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.

Update May 27th

*Excellence Fair is coming up this Friday, May 31st from 2:15-2:45pm.  We are inviting parents to come into school at 2:15pm to view your child's work from first grade.    During the Excellence Fair, you will have a chance to view your child's work and the other student's work as well.  We ask that you make plans for siblings during this time, so the first graders can shine!  The fair will end at 2:45 in order for parents to clear the parking lot for dismissal to begin. Please email me if you or another adult is not able to come to the Excellence Fair.  I will have a sign out dismissal form in my classroom if you would like to take your child home at the end.  They are very excited to share with your their excellent work!

*This week in Math, we will be taking three days to complete the End of Year Math Assessment (check-in.) These assessments will be passed on to your child's 2nd grade teacher and be used to help determine students that would benefit from additional math support in 2nd grade.

*We will also use our Weekend News to assess student's progress in writing this year.   Students will be able to use writing check-lists and students dictionaries to edit their work.

*During our last full week of school, we will be doing fun activities.  We will end with a pizza party on the last day of school.  I will be sending home more information on our End of Year Spirit Days this week.

Looking Ahead:

May 31st- Excellence Fair (parents invited, no siblings please) 2:15-2:45pm

June 17th- Last Day, 12:20pm Early Release

Update May 17th

*This Wednesday, May 22nd is Field Day!  We will spend part of the morning and part of the afternoon outside participating in fun games and activities.  Students decorated shirts this week to wear to Field Day.  When they come to school on Wednesday, they will change into their shirt.  I would encourage shorts or athletic pants depending on the weather.  Everyone should wear sneakers and sunscreen and bug spray if needed.  Sunscreen and bug spray need to be applied at home before coming to school.  Please also send students to school with a water bottle that is labeled with their name.

*On Friday morning, Nancy from the JV Fletcher Library will come in to talk about their Summer Reading Program.  If your family hasn't participated in the Summer Reading Program, it's a great way to continue reading throughout the summer and earn some great prizes!

*In Math, we will finish Unit 9.  We will continue to review concepts we've learned this year.  An area we continue to need support in is telling time on an analog clock.  Students should be able to tell and make times on the hour and half hour.  Students are having some difficulty when creating times.  They need reminders about the hour hand being short and minute hand long.  Also when creating half past times, the hour hand must be between two numbers.  This would be great to practice at home!

*We will be writing the 100 Power Words for the final time this year over the course of the week.  I am also beginning to assess student's reading levels.  I'm amazed at all of the growth the class has made in reading (accuracy, fluency and comprehension) this year!  We will continue to read in groups and send home books to read at home.

*Excellence Fair is coming up next Friday, May 31st from 2:15-2:45pm.  We are inviting parents to come into school at 2:15pm to view your child's work from first grade.  Over the next two weeks, students will choose pieces of work they are proud of and they believe shows Excellence.  During the Excellence Fair, you will have a chance to view your child's work and the other student's work as well.  We ask that you make plans for siblings during this time, so the first graders can shine!  The fair will end at 2:45 in order for parents to clear the parking lot for dismissal to begin. 

Looking Ahead:

May 22nd- Field Day 

May 27- No School, Memorial Day

May 31st- Excellence Fair (parents invited, no siblings please) 2:15-2:45pm

June 17th- Last Day, 12:20pm Early Release