A few updates -

First grade math - This week we worked on adding three numbers together.  We also worked on reading a story problem three different ways - changing where the missing number was.  Today we started working on 100 charts and looking for the patterns.

First grade phonics - We learned four new glued sounds this week.  We learned ang, ing, ong, and ung.

Religion - Every day we have been reading a Bible story related to Christmas.  Each day we color in a bulb on our tree until we get to Christmas day.  Our promise paper this week continued teaching us about Advent.  We added our third flame to our Advent wreath this week - for the pink joy candle.

Writing - We have been very busy writers!  We wrote letters to Santa.  We have also been busy writing Christmas cards to all of our classroom volunteers.

Reading - Our word work focus is adjectives.  We made an art project called "Awesome Adjectives About Me".  We are also making snowman adjective books.

Today we made an adorable elf project.  I'll snap a picture and post it.  Thank you to Katie Meyer for helping us out.

Art - In keeping with the season, students are working on illustrating the Nativity story in a landscape. They need to include a horizon line, and show part of their story close and part of their story far away. People or objects closer to us look larger, and those off in the distance appear smaller. Have a blessed Christmas. Mrs. Jeanne Ihlenfeldt

Have a great weekend!

I was cleaning Zak's closet last weekend.  I have a ton of size small and extra small short sleeve and long sleeve polos. (mostly red and white...a few green)  I also have three size six uniform shorts.  If anyone wants any let me know.  I'll gladly pass them on to you.  :)

An update from Mrs. Friday -

Social Learning Session #3

Last week we introduced using Social Behavior Maps as they relate to the various
Zones. Attached you will find the EXPECTED behavior social map for “Green Zone
in the Classroom” that we completed as a group. This week we will complete the
UNEXPECTED behavior map for the Yellow Zone in the classroom. One of the main
objectives of this week’s lesson is to emphasize that everyone has thoughts about
unexpected behaviors triggered when someone is in a different zone (other than
Green). Linking these (invisible) thoughts to outward consequences is reinforced as
well. As Leah Kuypers points out in her book, The Zones of Regulation, if behavior
is only addressed by attending to positive behavior, we may not be giving students
all the information they need to see the bigger picture of what they are doing.
Typically, adults assume that children are easily able to “read” people’s emotions
intuitively. However, this is not always the case. Although our students at times
may be purposely misbehaving, at many other times those same students are doing
an unexpected behavior with no awareness of how it impacts others in their
environment. These students may have difficulty understanding that they have
done an unexpected behavior. Using the Zones is a tool to help explain the effects
of unexpected behaviors in a non-threatening way.
Some questions you can ask your child this week:
 How do you get along with others when you are in the different zones?
 In which zone are you most successful?
 What kinds of thoughts do people have when you are in the Green Zone?

Next week we will start to introduce the three types of tools to help students
regulate and move from a Red, Yellow or Blue Zone back into the Green Zone:
1) Calming Techniques
2) Thinking Strategies
3) Sensory Supports

Please don’t hesitate to contact Mary-Beth Friday with any questions, comments or concerns at the
Communication Pathways office: 920-632-4488 or by email: marybeth@communicationpathways.com

Tonight - The students are meeting in school at 6:00.  Please take their coats with you.  They will be dismissed from church after the concert.

This week - We are not having a spelling list.

Spanish - The students do have Spanish homework.  Our next Spanish class is on Friday.

See you tonight!  :)

This week's update from Mrs. Friday -

Social Learning Session #2

We will continue exploring EXPECTED and UNEXPECTED behaviors using the following concepts this
week:
 GREEN THOUGHTS/RED THOUGHTS:
As a visual cue to help students become more observant of their own behaviors we will use
“thought bubble” props. A green thought bubble indicates the teacher/parent/friend is
observing an expected behavior in another, which leaves them with a comfortable feeling. A
red thought bubble indicates a person is observing an unexpected behavior, creating an
uncomfortable feeling in himself or herself.
 EXPECTED BEHAVIORS: These are things we do and say that give people positive thoughts
about us and make them feel good too. Doing what is expected is different based on where
we are and who we are with.
 UNEXPECTED BEHAVIORS: These are things we do and say that give people
uncomfortable thoughts about us and makes them feel icky or mad or bad. Doing what is
unexpected is different based on where we are and who we are with based on the situation.
For example, using a loud voice/yelling might be expected outside at recess, but not in the
classroom.
 SOCIAL BEHAVIOR  MAPPING helps connect behavior, emotions, and consequences:

Expected Behaviors  Make other people have comfortable/positive feelings of you 

Creating positive consequences  Leading you to have positive feelings about yourself

Unexpected Behaviors  Make other people have uncomfortable/possibly negative

thoughts about you  Creating more undesired consequences  Leading you to have more

negative feelings about yourself

Everyone does Unexpected Behaviors throughout each day, typically not on purpose. The

POWER of being a Social Thinker comes from being able to recognize that you have done

something unexpected. Then changing your behavior to something more expected; which can

change people’s thoughts and feelings about you back to being comfortable and more

positive.

Looking forward to meeting with parents this Thursday to explain more about these sessions!

Please don’t hesitate to contact Mary-Beth Friday with any questions, comments or concerns at the

Communication Pathways office: 920-632-4488 or by email: marybeth@communicationpathways.com

Samantha Snowbell and some of her letters  

A few updates -

First grade math - We just started unit 5.  We are working on adding and subtracting numbers up to 20.  We have been working on story problems.  We have also been matching equations to make-a-ten pictures.

First grade phonics - Today we started unit 7.  We will be learning 4 more glued sounds -ang, -ing, -ung, and -ong.

Handwriting - The first graders are continuing with writing the letters in the correct places and forming the letters correctly.  This week they worked on a review page, as well as the letters g and j.  The second graders have started learning cursive.  It had been challenging, but fun for them.  So far they have practiced the letters i, t, u, w, e, l, and b.

Religion- We have been reading a passage out of the Bible every day that has something to do with Christmas.  We have been building our Jesse Tree.  We have been working out of our Promise Papers.  We have been learning about Advent.

