October 26 - October 30

Greetings First Grade Parents!  I am so excited to be filling in as the 1st grade teacher!  My transition was complete on Thursday.  I am looking forward to my first full week with your children starting tomorrow!  I have met most of you, but for those of you that I have not had the pleasure of meeting, please stop by any time to introduce yourself.  Email me at btuttle@sges.org if you ever have any questions or concerns.  It's a little ironic that I am filling in for Mrs. Shannon while she is on maternity leave because she took over as the "new" first grade teacher when I went part-time after having a baby.  

Here is what we have going on this week and coming up....

-Report cards go home Monday.  If you have any concerns about your child's progress, I will be happy to discuss it with you.  

-Friday, October 30th:  Students may dress up in his/her Halloween costume.  The costume parade will begin at 2:15 and class parties will follow afterwards at approximately 2:30.  Everyone is invited to the party!  Friday night, St. George's will co-sponsor a "trunk or treat" in the rear parking lot of the school from 7:00 - 8:00 pm.  

-Wednesday, November 4th:  We are going on a field trip to the Rock Ranch.  More details about the trip will go out soon.  We need parent drivers for transportation.  Please email me if you are willing to be a driver and the amount of students you can transport.  Remember to send you child's car seat/booster to school this day.  

Here's to a great 8 weeks together!

-Mrs. Brandy 

Week of October 19th-23rd

Welcome Back from Fall Break!

 

I hope everyone had a restful and fun Fall Break filled with many activities and much needed family time! I know we sure did at the Brown house! We've got a busy and exciting week ahead of us in first grade. I'm sure by now you all have seen the email that Dr. Collins sent you in regards to my position and your child's new substitute, Mrs. Brandy Tuttle, for the next quarter. Let me just tell you that this was not an easy decision and had it not been for the confidence that Shannon and I both have in Mrs. Brandy to teach our children, I would not have been able to commit to the change. I have no doubt that she will pick up this week and hit the ground running with 1st grade and all of the wonderful progress our students have made in the 1st quarter of the year. We are working very hard to make sure that everything will be as smooth as possible for our students at every level. Thankfully many things in the classroom will remain constant like Mrs. Michelle, Mrs. Kim, our schedule, and our curriculum. Generally, things will remain the same, but Mrs. Brandy will be leading our sweet group of super first graders!

 

All of that being said, I want to say thank you for raising such great students! I have absolutely LOVED getting to know each and every one of them. I am so glad that I will still be able to see them and watch them grow! I know I will see many of you in the 4th and 5th grade classroom with older siblings and I can't wait to get to know them as well! Thank you for being so supportive!

 

As far as first grade next week is concerned, we will be learning about bats and owls - just in time for Halloween! We are starting subtraction in math and getting into some more complex spelling lists. Many of you are working on math facts at home. Please try to get these facts memorized within and minute, so that your child knows them with fluency. We will be going to the library early in the week to pick out books because I know many will not have a book to read for AR this week because of the break and I don't want to wait until Thursday to take care of that.

 

Report Cards will be sent home next Monday and the Halloween parade/party will be next Friday! I can't wait to see everyone's costumes! I have heard all about many of them already! The field trip to the Rock Ranch will be here before we know it and Mrs. Brandy will be getting drivers set up for that. You are in terrific hands! You can always email me if you need anything. As of Thursday, Mrs. Brandy will assume full responsibility of first grade, so please keep in close contact with her, as I am sure she will be reaching out to you soon. Her email is btuttle@sges.org and I know she will be looking forward to hearing from you.

 

The students did great at the Grandparent's Day celebration and I snapped a few pictures during all of the hustle and bustle. You can check them out below! Thanks again, for everything!

~Mrs. Emily

 



October 5th-9th

We have a very exciting week ahead of us! We will be finishing up our past, present, and future unit. We will be learning about communities and families while we also get to celebrate Grandparents/Grand Friends on Friday! FRIDAY IS A DRESS UNIFORM DAY!  We've got to work on finishing up our gifts and it's also Book Fair week! Wow! So, here are a couple of helpful tips for you as we look at the week ahead . . .

 

SGES will have our 1st Scholastic Book Fair this week, October 5th-9th .  Students will be able to visit the book fair one day this week during class time.  If you would like to go with your child, it will be open 30 minutes before school starts and 30 minutes after school each day this week.  

 

We will have our first "Mix-It Up Lunch" this Thursday, October 8th.  It is hosted by our student council.  This is a special time where our entire school eats lunch together under the large tree in the front of the school, "The Grove."  Please DO NOT send microwavable lunches that day!! We will also be practicing that afternoon for our Grandparent's Day performance.

 

The schedule for Grandparents'/Grand Friends' Day is below.8:00-9:00   Breakfast in gym for Grandparents
9:00-10:00  ALL students will perform for Grandparents in gym
10:00-11:30 Grandparents will visit classrooms and book fair with their grandchild; then may leave if they are taking them home (I will have a sign-out in the classroom for them to sign the students out.)
11:30  Carpool will begin and After School will be available until 6:00 PM

 

Also, please make sure to check out the calendar that is in the back of your child's binder. It contains the rest of the fun activities we have going on this month!

 

Remember, next week is FALL BREAK!!!  NO SCHOOL October 12-16.

Week of September 28, 2015

Officially Fall

 

Well, it's officially Fall! It seems that we have kicked off the season with A LOT of rain! Nonetheless, we had a great week last week celebrating Johnny Appleseed and our animals. We made very yummy applesauce and very sticky caramel apples! We talked about  Johnny Appleseed's birthday and how we can be good citizens just like him in our own world today. We learned about apple orchards and we even had our animals blessed! I'd have to say it was a great week!

