Merry Christmas!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

We've had a wonderful holiday week at school.  We managed to get in many academic activities, even with all the fun events and a two-hour delayed school day!  First, I wanted to say a BIG THANK YOU for all the wonderful gift cards and Christmas gifts that the children gave me this week!  I was overwhelmed at your generosity!  I will have a whole new wardrobe come January! You guys are too good to me.  Of course, the best gift is being able to teach these precious children every day!  I also want to give a big thank you to my sweet students who showed such wonderful graciousness when we did the holiday book exchange.  These wonderful children really mastered the art of giving and receiving gifts with grace and you should be very proud of the children you are raising. 

I hope you and your families have a blessed and happy holiday and I can't wait to see everyone back here in 2011!

Classroom Reminders...

We will be back on our normal blog update format in January.  For now, please read over these reminders for important information.

Your child has their latest superstar quiz in his/her blue folder.  I was so impressed this week with the scores. I can tell the children really devoted some time to studying these math facts.  Your child has a great opportunity over the next two weeks to get in some good practice for the next set of facts. I'm expecting ALL 100% when we test in January!

The grading period for this nine weeks ends today.  Report cards will come home Friday, January 7th.  I've worked very hard on sending home regularly graded work so you know exactly where your child stands in mastering the 1st grade standards.  If you would like to meet to discuss your child's progress, I am always available after school to meet with you. 

One difficult concept we will be covering in math next nine weeks is making fair trades with money and showing amounts in various ways.  The two week break is a great time to have your child practice this skill. One way we have been working on this in class is I have been calling out an amount and I have the children show me that amount in two different ways.  I also will give the children a set of coins, have them count it and write the amount, then show me that same amount another way.  (All pennies is never acceptable!) 

In writing next nine weeks, we will be introduced to the concept of researching a topic then writing an informational paragraph.  It is a great time to encourage your child to branch out with his/her reading and enjoy a good nonfiction book every now and then!

I want to give a few special "thank yous"...Thank you to Mrs. Kwan, who dressed up and came in on Friday to read us a special Holiday story.  The children loved this!  Thank you to Mrs. Tovar for organizing a WONDERFUL holiday party for the kids.  Thank you also to all the parents who volunteered their time to be with the students for this fun event.  Thank you to Mrs. Henry for organizing our AR helpers for January and February. Check out her email if you want to come in!  If you would like to come in but can't come on Tue, Wed, or Thur please email me and we can set up a time for you to help out.