1B Weekly Newsletter
1B Weekly Newsletter
May 13, 2013
Dear Parent(s),
I hope you all had an enjoyable Mother’s Day! Thank you so much for all the beautiful flowers that you sent with your child (and special treats) last Thursday. It was a wonderful surprise that made my day! They were all so cute when they were giving them to me. I’m not sure which one of us had bigger smiles!
Last week, we went outdoors twice. Once to explore nature with our microscopes and another time to fly the paper airplanes we made. Needless to say, the kids had a blast. Our days continue to be full as we draw near to the end of the school year. This Thursday is our field trip. The children may dress down. Please send a regular snack and lunch on that day. Mrs. Carstens, Mrs. Green, Mrs. Edwards, and Mrs. Restrepo have offered to chaperone. If anyone else is interested in coming along, let me know. Last Friday, you should have received your child’s Gates MacGinitie Test results. Please return the envelope as soon as possible and let me know if you have any questions. The Six Flags Read to Succeed reward tickets are attached to this newsletter, if your child earned one. Also, I am looking for volunteers to help clean our classroom on Field Day, which is Wednesday, May 29th. Please let me know if you are willing and able to help out.
As we enter into our final weeks of school, I pray that we can all work together to finish strong! The children are naturally anxious, excited, and full of energy. Please keep us all in your prayers as our days here together as a 1B Family sadly draws near to an end. I’ve been asking the students if they wouldn’t mind just staying with me in first grade, but I have not gotten any “takers” yet. They are getting ready to move on …as they should be. This is going to be a hard class to let go!
“The two greatest gifts we can give our children are roots to grow and wings to fly.”
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell and Mrs. Reed
Spelling words: boys mouse noise sound town toy house mound would could
High Frequency Words: people should woman don’t every
Happy Birthday to Abby and Jilly!!
Reminders: Thursday- Field Trip
Friday- Spirit Wear (jeans allowed)
May 6, 2013
Dear Parent(s),
I hope you all enjoyed the great weather this weekend. It’s nice to see things finally in bloom! Last week, our class was able to get outside a little and enjoy the sunshine, which was fun for the kids and me. I hope that we will do more of that in the weeks ahead. My plan is to have the kids bring our magnifying glasses with them next time, so we can check out some of the amazing things nature has to offer. Please have your child bring in a palm-size rock by Thursday of this week. We will be examining them in our classroom.
We are putting the finishing touches on our stories that we are writing for our book. Most of the children are in the illustration phase. They have worked really hard on these and it shows. Their writing has come a long way since the beginning of the year! Also, I continue to be impressed with their love for reading. Each day we spend some time in silent reading and they are so engaged that you could hear a pin drop. It’s a great sight to see. Their fluency and comprehension skills are impressive as well! Keep up the good work at home with all that you do to reinforce this! This week, a group of Grayslake High School students will be visiting our classroom to read to the kids.
We ended the week with our own classroom May Crowing of Mary, and listened to a classical piece of Ave Maria. It was very beautiful and the kids seemed to really like it.
I want to wish all of the moms a very Happy Mother’s Day next Sunday. May God bless you with His special love!
Enjoy your weekJ
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell and Mrs. Reed
Spelling Words: bird burn first girl hurt serve third thirst over very
High Frequency Words: can’t caught clock city church
Student of the Week: Jack
Reminders: Field Trip $ and permission slips
Join us Wednesday at 12:30 for May Crowning in church
April 29, 2013
Dear Parent(s),
Where did April go? I can’t believe that this week will begin the month of May, and we will enter into our last month of First Grade. I am not really ready to think about that yet but know that it will come quickly. We are planning a field trip on May 16th to visit the Grayslake Historical Museum and Tastee- Freez. More information will be sent home soon. We are working hard on getting ready for second grade. Every day we do an activity that challenges us to listen carefully and follow directions. Last week the class earned a Freezie (popsicle) treat for good behavior. So, we will enjoy our treat one day this week…hopefully outside! We celebrated Earth Day and discussed how we can help the planet through our efforts to recycle, reduce, and reuse. Thank you for all the PADS lunches that were donated and the dairy day contributions. We have a very supportive and caring community here at SGS, which is heart-warming to witness. A big THANK YOU to Mrs. Reed, who helped our class make their Holy Spirit mobiles. They were a big hit and turned out beautifully.
This week we will continue our sentence writing using nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
I am pleased with how well the children are progressing in this area. We will be finishing up our diorama presentations which have continued to be impressive. In Religion, we will learn about sacraments and continue to work on our prayer chart. In Math, we are learning about equal parts. Our story for the week is New Shoes for Sylvia, and we will concentrate on learning strategies for decoding multisyllabic words.
May you have a God-filled week!
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell and Mrs. Reed
Spelling Words: bark car dark part star park sharp harm are start
Vocabulary Words: once took every morning
Student of the Week: Kubraa
Happy Birthday to Grace!
Reminders: Tuesday- Pizza Day
Wednesday- 8AM all school mass
Friday- Dress Down
April 22, 2013
Dear Parent(s),
First of all, thanks to all of you who have sent in wipes, kleenex, and paper towels for our classroom. Thanks also to Mrs. Burke, Mrs. Cox, and Mrs. Edwards for helping out with stations last week. We are becoming quite the scientists in 1B. The children are sounding like experts on their animal project presentations. They have all been wonderful so far! We will be keeping the dioramas on display in the hallway here at school for a few weeks. Also, we spent some time learning about microscopes and using them to examine very tiny specimens of textiles, animals, plants, and insects under close scrutiny. To quote the kids…”This is really cool!” seemed to be the resounding theme during this activity.
Our story writing is coming along really well and the kids are enjoying their time with their seventh grade writing buddies in Mrs. Dolan’s class. We will continue working with them again this week. We are learning about and making composite shapes in math, and creating our very own designs. Be sure to ask your mathematician what a composite shape isJ.
This week in religion we will be discussing forgiveness and the learning more about the third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit. We will continue exploring new life all around us and writing our very own Spring Poems. Also, this Thursday is PADS lunch day for first grade, as well as, Dairy Day.
I hope everyone made it through our very wet week without too much trouble. I told the kids that we are instructed to thank and praise God in all things…even the floods! So, we faithfully did so, and prayed for clear skies again too.
May God bless you and keep you and your family safe, happy and healthy!
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell and Mrs. Reed
Spelling Words: cool fool moon roof soon zoo bloom pool look good
High Frequency Words: black girl very best
Student of the Week: Josiah
Thursday: PADS lunches and Dairy Day
April 15, 2013
Dear Parent(s),
Last week’s reading tests went very well! I was very proud of the children in how they followed directions and really seemed to try their best. The first test they took was 20 minutes long and the second 35 minutes. So, I think they did extremely well for first graders. They did a great job of concentrating and being quiet for that amount of time. The results will be sent home sometime in May.
