Author of the Month:
Our author of the month was Paulette Bourgeois. Many are familiar with the Franklin the Turtle stories. An adaptation of a children's show is on PBS. The 1st grade had many opportunities to listen to many stories by this author.
Flat Stanley:
1st grade has been writing back and forth with a 3rd grade classroom from Maryland. All the students have a pen pal. This is a great opportunity for the students to learn about other children’s interests and about their school.Spring Celebrations:
1st grade had a great time participating in activities pertaining to Spring. They got to make crafts, listen to stories about spring, and write stories about this exciting season.Earth Day:
We celebrated Earth Day in 1st grade by watching educational videos, designing “Think Green “ posters, listening to stories, and discussing ways to help keep the Earth green.Rain Forests:
As part of celebrating Earth Day, 1st grade had the opportunity to learn and discuss about the Rain Forests. We learned that the Rain Forests are being destroyed and how this could harm our environment.Plants/Flowers:
1st grade has learned in Science about plants and flowers. They also had the opportunity to plant their plants during Science centers in the morning. They enjoyed this!New Students:
We would like to welcome a new student in Miss Ferris’ class. His name is Matthew Z.
American Education WeekDuring the week of November 14th – November 18th, CMES was very busy! We had guest readers, Thanksgiving luncheon, Grandparents’ Day, visitors from TeleTech, and Family Portrait Night sponsored by Title I.
*Thanksgiving luncheon: Everyone in the school had an opportunity to have a sit down Thanksgiving lunch with their teachers. Thank you to the cooks for taking the time to cook a wonderful lunch for all of us!
*Grandparents’ Day: Grandparents’ Day was well attended. The primary grades celebrated Grandparents’ Day on Wednesday. A HUGE thank you to Mrs. Fox for directing the wonderful music performance for the grandparents. The students did an awesome job! After the music performance in the gym , the grandparents visited their grandchild’s classroom to sing and dance to Tuti Ta!!
*TeleTech Book Trust: Our Partners in Education, TeleTech, is sponsoring a program called Book Trust. What that means is that they provide a new book to our students every month. The students love it. During American Education Week, TeleTech came to visit our classroom and were guest readers. They read one of the many books they’ve supplied for our students, titled, Turkey Trouble.
*Guest Readers: We had a couple guest readers during this week. We had Mr. Zambito, Title I teacher, Mrs. Zambito’s, husband and Mrs. Miller from WesBanco, one of our other Partners of Education. A big thank you to them!
Author of the Month
1st grade’s author of the month was Eric Carle. We read many books by this author. Books everyone would be familiar with would be, The Very Quiet Cricket, The Grouchy Ladybug, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, just to name a few. This author is known for his interesting illustrations and books themed around insects, spiders, and animals.
Super Hero Zero
Super Hero Zero came to visit our classroom again! They got cool stickers where they can draw on them with gel pens. We are close to 70 days!!
Thanksgiving Celebration
1st grade got to celebrate Thanksgiving. We participated in stations all dealing with activities about Thanksgiving. A BIG thank you to our parent volunteers who came in to help!
Academics
1st grade is really coming along and learning many new concepts and skills! They are working hard in reading and math. The Fundations program is really helping the 1st graders be better spellers, decoders, and writers!
Fire Safety1st grade enjoyed the opportunity to learn all about fire safety this month. We went on a trip to the local fire department. The fire department workers were very helpful and kind by teaching our students about the dangers of fire and what to do if a fire should unfortunately happen. We also read about fire fighters and fire safety in our weekly newsletters and watched videos as well.
Author of the Month
1st grade’s author of the month was Maurice Sendak. Many of you are familiar of the story, Where the Wild Things Are, which was made into a movie. We read books by this author and learned about this author’s life.
Super Hero Zero
Super Hero Zero came to visit our classroom again! The 1st graders got a little snack from him! We are almost up to 50 days! We are half way to 100!!
Brush In
1st grade had a visit from some dental hygienists. They taught the students all about dental health. The 1st graders learned how to properly brush their teeth and how often. They also learned the importance of seeing a dentist. The students learned how healthy eating styles can help your teeth be healthy also.
