I cannot believe this year is over!!!  I woke up this morning and thought, "Is it REALLY the last day of school?"  It still doesn't feel real!

We have had a really exciting end of our year.  Here are some of the highlights:

Congratulations to Colt and his family for the birth of his new baby sister, Liberty!  She is a doll!

Congratulations to Amariona for making her AR goal last week and also to Tiara for making her AR challenge goal!  I'm so proud of all of our Super Readers!  

Thank you Kross for bringing in doughnuts last week.  They were delicious!

Happy Birthday to  Michael whose birthday was last week and Daylin whose birthday we celebrated today!  Also, Tyrie's birthday is Friday!  Thank you to Tyrie and Daylin for the yummy birthday treats!

Happy birthday to all of our summer birthdays:
Angelo, Landon, and Autumn

Wednesday was our all day Read In.  It was a fabulous day of reading fun!  We had some special visitors and guest readers, three of whom were Mr. Wells (Mrs. Wells' husband and former Whiteside student), Mr. Rakers, and Mr. Karstens (former assistant principal--current BTHSE principal).

Mayfest and Carnival were really fun even though we had to have it inside due to the weather.  Thank you to Mrs. Brush and all of the specials teachers for all of their hard work in making the Mayfest a success!

Our Good News Party and End of the Year party were also a great time!  Thank you to all of the parents who helped with the End of the Year party.  A big thank you goes out to Mrs. Jensen for organizing all of our classroom parties this year.  We wouldn't have had nearly as much fun if you hadn't been in charge!  THANK YOU for your time!

An even that our students really enjoyed was our JRFH assembly and the kick off for next year's character theme, "Character Rocks!"  It's safe to say our teachers really enjoyed it, too!  A group of us even learned a special dance to perform the day of the assembly.  I've heard many of you have already seen it on Facebook or YouTube.  I'm glad I put in so many practice hours so I didn't look like a total fool on social media!  ha ha

The summer packets that I sent home last week are for your children to complete over the summer to keep their skills fresh.  Please make an effort to listen to your child read for at least 20 minutes a day.  I know it's a big commitment. (I even struggle with doing it with my own children.)  However, it really will make a HUGE difference in their growth as a reader and their starting success as a second grader!  (SECOND GRADER??  Can you BELIEVE  it??)

Thank you to all of you for your kind words, cards, and end of the year gifts.  You have made me feel so appreciated and my heart is so full of love for your children.  Thank you for allowing me into your lives.  We will forever be bonded by this 2015-16 first grade school year.  I walk away from this year with many new friends who I will remember forever!    

I hope that you all have a safe, happy, relaxing, and exciting summer!  High Fives and Hugs!  :) 

Congratulations Angelo on making your AR goal!!

Greetings from room 116!  I cannot believe we are almost down to our last full week of school!  This year has just flown by!  Our little first graders are about to be second graders.  (sniff sniff)

The end of the year is PACKED with excitement!  As an addition to all the regularly scheduled excitement I am adding to it by throwing a substitute teacher in the mix.  I will be gone both tomorrow and Monday to chaperone both of my children's field trips.  I have two very capable subs here for me.  They are two who have been in my room before, so they already know the kiddos.

Tomorrow is the LAST reading test and spelling test in first grade!  We will only do the written portion of the reading test on The Big Team Relay Race.  There will be no multiple choice this time.

Tuesday is Mayfest and Carnival.  It is one of the best days of the school year!  Your children will perform songs and dances they have learned in music class.  We will do it around the outdoor stage (near the east facing doors of the school) weather permitting.  If the weather is yucky it will be in the gym.  Please dress your child in a red shirt, tennis shoes, and please apply sunscreen to their little bodies!  We will be outside for the majority of the day.  Mayfest begins at 9am.  Parents, siblings, grandparents, etc. are welcome to attend.  Bring a lawn chair and set up around the marked off areas of the outdoor stage.  If you go to the Maypoles that are set up and face the stage, our class sits on the right side, all the way toward the back.  If it's in the gym, I THINK we will be right in front of the door that's nearest to the cafeteria.

