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Three Day Weekend Ahead!

I hope you have a relaxing three day weekend. We are only three weeks into the year and the students are showing greater responsibility and working hard.

Our shared reading story for next week is The Itsy Bitsy Spider.

The children will watch a little spider and learn about it's world.  We will learn as the spider does, that in order to succeed in their world, they  too must learn to try try again. The skills we will focus on are final consonants b,n,p, and t, short vowel /o/,inflections, ed,and ing and the vocabulary words attached.  Thank you again for not jumping ahead in the anthology when it comes home.
Please review papers that come home in every subject area.  Read over practice book pages together and read 20 minutes or more every day. Begin a library of paper take home books.

Please look in your child's homework notebook for the spider observation. As part of the scientific method students will observe and write what they see. Find a spider and web and follow the directions on the assignment. Have fun but remember not to touch or prod the spider! We'll share observations next week in class. If you are out of town the good news is that spiders are everywhere!

We welcome our newest student , Jason Washington. I am so proud of the way our class has welcomed him into our classroom family and helped him get acquainted with the procedures of our classroom. We are glad to have you, Jason! There are now 20 students in our room. Quite soon you will be given a class directory to help you learn all of the names for play dates and parties. Remember, I am happy to distribute birthday invitations if all students/ boys or girls/ are included in the party!

Gift wrap orders will be collected on Friday, September 7. This is the major fund raiser for our PTA and we appreciate your order no matter how small or large!

What's Happening This Week?

Look for an update in Monday's folder, but here is the short(?) version...

• Scholastic orders are due on Monday, September 27.
• Class directory forms are due Friday, September 31. Thanks to Debbie and Dana- our fantastic room reps!
• We'll bring home our first anthology for shared reading. Remember, just read Clap Your Hands. Some difficult vocabulary is embedded in the text so lets do a "read together" on this story! Review the list of words that came home Friday in the homework notebook. These are words to recognize in text, not spell.
• Tuesday at 10:10 A.M. we will be smiling for the school photos.  You may choose your background by returning the flier marked with your choice by Tuesday. These funds go directly to Sope Creek classrooms. Please participate. The class that returns its final payments / orders first receives a cash gift to be used for classroom  supplies. 

Thank you for getting your children to the classroom a little early each day. It helps them to be ready for the day!

Also...Please remember to send in that snack daily. We are all hungry after specials!

Wonderful Weather!

Just what is a hurricane and how can I make a tornado in a bottle? We'll learn all about the different kinds of weather and try our hands at measuring it! Please send in two water bottles for upcoming projects over the next few weeks.  Please remove the labels and send them in as soon as you can. Extras are welcome. Also we'll need an empty toilet paper roll or paper towel roll for each child next week.

Butterflies Soar Through the First Week!

We have shared a great first week of school as evidenced by the "First Week" book your student brought home on Friday.  Tuck this away is a safe place to reference in the Spring! Their growth will be incredible!  Your children are well prepared and ready to learn.  We reviewed sounds and vocabulary and began to establish routines for the year. Ask your student about our warm fuzzies!  Each day we have added words to our journal and read poems that will come home next week in the poetry notebook. Please return the poetry notebook the very next day! It takes several weeks to establish the classroom routine so please give your child some extra TLC and lots of support!

We will start passing around class books that we have created this week. Enjoy the book with your student during your daily twenty minute reading time and return it the next day in the backpack for another family to enjoy.

In math we are implementing the Harcourt Math series in first grade. Parents may get more information at Math Night on September 20.

Open House! Thanks to everyone for attending Open House! Understanding classroom procedures, activities, and courses of study, will make for a successful year! At any time of you have a question or concern, please email or call! Thank you for your support!

This week we have several special events. Our first Scholastic orders will come home. The books are reasonably priced and great titles. Bonus points that we receive this month will purchase books for our room!

This Friday is a TGIF event at Chuckie Cheese. Hope you can come. Friday each child who plans to attend will get a sticker worth tokens at dismissal.

Looking ahead. School pictures for first grade are Tuesday, August 28 at 10:10 am!

In the Cobb County folder that came home Monday were several sheets that need to be signed and returned. Thank you for sending them in for my files and  if you have misplaced them let me know!

Welcome and thank you !

We are off to a quick start with Open House on Tuesday evening. The students will have a few surprises waiting for you. Many of you took wish list t-shirts and I thank you! You may  also want to help by saving empty toilet paper rolls, empty paper towel rolls, and an empty water bottle for a rain gauge. We will be asking for those things once we establish our classroom community and routines.  This time of year we want to get to know each other and how we can best learn in our classroom community! Thanks for allowing us the time to set high expectations and good work habits as we come together to learn and laugh.  Teaching first grade is my passion! Just ask my husband who at this moment is off at Walmart looking for one more notebook... I can't wait to get to know you better and to develop a partnership to support your child's growth in this most important first grade year!