Ms. Christina Freeman's Teacher Page

2011-05-27T08:57:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful field trip to Barr Lake. Each group was guided on a nature walk with a Barr Lake Naturalist. One group was extremely excited to have Mr. Bob lead their group. He does such a great job relating it to their level. We were blessed to have the rain hold out until we were back at school. I tried to capture the incredible day in the photos below.

Thank you Mr. Bob and all the amazing chaperones.

Toby, Faith and Alijah are enjoying all the birds in the Nature Center. Mr. Bob was able to push some buttons so everyone could hear what the birds sound like. (The students were surprised at which birds make quiet sounds)

Ms. Vigil's group was awesome...they caught a toad even before getting to the field to sweep for bugs!

Cailyn and her dad Mike had a great time at Barr Lake! They were in a group that got to take their own pictures as they explored.

The sand pit just might have been the biggest hit of the day. The students enjoyed making houses, tunnels, and burying one another.

Chloe found an earthwom

Mrs. Vigil with her Toad :)

Everyone loves Mr. Bob :)

Alaska

2011-05-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

Mr. Albrecht came downstairs and shared a great presentation with the entire hallway about Alaska and Mt. McKinley. The students loved touching the bear skull and the many furs. Thanks Mr. Albrecht!!

What Time Is It Mr. Fox?

2011-05-19T17:21:00.000-07:00

Wednesday morning we practiced showing and telling time on our giant yellow analog clocks. Each teacher started out being a fox and showing time and the students (chickens) identified the time and took the appropriate steps. When Lunchtime was yelled it was the goal of the fox to catch as many chickens as possible. It was a chilly morning but lots of fun!

Dress of Choice Day

2011-05-19T16:40:00.000-07:00

Some changes have been made. There is no longer a dress of choice day this Friday, May 20. Students need to be in uniform on Friday.

On Monday, May 23, students may be out of uniform for the field trip. long pants are recommended and no tank or halter tops. Tennis shoes are also a must.

Tuesday and Wednesday (May 24 and 25) of next week are also dress of choice days. Tennis shoes should also be worn on these days for activities we will be doing.

2011-05-17T20:11:00.000-07:00

Sight Word Relays

This morning we had all three reading classes outside for some relay races. The students were divided into three teams and took turns running into the field and choosing a note card. They ran the card back to their teammates who had to read the word and then run to the field to select a card themselves. Everyone had a wonderful time!

Fractions

2011-05-17T19:57:00.000-07:00

Today in math we worked on fractions. This time we each had a piece of cake and divided it into four equal parts. Alex opened up his napkin and noticed it was also in four equal parts.

Human Body

2011-05-14T20:56:00.000-07:00

Have you ever thought about what happens inside your body when you breathe? When you stand up? When you jump? The First Graders have been learning the answers to these questions and many more as we study the systems of our body.

Below are some pictures of students exploring organs at different centers.

Healthy Eating

2011-05-14T20:38:00.000-07:00

Wednesday morning we had the opportunity to learn about healthy food choices. All of us learned about how many of our favorite foods have lots of sugar and dyes in them. Please ask your students for some examples of red, yellow and green light foods. They even asked me to read the label on the birthday treats that afternoon so I could tell them if they were a yellow or red light food. : )

Airplanes

2011-05-09T17:39:00.000-07:00

We had a special surprise this afternoon. Mr. Tefft who is Tristan's dad came and taught us all about planes. He had a fascinating PowerPoint and a huge plane that he brought into the classroom. The kids were so excited it was hard to contain them! Someone asked if he could come back next week and fly his plane since it was too windy today : ) The students learned the names of certain parts of an airplane and what they're used for. He was able to display the each particular part on his plane while asking the students questions. At the end he gave all 75 1st graders propellers. We even got to find out that there is a program once children are eight years old to FLY FOR FREE!!

Thank You Mr. Tefft!!

4th Grade Buddies

2011-05-08T09:17:00.000-07:00

We got together with our 4th grade buddies in Ms. Carter's room last week. Both classes had just finished studying volcanoes so we did some cooperative learning and created some 3-D volcanoes out of construction paper. The 4th graders helped introduce some new vocabulary words such as conduit and crater. The students all labeled the magma, magma chamber and lava. You can tell by all the smiles it was a highlight for both classes.