We also spent a good amount of time last week working on our reading fluency. I am impressed with how well the children are reading orally. We will continue to work on this skill throughout the next few weeks as well as comprehension. The children are working really hard on memorizing their prayers and earning a star on the Prayer Chart. I hope they are sharing those prayers with you at home either at mealtime or bedtime. I see their sense of pride in doing this and the joy that comes with it!
We are working hard on our new lessons in Math on two-dimensional shapes and their attributes. They are learning new vocabulary words to help define and describe various shapes and doing a wonderful job at it. I told them to look around their home to see what shapes they can find all around them.
This week, the children will be starting to write their own stories that will be made into a book. Mrs. Dolan’s seventh graders have offered to help our class out with this project, so the kids are very excited to be going to the Junior High and pairing up with an older student. I will be keeping you posted on their progress. Also, we will start with the diorama presentations. So far they look great and the kids seem very excited about it.
I just noticed at the end of last week that our classroom is very low on Kleenex and paper towels. So, at the risk of sounding like a pain, if you can send in either of those products we would appreciate it!!
It looks like spring weather may actually be arriving…finally! I know that April showers bring May flowers, but I know I am missing the sunshineJ May your week be filled with lots of light and love!
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell and Mrs. Reed
Spelling Words: bugs frog logs owl pond rat dogs mugs thing think
High Frequency Words: many some because pretty nice
Student of the Week: Makayla
April 8, 2013
Dear Parent(s),
Thank you to those families who sent in the wipes so quickly, they are very much needed. Please consider sending in a package of refills if you can, we go through them quickly! Last week we finished up our chapter on measurement and time. The children are now able to tell time to the hour and half hour on both an analog and digital clock. Be sure to continue practicing this skill at home whenever possible. We also spent time learning more about our five senses and the organs in our body that are related to our senses. The Saint Gilbert plates that went home Friday were created in Art class and were missing the explanation sheet. Mrs. Hoker will be sending home more information this week.
This week on Wednesday and Thursday we will take the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests. Be sure to send in two snacks on those days and have your child get plenty of sleep. We will not have a spelling test or math homework due to the testing this week. Also, we will be going to the Bake Sale on Tuesday and attending a “sneak peek” performance of the upcoming school play Little Mermaid on Thursday afternoon.
We will be starting our diorama animal projects next week. I hope you are having some fun researching an animal. I know the children have been talking a lot about their ideas with me and have even been looking through some of my resources in our classroom. Let me know if you have any questions.
God Bless you and your family!
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell and Mrs. Reed
Student of the Week: Jackson
Reminders: Tuesday Bake Sale
Wed./Thurs Reading Test
Friday Dress Down with $2 Science Olympiad Donation
April 1, 2013
Dear Parent(s),
I hope everyone enjoyed their spring break and had a Happy Easter with loved ones.
I wanted to share that I had the good fortune of visiting my daughter, Megan, in Spain this past week. As you can imagine, my Easter was spent rather differently this year.
I learned a lot about the Spanish culture, but the highlight of my trip was taking a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France to visit the grotto and basilica of Our Lady of Lourdes. Being that I took the name of Saint Bernadette for my confirmation, it has been a long-time dream of mine to visit this special place where the Blessed Mother appeared. I have many things to share with the children about that experience. I think what I am most in awe about is that you just never know where your children’s lives will someday take you. Dreams really do come true!
It is good to be back and I am anxious to hear all the stories that the children will have to share with me about their break as well. Please be on the lookout for a “special gift” that I brought back from Lourdes for each child and their family. It will be in your child’s backpack with the Thursday mail. Also, we are running low on wipes in our classroom. So, if anyone would like to send in refills it would be much appreciated!
I leave you with a message that Bernadette received from Mary: “Every person is precious in the eyes of God”. Welcome back and may you and your family have a wonderful week!
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell and Mrs. Reed
Spelling Words: boat cold goes hold road show toad goat they them
High Frequency Words: high more
Student of the Week: AJ
Reminder: Thursday, 4/4 is Pajama Day for 1B (please make sure your child has gym shoes to wear on this day for P.E.)
March 18, 2013
Dear Parent(s),
I can’t believe that Spring Break is almost here and that Spring and Easter are just around the corner. Although, there are definite signs of “new life” in our classroom, as our marigold plants are starting to sprout! The children are very excited! We will be measuring their growth as we continue to observe them, and learn more about weather and temperature in science this week.
I hope you heard all about our pasta making event last week. Thanks to my daughter Jacqueline, Mr. Swindell, and Mrs. Carstens, the kids were able to start from scratch with flour and egg to make their own dough and eventually their own spaghetti noodles. It was a sight to seeJ…we took lots of pictures! I was very proud of them. We hung the noodles to dry, froze them in baggies, and will eat them at our special luncheon this Thursday. Thanks to all of you who have offered to bring something to share for our St. Patrick/St. Joseph’s table. I hope you can come to see the children in their Reader’s Theater Performance on Thursday at 10:45 in our classroom and stay to enjoy an Irish-Italian lunch with the kids. The children can wear red or green (or both) to celebrate the event.
The children are doing a wonderful job with their book reports. We will continue those this week and start a new chapter in Math on measurement and telling time. Please see the attached letter explaining an animal project assignment that will be coming up for the month of April.
Finally, as a reward for good behavior, the children chose a Pajama Day to be celebrated when we get back from spring break on Thursday, April 4th. Please mark your calendars!
As we quickly approach Holy Week and look to celebrate Christ’s resurrection, may the promise of new life give us courage, hope, and joy. Happy Easter!
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell and Mrs. Reed
Spelling Words: fields leaf piece reached read sea meal seal how now
High Frequency Words: brother teacher children favorite
Student of the Week: Abby
Happy Birthday to Gabi!
Reminders: Thursday: Reader’s Theater at 10:45 and Lunch
Friday: Living Stations of the Cross in Church at 12:30
March 11, 2013
Dear Parent(s),
I hope everyone enjoyed the Snow Day! It’s always fun to have an extra day off to do something spontaneous or different from the daily routine. Despite having one less school day, I was really impressed with how well most of the children did on their first ten- word spelling test. Keep up the good work!
Last week during stations, the children had a chance to plant marigold seeds as part of a class project in connection with their Johnny Appleseed story and learning about how plants grow. Special thanks to Mrs. Edwards for all her help with this project. She supplied each child with his/her own cup of potting soil and seeds that they will water, observe, and measure growth over the next few weeks. May they grow in abundance!
