Thursday, August 31, 2017

We had a great first day of school today!  I'm guessing there may be some tired children tonight. :)

A few of the activities that we worked on today were -
                 
- writing about our first day of school
- going on the playground, learning about peaceful playground, learning games
- drawing a self portrait (there is a sheet that went home for the second half of this project)
- going to the gym for an assembly.  We learned that we are a part of the pack and we are wolves!  We   also learned a really fun song and dance about the fruits of the spirit.
- we read the book First Day Jitters and The Teacher from The Black Lagoon.  We did a fun activity      with First Day Jitters.  We learned about how everyone was feeling about this morning.
- we learned how to take lunch and attendance on the SMART Board.
- we made a chain with 180 links!  That's one link for every day of school!
- we started our first read-aloud of the year - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.




We used the SMART Board to figure out how everyone felt about coming to school today.  They are very good at using the SMART Board!


We graphed our information.  We found out that 10 people felt excited, 7 people felt worried, 4 people felt happy, and 2 people felt sad.



I think one of the favorite activities was making the chain.  We had 180 strips of paper.  We made 180 links into one huge chain!  Each link represents a day of school.  The team work was fantastic!  








Have a fantastic evening!







                     



Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Good afternoon!  Are you ready for school tomorrow?  The classroom is ready and waiting for the students! :)



Tomorrow we will start the morning with the blessing of the backpacks.  We will do this in our lines before we go into the building.

One note - We have a student in our class that has a peanut allergy.  When packing snacks or bringing in birthday treats, please do not bring anything into the classroom that has peanuts.  Thank you!

Have a wonderful evening!
See you in the morning!  :)

Monday, August 28, 2017

Welcome to first grade!  :)

My name is Jodi Sullivan and I will be your child's first grade teacher this year.  I spent 17 years at Res and this will be my second year at our new school Father Allouez.  I have spent all of those years in either first grade or first/second grade multiage.  I am so excited to meet you, your children, and your family! We are going to have a fantastic year!

The way I communicate with the families is through this blog.  I absolutely love being able to share our days with you via pictures!  I will update this blog at least weekly to share information with you.  

I decided to do a test run tonight.  I entered the main email for each family.  If you would like me to add a second email, please let me know and I will do that.

Tomorrow when we have open house I will have an information sheet for everyone.  I pasted it onto this blog for you as well.  I'm hoping the info sheet will answer your questions.  If you have more questions tomorrow please don't hesitate to ask.

I did get an email from one parent asking about labeling school supplies as many of the supplies in kindergarten were community.  We will also have some community supplies.  Pencils, wide markers, and glue sticks will be community supplies.  Everything else the students will keep.  Each student has a drawer (that they will share with one other person) for their art box/supplies, so you don't really need to label individual crayons, colored pencils, etc.  Please make sure your child's folders, notebook, and scissors are labeled.

Please browse around this blog to see what things happened in first grade the last few years!

We will see you tomorrow night!
Blessings!
Jodi Sullivan




Here is the sheet that will be at everyone's table spot tomorrow - 



August  2017

Hello!  Welcome to first grade!  Here are a few things to know about first grade.

Snack – The students will have a snack in the morning.  It is not a community snack.  Please pack a small, healthy snack with your child each day.  (Including the first day of school.)

Water Bottles – The students may bring a water bottle to school.  Please make sure their name is on it.

Daily Folder – We have a daily folder for notes, homework, papers, etc.  The students need to bring the folder home every day and return the folder to school every day.  The folder will stay in the students’ mailboxes during the day.

Homework – We will have some homework in first grade.  Here is what we usually have:  Spelling – In a month or so we will start spelling.  The students will get a list on Monday and have a test of Friday.  Math – The students will have math homework 2 or 3 nights a week.  The math homework is a recap of the daily lesson.  Reading – Your child should be reading 20 minutes at night.

Book Orders – I send out Scholastic book orders once a month.  The online ordering info with come with the first order.  If you would rather have me place the order, you may send a check to school.

Blog – I communicate with our families on a classroom blog.  I try to update the blog at least once a week.  I usually post our spelling lists, center activities, weekly updates, homework, pictures, etc.  Each time I post I will send you an email with the link.  The blog address is www.ressullivan.blogspot.com.  I haven’t posted anything yet about this year, but feel free to check out some things that happened in previous years in first grade.

Volunteering – You will have opportunities to volunteer in our classroom.  I welcome people to help out with daily 5 and writers workshop.  We will also have a few field trips and will be looking for chaperones.  We are currently scheduled to have library on Thursday afternoons from 12:15-12:45.  Mrs. Donarski needs to have a parent volunteer during our library time.  Hopefully a few parents will be able to volunteer and we can get a rotating schedule.  If you would be willing to help out please let us know.  Thank you!

Donations – Throughout the year we’ll need to restock some of our centers.  We are always in need of blank cards, envelopes, and stickers.  As we get low on items I’ll post a wish list on our blog.  Thank you in advance for helping us out!

Sqworl Page – Throughout the year we will be working in the computer lab and in the computers/tablets in our classroom.  Some websites that we use frequently I put into a sqworl page for easy access.  Our class sqworl page is www.sqworl.com/grazhj.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me.  You can call school (432-5223) or email me at jsullivan@gracesystem.org.

I’m looking forward to another fantastic year at Father Allouez Catholic School!

Mrs. Sullivan  J