HOLIDAY HELPERS

We helped the gentlemen from the Army and U.S. Marine Corps
load some of the packages for the Toys for Tots drive this holiday season.
Wow, the Ox Ridge families are generous!

DECEMBER EXCITEMENT

Here we are at the Maritime Aquarium,
managing our excitement just fine!
What a great day we had!
(We just missed our buddy, SS, who wasn't able to join us this time.)

2nd Steps Social Skills

We started a new unit this week:  Emotion Management

Well!  We know we are very excited at this time of year, but the goal of this unit is to help us identify and manage strong feelings.  During the unit, we hope to understand strong feelings, recognize them when we feel them, and use Calming-Down steps to calm down our strong feelings.

We already know that we are caring friends to others.
Our lesson this week concentrated on identifying our own feelings.  By starting to realize clues about how we are feeling will help us to manage how those feelings impact us, especially if they are not comfortable feelings.

Every day we should try to Anticipate when we need to check in with ourselves and how we are feeling.  That is, we need to anticipate before activities or situations happen that might cause us to have strong feelings.  Later, we should Reflect on how we are able to check in with how we are feeling.  After all, we know ourselves best!

Try to anticipate how you might feel if:

• You are going on a field trip to the Maritime Aquarium and the day will be quite different than usual!
• Read Where the Wild Things Are and wonder how the character feels.
• A movie might take a while to get to the Happy Ending.
• You go shopping and it is super loud and crowded.
• You celebrate a friend's birthday and you hope to pick a favorite Popsicle flavor...if there are any of your favorites left...

If you imagine some of the feelings you might experience, it might help you manage them well, so that we learn how to handle disappointment.as well as extreme excitement.

McMonthly News

THEME

Our thoughts anxiously turn to this exciting time of year. Our passports are ready as we begin traveling to see how some holidays are celebrated around the world. We have recently enjoyed searching our world map as we investigated the students’ ancestors’ homelands. We found that there are many modern-day pilgrims in our class!

HOLIDAY HELPERS

As the holiday season arrives, please help your child know that, while they can feel excited, they need to act like responsible first graders. They still need to be respectful listeners, try their best, and always be kind to one another.

LANGUAGE ARTS

The students continue their progress and success in reading. We are comparing short vowels and long vowels and are constantly reviewing our high frequency words. Starfall.com has been one
of the many ways we’ve been able to practice these sounds in the Computer Lab, along with some cool Smartnotebook activities. We’ve also been concentrating on the characters in literature we read and of our own stories that we are writing. We will soon be publishing our Realistic Fiction stories.

MATH

We have been focusing on patterns that repeat, patterns that grow, and with place value. These skills will help us understand the differences among the ones, tens, and hundreds place.

BIRTHDAYS

Fri., Dec. 30: Jack Barber

REMINDERS

Tues. – Fri., 11/29-12/2:  Conferences, Early dismissal

Tues., Nov. 29:  Storyteller, Len Cabral

Mon., Dec. 5:  Scholastic Orders Due

(online or sent in to classroom)

Mon., Dec. 5:  Family Traditions Due

Thurs., Dec. 8:  Field Trip, Maritime Aquarium

Fri., Dec. 16:  Toy Drive ends

Mon., Dec. 19:  Grab Bag gifts due

Wed., Dec. 21:  Holiday Celebration/

Polar Express Theme (a.m.)

Wed., Dec. 21:  Holiday Grab Bag (aft.)

Fri., Dec. 23:  Short day, vacation begins

Dec. 24 - Jan. 2:  December vacation

Tues., Jan. 3, 2012:  Return to school

SPECIAL NOTES

• Homework: Please be sure to have your child read for at least 10 minutes a night, in addition to our other first grade responsibilities. Please keep me posted if there’s something that is overwhelming on the homework front.

• I would like to thank all of you for your generosity with the school-wide Toys-for-Tots Drive taking place during the next three weeks. You are making others very happy this season!

• Superstar News:  Every Friday, a new “Superstar of the Week” is picked at random. If there is a week that is not good for your child to be superstar, please jot me a note or email, so we won’t pick your child’s name during that week. Once a superstar is picked, they can share treasures throughout the week. A note will go home explaining the details once he or she is picked.

• The Class Pet Bag, which journeys to our students’ homes, is picked at random as well. Enjoy!

NOVEMBER WORDS

  I         have

black   here

brown    say

come     they

down    we

find     what

   go        where 

           who

*Keep practicing old Spelling words and spelling patterns

2nd Steps Social Skills

Showing Care and Concern

Last week, we role-played how to respond to others in a caring way.  We learned that people feel better when we show them compassion (and we also feel better when we help!)  We brainstormed different ways we can do this (being a good listener, saying kind words, offering a toy).  Showing compassion helps us all get along well with others.  (This isn't too tricky for us since we are always doing nice things for each other!)

Here are some scenarios to try at home  (think about what you'd say and do):

• Your father has a lot of dishes to do after dinner.  Do you think he could use some help?
• It looks like your neighbor could use some help taking out the recycling.  Can you help out?
• Your mom tried hard to get great Thanksgiving bargains on the biggest shopping day of the year, but the store was all sold out of what she wished for.  Can you offer some kind and reassuring words to her?

HAPPY VETERANS DAY FROM ALL OF US!

Here we are at one of our flagpoles, celebrating Veterans Day with the whole school.