As a fun way of showing off the great progress the students have been making in reading, we will have a special event that all parents are invited to attend on Thursday, March 21 at 10:45. Please join us for “Reader’s Theater and Lunch”. In honor of St. Patrick’s and St. Joseph’s Day next week, we will have a sharing table with food from Ireland and Italy following the children’s performance. More information will follow for those who would like to contribute something for the table. I hope you can make it!
Congratulations to our class for winning the Box Tops Contest. The children will be awarded a special dessert treat for their accomplishments one day next week.
This week we will be learning about our guardian angels, their role in our lives, and the special prayer that we have been given to pray. The children are doing a great job memorizing their prayers and reciting them. One final note, all first graders will be taking a standardized reading test during the second week in April. More details soon to come.
May God and His angels surround your family with love and light this Lenten season.
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell and Mrs. Reed
Spelling Words: bee she sheep three tree we meet feet all her
High Frequency Words: sister people pretty school animal
Student of the Week: Sam
Happy Birthday to Jack!
March 4, 2013
Dear Parent(s),
Last week we read the story of Johnny Appleseed and discussed the meaning of a legend. The children were very interested in the idea of this man living with so little and being so happy. We learned about his saying “Life is very good!” and all agreed! This week we will do some planting of seeds ourselves and see how they grow. Also, we had some fun with idioms. The children are catching on with how we use these in our language and this week they will draw and illustrate some of their own. We finished up our week on Friday by all taking an accelerated reading test on Dr. Seuss’s Foot Book, as we joined our school and the nation in the “Read the Most” contest. Thank you to Mrs. Reed, who did a wonderful job of helping our children with this project. They did a super job! Also, a special thanks to Mrs. Judd who came in to read and donate a book to our classroom.
In Religion, we have been talking about Lent and what it means to be good and holy. We have read about special people who have lead holy lives, and the children have been sharing what they can do in their life to try and do the same. We learned about Abe Lincoln and George Washington last week. The children wrote wonderful stories about our first president after watching a video of his life. They did a fantastic job and are becoming quite the writers. In Science, we are learning about weather.
I can’t tell you how excited the children were about getting to keep their new math workbook in their desks. I am sure some of you heard about the big news at home. I think this will be a great way to start getting them use to more responsibility as we move through our last trimester of first grade. So far, they are doing really well with charts and tallying, and tearing out pages for me!J Continue to look for weekly math homework on Mondays.
This week we will start our book in a bag reports. Please send those in as mentioned in my previous letter home. You will notice that there is a new activity card in the zip-lock bag with the weekly paper stories. Please try to have your child return those bags each week by Friday to earn a sticker.
Wishing you all a very blessed week and remember …“Life is good”!
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell and Mrs. Reed
Spelling Words: bell brave pole ring smoke truck fire save was ask
High Frequency Words: thing where animal friend little
Student of the Week: Justin
Happy Birthday to Jackson and Brigid!!
February 25, 2013
Dear Parent(s),
As we approach the end of February, so too we end our second trimester of school. The children have been making wonderful progress and I am proud of all that they are accomplishing individually and as a group. Report cards will be sent home on Friday.
We are finishing up Chapter 6 in Math and will have a test this week. Next chapter we will be learning how to organize and use graphs.
Please remember to send in the Read to Succeed form no later than Tuesday, 2/26. Many of you have already turned them in, but if you haven’t and were planning to, make sure they are here by tomorrow.
Starting next week, there will be 10 spelling words given to study for the weekly test!
I will also continue to send home five high frequency words to learn as well.
I have attached a “Book Report in a Bag” assignment for the children to prepare for a specific week, which is written at the top of the page. Please encourage and support your child in this project. It should be fun, and hopefully, not too difficult for them to do independently.
Last week, we talked about the noise level in the classroom and discussed how to do a better job of using “inside voices”. The children agreed that they could improve in this area and came up with lots of suggestions of how to do that. We will be working on following classroom procedures more closely as we enter our third trimester.
God bless you and your family!
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell and Mrs. Reed
Spelling Words: day rain say tail wait way
High Frequency Words: talk won’t house night there
Student of the Week: Grayson
Thursday: Carmel Choir Performance Assembly
Friday: Report Cards go home
February 19, 2013
Dear Parent(s),
Last week ended with our Valentine’s Day celebration and it was quite the event. The children created fun bags to collect their valentines and enjoyed giving and receiving them. A special thanks to Mrs.Beagles for planning and supplying the goodies for our Ice Cream Dessert. It was delicious and a big hit with the kids!
This week we will continue reading our story The Knee-High Man, which is written as a play. We will have some fun with it as the children each take a part and practice to perform in small groups for the class. We have done some acting before, which the children really enjoy doing. So, I can’t wait to see how they do with this project. We will have the same spelling words as last week, since we didn’t have the test last week. We do a lot with the spelling words here at school, but please continue to practice at home as well. I have some great news to share about the last spelling test we took. I challenged the childrn to get no more than one error… and they did it! Awesome job!
We have begun working on double digit addition in math, which has been a little challenging, but overall, they are doing really well with it. If you have flashcards at home, I would encourage you to spend some time reinforcing addition and subtraction math facts to 20. The more quickly they are able to recall those facts the betterJ
Have a wonderful week. Enjoy your children, and don’t forget their daily dose of hugs and kisses…they grow up fast!
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell and Mrs. Reed
Spelling Words: cute flute mule rule tube tune (continued from last week)
High Frequency: from over when will quit
Student of the Week: Ricky
Happy Birthday to P.J., Jennifer, and Matthew!!!
February 11, 2013
Dear Parent(s),
I hope your child shared with you how much they enjoyed our trip to see the performance of Joseph and celebrating 100 Days in school last week. Several of them told me, “It was the best play I have ever seen in my whole life!” I couldn’t help but think of the saying….”Out of the mouths of babes!” Thank you to Mrs. Adoni, Mrs. Green, Mrs. Miller, and Mrs. Peterson for coming along as chaperones. We enjoyed a bubble gum treat and an afternoon of games after the performance as a reward for their super behavior. They were awesome!
This week begins Lent with mass on Ash Wednesday. We will be discussing fasting, almsgiving, and prayer as we begin our journey to Easter, and what we can do in our “little way” to become better disciples of Christ. Also, this month we will begin our Child Lures Program. We will talk about how to protect ourselves from others who might try to lure us into something we should not do. I will encourage the children share with you all that we discuss in class. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thursday is our Valentine’s Day Party. Please don’t forget to send in your child’s Valentines. I will provide a bag that they will decorate to keep what they collect. We will be having an ”Ice Cream Bar” treat after they eat their regular lunch to celebrate the occasion. If you are a lunch parent on that day and can come in a little early (11:00) to help set things up, it would be greatly appreciated!
