May NewsOur May News is posted under the news tab at the top. Our last month together is full of fun activities. The last two weeks of school first grade will be having some theme days to celebrate our year of learning and review everything in a fun way. I will send a reminder closer to the last two weeks, but here is a tentative schedule for our theme days:
Class news
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Polar Express Day
On Friday our school will be having Polar Express Day. Students are welcome to wear pajamas to school on Friday. Slippers are fine to wear in the classroom, but regular shoes need to be worn to go outside for recess. Our wonderful room parents has volunteered to bring several supplies for our class to have hot chocolate. We are still in need of hot chocolate mix and whipped cream. If you would like to donate one of those items you can sign up by clicking the link below.
Thanks again for all of your help from home!
Gingerbread Houses
11/3/2018
Our class newsletter and volunteer sign up are now posted for December.
First grade will be celebrating gingerbread week next week. We will be reading and writing all about gingerbread things. At the end of the week we will build gingerbread houses. If you are interested in volunteering or donating items for our houses, there is a sign up link below. Keep in mind that the sign up is for all first grade parents, so that is why there are so many spots. It is such a fun and busy week for us!
First grade will be celebrating gingerbread week next week. We will be reading and writing all about gingerbread things. At the end of the week we will build gingerbread houses. If you are interested in volunteering or donating items for our houses, there is a sign up link below. Keep in mind that the sign up is for all first grade parents, so that is why there are so many spots. It is such a fun and busy week for us!
Also, sorry spelling tests did not come home today! We didn't get to finish putting our scores in Seesaw yet. We will finish them tomorrow and then they will come home in homework folders.
I hope everyone had an awesome Monday!
I hope everyone had an awesome Monday!
Grinch and Kindness Week
11/26/2018
You have probably heard that Silver Crest is focusing on kindness this week We kicked off the week with an assembly this morning. Here is a cute video we watched on how kindness can spread. As a part of kindness week each Silver Crest student will be receiving a letter from their parents or another adult. Letters need to be sent to school by Wednesday this week. If you have any questions regarding the letters, please let me know.
First grade is also celebrating kindness this week by having Grinch week. We read the Grinch today and I'm excited for the rest of our Grinch activities to follow.
On another note, book orders will be coming home tomorrow. In order to get books back in time before Christmas break, the deadline to order will be this Friday. If you would like any of the books to be a surprise for Christmas, I would be happy to help make that happen.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving break. It was nice to be back today. I missed all those little smiling faces. I was also happy to have help decorating our class tree today. Only a little rearranging happened after school. :)
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving break. It was nice to be back today. I missed all those little smiling faces. I was also happy to have help decorating our class tree today. Only a little rearranging happened after school. :)
Class Party
11/19/2018
Our class filled up our compliment jar today. All of the eyes represent compliments we have received from other teachers or adults at school. We voted today and decided to have stuffed animal party and a treat. I will bring the treat and everyone can bring a stuffed animal tomorrow. I'm looking forward to a fun day!
I also just wanted to say thank you to everyone who came to conference! It was so great to visit with all of you and celebrate the awesome things happening in first grade. I'm also so thankful for all the snack and supplies that were donated after conference. I really appreciate all of your help.
Remember we are out of school on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!
I also just wanted to say thank you to everyone who came to conference! It was so great to visit with all of you and celebrate the awesome things happening in first grade. I'm also so thankful for all the snack and supplies that were donated after conference. I really appreciate all of your help.
Remember we are out of school on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!
November News
11/6/2018
How is it already November?! Time is flying by and I apologize for being a few days late on our November news. Our class news letter and volunteer schedule are now posted in the schedule and news tabs at the top of the page.
Also, I know I'm a little late, but I wanted to say thank you so much for everyone who helped with our Halloween Party last week. It was such a fun day celebrating in our room and I appreciate the help! Our class had a blast and loved the party!
