Mrs. Collins’s Class

I hope everyone has enjoyed a restful vacation!  It has been good to air out the classroom this week and hopefully we will be germ-free!  As we come back, we will be beginning Unit 6 of our Everyday Math program.  We will be using addition and subtraction more frequently.  The students have completed their first math journal and those will be sent home this week.  In language arts, our theme skills test will be at the end of this week and next week we will begin the theme “Creepy Crawlies.”

Our 100th day of school is tomorrow, Monday, February 9th.  We will read some books and do some activities focusing on the number 100.  Can you believe we only have 80 days left?  Yikes.  This past week, we took the Unit 5 Math Assessment and this upcoming week, we will be taking the Math Mid-Year Assessment.  Friday will be our small Valentine’s Celebration.  We’ll pass out Valentine notes and have a couple of snacks.  After that, it’s February vacation!

This week we welcomed a new face in our classroom, Miss Sarah Chappell.  She is an Elementary Education student at Bridgewater State College and she is joining us for her student teaching experience.  Miss Chappell spent this week becoming more familiar with the students and will soon become more involved in planning and instructing lessons.  She be with us until May.  We welcome her and hope she has an enriching experience in our classroom.

Our class viewed the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States.  We discussed the importance of this event and hope that you will also discuss it at home with your children.  Today, we all witnessed a very important piece of history.

Well, since we lost electricity on Friday, I guess we’ll try take 2!  Our spelling test didn’t happen so it will be on Monday instead.  Keep studying!

Ok.  I admit it.  I would watch the show even if I didn’t have a seven year old.  I am hooked on the Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman Show on PBS.  I find myself intrigued by the science related material presented and am impressed with how it is all tied in together.  They present science concepts in interesting hands-on, real-life experiences, introduce valuable vocabulary, and check comprehension with questions from the material presented.  My daughter got a tad upset with me when I started shouting out answers…  why can’t the teacher do it?  (Everyone else does. hee hee)  Anyway, it’s a cool show and great for any child interested in science/animals/nature.  It will even grab those kids that are NOT usually fascinated by these topics.  Just watch, you’ll be hooked, too.  AND… to make it even better, the Easton Children’s Museum (where our kindergarteners just happened to venture to on last year’s field trip) houses a Fetch! lab.  Check out the links.  The students had a great time at the museum last year.  If you haven’t been, it’s worth the trip.  The great thing is that you can make it a one hour or four hour trip.  Just let the kids explore and experiment!  Here are some links to check out.

Fetch with Ruff Ruffman on PBS
http://pbskids.org/fetch/index.html 

Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman lab at the Easton Children’s Museum:
http://www.charityadvantage.com/ChildrensmuseumEaston/FETCHLab.asp

Well,  I guess there have been some technical issues and it has been hard to get in to make an update.  Here we are in October… where did September go?  We have already completed an entire language arts theme, taken the first theme skills test, and completed our first writing prompt.  Our first math test is also under our belts and I have to say I am impressed!  We are learning so much so fast.  All the students are trying their best and I am so proud to have such a hardworking class!

Wow.  The first three days of school are done and we are already off to an awesome start.  We have had a great few days.  The students are adjusting extremely well and I am impressed!  This week, we started establishing our routines.  After arriving in the morning, the students are unpacking their backpacks and getting started on morning work.  We have already started in on math lessons and phonics.  We have a classroom of hard working students and I am so excited to be their teacher!  I read a story called Ian’s Walk about a little boy who has autism.  His sister tries to take him on a walk and Ian has different ideas about the stops they make on their walk.  The book shows Ian demonstrating some common characteristics of children with autism.  Afterward, we had a short discussion regarding the book.  If you feel you should talk with your child in more depth, check the link section.  The Autism Speaks website has a great amount of information.  We will be reading more books like Ian’s Walk throughout the year and discussing more on the topic.

Well, we are ready for our second week and ready to start in on more curriculum areas.  We’ll be beginning handwriting, phonics lessons, and our language arts program.  Here’s to a great week!

Don’t forget the book order is due Sept. 10th & you can order online athttp://pcool.scholastic.com/parentordering/login.jsp

Have YOU read Is Your Mama A Llama??  That is your summer reading book!  Don’t wait until September 2nd!  Get to the library!

 Here’s your shopping list for first grade supplies!

- six #2 sharpened pencils
- one small (5” x 8”) plastic pencil case that closes securely
- one non-flexible 12inch ruler marked in inches & centimeters
- one pair of scissors (rounded tip) – labeled with child’s name
- 12 glue sticks (to start the school year)
- 1 – 2 low odor dry erase markers
- Earphones – (small plug 1/8”) to be used in the computer lab – in a zip lock bag labeled with your child’s name clearly visible on the outside (earphones will be sent to the second grade next year)
- 1 box of tissues

Please do not send in any supplies that are not specified by your child’s teacher such as:
- markers
- notebooks
- binders
- crayons
- pens