Germs Make Me Sick

We have been talking a lot in class about staying healthy. We frequently wash our hands during the day, and students are expected to use hand sanitizer each time they enter the room (morning, after recess, after specials, etc.) We have reviewed how to properly cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough and how to avoid spreading germs. Today we watched a Reading Rainbow movie called "Germs Make Me Sick". The students were excited to see live germs and learned some valuable information from the film.

Please remember that if your child is sick, that they must be fever free for 24 hours before returning to school. As much as I want all the students to be here in class, I would rather they stay home and recuperate. I am hoping that with the recent headlines about flu season and H1N1, we will be able to remain healthy and it will not be the pandemic it is predicted to be.

I do not typically send home make-up work unless the child is absent for several days. Most of it can be made up in class, although much of what we do revolves around classroom discussions, games and activities that can't be done at home. If you are looking for ways to occupy your child while they are home, they can practice their reading, write a story about being sick, or practice their math facts. This depends on how they are feeling though, and is not to say I am encouraging you to make your child do homework.

I wish you all a safe and healthy year.

Golden Tickets

As we have been talking about the Mary Castle Expectations, we have implemented our school wide positive behavior program. If a teacher sees a student following the expectations, he or she can give that child a golden ticket as a reward. These tickets will be placed in a bucket in the office and drawn each day. Those whose tickets are drawn will have their picture taken and name announced on the morning announcements. Many of our students in first grade have already earned their first golden ticket!

Reminders

~Green folders should be emptied daily and returned with just the homework reading sheet. I would like to see what your child is reading each night.
~Please be sure to send lunch money with your child each week.
~Spelling test will be on Friday. I will read the words to your child and s/he will write them down on a paper. This week all the children have the same words, but next week they will be different.
~Daily snacks may be sent in with your child. Feel free to keep a couple day's worth in the backpack, but tell your child not to eat them all at once. One snack is all that is needed each day, not fruit and a granola bar.
~Mondays and Wednesday are PE days, so don't forget to wear tennis shoes.

Great Thinking

One area we focus on in STRETCH is the students' thinking skills. We have many games and activities for the children to choose from, and I also plan lessons to teach specific skills and strategies. For example, we will learn about chess later this year, reasoning, and different kinds of logic. This week I have a pattern set displayed and the students were challenged to create as many different designs as possible. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were building in 3D rather than making a flat design. This is the first time I have seen this in first grade using these specific materials and I was rather impressed. Here are some of there creations.

First Day of School

I am happy to have shared a great first day of school with my new students. We made new friends today, and saw some old buddies from kindergarten as well. A lot of today revolved around discussing the Mary Castle Expectations, and going over procedures in our classroom. We practiced lining up and walking in the hallway.

We also read the book Chrysanthemum, and talked about our own names. We played a game to learn our friends' names and how they are spelled, and we also made a class graph to show how many letters each name contained.

I am hopeful that the buses run smoother tomorrow and students arrive home safely and on time. Everyday they should get better. See you all soon!