Field day and field trip

It's going to be a fun and busy week.  On Wednesday, we have field day at Bitterroot from 9-10:30. Make sure your kiddo wears tennis shoes and is dressed for PE.  You may need to put sunscreen on your child before they come to school-depending on the weather.

On Friday, we have our annual field trip to Riverfront Park.  Make sure your child has appropriate clothes for the weather, running shoes, packed lunch, bug spray, sunscreen, hat, water bottle, jacket

and a packed lunch if you did not order one from the school. 

You will start seeing a lot things coming home so make sure you check your child's backpack everyday.

Here is to a couple of great last weeks of school!

Wishing you well!

Happy Mother's Day

Thanks to all the mom's and special ladies that attended the First Grade Mother's Day breakfast. The kids loved showing you off.  Happy Mother's Day!  I hope you are getting spoiled by your awesome kiddo today!

Did you return the field trip permission form, lunch form, and $2 for a Snowie?  If not please do so ASAP.

Thank you to those who came and supported the first graders at their music performance.  It was so much fun!

The final PTA meeting of the year will be on Thursday, May 17th at 6:30 in the library.  They are still looking for a treasurer and secretary.  Please consider becoming a part of the PTA board.

I will be out of town on Friday for my son's High School Lacrosse Championship in Great Falls.

We are finally back to our normal reading group routine.  This week we will be learning and reading about traditions.

In writing, we will be reviewing the different genres and completing our fourth quarter writing samples

In math, we will be learning about graphing and the different types of graphs.

Still Testing

Friday, May 12th from 7:30-8:05 we will be hosting our First Grade Mother's Day Breakfast!  This is a time for you and your kiddo to spend some extra special time together to celebrate YOU!  Please leave siblings at home.  We will have muffins, fruit, coffee, and juice.  I you are unable to attend your kiddo may bring another special lady in their life (grandma, aunt, etc.)  Hope to see you there!

Also on May 12th is our first grade music performance.  It will be held in the gym from 1:15-1:45. Mrs. Olson has a great show planned and the kiddos have been working very hard!

Please make sure to send your kiddo's field trip permission slip and lunch form back.  They will also need $2.00 for a Snowie. That form also came home.

We are finishing  our FastBridge testing and are will be moving on to DRAs this week.  This is an assessment that helps determine your kiddo's reading level.  I have to pull each kiddo individually and have them complete the reading assessment with me...this means no reading groups again this week.  Please make sure you are reading at home with your kiddo.

In math, we are wrapping up fractions (halves and fourths) and starting three-dimensional figures. We will be learning the names of 3-D figures, and how many edges, flat surfaces, and vertices each figure has. Have a great week!

Testing this week and next

There is no school on Friday, May 5th.  I will be gone on May 4th and May 8th.  Mr. Woods will be our guest teacher.

The last book order is due on May 11th.

I will be sending the permission slip and sack lunch slip home for our upcoming field trip to Riverfront Park on May 26th.  Your child will also need to bring $2.00 to purchase a Snowie shaved ice.  If you are unable to send $2.00 please let me know and we can work something out.  Also, please let me know if you would like to volunteer to help out with the field trip.

It's assessment time again.  Please make sure your kids get some good sleep.  Testing is exhausting! This week we will be completing the FASTBridge assessments for math and reading.

We will still be doing whole group reading, but will not be having reading groups due to testing.  Our essential question this week is, "Who helps you?"

We are knee deep in animal research and will begin writing.

In math, we are moving on to geometry.  We will start with 2-D shapes and move on to 3-D shapes. We will be learning about the defining attributes of the shapes (sides, vertices, open, closed).  We will also squeeze in a few fraction lessons while learning about shapes.

The last book order will be going home in Wednesday folders.  Book orders are due on  May 11th.  I can't believe it's almost May.

Our essential reading question is, "How can we work together to make our lives better?"

I am so excited for writing the next few weeks!  We are starting animal reports.  We will be using Pebble Go to research animals.  The students will be working on taking notes and writing complete sentences.  This is one of my favorite projects!

