Mrs. Hughes

Week of May 12 to 16

Wow!  what a week!  Our centers this week were short ones.  Our attention span is dwindling fast!  We worked on our reading and deductive thinking skills with sea creatures, we wrote a poem about summer and our senses, we created a Father's Day card (sh-it's a surprise!), and we played math games with odd and even numbers.  We wrote about our field day adventures, as well as what we learned about Mexico. It seems they all remembered about tortillas! We are also spending the next few days comparing and contrasting various books by Kevin Henke. Today we went to the Science Lab for out final lesson on animals. I was out on Thursday due to a bad cold and no voice.

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

* Monday will be the children's last entry in their Response Journal.  Please write in it for the last time this weekend and send it with them to school on Monday.

* Our Author's Tea is Monday morning at 8:15 to 9:00!  We look forward to seeing you!

* Our specials next week are PE, PE, Art, PE, no specials on the last day of school.

* Please remember no backpacks or folders on the last day of school.

* Thank you to Susan Illis and Wendy Beville for being our Mystery Readers this week!

* I have returned all AR books from the media center that were checked out to me for AR.  No more AR!!

Week of Apri1 28 to May 2

Wow!  The zoo trip was so much fun!  The day was perfect- not too hot and a gentle breeze.  Thank you to the many, many parents who volunteered as chaperones.  We had the largest number of parents of all the first grade classes! This week we started learning about animals.  We learned the five animal classifications and the characteristics of each.  We wrote an animal riddle that is hanging in the hall.  You will have to read it when you come in for our tea!  Today we went to the Science Lab to observe and touch different animals.  Next week we will start on author's study.  We will compare and contrast various books from the same author.  We will also be learning about Mexico.  On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday afternoon the entire first grade will be rotating classrooms to learn different aspects about Mexico.  They will learn about the history of the pinata from me!  If you read this blog and would like to donate a bag of small candy for our homemade pinatas, we would appreciate it!

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

* Registration cards are due back with 4 stamps on the envelope by May 9!!!  They must be returned or your child won't be placed in a classroom!  Please make changes on the registration form in red or highlight the changes made.

* All library books are due Monday, May 5!

* Don't forget our Author's Tea on Monday, May 19th at 8:15 AM! 

* PTA pre-registration forms are due!

* Field Day is Wednesday, May 14th from 9 to 11 AM.

* Our specials for the remainder of the year is as follows:

PE, PE, Music, PE, PE

Art, PE, PE, PE, Music

PE, PE, Art, PE, no specials!

Week of April 21 to 25

Wow!  What a week!  Testing really took a toll on us, but the kids did a FANTASTIC job!  The hardest part for this group was staying quiet so long!  We celebrated Earth week by creating "litter bugs", going on an Earth Day word hunt, making pledges to conserve and recycle, and reading and watching the movie of The Lorax!  We also explored different kinds of seeds and graphed them.  We worked on independent reading and comprehension as well.  We have been working on double digit addition and subtraction in math.  Next week will start our unit on animals!

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

* Next Thursday, May 1 is our trip to the zoo!  A reminder note will be coming home on Tuesday.  Please have your child wear a Tritt t-shirt if they have one! Parent volunteers will also receive a reminder sheet!

* PTA registration forms are due soon.  If you want to pre-register for next year, please send it in. 

* Please go to the Tritt website and complete the Environmental Committee's scavenger hunt.  If we win the $50, we could really use a new pencil sharpener!:-)

* Thank you, Heather Mannik!  She will be binding the Tritt Tiger Publishing books on Tuesday!  Stayed tuned for the date of our Author's Tea!

* Thank you to Christine Zollinger for being our Mystery Reader this week!

* We will be going to the media center on Wednesday morning.

* Our Specials for the week are Music, PE, PE, Art (field trip, so no art), PE.

Week of April 14 to 18

I hope everyone had a relaxing, enjoyable spring break!  First grade is now downhill from here!  This week in centers we practiced weighing various objects with the balance scale and ordering them lightest to heaviest.  We did our first-ever book review on a book of our choice, wrote a creative story with a chosen topic sentence, and transformed an umbrella into anything we wanted!  In writing, we have been practicing writing a detailed paragraph.  We wrote about our spring break and the signs of spring.  In math, we have started learning/practicing double-digit addition without regrouping.  Next week we will be practicing subtraction.  Next week is Earth Day, so our centers will revolve around our Earth.  Happy birthday to two of our April babies!  Grace Lewis had a birthday on April 11 and Haley Greb has a birthday on April 20!

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

* Please send in you zoo field trip permission slips ASAP!

* Please send back any unwanted pictures and/or money ASAP!

* Please send in Tritt Publishing ASAP!

* Please send in empty bottles, egg cartons, or other junk for our "litter bugs" that we will create next week. 

* CRCT testing  is next Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  Please make sure your child is here on time and has eaten a good breakfast.  Also, please don't forget a snack!

* The Relay for Life Carnival is on Thursday, April 24.  More information is coming home today!