The children have been very eager to take an AR test, which is great, but I would like to request that if your child is ready for a test, you send me a note saying they are ready with the title and author of the book. This extra step will be very helpful to all of us. Please remember that the Six Flags reading minutes are due by the end of February.
Lastly, please consider sending in an extra pair of socks to keep in your child’s backpack. Many of them are complaining that they are wet when they come in after recess. Also, many of the children could use a new pink eraser in their school box, and replacement crayons/markers. As you can imagine, these items are heavily used in our classroom. A very big THANK YOU to everyone who has sent in Clorox wipes. You’re always so generous and quick to respond! I am always telling people that I have the best kids and parents a teacher could ever wish for! I feel very blessed!
Happy Valentine’s WeekJ
Much Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell and Mrs. Reed
Spelling Words: cute flute mule rule tube tune
High Frequency: from over when will quit
Student of the Week: PJ
Thursday: PADS lunch
Friday: No School
February 4, 2013
Dear Parent(s),
Well, we had a great time celebrating Catholic Schools Week. I hope you all enjoyed the Open House if you were able to make it. If you weren’t able to get to the Open House, please look in your child’s Home folder today to check out some of the work we have done lately. The children worked really hard this week and it showsJ! We made Valentine cards for the elderly and prayer cards for the religious. We attended mass and an assembly that taught us about the living constitution and our rights.
This week we will be going on our field trip on Thursday. We will not have gym that day,
so please send your child in their regular school uniform. Also, send in regular
sack lunch and snack. On Friday, we will celebrate 100 days, so please have your child
wear their decorated t-shirt to school over their uniform. We will celebrate Valentine’s
Day with a party, so if you are sending in Valentine’s for the class, you might want to get
those started now. They do not have to address them to each child, it is perfectly okay
to just sign their name on each one. We have 27 students in our class. I am attaching a
class list for your convenience. I will provide a brown bag that they will decorate and use
to collect their valentines. More information will follow about the class party.
Thank you to Mrs.Carstens, Mrs.Edwards and Mrs. Reasoner for helping with stations last week. We are out of Clorox wipes for our classroom. If you are out shopping this week and can pick some up for our classroom it would be greatly appreciated!
May your week be filled with much love!
Love and Thanks,
Mrs.Swindell and Mrs.Reed
Spelling Words: hole home hope nose rope those
High Frequency Words: girl play rain that with
Student of the Week: Zachary
Happy Birthday to Makayla and Sam!!
Happy ½ Birthday to Kubraa!
Thursday: Field Trip
Friday: 100 Days
January 28, 2013
Dear Parent(s),
Happy Catholic Schools Week! Thank you for choosing to send your child to St. Gilbert. My daughter interviewed me today for a paper she was writing about a Catholic education, and it reminded me of how much I value my choice to send my children to a Catholic school. It is a great place to learn and grow in faith and many other ways. This week we will celebrate what makes our school special. I hope to see you on Friday evening for our Open House.
On Friday, February 8th we will celebrate 100 days in school. Please send in a t-shirt that has 100 things on it. Use your imagination. It can be something that you attach or use marker/paint, etc. You do not have to purchase a new shirt. It can be an old one that can be worn over their uniform on that day. Hopefully, you will have some fun designing a t-shirt and we will have some fun that day with activities related to the number 100. Also, coming up on February 7th we will be going on our field trip to see the play Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the College of Lake County. The students watched the story of Joseph in preparation for the field trip.The children are very much looking forward to this big event! I will send home additional reminder information about this next week.
For those that are choosing to do the Math Packet, please send the packet back to school for stickers when it is completed, not individual sheets. Thanks!
God bless each of you and your child, and may we always remember that these little ones are given to us as a precious trust from our Lord.
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell and Mrs. Reed
No Spelling words this week
High Frequency Words: kick made some went were (keep practicingJ)
Student of the Week: Autumn
…“Any Dream Will Do”…
January 22, 2013
Dear Parent(s),
I hope everyone enjoyed their extra day off this weekend in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. We spent some time reading about him, watched a Scholastic News video that shared facts about his life, and discussed what equality and fairness means. The children are working on a project that asks them to share their dream for making the world a better place!
Thanks to the moms who helped out this week in stations. We worked on our handwriting, which is coming along really well. The children finished up a “Thank You”
for our parishioners that will go in the bulletins at mass during Catholic Schools Week.
They enjoyed practicing their spelling words with play dough, made picture sentences, and continued learning how to play the game of chess, which they always look forward to. In P.E. they are learning movements to perform for the lip dub video that we will be taping this week.
Sunday, January 27th begins Catholic Schools Week, and the children will be spending time this week preparing for the many different activities that are planned to celebrate that special week as a school community. For one of those projects, your student will need a picture of their pet or favorite animal. Please send it into school as soon as you can sometime before the end of this week.
I am really proud of how hard the children are working in school. They are making great progress in so many areas! This week we started training the students on how to take an accelerated reader test on our classroom computer, and many children have already taken tests. I recommend that they choose a book that isn’t too difficult. It is better for them to work their way up as they become more comfortable and confident with taking the tests. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you to all those who sent in wipes for the classroom! Wishing you all a very wonderful week filled with warmth, love, and laughter!
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell and Mrs. Reed
Spelling Words: bite hide smile while white wide
High Frequency: kick made some went were
Student of the Week: Joey
Happy Birthday to A.J.!
Happy ½ Birthday to Ella and Kaylin!!
January 14, 2013
Dear Parent(s),
Well our first week back was a bit of a challenge for all of us. The children had lots to say to each other and weren’t too interested in what I had to say….HAHA. I guess that is to be expected since they are a pretty friendly group and probably missed each other over break. As the week winded down, we definitely were able to get more on track.
Last week we had fun painting pictures that the children drew of animals in their habitat, which turned out beautifully. We definitely have some budding artists in the group. Also, we spent some time in math centers working on our addition and subtraction facts, place value, fact families, and geometric shapes. The children shared stories about their Christmas and one thing that they are grateful for in their lives. We have started working on replacing some of the books they are reading in their book bags with good fit books from the library, which the children are always excited to do…they truly love reading! Please remember to read each day and, if possible, talk with your child about what they are reading.
This week we will learn about Martin Luther King Jr. and discuss ways that we can treat each other fairly. Also, we will write about our dreams and how we can be peacemakers as Jesus calls us to do.