Even though it was Halloween we still worked hard and learned a lot! We did some "Math or Treating" and showed our thinking in Math on Halloween. With partners each student had to solve math problems and show their work by working together as a team. When they agreed on an answer they showed me their work in order to go Math or Treating at the back table. I was so proud of their persistence when they didn't get the answer quite right. They learned from their mistakes and work really hard together with their partner. I was amazed by their math and teamwork skills! I think a few were even a little tricked and forgot that they were doing math, because they thanked me for the Halloween party after. :)
Also, I know I'm a little late, but I wanted to say thank you so much for everyone who helped with our Halloween Party last week. It was such a fun day celebrating in our room and I appreciate the help! Our class had a blast and loved the party!
Even though it was Halloween we still worked hard and learned a lot! We did some "Math or Treating" and showed our thinking in Math on Halloween. With partners each student had to solve math problems and show their work by working together as a team. When they agreed on an answer they showed me their work in order to go Math or Treating at the back table. I was so proud of their persistence when they didn't get the answer quite right. They learned from their mistakes and work really hard together with their partner. I was amazed by their math and teamwork skills! I think a few were even a little tricked and forgot that they were doing math, because they thanked me for the Halloween party after. :)
I also wanted to let everyone know that I won't be sending home a book order form this month due to the book fair. If you would like to order any books on our class account, you may still do so if you would like. Please have your order in by Thursday night at midnight. Thanks to those who already place orders in online who are helping our class earn more books for our class library! We love getting new books each month!
I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at conferences the next couple nights!
I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at conferences the next couple nights!
Conferences
10/26/2018
I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend! I'm excited to meet with each of you soon for conferences! You can now sign up for a time slot. Please let me know if you need any help signing up.
We also have our Halloween Party this next week. The Halloween parade is at 9:30. Here is the note that was sent home earlier in the week in case you missed it.
We also have our Halloween Party this next week. The Halloween parade is at 9:30. Here is the note that was sent home earlier in the week in case you missed it.
Our class party will be in the afternoon at 1:30 for anyone who would like to come or volunteer. Please let me know if you have any questions about conferences or Halloween.
You might have also heard that we had a special visitor yesterday. Skittles, the Raccoon came to first grade! We got to learn all about Skittles, after we have read and learned about nocturnal animals. It was fun to see Skittles eat her favorite treat, Oreos!
You might have also heard that we had a special visitor yesterday. Skittles, the Raccoon came to first grade! We got to learn all about Skittles, after we have read and learned about nocturnal animals. It was fun to see Skittles eat her favorite treat, Oreos!
Short Week
10/12/2018
We have a short week next week for fall break. We are out of school Thursday and Friday. Wednesday will be an early release day. Due to the short week we will not have spelling words. Math and reading homework will still come home on Monday and is due Wednesday.
Have a great weekend!
Have a great weekend!
Pumpkin Adjectives
10/12/2018
This week we worked on adjectives again. I was glad to see on our assessment today, many of us did much better and I love seeing our class use adjectives in their writing pieces.
We made some fun pumpkins and then used adjectives to describe them.
We made some fun pumpkins and then used adjectives to describe them.
We also learned about short u this week. Rudy U has an attitude and doesn't like being stuck between two consonants. He says "u" when this happens. We played games and did a lot of reading and writing with our friend Rudy U this week.
Pajama Party
10/10/2018
Our class has been working hard to beat my timer at the end of the day when we pack up. They have been able to consistently clean up in three minutes or less! I think that is pretty impressive!
To celebrate we earned a class party. Our class brainstormed ideas together and voted on our favorite, which was pajama party. We will have our pajama party on Friday, October 12th. We will wear our PJ's and snuggle up with a good book. Students may choose to wear pajamas or sweats to school on Friday. Slippers may be worn inside the classroom, but regular shoes need to be worn to school and outside of our classroom.
Please let me know if you have any questions!
To celebrate we earned a class party. Our class brainstormed ideas together and voted on our favorite, which was pajama party. We will have our pajama party on Friday, October 12th. We will wear our PJ's and snuggle up with a good book. Students may choose to wear pajamas or sweats to school on Friday. Slippers may be worn inside the classroom, but regular shoes need to be worn to school and outside of our classroom.
Please let me know if you have any questions!
Mystery Reader
10/5/2018
Our class had our first mystery reader this week! They were so excited to guess who our mystery reader was when the clues were slid under the door. My brother paid our class a visit and read a story to them. If you would like to be our next mystery reader you can sign up by clicking below.