Science - I am excited!  Our first Einstein Kit of the year should be here by tomorrow We are going to do the butterfly kit.

Reading - The students have been working hard in their reading groups and daily five centers.  This last week our word work focus was verbs.  Next week our focus is going to be adjectives.  The students love work on writing! Thank you to the Hills.  They brought in blank Christmas cards.  The students are loving them!

Our elf, Samantha Snowbell returned this week.  The students love finding her in the morning.  Each night when she returns to Santa she has a lot of letters to bring Santa from the students.  :)

Here are a few updates from the specials - 

Art - In art class we have been working with shapes and practicing painting skills. We are learning how to draw pictures using basic shapes. We will be building on this idea as we learn how artists look for the basic shapes they see in things to help them draw. Blessing to your families this advent season. Mrs. Jeanne Ihlenfeldt

Spanish - 1st/ 2n: Animals on the farm (we've been working in partners on how to

spell the animals).

We learned about Saint Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe. We decorated the Spanish classroom with flowers because of what we learned happened to Juan Diego. Their Feast Days are both this week (Dec. 9 and Dec. 12!).

Gym - We are working on dribbling a basketball with our eyes up.  Included in this is how high to dribble, where to dribble, and how to move when we dribble.

***Reminder - There is a meeting at 6:30 tonight for all families of students in grades 1-4.  The meeting is to introduce the social skills curriculum and Mary Beth Friday.  

Have a great night!  :)

One more thing...We are going to NDA tomorrow.  If you haven't returned your permission slip yet, please do so tomorrow.  Have a great night!

The first graders have math homework tonight.  It's the back side of a worksheet that we did in class today.

The second graders have phonics homework tonight.

Weekly Spelling Lists -

First Grade - Phonetic List - Beginning Blends
crab
spin
skip
frog
plum
slam
grab
flip
snap
plus

First Grade - High-Frequency List - Words 71-80
no
make
than
first
been
its
who
now
people
my

Second Grade - Phonetic List - nk, ng
wink
sing
sink
king
long
ring
hang
bank
wing
drink

Second Grade - High-Frequency List - Words 241-250
paper
hard
near
sentence
better
best
across
during
today
however

***Electronics Day was a hit today!  The kids did a great job!  I took some pictures.  I'll post them when I get a chance.  Now we need to vote on our next reward.  I'll let you know what the students choose.

***Reminder - We are headed to NDA on Thursday.  Please remember to return your permission slip.

Now back to the game...Go Pack!

The students have done it again!  They have completed another PBIS/CHAMPS challenge!  They have earned 300 Faith Shields.  The incentive this time was for an electronics day.  We will do this at the end of the day on Monday.  The students may bring an an electronic device from home.  (ipod, DS, etc.)  They will stay in their backpacks until 2:30 on Monday.  If you don't feel comfortable sending a device, don't worry.  We have ipads that the students may use.

The first time I challenged the students with 200 Faith Shields.  The second time I challenged them with 300 Faith Shields.  I think we'll bump it up to 350 for the next incentive.  :)

Have a great weekend!

Weekly Spelling Lists -

First Grade - Phonetic List - Short u Words
bus
cut
nut
bug
run
tug
snug
bump
drum
plug

First Grade - High Frequency List - Words 61-70
into
has
more
her
two
like
him
see
time
could

Second Grade - Phonetic List - Consonant Clusters (Blends)
flat
glass
plant
dress
front
bring
glad
cliff
grand
cluck

Second Grade - High Frequency List - Words 231-240
night
picture
being
study
second
soon
story
since
white
ever


Social Learning Groups -
Next week, Thursday, December 11th, there is going to be a meeting for all 1st-4th grade parents about social groups.  We have a great resource, Mary Beth Friday, and she is going to be teaching the students about social learning.  Kay will be introducing her and talking about what the students will be learning at the meeting.

When Mary Beth is here she is going to take all of the students in 1/2 in groups of six.  She will be coming to our classroom on Wednesdays and Thursdays for the next (I think) eight weeks.  She is starting to work with our classes this week.  Each week she will send a summary of what she will be talking about in the groups.  Here is the info for this week -

Social Learning Lesson #1

Our initial session will work on introducing the following concepts from the Think
Social! curriculum by Michelle Garcia Winner:
 SOCIAL SMARTS: The type of “smarts” in our brains that we use whenever
we are around other people. Social smarts help our brains to know that
others are having thoughts about us and we are having thoughts about them.
We use social smarts in school, at home, and EVERYWHERE!
 SCHOOL SMARTS: Different types of “smarts” in our brains that we use
for school learning. Things like math smarts, computer smarts, music
smarts, science smarts, and many more.
 EXPECTED: These are things we do and say that give people positive
thoughts about us and make them feel good too. Doing what is expected is
different based on where we are and who we are with.
 UNEXPECTED: These are things we do and say that give people
uncomfortable thoughts about us and makes them feel icky or mad or bad.
Doing what is unexpected is different based on where we are and who we are
with based on the situation. For example, using a loud voice/yelling might be
expected outside at recess, but not in the classroom.

In order to foster self-regulation and emotional control, concepts from the Zones
of Regulation by Leah M. Kuypers were introduced. There are four zones that we
will use to describe how our brain and body feel:
 BLUE ZONE: Your body is running slow, such as when you are tired, sick,
sad, or bored.
 GREEN ZONE: Like a green light, this is when you are “good to go.” If you
are in the green zone you may feel happy, calm, and focused.
 YELLOW ZONE: Proceed with caution and slow done in this zone! This zone
describes when you start to lose control, such as when you are frustrated,
overwhelmed, silly, wiggly, excited, worried, anxious, or surprised.
 RED ZONE: This zone is reserved for extreme emotions such as terror,
uncontrolled anger, and aggression. When you are in the Red Zone you are
can be out of control, have trouble making good decisions, and must STOP.