The 4th graders came back and helped us write acrostic and rhyming poems on our Mother's Day cards. The students also created bookmarks with special messages for their moms.

Montessori Play

2011-05-08T09:04:00.000-07:00

Friday afternoon we had the opportunity to watch some of our friends in the Montessori classes perform songs and dances about animals and biomes.

Museum Field Trip

2011-05-08T08:23:00.000-07:00

Last week we had the opportunity to take a field trip to the Museum of Nature and Science. The students had a great time and are still sharing stories of all the fun things they were able to do.

Thank you to all the wonderful chaperones!!

$1.00 FREE DRESS DAY

2011-05-04T16:19:00.001-07:00

There will be a Free Dress Day this Friday, May 6, 2011. Please send $1.00 to school with your child if he/she would like to participate. The money collected will go towards the Kindergarten Graduation.

2011-05-02T19:02:00.000-07:00

Lunch Accounts- The end of the 2010-2011 school year is fast approaching, and we need to ensure that all lunch accounts are paid in full. Starting Monday, May 9, students will no longer be able to charge a lunch or milk to their account if it has a negative balance due. All negative balances must be paid by May 9, and there must be money in your family account to continue to use the lunch program. If there is no money in the account and a lunch is needed by your student, a substitute meal of a PB&J and milk will be offered, and you will be billed for these items.

Statements are sent home on a regular basis to families with a low or negative balance. Please keep track of your balance. We suggest pre-paying one week at a time on your family account to avoid your student not being served a regular lunch. A positive balance still in the account at the end of the year will roll-over to your family account for the 2011-2012 school year. Please contact Shannon Bonino, our Food Service Director, with any questions at sbonino@bromleyeastcs.org

PTO Mother's Day Plant Sale- The PTO Mother's Day Plant Sale will be conducted on the grassy area next to the school's parking lot on Thursday, May 5, and Friday, May 6, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. If you would like to volunteer to help, please contact Terry Button at dfb3@msn.com.

School Calendar- The 2011-12 school calendar was approved by the Board and their April meeting. The new school hours for next year will be 8:00 a.m.- 3:30 p.m. Students will be allowed in the building at 7:50 a.m.

Reminders

2011-04-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

Just a Reminder that today is Free Dress of Choice Day!!

Friday, April 29th. NO SCHOOL!

BECS BOARD ELECTIONS

2011-04-25T07:44:00.000-07:00

Please remember that today after school is the last day to vote in the BECS BOARD ELECTIONS.
Voting Hours are from 3:35-6:00pm in the school library.

April 4th

2011-04-10T19:44:00.000-07:00

We had a very eventful week in first grade. The students had many stories to share about their adventures over Spring Break. We were lucky enough to have Kindra Reynolds and her family watch our gerbils for the week. She had some interesting stories to share with her peers on Monday morning. Monday was also a great day as the students were excited about free dress of choice day and the pizza party! Thank you again for sending in reams of paper it was appreciated!

Field Trip: The field trip permission slip was sent home in the Friday folder. We will be seeing an IMAX about rain forest animals visiting the Exhibition Health exhibit. The human body is the last unit we study in science and rain forest habitats is one of the first. Each group will also have the opportunity explore space, rocks and minerals at the museum. We are also planning a field trip to Barr Lake on May 23rd. We were able to go their last year and it was lots of fun! We will divide the students into small groups and each will have a naturalist to guide a nature walk. We will also visit the nature center, have lunch at the pavilion and do a bug sweep after lunch.

Math: My math class has been examining and exploring polygons, symmetry and three dimensional shapes. The students were thrilled to create their own giant polygons, cubes and cut three dimensional shapes. Please check the photo page to take a glimpse into some of our math activities.

Science: The students have been learning about rocks, minerals and gems. Please stop by if you have any time to observe any of our 14 crystals experiments. I'm sure if you asked your child how to make them, they would be able to share the steps detail by detail.

