The Week of January 2nd

Happy New Year! We have a short week so there won't be any spelling words to study. Information will be coming home soon about our class spelling bee. This week we will continue with Jan Brett stories about winter. We will also be using base ten blocks in math. Our next ten word wall words are: jump, more, sleep, time, with, bring, carry, hold, our and us

The Week of December 17th

The excitement is climbing as week count down to Friday! On Monday we will be watching the Polar Express with Mrs. DiRenzo's class. We will be enjoying hot chocolate and cookies and children are allowed to wear pajammas for the occasion. I am hoping to finish up Unit 4 in our math books. We will be learning time to the quarter hour and also work on subtraction to 10. Our spelling words this week are: met, pet, let, get, ten, yes, want, good, plan, trap, Bonus: Christmas, present, gingerbread.

The Week of December 10th

Even though the concert is over and the holiday shop is packed up we still have a busy week ahead. We will be starting Unit 3 of our Scott Foresman series and students will be taking a Unit 2 test. The dogs will be visiting us. I'm sure they will be dressed in their holiday clothes! Also we will be saying good bye to Miss H. The students and I will miss her but she'll be graduating from ESU on the 15th. In math we will be measuring and working on subtraction to 10. We will begin discussing December holidays. Word Wall Words for the next two weeks are: who, so, sad, now, help, for, some, good, too and want. Spelling Words are: red, bed, fed, tell, well, mess, said, who, fell, yell Bonus: wreath, candle and stocking

The Week of December 3rd

December is here and we will be very busy in first grade this week. On Monday we will have a CAP presentation followed by a visit to the holiday shop. On Wednesday is our holiday concert. The concert begins at 6:00. The children will meet in our classroom. Please don't bring them before 5:30. After the concert please pick them up at our room. Spelling words for this week are: hot, not, got, mop, hop, top, eat, stop, sing, sings Bonus Words are: holiday, reindeer, Frosty

The Week of November 26th

This week we will be working on blending words with short o sounds, plurals, telling sentences and discussion of the author's purpose. Our math work will focus on measuring, thermometers and subtraction up to 7. We will be finishing our family unit and beginning one on different types of homes around the world. Our dog friends will be visiting us on Wednesday. We are adding ten new words to our word wall. The words are: this, he, into, does, there, eat, by, sing, stop, and water. Our spelling words for this week are: box, fix, mix, they, jobs, rock, frog, this, into, logs. Bonus words are: December, apartment, and houseboat

The Week of November 19th

This week we will be learning about the first Thanksgiving. We will be comparing life in the Pilgrims time to the present. On Tuesday we will be making our Friendship Soup. We will join Mrs. DiRenzo's Class in the afternoon to enjoy our feast. We will not have spelling words because it's a short it's a short week. Have a Wonderful Thanksgiving!

The Week of November 12th

It's nice to get back to a normal routine this week! Students will be presenting their family posters. We will be learning that families are different but all are special. On Wednesday our dog friends will be visiting us. The class is looking forward to their visit. We will continue with frames and arrows, clocks, money and number lines. We will also be starting to put subtraction into our weekly tests. We have added ten new word wall words: went, walk, did, saw, me, how, many, on, why, and they. Our spelling words for the week are: it, sit, hit, pick, sick, kick, saw, went, duck, black. Bonus: eagle, statue, liberty

The Week of October 29th

Hopefully we will not be flooded out! This week brings the end of October. We will review owls, spiders and bats and write an opinion piece about them. We will continue with Halloween stories and legends and talk about a pumpkin's life cycle. In math we will be learning about time to the half hour and begin "frames and arrows" We will also pop popcorn near the end of the week as we begin to talk about matter. We are also beginning a unit on families. Please help your child with their posters and return them by Friday. Our spelling words for this week are: an fan, can, had, sad, bad, find, all, look, book Bonus words are: spider, family and popcorn.

The Week of October 22nd

This week is Red Ribbon Week. Fun activities are planned throughout the week. Refer to the notice sent home as to what theme is for each day. We will be starting our first hard cover book in our Scott Foresman reading series. Students brought home their old practice book to keep. In math we are learning about odd and even numbers and counting on the number line. We are practicing adding to 9. Spelling starts this week. The words for this week are: at, cat, sat, ran, an, man, will, no, dad, mom Bonus Words are: owl, leaves and pumpkin Our 10 new word wall words are: come, down, away, no, will, all, are, find, make and play.

The Week of October 15th

This week will begin with a visit from the Oxford Fire Department. If you haven't sent in your child's permission slip for the presentation, please do so. We will be studying different ways to prevent fires and family fire drills. On Tuesday we will meet our student teacher, Miss Humes. Miss Humes comes to us from East Stroudsburg University. This week will be the end of Unit 1 in our Scott Foresman reading series. Starting next week we will have spelling words and 10 new word wall words every other week. This will continue for the rest of the year. In math we will be starting Unit 3. It begins with patterns and even and odd numbers.