Please don’t hesitate to contact Mary-Beth Friday with any questions, comments or concerns at the
Communication Pathways office: 920-632-4488 or by email: marybeth@communicationpathways.com



***One last note - Lunch recess -
We got an e-mail today that very few people have signed up for lunch recess duty for December.  If at all possible, I personally beg you to sign up.  :)  If people don't sign up, the teachers have to do lunch recess duty.  If we have to do duty, we don't have time to eat lunch.  So, I selfishly beg you...if you can...please sign up.  :)


Have a great night!

FYI - We do not have a spelling list this week.

A few updates -

First Grade Math - We have been working on tens and ones.  We have learned how to relate additions problems, such as 3+4=7 and 30+40=70.  We also have been working on greater than, less than, and equal to.

First Grade Phonics - We are continuing to work on basewords and suffix -s.

Reading - This week in word work our focus is pronouns. The students continue to work hard in their reading groups and Daily 5.  Daily 5 is a big chunk of our morning.  It's our reading block.  We have six different reading groups.  When I'm not working with a group, the students are working on one of the Daily 5 - Read to self, Read to Someone, Work on Writing, Listening, and Word Work.  Read to Self and Read to Someone - self explanatory.  Work on writing - the students have lots of choices - write a friendly letter, write a card, hand art, stencils, squiggle, sticker stories, story blocks, story cubes, etc.  Word Work - a weekly word focus and practice spelling words with play doh, wikki sticks, rainbow spelling, or Spelling City on  the ipads.  Listening - Listen to stories.  The students can use the ipads to listen to stories on Storia or use the computers to listen to stories on Tumblebooks.  The students may also go on to Odyssey on the ipads during Daily 5.

Religion - Our Promise Paper this week focused on talents.  The rest of our Religion classes this week were spent practicing for our mass.  :)

Snack Reminder - We do have snack time every morning.  Please remember to send a healthy snack with your child each day.

Second Grade Math - Second grade has had an interesting week in math. Friday is our "math story" day.  Last Friday we read a book about different kinds of apples with a lesson about fractions.  On Monday, I brought 4 kinds of apples (Cortland, Granny Smith, Red Delicious, and Macintosh) to school and we tasted and rated them.  Then we made bar graphs with the results. Here's what we decided:  Cortland won as best tasting, Red Delicious was the sweetest, Granny Smith was the most sour, and Macintosh was the softest. I wish I would have taken pictures...sorry!  Next time!

We are still working on adding and regrouping 2 digit numbers.  Students are learning 2 methods:  Show All Totals, and New Groups Below.  Most of the kids have their preferences, and that's fine.  I tell them to use whatever method they prefer. I'd be happy to give anyone a "crash course" in Show All Totals.  New Groups Below is pretty much the way most of us learned to add.   

Second Grade Phonics - We are working on suffixes again this week.  I feel that I rushed through the last lesson, so I'm reteaching -s, -es, -ing, -ed, -er, -est.  

Gym - During this first trimester, we have worked on throwing, kicking, and teamwork.  We have also done some activities on scooters.  We have thrown and caught tennis balls, kicked soccer balls, and worked on passing and stopping soccer balls without using our hands.  Team work with a class this size is very important.  We will work on some team strategies next trimester.  Your child’s laps have been entered into PowerSchool along with the amount of time they ran.

First graders have math homework tonight.  :)


PBIS News -The first and second graders voted on their next PBIS Reward.  They would like to earn an electronics day.  What this means is that they would be allowed to bring an electronic device from home for the day.  (ipod, DS, etc.)  We would spend the last 30 minutes or so of the day on their electronic device.  If you are not comfortable with sending a device, no worries.  We have plenty of ipads at school the students would be able to use.  We use the ipads daily in our classroom - they work on Odyssey, Spelling City, Math Ninja, and listen to books on Storia.  This, however, would be a time to have fun with games.  :)  The next goal is to get 300 faith shields in our bucket. We currently have 212 faith shields.  (That means we have 212 good deeds in our bucket.  That's awesome!)  I'll keep you posted as to the progress of our class faith shield bucket.

These adorable turkeys were made with the students hands and feet!  :)

Weekly Spelling Lists -

First Grade - Phonetic List - Short o Words
box
fox
top
job
not
hop
trot
spot
chop
frog

First Grade - High Frequency List - Words 51-60
out
them
then
she
many
some
so
these
would
other

Second Grade - Phonetic List - Short u Words
just
hunt
club
drum
jump
dust
bump
until
ugly
sunny

Second Grade - High Frequency List - Words 221-230
need
far
hand
high
year
mother
light
country
father
let

Mass reading parts are going home today.  Please take some time to practice this weekend.

Thanks!  Have a great weekend!  :)

A few classroom happenings -

Handwriting - The first graders are plugging along.  We work on one letter at a time.  We are working on forming the letters the correct way and getting them in the correct places.  The second graders work on two letters at a time.  They only have a few letters left, and then they are going to start learning cursive.

Reading - The last two weeks our word work has been practicing spelling words.  We've been practicing the words by making letters out of play-doh and wikki sticks.  We've also been rainbow writing the words, as well as working on Spelling City.  Three of our six groups were working on plays.  They had to create characters and practice, practice, practice.  They finished those up this week.  Blank cards - If anyone has blank cards, we'd love some more!  The students love writing cards to others in work on writing.

Religion - We finished the entire rosary this week.  We've been praying one decade at a time.  This week we also worked on the chapter of our book that discussed Adam and Eve and the first sin.  We also read the story of Adam and Eve out of the Children's Bible.  Next Thursday we have Mass.  I just received the parts today.  The students chose their parts this afternoon.  I'll type up the parts and send them home tomorrow.  The parts are -
Greeters - Misha, Brett, Ella, Heath, Katey, Rowen
Cross - Enzo
Bible - Kate
Introduction - Hannah
First Reading - Keegan, Max
Responsorial Psalm - Cassie, Reese
Petitions - Mia, Cullan, Megan, Mary, Kyan, Teddy, Zak, Ruby, Dylan
Bread - Landon
Wine - Madison

First Grade Math - We have been learning about tens and ones.  We've been using base ten blocks and writing out ten sticks and ones.  We leaned about how to add numbers and subtract numbers using the plus one and minus one method with doubles.  (Ex. What is 8+7?  I know 8+8=16.  7 is one less than 8.  The answer must be one less that 16.)