We were lucky to meet real veterans in our classroom on Thursday:  Annie's Great Uncle Jimmy, and our friend, Delaney's Great Grandpa.  We hope to meet Ryan's Grandpa sometime soon since he wasn't able to be with us today!  We love our visitors!
We love our Veterans!



A Sneak Peek at this Week

Boy, are we busy first graders?!?

Here are reminders for some upcoming this week:

Mon., Nov. 8: Family Turkeys Due

Nov. 7-9: Book Fair (even Election Day!)
Tues., Nov. 8: Election Day/StaffDev/No School
Wed., Nov. 9: Field Trip/Darien Historical Society
Thurs.,Nov. 10: Veterans visit *(wear red, white, and/or blue)
Fri., Nov. 11: Veterans Day *(wear red, white, and/or blue)
Fri., Nov. 11: Scholastic Orders Due (online by 3:30)
(just in case you don’t find what you wish from the Book Fair!)
Fri., Nov. 11:  Photo Orders Due

2nd Steps Social Skills

This week we spent time talking about accidents.
We understand that some actions happen by accident.
If we know this, students and adults are less likely to respond in aggressive or accusing manner.

We focused on 2 main things:
If we cause an accident, we realize how people might feel when the accident happened.
If we cause an accident, we need to say and do respectful things, not just ignore what happened.
We can say things like,

"I'm sorry

It was an accident.

Are you OK?"

Likewise, if someone caused an accident that involved us, it's important that we do not yell at the other person or act impulsively.  Once they apologize, we should say something like,

"Thank you for apologizing."



Here are some scenarios.  You and someone at home can practice what to say when you act as the accident-causer or the accident-recipient.  Then change roles.  (These scenarios can help us with our Realistic Fiction writing too!)

• You jumped on a swing before your friend was out of the way and knocked him over with your feet.
• You bumped your partner's desk and her crayons spilled all over the floor.
• You knocked over your juice at the table and it seeped under your friend's book.
• You grabbed a book quickly from the shelf and another book came flying out and hit your buddy.
• The corner of your friend's artwork tore when you were helping the teacher hang it on the wall.
• You knocked your elbow into your friend's head when you turned around quickly.
• You rolled over your friend's toe with the teacher's swivel chair.



HALLOWEEN UPDATE

NATURE WALK FOR TUESDAY IS POSTPONED UNTIL THURSDAY DUE TO STORM...

The power may be out, but we still have Halloween energy!

HALLOWEEN NEWS FLASH!
No Word Study tonight due to Halloween and power outages!
If you miss doing regular homework, try sorting your treats into categories (for example, chocolate, fruit, crackerish -  make tally marks if you have a humongous pile).

See you tomorrow!

NOVEMBER MCMONTHLY NEWS

THEME

We turn our focus from tasty treats and fun costumes to crisp weather and the thrill of Thanksgiving time.

LANGUAGE ARTS

Our reading program continues to take us on a decoding journey, blending all the consonants with different vowel sounds and learning tricks to figure out larger words. Books are becoming more challenging, and we continue to write in journals, complete Reader Responses, and work on some of our own story creations in Writers Workshop. We have put aside our true Small Moment stories and are beginning to focus on Realistic Fiction stories where the stories have some kind of big adventure or a problem that needs to be solved. It might not have happened in real life, but it actually could! We are constantly practicing our speaking skills as well as good listening, especially when our Mystery Guests visit!

We’ve noticed that the Monday WordsTheir Way homework can be tricky at times. If the homework takes up a lot of time, simply choose a handful of words (perhaps 10) to try certain homework choices (such as the Letter Change choice). The idea is to get used to the spelling patterns and sounds, but not worry so much about memorizing the words.

Take an extra day to finish if your child needs it. Likewise, if your child would like a challenge, doing more than the sorts each night is fine too, as long as it doesn’t feel overwhelming to your child.

MATH

We have been concentrating on the “measurement” of time, money, and length.  Please ask your child how much time has passed between one activity and another to reinforce the duration concept of time.  We continue to use literature and manipulatives to reinforce addition, subtraction, and problem solving. 

BIRTHDAYS

There are no November birthdays.

REMINDERS

Tues., Nov. 1: Nature Walk (at school)

Wed., Nov. 2: Field Trip to a real college! - Fairfield Univ. Theatre

Mon., Nov. 8: Family Turkeys Due

Nov. 7-9: Book Fair (even Election Day!)

Tues., Nov. 8: Election Day/StaffDev/No School

Wed., Nov. 9: Field Trip/Darien Historical Society

Thurs.,Nov. 10: Veterans visit   *(wear red, white, and/or blue)

Fri., Nov. 11: Veterans Day   *(wear red, white, and/or blue)

Fri., Nov. 11: Scholastic Orders Due

(just in case you don’t find what you wish from the Book Fair!)

Mon., Nov. 14: Ancestor Info Due

Wed., Nov. 23:Thanksgiving coming/Early Dismissal

Nov. 24-25: Thanksgiving/No School

Nov. 29-Dec. 2: Conferences, shortened days

SPECIAL NOTES

• This Fall’s Book Fair comes at the same time the monthly Scholastic orders are available. Due to popular demand, I am still sending the order forms home in case you’d like to “elect” another option for some great books!


• This month also begins Scholastic online ordering. If you are not comfortable with on-line ordering, simply fill in the books you wish from the book club catalogs, send in the order and a check by the deadline, and I will order for you! Thanks!

• Thank you for the Halloween Boo-Grams. They were most appreciated and were a fun way to start our exciting Halloween day!