We also met a new phonics friend this week. Evelyn has cute pigtails that are always flapping in her ears. She has a hard time hearing and says "e" quite often. Ask your student what Evelyn E says and they will show you the action that goes along with our friend.
Our class worked on adjectives this week as well. We learned a song to help us remember our describing words. Next the class took turns labeling me with different describing sticky notes. Labels were a perfect fit because we learned about them in our non-fiction shared reading text this week. A friend decided they would try to use my age to describe me. I was happy to hear the class all agreed, I am fifty-five year old teacher! On another day we labeled different nouns in the room with adjectives, that is why you can see the sticky note stuck to our phonics friend.
We ended our week with a visit from the fire department! They came to talk to us and showed us their fire truck. It was a fun way to wrap up our week after learning about community helpers. I am so lucky to be a part of our awesome classroom community!
Happy Friday!
Happy Friday!
October News
09/29/2018
You can read our October class news by clicking on the orange news crayon above. Our monthly volunteer calendar has been posted as well. You can sign up here, or by clicking on the pink schedule crayon at the top.
Apple week was so much fun! Thank you to those of you who donated apples and apple treats. We had fun practicing so many different skills with our apples. We read, predicted, experimented, wrote, measured, graphed, and had discussions about apples. Here are a few pictures from our class sorting project.
Apple week was so much fun! Thank you to those of you who donated apples and apple treats. We had fun practicing so many different skills with our apples. We read, predicted, experimented, wrote, measured, graphed, and had discussions about apples. Here are a few pictures from our class sorting project.
Our class came up with different ways to compare our apples. The first way was by color.
We sorted by stem or no stem.
We graphed the color of apple that we brought to school.
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Another friend suggested to sort them by sticker or no sticker.
We sorted by size.
Next we got to try three types of apples and pick our favorite. The clear winner was Golden Delicious.
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We have a few more apple activities to finish next week before we bring our apple books home!
We have also been working hard on our short vowels for the past few weeks. We met two new phonics friends. Here are their pictures. I'm happy to report that our class passed our short vowel assessment with 100% accuracy for our friends i and o! We have been working hard to be smart!
We have also been working hard on our short vowels for the past few weeks. We met two new phonics friends. Here are their pictures. I'm happy to report that our class passed our short vowel assessment with 100% accuracy for our friends i and o! We have been working hard to be smart!
Our phonics friend, Icky i and our phonics friend Awe Man O.
Apple Week
09/26/2018
This week first grade has been learning all about apples. We have been incorporating our apple learning in to math, science, reading and writing! We our going to end our week by doing several activities with apples.
In order to do this we need some apples! If you would like to donate an apple, please send one to school with your student in a ziplock bag with their name. Any kind of apple is fine. I would be happy to supply the bag if needed. I will make sure that everyone is able to participate. Our class would also love any apple themed snacks to celebrate our apple week on Friday (apple juice, apple sauce, Apple Jacks, etc.) If you would like to donate a snack or an apple for your student you can send them in tomorrow or Friday.
I will post pictures of all the fun activities we complete with our apples!
I appreciate your willingness to help and make first grade a fun experience. It was great to see so many of you today at the fun run!
In order to do this we need some apples! If you would like to donate an apple, please send one to school with your student in a ziplock bag with their name. Any kind of apple is fine. I would be happy to supply the bag if needed. I will make sure that everyone is able to participate. Our class would also love any apple themed snacks to celebrate our apple week on Friday (apple juice, apple sauce, Apple Jacks, etc.) If you would like to donate a snack or an apple for your student you can send them in tomorrow or Friday.
I will post pictures of all the fun activities we complete with our apples!
I appreciate your willingness to help and make first grade a fun experience. It was great to see so many of you today at the fun run!
Box Top Store
09/17/2018
Our school box top store is tomorrow! If you have boxtops you can send them in with your student either on a printed out box top page or in a baggie counted with the amount noted. All students will get ten birthday box tops to spend in the store throughout the year.
Also our reading test from last week and our spelling test from last week was sent home today. They were marked for each skill with the number 1-3.
3=I can do the skill by myself and showed mastery.
