Update September 13th

*I hope to see many of you on Monday night (September 16th) from 7-7:45pm for Back to School Night.  We will quickly chat about curriculum and spend time learning about important information for all parents to know.  Please note, this session is for parents/guardians only (no students) in order to discuss what to expect in first grade.  If you haven't already, please take a minute to fill out this questionnaire about Back to School Night.  https://forms.gle/eXfMYJQf64ZBW7F98

*Students began taking out 2 books at Library last week.  Please be sure to send books back to school each Tuesday so your child can take out another book.

*September 21st is International Day of Peace.  We hope you enjoy our display of peaceful pinwheels outside when you arrive for Curriculum Night on Monday.

*Students will have a writing ideas homework assignment this week that will be due back to school on Friday.  The paperwork and information about this will go home on Monday.  We will be using these ideas for writing throughout the school year.  Please continue to send it sticky notes on Mondays to help students remember what they did over the weekend. Every Monday, we will write about our weekend and share with our classmates.  Some students get stuck on what to write about and having a reminder from home will be helpful.

*Our Focus in Math This Week:

*data collection

*counting by 1s and 5s

*exploring math materials

*solving simple number stories

*counting larger numbers

*In Science this week, we will explore how animal's body parts help them.  Students will see how animals use their fur, blubber or feathers to keep them stay warm.  

*We will continue building the components of the Daily 5.  Students are building their stamina in Read to Self and Work on Writing.  We will introduce Read to Someone and Work on Words this week.

*In Writing, we will discuss what to do when you think you're done with a piece of writing and how to continue a story.  We will also explore how you can use known words to spell tricky words.

*On Wednesday, Mrs. Boylan will read us a book about Peace.

*On Friday we will begin the first of three guidance lessons with School Counselor, Mrs. Rivet.

Update September 6th

**Last week, we began our routine of doing "Weekend News Writing." Each Monday, students will write about something they did over the weekend.  Often times, students forget what they did over the weekend.  Please recap your weekend with your child on Sunday night or before school on Monday.  If it's helpful for your child, write a sticky note with a couple of ideas to bring to school.

*Homework will begin this week.  We will send home math homework on Tuesday and Thursday only.  Please return the next day.

**We will continue to introduce the components of Daily 5.  Last week students worked on building their Read to Self reading stamina.  This week, we will introduce Work on Writing and finding I-Pick Books.  I-Pick Books are books that students feel they can read on their own and are of interest to them.

**We will continue our Science Unit- Plants and Animal Parts.  This week, we will find similarities between offspring and their parents.  

**In Math, we will focus on 1-more, 1-Less Number Stories, Comparing and Ordering Numbers and Introducing Tally Marks.  We will also learn the rules of some important math games.

**Our classroom tends to get warm throughout the day.  We take frequent water breaks to fuel our bodies.  Please consider sending your child to school each day with a refillable water bottle.

*As a class, we created a long list of rules that will keep us safe at school and allow us to learn best.  We introduced the new elementary core values, SPIRIT to the students.  Later in the week, we put the rules into the core value categories.  We will review these rules this week.

*On Friday, we will celebrate Dot Day.  Students will listen to Peter Reynolds books throughout the week and we will some fun Dot art activities.

Looking Ahead

**Grade One Back to School Night is Monday, September 16th from 7:00-7:45pm. 

These sessions will be for parents and guardians only. This will allow much needed time for teachers to focus on curriculum topics and for parents to ask questions. I hope to greet many of you as I discuss the first grade curriculum.
Please take a minute to fill out this short questionnaire about Back to School Night: https://forms.gle/dGeMSM8r4kPxkp6d7

Update August 29th

Hello!  I hope you enjoy Labor Day Weekend with family and friends!  I had such a great time meeting and getting to know the class this week.  What a great group!  We practiced many classroom routines and will continue to practice everyday routines in the coming weeks.  Students will continue to build independent skills with morning, lunch and afternoon routines.  One of our goals in first grade is to foster independence with everyday tasks both at school and at home.

**If you have not returned any important forms to school, please do so this week.  Getting the office updated on important student information is essential.  Forms that need to be returned are: Living Lab Permission Slip, Robifulli Trail Permission Slip, Allergy Information, Student Handbook Info, Dismissal Form and Email Address Sign Up, Friendship List.  If you need new copies of any of these forms please email me, cconway@westfordk12.us

**Each week I will update the blog with important information about our week.  When I do update the blog, I will send out an email to let you know.

**I was informed this week that on days that we have a half day of school, breakfast will not be served at the Before School Program.  The reason for this is because there is no staff in the cafeteria on half days.

**Please continue to send water bottles into school.  We take many water breaks throughout the day and I like to have students keep water bottles on their tables while we're in class.

**We will begin our Science unit "Plant and Animal Parts" this week.   This week we will focus on how plants and animals are like others of the same kind.  For example, what makes a dog a dog and a tulip a tulip?

***We will begin Unit 1 of our Everyday Mathematics 4.  This unit will build upon skills already learned in Kindergarten or Pre-1st.  We will play familiar games like Monster Squeeze and Bunny Hop. In addition, we will continue to learn about the math tools that will help us throughout the year.  Students will practice basic counting, skip counting and counting on the number line.

