: FIRST GRADE IS IN NEED OF LYSOL WIPES, TISSUES, AND LARGE BOTTLES OF HAND SANITIZER. IF YOU ARE ABLE, PLEASE SEND IN AN ITEM OR TWO TO CLASS. THANK YOU FOR KEEPING OUR CLASSROOM FREE OF GERMS!

UPCOMING DATES:
11/25 – 1:00 Day
11/25 – 11:00 Annual Thanksgiving Day Soccer Game – Staff vs. 4th Graders
11/25 – 12:00 Thanksgiving Holiday Party
11/26 & 11/27 – School Closed
12/8 – 7 pm - Public Board of Education Meeting regarding the potential “merger” with Pittsgrove
12/14 – 1:00 Day and 7 pm - Holiday Music Program

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2009-11-13T05:16:00.001-08:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 11/13/09

We had another busy, but productive week in 1st grade. While we all enjoyed our long 5-day weekend, it was tough for some to readjust to school and the class rules and routines. This week:

LOST TEETH: Alexis lost a tooth in class on November 4th. Not her first, but fun to celebrate anyway!

Speaking of celebrating . . .

Our class won the Music Banner for best behaved class. We’ve been proudly displaying the banner for the past week. We hope to win it again real soon!

We’re all very proud of our Fire Prevention Poster Contest winners: Chenoa Yelle, Karlee Quenzel, Madison Holtz, and Chloe Gerstenbacher. All of our students did a great job on the posters. I’m glad I wasn’t asked to judge them!

MATH: This week we learned about patterns, what makes one and how to draw and continue one, odd and even numbers, and continued to did more practice with nickels and dimes. The students are learning to tell what an even or odd number is by making pairs and looking for number patterns (0,2,4,6,8 = even and 1,3,5,7,9 = odd). We had fun counting and pairing Smarties and then eating them! It was fun to watch the math concept “click” once we brought out the candy!!

LANGUAGE ARTS: I am happy to report that most students scored a 100 or got only one wrong on the “All That Corn” reading test. This was especially exciting because this was the first test the students had to read on their own. They certainly rose to the occasion. I’m also proud to say that most students scored a 100 on the Posttest after completing our first Reading book theme, Guess Who. Next week we will start our 2nd (out of 5) Reading books, Catch a Dream.

We have also begun to create a class book that will showcase each student’s writing. This week they wrote about what they are good at in school and out of school. This book will be on display for all to see as we continue to work on it.

SPELLING: This week we reviewed our high frequency words and had a Spelling Bee. Next week’s spelling words will be /e/ words: hen, pen, men, end, send, set, all, call, very, that; bonus words are: day, every, her, said, was, with.

ART: This week the students created a harvest bag under the direction of Mrs. Holtz – Madison’s Mom. The students just love to have guest “artists”.
Make sure you stop by and check out our Thanksgiving bulletin board. The students wrote what they are thankful for on our huge turkey and what food they liked best of the Thanksgiving meal.

CONFERENCES: It was great to meet with you all during our conferences. As I said to most of you – your students are off to a great start in 1st grade. It’s hard to believe we’ve only been together 44 school days!!

UPCOMING DATES:
11/25 – 1:00 Day
11/25 – 11:00 Annual Thanksgiving Day Soccer Game – Staff vs. 3rd and
4th Graders
11/25 – 12:00 Thanksgiving Holiday Party
11/26 & 11/27 – School Closed

We hope you enjoyed the Book Fair and PTA PJ Story time. Thanks to all of the parents who purchased books for our class. We are enjoying reading them together!

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2009-10-29T16:04:00.000-07:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 10/30/09

It was great to see so many Very Important Parents this week. I hope you enjoyed your time in school with your child. They were very excited to have you be a part of their school day.

We dubbed this week “ketchup” week in 1st Grade. We spent a lot of time “catching” up on missed work and skills due to the recent absences in our class.

LOST TEETH: Jack lost a tooth last Friday, October 23rd. We used his experience in losing teeth and the others in the class to create a tally chart in Math on the number of lost teeth. What timely data we have available!

MATH: We continued to practice exchanging nickels for pennies and adding various amounts of money. We learned a new game—-High Roller which involved adding the numbers of dots on our dice and went shopping in the Math Journal store. Students are learning to write number models (addition and subtraction) and adding various amounts of money. We completed our 2nd Math assessment and you’ll see the results during next week’s conferences.

