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Our super students earned a special reward via the ongoing positive behavior incentive program in the cafeteria.  Upon collecting 40 Mountain Lion Loot "dollars" the children vote on a special activity, like an extra recess or lunch in the classroom.

Our class voted to have an extra iPad session!  Thanks to the generosity of our PTO, our school has a cart of 30 iPads that we share.  The iPads are loaded with a variety of educational apps, including sight word review, math facts, and geography skills.  I love seeing how the children dive into learning with this technology.  Two students above are working collaboratively on a high-speed literacy game that involves a spinner and taking turns.  One child was playing a geography game and actually left her seat to look for a needed answer on the globe.  Please see the slideshow below.  What fun!

Please mark your calendars for these events coming soon:

Friday, May 31 at 1:00 - First Grade Awards Ceremony  
      All students will receive an award!  Please visit our Flat Stanley museum in the first grade hallway at the conclusion of the ceremony.  You are welcome to take your child's Flat Stanley home at the end of this event.  

Monday, June 3 - Field Day  
  •   Students should wear green to show our team spirit.  Our class field trip shirt will be perfect, if it still fits.  Boys may wear swim trunks instead of shorts.  Girls may wear a one piece swim suit under their clothes.     
  •   There are many water activities, and the children usually get very wet.  Students should bring a labeled plastic bag with a complete change of clothes, including socks and shoes.           
  •   Students should bring a beach towel to use on field day.  We will keep the towel at school until the last week for other events such as Beach Day and watching the kickball game on the last day.
  •   Students should bring a full water bottle, labeled with their name.     
  •   Please apply sunscreen to your child before he/she arrives at school.
  • The rain date for field day will be the next day, Tuesday, June 4.

Wednesday, June 5 - Beach Day
        Students may wear beach-theme clothing that is still appropriate for school.  Hawaiian prints and shark t-shirts work well.  The children will sit on their beach towels in the cafeteria for lunch.

Thursday, June 6 - Last Day of School
  Our class party is from 1:00 - 2:00.  All are welcome!  

Please Note:  Students should continue to bring backpacks every day until the last day of school.  I will begin sending items home on Tuesday, so that the children do not have too much to carry all at once.  You may enjoy using some of the unused workbook pages for summer enrichment.  

Summer Enrichment Ideas:  Here's an idea from the Virginia Department of Education, "To get a jump start on the next school year, encourage your students to check out the resources available through Virginia is for Lovers … of Summer Learning. Discover fun activities and resources related to reading, mathematics, science and history that can involve the whole family."


May News

5/14/2013

 
There are many special events coming soon for our first graders!  Please mark your calendar for the following:

This week will be the last homework packet with a word study component.  Math homework will continue until May 24.  After Memorial Day, we encourage the children to continue reading every night.

There is no school on Monday, May 27 for Memorial Day.

On Thursday, May 30, our specials will run on a Monday schedule, so we will have P.E. but not library.

On Friday, May 31, at 1:00 pm Mill Run will hold the First Grade Awards Ceremony.  We will send an invitation with more information very soon.

Field Day will be on Monday, June 3, with the rain date being Tuesday, June 4.  Stay tuned for more information.

Thursday, June 6 is the last day of school.  We will have an End of the Year party from 1:00 - 2:00 pm.

Please have your child bring his/her backpack to school every day until the last day, since we will send materials home a little at a time during the last 6 or 7 days of school.  It's too much for the children to carry if we save it all for one day.

In academic news, we will finish our math unit on computation strategies this week.  This week and next, I will be giving several five-minute timed quizzes to assess the children's ability to recall addition and subtraction facts to 18.  I will also check ReflexMath to supplement these grades.  Thank you for reviewing math facts with your child.  Confidence is so important!

We are continuing with reading testing this week and next.  The children do not need to study to prepare for this.  Simply continuing healthy eating and sleeping habits is tremendously helpful.  As mentioned before, I will provide a summary of your child's scores in the fourth quarter report card.  They are doing quite well so far!

In Social Studies, we will finish the year with a study of Australia, Alaska, and Hawaii, focusing on geography and wildlife.

Finally, the LCPS Math Department recently sent a newsletter to teachers with some summer math activity suggestions.  I thought I would share them with you, so that you can explore these links at your leisure.  Enjoy!

Summer Math Activities!
Check out these interactive and engaging math activities to share with students and parents!
Click each title to link to the website.
At Home With Math  
http://mixinginmath.terc.edu/materials/athomewithmath.cfm
The ten everyday math activities on this site build math into the things most families already do—ordinary routines such as figuring out ways to save money, to share fairly, or to get somewhere on time. With these activities, children practice adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, and using other important math skills while doing tasks that are a regular part of life. Available in English and Spanish!
Math Playground  
http://www.mathplayground.com/
Give your brain a workout with Logic Games, Number Games, Thinking Blocks for word problems, and much more!
Math in the Home Activities  
http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/parents/Math/index.html
Math in the Home, Math at the Grocery Store, Math on the Go, and Math for the Fun of it—activities to engage students in problem solving, communicating, and reasoning about mathematics!
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Words cannot express the depth of my gratitude for your thoughtful generosity this week.  Thank you, all, for such a tremendous week!  

Pictured at right is our beloved art teacher, Mr. Browning.  The children presented Mr. Browning with his gift on Specialists' Day, and he was absolutely delighted!  He mentioned how happy he would be to take his wife out for a special date, and he sends his thanks!

As you can see below, the children are thrilled with our new collection of recess equipment.  I'm sorry I wasn't able to capture every child in the class in action, but these few shots should give you an idea of some of the ways they spend their free time outside.  The children do a great job playing with many friends during recess, and they switch easily between activities.  This is a sign, I think, of their confidence and friendly disposition.  It's such a pleasure to see.

The school supplies and inside recess games are much appreciated, as well!  Thank you!

I am incredibly grateful to all of you.  I will enjoy your kind gifts, remembering your thoughtfulness as I use them.  Most of all I will treasure the cards and notes from the children.  Your sons and daughters are the sunshine in my day!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!