• With the weather getting chillier, please label any extra clothing your child brings in.

• Thank you all for helping us get off to a great start with our Volunteer schedule! The school year gets so busy and I often don’t get the chance to say thank you. The children and I appreciate all your help in the classroom, behind the scenes at home, and with your daily support for homework and encouragement for being grown-up first graders!

OCTOBER SIGHT WORDS

a

an
am
at

big

come

down
for

go

help

I

in

is

little

me

my
one

red

said

the

to

two

we

yellow

you

2nd Steps Social Skills

This week we continued learning how to develop empathy and understanding for others.  We also learned that one person may change their feelings about a situation over time.

The way we react to someone is very important in our understanding how they feel and how we can help them feel a little better.  If we notice that someone is having trouble joining something we're doing at recess, we can be welcoming and inviting so that person might not feel nervous or shy anymore!

Try these scenarios with people in your house and see how your feelings may change over time.

• You've never tried the jungle gym at the park and your cousin shows you how to do it.
• Your mom and dad don't see their usual friends in their lunchroom at work, but they meet someone new.
• Your team just made it to the World Series and you're afraid you'll let them down, but the crowd cheers and you start to feel differently.
• Your teacher chooses the partners so you can't pick your best friends to work with, but your new partner is so excited to start the task with you.
• You try Subtraction Bowling, miss the pins, but your classmates still cheer for you.

Remember:  You can make others feel better if you help them feel welcome.
And, if you have an uncomfortable feeling about something, the feeling won't last forever!



2nd Steps Social Skills

Similarities and Differences:

This week we started to realize that that people might have different feelings about the same situation, and that's OK!  This helps us build empathy and awareness of others' feelings.

Reflecting back on our first day of school was a perfect way for us to see that we all might not feel the same way.

Try these scenarios with people in your house and see if you would react the same way:

• A new puppy arrives on your doorstep
• Your family is giving out candy for Halloween instead of Trick or Treating
• The school announces a Snow Day
• You are first up at bat in a baseball game
• You're the first to perform in a dance recital
• The family is going to live somewhere different for the summer
• A friend wants you to hold a pet iguana

Do you have the same feelings as someone else at your house?

What are some other good scenarios to demonstrate that it's OK to have different feelings about the same event?

Have fun thinking about it!

2nd Steps Social Skills

This week we started a new unit in Social Skills and Citizenship called Empathy.

We are learning how to pay attention to other people's faces and bodies to figure out what they are feeling.
It helps us get along better with others and do better in school when we pay attention to feelings.

Here are some Scenarios you can practice at home:
1) Name feelings as you are experiencing them.   For example,

• I'm feeling worried.  I need to find my coat quickly or else we're going to be late for school.
• I can tell by your big smile that you are feeling happy about the picture your sister made for you!

2) Ask your child to name a feeling as they are experiencing it.  Such as,

• You just scored the soccer goal. I can tell you are feeling _____ because you're jumping up and down.
• The ball didn't go into the net. I can tell you are feeling _____ because you're frowning.

3) Ask your child what you are feeling and how they know.   For example, pretend:

• your ball team doesn't make it to the World Series and you show a disappointed face
• your puppy walks into the room with chocolate on its face and you make a surprised face

 
Have fun practicing different feelings!

OUR SEASON TREE

Here we are by our Fall Tree, late in September!

Here are some of our scientific observations:

The summer season changed quickly to Fall.

We feel a warm breeze.

It's still perfect weather to play outside.

The ground is a little wet.

The tree has yellow leaves.

Some leaves have fallen from our tree and are on the ground.

We can see the bark of the tree better now.

There is a different smell in the air - definitely like trees or leaves or something.

We still hear crickets.

We still feel great!

OCTOBER MCMONTHLY NEWS

October has begun with some exciting new responsibilities around the corner - Spelling, homework, small-group reading, and independent activities.  The children are excited about taking these new challenges seriously.  We already had our first Activity Afternoon (It was actually Apple Tasting in the morning), 3 birthday celebrations, and our first Super Citizen Pep Rally with all of the first graders!  We will continue those efforts as we begin even more grown-up first grade regular activities, such as Literacy Centers, Mystery Guest, Computers, and more!  We will also consume apples and pumpkins in our major subject areas as we anxiously await Halloween.


LANGUAGE ARTS
Our reading and writing programs are taking us through many letters, sounds, word patterns, and print concepts.  We have enjoyed investigating the shape, the syllables ("beats"), and vowels in each other's names.  We have jumped right into our balanced literacy program, are learning to choose "just-right" books, and are working hard on our very difficult writing responsibilities.

MATH
We are beginning to review how to add and subtract numbers to 10 and focus on the parts (the numbers) that make up the total.  We will continue to use literature and manipulatives to reinforce problem-solving.

BIRTHDAY

There are no October birthdays.

REMINDERS

Fri., Oct. 7:          Scholastic Orders Due

Mon. Oct. 10:      No School/Columbus Day/Staff Dev.

Fri., Oct. 14:        Yearbook orders due

Fri., Oct. 21:        Boo-Grams due (approx. date, details coming)

Mon., Oct. 31:     Halloween Celebration (wear Halloween colors)

UPCOMING EVENTS

Tues., Nov. 1:      Nature Walk at school, weather permitting
(wear outdoor clothing)

Tues., Nov. 8:      No School/Election Day/Staff Dev.

Nov. 7 - 9:           Book Fair (Mon. - Wed.)