In math, we are continuing to work with money.  Last week we learned about pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters.  This week we will practice counting money and coming up with ways to make 25 cents.  Students will need to be able to order, identify, and compare coins with in 25 cents.   However, we will be challenging our brains and making larger amounts.

If weather permits, we will be doing our first grade field trip at Riverfront Park on Friday, May 26th form 9:30-1:00.  If you are interested in helping, please make sure you have filled out a background check at the office and we have received it back.  In the next week, you will be receiving a permission slip, packed lunch slip, and a Snowie Shaved Ice slip that will need to be returned.

On May 24th, we have field day in the morning.  Mrs. Buss has a variety of games and stations that the kids will rotate through.  This is also a great opportunity to volunteer and the kids have a great time.

Hope you have a great week!

Welcome Back!

I hope you and your kiddo enjoyed the long weekend and were able to spend some extra time together.

The changes in morning walk have helped reduce the number of issues we were having.  We will continue to have the students walk in one big circle with all grade levels walking together.

PTA will be electing three new board members for the upcoming year during the meeting on April 20th.  Positions up for election are Vice-President, Treasurer, and Vice-President of Communication.  If you are interested in running for one of these positions please fill out the paper that will be sent home in Wednesday Folders and return to school the following day.

We are still in need of volunteers for our end of the year field trip on May 26.  You must have a background check to volunteer.  These usually take a few weeks to get back so now is the time to get the process started.  Christy has the forms at the office.

We will also need a few volunteers for field day.  This will take place on May 24 from 9:00-10:30.  Please let me know if you are interested in helping with this fun-filled morning.

In reading, we are back to our regular routine.  Our essential question is, "How do things get built?"  The phonics instruction will focus on the oi, and oy sounds.  Please make sure you are reading each night with your child.  It makes a huge difference in their reading performance.

In writing, we will continue to work on informational writing.  We are using a site called Pebblego to research animals and gather information.

In math, we will continue learning to identify and count coins.  We will learn about the quarter this week.  The kiddos need to be able to build 25 cents three different ways.

Have a great week!

Short week

Wednesday, April 12 is noon dismissal.  There is no school Thursday, April 13-Monday, April 17.  School resumes Tuesday, April 18.

Please send signed report card envelopes back if you have not already done so.

As a staff, we have identified areas/times that are not going as smooth as we would like.  One of the big concerns was morning walk.  At our staff meeting last week we decided we would like to try something new and see if morning walk goes a little bit better.  Here is what will happen next week...

1.  K-5 will walk in one big circle instead of two smaller circles.  Staff members on
     duty will be posted one on each corner of the circle (hmmm....since when did
     circles develop corners?)
2.  When the whistle blows and staff hands go up, everyone freezes.  Students will
     be dismissed by grade level to line up, starting with Kdg and 5th, moving on to
     1st and 4th, then 2nd and 3rd.
3.  All classroom teachers will be outside to pick up their classes and walk them in.
    (1st grade and Mrs. Garcia....come in the north doors, using both doors? Mrs. Perius
     and Miss Redmond come in the hallway door?)
​4.  Pledge will be said in the classrooms instead of outside.​

We will be using the short week as a review week and will not be doing regular reading groups.

Math will also be a review week with some fun bunny and jelly bean activities added in!

Happy Easter!

Happy April!

I hope you had time to look over your kiddo's report card.  If you have questions feel free to email or call me.  Please send signed report card envelopes back to school.

A few reminders from PTA:

Tuesday, April 4 is Domino's fundraiser night.  The final movie night of the year is Friday, April 7th, we will be showing Finding Dory.  The movie starts at 6:00pm.  Elections for PTA officers will occur at the meeting on April 20th.  Up for election are the positions of Vice President, Treasurer, and Vice President of Communications.  The next Panda Express night is Wednesday, April 19th.

Our essential questions for the week in reading are, "What sounds can you hear?" and "How are they made?"  The kiddos should have lots of background knowledge on this topic, as it was what we covered during our first Project Lead The Way module.