Social Studies: The students have continued their unit of American Symbols with Mrs. McCleskey. The were excited to tell me who Betsy Ross was and the American flag. They also watched the live web cam of the bald eagle in Decorah, Iowa sitting on its nest. They even saw the babies!

Writing: We are continuing to focus on specific details in our writing pieces. If you have some time please stop into the room to read the incredible stories the students have written.

Please refer to the photo page to give you a snapshot of the learning that took place this week. As always thanks for all you do!

Mrs. Freeman

Rocks...

2011-04-03T18:40:00.000-07:00

The students had a great time at the Igneous rock centers that we had set up in the classroom. They were able to use magnifying glasses to examine and investigate different rocks. Below: children are engrossed at reading center where they are researching all the different rocks found in the state of Colorado.

Igneous Rocks and Volcanoes

2011-03-22T19:14:00.000-07:00

We have started a new Rock unit in science. This past week we have explored Igneous Rocks and today we made volcanoes. It was very encouraging hearing the students shriek and giggle with excitement as the volcanoes were erupting. Here are some pictures of our fun afternoon.

Week of March 7th.

2011-03-11T06:32:00.000-08:00

We have sure fit in lots of learning into these past four days! In reading class we have started unit 7 with the theme "Keep Trying" The students now read from their own student anthology book and complete comprehension tests. You will notice these tests coming home in the Friday Folders. Please read over these tests with your child and discuss any questions they might have missed. We have been reviewing the tests and discussing how important it is to look back through the story to find the answers. You will also notice page numbers next to the questions, I am having them write the page numbers down to show exactly where they found the information. We are also working on writing complete sentences to the personal response questions. In science we are studying the three layers of the Earth and what they are called. The students used three colors of clay to create their own Earth representations. (check the photo page) We also did an interesting experiment with an apple to resemble the three layers of the Earth.

Monday is the first day of the fourth quarter. Wow, it feels like the school year has flown by. We will start Monday off with a new specials time. 12:58-1:48pm. We will be switching times with the 3rd Graders. This means we will be exiting the East doors at the end of the day. Hopefully this will help us dismiss at a reasonable time and students will not be so rushed and forget things.

* The students were able to choose their free books that they earned from the Reading challenge last month. EVERYONE was able to choose at least one book it was a great to see so many smiles! I will post the pictures later this weekend.
Book Orders due March 18th.
Spring Fundraiser Money and Orders due March 15th.

Thanks for all you do! : )
Mrs. Freeman

2011 Reading Challenge

2011-03-03T18:26:00.000-08:00

The results are in and we WON! : ) The students did an incredible job reading books and filling out book reports. I AM SO PROUD OF THEM!! These First Graders read and completed 265 book reports in two weeks. Wow! Today they got to celebrate by having some special people in the building come down and read to them. The first one to read was our principal Ms. Harrell. She read the Dr. Seuss book Sneetches and even brought along her own stuffed sneetch. After she read to the students she even had a star sticker to give to each of them. They LOVED the stickers and put them on their belly buttons to pretend they were sneetches. Ms. Aramburo also read Horton Hatches an Egg and brought the kids juice and lots of cookies. Please refer to my photo page to see more pictures of our celebration party.

February Book Reports

2011-03-01T19:31:00.001-08:00

The students did an excellent job with their February book reports. They created a puppet character from the book they chose to read. This assignment focused on the students sharing the title, author, and two events that happened in the story. They all did a wonderful job presenting the information to their peers.

Spring Fundraiser

2011-02-28T19:18:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday there were packets that came home in the homework folders to notify you of the Spring Fundraiser that officially starts tomorrow.

The Fundraiser will run until March 15th.

If you have any questions/concerns please contact Ariel Fix:

fix.ariel@gmail.com or (970)347-0995

Week of February 21st.

2011-02-26T15:47:00.000-08:00

We had a busy but wonderful week. The students have been very excited about reading and completing book reports for the book challenge Ms. Aramburo is putting on in the library. Below are some pictures of the students buddy reading and filling out book reports.