**We will begin to establish the routines of Daily Five.  Please visit the Reading & Daily 5 page on my blog to learn more.  This week we will begin exploring "Read to Self" and the 3 ways to read:

1. Read the words

2. Read the pictures (make up your own story)

3. Retell the story (retell a story you have listened to before)

**Students will practice reading and writing the 25 Kindergarten Spelling Words over the next three weeks.

Looking Ahead:

Monday, September 16th 7:00-7:45pm First Grade Curriculum Night, parents/guardians only please.

August Update

Dear First Graders and Families,

I look forward to meeting and learning about your families this school year! We will have a great time this year learning and creating in Room 3.  

I've attached the back to school newsletter I'll send home on the first day of school for your reference.

**If you have not sent me your email address, please do!  I will be updating this blog each school week for information about what we're doing.  cconway@westfordk12.us

On the first day of school, we will meet our first grade friends in the cafeteria of the school.  Once everyone has arrived, we will walk together down to our classroom to get our day started.  During the first week, we will spend time getting to know our classroom, getting to know our school and getting to know each other.  I love to learn about my first graders and their families.  I hope you'll like learning about my family and me!

I had a great summer at home with my husband, Mr. Conway and our girls, Arya (age 4 and a half) and Kit (age 2.)

Update June 16th

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. Arya and Kit are having a great day with Mr. Conway. 

*This is a reminder that tomorrow, Monday June 17th is our last day of school. We will have a 12:20pm Early Release. We will have a pizza party around 11. Please send your child with a drink for the pizza party. 

*Once again, thank you for a great school year! I've enjoyed my time with your kids so much. 

Update June 7

Monday, June 10^th- Art Day

      We will celebrate Art today!  During the day, we will participate in fun and exciting art projects in our classroom. 

Tuesday, June 11^th - Game Day

      Bring your favorite board game or card game from home.  Remember to put your name on your game.  We will share our games with friends throughout the day.  Please do NOT bring electronic games into school. 

Wednesday, June 12^th  – Book & Blanket Day

      Bring a towel or blanket and your favorite book to school!  We will enjoy the beautiful weather and cozy up with a great book in the front lawn.  Please also wear sunscreen!
We will also have a school wide dance party to celebrate our fundraising efforts from the Turkey Trot last fall.

Thursday, June 13^th - Movie Day

     Please bring an extra snack to school to munch on during our feature presentation!

Friday, June 14^th - Red, White and Blue Day & Move Up Day

       Wear your favorite red, white and blue clothes to celebrate Flag Day!  We will also participate in Move-Up Day. Students will meet their teacher and classmates for next school year.

Monday, June 17^th   - Last Day of School- 12:20 Dismissal

      We will have a pizza party to celebrate the end of the school year.  Please send in $2 if your child is going to buy pizza.  If they are not buying pizza, please send a snack.
We will have a school wide assembly to celebrate the end of the school year.

Thank you again for a wonderful year in first grade! 

Update June 2nd

*Thank you for coming into school on Friday for the Excellence Fair.  It was so great to see how proud and excited the kids were to show you their hard work from this year.  I'm so grateful to see such incredible progress in first grade.  Grade one can be a challenging year, most students learn to read in first grade, but is it so rewarding to see their pride at the end of the school year.  I've enjoyed working with all of your kids and learning about your families this year.  I hope you will stay in touch throughout the years.  My first class is graduating from Westford Academy this year- it sure goes by fast!

*On Tuesday, the 5th grade chorus from Crisafulli will come to perform for the kindergarten, pre-1st and first grade students.  This is always a treat!

*On Wednesday, we have a speaker coming to school to present "The Secret of Kindness."

*We will begin to learn about American Symbols over the next two weeks.  We will talk about what a symbol is and learn about the White House, Bald Eagle, Liberty Bell, Statue of Liberty and the American Flag.

*In Math, we will finish up learning about coins (counting collections of coins.)  We will also play math games to reinforce math concepts.

*We will finish up our Father's Day projects this week too.

*This will be the last week for spelling homework.  I will no longer be sending home math homework for the year.

Looking Ahead:

Monday, June 10^th- Art Day

      We will celebrate Art today!  During the day, we will participate in fun and exciting art projects in our classroom. 

Tuesday, June 11^th - Game Day

      Bring your favorite board game or card game from home.  Remember to put your name on your game.  We will share our games with friends throughout the day.  Please do NOT bring electronic games into school. 

Wednesday, June 12^th  – Book & Blanket Day

      Bring a towel or blanket and your favorite book to school!  We will enjoy the beautiful weather and cozy up with a great book in the front lawn.  Please also wear sunscreen!

Thursday, June 13^th - Movie Day

     Please bring an extra snack to school to munch on during our feature presentation!

Friday, June 14^th - Red, White and Blue Day & Move Up Day

       Wear your favorite red, white and blue clothes to celebrate Flag Day!  We will also participate in Move-Up Day. Students will meet their teacher and classmates for next school year.

Monday, June 17^th   - Last Day of School- 12:20 Dismissal

      We will have a pizza party to celebrate the end of the school year.  Please send in $2 if your child is going to buy pizza.  If they are not buying pizza, please send a snack.