Upchurch's Updates

Dear Parents,

   Congratulations on helping your child complete First Grade!  This last week of school we have several special activities planned.  During our Literacy Center time and part of our afternoon time we will have a different activity each day.  Monday is Reading Day, students may bring a towel and 3 or 4 books from home to read.  (Please put their name on all items that they bring in.)  Tuesday is Puzzle Day, students may bring a puzzle.  Wednesday is Game Day, students may bring in a boxed game.  NO ELECTRONIC GAMES!   Thursday is our Island Day, students may dress in Island or Pirate attire.  We will have a 'Treasure Hunt'  NO LOOK ALIKE WEAPONS, SWORDS, HOOKS. Friday students will hear a percussion trio performance after lunch.

THURSDAY is the last day that students may take anything home on the bus.  On Friday they should bring a sack lunch if they bring their lunch.  This is to avoid having any items left on the bus or at school that belong to the students.

I will be finishing up assessments with the students, so it is important that they are here every day.

Please send in a self-addressed, stamped, legal-sized envelope if you have not already done so.  I will send your child's report card to you using the envelope.  Thank you if you have already sent one in.

Thank you parents for yourdependable help in our classroom - Thank you Denise Lodahl and Karen Holden for being co-room moms.  Thank you Denise Lodahl for being our AR mom.  Thank you Terri Haas, Ashley Cate, Chrysanne Duke, and Amy Berris for helping our class.  I have enjoyed working with each of you. 

We have collected the needed paper towel rolls and have extra snack for the week.  Thank you for sending those items in. 

Parents,

Only two weeks left and your child will have completed First Grade!  They are all so excited about being out for the summer. 

Yesterday we had a good time at the Chatthoochee Nature Center.  They learned about plants and animals and life cycles.  Thank you for supporting our trip. 

Three of our tadpoles that had been living and growing in our classroom have grown into frogs.  Mrs. Cate released them for us into Addie's Pond.  We have four more still growing and developing in our classroom.

This week in Math we are continuing to work on learning addition and subtraction facts to 18.  There are some fun math games on GameQuarium.com that your child has learned to play in class.

We will continue learning about our folk heroes, John Henry and Johnny Appleseed. 

Field Day for Kindergarten, First and Second grade is Wednesday, May 13th.  If it is rained our there is NO make-up day. You are welcome to come enjoy the morning with your child. 

Thursday, May 14th, is our Author's Tea at 11:00 in the Media Center.  You are invited to come hear your child read their story.

Parents if you have an empty paper towel roll, please send it in.  We will use them the last Wednesday of school.  Also, if you would like to send in extra snack we are out.  Thank you for all you do for our class.

Dear Parents,

This past week your child brought home a sheet of paper outlining their last week of school.  If you didn't receive one please let me know.  Also, if you marked on your child's field trip permission form that you wanted to come as a chaperon, a blue sheet of paper with information for you was sent home this past week. 

On Wednesday of this week I will send home a reminder about your child's lunch choice for the field trip.  They either chose to bring a lunch from home or buy the turkey and cheese or plain cheese from school.  Your child should wear their class T-shirt or a blue-green shirt if they have one for the field trip Thursday.  They also should wear comfortable shoes and put some sunscreen on them before they come to school.

 Friday of this week, May 8th is Walk-To-School-Day.  (Rain date is Friday, May 15th)  If you live too far to walk you may park at Mountain View Church on Casteel and walk from there.  Students who ride the bus to school but still want to walk may walk on the upper field.

We will have an Author's Tea on Thursday, May 14th @ 11:00 in the Media Center.  Parents please come if you can to hear your child read their story. 

This week we will work on ordinal words.  The phonics words this week are first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth.

This week in Math we are continuing to work on becoming fluent with addition and subtraction facts to 18.  THANK YOU Mrs. Berris for all the games that you made for our class to practice math and do problem solving.

In Social Studies we will be learning about Annie Oakley and John Henry.  When we have studied the folk heroes then students write about each one.  Last week they learned about Davy Crockett and Paul Bunyan.

THANK YOU to our class volunteers who have so faithfully volunteered in our class.  THANKS to Mrs. Lodahl, Mrs. Haas, Mrs. Holden, Mrs. Cate, Mrs. Duke and Mrs. Berris.  THANKS again.

Dear Parents,

     Your students did a good job working through the CRCT.  It was long and students had to be quiet for a couple of hours each day.  Imagine that!

     This week we will have words to practice, our words this week are one, two, four, eight, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen. 

     In Math this week we will work on measurement and we are working on being proficient with addition and subtraction facts to 18.  

     Last week your child began writing a story that we will be working on this week to make into a class book.  On May 14th @ 11:00 A.M. in the Still Media Center we will have an Author's Tea.  You are invited to come and hear each student read their story to parents.  I will put all the stories into a book and each student will receive their own copy to keep.  Each First Grade class has a different time.  Our time is at 11:00.

    This coming week I will send home an outline of special events that we will have for the last week of school.  If you have an empty paper towel roll, please send it in to be used the last week of school.  All I need is one per child.

     This Friday, May 1st is Mrs. Ware's last day with us at Still.  We have enjoyed having her in our class and will certainly miss her.

