Santa for a Day is our holiday plan that gives the children a great, fun-filled way to share with each other.  This is how it works:

• We will hang each child’s stocking in our classroom.  I have purchased a stocking for each child (a happy from me).
• Each child is assigned a day to be “Santa” (see schedule below).
• On the assigned day, each “Santa” will bring 18 small toys (no edibles, please) for each classroom friend, put on a Santa hat, and make jolly deliveries to each stocking.  (Examples:  pencils, matchbox cars, very small stuffed animals). It will be best if Santa delivers the toys from a bag that hides them.
• By the end of the schedule, the stockings will bulge with goodies, and the children are so excited they can’t stand it.
• The children will open the stockings on December 20.
• Everyone is happy!

Please follow a few guidelines:  1) Choose small toys. The stockings will be regular-sized —nothing extra ordinary–wish we had room for huge ones.  Please adhere to this request.  2)  Choose something that all children will enjoy OR an item for boys and another for girls.  3) DO NOT write student names on gifts.  This will cause Santa much trouble in finding/matching names with stockings. Then, it becomes a CHORE instead of a fun-filled activity. J   However, you may write FROM whom the gifts come.                  

’cause it is going, going, going……almost gone! I am worried that I cannot get all of the awesome, fun, spectacular things completed in December that I want to do with the Bears….but as I shared on facebook last night, I forgot that we go to school almost until Santa slides down the chimney! Maybe we can get it all in…..Some highlights for you to be thinking about (until Wednesday when the December calendar-chock-full-o-goodness comes home). Hold on…..here we go!

There will be-

Santa for a Day, Polar Express Day (your Bear will need PJ’s to wear to school, can bring a robe if he/she has one, slippers, etc), Classroom party with Stuff the Santa, School wide sing along, Traditions Around the World (rotating to the other classes like we did at Halloween), Jack’s birthday, making gingerbread houses, making totally awesome gifts for parents, a book project or not…(I’m wishy-washy on that one but leaning more toward the “not”, don’t you think?) I’m sure some magic elves will show up at some point….photo opportunities, hot chocolate, a bunch of math where we eat stuff and walk around the school and search for stuff, decorating the class tree, all of our regular ol’ reading stuff and literacy centers with Reading Street….and the books! oh.my! The books and stories we will read! Makes me have chill bumps…..

I have approximately 456,569,900 pictures to get to the blog featuring everything from Bag Buddy puppets to Butch Fuller to the Thanksgiving Feast. Then there are the 238,482, 912 that Ms. Hand just emailed to me from her semester with us…..I need to get Mrs. Hickman to give me the tutorial again so I can post the slideshow directly to the blog without having to send you to a link…..I’ll work on that today.

I’d better start making a list……and checking it twice ’cause there is soooo much to do!

Happy Monday! Alicia (who has not even thought about putting her Christmas tree up yet….oh.wait….I did think about it…..I just decided to be Scarlett and leave it for another day……How ’bout you?  Is your tree up?)

P.S. A little birdie told me that Sam’s Club has a GIAGANTIC tub o’ Clorox wipes. If you are a shopping at Sam’s and would like to purchase said big o’ tub for the class – we would be your best friend forever…..(we are almost out of wipes)……  🙂 Smooches!

Thank you so much for all of the birthday wishes, the brownies, the balloons, the gifts, cards and letters!  I have never felt so loved! 🙂

I am currently wrapping up my birthday weekend at the beach with my bad headache…..(wink wink) with my family and watching the Alabama game on TV. I’ll be back at school bright and early on Monday and Ms. Harvey and I have lots of Thanksgiving stuff planned for the Bears to do! Our feast is on Friday. Please see Jack French’s mom, Sarah, if you’d like to help!

Don’t forget that Thursday is an early dismissal day! Extended Day will be in session…..

