HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Hello all of my first grade friends!  We had an exciting week!  Our Valentine's Day party was a hit!  Thanks so much to James' mom for organizing all of the fun!  Thanks to all of the parents and friends who helped make the party a success!

Happy birthday to Cadynne!  Thanks Cadynne's mom for the yummy cookies and for the fun party blowers.

As you hopefully noticed, there was not a spelling list sent home today.  I will be sending it home on Tuesday.  Don't worry, your child will still have PLENTY of time to study because we won't take our test over the next list until Thursday, February 25.  Call it a Valentine's Day present from me to you!

If you are just itching to get a head start on those words they are:
knew, knee, draw, cause, boy, coin, write, wrist, know, who
Bonus Words: laugh, caught

Just a reminder there is no school on Monday, February 16 in honor of Presidents' Day.

Parent Teacher Conferences are on Thursday, February 25 after school until 7:30 p.m. and in the morning on Friday, February 16 until noon.  There is no school on Friday, February 26.  I have sent home conference notes with everyone.  I have indicated on the note whether or not I am requesting that we meet.  If you have not signed and returned the form to me, please do so this week; especially if I requested a conference with you.

Enjoy a three day weekend full of warmth with your lovely families!

I was not here yesterday and my substitute teacher sent home a bunch of old spelling lists that were hanging on my chalkboard.  Please disregard any older spelling lists you received yesterday!  These are this week's words:
tooth, food, took, book, clown, down, grouch, couch, where, there
Bonus Words: because, somewhere
Our Spelling Test will be on Friday, February 12.

Spring Pictures are tomorrow, Wednesday, February 10.  Even if you do not plan on ordering pictures, please be aware that we will be taking our CLASS picture, which will be distributed to anyone who orders one.  Class picture orders are due tomorrow.

Yearbook orders are due on Friday, February 12.

No school-- Monday, February 15.

Today we did something new in reading class.  We wrote our answers to the questions from our decodable books in complete sentences!  We have been practicing the skill of answering in a complete sentence since the first day of school, but we have mainly done it orally.  Today we answered all 4 of the questions from Leo the Lion by writing our answers.  The students brought home their completed papers in their decodable book bag.  I gave them a challenge homework assignment--  If they can answer the 4 questions from Sue's Clues in a complete sentence and restate the question in each sentence then they will receive a special surprise from me tomorrow.  There will not be a consequence for anyone who chooses not to complete this assignment.  It is optional!

In math today we talked about how we can add numbers in any order.  This is a reviewed skill that we have been practicing all year long so the kiddos did great with it!

Remember decodable books and reading homework journals are due tomorrow (Thursday).  The spelling test over Unit 5 Lesson 14-15 words is on Friday.  Our Math test over Chapter 3 is on Monday.

Congratulations to Alexis!  She lost her first tooth today!  I love being here for these milestone moments!  :)

We had our reading test over Unit 5 today.  I am VERY pleased with the results.  I spent almost double the time teaching this unit than I have in year's past.  It was definitely worth the extra time!  I am so proud of these kiddos! Thank you for reviewing the study guide with your child at home.  I have no doubt that it helped!

I wanted everyone to be aware of the specials schedule for now:
Mon.- Library
Tues.-Computer
Wed.- PE
Thurs.- Art
Fri.- Music
This will stay the same until we have a day off school (ex. Presidents' Day). Then the schedule gets pushed back a day.

Important Dates:
Friday, February 5-- Spelling Test  (blue, true, glue, few, music, ruby, pure, chew, do, come)
             Family Reading Night in the gym 6-8 PM
Monday, February 8-- Math test over Chapter 3
Friday, February 19-- Six Flags Reading Logs due

Congratulations to Terrell for losing a tooth today!

Don't forget to send in the permission form saying it's OK for me to post your child's picture on our blog!

We had such a fun time today on our 100th day of school!  We counted to 100 so many times today by ones, twos, fives, and tens.  We did 100 jumping jacks to get our blood flowing.  (Yes, I did them too!)  When we were out at recess we held hands in a horizontal line and took 100 steps.  We walked about 3/4 of the way across the field!  The kids had a great time snuggling up on their blankets, reading their books, and enjoying their snacks.  I read a few stories to them today, too.  We also worked in our 100th day activity packet.  The students answered some silly questions about the number 100.  I thought it would be cute to share a few of their responses:

I would love to eat 100 hot dogs. -- Tyrie
I would never eat 100 worms. -- Michael
I can do 100 jumping jacks. -- Micah
I can't do 100 push-ups. -- Tiara
I wish I had 100 books. -- Alexis
I would never want 100 brothers. -- James

One of the activities was to tell what you would do if you had $100.  Here are some of those responses:
I would buy a beach house in Florida. -- Patrick
I would give the money to God. -- Colt
I would buy a clubhouse. -- Dasani
I would buy food and clothes for homeless people. -- Tiara

We also made words out of the letters in the words ONE HUNDRED. We came up with 16 and ran out of room so we stopped.  Ask your child what word they came up with!

We started to make a book of 100 things at the end of the day but we ran out of time so we will finish those tomorrow.  

Thanks for sending in everything we needed today!  We had so much fun!