Finally, our classroom will soon be in need of more wipes. So, if you can, please send in a box with your child as soon as possible. We use them daily and go through them rather quickly. I appreciate it!
I hope you all are staying healthy and warm. Have a great week!
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell and Mrs. Reed
Spelling Words: fire mud snow sticks sun twigs
High Frequency Words: give ride them what your
Student of the Week: Ella
Happy ½ Birthday to Zachary and Josiah!
January 7, 2013
Happy New Year! I hope you all had a very blessed and joyful Christmas and that you are off to a great start in this New Year. I don’t know about you but I feel like the last two weeks went really fast and really slow all at the same time. It was nice to have a break and spend time with family, but I have to say that I missed all of your children’s smiling faces. It’s good to be back!
This week we will be reading the story Snakes and learning about the long “a” sound. We will be doing some comparing and contrasting in different areas of this story, and reviewing the ch, wh, and nk sounds, as well as practicing building words and letter substitutions. Also, we will be starting accelerated reading this month. If your child has read a book and wants to take a test for comprehension, they will be able to sign up to take this test on our classroom computer.
We will continue on in chapter 5 in Math with a concentration on place value. As we move forward, please make note that I will be sending home more math homework on a weekly basis. In addition, I will soon be sending home an optional math challenge packet to be done at home and returned for stickers when completed.
In Religion, we will talk about the gift of baptism and do some role playing. This week we will attend an all school mass on Wednesday. In Science, we will do some investigating about animal habitats.
Have a wonderful week!
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell and Mrs. Reed
Spelling Words: came, lake, made, name, shade, snake
High Frequency Words: where, why, know, under
Student of the Week: Grace
Happy Birthday to Justin and Mackenzie!
Happy ½ Birthday to Ricky, Kaylin, Joey!
December 17, 2012
Dear Parent(s),
As we are quickly approaching Christmas break and the end of 2012, I realize that this will be my last newsletter of the year. I have seen the children grow tremendously over the past several months and am pleased with their progress in so many ways.
This week we won’t have spelling words to study. We will be reviewing a lot of what we have learned thus far and have some fun with spelling and word wall challenges. Also, we will not have a story of the week. This will give us some extra time to work on reading books from our reading bags and our classroom library, which the children always enjoy! We are starting a new chapter in math this week and I am attaching the weekly homework.
We will be continuing our Advent preparations and practicing for the Christmas program on Wednesday evening. Please plan to drop off your child in our classroom by 6:30 and pick them up in the room after the show. Our classroom Christmas party is on Thursday. You do not need to send in a lunch, but please send along a snack. On Friday, we will have an all- school Advent prayer service in the church and then Christmas in the Round to follow in the parish center.
Many of the children could use a new supply of crayons, markers, and erasers. You might consider sending those in when we return after the holidays. Also, please make sure that your child’s clothing items are properly marked. When the snow eventually arrives, along with the boots and snow pants, etc., it will be helpful and very much appreciated!
As a closing note, I would like to say “Thank You” for my birthday lunch. I appreciate the thoughtfulness and best wishes from all of the children. It was a rather bittersweet day, as my mother had a heart attack and was scheduled for surgery the next day. All went well and she is recovering nicely. The kids made beautiful cards for her that were very much enjoyed by all of my family! Thanks againJ
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and lots of love, peace, and joy throughout the New Year. May all your dreams come true!
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell and Mrs. Reed
Student of the Week: Kenzie
Wednesday: Christmas Program 7PM (Dressy Attire)
Thursday: Classroom Christmas Party
Friday: Advent Prayer Service and Christmas in the Round
December 3, 2012
Dear Parent(s),
We have entered into the time of preparation for Christmas as the Advent season begins. As you can imagine, the children are excited and looking forward to the days ahead as we journey toward Jesus’ birthday. In our classroom, we will prepare our hearts for that big day by doing good deeds, reading Christmas stories, making crafts, singing carols, praying, and much more! I hope you received the Advent Calendar that was made and sent home with your child on Friday. Please encourage your child to participate in those daily suggestions with a joyful spirit.
Our Christmas Program will take place in the Parish Center on the evening of December 19th. The children have been practicing the songs they will sing during music class and I am told they are doing a wonderful job! Also, we will be visiting Santa’s Secret Shop on Wednesday, December 12th. Our classroom Christmas Party will be on Thursday, December 20th. There will be more details soon to follow regarding our party.
We are learning more about nouns, proper nouns, verbs, adjectives, and when to capitalize a word, use commas, and even some apostrophes. The children are doing wonderfully on their daily oral language lessons and seem to enjoy the challenge. I am already starting to see some of what we talk about in those lessons applied to their writing. I have been hearing that the children are reading more at home. Keep up the good work and encouragement. The daily routine of reading together or on their own is such a great habit to form early on in their life, as you may well know.
Thank you for sharing your beautiful children with me. They bring me joy daily!
May the light of Christ be with all of you and your families this Christmas Season.
Love,
Mrs. Swindell and Mrs. Reed
Spelling Words: clap class dress drop track trip
High Frequency Words: jump make said tell this
Student of the Week: Ellie
Friday: Dress Down Day
November 26, 2012
Dear Parent(s),
Welcome back to school. I hope all of you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving Break.
It was wonderful to get a chance to meet and talk with all of you during conferences.
I appreciate all of your interest and support in your child’s education. As we look ahead,
I am hopeful and optimistic about your child’s educational, social, and spiritual growth.
Together, I feel we make a great team!
This week we begin a story in book three of our reading series. The stories will begin to
get longer and more detailed. We will be discussing character, setting, plot, sequence of
events, moral of the story, genre, as well as many other aspects of examining a piece of
literature.
Please continue spending time reviewing spelling and sight words each week as they
will begin to get more difficult. We continue to learn more about blends and digraphs.
In Math, we will start Chapter 4 which focuses on subtraction strategies to 20. This week I will send home two homework sheets as a review for the chapter we are finishing up. They are due back to school by Friday. These strategies will be revisited in our new subtraction chapter.
Also, this week the first graders are asked to provide PADS lunches on Thursday. You
wiil receive a reminder notice in your child’s home folder.
Best wishes for a wonderful week!
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell
Spelling Words: bump jump spill tent went spell
High Frequency Words: off who why best can’t
Happy Birthday to Autumn!
Student of the Week: Matthew
Thursday, November 29th, PADS LUNCHES
November 12, 2012
Dear Parent(s),
Last week, Mr.Guckenberger, a St. Gilbert parent volunteer for Junior Achievement, came to visit our classroom to talk about communities and how families live and work together. He did a great job and the children really enjoyed his lesson. Thank you to Mrs. Judd, Mrs. Burke, and Mrs. Edwards for helping out with stations last week.
