Let's Catch Up

Before Spring Break, there was so much going on, I wanted to make sure I caught our families up.

First, we had the 120th Day, where our students dressed up and participated in activities, all surrounding the 120th Day. Why 120? The first grade standard is to read and write numbers to 120. While we realize that dressing up as a 120 year old is quite challenging, the students really enjoyed themselves and had a great time with activities like the 120th snack, a portrait of themselves as an old person, Rockin' their way to 120.

During March, our Science unit focused on animal structures and functions. Our Science activities in the classroom focused on researching a specific animal, it's structures and the functions of these structures. We also examined through books and various websites the similarities and differences between plants and their seedlings and animals and their babies. To coincide with the unit, we also traveled to the San Diego Wild Animal Park, where students examined the animals first hand for what we had been experiencing in our Science unit.

As we come back from Spring Break, we are on the downhill slide for the school year, with only 9 weeks left. Your students will be working hard and pushing toward making that stride into second grade. In class, we will be doing more differentiated groups in reading and writing, addressing specific needs your child may have in these areas.

In Social Studies, we will be traveling to different classrooms over the next 6 weeks to learn about different United States Symbols. For the first week, we are focusing on the United States Flag, what it means and why it was designed the way it was.

Math will find us working on two-digit addition and subtraction. And in Language Arts, please don't forget to look at the Language Arts tab here on the blog.

Also, as a quick reminder, our campus is furthering the lockdown process by locking the end of the hallway buildings to make sure students and staff stay as safe as possible. If you are here to volunteer, please make sure you come to the outside classroom door and I will let you in.   Furthermore, please make sure you stop in the office for a volunteer badge. This needs to be in sight for me to let you in the door. Thank you for your help in assuring our students and staff remain safe.

I look forward to making this time memorable with your kiddos. Have a fantastic week.

CLASS SUPPLIES NEEDED:
* 13 -  1 1/2  inch Clear Cover Heavy Duty Binders
* Clorox Wipes

A few dates to remember:

May 24 - Open House from 6pm - 7pm
May 28 - NO SCHOOL Memorial Day Observance
May 31 - NO MINIMUM DAY
June 6 - NO MINIMUM DAY
June 7 - Minimum Day - Dismissal at 1pm
June 8 - Minimum Day - Dismissal at 1pm

Lots of Fun In the Coming Days!

 On Friday, March 2, we will be celebrating Dr. Suess Day in our classroom. We will be rotating with two other classrooms and doing activities related to Dr. Suess books. We will also be having Dress Up Days celebrating Dr. Suess throughout the week. The dress up days are as follows:

Monday: 2/26 - Suess Time - Stop and and enjoy unbelievable Suess stories

Tuesday: 2/27: Cat In the Hat (wear a hat)

Wednesday: 2/28: Wacky Wednesday (wear wacky socks)

Thursday: 3/1: I can Read with My Eyes Shut (Read my shirt day)

Friday: 3/2: Cat in the Hat Comes Back: Wear Stripes

Hip! Hip! Hooray! It’s The 120th Day!

On Wednesday, March 7th , we will be celebrating the 120th
day of school. As part of our math program, we will be participating
in many fun-filled activities that involve counting, learning place
value, and many different way to make 120.

In order for your child to develop a better understanding of how each 120 is made, we are asking each child to do a special activity. This will be an at-home activity and parental assistance is encouraged. Please share in your child’s excitement and reinforce learning by completing the following activity: Have your child count 120 of the same items (i.e. marshmallows, cereal, pennies, Legos, M&M’s, buttons, etc.). The 120 items they choose should be able to fit in a sandwich-size zip lock baggie. Then, each child should count the 120 items by 1’s, 2’s, 5’s and 10’s. Finally, your child should bring the items (in the zip lock baggie) to school by Wednesday, March 7th.

For this special day, all first graders (and their teachers) will be dressing up like
old people. Discuss with your child what they would like their outfit to look like, then
help him/her create an outfit to wear to school. We will be taking lots of photos…
so don’t forget your wrinkles and gray hair!

There will be a variety of activities we are taking part in during the day. I will be sending home a link to a Sign-Up Genius next Friday to ask for donations of specific items for the activities. Please send this item in no later than Friday, March 2nd.