 

This week and the month of October seems to be pretty busy. There are a lot of upcoming events so be on the look out this week for the October Calendar in your child's binder. There are a couple of things that I want to tell you about in advance. This Tuesday is our family picnic and fun run. There is also a cross country meet and a volley ball game. It should be a lot of fun, so please come and join us!

 

Thursday, October 1st is the Fall flower pick up. So, if you ordered flowers, make sure that you pick them up this Thursday. Thursday, October 8th is a "Mix - it - up lunch". The whole school will eat together outside on the picnic tables and blankets this day. Please, do not send anything for lunch that needs to be microwaved as we do not have access outside that day. Thanks in advance for this!

 

Friday, October 9th is a half day for students and it is Grandparents/Grandfriend's Day. This will be a fun day for Grandparents to come and see a program that the students are working on as well as receive a gift and see our classroom. We will begin making gifts this week. Please make sure that you return the information sheet that I sent home last week about gifts by Friday. This will help me know how much to make. Also, it will let me know if your child will be going home with someone different that day. I will have a sign out sheet in my room to make things a little easier for check out.

 

That's all for now! It's going to be a great week! As always, let me know if there is anything I can do for you!

~Mrs. Emily

Hikes and Fall

We had a great week exploring nature, learning about wild animals, and Johnny Appleseed. We even practiced addition and introduced a little subtraction. Our nature hike was a great success! We saw animal tracks, a few critters, listened to birds, and discussed many different species of plants. I think everyone, including the adults learned a lot! Thanks Mr. Averett for leading our hike and teaching us about the nature we so often take for granted around us each day. Please check out our pictures below for a sneak peek at our hike!

 

This Friday we have a BIG day! First thing in the morning, we have the Blessing of the Animals. Please feel free to bring your pets to receive a blessing. Keep in mind that the animal(s) must be on a leash or in a cage and they have to be taken home after the service. We will meet outside for chapel that morning in the grove. Also, please send an apple to school with your child on Friday. We will be making a yummy apple treat to celebrate Johnny Appleseed and all that we have learned about apples. Also, Scholastic Book orders are due Friday. If you do not order online with the online code at the top of the book order form, please send in a check made out to Scholastic. Thank you!

 

Tuesday this week is St. George's night at the Griffin Dwarf House Chick-Fil-A if you are able to join us! The following Tuesday (September 29th) will be a great night of family fun at the school including volleyball, cross country, a fun run, and a family picnic. This will be a great time for fun and fellowship with the school and community. Don't forget Grandparent's day on October 9th, which will also be a half day for students. The following week is Fall Break!

 

Last, but certainly not least, the Doughtie's had their sweet baby last week. Little Mary Hawkins is at home with mommy and the whole family is doing well!

 

We are looking forward to a fun week! Happy Fall!



Nature and Apple Seeds

 

I hope that everyone has had a great weekend. Last week was a super week learning about animals and the food chain. We took our STAR tests and are now ready to start AR testing this week. Unfortunately our nature hike was cancelled last Friday because of the nasty weather and a very wet trail. We are rescheduling our hike for this Wednesday. We will get on the trail right after chapel and observe the nature all around us with a little help from Mr. Averett. Pictures of our hike are to come! 

 

This week will be learning about animals in the wild and how we can help protect them and their environments. We will also practice spelling with the short e sound and begin learning about Johnny Appleseed. In math we will learn addition and subtraction strategies and practice solving story problems.

 

Since we finally have AR up and running, we will begin testing this week. We will check out books on Fridays for the upcoming week. Your child should have an AR book on his/her level as well as a choice book that is something they may be interested in reading. We are requiring one AR test a week. Your child is welcome to take more, but one is required. We will go over procedures on taking the AR test Monday morning. While this is an important opportunity to practice reading comprehension, please continue to read for fun at home books on every level to continue your child's love for reading. It is essential during this important phase in their life that they not get overwhelmed with reading to test but continue to read for enjoyment, excitement, and learning. If you have any questions, please let me know. 

 

The tree trunk projects were SUPER! We loved sharing and getting to see each other's memorable moments in their little lives. We will hang these in the hallway for display, so come and take a look!  

 

Just a few updates/reminders for the calendar:

 

Friday, September 25

Blessing of the Animals

Johnny Appleseed Celebration - please send an apple with your child

 

Friday, October 9

Grandparent's Day & 1/2 Day for students

 

October 12th-16th

Fall Break

 



Fun Friday

It has truly been a great week. We've spent the week learning about working animals and the forest. Then we were able to have a visit from a seeing eye dog in training named Addison on Friday morning. The students LOVED getting the chance to see what she can do, learn about what she will learn, and have the chance to pet and love on such a sweet dog! Below are some pictures of a great exchange between working dog and some very happy first graders! As if that wasn't fun enough, we had house competitions in the afternoon. I am so proud of how each of our first graders behaved and helped lead their groups through our "challenges". What a fun day!

I hope that you all have a fantastic Labor Day weekend and enjoy your Monday off. When we get back to school on Tuesday we will be working on plural nouns and learning more about animals by studying the food chain. We will also be continuing our number exploration in math. I am so impressed by everyone's hard work on homework, sight words, and math facts. You all have been working hard every night and it shows!

A couple of reminders and updates . . . Magazine and flower orders are due on Wednesday this week. Also, our tree trunk projects are due on Friday. Thanks for helping your students out with these. Let me know if you have any questions. We've had some issues getting AR up and running, but I hope to begin by the end of next week. I think that covers everything! We will see you on Tuesday!

~Mrs. Emily