First Grade Rocks

This is a direct quote from Erica Berry after we had our sixth volunteer to help with tallying for the Read-A-Thon.

Thanks so much to Tracy Rice, Michal Weiss, Carol Schirmer, Li-Ling Hsiao, Tory Apolito and Jenn Cronk for volunteering to help with this.

Thanks to Lori Phillips and Kathy Lauder for the incredible party they planned for last Friday. Thanks also to Jessica Altemara, David Trent, Beverly Schieman, Susan Peterman, Ella's grandparents, Kathleen Lapp, Li-Ling Hsiao, Jenn Cronk, Jennifer Macri, Liliana Guillen, Michal Weiss, Missy O'Connor and Sherry Yakorsky for helping out with the party and all the parents who helped out by sending in supplies and snacks.

Thank-you for helping with the field trip: Laura Neagle, Nicole Sbaiti, Kathy Lauder, Liliana Guillen, Karen Hall, David Ross, Raqi Guy and Melanie Thompson.  The field trip was great; however, the behavior of many of the students was not up to first grade standards. One of the theater employees had to come and talk to the students about bouncing on the seats and putting their feet up on the seats. There was a lot of talking during the play - and not quiet talking either. One student even got up and ran part way across the theater before I caught him. Please talk to your children and explain to them that this behavior is not acceptable. We have another field trip to the theater again in two weeks. If we have a repetition of this behavior, we will be forced to cancel further field trips there.

If I forgot someone in my list of thank-yous, I apologize. We have been very impressed with the volunteer commitment of the parents in our classes this year!

Harvest Festival

We had a great day on Friday.  The party was wonderful. Thanks so much to all of the many parents who were involved in that. Unfortunately I did not take any pictures at the party, but I did get some of the characters in my class :-) Thought you would enjoy sharing these pictures of them too!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow we will be going to the Carolina Theater to see Mufaro's Daughters. We have read the book already so I am interested to see how the students are able to compare/contrast the book and the play.
Please remember that the students should be wearing a field trip shirt and bringing a sack lunch. We plan on eating at the park in Southern Village on our way back to school and having some time to run around and defuse all of the stored up energy!


thanks so much for the birthday cards, gifts and wishes. All were very much appreciated. Thanks so much too to the volunteers in the classroom, that makes us able to do so much more with our students!


Have a great day,
Mrs. Baker

Library

Looking forward to seeing you at the library in Pittsboro at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow. I plan on having pictures taken to share with those of you who can't make it.

Important Dates

Some upcoming important dates, times and events:


October
14th  1:20-1:40  Book Fair viewing (you may send money in with the form for today or any                       other day coming up!
17th   8:45-9:45    Fire Prevention Week - visit from Fire Fighters/stop, drop and roll training
20th  Square 1 art orders due
21st   Picture order forms are due. If you order online, the pictures will be delivered to your house instead of you coming to school, trying to find a parking spot and then take home your crumpled pictures!
24th   Field trip permission slips and payment due
27th    Field trip to Carolina Theater in Durham
28th    Harvest Party....all first grade students dress up as a book character. Be creative......
Also come prepared to talk about your character.
November
8th  8:45-9:45     K-nine unit coming to show you what they can do with the animals 
22nd    Grandparent's Day.....meet in the glade.

Important Dates

Some upcoming important dates, times and events:


October
14th  1:20-1:40  Book Fair viewing (you may send money in with the form for today or any                       other day coming up!
17th   8:45-9:45    Fire Prevention Week - visit from Fire Fighters/stop, drop and roll training
20th  Square 1 art orders due
21st   Picture order forms are due. If you order online, the pictures will be delivered to your house instead of you coming to school, trying to find a parking spot and then take home your crumpled pictures!
24th   Field trip permission slips and payment due
27th    Field trip to Carolina Theater in Durham
28th    Harvest Party....all first grade students dress up as a book character. Be creative......
Also come prepared to talk about your character.
November
8th  8:45-9:45     K-nine unit coming to show you what they can do with the animals 
22nd    Grandparent's Day.....meet in the glade.

Have a great Fall Break

I am sure that you noticed that everything came home bagged today. The nurse requested that we do this to remind you of the need for sanitization and cleaning over break. Apparently there has been another case of lice in the elementary division and we would like to observe due diligence to rid ourselves of this pestilence.
There is no school on Thursday, Friday and Monday so the blue folders were sent home today along with next week's homework. We did not have homework this week due to the shortened school week, so hopefully this reprieve has ignited everyone with a refreshed desire to dive back into the homework. 
Timed math today was very encouraging....most students scored their best scores, some even doubling previous scores! I was very impressed.
I did a spelling assessment earlier in the week and was very happy to observe that the average growth in spelling so far this year is 20% of a grade level... (so if your child was spelling at grade level 1.2, now the level would be 1.4 - in one month)
Have wonderful break and enjoy the lovely weather!

Field Trip Schedule for the year

1^st Grade Field Trip Schedule

2011-2012

October 27^th              Carolina Theater:

                                      Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters

November 14^th        Carolina Theater:

                                     How the Raven Sole the Sun

December 5^th           Carolina Theater:

                                     A Christmas Carol

January 25^th            Morehead Planetarium

                                     Earth, Moon and Sun

February 9^th            The Art Center

                                    African Folktales

March 8^th                  The Art Center

                                     Cuentos: Tales from the Latino World     

April (TBD)            Carolina Tiger Rescue

May (TBD)               N. C. Botanical Gardens

                                     Flora Explorers

*Field trips in gray are not yet confirmed.