SPECIAL NOTES

• Thank you for helping to make the first month of your child's first grade a success!  It was nice to meet those of you who were able to attend Open House.
• A special Thank You goes out to our Room Moms, Allison Melich and Missy Almy, for coordinating our Volunteer schedule.  A special thanks goes out to the rest of you too!  The children and I are excited to have all of you help us in the class (or help out at home too!)  Your time is most appreciated!
• A special thank you to all of you who made our Apple Tasting Day such a success!  We enjoyed some tasty creations and experimenting time.  Apples have 20 to 25 percent more air in them than most fruits, so we're glad to know why our apples floated.
• Thank you for helping your child choose his/her favorite book to share with the class last month.  We enjoyed investigating the selections!
• It's often hard to think of end-of-the-year school yearbooks in the Fall, but if you wish to order a yearbook, please send in your $$ now.
• Box Tops will be collected once again this year.  More info coming!

SEPTEMBER WORDS

Anna

Annie

Ashley

Axel

Brendan

Isaac

Jack

James

James

Kelcie

Lily

Matteo

Owen

Paige

Remy

Richie

Ryan

Shafay

Turner

SECOND STEPS PROGRAM

Our Second Steps Program helps us to concentrate on Social Skills and Citizenship.
This past month we have been concentrating on Skills for Good Listening.
One way we practice these skills is by:


Ears Listening
Eyes Watching
Voice Quiet
Body Still

We have also practiced self-talking where we repeat directions to help us remember what to do.
Self-talking and trying the game called "Think, Turn, and Tell" has also been quite helpful when we learn new information from our friends, parents, and teachers too!  We really try to focus on what we hear.

Finally, this past week, we learned how to be assertive when we need to ask for help.  We learned these "big-kid" words:  passive, aggressive, and assertive.  Passive is being really quiet and not confident.  Aggressive is being wild and demanding.
When we are stuck and need to ask for help, asking for help in a respectful, calm way is doing it assertively.

Here are some scenarios to help us ask a grown-up for help in an assertive way:

• The first grade ball rolled down the hill during recess.
• You can't find a dinosaur book in the library.
• You don't understand the new Word Study work you have to do.
• You fell on the playground and scraped your hands.

What are some other ways you might need to ask for help?

OUR SEASON TREE

Here we are by our Summer Tree, early in September!
Here are some of our scientific observations:
We hear birds singing.
We see bird nests.
We feel a warm breeze.
Our clothes are perfect for warm weather.
We hear children playing outside in Gym class.
The tree has green leaves.
We smell flowers.
We hear crickets.
We feel great about first grade!

FIRST GRADE MCMONTHLY NEWS

Congratulations to the first graders!

We had a great first two days of school!

THEME

We will be incorporating all major subjects into our main units of study revolving around apples and manners. We are also getting to know one another in our class "team" and are starting to become experts at all the routines. Please encourage your child to accept their new first grade responsibilities. The "Golden Rules" attached to the hard copy of the monthly news will help them keep up the good work!


LANGUAGE ARTS

We are excited to have a balanced literacy program in the classroom which targets a wide variety of learners through guided, shared, and independent reading, and our Words Their Way phonics program. We will also begin to develop writing skills revolving around the "Writing Workshop" model and our class themes.

MATH

Our Growing With Mathematics program begins by reviewing grouping, patterns, and numbers through 12. We will be using literature and manipulatives to reinforce problem solving.

REMINDERS

Mon., Sept. 5: No School, Labor Day
Fri., Sept. 9: Scholastic Orders Due
(orders to be sent home on Tues. 9/6)
Mon., Sept. 12: Favorite Book Due
(note to be sent home on Tues. 9/6)
Tues., Sept. 13: 1st Grade Parent Coffee, 9:30-10:15
(*Bring datebooks/planners)
Thurs., Sept. 15: School Photos
Sun., Sept. 18: Family Picnic, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Thurs., Sept. 22: Open House, 7:00-7:25, Parents Only
(*Bring datebooks/planners)
Fri., Sept. 23: Get Acquainted Page Due
Thurs., Sept. 29: No School, Rosh Hashanah

BIRTHDAYS

Sat., Sept. 17:   Remy Sufrin
Tues., Sept. 27:  Isaac McMullin
Fri., Sept. 30:  James Caliendo

(I will send home a birthday note a few weeks before your child's special day so you can join in the birthday celebration.)

SPECIAL NOTES

Thank you all for sending in supplies and paperwork!

All Ox Ridge students have been asked to have a bus-time book or magazine available to help maintain peace (and promote reading!) in our hallways. Please have your child bring a small book for that time.

Ox Ridge Snack: The children have the opportunity to order an afternoon snack from our cafeteria. I have encouraged the children to talk to their families about how often, and if, they can buy this extra snack. The snack money will be deducted from the students' lunch accounts.

If you still have your child's summer reading journal, please send it in to class this coming week, so we can send along the good reading news to the Library!
Please note that when you receive the Photo Day sign-up form, you may choose your background color. Please send your response back to the classroom before 9/15.

Sharing will occur when a child is Superstar of the Week (details to come). If they have something they wish to share and simply can't wait for their Superstar week, they can bring it in on Mondays. If time permits, we will have a brief sharing time that afternoon.

Please feel free to call me at school with any questions or concerns (203-655-2579, ext. 1142). You can also email me at cmcgettigan@darienps.org.  I will respond as quickly as possible, but sometimes, due to our class schedule, duties, or meetings, I might not be able to respond until the end of the day.
I hope to see you all at the Open House evening when I will explain in more detail about our schedule, curriculum, homework, and class routines. Please bring your calendars, as I will have our Conference sign-up sheet available that evening.