The Week of October 8th

Don't forget that school is closed on Monday, October 8th. Enjoy the day. Last week the class was thrilled by our dog visitors. Students read books to their new four legged friends. The dogs will visit us again on Oct. 24th. Our theme this week will be on trees and fall. On Friday we will learn about Christopher Columbus. In math we will continue with counting money. On Friday we will have a quiz of addition facts to 7.

The Week of Oct. 1st

What a wonderful week we had last week! Students enjoyed apple tasting on Friday in honor of Johnny Appleseed. We graphed our favorite kind and green won. This week is the week of Respect. Students will hear stories and discuss what it means to respect each other. On Monday we are wearing blue shirts. On Tuesday it is Blue and God day for school spirit. We will review short o sounds and the word families ot and op. In math we will continue with telling time and begin counting coins with nickel and penny combinations. We are finishing up our study of bears and will move on to trees and fall.

The Week of September 24th

Another wonderful week in first grade! Our class is doing a wonderful job getting into the routines of our classroom. It was so nice meeting many of you at Back to School Night. Thank you with your support with homework and take home books. Next week we will be learning about the characteristics of bears. In math we will learning about thermometers and clocks.

The Week of September 17th

We had a great week of school! Students are becoming familiar with new routines. Homework was a new thing for most students and I am happy to see that students are being responsible with home assignments. I am looking forward to seeing many of you on Back to School Night on Tuesday!

September 5th

What a great start we had this morning. I'm looking forward to working with all your children. This week we will be concentrating on getting to know each other and first grade routines. There are many forms coming home today. Please try and fill them out ASAP. Please review reading the following sight words with your child: go, where, here,am, we, up, but, to, you, get, what, do, like, not, that, in, little, big, have, it, is, look, the, my, can, at, and, a, see, I

September 5th

Welcome to First Grade!

The Week of June 11th

Well it's here...the final week of first grade! It's hard to believe. September seemed like it was just last week. You'll be glad to know that there will be no more homework for the rest of the year!!!! I will be sending home on Monday a summer math packet and reading log for the summer. This is voluntary of course, but, it is a wonderful way of keeping your child's skills up over the summer. On Tuesday we will have a mini first grade talent show. If your child would like to participate that's wonderful--if not that's fine too. It's just a time to have fun with both classes. On Wednesday the PTA will provide a luau lunch. It is free and regular lunch won't be served. If your child does not want this lunch please send in a lunch from home. On Thursday we will have field day. It will be at the school again. In the event of rain it will be on Friday. If you haven't sent in your $2 for our pizza party please send it in ASAP. Well we did it --we earned our ice cream party. One day next week we will have ice cream sandwiches as a special treat. It has been a pleasure having all of your children in class this year. I will truly miss them! Have a wonderful summer.

The Week of June 4th

Can you believe that June is here! We are on the home stretch now.... Second grade is in sight! This will be the final week for homework! We are finishing up our Scott Foresman reading so this will also be the last week for spelling tests. We will also have our final dog visit on Wednesday. Thank you to those of you who have sent in a little treat for the dogs. If anyone else would like to send in something please get it in by Wednesday morning. Our final spelling list is: cannot, outside, grandma, something, tiptoe, popcorn, school, always, boil and toy Bonus: graduation, vacation, second grade.

May 31st.

Sorry to anyone who tried to get on the teacher pages and blogs this week. The problem seems to be solved! The spelling words for this week are: pretty, happy, little, kitten, puppy, better, took, almost. about, round Bonus: whale, dolphin, manta ray

The Week of May 21st

Each morning during this week we will be taking the Oxford First Grade Test. Monday-Wednesday will be the reading and writing section and Thursday-Friday will be the math section. You will get the results with your final report card. It is important to have your child come to school on time. On Wednesday after the test our dog friends will be visiting us. We will not be using our Scott Foresman books this week so the spelling words are a review of some sight words. Don't forget Ocean Night will be on Thursday evening. Word Wall Words for the next two weeks: almost, knew, thought, took. picture, open, boy, always, move, school Spelling Words: what, went, when, saw, they, from, because, any, does, friend BONUS: horseshoe crab, mussel, Memorial Day.

The Week of May 14th

It's hard to believe we're in the middle of May! This week we will be preparing for our OCS First Grade Test in Language Arts and Math. This test follows a similar format to the NJ Ask test which starts in third grade. On Friday students will be taken the DRA tests. On Wednesday will be the spring concert. We will be meeting in the classroom and waiting until it's time to perform. Please pick up your child in the classroom at the end of the concert. On Thursday we will attend the book fair. It's a buy one get one book sale. You can also visit it on the night of the concert. Spelling words for this week are: how, now, town crown, down clown, pull, goes, paper, seven Bonus: octopus, sea anemone, sea urchin Reminder: MARE projects due next Monday.