LANGUAGE ARTS: We began working on our next story, “All That Corn” this week, but we won’t test on this until next Wednesday. The students are now being asked to read the directions to worksheets on their own and encouraged to complete workbook pages independently and then we review them as a whole group. This is a treat for some and a challenge for others.

READING TESTS: Students will be responsible for reading the next Reading test, “All That Corn” on their own on Wednesday, November 4, 2009. Of course, Mrs. Johnson and I will be available to assist with sounding out words.

SPELLING: This week words are: all, call, fall, wall, ball, tall, on, not, so, of. The test will be on Wednesday, November 4, 2009.

ART: Our Art classes with our parent volunteers will resume on November 11th. This week we worked on the sequence of the life of a pumpkin and colored many seasonally appropriate pictures.

CONFERENCES: Confirmation slips went home with the students to remind you of your scheduled conference date and time. If you haven’t received a confirmation and still want to set up a conference time, please get in touch with me as soon as possible.

UPCOMING DATES:
11/2 – 1:00 day – Parent/Teacher Conferences
11/3 – 1:00 day – Parent/Teacher Conferences
11/4 – 1:00 day – Parent/Teacher Conferences
11/5 & 6 – School Closed – NJEA Convention
11/12 – School Closed – Veteran’s Day

A special thanks to all our Room Parents for making the Halloween party such a fun time for all of First Grade!

I look forward to meeting with you during our upcoming conferences. Enjoy your Trick or Treating weekend and stay healthy!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2009-10-23T05:19:00.000-07:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

10/23/09

Dear First Grade Families:

What a hectic week in First Grade! We hope all of you are taking care of yourself and your families. Thank goodness for the long weekend ahead of us! We’ve spent the last part of our afternoons outside getting fresh air.

MATH: This week the students have been practicing exchanging nickels for pennies and adding various amounts of money. Some of our First Graders really get the money concept and may turn out to be great entrepreneurs! We’ve played many fun money games such as Penny Plate, Penny Grab, Penny Dice, and Penny-Nickel Grab!
The students are doing much better finding page numbers in their textbooks. Keep asking your child, “What number is one more/less than X? I have seen a lot of improvement in number writing and number order. The students enjoy writing their numbers as high as they can when we have spare time in between our different subjects. Some are in the 100s and the numbers are facing the right direction and very legible!

LANGUAGE ARTS: Our story this week was “Todd’s Box.” It was great to hear the children read to me and to partner read with a friend. Continually encourage your child to sound out unfamiliar words. It’s great to see the look on their faces when it “clicks” and the words begin to flow. This class is great for volunteering to read out loud. We are offering plenty of practice in school and encourage you to continue reading with them at home. I’m happy to report that a majority of our students scored well on the Unit Pretest for this theme unit! Way to go First Grade!

READING TESTS: Please be aware that right now the reading tests are being read to the students. Beginning at the end of October, the students will be required to read the tests on their own. Of course, Mrs. Johnson and I will be available to assist with sounding out words.

SPELLING: This week we learned about short /o/ words and introduced the concept of conjunctions. Next week’s words are: all, call, fall, wall, ball, tall, on, not, so, of.

ART: This week the students were treated to two different crafts. Mrs. Leonetti (Justin’s Mom) was brave and got the children to paint their own pumpkin. Although we were a bit messy, the students enjoyed the chance to express themselves with paint!
Mrs. Carman (Jenna’s grandmom) taught the children how to make a beautiful flower arrangement. She was an excellent teacher and Jenna was an excellent helper. Who knew we had such talented family members in First Grade! Thanks to both Mrs. Leonetti and Mrs. Carman for making our days a bit brighter!

UPCOMING DATES:

10/26 – School Closed – County In-Service
10/28 – Very Important Parent Day – 1st grade - 11:00 am – 12:50 pm
10/30 – Halloween Parade
11/2 – 1:00 day – Parent/Teacher Conferences
11/3 – 1:00 day – Parent/Teacher Conferences
11/4 – 1:00 day – Parent/Teacher Conferences
11/5 & 6 – School Closed – NJEA Convention
11/12 – School Closed – Veteran’s Day

We look forward to seeing a lot of you during our VIP day and the upcoming conferences. Enjoy your weekend and stay healthy!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2009-10-16T03:54:00.000-07:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 10/16/09

While I had a wonderful, memorable vacation with my family, it is good to be back with my First Grade “family”.

