Thank you to everyone for all your offers to help this past week!  Mrs. Vessely will continue to be in 1B this week.  We are all thankful for her calm and reliable presence in first grade!  Mrs. McMahon asks that we continue to pray for her and her family during this difficult time.

Some important upcoming events:

• Permission slips for our field trip will be coming home soon…be on the lookout for them!
• Invitations for our Magic, Muffins and More show will also come home soon.
• Hot Lunch on Thursday
• Arts Alive on Friday

Here is our ABC countdown for the week!

Interesting Item Day-Monday, May 14: Bring in something to share with the class that you think is interesting!

Joke Day-Tuesday, May 15: Be prepared to tell the class a joke.  You may want to bring it written down on a piece of paper.

Kind Day-Wednesday, May 16: Today you will be kind to everybody and give lots of compliments!

Learn to Draw Day-Thursday, May 17: Today we will learn to draw some great characters!

May Crowning for Mary-Friday, May 18: We will have a simple May Crowning Ceremony in our classroom today!

Here is what we are learning this week:

Math-The Angels will have a chapter test on money toward the end of the week.  The Saints will have a chapter test on adding two digit numbers toward the end of the week and then they will begin subtracting two digit numbers.   The red fish and blue fish will continue working on adding two digit numbers.  They will take the chapter quiz this week and begin on subtracting two digit numbers.

Reading- 1B reading students will spelling test on Monday (as previously scheduled).  Mrs. Vessley will send home notice of the next spelling test.  Mrs. B’s reading class will  regular homework and spelling tests on Friday this week.

Religion-Both classes will be working on Chapter 22 and 23 in our books.  We will learn about the leader of our church and we will continue to focus on Mary this week.  On Friday we will have a small May Crowning ceremony in our classrooms for M day!

Writing-This week we will work on the invitations to our show!  We will also be practicing some special surprises for the show!

Social Studies- We will focus on past, present and future this week.  We will also begin to learn about important American symbols this week and into next week.

Thank you everyone for your kind words, prayers and offerings to help.  You have no idea how touched Mrs. McMahon is by the amount of love and support she has received from the SJA family!  For the time being Mrs. Vessley will be working in 1B.  She is a fantastic substitute  and I am  happy to work with her during this difficult time.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you have. 

This week’s countdown letters are:

Drink Day-Monday, May 7: Bring in your favorite drink to school se we can have a refreshing break.  No soda-pop please!

Everybody Book Day-Tuesday, May 8: Bring your favorite books to share with a friend during reading time!

Flashlight Fun-Wednesday, May 9: Bring a flashlight to school for some flashlight fun!

Game Day-Thursday, May 10: We will play games today!  You don’t need to bring anything from home!

Hat Day-Friday, May 11: Wear your favorite hat in the classroom.

Here is what will be going on this week:

Religion  In religion we will be learning about Mary this week.  We will learn how to pray the rosary and then make a one decade rosary.  On Friday afternoon the whole school will attend May Crowning.

Math All math groups will continue where they left off last week.  Mrs. Barenbrugge’s red fish and blue fish will be working on 2 digit adding this week.  Mrs. McMahon’s Saints will be working on two digit addition also.  Mrs. McMahon’s Angels will continue to work on counting money this week.

Reading  Mrs. McMahon’s reading students will have their “challenge word” test this Monday.  All groups will be playing a bit of catch up this week.  We will also be doing some more year end assessments.  There will not be any spelling for all of first grade this week.

Science/Social Studies This week we will be working on a special gift for our Mom’s.  We will also be working on our “Magic, Muffins and More…” presentation. 

Again, thank you for everything you do!  Have a great week!

Hello everyone!  We have a fun-filled week ahead of us!  Please mark you calendars for:

May 30th: Magic, Muffins and More

We will begin taping students talents and or magic this week!  It is so hard to believe but we will also begin our ABC countdown this week!  Please keep the list we sent home at hand to refer to as needed but here is what we have for this week:

Animal Day-Wednesday, May 2: Bring your favorite stuffed animal to class.