First Grade Phonics - We started unit 6 this week.  We are leaning about basewords and suffix s.  Our new trick words today - are and were.

Social Studies - We have been working out of our book.  We are learning about landforms and different types of bodies of water.  We also learned how to identify them on maps.  We also read two Scholastic Newspapers.  One was about veterans, and one was about Thanksgiving, the pilgrims, and the first feast.

Tomorrow, November 14, is a Packer Dress Down Day.  :)

Here are a few updates from a few other teachers...

Mrs. Van Zeeland-

The second grade math class is learning about place values up to hundreds.  This will help us in adding 2- and 3- digit numbers next week.  We are also drawing pictures to represent numbers.  Boxes are hundreds, sticks are tens, and circles or dots are ones.  We have homework two or three nights a week, but sometimes students finish it before they leave school. Our math class needs old magazines if you happen to have any you haven't recycled.  Thanks!!

In phonics, we just learned about the suffixes -ed, -s, -es, -ing, -er, -ing.  We spend a little time each day working on spelling our "trick" words (words that don't follow the rules).  Coming up we will be working on vowel teams -oa, -oe, and 

-ow.  We will on occasion have phonics homework.  

Mrs. Ihlenfeldt - 

Grades 1/2 are in the midst of doing a painting in the style of Piet Mondrian. His style uses basic lines, colors and shapes. In this project we are learning to use a ruler to draw straight lines, and practicing painting skills using liquid tempera paints. We are working on our clean up routine after painting. It will take some practice but I know we will improve each time we paint.

Miss Diericks -

¡Saludos de la clase de español!

 We've been working on counting to 30, Greeting and Goodbyes, days of the week, months of the ,

year, alphabet, and colors at an advanced level.

All classes studied The Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) and how this celebration coincides

with All Saints and All Souls Days in the Catholic Church.

Have a great night!  :)

Mrs. Francois would like me to pass this information on to you...

Greetings 1st grade parents!

I just wanted to let you know that your children are now famous artists!  You may recall that last year we did a little study of African animals as we followed the travels of my sister Christine and her husband Terry throughout Africa.  I had the kids do a group watercolor painting of their favorite animal and I gave the painting to my sister when she was home this past summer for a visit. She and her hubby own an art gallery in Boise, Idaho.  It is called Gallery 601. My sister framed the painting and hung it up in the middle of an African art display.  It looks awesome!  Please go to Gallery601.com and check it out.  While you are there, be sure to like them on Facebook. ( My shameless plug for my sister's business!)    

Blessings to you!

Mrs. Francois

First grade has math homework tonight.
Second grade has phonics homework tonight.

Weekly Spelling Lists

First Grade - Phonetic List - Short i Words
his
dig
bit
sit
pig
him
slip
twin
crib
grin

First Grade - High Frequency List - Words 41-50
which
their
said
if
do
will
each
about
how
up

Second Grade - Phonetic List - Short o Words
stop
pond
spot
cot
fog
nod
block
body
doll
popcorn

Second Grade - High Frequency List - words 211-220
four
head
above
kind
began
almost
live
page
got
earth

Tomorrow is a Packer Dress Down Day.  :)

First and second graders have math homework tonight.

The students have Spanish homework today.  (Some students did finish it in class.)  They need to circle the days of the week words in the conversation worksheet.  They will have Spanish again on Friday.

Spelling lists -

First Grade - Phonetic List - Short e Words
let
pen
met
bed
yes
leg
fed
vest
mend
mess

First Grade - High Frequency List - Words 31-40
but
what
all
were
when
we
there
can
an
your

Second Grade - Phonetic List - Short i Words
hit
fill
will
wind
miss
milk
win
fish
little
kitten

Second Grade - High-Frequency List - Words 201-210
feet
land
side
without
boy
once
animal
life
enough
took

Thank you so much to Kristin Warden, Chris and Kay Handrick, and all of the other parents that popped in today.  The kids had a great time at the Halloween party!  Have fun trick or treating!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Tomorrow is Halloween!  Reminder - The students may dress in their Halloween costumes. :)

A few happenings -

First Grade Math - Today we finished up our 3rd unit.  We have been working on adding and subtracting story problems like crazy!  The focus of our next unit is place value.

First Grade Phonics - This week we also finished up our phonics unit.  (Unit 4)  This week we worked on trick words, the glued sound -all, quotation marks, handwriting, and dictation.

Religion - Our Promise paper this week taught us about All Saints Day and All Souls Day.  We learned about a few saints.  We have also been going over how to pray the Rosary.  We have prayed starting from the beginning all the way through the first decade.  We will continue until we have prayed the entire Rosary.

Science - We are finishing up our pumpkin unit.  We finally got to cut our pumpkins and investigate the seeds.  It was so interesting!  We found out that we couldn't cut through the tiny pumpkins.  We had to drop them on the ground to open them up.  Then we found out the tiny ones had tiny seeds - and a lot of them!  We counted the seeds in each pumpkin.  Some pumpkins had seeds in the 100's.  One pumpkin had seeds in the 400's!  And...one of our pumpkins ended up rotting.  Boy did that stink!  In the end, our class counted over 1, 500 seeds!  Then I took them home and roasted them.  They were a big hit for snack!

Spelling - Today I introduced the website Spelling City.  The students may use this website to practice their spelling words.  Each list will be uploaded to the website.  When you get to the website, you can get to my page by searching for Resurrection School or by putting in Jodi Sullivan.  Then the students need to find the list they are working on.  Spelling City is also a free app that you can download.