Roll Tide! Alicia (who will get Thank You notes completed this week……I left them on the breakfast room table in my haste to leave on Wednesday afternoon to go to the beach……I mean with my headache and all……)

I am pretty sure I just took a breath for the first time and it is 3:20 pm. Whew! We had a ton of stuff going on this morning…..and we ROCKED it! We had book fair, treasure box, calendar math, snack, centers explanation, whole group reading, centers, small group reading, math teams, small group math lessons, PE, read aloud, lunch, social studies Pilgrim tour, pack up and dismissal…..  🙂

Some things you need to know….

Today was our day for the book fair! If you missed it…have no fear! I am cutting and pasting from the library email so you will know when your Bear can shop again (or shop for the first time)…

Paper bag puppet book reports are due on Friday. This is an easy-cheesy way to get a great participation grade, and learn to speak in front of a group. Let me know if you need a paper lunch bag. I will send another home if needed.

You may start noticing more homework in math. We are working in small groups or Math Teams, and it is coming along rather nicely. I have revamped the schedule and the teams again and in a day or two or “fifty-eleven” weeks, I will get it just like I like it……One of the benefits is that I can work with a small group and really see where they each need work. Please try your very best to return homework the next day. I think the children are having fun in Math Teams and they all seem actively engaged for longer periods, with hands-on materials, which is what I like to see.

Veteran’s Day puppet show and Butch Fuller’s Indian Camp both at Rock Quarry on Wednesday.

No school on Thursday!

Ms. Jane Harvey is interning with us from The UofA for the next two weeks and then she goes back to the University full time. So if your child talks about another “new” teacher, that’s who it is!

Some really yucky grades in Reading come home today! It is a double sided paper with a paragraph on one side and 5 questions on the other. This will be part of the regular Friday testing from here on out. I am dropping this grade for all students, but I want you to help your child read and answer the questions. Practice makes perfect! If your child is a green star reader, I read the whole paragraph and all of the questions to them.  Blue stars and yellow stars read it on their own. This paragraph and the questions are written “on grade level” (you will see a small OL at the bottom…meaning “On Level”). This means that the children in first grade should be able to read and answer the questions with little or no help. Now, don’t panic! We will work on this! 

Happy Monday! Your Bear should be tired tonight….I know I am! Alicia

Our Rock Quarry boys and girls did a fantastic job tonight at the 3rd annual Turkey Bowl. Although the scoreboard shows that Verner won, I think that the real winners were the people who sat in the stands cheering on their children. We may be two schools now, but in a few short years, these same boys and girls, the football players and cheerleaders, the same group of parents…will be cheering as a united front.

I blogged about this last year, but I think it bears repeating (and most of you did not read The Bear Class blog last year) that the people sitting beside you in the stands tonight, those who sell tickets and concessions, those who coach and those who teach…..we are all in this together. For the next 7-8 years or so, we will all be cheering these kiddos on. We will smile and reminisce at homecoming games, remembering when the lovely girls were just in Kindergarten. We will wonder where the time went when we are standing on the field at Senior night with our “little ones”. We will champion them on in band and tennis and golf.

This game….the Turkey Bowl….this is our prequel to Friday nights, folks……we are staring at our future……

It makes me more than a little teary eyed when I think about it. I’m from a small town where the same people have had seats in the high school stadium in the same exact spots for 50 years. They are season ticket holders. Their own children are long gone. Maybe they have a grandchild playing football or in the band, they might have a granddaughter cheering on the sidelines…maybe not. They come out every Friday night…..because it’s their TEAM. Tonight, as I watched our kiddos play and cheer, and I talked to parents of children I have taught and am teaching, and to those who have taught or will teach my own children, I got a sense of that small town hometown feel. And you know what?  It. Is. Going. To. Be. GOOD…….

When Grayson is in 10th grade, our sweet Annelise will be starting Kindergarten…..needless to say, I am going to be taking up permanent residence in the staduim at Northridge…….

And looking around, I cannot think of a better group of people to spend the next 50 years of Friday nights with………can you? Save me a seat…..or better yet….I think I’ll just go on over to the stadium tomorrow and pick out my seat.