We are finishing up our space unit in science. The students were paired in teams and assigned a planet. They then worked together to decorate the balloon to resemble their planet. Below you can take a look as we ventured outside with our planets to learn about how our planets orbit the sun. This activity was an fun adn exciting way to help the students assess relative distance.

Abby was enjoying holding Pluto as this planet does something completly different than the other eight planets.

Conner was doing his best to hold his balloon that was suppose to represent the sun.

Parent Opinion Survery

2011-02-26T09:22:00.000-08:00

BECS Parent-Opinion of Instruction Survery ENDS MARCH 4, 2011
The BECS School Accountability Committee invites you to participate in the BECS Parent Opinion of Instruction survery of the 2010-2011 school year. This survery's results and parent comments are used to understand and better serve the BECS community. Your responses are crucial to improving student instruction in the classroom.
Please respond to the survey by March 4, 2011. You can find the survey on the schools homepage at www.bromleyeastcs.org

Valentine's Day

2011-02-13T15:42:00.000-08:00

I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend. I wanted to remind you that tomorrow is Picture day. Please send your child to school in their best looking uniform. The photographers will be taking individual pictures as well as a class picture. The students will be bringing a proof home tomorrow evening in their homework folders. You will have three days to decide if you would like to order a print.

Tomorrow is our Valentine's Day party from 10:30-11:30am. The students will be making a craft, decorating Valentine bags, sharing Valentine cards and eating pizza. We would love for you to join us if you have some time.

Thanks,
Mrs. Freeman

Spring Pictures

2011-02-05T14:21:00.000-08:00

Pictures have been rescheduled for February 14th.

All students must be in their uniforms for the class and individual pictures. Please send students in their best dress code attire that aligns with our policy. To review the entire Dress Code Policy, refer to section 9.1 in the Parent Student Handbook, which is available on our website under Quick Links or by clicking: http://www.bromleyeastcs.oeg/documents/BECS%20Handbook.pdf

Our Class Valentine Party will be on Monday, February 14, 2011. Please remember to send in $2.00 for pizza and select your pizza preference.

Parent Teacher Conferences will be held Tuesday, Feb.15-Thursday, Feb 17. I send home a sign up sheet last week. Please make sure to sign up for a time, preference will be given to forms turned in first.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

2011-02-03T20:35:00.000-08:00

I sent home a sign up form for the upcoming parent/teacher conferences. Please number your top three choices and return it as soon as you can. Times will be selected on a first returned basis. If these days and times do not work for you, please email me at cfreeman@bromleyeastcs.org or call me at the school, and we will make other arrangements.

Reminders

2011-02-02T21:42:00.000-08:00

February 3rd

Student Handbook Changes Meeting

6 p.m. in the BECS Library

February 4th

Free Dental check-ups at the Lowry Campus of the Community College of Denver

No School Today!

2011-02-01T07:01:00.000-08:00

Good Morning there is no school today. Please check the 27J website for an update on the decision for tomorrow. The decision should be made sometime late this afternoon. Also we will be updating you on when we will reschedule spring pictures since school has been cancelled for today.

Spring Pictures

2011-01-28T17:12:00.000-08:00

Spring Pictures will be this coming Tuesday, February 1st. The Students must wear their UNIFORMS. A proof will be sent home on THE SAME DAY for your viewing. Please plan to return the proof order form with payment enclosed to the school within 3 days.

Please check the Upcoming News page to read some important information about a meeting that will be held on Feb. 3rd, 2011. This meeting will cover the Uniform Policy for next year.

Spring Choir

2011-01-25T19:04:00.000-08:00

Spring Choir

Singing in the Rain

Elementary Choir: Open to all 1-5th graders

Meets Wednesdays after school 3:40-4:20pm

* If your child is interested, please fill out a form in the office by Jan.28th.

100th DAY OF SCHOOL

2011-01-24T20:13:00.001-08:00

Today was our 100th Day of School. We celebrated by making hats, bringing in our collections of 100 items and sharing our 100th Day Cheer. Mrs. Brakel and her class spent the last few weeks helping us learn our cheer. In reading we completed a list of 100 words we know and began to write a story of what we would do with $100. During math class we predicted if our coin would land on heads or tails. Then we flipped the coins 100 times. We also counted 100 licks of our lollipop. It was a GREAT day in 1st grade. Please check the photos tab to see more about our day!