Tooth Update: Cousins Ava and Jenna both lost teeth while I was away! The tooth fairy is very busy in 1st grade!

SUPPLIES: Thank you so much for your generosity in sending in snacks, hand sanitizer, wipes, and soft tissues. Our closets are overflowing with all your donations! Thanks again and we’ll be in touch when we begin to run low.

MATH: The students have been practicing telling time, making a clock, using a ruler to measure and draw straight lines, adding numbers using dominoes, and learning about money. Have some spare change? Let your child count it and keep it! You’ll see how fast they learn to add up money!

LANGUAGE ARTS: Due to the short, 4-day school week, we reviewed our previous grammar skills, introduced contractions, completed a theme unit test, and practiced reading and summarizing our stories. Continue to read with and to your child daily.

READING TESTS: Please be aware that right now the reading tests are being read to the students. Beginning at the end of October, the students will be required to read the tests on their own. Of course, Mrs. Johnson and I will be available to assist with sounding out words.

SPELLING: This week we took a review spelling quiz, practiced word building and blending, competed in a class spelling bee, and added words to our word wall. Next week’s words are short /o/ words: hot, hop, pop, pot, dot, not, back, pick, now, want; and bonus words: don’t, so, of.

HANDWRITING: I’ve seen a lot of improvement with the students’ number writing. Continue to practice when time permits. Compliment your child’s writing, but correct if necessary. Let’s help get those numbers and letters facing the right direction and the right case (lower vs. upper)!

ART: Last week the students enjoyed water coloring with Mrs. Hummel and completed our “Pick of the Patch” bulletin board. Stop by and see why the students’ think they are special in their own words.

This week the students enjoyed a Columbus Day craft and story. Mrs. Meyers led the class in a lively craft activity with Alex being a great assistant. Thanks, Mrs. Meyers! We all enjoyed the craft (despite the challenging glue dots!).

UPCOMING DATES:
10/19 - 10/23 – Red Ribbon Week
10/20 – Board Meeting – 7 pm
10/21 – 2pm – All School Flyers Assembly
10/21 – PTA Ice Cream Social – 7:30 pm
10/26 – School Closed – County In-Service
10/28 – Very Important Parent Day – 1st grade - 11:00 am – 12:50 pm
10/30 – Halloween Parade (details to follow; help will be needed)

Thanks for the warm welcome back! Enjoy your weekend and stay healthy!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2009-10-09T04:49:00.000-07:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 10/9/09

Greetings from Disney World! I hope you are all having a great week in First Grade. I know Mrs. Hummel is enjoying her time with you!
I’m sorry I missed Fire Prevention Week. It’s always fun to see the big fire trucks at Elmer School.

MATH: This week the students were working on complements of 10, labels for number stories, and learning to tell time on an analog clock. Please help them practice telling time – ask them what time is it now? What time will it be in 10 minutes? What time do we eat dinner? What time do you get up in the morning?

LANGUAGE ARTS: This week’s story was “Jack and Rick” and the small, paper decodable books were “The Sack” and “Pack the Van”. Because of the short week next week due to the Columbus holiday, we will have a review week and focus on the theme assessment. This assessment will show us what skills the students have mastered and what we need to review.

SPELLING: First grade has been busy building words and blending words! Since next week is a short week we will have a review of spelling words and work on filling in our classroom Word Wall.

HANDWRITING: Practice! Practice! Practice! Compliment your child’s writing, but correct if necessary. Let’s help get those letters facing the right direction and the right case (lower vs. upper)!

ART: Although we didn’t have any parent volunteers this week, the students got to do a fun “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” packet and learned to draw a skunk!

UPCOMING DATES:
10/12 – School Closed – Columbus Day
10/19 - 10/23 – Red Ribbon Week (details to follow)
10/20 – Board Meeting – 7 pm
10/21 – PTA Ice Cream Social – 7:30 pm
10/26 – School Closed – County In-Service
10/28 – Very Important Parent Day – 1st grade
10/30 – Halloween Parade (details to follow; help will be needed)

Enjoy your long weekend!
I look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday, October 13th!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2009-10-02T09:57:00.000-07:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 10/2/09

It was great seeing a lot of you during Back to School Night! Thanks for taking such an interest in your child’s education.

