As you know, I won't be here tomorrow. I will be attending my daughter's college graduation in New York. I've left plans for the substitute. She has been in my room before and is familiar with the routine. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday with your families! Happy 2012!!!!

Just a reminder: Tomorrow is the Christmas program. The first graders sing at 9:30a.m. Please help your child pick an appropriate outfit for the stage. (No hats please) Thank You!

Your junk is my treasure!
If you are trying to make room for some of those new Christmas toys, I'd be happy to take a few things off your hands. I told the kids if they filled out their reading sheets over the break, they could visit my treasure box when they get back to school. I'm mostly looking for smaller items, like Happy Meal toys, Dollar Store goodies, etc. If you would like to donate to my Treasure Box, just send a sack of goodies in your child's book bag. Thanks!!!

We have been very busy this week getting ready for the Christmas program, learning poems, reading stories, and writing. We have been working on spelling correctly in our writing instead of doing a spelling list and test. We will do the same thing next week and begin spelling lists again after Christmas.
Thanks to all the parents who helped their student go over the Snow Day story and proofread for capitals and periods. If your student forgot to tell you about their homework, it will be in their bookbag tonight to finish over the weekend. Thank You!!

The snow got us all thinking about a day off, so......We read the book Snow Day! by Lester L. Laminack. Then we wrote stories about what we would do if we REALLY had a snow day!

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!

Please remember tomorrow is an early dismissal day for students. They will be dismissed at 1:40p.m. If your student will be going home a different way than usual, please let me know. Thanks!!!

I'll see you tomorrow morning at Breakfast With Santa. If you are planning to donate a toy or gift card to our adopted school in Joplin, you could bring it with you in the morning. Look below for our wonderful buddy activity we did today involving our friends in Joplin!!

Making ornaments for our friends in Joplin

                                           It takes a lot of patience to make glass ornaments.

                                           Our fourth grade buddies were kind enough to read
                                           to us while we swirled the paint inside.

                                           They are wonderful readers!!

                                           Notice the total concentration!

  After making the ornaments, we made some Christmas cards to send along with them. The students had a wonderful time describing how much fun they had making the ornaments and how they were made very specially just for their friends in Joplin.

Email Notifications

I have added something new to the blog. At the top of our page is a long rectangular box with the word "submit" to it's right. If you click in the box and type your email address and then click on submit, you will automatically receive an email whenever I update the blog!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I enjoyed my time off, but am always eager to get back to school.
Here are a few things you might want to put on your calendar. Breakfast With Santa is this Saturday morning. I will be working at the breakfast somewhere. I haven't yet received my assignment. Dec. 7th is an early dismissal day at 1:40p.m. The winter music program is Dec. 14th at 9:30a.m. Our classroom party will be Dec. 16th at 2:00p.m.
One thing I am very sorry to tell you is I will be missing our party this year. I will be on a plane to Ithaca, New York that day. My daughter is graduating from Cornell University. However, I do have a wonderful substitute lined up. If you are the head room parent for this event please send me an email and we can plan things a little in advance so I can give my substitute a heads up.  

I sent this week's spelling test home today. About nine students received 100%, but some of the others missed several words. I told them if they had 100% on their test they would not have to take the test next time. Any student who missed one or more words will be tested on the same list the Wednesday after Thanksgiving. Here is another copy of the list if you need one to help your child study. get, yes,all,our,big,is,saw, let, run, put 

Have a wonderful weekend, and please remember our Kids Who Care collection! Thanks!!!

FYI: We have a spelling test tomorrow. 
          Tomorrow is early dismissal  (1:40)
                       Thursday is library day!

Veteran's Day

What a wonderful Veteran's Day celebration! The students did a super job sitting and listening to all the veterans talk about their experiences in the service. Our Character Choir was superb as usual. Have a super weekend!

Tomorrow is library day. Please remind your student to bring their library books tomorrow! We go to the library every Thursday at 12:30p.m. 
Friday is Veterans Day. We are asking all the students to wear blue in honor of this occasion.
We love guest readers! Stop by our class any day at noon and you may read your favorite children's book to the class!

Attention, First Grade Artists!

The character-inspired artwork that first grade students created in Art class will be on display during the Holiday Reading Festival at Crestwood Court (the old Crestwood Mall, closest to the LensCrafter entrance).  The festival will take place on Friday, December 2 (11a.m.-8pm), Saturday, December 3 (10am-5p.m.), and Sunday, December 4 (12-5pm).  In addition to the Art display and book fair, there will be visits from Clifford the Big Red Dog and Bruce Degen, the creator of the Magic School Bus series.  If you would like more information, please email Mrs. Mikolajczak.

                                          Answering questions about their pumpkin.
 

                                           How many marbles does your pumpkin weigh?
 

                                          How many unifix cubes tall is your pumpkin?
 

                                           Labeling the bones of the skeleton.
 

                                           What is the circumference of your pumpkin?
 

Halloween 10-31-11

We had a wonderful Halloween party. Thank you to everyone who came and helped with the parade and party! I took a class photo of all the students dressed in their costumes. I will post it on this blog as soon as I get a chance. Since we had so many late baseball games last week and trick or treating this week, I did not give a spelling test. I sent home a new list today that the students will be tested on next Wednesday.