I hope everyone received the information I sent home regarding the Six Flags Reading Program. Any and all reading that the children do at home can go toward these hours. It’s a great way to earn a free ticket to Great America. I hope your child has told you about the “Reading Bags” that we are now using in our classroom. It was like Christmas when I passed them out last week, and so far they seem to enjoy using them. This is a work in progress that I hope will help facilitate the children’s independent reading time.
The students did a wonderful job of making very thoughtful thank you cards for our veterans, which I know will be treasured and appreciated. They are always so eager to share their love by writing a note or drawing a picture for someone they care about. It’s a beautiful thing to witness!
Report cards, conferences, and Thanksgiving are approaching quickly. I am looking forward to meeting with all of you to talk about your child’s progress so far this year.
During this season of thanks, I can’t help but feel blest for the wonderful children I have in my class this year and their families. Each one of them is uniquely special to me! I am grateful for the love and joy that they share with me each day.
As a school, we are celebrating Spirit Week this week and it will end with a Pep Rally
on Friday. May the spirit of thanksgiving fill your hearts and homes this week and throughout the season.
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell
Spelling Words: cat help hog job pat vet
High Frequency Words: are eat new out was
Student of the Week: Kaylin
Friday: Pep Rally at 12:30 and report cards go home
1B Newsletter
November 5, 2012
Dear Parent(s),
Thanks so much to all the parents who sent in party items and to all who pitched in to help make 1B’s Halloween Party such a fun time for the children. I think the kids had a wonderful afternoon and made some great memories! Special thanks to our room mom, Mrs. Beagles, for coordinating the event. And last but certainly not least, thank you to Mrs. Reed, our classroom aid; for all that she does for the children and me!
In spite of all the Halloween hype, we had a really productive week. We continue to work on sentence structure and grammar daily. The children are reading a lot and are getting good at choosing “good fit” books. They love to share their ideas and thoughts in all areas, which leads to lively class discussions! All in all they are hard workers. I would like to extend a huge “thank you” to Mrs. Burke and Mrs. Green, who have faithfully continued the very arduous task of leveling the books in our class library. The children and I appreciate it!
We have started chapter 3 in Math. The children are learning strategies for adding to 20. This week in Social Studies we will be discussing how a person becomes a leader. What are their roles and responsibilities? We’ll learn about the democratic process and voting. In Science we will be exploring insects, which will relate nicely with our story of the week, What Bug Is It?
We keep the families of 1B in our daily prayers here at school, and I ask that you keep our classroom in your prayers as well, as we learn and grow together!
May your week be filled with love!
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell
Spelling Words: doll flat miss pass puff snap
High Frequency Words: but day his her saw
Student of the Week: Matthew
October 29, 2012
Dear Parent(s),
Where is the time going? I can’t believe we are approaching the end of October already!
As the saying goes…”Time flies when you’re having fun”. I hope your child is having fun learning in 1B. They continue to amaze me with their creativity and enthusiasm.
This past week we spent time learning about animals and their characteristics. The children chose an animal and had fun challenging the class to guess what is was using three or more clues. They did an awesome job! In math, we are using the SmartBoard to help us learn and to make the math come alive, and the kids are loving it! We learned about related facts and are practicing different ways to understand that concept. This week’s homework will hopefully reinforce what we’ve been working on here at school
The excitement is certainly building with Halloween approaching. This week we will have our party on Wednesday with a lunch, craft, and parade around the school. We will be making our mummy masks early in the week and then create our “little mummies” after the party with the toilet paper you have all sent in. If you are planning on being here to help out with the party, I would appreciate any extra help right after lunch with our costume creations. I could use the extra hands…thanks in advance!
This week in religion we will continue to learn about how we praise God through prayer. The children have been wonderful with their prayer life here in our classroom. They all are quick to volunteer to lead spontaneous prayers from the heart, and have words that are sincere and inspirational. I’m sure God is smiling!
Many of the children have been writing and creating books to share with the class. I couldn’t be more pleased. Keep encouraging them to write and share their thoughts.
I hope you all have a safe and Happy Halloween!
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell
Spelling Words: hen pet red shed then wet
High Frequency Words: car him old you zoo
Student of the Week: Brigid
1B Newsletter
October 22, 2012
Dear Parent(s),
I hope everyone enjoyed the lovely weekend weather. The fall colors are certainly beautiful this year. We had a full week of reading and writing last week. The children are doing wonderfully. They are becoming quite the writers and are very enthusiastic about sharing their work. Everyone did a great job on their spelling tests. Thanks for the support at home; it really shows in their performance at school. Each week we spend time working on blending sounds, word segmentation, rhyming, phonics, grammar, sentence structure, and comprehension. In addition, we are building vocabulary and learning about elements of a story.
The fireman who came to speak with our class about Fire Prevention and Safety told the children to go home and remind their parents to check and replace any batteries in their alarms at home. I hope that your child did so. I know it was a good reminder for me to do the same. Thanks for sending in the toilet paper. Please continue to send it in as you are able, if you haven’t done so yet.
This week we will continue to work on subtraction and fact families in Math. We talk a lot about the vocabulary words (part, whole, minus, equals, difference) they are learning and try to use them in our discussions in solving problems. We will begin using the Smart Board more in our weekly lessons, especially in math. The children love this of course. It’s a lot of fun!
We are celebrating Red Ribbon Week and the class made a great poster for our door to show all that keeps us drug free. I was impressed with their idea to put a picture of Jesus in the center of it all. In Science, we will be learning about animals.
I would like to extend a giant thank you to Mrs. Cox for her very generous donation of educational games to our classroom. I know that they will be enjoyed by the children and an asset to their learning.
May God bless your week with health and happiness!
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell
Spelling Words: hop hot lock not rock top
High Frequency Words: boy did get how see
Student of the Week: Jennie
October 14, 2012
Dear Parent(s),
Our voyage across the ocean in search of buried treasure was a big hit on Friday!
Be sure to ask your child about it if you haven’t heard already. We wrapped up our lesson on Christopher Columbus with writing about him and his exploration to the Americas. The children did a great job and learned a lot.
Thank you to Mrs. Burke, Mrs. Reed, and Mr. Swindell for their help with stations last week. The children enjoyed themselves and had fun with Play-Doh, creating some artwork, and learning about chess. We are continuing to work hard in math and this week’s homework will reinforce the concepts of comparing groups to find which has more and less. Thanks for getting homework in on time each week.