* Tritt Filed Day shirts can be ordered!  Our Field Day is Wednesday, May 14!  We need volunteers to work the stations.  If you can volunteer, please let Heather Mannik know!

* Thank you to our Mystery Readers, Bruce Cloud and Holly McKinely!  Thank you to Jill Hancock for helping with math centers!

* Our Specials schedule next week is PE, Art, PE, PE, PE!

Week of March 27 - 28

Happy Spring!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend.  The kids definitely have spring fever.  I don't know if it is the weather or the jelly beans, or a combination of both!  Our center work this week didn't come home, except for an egg word scramble.  We worked on a paper butterfly that will frame the writing the children did in the writing center!  So, in order to see two of the things we did in centers, you will need to come look on our wall outside the classroom!  We also worked collaboratively to graphing the whole bag of jelly beans.  Each day, a small group graphed an entire bag.  Today we graphed all the bags together, and examined the data we collected.  With this week being Disabilities Awareness week, we met a blind man, Will Graham, and his guide dog, Anders.  We also met a woman from a toy company that made adaptive toys for various disabilities.   Today we went to the Science Lab to learn more about plants!  In math, we've been measuring, measuring, measuring!  We have been using non-standard unit to measure, such as paper clips and unfix cubes. Next week we will weigh, weigh, weigh!  We also used the interactive whiteboard to learn to round!

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDER:

* Thank you to Jill Hancock for being our math center mom, and to Heather Mannik for reading!

* Monday is our field trip to the Fox Theater.  Please have your child dress nicely.  Also, we will be eating sack lunches in the classroom.  If you opted to send in a lunch from home, please don't forget it!

* Next week's homework is a CRCT test practice.  Coming home on Tuesday is an online test preparation packet.  The instructions show you how to have your child take practice tests on the computer.  I strongly suggest you have your child practice on the computer.  It helps the children know what the test is like before they actually take it!

* Our specials for the week is M, PE, PE, PE.  We will miss PE on Monday due to the field trip!

Week of March 17 to 21

In an effort to pick up my children quickly yesterday to begin egg dyeing, I completely forgot to post the BLOG!  This week we started the week off with Sassafrass, the friendly leprechaun who came to visit our room, leaving glitter, treats, and stickers for all!  Thank you Sassafrass (AKA Christine Zollinger and Heather Mannik)!  This week in centers we worked on synonyms, counting bills, reading for comprehension, and we wrote a story on how to catch a leprechaun!  In Writer's Workshop, we finalized and "published" a paragraph on a classmate.  Last week we generated questions t ask during an interview, and then we interviewed a classmate.  This week we wrote up the interview and we will share them during our Author's Chair.  We also started our unit on measurement.  This will include length, weight, and capacity.  After that we will work on two-digit addition and subtraction without regrouping (or as we know it, borrowing and carrying).  This upcoming week is Disabilities Awareness Week.  We will meet with a man who has a seeing eye dog and talk with him about his experiences.  I hope you all were pleased with your child's report card!  I certainly am!  Please continue to work on math facts, as well as reading for comprehension (preparing for an AR test will help!)  I hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend!

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

* Thank you to Christine Zollinger and Mike Ellis for being our Mystery Readers this week, and to Holly McKinley for helping in math centers!

* Our field trip to the Fox Theater is on Monday, March 31.  Please have your child dress nicely.  That means no shorts, and collared shirts for the boys (if you can get them to wear it!)

* The following Tuesdays are still open for Mystery Reader: 3/25, 4/15, 4/29, and 4/29!

* Our Specials schedule for next week is PE, RE, Art, PE, PE.

Week of March 10 to 14

March sure is coming in like a lion!  Our class hopes it stays true and goes out like a lamb!  This week we learned about synonyms and pronouns, as well as when to use to, too, and two!  In centers we made a pizza according to a recipe card.  The children had to show their knowledge of halves and fourths.  We read a weekly reader about healthy food and had to answer comprehension questions on our reading.  We used adjectives to describe ourselves and used those adjectives in sentences.  We also made an addition/subtraction kite.  You need to see our wall in the hallway!  We also interviewed each other and will use writing as a way to communicate what we learned.  We will write about our interviews next week.  Today we met with our 5th grade book buddies, went to the Science Lab to learn about plants, and watched a Magic Schoolbus video on plants because it was raining at recess time!

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

* Happy Birthday to Andrew Day on March 10 and Marilyn Cottom on March 11!

* Our field trip to the Fox Theater is on Monday, March 31.  Please have your child dress nicely.  That means no shorts, and collared shirts for the boys (if you can get them to wear it!)

* Our class' Talent Show in Music is on Friday, March 21.  Children are encouraged to share their talents!

* The Tritt Book Fair begins Tuesday, March 18th! 

* Thank you to Susan Illis for being our Mystery Reader on Tuesday, and to Tori Mannik for reading on Thursday!  Thank you to Peggy Greb for coming in for Math Centers!