Week of December 13th

2010-12-12T07:38:00.000-08:00

This week we will be visiting the Snowflake Shop on Tuesday morning at 8:30am to preview items.

Thursday morning the students will have the opportunity to purchase items if you choose to send them with money.

You are always welcome to shop with your child before and after school Tuesday-Friday.

Please join us for the Carols and Cookie Decorating this Friday at 2:30pm. The students are so excited about singing that they have been practicing during the day for me! I understand that many of you may have to work and cannot make the performance. Please feel free to invite grandparents the more the merrier. We will be decorating cookies after the children sing.

Library Check out
Thursday will be a check out day in Tech. Please make sure you help your child remember to turn in their library book on or before Thursday.

We have started a very exciting unit on Space. Please check the photo page to see all the thrilling activities we engaged in this past week.

Thanks for everything you do. It's going to be a great week!
Mrs. Freeman

Reading with Ms. Hickey's Class

2010-11-19T15:04:00.000-08:00

The students made a rhyming book to go along with our study of ocean habitats. After much work illustrating they were very excited to share it with the kindergartners.

Week of November 15, 2010

2010-11-19T14:20:00.000-08:00

We had a great week! The students are finishing up their unit on ocean habitats. They made a book titled "In the Ocean, In the Sea". They did such a great job with it that we set up a time to read to Ms. Hickey's kindergarten class. Please check out some pictures under my photo page of the students reading with their kindergarten buddies. Mrs. McCleskey has been teaching the students about Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving. You will have to ask your first grader how the Indians helped the Pilgrims and what games the children played during the first Thanksgiving. In Math we have been studying measurement and comparing lengths along with counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's.

We just have two days of school next week before we are off for Thanksgiving break. There will be no spelling packet next week. I will be sending home a spelling packet on Monday Nov. 22nd for the following week. The Spelling packet will come home in the homework folders and the spelling test will be December 3rd.

We would love for you to join us for the Imagination Makers play on Dec. 8th.

*Mark your calendars! On Friday, December 17th the first graders will be singing some holiday songs in the cafeteria and decorating cookies. We welcome you to join us from 2:30-3:30pm.

Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. Freeman

2010-11-14T08:09:00.001-08:00

We survived spirit week! It was great to see the students dressed up and it made the week very enjoyable. The first grade teachers have noticed that the students have been transitioning well with the math and reading groups. It's exciting to see them being so responsible!

In reading we have been studying the long vowel sounds and reading a story about firefighters. The students have been doing well on the spelling tests. My reading class received new reading bags with an orange label. Please continue to have them read the decodable books to you as it reinforces the sounds and blends we have been learning in class. Please check the front of the bag to see what day they are to be returned to school. In math we have been counting and reviewing math facts. This next week we will work on measurement. In social studies the students completed the unit on Egypt, and will learn about Pilgrims in preparation for Thanksgiving. In Science we have studied the ocean habitats and watched an interesting video on Humphrey The Lost Whale. They have learned some very interesting facts about creatures that live in the ocean. You may want to ask them to tell you about them.

We have also been reading lots of Thanksgiving books and talking about being thankful. We have made a "thankful tree" in our classroom. The students enjoy cutting out leaves and writing many things they are thankful for. We would love for you to stop in and check out our thankful tree or read some of our thankful letters in the hallway.

We are continuing to collect canned food for the Thanksgiving food drive.

Families in Need-As the holiday season approaches, we want to make sure that all Bromley families enjoy a happy Thanksgiving. If you know of a family in need or if your family is experiencing a difficult time, please email Vicky Goodner at vgoodner@bromleyeastcs.org to add the name(s) to our list for Thanksgiving baskets.

Principal Tea- To accommodate working parents, our November tea will be held in the evening. You are invited to attend our third "Principal Tea" on the evening of Thursday, November 18, from 6:30 p.m.-8:00 pm. This will be an informal, small gathering of parents to meet and greet and share thoughts or ask questions about the school. We hope everyone will attend one of these teas throughout the year to meet the school administration and other parents. Please RSVP to Susan Krider at skrider@bromleyeastcs.org.