We will continue to work on our informational writing pieces.

In math, we are reviewing time and starting to learn about coins.

Have a great week!

Thank you!

A HUGE thank you to all of you who supported the first grade booth at the Classroom Carnival.  I was so bummed to miss it. Also, thank you to those of you who donated items for the raffle basket. The money each booth raised goes directly to the grade level teachers.  First grade uses the money for our end of the year field trip, Mother's Day breakfast, and other fun activities throughout the year.

Report cards go home on Friday, March 31.  Remember BE PROUD OF YOUR KIDDO'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS!  First grade is hard, especially third quarter.  These kiddos worked their tails off this quarter and gave it their all.  After reviewing your kiddo's report card please send the empty, signed envelope back to school.

Mark your calendars...Friday, May 12 will be a busy day for first graders at Bitterroot.  First grade will be hosting our second annual Mother's Day breakfast from 7:30-8:05.  More information will be coming out at a later date.  We will also be having a spring music performance from 1:15-1:45 in the gym.  Hope to see you at both events!

We need volunteers to help out with our end of the year field trip to Riverfront Park on Friday, May 26.  We will need help from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm.  Responsibilities include running a game station, eating lunch with a small group of kiddos, and going on a nature walk as a class.  You must have a background check completed before attending.  Mrs. Z can hook you up with a background check form.  These take a few weeks to get back so it would be wise to get it done now.  If you are interested in volunteering please let me know.

Our essential question in reading this week is, "What inventions do you know about?".

In writing, we will continue working on informational pieces

In math we will continue to tell time to the hour and the half hour.

Rain, rain, go away! Bring on the sunshine

I can't believe how fast the school year is flying by.  Third quarter ends on Friday, March 24.  

Please return picture packets and/or money to purchase those pictures that you would like to keep.

I will be gone Monday, March 27.

A huge thank you to Raegan's mom for coming in to help with our leprechaun science experiments. The kiddos had so much fun!

Thank you to those who donated to the first grade raffle basket.  If you have not already done so there is still time to donate.  Our basket theme is family fun.  Please send donations to school on Monday, March 20.

The Classroom Carnival is Friday, March 24.  The teachers and PTA have been working hard to plan a fun night for the kids.  The funds raised go directly to the teachers to purchase items for the classroom, field trips, and other special projects.

In reading, we will be learning about the sky and what we can see in the sky.  The comprehension skills this week are, making predictions and cause/effect.

In writing, we will continue working on informational writing and I will be assessing their writing later this week.

In math, we will continue to work on non-standard measurement.

Have a great week!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

The classroom carnival is coming up quickly and will be tons of fun this year!  PTA is still taking donations for the raffle baskets.
First Grade Basket Theme:
Family Fun basket - Movies, puzzles, games, science projects, pet toys, arts/craft supplies, books

Yearbook order forms are due March 20th.

Spring pictures will be coming home this week.  Please send money for any pictures you want and return the rest.  Thanks!

Don't forget to spring your clocks forward an hour this weekend.

Whew! We worked hard on assessments we needed to for the end of third quarter. We are still working on our writing assessments.  This week we will review "How-to" writing and have an assessment later this week. I am so proud of the growth the students have made this year.  I can't believe the third quarter is over in a few weeks.

In reading, we are starting unit 5.  Our essential question is: "How can we classify and categorize things?"  We will be reading fiction this week in reading groups and working on identifying the point of view.

In math,  we will start out with non-standard measurement.  This is one of the students favorites

On Friday we will have an afternoon of leprechaun science! It will be a blast.
Watch out for the rain this week.  UGH!

Favorite Book Character Day

Snow again???

Well it felt like spring for a few days, now back to reality.  Make sure your child comes with appropriate recess clothes.  If the sun is shining, they think there is no need for a coat.

I am in need of some volunteers on Friday, March 17 from 12:00-1:00 to help out with our leprechaun science experiments.  Please let me know if you are interested in helping out.