After Mayfest, first grade gets to attend Carnival first.  Yay!  It is a free carnival to our students and families.  WS students will receive one free popcorn and one free snow cone.  Anyone else wishing to have popcorn or a snow cone will need to purchase them for a dollar.  All of the rides and games are free for everyone.  Games are set up in the gym.  Parents and siblings are welcome to join in the fun! The book fair will also be open in the library at this time and you are welcome to take your child to shop. Our carnival time ends at 12:30.

First grade eats lunch at 12:30.  Students may bring their lunch or purchase a school hot dog lunch.  If you or any other family members wish to purchase a school lunch, a note came home about that yesterday.  You will need to order lunch and pay by tomorrow.  After we eat we will come back inside and work on cleaning up our classroom, organizing, coloring, and probably watching a movie.  If you would like to take your child home at that point you just need to sign them out at the office.

We will have our Good News Party for students who have earned it on Thursday, May 19.

We will have our End of the Year Party near the outdoor stage on Friday, May 20.

Our AR challenge pizza party for students who earned 11 points with at least 80% accuracy will be on Friday, May 20 in the afternoon.  (It's not in the place of lunch.  Plan for a regular lunch day.  This will be after specials._)

Monday, May 22 is our LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!  Students will be dismissed at 12:00.  No lunch will be served that day.

If I don't get a chance to tell you later, it has been an honor being your child's teacher this year.  I have loved getting to know each and every one of them.  It's hard to watch them go!  Thank you to all of you for your support at home.

High fives and Hugs!
Ms. Bleich :)

Thank you to those of you who extended well wishes for my daughter!  It has been a stressful week but everything with the surgery went really well!!!  I appreciate your kind thoughts and prayers!

Our spelling words for this week are:
ran, sit, win, not, can, let, because, caught, fault, pretty
Bonus words: animals, argument

We started our 1 School 1 Book assignment for the year.  It's called Zapato Power.  Our whole school will read the book in our classrooms, have discussions, complete activities, and even take part in a school wide service project.  We are collecting new or gently used shoes for Shoeman Water Projects, which is an organization that collects shoes and exports them to secondary markets for resale.  Then they use the funds generated to provide communities around the world with clean drinking water, well drilling rigs, water purification systems, repairs for hand pumps, and health and hygiene training.  Thank you James and his family for donating quite a few pairs of shoes so far!  We had an almost brand new pair of adult Reebok's donated, but I'm not sure from who.  I've asked the class twice where they came from and no one has claimed them! So thank you, whoever you are!  :)  This project will run until May 19.

There will be a hat day on May 6 to raise money for Joshua's Great Things, which is an organization that raises money for children with brain cancer.  Joshua was a student here at Whiteside.  When he was in first grade he was in my homeroom.  He passed away in 2013 from a long struggle with brain cancer.  His family runs the organization and they do "Great Things" for children with brain cancer.

Reading story this week:  The Great Ball Game
Reading Homework journals due Thursday, May 5
Multiple Choice reading tests and spelling test on Thursday, May 5
Written Reading and Spelling test on Friday, May 6

I am so proud of our kiddos for their amazing work on last weeks reading and spelling tests as well as our math test!  We had a LARGE number of A's and A+'s on these tests.  (I counted the math grades--- 14 A's or A+'s)  WOW!  Great job!!!!!  The written reading tests are getting better and better!  I am LOVING our complete sentences!  We are just about ready for second grade!  YAY!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALANA FOR MAKING HER AR GOAL TODAY!  WOO HOO!  

The Book Fair is running.  Our day to shop is Tuesday, May 10 during our Library time.

Mayfest and Carnival is May 17.  Parents, if you can, consider taking a morning off work to attend the Mayfest.  Mrs. Brush organizes a FANTASTIC performance, which the whole school takes part in.  More information about this day will come home later.

High Fives & Hugs!  :)