* The following Tuesdays are still open for Mystery Reader: 3/25, 4/15, 4/29, and 4/29!

* Our specials schedule next week is Art, PE, PE, PE, Music.

* Like to play Poker?  Support Tritt's Relay for Life and sign up to play in a tournament!  Fliers came home yesterday!

Week of March 3 to 7

Wow!  What a day!  Today was our first annual "Spend a Day at Tritt Tigertown"!  The kids had so much fun!  A BIG, special thank you to Heather Mannik, Christine Zollinger, Jacqui Ellis, and Marisa Cloud for helping make the spa a success!  This wee we had a fantastic assembly with the chef of the Hawks and Thrashers.  He talked to the kids about the importance of healthy eating and exercise.  We used Dr. Seuss' writing to inspire us to write our own class book about our moods and feelings.  We continued to work with nouns and verbs.  We also started our short unit on fractions and equal parts.  We had our second week of math centers.  Next week we will be working with synonyms and using them in our writing.  We will continue with fractions, and end the unit by the end of the week.

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

* Tuesday, March 11 is picture day.  We have our pictures at 8:30 AM, so hopefully the kids will still look "fresh"!

* Please know that we write in our Response Journals first thing in the morning.  If your child forgets it, no need to bring it in.  The can write their entry on a separate piece of paper!

* Thank you to Lisa Talbot for helping with math centers.

* Fiddler on the Roof is next week!  I hope you bought your tickets for a fabulous performance!

Week of February 25 to 29

Happy Leap Year!  As one student asked, "Is leap year a holiday?"  This week we were busy learning about nouns, how to read a schedule, and writing about the differences and similarities between Abe and George.  In centers, we worked with time to the hour and half hour, read a short book about the patriotic symbols and answered questions, wrote a campaign button for themselves to run for president, and painted a flag.  We also had a very informative assembly about healthy eating, sugar, and fat.  Today we out on quite a show with our Readers' Theater, and went to the Science Lab to learn about our teeth! The whole school saw a short preview of The Fiddler on the Roof!  You won't want to miss it!  Tickets go on sale Monday morning!

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

*If your child is missing a plain white sweatshirt, please email me.  We have had one left in our room for quite some time and I don't want to put it in the lost and found because I know it is one of ours!

* Tuesday, March 4 is an early release day.  School is out at 12:30!

* Our Specials schedule for next week is Music, PE, PE, Art, PE.

*We will try to go to the media center as a class every Wednesday.  We will be going this Wednesday morning.

*Thank you to Christine Zollinger and Jill Hancock, our Mystery Readers!

* A very special thank you to Mike Ellis, who came to help out with Math Centers.  I will be starting to do Math Centers on a weekly basis, every Thursday from 1:15 to 2:00  If you can volunteer, please email Heather Mannik at heather@phazeinc.com.  She will be coordinating the schedule!

* Spend a Day at Tritt Tigertown is almost here!  It will be on March 7!  If you can volunteer, please email Heater Mannik.  Donations are still being accepted!

*Thank you to Heather Mannik for coordinating all the schedules and volunteers!

* Next week will be celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday.  If you have a favorite, please send it in!

*

Week of February 20 to 22

No more holidays or short weeks until spring break!  Whew!  This week was a two day work week due to Arts in Education Day on Friday.  On Wednesday we spent the day learning about George Washington and all that he did for our country.  On Thursday we learned about Abe Lincoln.  We also practiced with time to the half hour.  This takes some children quite some time to get the concept of the analog clock, so please practice, and be patient!  Friday was a fun filled day.  We saw a puppeteer, a welder, a storyteller, and an artist.  We also learned a Hip Hop dance! Next week we will compare and contrast the two famous presidents, and centers and reading groups will be back in full swing.  We will work on reading a calendar and schedules next week in addition to practicing time.  I apologize for getting the BLOG posted so late.  My 4 year old was diagnosed with the flu yesterday, so I've been a nursemaid all weekend!  I am not sure if I will be in on Monday, so if your child says I was not there, you know why!  (And yes--she did get the flu shot!)  First grade funny of the week: One little girl:"I'm going to vote for the woman president and so is my grandma".  Little boy:"  NO!  Don't vote for the women!  My dad says she's a liar!"  Little girl #2"  Don't do it, he's right.  The women is a liar.  Tell your grandma!"  Politics through the eyes of our future!

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

* I am still waiting on two more field trip permission slips.  If you need another copy, please email me!

* The Patriotic symbols were wonderful!  I enjoyed each and every one of them, and I hope they didn't cause you too much of a headache!  The children were very proud of them!

* Tuesday, February 26 is Technology Night.  It starts at 6:30.  Come see how technology is used in the classroom!  I hope to see you there!

* Thank you to Jacqui Ellis for being our Mystery Reader!

* Spend a Day at Tritt Tigertown is fast approaching!  Please send in donations!  If you can volunteer for the better part of the day, please let me know.  It is Friday, March 7. Our classroom will be the spa!