Thank you so much! I look forward to working with your children in first grade!

Cathy McGettigan

WELCOME!

Welcome to Mrs. McGettigan's First Grade!


The first day of school was Thursday, September 1, 2011.

I hope you had a fantastic summer!

Our first grade year is filled with lots of exciting activities!
Please check our first day letter which includes information about our classroom routines and paperwork.

Be on the lookout Friday or next week for our September newsletter to learn about many upcoming events.
 
Here's hoping that all families are almost back to normal after Hurricane Irene breezed through.

Last Year's Info Below

SUNSATIONAL READING BEGINS!

Monday, June 13th through Thursday, June 16th our first grade class will be doing some Sunsational Reading to get ready for summer.  Please remember your beach bags with towels, sunglasses, visors, sunscreen, and some favorite books!

Get ready for a SUNSATIONAL week!

Student Reporting from June 3rd

Wow, we have had quite a fun week!


We began by celebrating Memorial Day to honor people who have served our country.

The weather was very nice!

Let’s Pass It On was a musical! It was fun to see so many people in the audience.

As writers, we keep practicing the words in our fancied-up stories.

In Math, we continued splitting things into groups. We started to learn fractions.

In science, we transferred the caterpillars to the butterfly cage. We wonder how long it will take for them to emerge from their cocoons.

Student Reporting by: Paige, Nicole, Olivia, Simone

Student Reporting

Last Friday we were so busy again, so we’re reporting today about last week.

The weather was very hot!

As writers, we started to fancy-up our hard cover books and practice reading our words.

In Math, we continued working with equal groups.  Then we took a big number and split it into equal groups.  Here’s a secret:  Sharing a big number is really:  division!

In science, our caterpillars ate a lot of food.  A few of them have started to form their chrysalis.

In music, we are practicing our lines a lot for our show.

In Gym, we had field day on Thursday!

Student Reporting by:

Jeremiah, Matthew, Jack W., Jack Y., and Freddie

Student Reporting

Last Friday we were so busy, so we’re reporting today about last week.

In Gym, we have been practicing for field day which happens this Thursday!

The weather has been very, very cold!

In Readers Workshop, we’ve been learning about some different types of poetry.

As writers, we finished revising and editing our hard copy stories.  Then, we started typing our stories so they can look like some of the books we see in bookshelves and libraries!  We thank the moms who helped us get them started typing:  Olivia’s mom, Ben’s mom, Charly’s mom, Nicole’s mom, and Jeremiah’s mom!

In Math, we can count by twos and threes really well.  Then, we started working with equal groups.  Here’s a secret:  Equal groups are really:  multiplication!

In science, we studied the butterfly life cycle. It has 4 stages:

1. eggs

2. larva (caterpillar)

3. pupa (cocoon)

4. butterfly

We started in class with the larva stage because our caterpillars arrived on Friday! We each gave 2 or 3 of them their own little cabin. We feel very excited to see what happens next!

Student Reporting by:  Katelyn, Charly, Jacqueline, Madden, and Mia

Student Reporting

It finally feels like Spring!

We have been very, very busy, so we haven’t reported in a long time!

We had our class character celebration and loved seeing all of the story puppets our classmates made!

We learned about the main parts of a plant and loved watching ours grow. Plants need:
water, sunlight, soil, room to grow, and care.

Here’s a poem to help you remember what living things need:

Food, water, shelter, space
Habitat is a beautiful place!

We are learning about another life cycle now. We had a scientist visit from the Bruce Museum and tell us all about butterflies. We can’t wait until our eggs arrive next week!

In math, we learned what a “mirror image” is. This is called symmetry. We practiced with a half of a picture from a magazine. Try it at home. It works best if the picture has a front view instead of a side view.
We had a cleanup day around school on Arbor Day to celebrate Earth Day which happened over vacation.

This week we had a great Book Fair. We also had Barbara McGrath visit. She’s a real author with published books in stores and libraries! We are working hard on our stories.

In reading, we are learning types of poetry. We will soon start writing some of our own poetry.

First Grade is going by super fast.

Student Reporting by Chase, Jack, Jack, and Jeremiah

May/June McMonthly News

May will be filled with many spring-time activities, and we will still be working hard!  We will have several rehearsals to prepare for our Let’s Pass It On  play later at the beginning of next month.  We are excited about our roles!

LANGUAGE ARTS

Our reading challenges have been exposing us to larger vocabularies and comprehension strategies that help add deeper meaning to the stories we read. We continue to review short and long vowels, blends, digraphs, and sight words. Learning about different types of poetry will be our focus soon in Reading and Writing Workshop.

MATH

We will soon begin to make sense of “multiplication” by putting together groups that contain equal parts. Likewise, we will soon make sense of the big-kid word “fractions” by splitting bigger groups into fair shares. As always, it is beneficial to encourage your child in math by using real-life examples or everyday objects to help understand these tricky concepts.

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

The class scientists have enjoyed learning about the plant cycle. Soon, we will learning about another cycle and will be hatching our own butterflies! As we travel throughout this busy time in June, we will be enjoying geography concepts and locating places on maps (although we’ve used our classroom map throughout the year!)