Field Trip:San Diego Wild Animal Park

On Friday, March 16 the first grade students will be taking a field trip to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Please check your email because I have sent information on chaperoning and regarding your students participation in the event. Please make sure that you fill out all three permission slips and send them back to school with your student.

Have a great weekend!! 

February has brought about an exciting time in first grade. First, some of your students may have come home and mentioned that we have Mrs. Mason in our classroom. Mrs. Mason has joined us for the remainder of the year as a student teacher from Grand Canyon University. Under my guidance, she will be learning her way through the classroom, so that someday soon, she may be able to have her own classroom. Please help me in welcoming Mrs. Mason to our classroom.

Today, we took our Unit 4 math test and our Unit 4, Week 5 Language Arts tests. That will take us into Unit 5, Week 1 for Language Arts next week and Unit 5 math next week. Next week in Science we will also begin our Heredity Unit.

Our annual school carnival is on Saturday, March 3. Our fabulous room mothers have put together a Sign Up Genius for items for our Health and Wellness Basket and for our volunteer times. Please, go to this link: Sign Up Genius. Please make sure that if you have signed up to donate something that you get those items in, since they have to be turned in by the end of next week.


Dates to Remember:

March 7 - the 120th Day of School (More information to follow)
March 16 - 1st Grade Field Trip (More information to follow)
March 26 - April 6 - Spring Break

As January comes to a close, we have some exciting things happening in Room 21. Last week, I began a Donors Choose project for our class to get two more Chromebooks. I'm happy to say that our project was funded and we should be receiving the Chromebooks on Wednesday or Thursday of next week. Any other donations you give at this point, will be put towards the next class project I am creating. Thank you to all of you who donated or even just shared the link. Without your help this wouldn't have been possible.

Next week, we are collecting Soup Cans for the "Souper Bowl" as a school fundraiser. All classes are collecting cans of soup to give to a food bank. Students may bring in cans of soup throughout the week for the event.

Friday, February 2 students are encouraged to wear a sports jersey of their choice to celebrate the Super Bowl. Any sports jersey is fine and if they do not have a sports jersey, students may wear their Tony Tobin Spirit Wear.

Our Spring Carnival is slated for Saturday, March 3. Our wonderful room mom's have put together a Sign Up Genius of needs for the Carnival that you should have received via email. If you did not receive it, please click on this link, Spring Carnival Sign Ups and it should take your straight to the Sign Up Genius for the event. All of your donations and help are greatly appreciated.

Upcoming dates:

February 14 - Valentine's Day (you will find this information on this week's homework sheet)
March 7 - 120th Day of School (more information coming in the following weeks)

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Welcome Back!

Happy 2018! I hope everyone enjoyed a restful break! First, I would like to say thank you for all of the amazing gifts I received for the holiday. I am going to or have already enjoyed them very much. I

felt so loved by my students and families in room 21.

This week we are beginning reading groups again. The first set of groups will be bringing home books today. By tomorrow, everyone should be bringing a book home, even if it's the same one. Please make sure that your child brings their book bag with their book everyday to school. Practice makes perfect and we want to keep moving those reading levels up!

With flu season upon us, there a few things we need to do to keep everyone healthy at school. If your child has a fever, please make sure that they stay home. Also, in order to return to school they have to be fever free for 24 hours. If your child is complaining of
not feeling well in the morning, please keep them home. I will be sure to get them caught up on their work when they return. Staying well and healthy is the may concern for everyone.

There is a new drop off /pick up procedure for your students in the morning. Please see the following information from the office, just in case you didn't see it yesterday via email:

 This is to keep our students safe. Please read the details below in order to be prepared.

​​Arrival​

1. ​​​Student access to campus will be through ONE gate, just beyond the office, closest to the 1st grade wing. Only students may enter through this gate. The Kindergarten gate will be open for Kindergarten students only (no adults).
2.  Adults must enter through the office and sign in, if they wish to access campus, separate from their student. Adults only, will enter through the office.
3. Students who have previously entered through the bus gate may continue to do so. No adults will be permitted through this gate.
4. Students with special needs who were previously dropped off at classrooms by parents may continue this practice. Parents should sign in, with student, in the office, and proceed to classroom. Some students are met by aides outside of the gate. This will continue as well. Please contact your child's teacher with any potential concerns.

