Friday, October 15

Thursday we had a fun time celebrating with Mrs. Creswell!  She is running a marathon on Sunday.  She has been training hard, and all the money she raises will go towards building a school in Africa.  We decorated her room with balloons, streamers, banners, and we all wore buttons.  In the afternoon we had her run through a "tunnel" of elem. kids waving streamers and cheering her on.  We wish her the best of luck, and enjoy your day, you deserve it.

Friday, the NICL Conference teachers met in Cedar Falls for a day of technology.  We heard a speaker in the morning about how fast things are changing as far as technology, and what we as teachers need to think about with our students to keep up the pace.  In the afternoon I attended a session about how to use laptops in the classroom, and a session about using a mimeo board.  Both were interesting.  Now we will have to see what new things we can "unlock" in technology in our classrooms at GR!

Friday, October 8

What a wonderful fall week of school.  This is our review week in language arts.  There was lots of review, practice, and testing that I will share with you at conferences.  There will not be as many daily papers in your child's folder this week.  In math we spent a lot of time with subtraction story problems and looking for the key words.  Next week, I will start subtraction rocket math, along with the addition.  Wednesday was an early out for inservice, the elementary teachers discussed reading strategies.  Thursday we had a wonderful afternoon with the fire fighters.  Each child got to practice with the fire extinguisher.  They also shared all the gear and what it would be like if they came into your home to rescue you from a fire. Then the first grade room was filled with smoke.  The kids learned that the smoke would rise and they needed to stay low.  Then the fire fighters helped the 1st graders out the EXIT window to safety.  Mr. Ciddio shared his dalmatian fire dog, Gracey!  This week we also got to celebrate with an ice cream treat for saving the most box tops in September.  Keep saving for October!! 

Friday, Oct. 1

Our day started with a Homecoming Assembly.  Thank you High School Cheerleaders and Football Captains!  I took a picture of the Gladbrook Elementary with the Cheerleaders and Football Players showing our REBEL Spirit.  I'm getting an error when I try to add the picture of us.  I will keep working on it.  Hopefully, I can share the picture with you soon!

Congratulations 1st graders!  We celebrated our first AR goal of passing 100 tests!  We all enjoyed a picnic lunch in the room watching cartoons.  Keep reading!!  Our next goal to celebrate will be when we reach 300 AR Books.

Friday, Sept. 24

Time to Celebrate!!  The first graders have completed 100 AR tests so far!!  Wow!  I'm so proud of their reading in such a short time!

We will celebrate by having a "picnic" lunch in the room on Friday, October 1.  Mrs. Luethje will supply the dessert.  Bring your own sack lunch and a drink ( pop, juice, milk, water)

Congratulations 1st graders!  Lets go for another 100 books in October.

Friday, Sept. 17

What a beautiful fall day!  When I ask kids what they love about 1st grade - the first 3 things they say is "Rocket Math", "Daily 5",  and "AR".  They have made so much progress in their reading and math already, it is fun to see their excitement!

This week we talked a lot about what makes up a good telling sentence. We also talked about how to read, write, and solve addition sentences.

Friday, Sept. 10

We welcomed a new student this week - Damien!  Now we have 6 boys and 4 girls.  Daily 5 is going well, we have now completed 3 - Read to Self, Work on Writing, and Read to Someone.  AR is up and running with no problems!  Our class has already passed 39 AR books.  The start of Rocket Math has been a hit this week.  It is a timed test working on adding basic facts.  They start at level A and work through level Z.  The PTO Fundraiser is underway, the kids are excited to sell and earn prizes.  Today we dressed in our favorite team colors in honor of so many great football games this weekend.  Have a safe weekend and keep reading :)

Friday, Sept. 3

Wow, where does the time go?  We have already had 13 days of school!  Tonight is the Rebel's first home football game of the season, and it finally feels like football weather!  We had a minor "flood" when some of the water from Rebel and Jackrabbit's fish tank bubbled over.  It took a day to dry out the carpet.  Don't worry, Jackrabbit and Rebel are doing fine :)  This class loves books and reading, they can't wait to share a book with the class!  It's exciting to see them growing in their confidence to read in just 13 days!  In Math we have been working on building groups of 9, 10, 11, 12,  recognizing the word names, and forming the numbers correctly.  We are wrapping up talking about our families with a discussion of how each student can give a "helping hand" at home.  Remember no school on Monday.  See you Tuesday.  Go Rebels!!