Thursday, September 26, 2013

Jog-a-Thon

We had our kick off assembly for Jog-a-Thon today.  The staff members played some Minute to Win It games to get the kids excited!  Please make sure your children are safe when they are asking for pledges.  I don't recommend having them go door to door, especially to people's houses they do not know!  With that being said,  help them get lots of pledges so our class can win a prize!  Individual students can win prizes also.  The top prize is your choice between an iPad mini or a $200 Toys R' Us shopping spree!  There are prizes for most laps run by a girl/boy in first grade, and prizes for most money raised by students.  In the past our school has used our fundraiser to help purchase SMARTboards for every classroom in the Elementary School!  The students LOVE working on the SMARTboard.  I can't wait to see what our school is able to provide for students with Jog-a-Thon money this year!
 


 Flip your lid!  Contestants had to flip a cup onto the pop bottles.  We needed a couple more seconds!
Bucket Head!  Staff had to catch mini marshmallows in a cup on their head.  Mrs. Durand and Mrs. Erickson won.  Mr. H caught three in his cup and three in his mouth!



Mrs. Peterson and Mrs. Sommerio played Defy Gravity.  It is much harder than it looks!
 

Mr. Traum won Face the Cookie in record time!  Contestants had to get the cookie from their forehead to their mouth by only using their facial muscles!

Monday, September 23, 2013

Garden Fun!

We got to work in our Elementary School Garden a little bit today.  Last spring students planted flowers and veggies in the garden.  The carrots were ready to be pulled and Mrs. Vande Voorde asked if we would be available to help.  The kids had a great time picking carrots and they will be donated to a local food bank.






Friday, September 20, 2013

International Peace Day





We had fun planting our pinwheels for International Peace Day!  Thank you to Mrs. Gocken for planning Peace Day in our school and making pinwheels with students in Art Class.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Measurement Fun!

We worked hard to master our measurement standards in math today.  Students used nonstandard units of measurement to measure different pictures of animals.  When they were finished measuring the wild animals roaming around our tables, they put pictures in order from longest to shortest.  Cameron told me "this is the BEST MATH EVER!"  I think they enjoyed themselves!
 
 
We have begun a new unit in Fundations.  We are currently working on CVC words.  Students should be able to read and spell CVC words.  

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Patriot's Day

Today we talked a little bit about why September 11th is a significant day in American history.  We didn't get into a lot of details but we did talk about why our country is great!  We also spent some time talking about real heroes vs. super heroes and how they are alike and different.  We finished off the lesson by making an American heart to display in our hallway.
 





Thursday, September 5, 2013

Great News!

I have great news!  Our classroom's project on Donor's Choose was completely funded last night!  Which means that our classroom will have our very own (we don't have to share) Samsung tablet very soon!
I can't wait!
 
In other news, I am feeling a bit like a broken record, but this is very important.  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send a note or call when you, or someone else, is going to pick up your child.  If you do not send a note or call, it is IMPERATIVE that you sign your child out with Mrs. Steinborn.  If you do not sign them out, and we are unable to get a hold of you on the phone after 15 minutes we call the police and we start searching for your child.  This has happened more times than it should have.  Every time we have called, someone just forgot to let us know their child was a pick up.

Click here for a copy of this weeks newsletter!   


Wednesday, September 4, 2013

I Love These Goofballs!

We decided to have a little fun before going home today.   We sure did miss Troy!


Sunday, September 1, 2013

Tablet Fun!

I have been bringing in my tablet and letting children use it to read books and they seem to be enjoying it WAY more than I thought!  I am looking for some more educational apps to let the students use when they finish their classroom work early.  I have an android tablet, but I have access to IPADs through the school.  If you know of any great educational apps, please share! 

Raz-Kids is a great app and we use Raz-kids in our classroom frequently.  If you do not have a tablet available, you can still get to Raz-kids on the Internet.  The webpage is www.raz-kids.com.  Our classroom user name is laue1 and every kid is on there with books at their level.  If fluency is a concern for your child, their books may seem "easy".  Rest assured, I will give them the next level as soon as their reading becomes more fluent. 

Right now our class has a project listed on Donor's Choose to get a tablet to call our own, that will always be in our classroom.  Consider donating, or sharing on your Facebook/Twitter pages.  From now until September 8th any donation made will be matched dollar for dollar with the code INSPIRE.  Click on the picture below to be taken to our classroom project!

Give to Public Schools in Need! - Go to DonorsChoose.org
 

Next week in math we are going to begin our measurement unit.  I am really excited, as I have found quite a few great hands-on activities for the students to complete to help them meet our standards.  We will also continue to practice our addition facts through five and number formation. 

In Fundations, we will continue to review letters and letter sounds.  On Friday, students will take our first Fundations Test.  We will talk about test taking on Thursday and hopefully calm their nerves a little bit, as they always seem to get so worried when they hear the word test!

Thank you so much for sharing your children with me!  I have really enjoyed our first couple weeks together and I am looking forward to seeing what great things the remainder of the school year brings!  I hope you are all enjoying your extended weekend with them.

Mrs. Laue