Mrs. Ihlenfeldt has a few things to say about art:


 Grades 1/2 are starting a unit on the art element, color. We all love color and want to use it, but we realized in our last painting that some colors can get muddy looking when mixed together. So we need to learn more about color. Color is very complex, therefore, I teach a little more about color each year. We are making a color wheel and learning the primary colors, and how they mix to make secondary colors. Their placement on the color wheel is important and helps explain color. For some this is a review, but we are also learning new concepts about color, like warm and cool colors, color complements, and their placement on the color wheel. We will be combining ideas about color, lines and shapes in our next project.Have a great week.Happy Halloween! 


Have a great night!  :)

FYI - The first graders have math homework tonight.

Also - Practice the spelling words at home.  This Friday will be our first test.

Have a great night!  :)

Today we had our first spelling lists.  Each week the students will have a pretest on Monday.  (The lists are from our spelling book.  The lists are phonetic and follow a pattern.  If the students get 9 or 10 words correct on Monday, I will give them a different list of high-frequency words.  (sight words)  The high frequency words come from the Rebecca Sitton spelling program.  For the first graders, I'm starting with the third list.  For the second graders, I'm starting where we left off at the end of first grade.)

The spelling test will always be on Friday.  If there is a week where we don't have all five days, we won't have a spelling list.

Each week I'll post the spelling lists on the blog.

First Grade - Phonetic List - Short a Words
an
can
man
ran
had
dad
ant
lap
tag
pants

First Grade - High Frequency List - Words 21-30
be
this
from
I
have
or
by
one
had
not

Second Grade - Phonetic List - Short e Words
send
bell
well
help
fell
went
spell
next
best
sketch

Second Grade - High Frequency List - Words 191-200
world
going
want
school
important
until
form
food
keep
children

A Few Classroom Happenings -

Religion - We have been learning about the rosary and praying the rosary.  This week's Promise Paper talks about the greatest commandment.  It is "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind."

Reading - This week in word work we have been doing Halloween centers.  The students are making words out of the letters in Halloween, putting Halloween poems in the correct order, and doing cloze activities with Halloween poems.  Work on writing continues to be a class favorite.  If anyone has any extra blank cards, we are out of those.  They love to write cards to friends and family. :)  In our reading groups, 4 of our 6 groups are working on short plays.

Math - 1st grade - We have been working on subtraction story problems and using math mountains, circle drawings, number lines, and equations to prove them.  We have also been using addition to prove the subtraction problems.

Phonics - 1st grade - We have just starting learning about glued sounds and how to tap them out.  Our first glued sound is -all.  (a-l-l  ball  all)

Spelling - Next week we will finally start spelling.  :)

PBIS - Our class completed their first PBIS challenge!  The challenge was to collect 200 faith shields.  They did it!  Their reward = movie and popcorn!  Yesterday we watched The Emperor's New Groove and Mrs. Petrick popped us some popcorn.  Our next challenge is to collect 300 faith shields.  The class hasn't decided on their incentive yet.

Halloween - Next Friday is Halloween.  The students may dress in their Halloween costumes.  We are also going to have a little Halloween party in the afternoon at 2:00.  Kay Handrick has been very kindly organizing our celebration.  Thank you Kay!

Have a great long weekend!  :)

Monday is picture retake day.  If your child is having pictures on Monday, they may have a dress up day.  They will be able to stay in their picture clothes all day.

Monday is also class picture day.  It is a uniform day.

Have a great weekend!

Last week they were cutting trees in the back of school.  After the students were done eating their snack in the morning, many of them headed to the window to check on the job.  :)

Here are a few pumpkin project pictures -

Tomorrow is a Packer Dress Down Day.

A few Classroom Happenings -

First Grade Math - We have been working on unknown partners.  (ex. 5 + _ = 8)  We have been working on story problems and writing the correct label.  We have also been working in math centers, such as shut the box, domino games, dice games, folder games, etc.

First Grade Phonics - We are learning about bonus letters.  (f, l, s, and sometimes z) We continue to work daily on letter keyword sounds, tapping, digraphs, handwriting in the correct places, and trick words.

Religion - We read the Gospel story about the king inviting everyone to his son's wedding.  We also touched on the 7 sacraments - most specifically on Reconciliation.  We also learned about the Ten Commandments.  Tomorrow we will read the Gospel story for this weekend and continue to learn about the sacraments.  This week we will focus on Baptism.  We have also been talking about and praying the rosary.

Reading - We work in daily 5 every day.  We have six different reading groups that are all focusing on different things.  I have also been pulling the students individually during daily 5 to do running records.  These past few weeks our word work focus has been nouns.  We started with person, place, or thing, we added common and proper, and this week we focused on singular and plural.

Handwriting - We continue to work out of our handwriting books.  The focus is forming the letters correctly and writing them in the correct spaces.

Science - We have been learning more about pumpkins.  I'm trying to think about STREAM with the pumpkins, since 1 and 2 haven't officially been given a STREAM project yet.  This week we took pumpkin candies and toothpicks and made some creations.  We started out by making a cube.  From there, we had towers and many other creations.  The kids had a blast.  They figured out quickly they needed a strong base and which candies worked best in which places.  Today we worked with real pumpkins.  We did some investigating with our senses.  We had to look at our pumpkin and draw it, decide on the size of it, count how many cubes tall it was, count how many ribs it had, predict if it would sink or float, and then find out if it did sink or float.  Tomorrow we're cutting them open to count how many seeds each pumpkin has.

Writing - We used the writer's workshop writing process to create witch stories this week.  The stories are about a little witch that came to my school and lost her broom.  First they had to make a web.  Then they needed to write a rough draft.  Next we edited the story together.  Then they wrote the final copy.  They also added a witch hat, dress, legs, and shoes to the final copy.  They needed to use the words first, next, then, and finally.


Mrs. Ihlenfeldt has an art update -

In Art we are beginning a review of the basic ART ELEMENTS. I explain these to kids as the ingredients the artist uses (beyond art supplies). The artist creates different images depending how they use the elements. 