First grade is looking for volunteers to work the popcorn and cotton candy booth at the school carnival on March 24.  All that is involved is taking tickets.  You can choose to work 30 to 60 minutes shifts or the whole two hours if you would like. Thank you!

We are running low on hand sanitizer.  There is some nasty viruses going around.  We even had one Bitterroot kid end up in the ICU for a week.  If you are able, please bring a bottle of hand sanitizer with a pump.  Thanks again!

If you child who has a fever or has thrown up, please make sure to keep them home 24 hours after their fever is gone or and when they have not thrown up for 24 hours.

The end of third quarter is quickly approaching which means we will be reviewing and assessing. Make sure those firsties get their beauty sleep,

In reading, we will be wrapping up unit 4.  Our essential question for the week is, "How do people work with animals?"

In writing, we are continuing to revise and conference on their opinion papers.

In math, we will be reviewing all skills and standards taught this year and assessing.

Have a great week! Stay warm,

March-In like a Lion?

It sounds like it's going to be another chilly week.  Please make sure your kiddo is dressed appropriately.  Shorts are not appropriate for this time of year!  We had lots of tears last week during recess from cold kiddos.  I do not let students call home or stay inside at recess if they are not dressed for the weather.  I can't wait for spring!

HUGE SHOUT OUT TO ALL FIRST GRADERS FOR MAKING IT TO FUN FRIDAY!  Everyone from Mrs. Martin's, Mrs. Dimock's, and our class got to participate in Fun Friday last week!  Can you believe that?!?  We had so much fun building towers with pretzels and marshmallows!

We have a dentist coming to visit and give a presentation on Friday.

We are going to have fifth grade buddies this week. Most kids will have two fifth grade buddies.  This is usually one of their favorite first grade memories.

In reading, we are entering Unit 4 Week 4. Our Essential Questions are: "What insects do you know about?" and "How are they alike and different?" Our genre focus in reading groups this week is fantasy.  We will also be working on labeling this week.

In writing, are continuing our opinion pieces.  The kids and have writing conferences to make sure they have all the components.

In math, we are continuing to add within 100.  We will be reviewing the strategies we have learned so far--draw a picture, use an open number line, and use the 100 chart.  This week we will also learn how making 10 can be a useful strategy.

Have a great week!

Oh no, more snow this week!

Thank you to those who donated food and drinks for our Valentine's party.  We had tons of fun passing out Valentine's, playing Minute to Win It games, and eating!

Class pictures and spring pictures will be taken on Thursday, February 23.  The order form went home in backpacks on Friday.

Members from the Lion's Club will be visiting first grade on Thursday to teach us about the American Flag.

In reading, we will be reading about how animals survive in nature.

February is dental health month.  In writing, we will be writing informational pieces about dental health.

In math, we are continuing to work on adding within 100.  Last week, we became experts at adding and subtracting multiples of 10.  This week, we are making it a bit tougher.  Students will be adding 2-digit numbers to single digit numbers.

Have a great week!

First Grade Valentine’s Day Party

Tuesday, February 14th

Dear Families,

We are excited to celebrate Valentine’s Day in First Grade. We will decorate bags at school before Valentine’s Day. Valentine stickers are always a welcome donation.

We are asking for healthy snacks at the party. Some ideas are meat and cheese platters, cut up fruit and vegetables, crackers, cheese sticks, and juice. We also ask for plates, napkins, cups, and utensils. If you’d like to donate, please call or email so that we make sure we’re not doubling up or overdoing it on one item.

Here is a list of the kiddo’s names. Please make sure each student receives a Valentine.

Girls 10 plus teachers Aaliyah                    Emma   Addie                       Gretchen Ashlyn                     Raegan              Cassidy                    Sydney       Ellie                         Willow Mrs. Martin              Mrs. Dimock Mrs. Vergara            Grandma Kay Boys 7 Anthony Jakob Cruz Mason Eli Rhys Jacob

     

The week is starting out cold.  Please make sure your kiddo has appropriate snow clothes for recess.  We have had very cold kiddos at recess and lots of tears.