ROUTINES: Please check your child’s agenda for nightly assignments and notes, look through the blue folder for homework, and review and sign the Daily Behavior Chart. They really do need your help with these new routines and responsibilities!

MATH: Home Link FAMILY LETTER – These letters are sent out as we complete a section in Math and are an overview about what will be covered in the next section. It also includes an answer key for the upcoming homework. Use this answer key to help check over your child’s work.

This week we’ve been working on number stories, counting by 2s and 5s, using tally marks and number grids, and continuing to practice writing numbers. The students completed their first assessment which shows where we need to do more practice. Continue to help them practice their number writing.

LANGUAGE ARTS: Our story this week was “Ants”. The students enjoyed learning about the life of an ant and discussing the similarities and differences to our lives. The students are excited to share their reading skills with the class and plenty of practice is offered in story reading, echo reading, and the reading of Practice Book page directions. Keep up the good reading habits at home!

SPELLING: The students are working hard sounding out their words! Next week’s words are /k/ck/: pick, pack, tack, back, sack, sick, big, is, they, walk. Bonus words: help, now, play, too, want. Test will be on Friday.

HANDWRITING: We continue to practice our letters, focusing on shape, size, slant, and spacing of letters. I have seen a great deal of improvement in writing this week! Ask your child about our chant: “Name and Date. First Graders are really great!” It’s gets them writing every time!

ART: We were fortunate again to have Madison’s Mom and Sophia’s Dad who helped the kids do a Fall craft with leaves. Thanks Mrs. Holtz and Mr. Riccio! We have a fun-filled schedule of art projects ahead of us! Thanks to all the parents who signed up to help with Art.

UPCOMING DATES:
10/2-10/9 – Mrs. Mahoney out/Mrs. Hummel in**
10/5-10/9 – Fire Prevention Week
10/12 – School Closed – Columbus Day
10/19 - 10/23 – Red Ribbon Week (details to follow)
10/20 – Board Meeting – 7 pm
10/21 – PTA Ice Cream Social – 7:30 pm
10/26 – School Closed – County In-Service
10/28 – Very Important Parent Day – 1st grade
10/30 – Halloween Parade (details to follow; help will be needed)

**As many of you know – I will be on a preplanned family vacation (with 12 other family members) the week of October 2-9. Please rest assured your children are in good hands with Mrs. Sue Hummel (a former Elmer School Basic Skills teacher) and of course, Mrs. Johnson.**

I look forward to this long awaited trip with my family, but will miss my Elmer School First Grade “family”. Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2009-09-24T15:30:00.000-07:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 9/25/09
It’s been a busy week in First Grade! Our students are really getting into the routines of First Grade. The children enjoyed “Favorite Hat Day” and smiled nicely for their individual school pictures.

LOST TEETH! Two in one week! Hailey Nelson and Sophia Riccio are the first ones to lose teeth this school year. Congrats, Hailey and Sophia! I’m sure they’ll be the first of many. Make sure to check the Lost Tooth Chart outside our classroom door.

ROUTINES: Just a reminder to parents: check your child’s agenda for nightly assignments and notes, look through the blue folder for homework, and review and sign the Daily Behavior Chart. They really do need your help with these new routines and responsibilities!

MATH: This week we’ve been using tally marks, completing a monthly calendar, learning weather and temperature routines, working on number sequencing and continuing to practice writing numbers. We have also begun writing number sentences to go along with our number stories. The students have found that numbers, dates, and calendars are everywhere in their daily lives – not just at school.

LANGUAGE ARTS: Our story this week was “Sam and the Bag”. Hopefully you enjoyed hearing your child read this story to you as much as I enjoyed hearing them read it in class! We have added daily phonics and grammar work which will aide the student’s reading and writing skills.

SPELLING: I am happy to say that the results of our second Spelling test were as good as the first test! We will be adding a dictation sentence to the next week’s test. Next week’s words are short /i/: in, pin, pig, wig, win, fin, am, pan, yes, and. Bonus words: make, they, walk. Test will be on Friday.

HANDWRITING: We continue to practice our letters, focusing on shape, size, slant, and spacing of letters using “Space Man”. I have seen a great deal of improvement in writing this week! Ask your child about our chant: “Name and Date. First Graders are really great!” It’s gets them writing every time!