     The first art element is LINE. We read a story about a boy named ART, who loves ART. He draws and paints a variety of lines, putting them together to make a house, wagon, tree and a night sky. Some of the lines he uses are, straight horizontal, vertical, diagonal, wavy, zigzag, curves, loops, dashes and my favorite...spirals!

Students were able to identify different types of lines in the story, and create them in our LINE project. We are making a painting of 3 layers of lines. The first layer is white crayon, the second is tissue paper. Now this week, we are painting these lines over the top. Our crayon resist lines will pop out like magic! The goal is to move away from a scribble line, to drawing specific types of lines.

  At the same time, we are practicing our basic painting skills, such as, controlling the amount of water we use, rinsing our brush, and keeping our brush, paints and water clean to keep our colors bright.

      We are still working on our expectations in the art classroom. If students are having a hard time following these expectations, I will be having them practice with me during a recess this week so we get those down pat, and use all class time most effectively.

Have a great night!

First grade has math homework tonight.  Spanish homework was sent home yesterday.  The students will have Spanish again next Tuesday.

Tomorrow is our first mass!  We are very excited!  We hope you can make it!

FYI - You are more than welcome to sit with your child at mass, except on days that we have mass. On those days we sit in a specific order that goes along with our mass parts.  Thank you!

Reminder - We are saying a decade of the rosary tomorrow after mass.  The students may bring a rosary from home.

Have a great night!

This Thursday (10-9-14) after mass the whole school will be saying a decade of the rosary.  Please have your child bring a rosary to school on Thursday.

*Tomorrow the students may dress down for the field trip.  The weather channel website shows a high of 57 and a chance of rain. 


*The first graders have math homework tonight.


*Mass parts went home today.  Please practice the readings at home.  We will also be practicing at school.

Classroom Happenings

Reading - We are a few weeks into Daily 5 and pulling groups.  We have a lot of different reading levels.  We have six different reading groups.  When the students aren't in a group, they are working on one of the daily 5 - read to self, read to someone, work on writing, listening, or word work.  The students may also work on Odyssey at this time.  This week and next week our word work focus is nouns.  Our centers are dealing with nouns being a person, place, or thing, and with common and proper nouns.

Religion - In Religion we worked on a little play that dealt with last week's Gospel reading.  For the next week, our Religion focus is practicing for our mass on October 9th. 

Science - Since we are heading to the pumpkin patch this week, we have been learning about pumpkins.  We learned about the life cycle of the pumpkin.  We also learned about the parts of a pumpkin.  We made some cool art projects to go along with what we learned.

1st grade Math - We have started working on subtraction.  The students have been making circle drawings to figure out the answer.  We have been working on story problems and writing the correct label.  We have also been writing and figuring out equations.

1st grade phonics - This week we are working with digraphs.  We have been scooping sentences for fluency.  We learned about non-sense words - words that aren't words, but we can figure them out by sounding out and tapping.  We learned five new trick words.  Today we worked on dictation - I say a sound or a word and they write it down - all while forming the letters the correct way and putting the letters in the correct spaces.

Writing - We continue to write in our journals and we are in the beginning stages of writer's workshop.

Spelling - I think we'll start spelling at the end of the month.  Looking at the October Calendar - We have two Fridays off.  I'm shooting for the last week of October.

Here is a tidbit from Mrs. Ihlenfeldt on art -

Art - Multi Grade 1 and 2

    Grades 1 and 2 have Art 1 time per week for 1 hour. Our goal in art the first few weeks is to review, practice and learn our classroom rules and expectations.  We read a few stories to put us at ease about beginning to draw, and looking at a mistake as a “happy accident”  just waiting to be made into a new, creative idea.  So, we began drawing with a dot like the student in the story, The Dot. This led to other dots, big, small, simple and complicated. We were amazed at how the artist, Georges Seurat, painted Sunday Afternoon at the Isle of La Grande Jatte, 1884-86, all with dots! Whew! That is a lot of dots! Students realized this painting was from a different time period by the clothes people were wearing. We had a fun discussion about this. “You mean you don’t wear a long dress, or top hat and cane when you go to the park to play?”

       In the story Ish,  a student stops drawing when someone askes him in a not so nice way, “What is that?” in reference to his art work. He stops drawing because he can’t draw things perfectly. Then he realizes his sister is saving all his crumpled up,  thrown away drawings. She thinks his vase of flowers looks “vase-ish.” So in class we began to draw “boat-ish”, and “fish-ish”, and “tree-ish” and “afternoon-ish”, and we drew “worry free-ish.” Then we practiced saying one thing we really liked about another student’s “art work-ish.” Have a great week.

Mrs. Jeanne Ihlenfeldt

Have a great night!  Go Pack!



Tomorrow is a Packer Dress Down Day.  It is a mass day, so the students need to wear their uniform bottoms.

We are planning our first mass for Thursday, October 9th.  Tonight I'll finish writing the parts and get them handed out tomorrow.  Here is what every student is doing -

Greeters - Mia, Hannah, Ruby, Zak
Cross - Reese
Bible - Katey
Intro - Enzo
First Reading - Brett, Teddy, Cullan
Responsorial Psalm - Mary, Heath, Megan, Cassie
Petitions - Keegan, Kate, Kyan, Rowen, Landon, Madison, Misha, Ella
Bread - Dylan
Wine - Max

Have a great night!

Thursday, Oct. 2nd is going to be a Packer dress down day.  Since it's also a Mass day, the students need to wear uniform bottoms.

Friday, October 3rd is our field trip to the pumpkin patch.  The students may have a dress down day on Friday.  We will be in a pumpkin patch, a corn field, and on hay bales.  Have them wear appropriate clothing.  Right now the weather prediction is for a high of 55 and a chance of rain.  (My fingers are crossed that we have good weather!)

Have a great night!

Thank you!  We had 9 parents volunteer to chaperone the field trip to Berryland.  However, we can only take 3 for our class.  I take all of the people that volunteered and pick namesticks.  The namesticks that were picked are Kay Handrick, Liz Sternig, and Craig Siminski.  Thank you again for volunteering.  :)

The first graders have math homework today.