Thursday, February 9 is a noon dismissal day.  Please make sure you have arranged a ride for your kiddo.  There is no school Friday, February 10 and Monday, February 13.  School resumes Tuesday, February 14.

Our Valentine's Day party will take place on February 14 in the afternoon.  So far we have plates, cups, napkins, utensils, chocolate dipped strawberries, and crackers.  Please email me if you are planning on sending something for our party.


I know it is early, but it is time to start thinking about all of our end of the year activities.  If you are planning on helping our with field day, our field trip, or any other activity please make sure you have completed the background check process.  Please contact Mrs. Z to start the background check process.

We will be starting Unit 4 in Wonders this week.  This unit is titled, Animals Everywhere.  This looks likes a very interesting and fun unit.  This week, we will be learning about how animal bodies help them.  In reading groups, we will be reading folktales about animals.

In math, we are continuing to work on 10+, 10-, 1+, 1-.  We will continue to work on adding within 100.

As many of you know, Mr. English has been deployed.  Mr. English flew over Bitterroot on his way to Texas.  It was so cool!

100th day of School with 100 year olds!

End of January, Hello February!

I can't believe its almost February! We are expecting more snow this week and colder temperatures. Please make sure to send your kiddo with the appropriate gear for recess.

We have had some very sick kiddos in class.  Please remember to keep kiddos with a fever at home. They must be fever free for 24 hours before coming back to school.

We will be celebrating the 100th day of school on Tuesday, January 31st.  Students may dress up as 100 year olds.  No need to go out and buy costumes, just use whatever you can find at home. This is always such a fun day.  We will still keep to our normal routines, but will add in some extra fun! Please make sure your child has brought their 100 edible items for our 100s Day Stew no later than Tuesday morning.

In reading, we are learning about how we get our food.  This week is full of non-fiction texts.

We will be wrapping up our personal narrative writing this week and go back to opinion writing. The students will write about the favorite part of themselves.

In math, we will continue to work on finding 10 more and 10 less of a given number.  We will also continue to work on adding within 100 using various strategies.  We will start by adding 1-digit numbers to 2-digit numbers.  Third quarter math is tough stuff!

We finished our first Project Lead the Way module!  We had tons of fun and are now light and sound experts!

Have a great week!

Hope everyone had a great weekend.  I am excited to get back to school!

Make sure to send back signed report card envelopes this week. If you would like to set up a time to discuss your child's progress, just send me an email with a few different times that would work with your schedule and I will make it work.

There will be a few papers regarding the 100th day of school coming home in your kiddo's Wednesday folder.  Please be sure to take a look at them.  Can you believe we are getting close to the 100th day of school?!?

On Tuesday, please send your kiddo wearing red, white, and blue.  Dr. Henry will be taking pictures of each class and will be making a book for Mr. English.  He will be deploying in the coming weeks.

We will be having an assembly Friday afternoon.

Fun Friday is working out so well!  The kiddos had a blast last week frosting cookies and getting to work with students in the other classes.  We had a big decrease in the number of students working on expectations.  Hopefully, that number continues to drop!

In reading, we will be working with non-fiction texts.  We will be learning how life is different than it was long ago.  We will be doing lots of comparing and contrasting with our texts.

We had many interruptions during our math block last week and did not get as far as we should have.  This week we will comparing numbers, 10 more, 1 more, 10 less, and 1 less of a given number.

Wishing you well!

TESTING!

We do not have school on Monday, January 16th. Teachers are going to a presentation about Generational Poverty at West High in the morning and then working in our buildings in the afternoon.

We will be starting Unit 3 Week 3 in our reading curriculum. Here are the skills we will be working on: 
Weekly Concept: Tales Over Time
Essential Question: What is a folktale?
Oral Vocabulary: tale, hero, eventually, foolish, timid
Phonics/Spelling: -ed, -ing/ soft c, g, dge
HFW: any, from, happy, once, so, upon

In writing, we will continue to work on Personal Narratives. The kids are getting better each day! Practice makes progress.