Beach Day-Thursday, May 3: Bring in a beach towel, sunglasses, a beach hat and a good book!

Color Day-Friday, May 4: Wear colorful socks and we will make a colorful project!

Here is what we are learning about this week:

Religion This week we will talk about how Jesus choose Peter to lead the Church.  We will also be discussing who leads the Catholic Church now.

Writing We will begin a letter writing unit this week.  The children will have lots of fun writing…you might even get a letter at home!

Science This week we will review the water cycle and talk about the sky.  We will learn about clouds and other things that are in the sky.

Math Homework sent home last week is not due until Wednesday!  There was quite a lot of pages!  I will send home a similar subtraction packet this Wednesday.  It will not be due until Monday, May 14th.  We have been working hard on adding and subtracting strategies.  The children have learned a great game called tic-tac-ten.  Ask them to play it with you, all you need is a deck of cards!  This week we will continue to work on addition and subtraction strategies.

Reading This week in reading we will be beginning some end of the year assessments.  I can’t wait to see the growth in my students over the past school year!  Both groups will have spelling tests Friday.  Homework will go home as usual!
Thank you for all your effort at home and please let me know if you have any questions!  Have a great week!

Hello!  We have been doing so many great things here in 1A!  Did your first grader tell you all about Earth Day?  The Lorax? The Kapok Tree?  Did he/she tell you about the story he is writing?  How about the story of the Ascension of Jesus into heaven?

This week we will begin to prepare for our special end of the year event: Magic, Muffins and More…It will be on May 30th from 8-9AM.  Please mark your calendars, more information will come home soon!

Here’s is what we are learning about this week:

Religion: This week we will learn about how the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles during Pentecost.  We will discuss how the Holy Spirit gives us faith, hope and love and review that we first received the Holy Spirit during Baptism.

Writing:  The children will be finishing up their personal narratives and sharing them with the class.  They have done a fantastic job of taking this piece of writing through the entire writing process.  They will also be doing a self evaluation of their story this week.

Science:  This week we will be learning about weather.  We will learn about ways to measure weather and the water cycle.

Math:  This week both the red fish and the blue fish will be working through addition strategies.  Our main focus will be on adding three numbers, finding missing addends and sums of ten.  We will focus a lot on sums of ten.  This is such an important concept in developing number sense in children.  Homework will come home as usual.

Reading: Look for homework to come home on Monday.  It will be due back and spelling tests will be on Thursday this week. Our class will be going to see the play on Friday morning during reading.  Everyone has been doing a great job of getting homework completed!  I am so proud of all my readers!  Keep up the good work!

Have  a great week!

Hello!  This week we will be talking more about Earth Day and the three R’s…reduce, reuse and recycle.  On Monday we will measure the garbage we produce during lunch and then on Tuesday we will have a No Waste Lunch.  We will again measure the garbage and hopefully, there will be much less garbage on Tuesday!  Please help your child pack a no/low waste lunch.  Thanks!

Here is what else we are learning:

Math

Both math groups are continuing to work on counting money this week.  Please continue to practice counting coins at home.  Some children are still struggling to recognize which coin is which.  Have you heard our money song?  Ask your child to sing it to you!

Religion

This week we will talk about Jesus’ gift of peace and his glorious Ascension into heaven.  We will also learn a little about Saint Francis this week.

Science/Social Studies

As I mentioned we will be talking about conserving resources and taking care of God’s world this week.  Look for a few fun projects to come home soon!

Writing

The children will be editing and revising their personal narratives this week.  Hopefully, towards the end of the week we will be able to begin sharing our stories.  They are doing a great job working to include all the writing traits!

Reading

Both groups will have homework and spelling tests as usual this week.  Please look for homework on Monday.  Continue to have your child read AR books.  They did a great job last trimester of meeting their goals.  I am sure they can do it again!

Have a great week!