SCIENCE AND SOCIAL STUDIES : This week we took a Science Walk to observe things using our 5 senses. It was great to see the students quietly jotting down what they saw, heard, smelled, and touched along the way. Don’t worry, parents, we didn’t practice “taste” on our walk! We saved that for snack time! Our Social Studies work is helping us learn where we live and where NJ is on a map. We will begin to practice and memorize our addresses.

ART: Madison’s Mom and Sophia’s Dad shared a fun pumpkin craft and story with the kids. Thanks Mrs. Holtz and Mr. Riccio! The kids enjoyed the break from me! Parents: there are still a few dates left to fill. See me if you’re interested!

“SPECIALS” CLASSES: Please be aware that your child is also actively involved in Music on Mondays, Counseling on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Health on Tuesdays, Gym on Wednesdays and Fridays, and Technology on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

UPCOMING DATES:
9/29 – Back to School Night – 7 pm
10/2 – School-wide Grandparents Day
10/12 – School Closed – Columbus Day

I am enjoying getting to know and teach your children. They are eager to learn which has made my job a very pleasant one! Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2009-09-17T18:44:00.000-07:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 9/18/09

I am pleased with how the First Graders are settling in to the routines and the expectations of First Grade. They are really working hard and getting back into “school” mode.

ROUTINES: Just a reminder to parents: the students should bring back and forth from school each day: their backpack, snack, blue folder, and agenda. The blue folder will contain their homework, daily behavior chart for you to review and sign, completed papers, and any school announcements. The agenda will list their daily homework and a list of spelling words for the week. Please review these important pieces every night. They really do need your help with these new routines and responsibilities!

MATH: This week we’ve been practicing number sequencing, 1 more/1 less, comparing and writing numbers. While this may be practice for some, it’s a necessary refresher for others. The students have learned how to play Bunny-Hop, Top-It, and Rock-Paper-Scissors using various math tools. Please help your child practice their number writing and recognition. Ask them questions like what # comes after 5? What’s one less than 7? Have them identify numbers in the newspaper, magazines, and on TV.

LANGUAGE ARTS: We completed our first reading story, “The Hat”, illustrated and wrote about our favorite part, and took the first test. We’ve begun working in our Phonics, Practice, and Grammar books. There’s a lot to learn in first grade! Please read with and to your child every night. Reading books can be taken home nightly and paper decodable books are sent home as practice.

SPELLING: Our first Spelling test went well. It’s great to see the students sounding out words to help them spell. Next week’s words are: short /a/ words – am, ham, had, bad, bag, rag, cap, mad, up, go; Test will be on Friday.

HANDWRITING: The students have been practicing handwriting and journal writing every day. They love to share their written and illustrated stories! We have been reviewing the proper way to write their letters. They just love to use highlighters to trace the letters. We are learning the difference between upper and lower case letters (Aa, Bb, Cc). Please have them practice writing their letters.

SCIENCE AND SOCIAL STUDIES : We are continuing our study of our 5 senses in Science and our work with the Maps and Globes booklet.

ART: Check the walls outside our classroom for your child’s art projects. Thanks to the parents who volunteered to help with Art. There are still a few dates left to fill. See me if you’re interested!

SNACKS: A special “thank you” to all the parents who sent in “emergency” snacks. Because of you, no child will go hungry in First Grade!

UPCOMING DATES:
9/21 – Scholastic Book orders due
9/29 – Back to School Night – 7 pm
10/2 – School-wide Grandparents Day (more info to follow)
10/12 – School Closed – Columbus Day

Thank you for sharing your children with us. We are off to a great start and look forward to watching the students learn and grow! Enjoy your weekend!

2009-09-15T04:55:00.001-07:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 9/11/09

Welcome to First Grade! I am happy to report we all made it through our first week of school and had fun learning too! Here’s an overview of what we covered:

Math: the calendar and attendance routines were introduced; we learned about the number line , tally marks, and how to use some popular Math tools; we practiced writing numbers and skip counting; we also played some fun Math games -- Monster Squeeze and Penny-Dice game – which are part of the Everyday Math curriculum. The students didn’t even realize they were doing Math!

Language Arts: we previewed our new text book and the helpful information it contains; the students completed a beginning-of-the-year Reading and Language Skills Assessment which will provide an overview of where their strengths and weaknesses are right now; we will begin our first story next week (as well as the Phonics, Grammar, and Spelling that goes along with each story).
Spelling: Next week’s words are: short /a/ words – at, hat, cat, can, cap, tap, map, mad, a, the; Test will be on Friday.