The Week of May 7th

Another busy week in first grade! We are learning about the Rocky Seashore and tide pool creatures. Hopefully the note on our first grade project made it home. This is a fun project--please don't stress about it. Our trip is on Tuesday. We will be back in time for lunch so your child can order a lunch or bring one as normal. We will not be having snack so please make sure your child has had breakfast. This will be the final week our student teacher will be with us. Her last day is Thursday. We will miss her. She has done a wonderful job. We will have a word wall test on Wednesday. Spelling words for this week are: her, turn, girl, first, bird, hurt, once, which, slower, slowest Bonus: hermit crab, Atlantic and barnacle

The Week of April 30th

Happy May!! This week we will be learning about the Rocky Seashore and tide pools. We will discover what creatures live there and what they must do to survive in this habitat. We will be reviewing money, time, and measuring this week. Our spelling words are: born, fork, for, or, short, torn, cold, would, walked, sleeping. The bonus words are: ocean, seashore and sea horse

The Week of April 23rd

This week we will finish up our study of insects and begin our study of the Rocky Seashore. We are starting our last unit of Scott Foresman. Continue having your child read the take home books each night for continued growth in reading. Practice the following word wall words for the next two weeks. much, shall, these, wish, work, before, cold, full, off, would Spelling words for this week are: far, car, yard, work, sadly, dark, star, start, these, softly Bonus Words are: grasshopper mosquito, firefly

The Week of April 16th

I hope you had a wonderful spring break. I can't believe that we only have 43 days left!

This week we will continue studying insects and finish up Unit 5 of our Scott Foresman series. Our dog friends will be here to visit on Wednesday.

I will be out on Thursday and Friday of this week.

Spelling Words for the week are: new, grew, drew, blue, true, glue, give, put, fixes, washes Bonus: head, thorax, abdomen

The Week of April 2nd

Last week we welcomed Miss Amani Mattaqi ( Miss M) as a student teacher to our classroom. Miss Mattaqi is a student at East Stroudsberg University. She will be with us until the beginning of May. The class and I are thrilled to have her and are looking forward to working with her in the next few weeks.

This week will be short but busy. Our author visit is this week along with a visit from our dog friends. On Thursday we will have a word wall test and we will be finishing up unit 9 in our math books. We will be starting a unit on insects.

Word Wall Words for the next two weeks are: animals, even, heard, most, their, because, better, give, people and put.

Spelling Words for this week are: baby, my, funny, why, many, fly, even, most, without, nobody. Bonus: insect, butterfly and caterpillar

The Week of March 26th

We had a busy week last week. Our dog friends visited us on Wednesday and we had a Character Education Assembly on Friday along with playing with our castles!

This week we will continue learning about weather. In math we will revisit fractions again and have a test on Unit 9.

Our spelling words for this week are: lie, pie, tie, night, sight, been, found, cat's, dog's Bonus: April, showers, museum

The Week of March 19th

Spring will arrive this week! We will be studying weather this week and in math begin number grid puzzles.

The castles are wonderful. What a great way to use recycled materials to reinforce 3D shapes. If you get a chance stop in and see them. We will get a chance to play with them at the end of the week. I will be sending a letter home about this.

New word wall words for the next two weeks are: around, her, new, old, show, been, first, found, start, together

Spelling words are: grow, growing, float, floating, show, showing, around, old coat, yellow Bonus: umbrella, blizzard and hurricane

The Week of March 12th

We will be finishing up fairy tales this week and starting with the topic of weather. Reminder: Castles are due on Tuesday. They will be displayed in the hall. Come and take a peek!

We are finishing up Unit 8 in math and will be starting unit 9.

You received a notice on Friday. There is no school on Friday March 16th and 1/2 day on Monday the 19th.

Spelling Words for this week are: say, way, play, may, wait, rain, when, from, don't I'm don't Bonus: weather, tornado, cloudy

The Week of March 5th

March is here! Let's hope that spring is just around the corner and not a belated winter!

Students will be busy this week. We will finish our fairy tale unit. I am looking forward to the castle projects which are due next week. Our dog friends will be in on Wednesday. Last week the newspaper snapped some pictures of the students reading to the dogs.

We will be having a word wall test on Tuesday, continue our unit 4 Scott Foresman test during the week and finish up Unit 8 of our math books.