This week we will be discussing Fire Safety and will attend an assembly to learn more about it. Also, on Thursday some members of the Grayslake Central High School varsity volleyball team will be coming to read to our class. The children are also enjoying their time with their reading buddies in 4A. They will continue to get together with them weekly. In Religion, we will be talking about how we can learn to be followers of Jesus by listening to God’s Word in Scripture readings at mass.
Our class will be having a party on Halloween and then will parade through the school in costume. We will be making mummy costumes here in school to wear for the parade. I am asking that each child please bring in one roll of toilet paper to help with our mummy creations. You will be getting more information about the class party from our room mom, Dawn Beagles.
Thanks Brigid for the yummy homemade pumpkin muffins for my Friday treat! I really enjoyed them:)
May your days be filled with peace and joy!
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell
Spelling Words: buck duck tug rug but cut
High Frequency Words: big fun has she the
Student of the Week: Joseph C.
Friday, Oct. 19th: Spirit Wear Day
October 8, 2012
Dear Parent(s),
I hope you all had an enjoyable long weekend with your family! Last week flew by with the shortened week but we still managed to get a lot done. In Religion, we continue to learn about the Church and how we celebrate mass together. Also, we’ve been learning about the rosary and even prayed our first decade together. The kids really enjoyed that and look forward to it! There’s something very wonderful about witnessing children’s natural love for Our Lady.
Thanks to the moms who came in to help out with our classroom Stations last week. The kids had fun while learning to estimate, measure, and even examine the inside of an apple. They also played games of Vowel Bingo and HeadBanz…those were a big hit! We had our first bubble gum reward party at the end of the day on Thursday! (I’m not sure who wanted that to happen more, the kids or me???)
This week we will continue to learn more about Christopher Columbus and take a voyage across the sea with our maps and telescopes in hand. Who knows what we’ll discover:) We are continuing to work on subtraction and counting to 100 by ones, twos, and fives, and also backwards from twenty. Please practice at home with your children.
Be sure to ask your child about being “word detectives” this past week as we found at least twenty words within four words. They were amazing at this! As always, reading is a central part of our day. Be sure to read with your children as often as you can, it really makes a difference in their growth!
Lastly, I want to let you know that you do not have to return the paper stories in the bag each week. Just return the bag and the activity strip at the end of the week for a sticker.
Many blessings to you and your family!
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell
Spelling Words: (same as last week) bus, fast, go, map, ship, shop
High Frequency Words: can for and had not
Student of the Week: Sean
1B Newsletter
October 1, 2012
Dear Parent(s),
It has been another great week in first grade! This week we celebrated Johnny Appleseed’s birthday and had some fun with apples. We had a “guest reader” (teacher friend of mine) come in to read to the class the story of Johnny Appleseed and we spent the morning doing various apple activities. We graphed our apples by color, we brainstormed words that described our apples using our five senses and then wrote about them in our journals, and we discussed where they come from and how they are used to become different foods for us to eat. We will continue with more apple-fun this week too!
Thanks to those of you who were able to send in the paper towel rolls. Please continue to do so. We will be using these and the maps we’ll be making for a Christopher Columbus Day treasure hunt. This will tie into our weekly story “Time for Kids Ships”. Due to the four day weekend coming up, please note that we will not have our weekly spelling test. Please study and practice the spelling words for a test that we will take next Friday, October 12th.
In Math, we have been practicing counting to 100 by 1’s, 2’s, and 5’s and have started our subtraction unit. This week I am sending home two sheets of homework for extra reinforcement and practice.
On Tuesday, we will be getting together for the first time with Mrs. Green’s fourth grade class to pair up with reading buddies. Each week they will read a story and the fourth graders will be helping them with comprehension questions and phonics activities.
On Friday, I sent home the Book It reading logs for you to start recording any and all reading that your child does at home for the month of October. Our goal is a minimum of 20 minutes of reading each day. Happy Reading!
Thank you to P.J. Biegel for my Friday coffee and muffin treat…it was delicious! Thanks, too, parents for all the supplies you’ve sent in and for support that you have shown me this year. Your children continually amaze me with their enthusiasm and love for life. As the saying goes, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!” They are loving, sweet, fun, and definitely Good Apples :)
I’ll end with a quotable quote: “Faith makes all things possible…not easy.” Enjoy your children and have a faith-filled week!
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell
Spelling Words: bus fast go map ship stop
High Frequency Words: can for and had not
Student of the Week: Joseph Carstens
Happy Birthday to Ellie Cox!
1B Newsletter
September 24, 2012
Dear Parent,
Happy Fall! As the tree colors change and I am reminded of the gifts that come from this beautiful season, so too am I grateful for the gift of your children in my life. They are truly wonderful!
The children have been doing a great job on writing sentences! Last week we talked a lot about nouns, verbs, and the different kinds of sentences we can make. We practiced recognizing if a sentence was a “telling”, “asking”, or “exciting” one, and what it should sound like when we read those types of sentences. They also did a wonderful job being illustrators of their writing.
In Math, we’re finishing up addition sentences (for now) and moving into subtraction. Thanks for all the help in completing and turning in the weekly homework. In Science, we are continuing to learn about our five senses and discovering the difference between living and non-living things. I’m noticing an almost daily improvement in the children’s handwriting. We are currently practicing number formation and I appreciate your encouragement to have your child do their best neat and accurate work, whenever possible, at home. Also, I am really impressed with how well the students are doing on their spelling tests. Keep up the good work!
A few reminders for this week: Thursday is the magazine drive final assembly and it will be a dress down day for everyone; Picture Day is on Friday, so please be sure to send in your envelope if you are planning to order pictures and haven’t sent it in yet.
Spelling Words: dish path shack that thin wish
High Frequency Words: we of us go all
Student of the Week: Gabi Beagles
Thanks too, Gabi Beagles and the 1B Kids, for my Friday Dunkin’Donuts Treat! It and all of you helped brighten my day! You’re the bestJ! Also, with the cooler weather approaching, please remember to put your child’s name on jackets, hats, gloves, etc. It really helps out when an item gets misplaced.
May your week be filled with happiness, laughter, and joy!
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell
September 17, 2012
Dear Parent,
First of all, I want to thank Kubraa Adoni and the 1B kids (and their parents) for the wonderful surprise Starbuck’s coffee and delicious muffin I received on Friday. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness and want you to know that it made my day! Thanks too for attending Parent Night last week. It was great to see all of you there and to share a little bit about what’s happening in first grade. For those who couldn’t make it, I hope that you received the packet I sent home with your child. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. My email address is cindy.swindell@stgilbertschool.org. For those that signed up for station help, I will be notifying you soon about times that I will need assistance. I hope to have stations up and running by the beginning of October.