​​Dismissal

1. Teachers will walk classes to the gates to dismiss, nearest their grade level hallways. Adults will not be permitted to enter the gates at dismissal. Adults needing to access campus may do so through the office.

​​After School Programs

1. ​​​All gates will be closed while students are participating in these programs. Students exiting after school programs will exit through the front office, along with the after school program personnel. Parents will not meet students inside the school.

​​Friday Flag

1. ​​​Parents and visitors will enter and exit the school through the front office.Students will enter school through the gate.
2. Students and parents can "reunite" on campus after entering separately.

​​Running Club

1. ​​Gate will open at 8:30 am to allow students to enter and will close immediately. If students are late, they must wait until the entrance gate opens at 8:40. 
2. If parents wish to join their students at running club, they must sign in through the office.

Thank you for your commitment to keeping our students safe!

I look forward to jumping into some new things for the remainder of the school year. Our students will be working hard and learning a lot. As always, should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Have a fabulous week!

Happy December!

Happy December! It's hard to believe that 2017 is almost to a close. This month we have a lot of fun things going on Room 21. I truly love this time of year, I just wish the weather matched the holiday mood!

                                                      Reading Groups:
This week was the last week for reading groups until we come back from Winter Break. Over the next three weeks, I will be assessing your child in Language Arts. So, during the time, we will not be doing reading groups. Please continue to read with your child at home during this time because they will only get better with practice.

Language Arts:
Today your child took the Unit 2, Week 5 Assessment in Wonders. I am so happy with the results and their hardwork shows in their scores. They are getting so good with the technology and I'm happy to see the results.

Science:
The month of December in Science we will be studying the Spinning Sky. Next week we will start looking at shadows and how they move. This is an exciting unit and I look forward to exploring it with your students.

Math:
Next week, we will continue on graphing. Please make sure to do the Unit 3 Study Guide with your student because on Thursday, December 7, we will be doing the first part of the Unit 3 assessment.

Important Dates to Remember:
Tuesday, December 19 - Ice Skating at Galway Downs for TTES
Wednesday, December 20 - IS NOT A  MINIMUM DAY
Friday, December 22 - MINIMUM DAY - DISMISSAL AT 1:00PM

I hope you have a minute to enjoy the holiday season. Have a fantastic weekend!

And The Fun Never Stops

Dr. Pesh Visits 1st Grade
Dr. Pesh, the father of Chloe Pesh in our class, visited first grade and did a wonderful presentation on dental hygiene and other interesting facts related to our teeth. Our children walked away with a little pouch of goodies that included a toothbrush, toothpaste and some floss. In addition, Dr. Pesh is offering a candy buy back program in his office. All of the candy brought to Dr. Pesh's office after Halloween will be donated to the troops. If you would like more information on this program, you may visit the and candy buy back link Thank you Dr. Pesh for an amazing presentation for our kiddos!

PE Equipment
Last Friday, during flag ceremony, KB Home donated a bucket list of PE equipment in response to a donation letter the first grade team sent to them. From various balls to jump ropes, hula hoops and the list goes on, we can't thank KB Home enough for their generous donation. Thank you for making sure we have the proper equipment to teach PE to our students.

Jog-A-Thon

The Jog-a-thon today was amazing. Mrs. Kronenfeld's Blazing Monstar Runners were a hit! I wouldlike to thank our fabulous parent volunteers for their support at the Jog-a-thon today. From squirting down our kiddos with water, to making sure they had water to drink our volunteers did a wonderful job of keeping an eye to make sure our students stayed hydrated and safe. I would like to also thank our fabulous room moms, Mrs. Glennon, Mrs. Narlock, and Mrs. Gray for getting things organized, getting our banner done, wristbands for our kiddos. Then. afterwards, they came in and tallied the laps for our class and cut the banner up, so that each child could take home the monster they made. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!

It's not too late to get those pledges in. Pledges will be accepted up to two weeks after the Jog-a-thon

today. All money will go back to Tony Tobin for our kiddos!

Homework and Blog Update
I had several parents who were having issues printing out the homework. Instead of posting the homework and attachments as images, I have included the link to each thing you need for homework on the homework page. Please click on the link and you should be able to print it from there. Please let me know if you have any issues.

Have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing everyone on Monday morning, smiling!