Ms. Laurel's Blog

First Grade Mice

Weekly Newsletter

Week of 9/28 – 10/2

This week I was really able to take a step back and see how far the children have come since the first week of school.  They have started to grasp the classroom routines and they know what I expect of them!  That is so great to see in these first few weeks of school! This week we started our language arts centers, and again the students grasped that routine quickly!

A quick review of what we are working on in the classroom.  We have started studying short vowel sounds, starting with A and E, which I am sure you saw in the homework.  We practice these in class, in our word wall words, and in centers.  Over the next few weeks we will be working on all of the short vowel sounds.  In math we are working on a few different things…graphs, odd and even numbers, 2-D and 3-D shapes, and counting patterns.  These are themes that run through math throughout the whole year and often practiced during our morning meeting while doing the calendar.  In science we have been doing a short unit on dinosaurs and next month we will start learning about the 5 senses and the human body.  If anyone has any good ideas about field trips related to the human body, I’m all ears!  We are also starting a short unit on community jobs, and what people in our community do, such as fireman, policeman and garbage men.  The parent job questionnaire in the homework packet is to go along with that.  If anyone would like to come in and do a presentation on what they do as their job, it is always welcome during this unit.

As you know, our class mascot is the mouse, and each year I like to fill the classroom with little reminders of our mascot.  I usually buy some stuffed animals, posters, anything to do with mice to put around the classroom.  So if you ever see anything that you think would be perfect, and would like to donate it to the class, it is more than welcome!

Also, on back to school night I had a ‘wish list’ but I forgot to bring it to your attention.  If you are interested in fulfilling my ‘teacher wish list’ it is mainly gift cards to help with things we do in the classroom.  Blick or Longs for art supplies, grocery stores for cooking with the kids, Lakeshore for classroom supplies, etc….

Finally, a few reminders…it is very important to be on time to school in the mornings.  With only 7 students, if 2 or 3 are late it is hard to start the day with only 4 or 5 students.  Also, book orders are due on Oct. 10^th, there is NO school on the 9^th or 12^th and Picture Day is Oct. 20^th.  As always, if you have any questions or comments about anything, please do not hesitate to contact me!

Thanks!

Ms. Laurel