2=I need some more time to master the skill.
1=I need more time and a lot of teacher support to master the skill.
Let me know if you have any questions!
Also our reading test from last week and our spelling test from last week was sent home today. They were marked for each skill with the number 1-3.
3=I can do the skill by myself and showed mastery.
2=I need some more time to master the skill.
1=I need more time and a lot of teacher support to master the skill.
Let me know if you have any questions!
A busy week
09/12/2018
Wow! We have had a busy week already and it is only Wednesday. We are starting to get into a routine in first grade and have been working super hard this week. Here are a few pictures from our week...
This week we learned all about the short a sound. We had a special phonics friend to teach us all about it. Scaredy cat is made from the letter A and whenever he is stuck between two consonants he gets scared and says "aaaaaaaaa". We played musical short a words, went on a word hunt and practiced reading and writing short a words this week. I can't wait to introduce a new friend each week!
Our class has also started to learn about nouns. We learned a song and listed nouns from our big book. Today we took a page out of our big book and labeled all the nouns we could see and then told a friend if they were a person, place or thing.
I'm also happy to report that our reading stamina has increased and our reading centers are off to a great start. We made it to our 12 minute class goal! We have also been doing great on our class pledge that we wrote and voted on together. I love that they wanted to make sure our class pledge said that our classroom should feel like home.
On another quick note, thank you to everyone who ordered books in the book order. Books usually take around a week to come in. I have also posted our volunteer sign up on the schedule tab at the top. Click on the pink crayon and scroll to the bottom to find the link to the sign up. There are slots for Mystery Readers and classroom helpers.
PTA envelopes also came home yesterday for the Fun Run. We had a wonderful assembly to kick things off with the PTA. The Fun Run is a great opportunity for our school to support the PTA and the great things they do for kids at Silver Crest. Our class was also pretty excited to hear if we meet our school goal we can slime the principal!
Have a great Wednesday!
PTA envelopes also came home yesterday for the Fun Run. We had a wonderful assembly to kick things off with the PTA. The Fun Run is a great opportunity for our school to support the PTA and the great things they do for kids at Silver Crest. Our class was also pretty excited to hear if we meet our school goal we can slime the principal!
Have a great Wednesday!
Spelling
09/10/2018
Thank you for everyone who made Grandparent's day a huge success. It was so fun to have our Grandparent's and special guests join us on Friday.
Due to having a substitute in the afternoon on Friday, we were not able to take our spelling test. We took our test today in class, so you can look for your student's spelling test to come home tomorrow. New sorts came home today. Just a reminder that I encourage them to write the whole word, but I only grade them on the part that is the pattern and is on the headers.
The highest score you can receive on a spelling test is a 3. Three is exactly where we want to be in first grade. It shows that you have mastered that spelling pattern. A two would be almost showing mastery, and a one would mean they need more time and help to master the spelling pattern. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this please reach out.
Also just a reminder that it is Green Ribbon Week this week and our Book Orders are due tomorrow. Thanks to everyone who has already submitted their order. It is such an awesome way for our class to earn free books!
Due to having a substitute in the afternoon on Friday, we were not able to take our spelling test. We took our test today in class, so you can look for your student's spelling test to come home tomorrow. New sorts came home today. Just a reminder that I encourage them to write the whole word, but I only grade them on the part that is the pattern and is on the headers.
The highest score you can receive on a spelling test is a 3. Three is exactly where we want to be in first grade. It shows that you have mastered that spelling pattern. A two would be almost showing mastery, and a one would mean they need more time and help to master the spelling pattern. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this please reach out.
Also just a reminder that it is Green Ribbon Week this week and our Book Orders are due tomorrow. Thanks to everyone who has already submitted their order. It is such an awesome way for our class to earn free books!
Grandparents Day Donations
08/30/2018
Hello!
If you would like to donate treats for grandparent's day, you can click the below to sign up on the first grade sign up page.
Thanks for your help!
If you would like to donate treats for grandparent's day, you can click the below to sign up on the first grade sign up page.
Thanks for your help!
Grandparents day!
08/29/2018
First grade is having Grandparents Day! Your child is bringing home a note all about it today. If you have any questions, please let me know. Here is the invite, in case yours doesn't make it home. :)
A few other reminders...