Word Wall Words for the next two weeks are: or, night, think, don't, from, hear, live, when, only, buy

Spelling Words are: ask, asked, call, called, clean, cleaned, think, only, teach, neat, Bonus: rainbow, leprechaun, Saint Patrick

The Week of February 27th

I can't believe March will be starting this week! With the beginning of March we will be celebrating the birthday of Dr. Seuss. We will read many different books by him and learn about his life.

We will be finishing up unit 4 in our Scott Foresman series. During the week we will be taking the unit test. In math we will start a unit on fractions.

Our spelling words for this week are: weed, bee, she, see, tree, greet, any, kind, anything, inside. Bonus Words are: March,
Dr. Seuss and palace

The Week of February 20th

Just a reminder: We have off Monday, February 20th.

This week we will continue our fairy tale unit. We will continue to compare different versions and sequence stories. We will also learn about President Washington.

In math we will begin Unit 8 and continue with counting money, telling time to five minute intervals and place value with base ten blocks.

Our dog friends will visit us on Wednesday!

Word Wall Words for the next two weeks are: four, funny, long, watch, were, about, kind, over

Spelling words for the week are: fish, long, such, four, cute, use, were, with, them, that Bonus Words are: Washington, castle, dragon

The Week of February 13th

I cannot believe we are in the middle of February! Time flies in first grade!!

This week we will continue our fairy tale study and also learn about Abraham Lincoln. Tuesday we will exchange Valentines. Remember we have added a new student Evan to our list.

In math we will continue our geometry unit and explore polygons and symmetry.

Our spelling words for this week are: like, nice, time, your, never, ride, white five, friend, never, rabbit. Bonus words are: Lincoln, prince, princess

The Week of February 6th

This week we welcome our new student Evan. Please include him on your Valentine List. Reminder: When purchasing Valentines please don't buy any with candy treats attached.

This week we will be celebrating our Hundredth Day of School. Remember 100 Day projects are due. We will be having a Word Wall test on Wednesday and an addition test up to 15 on Tuesday. Also on Wednesday our therapy dogs will return. We will be making them Valentines. On Friday we will be learning about Abraham Lincoln.

In math we will begin Unit 7 which concentrates on geometric shapes. We will be learning about different Fairy Tales. We will read and compare different versions of the same story.

This weeks new word wall words are:father, going, has, thank, very, be, friend, pretty, soon, your

Spelling words for the week are: rode, hope, joke, has, shop, those, home, stone, very, what Bonus: Valentine, president and fairy tale

The Week of January 30th

Report cards are going home on Monday. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me. The DRA level is blank for this marking periods. We give the assessment 3 times a year so the level will show up on the next report card.

This week we will finish up the study of our polar regions and begin a unit on fairy tales. Our 100th day is coming. I'm looking forward to all the creative projects. We are getting quite an assortment of soup for our food pantry project. Thank you so much. On Valentine's Day we will be exchanging cards. Please do not purchase ones with candy on them. A note and class list will come home this week.

In math we will continue with the quarter and introduce time to the five minute intervals.

Spelling words for this week are: tap, tape, cap, cape, mad, made, of, was, check, then BONUS: February, groundhog, hundred

The Week of January 23rd

We are entering our last full week of January which means we are just about half way through first grade! Wow time flies when you're having fun!

This week we will learn about the state of Alaska. Students will find out how people lived there in the past and how they live in the present. In math we will introduce the quarter. It would be helpful to practice coin counting at home to reinforce the concept.

We will be starting unit 4 in our Scott Foresman series. Students will be introduced to "silent e".

Please study the following new word wall words: after, as, call, laugh, something, every, of, made, mother, was

Our spelling words for this week are: ate, gave, make, has, helped, bake, late, take, after, wanted. Bonus words are: glacier, solid and liquid

The Week of January 16th

On Wednesday we had a great spelling bee. It was a tough battle but Hannah and Emily were the remaining two!

This week we will finish up studying life around the south pole and travel toward the north pole. We will compare and contrast the different animals in these regions.

In math we will continue with name collection boxes and fact families. Students will be introduced to measuring in centimeters.

We will be finishing up unit 3 of Scott Foresman and will begin the unit test.

Spelling words for this week are: clap, trip, drop, sled, spot, drum, read, please, can't, don't BONUS: parka, iceberg, Antarctica

The Week of January 9th

Students are back in the school routine and we are learning many new and exciting things! In math this week we will learn about name collection boxes and fact families. We will be continuing our unit on polar regions and we will be reading different books by David McPhail.

On Wednesday our therapy dogs will be visiting in the morning and in the afternoon we will have a spelling bee. On Friday afternoon we will attend the OCS spelling bee. Our winners will be honored at this.

Spelling words for this week are: and, best, hand, fast, just, crust, out, came, sent, next Bonus words are: January, Alaska and igloo

Word Wall Words for the next two weeks are: came know, out, she, there, say, again, please, read, word