Library Books are due tomorrow 11/15/10.

Thanks for all you do.

Mrs. Freeman

2010-11-07T16:52:00.000-08:00

We have accomplished a lot in the past two weeks! First of all I would like to thank Ariel Fix for organizing such a wonderful Mummy party. Everyone had such a great time and the students were very excited about the lunch, games, treats and pumpkins. I know there were many parents who contributed things to the party and I also want to say thank you! I will be posting pictures of the kids so you can see all the fun that we had. After our party, Mr. Bob one of our incredible volunteers and another Naturalist from Barr Lake presented information on bats. The students really enjoyed it.

THIS WEEK IS SPIRIT WEEK!
Monday-Red
Tuesday-"A Blast from the Past"
Wedesday-NO DRESS UP-Regular School Uniforms
Thursday-Favorite Sport Team Day
Friday-Twins, Triplets, etc.

The ability groups have been going smoothly and all the classes took their first spelling test this last Friday. The spelling packets will continue to come home in the Friday folders and be due the following Thursday with the test on Friday. In Science we have been studying salt water habitats and coral reef homes. You will have to ask your child what their favorite coral reef creature is and what happens to an octopus if it loses a tentacle. Mrs. Rutter has been teaching the students about the Ideas trait. Mrs. McCleskey has been studying mummies. I'm sure you saw them in the Friday folders.

Please continue to have your children read the decodable books that come home and practice the sight words.

Thanks for all you do.

Mrs. Freeman

Week of October 18th

2010-10-24T21:05:00.000-07:00

The Harvest Hop was a huge success! Thanks to all of you who donated candy and came to trick or treat in the hallways and play games in the gym.

We have started working on blends in reading. I'm sure you noticed that the decodable books that came home this week had /sh/, /th/, /ch/, /ar/ and /wh/ words in them. Please make sure your first grader is reading those decodable books to you. This will help reinforce the blends that we've been learning.

In math we have continued with our skip counting and introduced the dime into our tool kits. Ask your first grader to sing you the penny, nickel and dime song.

Mrs. McCleskey has been teaching the students about Egypt. Soon they will start learning about mummies. The children were very interested in coloring and constructing the pryamids.

Mrs. Rutter has been working with the students on organization in writing.

In science we've been studying freshwater habitats. Next week we will be learning about the ocean.

The students are looking forward to a bat presentation by Mr. Bob one of our amazing volunteers. He will be here with another volunteer naturalist from Barr Lake State Park to introduce the children to these fascinating mammals.

Our Halloween Party is scheduled for 11:15am on Thursday. Ariel Fix has been busy organizing things for our party. Remember to send $2.00 to school with your child if you would like them to decorate a pumpkin on Thursday.

Remember there is NO SCHOOL on Friday!

I look forward to seeing you at conferences!

Math and Reading Groups

2010-10-17T07:43:00.000-07:00

Due to hearing and vision screenings this week the First Grade team has decided to postpone reading and math groups until October 25. An orange letter was sent home last week explaining about these groups.

Thanks,
Mrs. Freeman

"Sports Day"

2010-09-30T20:58:00.000-07:00

Please remember to send you child to school dressed in either a sports jersey, shirt, and/or hat tomorrow. We have all kinds of fun activities planned. Every year, funding for schools is based on the number of students in attendance on October 1. To celebrate our students' attendance tomorrow, we have lots of fun things planned.

Thanks,
Mrs. Freeman

Initial Sign-in on the PTO Manager

2010-09-28T20:13:00.000-07:00

MANY OF YOU HAVE MENTIONED THAT YOU ARE HAVING TROUBLE SETTING UP YOUR ACCOUNT. THIS IS STEP BY STEP INFORMATION FOR YOU TO LOG VOLUNTEER HOURS.

Usual sign-in on the BECS homepage will work, after you initially make your account.

Make your account:

Go to www.becspto.ptomanager.com

Click on the "click here" button on the far right-side sign in the bottom box.

