Free picture slideshow personalized with Smilebox

Weekend Update

Hi, Everyone - I hope you have all received your conference confirmation (two are going home tomorrow.) I look forward to meeting with you and sharing your first grader's successes. You will receive your child's report card at the conference, so we can talk about any questions you may have about that report. A reminder about holiday plans: instead of gifts of any kind, we will be accepting donations for the Union Leader and Salvation Army Santa Fund. Another reminder - if you would like to order a book from the Scholastic book order, please send in the order tomorrow so I can place the order in time to get the books before the holiday break. Speaking of holidays - our special project supplies have arrived, and the children will be working with their book buddies on these either this week or next. There is no school on Friday, so our spelling test will be Thursday, and we will also exchange library books on Thursday. Have a great week!

November Newsletter

Weekend Update

Due to the short week this week, the children will not be having a spelling test. We will review the words in class - the concept is adding s to make a plural, so I think it will be fairly easy for them. Watch for a sign up sheet coming home for parent conferences. Parent conference day is Friday, December 9th. I am also holding conferences on the afternoon and evening of December 8th. If need be, I can schedule a conference for you at another date as well. We are finished with Unit 3 in math, and our Unit test is Monday. Counting dimes, nickels and pennies is still a challenge for some students - your help at home with this is much appreciated. This week in writing we are working on pet stories told from the pet's point of view. These stories will be up on our bulletin board for you to admire when you come in for conferences. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I hope to see you all in December.

A few reminders:

Tuesday is Turkey Walk day. All permission slips are in! A special snack is being served (apple crisp) so unless your child does not like apple crisp, no other snack is necessary. Please send in 10 dimes with your child Tuesday. Yes, we are now going to learn to count pennies, nickels and dimes together! A note about dismissal. If someone new is coming to pick your child up, please send in a note, and ask that person to have an ID with them so we can be sure we are doing the right thing to keep the children safe. Many children got all or almost all of their spelling pretest words correct, so they should be studying the word wall words written on their pretests today.

Book Buddies

Make your own picture slideshow

Weekend Update

Happy Halloween a week late! I hope you have seen the Halloween slideshow from last week. Our parade was wonderful - thank goodness we had it on Friday. We are on to turkeys now. We did take a listening walk to Sarette field on Thursday. It was trash pickup day in the neighborhood, and lots of work was going on at the field so we heard mainly mechanical noises again. Just goes to show how noisy life is, even in tiny Pinardville. With the beginning of Unit 1 in Reading Streets, we now have a weekly spelling list. I will give a pretest on Monday, and send home the words the kids need to study. If they get most of the words correct in the pretest, I will add some word wall words to their list. The final test is on Friday. We now meet with our Book Buddies on Wednesday. I will get some pictures up from Book Buddies this week. It is going to be another short, but busy week!

Make a picture slideshow

Weekend Update

This past week we finished our first book in Reading Streets. The kids easily read through the last story and are ready for more challenges. This coming week will be a review and testing week. We begin our next unit and book next week. On Friday afternoon we paired up with students in Ms. Garon's third grade to share books. Everyone enjoyed reading to their buddy, and we hope to make this a weekly event. Not this week, though. This week is the Halloween parade! What will you be for Halloween is a hot discussion and writing topic. If the weather allows, we will take our first walk to Sarette Field. The children will have to be careful observers to find signs of the rapidly changing season.

Weekend Update

Hi, everyone - fall has certainly arrived this weekend! On Monday I will send home a permission slip so that we can take occasional nature walks to Sarette Field behind the school. We tried listening for sounds of nature on school grounds, but all we heard were cars!
As you know from the math homework, we are now studying nickels and pennies. The children have been bringing in 5 nickels, we will use these and other coins to understand the value of money. I purchased some cool Halloween erasers today, and the children will pretend to buy them from me. They will get to keep the erasers and the money - a real deal! This week, watch for the children's writing books to come home. They picked out their favorite or "best" story, and after editing them for some spelling and punctuation marks, they will bring them home. Make sure to have your child read these stories to you - you may recognize the events described. Their spelling at this point in first grade is a sign of their knowledge of phonics. We do have spelling expectations in first grade, and these will increase as the year goes on.

Update/Library Reminder

I have included a copy of the October newsletter below, and also several pictures from writing and center time. The kids have asked me to remind you that Friday is library day. There were some disappointed first graders last Friday when they could not check out a new book. I will remind them Thursday as well.