Dear Parents,

     This week we are continuing to work on various CRCT practice/review sheets and packets.  As we correct them and go over their errors, they are sent home with your child.  Next Tuesday the 21'st we will begin the CRCT's tests.  In First Grade students test one day on Reading, one day on Language Arts and one day of Math.  There are make-up days built in if your child misses a test because they are out sick.  In order for them to do their best they need plenty of sleep and a healthy breakfast.  Next week your child will not have homework assignments but they should still be reading a book or two each day. (about 15 minutes)

This week our Phonics words are a review of ten of the Sitton words that have been included in our regular tests.  If your child got all or most correct on the pre-test then they have some or 10 of the months of the year for their words to practice.  You should find them listed in their agenda.  There are NO bonus words.

This week Mrs. Ware will continue finishing up with Social Studies.  If you didn't send in the items for your child to make a bank please send them in tomorrow.  They needed an empty juice or milk carton, and paper towel or toilet paper rolls. 

The Phonics words for this week are I'll, you'll, they're, we're, we've, I've, aren't, but, what, all.  The bonus words are producers and consumers. 

I didn't send an updated specials chart  last week.  We will continue the same pattern we have been on.  Monday is Music, Tuesday is Technology, Wednesday and Friday are PE and Thursday is Art.  I will check to see if there are any changes due to Field Days and will print a chart for the rest of the year. 

Dear Parents,

We have 2 weeks left to finish reviewing/preparing for the CRCT.  As we go over the CRCT practice sheets we will send them home.  They do NOT need to be returned.  You may use them as a guide to help your child where you see weaknesses.  Mrs. Ware will begin teaching about Producers and Consumers this week and students will write about what they are learning.  I hope you had a chance to see your child's book about an animal or subject they wanted to write about.  They had the opportunity to look up information in a encyclopedia and in books from the Media Center.  I thought they did well with learning how to find information.

This week we will have PHONICS words but I will have to post them tomorrow on my blog.  I didn't bring the list home.  Seven words are contractions again, three words are from the "Sitton" list.  We will work on Language Arts CRCT practice during Phonics time.

In MATH we will continue to work on double digit addition and subtraction and problem solving.  There will also be some CRCT review and practice sheets that we do during math or calendar math.

Last week I was out sick a couple of days, I'm fighting off some virus.  I hope you all stay well.  I know everyone is looking forward to Spring Break next week.

THANK YOU parents for all your expressions of appreciation this past week.  MANY THANKS TO THOSE PARENTS WHO ARE ABLE TO HELP IN OUR CLASSROOM EVERY WEEK.  The students definitely benefit from all the extra support that you give. 

Hello Parents,

     We have received about half of the Field Trip permission forms back.  If you have not returned yours yet, please do so this week.  We MUST have the form signed and returned to us in order for your child to attend the field trip.

This week in PHONICS your child will review concepts already taught and they will take a couple of practice Language Arts CRCT Practice tests.  As Mrs. Ware and I check them and go over the problem areas with small groups then we will send them home for you to see how they are doing.  The phonics words this week are compound words.  They are sandbox, wishbone, handshake, classmate, bathtub, homework, homesick windmill, cupcake, and campfire.  The bonus words are habitat and animals.

This week in MATH we will be working on double digit addition and subtraction without re-grouping.  There is a vocabulary section in the back of our consumable math book.  I will be sending that home with your child one day this week.  You could keep it and review concepts over the summer if you want to help your child practice and review concepts they've learned this year.  Your child has taken 2 math practice CRCT's this week.  Mrs. Ware is scoring them and then we will go over problem areas in small groups.  Those will probably come home before the language arts practice tests do.

In SCIENCE and WRITING your child will be learning more about animals and writing about them.

OOOPS!  I didn't put the Phonics words on the blog.  They are won't, isn't, haven't, didn't, weren't, that's, she's, he's, where's, and it's.  The bonus words are insects and weights.

Dear Parents,

     There are only 3 more weeks before Spring Break.  We will begin working on CRCT practice this week.  Thursday of this week your child will be bringing home their third nine-weeks' report card.  Please sign and return the signature card in the envelope.  You keep the paper report. 

     If anyone is interested in 'taking care' of our tadpoles over the break please let me know.  Half of the water is changed weekly and when that is done I have added two pieces of food.  Children have to keep their hands out of the water.  It depends on their size, I may have to put them into two containers if they need more space.

This week in PHONICS we will be reviewing previously taught concepts.  Students will be working on contractions, reviewing nouns and verbs.  They will also take a practice CRCT language arts test.  When we score them and go over them with students in small groups, we will send it home for you.

This week in MATH your child will be learning about measurement.  Last week students reviewed graphing and took a test covering the concepts taught in the third nine weeks and took a pre-test for the Th nine weeks.  On Thursday of this week students will take a math practice CRCT.  Those will also be scored, reviewed with students and sent home to you. 

This week in SCIENCE students will begin learning about animals.  They will also be WRITING about what they are learning.

THANK YOU parents for all your support and for your help in the classroom.  This week we will be sending home the Field Trip permission/donation form.  Thanks for your willingness to support this for our First Graders.