Academics
1st grade has been working so hard. They are doing great with the new phonics program, Fundations! 1st grade is starting to learn early literacy skills which are so important for being lifelong readers. Not only are 1st graders doing so well in reading, they are doing well with mathematics! We are learning many new skills every day. 1st grade is learning how to add and subtract 2 digit numbers by using the number line, counting money, telling time to the nearest hour and half hour, solving story problems, just to name a few.
Report Cards
Report cards have been sent home. Hopefully parents are able to see strengths and weaknesses in both math and reading through these report cards. Seeing the standards listed on report cards should allow parents a better opportunity to assist students with specific skills. So please read the report card carefully and look for ways to incorporate those skills into the everyday life of your son or daughter.
October 2011
Johnny Appleseed1st graders had the opportunity to learn and participate with fun activities about Johnny Appleseed. We learned about the legend of how he planted all the apple trees across the country. The students also had a chance to sample all the different types of apples such as, Granny Smith, Macintosh, and Golden Delicious.
Author of the Month
1st grade’s author of the month was Norman Bidwell. He is best known for writing the famous Clifford the Big Red Dog books. The students listened to many different Clifford stories.
Super Hero Zero
Super Hero Zero came to visit our classroom. Depending on our behavior and how hard everyone works, Super Hero Zero will come and leave a surprise for the students. He comes on days that end with a zero. So far, he left the special different apples to help celebrate Johnny Appleseed, and the last time he left Halloween pencils!
Student Teacher
We have been very fortunate to have Mr. Ferguson as a student teacher. He is from West Liberty University. He is technically Miss Ferris’ student teacher, but has been very helpful and worked with Mrs. Taylor’s students as well. His last day will be on Friday, October 7. He will be sadly missed by all. The 1st graders have really enjoyed him and we wish him the best!
Academics
We have been very busy learning new things in 1st grade!! We are starting to fall into a routine. We have done Fundations. This is our new phonics program that our school adopted. The kids really enjoy this. This program is really engaging and gets the students motivated to learn reading. We have also been busy learning new math skills. The students have learned many engaging math games that help with math concepts and skills. 1st graders have been doing well learning how to work well in centers. They have been working in centers in the morning, reading, as well as math centers.
Q and U Wedding
1st grade celebrated a very special wedding. Q and U got married!! Q will always be with U with any words that have a Q. Mr. Games officiated the wedding while the other students participated as the bride and groom, bridesmaids, quarterbacks, shushers (who held up the quiet signs), quarter girl, and vowels (some of the wedding guests). Both preschool classes attended as the guests.
September 2011
Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s),
The 1st grade teachers, Miss Ferris and Mrs. Taylor, welcome you and your child to our 1st grade classroom at Center McMechen Elementary School. We are looking forward to the upcoming school year. There are many new and exciting things we are going to do in 1st grade.To begin with, Miss Ferris and Mrs. Taylor will be team teaching throughout the day. The entire 1st grade class will be combined into either whole group, small group, independent, and/or centers. We believe doing this in 1st grade will better meet all the students’ individual needs, academic levels, ability levels, and interest levels. We are trying to instill independence/self-sufficiency, collaboration with others, and self confidence with every child. This in turn will better prepare your child for the 21st Century.
Since the students are involved in the many different instructional settings they must be made aware the importance of the rules and regulations in the classroom. Similar to kindergarten, 1st grade will be utilizing a bus system. If his/her bus is moved to yellow it is a warning and red is when the parents will be notified of the mishaps of the day. This will be communicated in the student’s agenda which needs to be reviewed and signed daily.
The grading policy 1st grade will be utilizing is a standards based report card. That means your child will not be receiving a letter grade for a specific subject, but instead will receive mastery, partial mastery, and/or novice for specific skills for that subject area. Here we can specifically indicate performance by each instructional standard highlighting a child’s strengths and weaknesses.
We are looking forward to an exciting year with your child. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns. All forms and information from 1st grade will be uploaded on to Ed-line, which is on our school’s website.
Sincerely, Miss Ferris and Mrs. Taylor
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