Last week Ella brought home a pink Columbia fleece jacket.  It wasn't hers.  She brought it back to school. No one is claiming it.  Please check to see if your daughter is missing a pink fleece jacket. Thanks.

Have a great night!  :)

There is Spanish homework.  It is due on Friday.

We have our first field trip scheduled for Friday, October 3rd.  We are going to the pumpkin patch at Berryland.  We are going with kindergarten, as well as K-2 from St. Matt's.  We will need three chaperones.  Please indicate on the permission slip (which will come home tomorrow) if you are able to chaperone.  Please remember that you may only chaperone if you have Virtus training and you have signed the code of conduct.  Thank you!

*FYI - The students have Spanish homework this weekend.  They will have Spanish class again on Tuesday.

*Also - If your child comes home telling you about birthday cards for Beckett, here's what they are talking about...     http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/life/2014/09/12/young-cancer-patient-wants-mail-th-birthday/15507957/

I read the article in the Green Bay Press Gazette and thought it might be nice if our students made cards for Beckett.  We made them today and they will be sent this weekend.  :)

*Thank you so much for all of the envelopes today!


Have a great weekend!  :)

This is just a test.  I have a few first grade parents that I'm seeing if this works for.

A few updates in our classroom...

Reading - Last week we went through all of the aspects of Daily 5.  This week we are actually doing Daily 5 - practicing our stamina!  We need to practice, practice, practice before we start reading groups.  We'll probably start adding reading groups later next week or the following week.

Writing - Every morning we start out writing in our journals and illustrating.  This week the second graders got to be the teachers - They showed the first graders how we are going to do writer's workshop.

Social Studies - We have been learning about maps.  We also learned about three types of communities - urban, suburban, and rural.

Handwriting - The first graders have been working out of their books on the letters Ll, Ii, and Tt.  The second graders have been working out of their books on the letters Ll, Ii, Tt, Oo, Aa, Dd. Cc, and Ee.

Religion - We learned about the story of creation.  We read about it in our book, we read it out of the Children's Bible, and we watched a short video.  Then we made creation waterfall books.  Tomorrow we will start our Good News papers.  They are like the Promise Papers we have done in the past.  They go through the Gospel for the week and then there's a lesson to go with it.

Math - In first grade we have been working on partners and switch partners up to 10.  We have been learning about math mountains, stair steps, break apart sticks, and circle drawings.  :)  Today we used unifix cubes to make addition equations with flash cards.  If we have an extra five minutes at the end of class, the students have been using the iPads and the app Math Ninja.  They love it!

Phonics - In first grade we have gone through all of the letters, sounds, and keywords.  We have been working on tapping, sentence writing, and spelling.  We have started learning trick words and having word of the day cards.  Today we started learning about digraphs.

Math & Phonics - 1st and 2nd grade split up for math and phonics.  I'm going to let Mrs. Van Zeeland know that she can write on this blog to let the second grade parents know what they are learning about.  :)

FYI -

*Please remember to pack a snack daily for your child.

*Envelopes - If anyone has any "junk" envelopes laying around, we'd love them for our classroom.  In Daily 5 - work on writing - we write friendly letters.  The kids love sealing their letters in envelopes.  I'm just about out already.  That's a good sign - we're writing a lot of letters.  :)

*Next week we are starting MAP testing.  We have math on Monday, Sept. 22nd and reading on Tuesday, September 30th.

Have a great night!

The students have Spanish homework today.  They need to have their Spanish work and folders returned by Friday.

Well, our school year is up and running.  I can't believe we're already on the 8th day!  Here are a few pieces of information for you...

Mass - This year we are responsible for planning mass on October 9, November 20, January 22, March 12, and June 5.

Specials -
Our daily specials schedule is as follows -

Monday -

Tuesday - Gym 12:45-1:15
                 Spanish  1:15-1:45
                 Music  2:00-2:30

Wednesday - Gym  1:15-1:45
                      Music  2:00-2:30

Thursday - Art  2:05-3:05

Friday - Library  12:45-1:15
              Spanish  2:15-2:45



This week we have been going through all of the elements of Daily 5 and we're practicing building our stamina.  Mrs. Van Zeeland has been busy testing kids to figure out their reading levels.  We should be able to start reading / Daily 5 in the next week or two.

Reminder - Tomorrow, September 12, is our first Packer Dress Down Day!

Have a great night!

What a great first day!  Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes!  The picture that Kay Handrick made is "bee-autiful"!  Some of those responses...well...out of the mouths of babes!  The answers make me smile...and a little teary eyed!  I love that I get to see your children grow and I'm so excited to spend another year with them!  I LOVE the Caliente gift card and of course the UV Nails!  What's more to love than Mexican food and getting your nails done?  I can't think of anything!  :) Liz Sternig was all the buzz in her bee outfit today!  And I heard Jessica Abnet made the "bee-autiful" cupcakes.  The kids loved the treat today!  I feel absolutely spoiled.  Thank you all from the bottom of my heart! 


As for this blog, I'm not sure if it's going to continue this year.  Our Res website was updated this summer, and I believe there's a place for teachers to post things on their website page.  I hope to get clarification this week as to what I'm supposed to do - continue the blog or write on the website.  I haven't put the new first grade e-mails into to blog yet - just for that reason.  I'll have to write out a thank you to my new families!  :)  I know that these posts go right to your e-mail...check the blog out as a website too - You can see all the pictures from last year.  The website is www.ressulllivan.blogspot.com. 


Well, It's 5:15 and I need to go home.  I'm "un-bee-lieavably" exhausted!  Thank you so very much and have a great night!

Have a great night!  See you in the morning!  :)

I wanted to remind you about a few school supplies.  Here's the post I wrote at the end of last year...