September Scenes

As the Month Turns

I was hoping to have a slide show up and running, on this site, but technical glitches are causing a delay. Stay tuned. Meanwhile... the children all brought books home this week from their reading groups. I hope you have had time to listen to them read to you. This extra practice will really accelerate their reading progress. Please send the books back the next day in the bags provided. Thank you for all the treasures you sent in for our Discovery Center. Logan's deer skull, and Paige's starfish were especially popular. This week I have various leaves for the kids to examine and identify. Everyone successfully logged on to the Everyday Math website and played a game or two. I will be sending home those passwords and your child can access this site at home as well. In writing the children chose a character from one of three versions of the Henny Penny story. Their choices were Henny Penny, Chicken Little, or Chicken Big. Chicken Big is a new version of this old story - he eats acorns rather than panicking when one falls on this head!

Weekend Update

Another busy week! We used the laptop computers in the classroom, along with visiting the computer lab. This week they will visit the Starfall website along with Tumblebooks. We have been listening to different versions of favorite nursery tales such as Goldilocks, and Chicken Little. This week we will read Chicken Big. The children are writing their own stories, using their own experiences, their own drawings, and their own spelling! We are learning that stories have a beginning, middle and end, and have lots of details. In Reading Streets we are already on story three. Reading groups begin this week. While some children are in reading group, others are working in centers. Ask your child about his/her centers for the day. The discovery center will open tomorrow. In this center, the kids will examine and write about natural treasures they have brought from home. Help your child look for really interesting treasure, like bird nests, feathers, sparkly rocks etc. Soon we will be able to study beautiful fall leaves.

Weekend Update

I hope everyone enjoyed this beautiful almost-fall weekend. The weather for the upcoming week is looking pretty good as well. I know the kids watch the weather on TV, as several of them predicted thunder showers for Thursday. Luckily, the weather forecasters were wrong; just the thought of thunder showers was scary for some of our first graders. On Wednesday we all went over to the Smart Room (computer lab) so I could teach the kids how to log on and use Kid Pix. The teaching computer and Smart Board were not working properly, but to my surprise, Mrs. Longval and I were able to help everyone log on and get to Tumblebooks pretty quickly. These kids are definitely digital natives. You can use Tumblebooks at home by going to the Bartlett home page, then information center, and then find Tumblebooks under reading on the right side of the page. We will also be using Starfall, another site available by going to the Information center page. In other news - watch for the family newsletter for Reading Streets which goes home on Monday, math homework should begin this week, and Scholastic book orders are due on Friday. Picture day is Friday, as is the first day of fall.

Update

Our first week of school was wonderful, in spite of all that rain! Just a few reminders as we begin our second week of school. PE is Monday, so kids need their sneakers and play clothes. Friday is library day, each first grader is allowed to check out one book, and they are due back every Friday. We checked out our first books this last Friday. This week we begin our Reading Streets program, and we begin our math books. I also plan on introducing the children to the computer lab. Week two - here we come!

First Day Happy Gram

We had a wonderful first day of school - the children were awesome! We read books about making friends, and about our talents. Every child had a talent to share, and they wrote them down. These papers will be hanging up in our classroom, and will go home later in the fall. We were lucky to be able to go out to play - the apples and carrots were a big hit at snack time and we learned how to get a lunch and eat in the cafeteria.

Speaking of lunches, you should have received a letter in the mail with your child's account number and a password to check his/her account on line. I have the account numbers, but not the passwords. For that information, you need to contact Megan Bizzarro, food service director. Her number is 603-666-5311, and her email is mbizzarro@goffstown.k12.nh.us. The children are allowed to charge milk and lunches assuming their account is up to date. If you don't want them charging for any reason, you can let me know. Applications for free and reduced lunches are going home on Wednesday.

Remember to hand in the Tell Me About Your Child sheet - send any notes in the homework folders - and enjoy your evening.

Corrected Welcome Letter

Back to School Night

Hi, first graders and families! I hope you will all be able to join me at our Open House September 1 at 6 PM. We will be going over a few things about first grade that will help everyone feel more comfortable about starting school. If you can't make it, I have posted some information above that should be helpful. I will send this information home with your child on day one, along with a request for you to share some information with me about your child. Happy September!