TECHNOLOGY
We are very busy whenever we’re able to get to the Computer Lab. We have become adept at trying some Smartboard templates, locating letters on the keyboard, manipulating objects and words on the screen, and using educational websites. We have also been lucky to have Penguin Cold Cash and Gold Medal Math on our classroom computers, programs that were actually created by a former Ox Ridge student! We soon hope to start typing our final Writers Workshop stories!

MAY REMINDERS
Wed., May 4:                Butterfly “Bruce Mobile” (In-school enrichment)
Mon. 5/9 – Wed 5/11:   Book Fair, “The Hunt for a Good Book”
Tues., May 10:              Barbara McGrath, Author Visit
Fri., May 20:               Summer Library Visitors
Fri., May 20:               Scholastic orders due (Will be sent home 5/16)
         *** Part of the Scholastic News proceeds will go to Japan!***
Thurs., May 26:           Field Day, 12:45-2:15  (Come, all family members!)
Fri., May 27:               Raindate for Field Day
Fri., May 27:               School Spirit Day, Patriotic Day (Wear red, white, & blue)
Mon., May 30:             Memorial Day, no school

MAY BIRTHDAYS

Thursday, May 12:       Jack Wilber

Friday, May 27:         Madden Hart

JUNE REMINDERS

Fri., June 3:                Music Performance, 10:30 for 1-Mc & 1-D
               ***(Families, come early for good parking & seats!)***
Wed., June 8:             Ice Cream Celebration Author & Memory Share,
                                  1:30-3:00 Mrs. Mc’s Classroom
Fri., 6/17:                   Shortened Day, Last Day of School

JUNE BIRTHDAYS

Sat., June. 4: Nicole Bolger

JUNE/SUMMER BIRTHDAYS

July 18: Charly Covello

July 19: Josephine Williams

July 22: Austin Peck

July 28: Matthew Lia

July 30: James Durkin

OTHER IMPORTANT NOTES
What a busy time of year! I am hoping you can all come on the afternoon of Wednesday, June 8th. We will be having our Author and Memory Share combined with an ice cream celebration. We will meet in the classroom first, and weather permitting, head outside after that. Feel free to bring other family members with you for this exciting, culminating activity!

Our last Spelling Test will be right before Memorial Day weekend. We will be having an informal spelling bee early in June for fun! We learned so much!

Thank you for your generous contributions to Pennies for Patients, Box Tops, and the other numerous school fundraisers. The last day to collect box tops for this year’s class contest will be Friday, May 20.

Make Change for Japan fundraiser will continue until Friday, May 27.

Thanks also to those involved with the scenery for the Let’s Pass It On play to be performed in June by all first graders.

Thanks to the hard work during March Math Madness!

All volunteers, continued thanks to you!

If your child has borrowed some of our classroom library books or materials, please return them to school by the last week of May. Thanks!

SIGHT WORDS

after

again

always

around

as

ask

because

been

before

best

both

call

does

don't

draw

found

goes

had

him

its

just

pull

read

sing

their

then

these

us

very

walk

wash

were

which

why

would

your

Student Reporting

We had a very interesting April Fools Day!

We finished our All About stories. We can’t wait to read them to another class!


We are working hard on our character puppets in Readers Workshop and will celebrate next week!

In math, we did tricky stuff with tens and ones with really big numbers.

We learn about a lot of expressions and know what it’s like to be a “Good egg!” Our classroom is in “mint condition” Friday afternoon too!

On April Fools Day, we dressed up all miss-matched.

The weather feels like an April Fools joke, but we are glad we didn’t have a snowstorm!

Student Reporting by Charly, Mia and Jacqueline

Miss Patti and Mrs. Mc!

April McMonthly News

IN LIKE A LAMB, OUT LIKE A LION


Wow, the weather expression was a little opposite this month with the flurries and cold weather we’ve been having!

LANGUAGE ARTS


We are focusing on comprehension strategies in our stories, as we continue to review short and long vowels, blends, and sight words. We have also been enjoying paying more attention to the characters in our just right reading. Next week, we will have our "All About" project celebration that follows our non-fiction writing unit! Our next writing unit focuses on Realistic Fiction where stories are true to life, but may not have happened. With our Word Study, please remember to keep practicing our old spelling patterns as we keep learning new patterns.

READING HOMEWORK INFO


In addition to our “paper” homework that we do almost daily, we should be reading approximately 15 minutes on our own, so that we can continue to build fluency and understanding – even on the weekends! (Thanks for encouraging your children.)

MATH


We soon return to shapes, attributes and measurement, and we anticipate some cool activities working with symmetry. To help us understand bigger math problems, we are also using counting strategies in a much more advanced way than we did earlier in first grade!

BIRTHDAYS

Thursday, April 21: Freddie Persia

Monday, April 25: Andrew Popson

Tuesday, April 26: Peter Durkovic

REMINDERS

Friday, April 1: Class Spirit Day, Clothing Clash day

April 1 – May 31: “Let’s make change for Japan” fundraiser

Wednesday, April 6: Character project due

Thursday, April 7: Scholastic orders due

Friday, April 15: No School, Staff Dev.

April 18 - 22: School closed, April vacation

April 25 - 29: After-Earth-Day Week, save energy by keeping lights off as much as possible

UPCOMING DATES

Wednesday, May 4: In-school enrichment, The Bruce Mobile (Bruce Museum)

Mon – Wed, May 9-11: The-Hunt-for-a-Good-Book Book Fair

(Scholastic orders will go home the next week)

Thursday, May 26: Field Day, 12:45 - 2:15

Friday, May 27:Raindate for Field Day

Wednesday, June 8:  Memory Share/Ice Cream Celebration

Friday, June 17: Last day of school for students

The Springtime gets so busy at Ox Ridge with a myriad of activities. Please be on the lookout for schedule changes and additions.


