Happy New Year Heroes!

Lots of changes are in store for our First Grade Heroes. You may have already heard that they are in table teams as heroes, that we are celebrating successes with lunch bunches, that we are tracking our work completion daily in our red folder, and that we are no longer bringing toys or Pokemon cards. It has been a struggle, but we look forward to a 2012 with a little more structure and of course a lot more learning!!

Thanks to all the parents for your gift of time at our Holiday party and for the time and energy you spend every day giving our kiddoes great school experience.

Thank you for attending our awards assembly this morning for students who received them. There weren't as many to give out, because many of us had earned all of ours the first nine weeks. It was a joy to watch the kiddoes take leadership roles as greeters and as readers during the ceremony. Thank you Aileen for reading out our class awards. You did an AMAZING job!

If you see these items around and would like to help:

• gluesticks
• pencils
• notebook paper
• colored papers
• colored file folders

Your support and help is always appreciated, In addition, I have sent out book orders, If you would like to order, I ask that you not do it online due to the fact that Scholastic had a glitch the last time I ordered. I would like you to send a paper copy of your order with a check payable to Scholastic. I can send orders in at anytime and they usually come back in a week's time,


Thanks Again,
Lara





First Grade News!
We are happy to start this New Year with you and thankful, reflective, and joyous to be allowed to teach your children. It really is the most precious gift! Thanks for all the sweet holiday wishes and gifts. We feel so lucky to be the ones to help your child grow through this important time in their lives. Thank You!

Reminders:

• Bundle Up - We never know what the weather will be like. Please be sure to label your kids' jackets and winter apparrel. That will help the trips to the lost and found.
• Growing Kids - remember as your kids grow, they may need more of a snack than they did at the beginning of the year to tide them over to lunch. Make sure that your child gets a solid breakfast too! This will help studnents to focus throughout the morning.
• Toys - Please remind students that they are not to have toys at school unless it is a designated day or privilege.
• Books - Please be sure that all books send home are taken good care of. We have seen many recently that are having to be replaced. Please be sure to keep them away from water bottles and cold items in the backpack.

Thanks to all the parents who came to celebrate the Dog Tag celebration for the second nine weeks. Weren't our EmCees great? They really showed leadership and Tiger Pride. Remember if your child did not get a dogtag today that we have different goals that change by semester, Some students did not receive them today because they had received all that they could for the semester. Next semester's goals are:

• reading all 100 sight words
• identifying all coins (preferably able to count change)

Right now we are studying:

Fairytales/Folk Tales/Fables: Fairy tales are classified as tales that have specific characteristics. They begin "Once Upon A Time", and end "Happily Ever After." They ususally contain magic words or spells. They have elements of 3 or 7 (3 step family members, for example). They happen in an ambiguous setting (far,far, away) and often have royal characters that are purely good or evil. They were originally written to teach kids right from wrong and good characters always had good things happen to them and villains always had bad things happpen. They have evolved to be nicer to the villains, though.Two of the most reknowned Fairy Tale collectors are the Brothers' Grimm and Hand Christian Andersen.


Folktales are classified as tales that are meant to teach a lesson, but are often specific to a culture.  The characters can be people or animals. Often they are stereotypical and find them selves in a problematic situation. Far from ideal, the character must use evidence and traditional values to decide what to do. They may do the right thing, but more often than not, they do the wrong thing, leaving them a little wiser.

In Math, we are studying 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional shapes. Vocabulary is important in this unit, so ask your child what new words they may be learning,

In Science, we are examining dirt, soil, rocks and their purposes. We will and have been exploring potting soil, sand, loam, and clay. We are looking at their properties and how we can differentiate between them.

Our Leader of the Week studies are continuing with Martin Luther King, Jr, and Rosa Parks.

Important Dates:

• January 10th - report cards go home
• January 16th - No school - MLK Holiday
• January 30-February 3: Bully Free Week