Handwriting: the students have been practicing handwriting and journal writing every day; they’ve shared their stories and are getting used to writing their first and last name and date on every paper.

Science and Social Studies: we’ve just begun our study of our 5 senses in Science and introduced the Maps and Globes booklet for Social Studies; we’ll spend more time on these subjects next week.

What you can do to help your first grader:
• Help them establish good homework/study habits
• Go through all their papers with them daily; ask questions about their work
• Read to and with them every night – even if only for a few minutes
• Help them realize first grade is very different than Kindergarten. Becoming a responsible and independent student is a process they will go through in first grade.
• Build their confidence – let them know you and their teacher believe they can do it and will help them be successful
• Communicate with me as often as needed (email: dmahoney@elmerschool.com or write notes in their folders which are checked each morning)
• If your child is sick, please keep them home; we’ll catch them up when they return or send work home during extended illnesses

Upcoming Dates:
9/16 – Picture Day (order envelope sent home this week)
9/21 – Scholastic Book orders due
9/29 – Back to School Night – 7 pm
10/2 – School-wide Grandparents Day (more info to follow)

Parent Volunteers for Art Projects:
We are looking for artsy, crafty parents (or grandparents) who are willing and able to share their time and talents on the following Wednesdays from 2:10 – 2:45: September 23rd, October 7th, October 21st, December 2nd, December 9th; December 16th. Thanks to all who volunteered so far. You come up with the craft idea, we’ll supply the students!

Snacks:
Please send in a small, healthy snack for your child each day. It can be packed along with their lunches. In case you forget to send a snack, we do have back-up snacks available.

We look forward to a fun, learning-packed first grade year! Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson

2009-09-15T04:55:00.000-07:00

FIRST GRADE FOOTNOTES

Dear First Grade Families: 9/11/09
Welcome to First Grade! I am happy to report we all made it through our first week of school and had fun learning too! Here’s an overview of what we covered:
Math: the calendar and attendance routines were introduced; we learned about the number line , tally marks, and how to use some popular Math tools; we practiced writing numbers and skip counting; we also played some fun Math games -- Monster Squeeze and Penny-Dice game – which are part of the Everyday Math curriculum. The students didn’t even realize they were doing Math!
Language Arts: we previewed our new text book and the helpful information it contains; the students completed a beginning-of-the-year Reading and Language Skills Assessment which will provide an overview of where their strengths and weaknesses are right now; we will begin our first story next week (as well as the Phonics, Grammar, and Spelling that goes along with each story).
Spelling: Next week’s words are: short /a/ words – at, hat, cat, can, cap, tap, map, mad, a, the; Test will be on Friday.
Handwriting: the students have been practicing handwriting and journal writing every day; they’ve shared their stories and are getting used to writing their first and last name and date on every paper;
Science and Social Studies: we’ve just begun our study of our 5 senses in Science and introduced the Maps and Globes booklet for Social Studies; we’ll spend more time on these subjects next week.
What you can do to help your first grader:
• Help them establish good homework/study habits
• Go through all their papers with them daily; ask questions about their work
• Read to and with them every night – even if only for a few minutes
• Help them realize first grade is very different than Kindergarten. Becoming a responsible and independent student is a process they will go through in first grade.
• Build their confidence – let them know you and their teacher believe they can do it and will help them be successful
• Communicate with me as often as needed (email: dmahoney@elmerschool.com or write notes in their folders which are checked each morning)
• If your child is sick, please keep them home; we’ll catch them up when they return or send work home during extended illnesses
Upcoming Dates:
9/16 – Picture Day (order envelope sent home this week)
9/21 – Scholastic Book orders due
9/29 – Back to School Night – 7 pm
10/2 – School-wide Grandparents Day (more info to follow)

Parent Volunteers for Art Projects:
We are looking for artsy, crafty parents (or grandparents) who are willing and able to share their time and talents on the following Wednesdays from 2:10 – 2:45: September 23rd, October 7th, October 21st, December 2nd, December 9th; December 16th. Thanks to all who volunteered so far. You come up with the craft idea, we’ll supply the students!
Snacks:
Please send in a small, healthy snack for your child each day. It can be packed along with their lunches. In case you forget to send a snack, we do have back-up snacks available.

We look forward to a fun, learning-packed first grade year! Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs. Mahoney/Mrs. Johnson