PTA sent home an order form for school T-Shirts and sweatshirts. School colors are a fun way we celebrate on Fridays. If you would like to order one for you or your student, please have the order form turned in by Friday, September 7th.
Our class has also been working hard to learn our spelling word routine this week. Spelling papers were sent home on Monday with ideas for how your child can practice at home. The spelling sort that comes home every Monday is yours to keep. No need to send it back to school.
Have a great Wednesday!
PTA sent home an order form for school T-Shirts and sweatshirts. School colors are a fun way we celebrate on Fridays. If you would like to order one for you or your student, please have the order form turned in by Friday, September 7th.
Our class has also been working hard to learn our spelling word routine this week. Spelling papers were sent home on Monday with ideas for how your child can practice at home. The spelling sort that comes home every Monday is yours to keep. No need to send it back to school.
Have a great Wednesday!
Fun first few days!
08/28/2018
Wow! I'm so lucky to have such an awesome class! We have had a great first few days together. I'm so proud of how hard our class has been working. They are kind to others, they follow directions quickly, they try their best. I know we are going to have a fantastic year together!
Our first homework pages came home today. There is the pink spelling sort and also a white handwriting page. Remember our math/phonics handwriting is due on Friday, and we have a spelling test on Friday as well where we will write the beginning sounds of the pictures in our sort.
Our first homework pages came home today. There is the pink spelling sort and also a white handwriting page. Remember our math/phonics handwriting is due on Friday, and we have a spelling test on Friday as well where we will write the beginning sounds of the pictures in our sort.
Here are a few other things we got to do in class today for those of you who would like a peek into our day! :)
We agreed upon some words last week that describe what our classroom looks like, sounds like and feels like. Today we got to vote with stickers on the two that we liked the best. Tomorrow we will read our class pledge together that will be written with our favorite words we voted on. I was very impressed with their ideas!
We agreed upon some words last week that describe what our classroom looks like, sounds like and feels like. Today we got to vote with stickers on the two that we liked the best. Tomorrow we will read our class pledge together that will be written with our favorite words we voted on. I was very impressed with their ideas!
Next we learned that we can read a book three different ways, we can read the pictures if we don't know the words, or we can read the words. We also learned that we can go back and retell a story after we have read the pictures or the words. We got to read "Recess Queen" to model what reading the pictures and the words looks like. We then practiced with our very own book boxes and started graphing our class reading stamina. We have come a long way already from our first try of 30 seconds. We set a class goal of 12 minutes of non-stop reading!
Those are just a few of the new things we have done in our first few days, and I can't wait for the what the rest of the week has to bring! See everyone tomorrow!
First Grade Color Days
08/22/2018
For the first two weeks of first grade, our class will have color days. Each day, we'll wear clothes in that color, talk about the color, and do activities with the color(s), to help build routines and procedures in our room. (Please DO NOT feel that you need to go out and buy clothing in each color if you don't already have it! Colored socks, barrettes, stickers, bracelets etc. can all work just fine. I will have stickers in class, so everyone can participate. This is a fun activity and not meant to be stressful!)
The following is the schedule for our Color Days:
Thursday, August 23: Orange
Friday, August 24: Red
Monday, August 27: Yellow
Tuesday, August 28: Green
Wednesday, August 29: Blue
Thursday, August 30: Purple
Friday, August 31: Black and/or White
Tuesday, September 4: Brown
Wednesday, September 5: Pink
Thursday, September 6: Rainbow
The following is the schedule for our Color Days:
Thursday, August 23: Orange
Friday, August 24: Red
Monday, August 27: Yellow
Tuesday, August 28: Green
Wednesday, August 29: Blue
Thursday, August 30: Purple
Friday, August 31: Black and/or White
Tuesday, September 4: Brown
Wednesday, September 5: Pink
Thursday, September 6: Rainbow
Welcome!
08/01/2018
Hello there! I'm Miss Johnson and I'm so excited to be in first grade again this year! I graduated from BYU-Idaho and have the pleasure of teaching first and third grades since. I'm looking forward to all the learning and teaching that will take place with my students and your kids this year!