School Supplies-
For first grade I like to have the kids folders color coded.  It helps so much with organization!  Next year we'll be doing the same thing. Since the kids will be back in here for multiage, I was thinking I'd just keep
the extra supplies in the classroom.  (notebooks, folders, headphones)  (If you want your child's supplies
sent home, just let me know.)  I always request 2 folders of each color, so if they get bad during the year,
we have another one.  This yea we did red, yellow, and blue.  I did an inventory to let you know who has
what left.  Here it is -

   Folders
   Red - Reese, Enzo, Keegan, Hannah, and Zak all have 1 red folder.
   Yellow - Enzo, Keegan, Brett, Megan, Mia, Hannah, and Zak all have 1 yellow folder.
   Blue - Ruby, Enzo, Keegan, Hannah, Brett, Cassie, Teddy, Mary, Megan, Mia, Hannah, and Zak all have
             1 blue folder.

   Notebooks - Everyone has 1 notebook.

   Headphones - Everyone has headphones except Brett.


***Also - I noticed on the list it said one box of dry erase markers.  What it was supposed to say is one
pack.  (A 4 pack is sufficient)  We use the dry erase markers daily for math.

See you tomorrow night!  :)

The classroom is starting to come together!  I can't wait to hear about all of your summer adventures!  See you in a few weeks!  :)

Your children made books for their dads for Father's Day.  They came home the last day of school.  If they didn't already give them to their dads, remind them this Sunday is Father's Day.

Jason and I are leaving this Friday for Cabo San Lucas, Mexico to celebrate our 15th anniversary!  I'm nervous about leaving our boys for a week, but super excited for our vacation!  We celebrated Father's Day last Sunday instead.

Happy summer and Happy Father's Day!  :)

Thank you all so much for the beautiful plant!  I love flowers and I love gardening!  I can't wait to watch it bloom all summer!  Also thank you for the orange garden gloves, the orange nail polish, the orange lip gloss, and the orange lotion.  :)  I have the perfect orange dress to wear it all with...minus the garden gloves.  :)

Thank you so much for an amazing school year!  I look forward to spending more time with your children and watching them grow next year!  Enjoy your summer break!

Thank you again!

Jodi Sullivan  :)

Hannah's yearbook has been found!  Thank you!  :)

Teddy returned at the end of the day!

Now...here are the graduates!  :)

Please help!
Hannah is missing her yearbook.  Her name is on it.  Please look in your child's backpack to see if it accidentally went home in the wrong bag.
Thank you!

Last day of school

(Minus Teddy.  He went home sick.)

I present the graduates!  :)

Here they are at the end of the day!

Having fun on Field Day!

School Supplies -
For first grade I like to have the kids folders color coded.  It helps so much with organization!  Next year we'll be doing the same thing.  Since the kids will be back in here for multiage, I was thinking I'd just keep the extra supplies in the classroom.  (notbooks, folders, headphones)  (If you want your child's supplies sent home, just let me know.)   I always request 2 folders of each color, so if they get bad during the year, we have another one.  This year we did red, yellow, and blue.  I did an inventory to let you know who has what left.  Here it is -

     Folders
     Red - Reese, Enzo, Keegan, Hannah, and Zak all have 1 red folder.
     Yellow - Enzo, Keegan, Brett, Megan, Mia, Hannah, and Zak all have 1 yellow folder.
     Blue - Ruby, Enzo, Keegan, Heath, Brett, Cassie, Teddy, Mary, Megan, Mia, Hannah, and Zak all have
               1 blue folder.

     Notebooks - Everyone has 1 notebook.

     Headphones - Everyone has headphones except Brett.

I'm trying to upload a video to the blog.  I've never done this before.  I'm hoping it works.  :)

We had a great time at The Building For Kids!  Thank you Mr. Miller for capturing this shot!  (See that hand sticking out in the bottom right...that's me...they buried me!)

Reminder - Everyone has to have a cold lunch tomorrow.  Everything you pack needs to be consumable - plastic silverware, baggies, etc.  No soda is allowed for drinks.  The kids colored on brown bags today.  They'll bring them home today and they can put their lunch in them for tomorrow.  :)

The last spelling lists of the year...

Phonetic List - Unit 24 - Digraph th Words
that
then
this
bath
path
with
thin
thump
thud
booth

High-Frequency List - Words 181-190
few
those
always
show
large
often
together
asked
house
don't

***Reminder - The field trip to The Building For Kids is on Thursday.  We are leaving after mass and we will return at the end of the day.  Everyone MUST bring a cold lunch.  Make sure everything in the lunch is consumable - brown bag, baggies, plastic silverware, etc.

Have a great day!  :)

Weekly Spelling Lists -

PhoneticList - Unit 33 - sh Words
ship
shop
show
dish
wish
push
shut
crash
hush
shake

High-Frequency List - Words 171-180
along
while
might
next
sound
below
saw
something
thought
both

Math - We have been learning about shapes.  Today we started learning about basic fractions with shapes.

Reading - Our word work focus this week is base words, prefixes, and suffixes.  Our work on writing focus is make-a-book.  (It's a book about dogs - it has a writing activity, a cloze activity, a page to write adjectives about dogs, and a cover page)

Phonics - We have been reviewing words that have consonant-vowel-consonant-silent e.

Religion - We are reviewing the sacraments, as well as working on this week's Gospel story.

Science - Today we had our last solids lesson.  Tomorrow we will start the liquids portion of our Einstein Kit.

Social Studies - We are at 47 states!  We only have three more to go!  The kids have amazingly been working on the words to the song "Fifty Nifty" and "The Fifty States That Rhyme".  I'll try to link the songs to the blog.

***Next Thursday is our field trip to The Building For Kids.  Everyone needs to pack a cold lunch that day.  Please pack the lunches in a brown bag, not their lunch boxes.  Everything that you pack must be consumable - plastic silverware, baggies, etc.

***I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day!  The kids worked so hard last week on all of their projects.  :)


(Attempting the link the songs we've been learning)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALhEGiA5k5I  (Fifty Nifty)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUFeVKeKRQc  (Fifty States that Rhyme)


Have a great week!  :)

Happy Orange Day!  :)