Type in your email and password. This will then take you to your information page.

Fill out your information in all three sections. Can click the login buttion to now see your account.

After your account has been approved, registration can take a couple of hours, you will be able to log in all volunteering time you have done.

To log volunteer time:

Go to colunteering link on BECS homepage.

Type in your email and password.

You can change your information on the first tab.

Second tab is the Events, click on it. These events are saved by date assigned.
To see events alphabetically, click on the blue "Events" button, once for z-a, again for a-z.

Read through all events to find the one you wnat to put time down for, this could be past events or future events. Go to far right, under actions column, click to volunteer.

Type what you did (i.e., copying, meeting, decodables, field trip, meals, etc. ) under the task tab.

Type in the date

Either type in the "time" (both the in and out) you volunteered or the hours.

Hit save.

You can type in many different dates and times under one event.

Reminders for Spetember 27, 2010

2010-09-28T18:37:00.000-07:00

Here are a few helpful reminders of things going on this week at school:

Book orders are due tomorrow.
It is important for all students to attend school this Friday, October 1. Every year, funding for schools is based on the number of students in attendance on October 1. To celebrate our students' attendance on Friday, we will have "sports day" where all students can wear their favorite sport's team jerseys, shirts, and/or hats. The First grade team will also be planning some fun games and activities during the day. Our goal is 100% attendance.
When you send in snacks or treats for your child's birthday please be mindful that we have some allergies to Soy, Peanuts, and Pine nuts. Thank you in advance for rememebering to include everyone.
New School Policy-If you must pick up your child early from school beginning Monday September 13, 2010, you will beed to check them out by 3:00pm. We are having an excessive amount of early dismissals at teh end of the day, which is causing too much disruption to the instruction taking place in the classroom.

Progress Reports

2010-09-26T18:02:00.000-07:00

We will be sending out progress reports this Friday, Oct 1st. They will come home in the Friday Folders. Remember you also have access to your child's grades online by checking infinite campus.

Thanks,
Mrs. Freeman

Picture Day Tomorrow

2010-09-26T11:18:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Picture day which also means it is a free dress day. We do have P.E. for specials so please make sure to send along a pair of tennis shoes with your child.

Thanks,
Mrs. Freeman

FREE DRESS DAY

2010-09-22T21:16:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is a Free Dress Day. Everyone in our room has earned this privilege for the month of September. We are also having an assembly in the morning from 8:45-9:30am We would love for you to join us if you are available. I will see you tomorrow!

NO SCHOOL ON FRIDAY.

Thanks,
Mrs. Freeman

Reminders

2010-09-20T18:05:00.000-07:00

There are lots of things going on in the next week so hopefully these reminders will help:

Wednesday, September 22, 2010 Fundraiser money is due!
$5.00 and the permission slip for the Wildlife Experience presentation is DUE 9/23/1
Paperless is Here! We will now post all flyers, announcements, newsletters, etc. on our website. If you prefer to receive a paper copy of materials, you will need to request this option by signing a form available in the front office. Please take time to complete this form, and we will put copies of Friday Folder items in your youngest child's Friday Folder beginning on Friday, Oct 1.
This Thursday is a FREE DRESS DAY. This is available for anyone that has not received 3 or more tardies or a behavior slip in the month of September. Everyone in our class has earned this privilege. ; )
ALSO, Thursday we are having an assembly featuring NED. We would love for you to join us from 8:45-9:30am. It is sure to be a great time.
NO SCHOOL Friday, September 24th, 2010.

Thank you.
Mrs. Freeman

New Dismissal Procedure

2010-09-15T20:23:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of our new dismissal procedure. The specials teachers will now be bringing the students outside at the end of the day. This new routine will hopefully make pickup time more timely and less conjested.