The children are continuing to adjust nicely to all the daily routines and content areas that have been introduced to them thus far. We are doing a lot of work in reading and phonics. This week we worked on writing words for our “_ack family” that stemmed from our weekly story Quack. We even talked a bit about sentence structure and the children worked hard to come up with their own sentences when given a prompt. Also, they demonstrated their understanding of sequence and character as they acted out the story in small groups. They also learned what it means to be a good audience for the actors.
Another math sheet is coming home today. I will be sending an additional homework assignment about mid-week to help reinforce some of the more difficult skills/concepts that we will be working on this week. If you haven’t returned last week’s math homework yet, please do so as soon as possible.
In Social Studies, we will be learning about making new friends and continuing our discussion about communities and the different types of maps we use. In Religion, we will explore the topic of our Church Community and what it means to be Catholic.
Spelling Words: dig pig kick pick pin win
High Frequency Words: do he on in my
I hope you all are enjoying this beautiful weather we are having. May your week be filled with joy!
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell
September 10, 2012
Dear Parents,
Well, we’ve tackled a lot already in these first few weeks of school and the children are adjusting well to all the daily things that they have been introduced to as First Graders.
Our first Spelling test went really well. They all tried their best and did a good job doing their own work in their “cubbies”. They naturally want to help each other but seemed to understand that this is one time that they shouldn’t be sharing their work. We learned and played a Spelling game called Sparkle that they grew to love!
Throughout the week they each took a math test on the computer similar to the reading test they took last week. These are required tests taken by all the students at SGS as an assessment tool, and you will be getting those results soon.
We’ve had a chance to start some work in our Phonics, Handwriting, Math, and Religion workbooks, and spent a good part of our week reading and exploring the story Max the Cat. The children created their own wonderful illustrations and practiced using their short A sound words throughout the week. We even used our classroom “phones” to read the stories to each other and did sounding out loud words…Turtle Talking…to help us with letter-sound relationships. That was a big hit!
If you don’t already know this, I am happy to report that the children love reading books in our class library. They are eagerly exploring all of their options on those shelves and they look forward to our weekly visits to the school library on Tuesdays. Our classroom story time is a highlight of the day, for them and me. They couldn’t be more interested in predicting, discusses, and listening to the stories. I wish you could see their facesJ
Lastly, I wanted to let you know how well-behaved the children were at mass this week. I was really proud of them. This week in Religion we talked about being “Doers of the Word” and even had some actors and actresses show the class some real life examples of what that means. They did a great job and were very entertaining! Speaking of being “doers”, thanks to everyone for sending in their “change for change”. The students are experiencing the joy of being a giver.
I look forward to seeing you all at Parent Night this Wednesday. Have a great week.
Spelling Words: back pack quack rack sack tack
High Frequency Words: at be it up no
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell
1B Newsletter
September 4, 2012
Dear Parents,
Well, our first full week of “stepping into first grade” has been a success story!
Despite the warm weather, the children have managed to cooperate in learning classroom procedures, following directions, and becoming part of our “1B Team”.
I am very impressed with all of their hard work thus far and have enjoyed getting
to know them all a little better. We are off to a really great start!
Last week we practiced our fire drill procedures. The children learned that they follow Mrs. Spradlin’s class out the emergency door exit in her room past the front of the church. Another big event was that each child took their first STAR reading test on the computer in the resource room. I will give you more information about those results soon. We had our first Computer class, Music class, and QSP all school assembly. We even took a “field trip” to the air conditioned church for Religion as we listened to the story “What about Heaven?” Thanks to all the moms who came in for lunch duty and to Mrs. Edwards for donating a Swiffer Sweeper to our classroom to help keep it tidy.
This week we will have our first all school mass on Wednesday and our first
Spelling test on Friday. Each week I will be giving you the list of words to study for the
test. We will be practicing them in school as well.
This week’s words are: bad, can, had, hat, mat, pan
In addition, please practice our high frequency words for the week: I, am, is, me, to
Today you are receiving a “Book in a Bag” which is a story from our practice book, with
directions and fun activities to do for each day of the week. Please read the book every
day and have your child return it on Friday for a sticker. Each week you will receive a
new story. Starting next Monday, I will be sending home a Math homework sheet to be
completed and returned by Friday also.
Lastly, I hope your child is coming home excited about school and all that we are doing
here. I will have a sign-up sheet for “Station Helpers” and lots more information at our
upcoming Parent Night next Wednesday, September 12th. May God bless your week
with lots of love and laughter!
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell
P.S. What “I” learned this week in first grade…that little 6 and 7 year olds have the biggest hearts and are
some of the best and most willing helpers on the planet!...even without a reward:)
1B Back to School News
August 24, 2012
Dear Parent,
Wow, we are off to a great start in our classroom! This year we have our own desk and books, and we are on our way to becoming better readers, writers, and mathematicians.
It was wonderful to see and meet most of you on Monday evening, and I can’t express enough how grateful I am to have all of you and your children as part of our 1B family. Everyone was so helpful, cooperative, and friendly, which I truly appreciate!
I hope that your child is coming home excited about school. I am very much looking forward to being your child’s teacher. St. Gilbert School is a great place to learn and grow!
I will be sending home a weekly newsletter. You can watch for this on Mondays. For now, let me fill you in on a few things that you need to know to make this transition into first grade a successful one.
Gym is on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On these days, please dress your child in the school uniform gym shirt and shorts/sweat pants. They are allowed to wear their gym uniform throughout the day on their gym day. All they will have to do is change into their gym shoes and they will be ready to go. If you haven’t already done so, please send in their gym shoes. These will be kept in the classroom all year long.
Art class is on Fridays. Mostly everyone has already sent in their paint “smock” to be kept at school but if you haven’t done so a large old t-shirt works best. If the sleeves are too long just cut some of it off. No plastic please!
We have snack time every morning. Send in something nutritious such as fruit, crackers, cheese, granola, or cereal bars, etc. During the next 4 weeks feel free to send 2 snacks. The children seem to need a little extra nourishment until they adjust to the “back to school” routine. Also, please send a water bottle to school every day with your child so that your child can get a drink as needed.
We celebrate birthdays with a crown, song, and trip to the Birthday Box. If your child has a summer birthday, we will celebrate it at the half way point. I will mention upcoming birthdays in the weekly newsletter. You may send in a “neat treat” or a “little something” to celebrate it, if you wish. Happy Birthday to Sean Green whose special day is coming up this Tuesday, 8/28!
I will go over more details on Parent Night. May God bless each of you and your family as we begin this new school year together.
Love and Thanks,
Mrs. Swindell:)