Our class reporters have been such hard workers and have been doing their best to blog our class highlights weekly. Keep an eye out on our class website!

A TON OF THANKS


• Thanks for encouraging your child to participate in March Math Madness!

• Thanks for your support for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society with the "Pennies for Patients" fundraiser!

• Keeping in mind the importance of every penny, we will continue collecting spare change through May. Student Council will send along the proceeds for Japan-relief efforts. Thank you so much if you’re able to contribute. Every penny does really count!

• Thanks for your support for "Box Tops for Education!"

• Thanks for your support with the Daffodil Drive!

• Thank you, Volunteers, at school and with your home support!

• We are one very lucky classroom.

MONTHLY WORDS

could

every

get

good

her

how

look

once

ran

round

start

thank

that

them

there

think

under

warm

when

white

Student Reporting

We are drafting our All About story books in Writers Workshop. We listened to Miss Blake’s fancied-up stories. They did awesome!

We have been paying close attention to characters in Readers Workshop and found traits that we like and don’t like.

 

In math, we keep figuring out new strategies for hard problems. We even learned tips to use when the number is missing from the middle.

 

We reminded ourselves what we can do when we are finished.

 

Pennies for Patients are still being collected through March 31st.

 

The weather was bad and snowy on the first day of spring!

 

Student Reporting by Ben

 

 

 

Mrs. Mc wants families to know of some upcoming dates that were not on the original calendar:

• Next Friday, April 1st: CLOTHING CLASH DAY(for some April Fool’s Fun)

• May 4: Butterfly program at Ox Ridge by the Bruce Museum

• May 9-11: The-Hunt-for-a-Good-Book Book Fair in the Library

• May 26th: Field Day, 12:45 – 2:15 (for families!)

• May 27th: Field Day raindate, 12:45-2:15

• June 8th: Memory Share and Ice Cream celebration, afternoon (for families!)

 

**Be on the lookout for the Musical performance dates…..

 

 

 

FIRST FULL DAY OF SPRING?!?

SPRING IS HERE!

STUDENT REPORTING

This week was Conference week.  Mrs. Mc had us work very hard!

We started our All About story books on our own in Writers Workshop.  We feel great about our stories! 

In math, we learned strategies for figuring out math problems.  One that is really tricky is called Fact  Families when you have 3 numbers in a family and can write 2 subtraction facts and 2 addition facts using the same numbers.  Doubling is also helpful.

St. Patrick’s Day made us feel very lucky for many things.  Some of us thought there was a real leprechaun on the playground.  It didn’t play any tricks in the classroom.

The first place winner of the Iditarod dog race in Alaska was John Baker.  This was the first time he was in the race and he broke the fastest record.  He takes good care of his dogs.

Mrs. Mc wants families to be on the lookout for some upcoming dates this spring (field day, musical performance, memory share).  Coming soon!

Student Reporting by Austin, Peter and Jeremiah on Friday afternoon.

Student Reporting

We continued to read Dr. Seuss stories and learned that Dr. Seuss helps us with rhymes and important messages.

We shared our non-fiction team reports with kindergarten classes. That made us feel great.

In math, we learned about Capacity of containers and comparing objects using a balance scale.

We put 3-D objects together to make a creation that looks like a space ship or cruise ship.

We checked into the Iditarod dog race in Alaska. We found out that they will finish at the town of Nome.

Student Reporting by Andrew, Jack W, and Jack Y

STUDENT REPORTING

We celebrated Dr. Seuss’s birthday by making rhymes and having moms and dads make us green eggs and ham.  We also read a lot!


Simone shares Dr. Seuss’s birthday.

We are working on non-fiction writing projects in teams of 3 students. Some of our topics are shooting stars, dolphins, glaciers, marvelous mammals, blizzards, and America.

When a character talks in a book, we try to talk like them.

In Math, we are studying 2-D, flat shapes and 3-D shapes.

Student Reporting by Jacqueline, Madden, and Valentina

MARCH MCMONTHLY NEWS

IN LIKE A LION, OUT LIKE A LAMB?

March is coming in like a lamb this year.  Let's hope the lamb weather gets a little warmer!  You will be amazed at how fast time will fly in first grade this spring!

We kick off the month with Dr. Seuss' birthday!  We will participate in "Read Across America" in honor of Dr. Seuss this Wednesday.  A few ways the children can show their spirit for Read Across America and our "Green Eggs and Ham" Activity Afternoon is to wear red, white, and black clothing as "Cats in the Hat."  Or, if your child has a favorite hat or some crazy or mismatched socks, he or she could wear them on Wednesday as well.  In addition, if your child has any favorite Dr. Seuss books, he or she should feel free to bring them in to enjoy with their classmates throughout this week.

LANGUAGE ARTS

We continue to review short vowels, long vowels, and we are learning tricky sounds that look a little different and "don't follow the rules."   Paying close attention to the longer stories we are now reading helps us to rigure out what to do when words are tricky, and it also helps us to "jump" right into books with characters!  We are increasing our writing skills and focusing on compete sentences, proper punctuation, and story details.  We have been enjoying non-fiction writing and we officially move into writing our own "All About" stories.