The Flume

Hi everyone! We had a great trip to the Flume on Friday. The kids were wonderful, as was the weather. Here are a few photos of some first graders - do you recognize anyone?

Field Trip News

Our field trip to Franconia Notch and the Flume is set for Friday, June 10th. The rain date is June 17th. Due to gas prices, the cost of the trip is $10.00. There will be no other costs, we are asking that the children bring a lunch, and bring no money for the gift shop. Volunteers are welcome. Unfortunately, you will need to drive, and you also need to have been fingerprinted. Once you are fingerprinted, you will be able to volunteer for the rest of your child's time in the Goffstown school system. There is fingerprinting available at the MVMS spring carnival on June 7th from 5:30 - 7:30. The results will probably not be back in time for this trip, but you will be all set for future trips. Questions or concerns? Let me know.

April News

I think we can safely assume that we have had our last snow day. There are still a couple of pairs of snow pants in the classroom - they are both black. The children are not claiming them, but if you think they belong at your house, let me know! As you know from the math and reading newsletters, we are now in unit 4(of 5) in Reading Streets and unit 9 (of 10) in Everyday Math. Of course we will be working right up until the last day of school. We will have plenty of time to cover all the material, and in math especially will be able to review some of the harder concepts. Money is one such concept that comes to mind. Any opportunity that you have to give your child experience with real money will be helpful for them to grasp the concept.
With Easter coming up, our class has been reading Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit and assorted animal friends. You may want to check out the official Peter Rabbit website (just google Peter Rabbit). There are some very appealing activities that the children will enjoy. We will be doing some of them at school this week. In other news, the animal reports that the children researched are finished and in our class library. They have been read and reread, making everyone feel like real authors. The children also got to be actors, when we rehearsed and acted out a story from Reading Streets: Where Did All My Animal Friends Go? Ask you child what part he/she played.

March News

Welcome to March! Mud season seems to be right on schedule. I am eagerly awaiting spring, but the kids are not so excited. When we wrote about spring, many confessed that it was not their favorite season. Some even said that winter was their favorite! I do remember loving winter as a child, but that feeling is long gone - especially this time of year. The year is moving quickly - Friday was our 108th day of school. Report cards come out the end of this month, and we are finishing up unit 7 in Everyday Math, and Unit 3 in Reading Streets. A couple of reminders about math and reading: spelling words go home on Monday to be studied for the test on Friday. Also, the children can access the Everyday Math website at home. This site has great games designed to reinforce math skills taught in class. Your child should know his/her login and password, but if not, I will send them home again this week. The PTA Scholastic book fair continues this week, there is still time for your child to purchase a book or two. Enjoy the longer days, and warmer sunshine that is March in New Hampshire.

Almost Spring

So, the groundhog has spoken, and spring is on its way - have faith all ye of little. In the meantime, we are trying to enjoy winter by going out as much as possible to play in the snow. Please send in boots and ski pants so your child is not restricted to the blacktop. Staying in is usually not an option if outdoor recess is declared.
The erratic schedule we have had over the past month has not helped the children's ability to focus on their work. This week I am beginning an incentive program to reward hard work and listening skills. The children will have a chance to earn points towards a prize to be awarded at the end of the day on Friday. Total number of points possible ( unless we have snow days) will be 10. I haven't yet decided on total number of points needed to earn a prize, but it will be close to that magic ten mark. Ask your child on Friday how many points he/she earned.
Valentine reminder: cards exchanged next Monday, the 14th. Names went out last week. If you did not see them, let me know. Happy almost spring!

Happy New Year

I hope everyone had a great holiday, and the kids are rested and ready to go back to school. Over the vacation, the Bartlett phone system was updated. The main number remains the same, but all the extensions have changed. Mine is 5927. I tried it today so I know it works. You do need to let it ring - I think about 4 times before you connect with my voice mail. This month we will be learning about living and non-living things in science. Mr. Bousquet gave me an amaryllis plant, so I am hoping we can get it going in our classroom. In writing, we will be learning about friendly letters. Maybe you can help your child think of friends and relative he/she can write to. We will learn about addressing envelopes also. For math and reading news, watch for the parent letters which come home with each reading lesson, and each math unit. I did update our classroom library this week, and Leo Lionni, Audrey Woods and Lois Ehlert are our new authors. Winter Note: If your child wears boots to school, be sure to provide shoes to change into. These can be left at school if you like.