Goodbye February and Hello March!

I am QUITE impressed with how well all the students have done so far with coordinate graphing! We did quite a few graphing lessons on the Promethean Board in the computer lab this week. The students have done a great job writing down ordered pairs (coordinates), moving objects to a designated ordered pair, identifying X and Y axis, as well as being able to differentiate movements between graphs that use number/number coordinates, and letter/number coordinates!

I hope to continue this concept next week with a social studies connection. The students will be designing maps of their own towns! Each town will need to be complete with various services - those provided by taxes, and those that are not. It should be a great integration of subjects!

With Saint Patrick's Day and Spring coming soon we will be learning how to write Limerick poems in the up coming weeks! Limericks are a form of poetry that was actually created in England, not Ireland. However, the jovial rhythm of these poems are often associated with Spring and St. Patrick's day - as one can often picture a leprechaun reciting them at the end of a rainbow somewhere :) I'm excited to see what they create!

Just as a reminder, if you haven't yet signed up for conferences, it's not too late! Please check the schedule from a few blogs ago, and email me your request. Please remember that these conferences are optional, not required like the ones in the fall. I ask that you have your conference requests in by 2:00 PM on Sunday - I'll check what's available and send you a confirmation by Sunday evening. Thank you!

The Pizzas were a hit! The students had a lot of fun and were excellent at identifying the different economic concepts that went into the process. Way to go first graders!

You should have received a permission slip for our field trip to the Weinberg Center to see Seussical the Musical. This permission slip is due back by Friday, March 6th. If you volunteered to chaperon, you will be notified that afternoon!

Next Friday is also our Dental Health Presentation!

Thank you so much for all your help, communication, and support! Have a great weekend!

Kelly Phelps

Kelly.Phelps@fcps.org

Hi!

Good afternoon! I hope everyone has had a pleasant weekend so far! Please remember to check the conference schedule listed a few blogs ago. Conferences are not mandatory, but if you wish to meet - please let me know!

Our class picture will be taken this Thursday, February 26th and we're signed up for the 8:30 slot. This will be great because everyone will be nice and fresh for the picture - but a bit of a tight squeeze on our regular schedule. It is very important that everyone be here on time! There aren't any make ups! An order form was sent home on Friday in the Home/School folder. Should you need another copy please let me know :)

This week we will be continuing our Beyond Words notebook with the final page! The responses that the students have come back with have been so interesting!! Thank you so much for all your help and support with this program.

We will be studying coordinate graphs this week in math. You'll notice in the homework packet that I only assigned one page per evening, as this is a new (and rather involved) subject that we're taking a look at. I'm very excited though! I think the students will have a blast with it!

Thank you so much!! Enjoy the rest of your weekend :)

Planning Ahead...

Hi all! Hope you're enjoying the three day weekend! I was taking a look at future plans - and realized that Spring is coming quite quickly! I was hoping to do a small planting project with the students, late-March/early-April time. Please don't go out of your way, but if you use the cardboard egg cartons, could you please send them in as you are finished with them? Thank you so much! Have a great week!

Love is in the air!!

Thank you to all the parents who were able to donate their time on the 100th Day of School, and for Valentine's Day!! Thank you, also, to all of you who were able to donate snacks for the 100th Day Celebration, and monetary donations for Valentine's Day and the Silent Auction fund raiser.

The 100th Day Celebration was a great success! The students had a blast traveling from station to station, learning with their friends from another class, and especially making their 100th Day Trail Mix. Special thanks to Mrs. Lizik for organizing the Valentine's Day Party and for all the yummy treats!

Parent-Teacher Conferences are coming up again! Monday, March 2nd and Tuesday, March 3rd have been set aside for this purpose. On the conference evaluation sheets many of you indicated a desire for a longer conference time. I am able to accommodate conferences in 20 minute time blocks. The available time slots are as follows:


Day
Time
Monday, March 2nd
8:00

8:25

8:50

9:15

9:40

10:05

10:30

10:55

11:20


Tuesday, March 3rd
1:00

1:25

1:50

2:15

2:40

Each conference will be allocated 20 minutes, with 5 minutes in between for preparation for the next conference. These conferences are OPTIONAL, but the time is available if you choose! Please either email me, post a comment, or send in a note indicating your availability. I will do my best to meet your needs!

We will be wrapping up our measurement unit this coming week, and reviewing computation skills. I plan to do a small unit on coordinate graphing the week of March 2nd. I think the students will have a lot of fun with this topic!!

Please remember that the Economic Concept Posters are due in March if your son/daughter would like to enter the contest. If you would like me to resend the information, please let me know!

We started exploring for words with prefixes "re" "pre" and "un" today! The class came up with QUITE a few VERY challenging words that they selected for next week's spelling list. The list will be available on Spelling City by the end of the day.

Coming up on Friday, March 6th we will be having a special guest speaking to us about Children's Dental Health - and she just so happens to be my mom! She has come in to my classrooms in the past and done a wonderful job with the students. Last year, she even brought in a picture of me when I was in first grade!! Embarrassing for me, hilarious for the kids!

Enjoy the three day weekend, and as always, thank you so much for all your help and support! Stay safe & happy Valentine's Day!

KP:)

Here we go!!

Welcome to our blog!!!
We have had yet another busy week in first grade!! We learned about George Washington Carver, the "plant doctor", saw an assembly by Mr. Flitton's fourth graders, and had yet another delay due to snow!
Next week, we will be celebrating our 100th Day on Thursday, and celebrating Valentine's Day on Friday!
Our spelling exploration will be contractions - the word list is already available on Spelling City!
We will be continuing our study of economics next week, focusing on such terms as goods, services, interdependence, wants, needs, producers, consumers, natural resources, human resources, capital resources, and production!
In language arts, we are still working on the Beyond Words literacy program. We will be taking a closer look at descriptive language - adjectives, similies, and metaphors! The students are doing a GREAT job!

Thank you for all your continued support at home! Have a happy and safe weekend!