I’ve got a sharpie in my purse…….

Thankful on this Thursday, Alicia

I’m batty over these munchkins……..

It is time for our annual Traditional First Grade Thanksgiving Feast!  The First Graders will feast and give thanks on Friday, November 19, from 11:00-11:50 in the Rock Quarry Wet Lab.   A room parent will contact you regarding your contribution. 

            There are approximately 85 first graders and five teachers in our “first grade family.”  We are asking for enough food to feed 105 people.  Our goal is to provide all children with a good lunch.  This feast will take the place of our regular school lunch and will include a “taste” of everything. We do not want to waste food by having excess left over.  Unfortunately, this formula does not provide enough food to feed our many visitors, siblings, and other family members.  Therefore, we are respectfully asking that you not invite siblings and other family members to the First Grade Feast.  However, if you are a helper at the feast, we invite you to share this meal with us.

            Our class is responsible for 12 pumpkin pies and corn on the cob (salt, pepper & butter) for the feast (enough for 105 people).  A room mother will contact helpers, and please feel free to let us/room mothers know if you are available to help. 

We will also need parent helpers to arrive at 10:30 a.m. on the day of the feast to begin lunch preparations and to assist with clean up after the meal.  Please let us know if you can help with this as well. 

            We appreciate everything that you do to help us provide great learning experiences for our school family!  Please feel free to let us know if you have questions. 

            Thanks again!

First Grade Teachers

Well, I did not mean to take a blog break but the strep/flu/virus/bug had other plans for me. I feel much better now and I hope to stay that way. I don’t usually get sick, so it really took me by surprise. All that being said, if your child is sick, keep them home! 🙂 We will continue to Clorox the world each afternoon and I am a nut about sanitizer andhand washing….so maybe we can all stay well.

Ms. Hand’s last day with us was bittersweet. We are happy that she is so close to finishing her MAP degree, but we were so sad that she was not here in room #221 this morning. She will come back to visit though! Thank you to everyone who participated in sending a little office product/teacher happy to fill her cart. Both she and Ms. Barrentine were overwhelmed with all of their goodies. I’ll say it again! Rock Quarry Parents (especially Bear Class folks) ROCK! Kiss your hearts for being so generous!

The November calendar came home today and Oh. My. Word! We have STUFF. Don’t let that long looking month fool you. We have things to do! Stuff to make! A feast to prepare! Not to mention a TON of lessons to learn (and not a lot of time to get it done)……the first of which we learned today! The Wampanoag Indians (those who met the Pilgrims) did NOT live in Tipis. They lived in mound shaped houses called Wetus. Only the Plains Indians used Tipis (when they were hunting). In first grade, we are learning stuff and dispelling myths!

A room mom will contact you soon about some class projects, such as dying shirts, cutting fringe, making (or buying pies) 100ish ears of corn on the cob….you have been warned! Do not screen your calls! We know where you live! ha!

Immediate Dates to Know!
Child Safe Program starts tomorrow. You got a letter from Mrs. J about it one day last week.
Pay $6.00 for Indian Camp asap!
Our book fair day is Monday, November 7th. Whoo Hooo for us! I scored one of the first days so nothing will be “sold out”. Our shopping time is 8:30-9:00 so come shop with your Bear if you’d like. If not, send the money in a labeled envelope marked “Book Fair” and I will get it where it needs to be.

We are trying centers in math (as if we don’t have enough going on) and I think it is working well. We are still going to tweak it a bit, but we will find our groove soon. It is more work for me, but it is so hands on for the kiddos, and that makes it ALL worth it.

Hope you also enjoyed the discussion and the bones your child brought home after dissecting owl pellets last week! Awesome! By the way, owl pellets = owl throw up…..not owl poop. I know you are relieved…..

We are making bats tomorrow so if you did not send your old, clean pair of black or brown adult sized socks….do that in the morning. Even if you just have one sock…send it! We will use it!

Happy Monday! It’s a great day to be in first grade! Alicia