In math, we will begin 10 more, 10 less and 1 more, 1 less. We've spent weeks working on writing our numbers 1-120, addition strategies, recognizing patterns on a hundreds chart, and great than/less than. They are well prepared for the task at hand, and I have no doubts they will take this new challenge head on!

Just a few reminders:
Snow clothes are getting pretty smelly. Please think about washing. The kids eat before they play at lunch, so they wear most of their gear to the lunch room.
Also, our attendance has been very poor since coming back from Christmas break. Please remember to call the office if your child will not be attending school.

I will be finishing up testing math and reading this week.  Make sure you kids are getting adequate sleep!
I will be gone Thursday and Friday so we will have a guest teacher.

Wishing you well,
Wendy Martin

Shout out to our class--I am so proud of the kiddos in our classroom.  We had a wacky week this past week and the kiddos were on their best behavior and we were able to have lots of fun!  Behavior-wise I think it was our best week yet!  Our wacky week consisted of lots of indoor recess (fingers crossed we get to go outside this week) and a few schedule changes.  Our class has come so far since the beginning of the year and I  certainly saw their maturity this past week.

Second quarter comes to an end on Friday.  That means we are half way through first grade!  WOW!

Monday, January 16 is a no school day for students.  Teachers will be in meetings-UGH!  January 16 is also Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  We will be spending the week learning about MLK and diversity.

You received a letter about Fun Friday last week.  We practiced expectations last week and this week is the real deal.  The first grade teachers will be tracking students' behaviors throughout the week. Students who need some extra practice meeting expectations will get some extra help with them on Friday afternoon.  The students who have met the expectations for the week will participate in a Fun Friday activity.

Our class attendance is SCARY!  After being in school for almost half a year we are still only in the 30 day club.  That means we have only had 30-some days of perfect attendance and no tardies.  When your kiddo misses school they miss out on learning.  First grade is very hands on and many things we do I cannot send home.  I can send home worksheets that cover the material, but it is not the same. Research shows first graders need the concrete, hands-on experiences to gain an understanding of the concepts and make learning meaningful.

Speaking of attendance and tardies...we begin our winter benchmark testing on Monday.  We will be testing in the mornings next week.  A majority of the assessments are one on one, so the rest of the students will be doing literacy centers.  We will not have reading groups this week.  My hope is to be able to get all of the testing done this week, so we do not have to take anymore instructional time the following week.

In writing, I will be assessing informational, opinion, and narrative samples.  This will guide the writing instruction for next quarter.

I am astonished at how quickly the students were able to understand place value. This week will will start comparing numbers by looking at how many tens and ones are in a number and work with the terms greater than, less than, and equal to.

Here's to another great week and hoping we can go outside for recess!

Welcome back!

Happy 2017!  I hope you had an enjoyable holiday break.  I certainly did!  It was full of family, friends, sleeping in, and relaxing!  It is going to be tough waking up this week!

We are welcomed back to school with some COLD weather.  Be sure to dress your kiddo for the weather.  If it is below zero we will stay inside for morning walk and recess.

We will be easing back into school mode by reviewing behavior expectations.  It always seems like this is necessary after the long holiday break and a good way to start out the last half of the year. Second quarter is quickly coming to an end.  This year is flying by.

Before break each student completed a reading assessment.  This assessment tells me what reading level each kiddo is reading at and what skills we need to work on (fluency, retells, main idea, decoding, etc.).  After looking at reading levels and skills that need improvement I have rearranged some of the reading groups.  We will start the new reading groups.

In reading, we are starting Unit 3. Our essential questions is, How do we measure time?" We will start back up with reading groups and hopefully not have fallen too far behind over break. Did your kiddo do Mrs. Anderson's reading challenge? I can't wait to see!

After taking a break from personal narrative writing for some Christmas activities we are back at it. We will work on finishing up the piece we started before Christmas.

In math, we will focus on counting and writing numbers 100-120.  We will also be playing some review games to help us review 10s and 1s.

Stay Warm!