Thanks,
Mrs. Freeman

Behavior Chart

2010-09-06T16:12:00.000-07:00

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Many of you know about the stoplight discipline policy in my room as we went over it during "Back to School" night. Those of you who do not, it is a system that goes from green to red depending on the students ability to follow the rules at school. I have decided to implement a behavior chart that is going to go home in the homework folders everyday. This way you are able to keep track of how your child is doing. I prefer to use lots of positive reinforcement and I feel the best way to do this is to reward students for good behavior. Once students accumulate ten green days they will earn a privilege such as: coupons for lunch with the teacher, 15 minutes of computer time, first in line for the day, trip to the prize bucket or various other things. The hope in doing this is that it will increase the communication pertaining to your child's day and also that the children will understand the importance of good behavior and a positive learning environment.

Thanks for sharing your children with me and allowing me the opportunity to teach them.

Mrs. Freeman

This Week in First Grade August 30th

2010-09-03T21:57:00.000-07:00

We had a great week. We completed the first units in reading and math. In reading we have been working on sounds of h, m, s, t, and short a. You should have received a bag of decodable books and a reading log. Please be sure to have your child read to you and be tracking it on the new reading log. Some parents have mentioned that these books are very easy for there child to read. Please keep reading them it helps build their reading fluency. You may also ask them questions about the story this is great for working on comprehension. The books should be easy for your child to read this means that they are at grade level. The books will become more challenging as we move forward in our reading curriculum. The students took their first math test today. We have been counting by 1's, 2's, and 5's as well as comparing numbers and learning how to use a number line.

In Social Studies Mrs. McCleskey has been working on maps and continents. Mrs. Rutter has been focusing on how to write telling sentences. You should have them write a sentence for you with a capital letter at the beginning and a period at the end.

Science has been very exciting! We have continued our unit on habitats. This week we have been learning about the four layers of the rain forest and which animals live there and why. The children seem very excited about it. You should ask them to name a layer of the rain forest for you and a few animals that might live there.

LABOR DAY IS MONDAY SEPTEMBER 6th, NO SCHOOL!!

Have a great weekend,
Mrs. Freeman

This Week In First Grade

2010-08-27T15:42:00.000-07:00

We are all settling in to a nice routine. This week we finished reviewing the alphabet in Reading and have read poetry. Today we had a Reading quiz on letters and sounds. We have also been learning sight word songs and doing dictations.

In Math we have been working on comparing numbers and using the number line to count up and back. We started homework this week. Please make sure they are completing their work and bringing it back to school the following day.

Mrs. McCleskey has been teaching the kids about the equator and Northern and Southern Hemispheres in Social Studies. Mrs. Rutter gave the first writing assessment and all First Graders are now writing about what they would want if they had a fairy godmother. This correlates with the Cinderella stories we have read. We have also been learning about Habitats in Science. We completed the Desert and Polar lands we will will be finishing up the Rainforest habitat next week.

The Friday folders that came home today have the new handbook from the school.

Thanks for all you do as parents.

Mrs. Freeman

FREE DRESS DAY

2010-08-26T16:54:00.000-07:00

This is just a reminder that tomorrow is a free dress day. ; )

* Also please make sure that your child is bringing back their yellow folder with their completed homework inside.

Thanks and have a great evening,
Mrs. Freeman

Infinite Campus

2010-08-24T14:25:00.000-07:00

If you do not have a current Inifinite Campus Password and ID please stop in or call the office and they can assist you. You will need this to access your child's grades online.

Thanks,
Mrs. Freeman

Homework Folders

2010-08-24T14:14:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day that the yellow folders are coming home with Math homework in them.

The Directions are:
* Cut examples of numbers from scrap papers you find at home.
* Glue some examples on the back of the Math Homelink.

Please make sure your child completes the homework and RETURNS both the work and the yellow folder tomorrow morning.

Thank You,
Mrs. Freeman

Homework

2010-08-18T17:36:00.000-07:00

Tonight's homework is to fill the brown bag with four items that represent your child. We will reveal the items in each bag tomorrow and the students will try and match the items to the correct classmates. This activity will be a good way to learn more about one another.

Teddy Bear Picnic

2010-08-15T08:28:00.001-07:00

We had a great time at the Teddy Bear Picnic on Friday afternoon. I have a great group of kids and am looking forward to a wonderful year!!

Welcome

2010-07-19T13:17:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my class website. I will be adding class information soon.

Thanks