MATH

We now begin to enjoy a new understanding of geometric shapes and have fun with different units of measurement (perhaps we can help cook more now!)  By the middle of the month, we will return to focus on the parts and total in addition and subtraction stories by using strategies such as doubling, counting on, counting back, and more.

BIRTHDAYS

Wednesday, March 2:          Simone Yang

REMINDERS

Wed, Mar. 2:  Wear red, white & black clothing, crazy socks, or hats

(Class Spirit Day in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday and Read Across America Day)

Fri., Mar. 4:  Scholastic orders due

Mar. 7 - 31:  Pennies for Patients School-wide Fundraiser

Mon., Mar. 11:  Progress Reports home

Mon-Wed., March 14-16:  Conferences, 1:30 dismissal

SPECIAL NOTES

• Thanks for the continued box tops. The collection continues through May.
• Thanks for your generous support in the Daffodil Drive.
• Continued thanks to our Room Moms, Marijke Hart and Nancy Lombra, and all families for all the work you do with your children supporting our first grade learning

FEBRUARY WORDS



any

ate

blue

by

fly

from

funny

give

live

many

may

our

out

of

pretty



STUDENT REPORTING

Wow!  It has been busy in first grade.

We worked really hard on HOW TO stories.  We are experts at lots of stuff.  Now we're starting a new unit on ALL ABOUTs.

In Math, we have been adding Tens and Ones with really big numbers.

We enjoy our Superstars of the week and whoever the Class Pets visit.

In January, most of us had fun playing on the snow days at home.  But some of us wanted the groundhog to predict an early spring!  On the playground, the first graders made some cool creations and enjoyed playing on the big hills.  Some days were so cold that we couldn't even go outside!  It has been quite a winter!

It was cool when High Touch High Tech visited first grade! We studied shadows. We learned that you need three things to make a shadow: some light, an object, and a spot for the shadow to go (a surface).


On the 100th day of school (which turned out to be Wednesday, Feb. 9th) we made marshmallow creations!  We were able to touch some animals from the Darien Nature Center.  We learned a lot about the way animals move.  We had lots of fun on Valentines Day.  We shared valentines and celebrated friendships.

Mrs. Mc wants to remind parents that conference week was changed due to the 5 snow days and will be held one week later.

FEBRUARY MCMONTHLY NEWS

Will the groundhog see his shadow?



Will the groundhog not see his shadow?



Our favorite photo spot is now too deep for us!

     

It's coming......

THEME

Incredibly, as of Feb. 1, the 100th day of school should arrive on Tuesday, February 8th!  This month is filled with holiday celebrations and theme awareness such as Chinese New Year, Groundhog Day, Force and Motion/Shadows, the 100th Day, Valentine's Day, and Presidents' Day.  We don't know how we're going to squish in vacation!

LANGUAGE ARTS

We continue to learn long vowel sounds that are spelled in many different ways and review short vowel sounds.  We continue to increase our sight vocabulary!  Our confidence in spelling new words will help us as we continue to do more non-fiction story writing!  We are excited to have our "How-To" Writers' Celebration very soon.  We realized that we are experts at many activities!  Next focus:  "All-About" stories.  (We know a lot about many things, so that should be exciting!)

*Special Note:  If your child wishes to do a very brief "how-to" video, feel free to film them and send their creation to me via email, camera, flash drive, etc.  We have learned that "acting out" helps us put more details in our writing, so this is a terrific form of encouragement.  (No pressure though!)

MATH

We have been working hard to investigate how numbers go together in fact families.  We will soon return to place value to help us make sense of some big numbers!  We will also study 3-D objects to understand geometry and measurement.

BIRTHDAYS

No February birthdays

REMINDERS

Jan. 31 - March 4:  Daffodil Drive (Delivery March 14th)

Wed., Feb. 2:         Enrichment Program,
                              Shadows With High Touch/High Tech

Thurs., Feb. 3:        Chinese New Year

Fri., Feb. 4:            Superbowl Spirit Day;

Wear your favorite team/sport jersey or Ox Ridge colors/gear

Fri., Feb. 4:           Scholastic Orders Due

Tues., Feb. 8:        100th Day of School

Fri., Feb. 11:         2nd marking period ends

Mon., Feb. 14:      Valentine celebration

Feb. 21 - 25:         Presidents Week/Vacation



SPECIAL NOTES

• I can't thank you enough for sending in the mid-year supplies.  It has been so nice to restock some items that we have used up quite quickly, and it's neat to have some new goodies too (ex: soft tissues!)  Thank you for your generosity!
• Please remember to include all your classmates when you make/write your Valentines!

• We will be making 100th Day creations in class; no need to send in any goodies.

• With the chilly/snowy weather, please label all cold weather gear and send to school with your child in some kind of "snow gear bag."  Thank you for helping the children stay organized with their belongings!
• We currently have 2 bags with unclaimed snowpants (one Trader Joe bag and one big brown bag).
• Thank you for your support in sending in the "Box Tops for Education."  Please keep them coming!
• Thank you for your support in the Daffodil Drive!
• We were lucky to have Jeanne Yurman and Joanne Frawley present a terrific environmental/recycle program sponsored by the DAEG in January.  Thanks!  The students are excited to care for their environment way before the arrival of Earth Day.
• Continued thanks to our Room Moms, Marijke Hart and Nancy Lombra, and for all Volunteers!

JANUARY SIGHT WORDS

did

do

going

into

know

must

new

no

now

old

open

over

so

some

soon

those

too

use

will

with