Dear Parents,

It’s Monday and we are back at it!  How is your routine going at home? Is everyone settling into the school year now that we are headed into October? The firsties have been hard at work and we are getting settled down into our routine here too. 

In Religion class we have been learning about Joseph and all of the bad things that happened to him. Through it all God loved him, was there for him, watched out for him, and Joseph trusted that….he trusted in God. Do you find that hard to do in your life? To trust that God is always there for us? I know I do. Talk to your firstie about trusting in God….in the good times and in the bad times. We certainly all need reminders of this fact, and often!

Today we watched a movie about Joseph and his dreams (we are going to finish it tomorrow!).

We have started subtraction in Math Class!  Please review with your firstie what the word difference means (the answer when subtracting!) and practice if you can at home.  

Fall is upon us (though it doesn’t quite feel like it yet, does it?) and we have been working on an art project that has to do with falling leaves.  It has been good fine motor practice for us….cutting using scissors, punching out paper using a hole puncher, and gluing! Oh my!!! Their creations will be done later this week and we can't wait to share them with you!

 Our first spelling test will be this week Friday!!!  The words for this week have a “short a” in them; mat, bag, ham, fan, cap, hat, cat, jam, man, & cab and we have two high frequency/sight words-from & after.  We will have a practice test on Wednesday and our “real” test will be on Friday.  I sent home the “high-five” words worksheet….please hang it up somewhere prominent that your child can high-five it as many times as they want.  Help your child start practicing their words and don’t forget our Memory test will be on Friday too!

Blessings on your week!

"Standing on the Promises of God"

Miss Gallagher

Dear Parents,

“See You At the Pole” was today and it was such a beautiful way to begin our Wednesday. 

 

 

Prayers were lifted up and then we headed inside with our prayer partners for a special activity.  Each student made a bracelet that had their first initial and their prayer partner’s first initial.  Mrs. Klauer showed us how to make them and shared how great of a reminder the bracelets can be to keep our prayer partners in our thoughts and prayers and to know that the other person is keeping us in theirs.

 We have been reading the story “Sometimes” by Keith Baker in Language class, which talks about different types of feelings.  Today we started to create our own stories…watch for them to come home soon!  The firsties did a great job illustrating their books.

We have been practicing our sight words in a couple of different ways…..ask your child to demonstrate! Soooooo fun! (and educational too!)

This week we have been learning about Issac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Esau.  In learning about this account from the Bible, we have been talking about forgiveness.  There was a lot of “sneakiness” and sinning that happened in this story and we discussed that happens with us too.    But our God is a forgiving and loving God. Did you see two red paper hearts come home yesterday?  Did your firstie tell you what they were about? Maybe, keep them in a prominent place as a reminder of our sin and of God’s forgiveness.

Keep practicing the first part of the memory verse with your child….our test is on Friday. 

Don’t forget to turn in Scholastic book orders and field trip permission slips and money.

Blessings!
Miss Gallagher

 

Dear Parents,

Today began with a beautiful sunrise….did you see it?  My picture didn’t do it justice, but I am thankful that God gave us such a wonderful reminder that HE is the creator.

We continue to practice our letters, making sure we are always starting at the top instead of the bottom.  Please be aware of this when they are writing at home….top to bottom, top to bottom!  J

 

Last week we created our very own “Space Man”, to help us keep a good space between our words when we write.  If you have big popsicle sticks at home, your firstie can create one to keep there too!  If you need one, just let me know and I can send one home.

 

   SPACE                     MAN

 

 

 

We began our NWEA testing today!  This is all done on computers in the computer lab and I was so proud of how well they did today.  Remember this is just a small snapshot of their progress and we will be testing three times this year.  I am looking forward to seeing how much they grow throughout the year. 

We continue to our “Brain Breaks” a few times a day and we are all enjoying them so much.  There are cool characters who focus on different tasks.  For example, “Maximo” works on stretches with us and “Mr. Catman” works on brain exercises. 

 

 

We dance (they are getting so good with the Cha Cha slide (knowing their right and their left….it’s hard at first!)) and we run in place too.  Again it is a great way for us to get up, shake our bodies a little, and then sit down and focus again. 

 

We learned a song that we will sing at the end of each day (ask your firstie if they remember it) because it is such a good reminder of God and what He has done for us. 

“Go My Children With My Blessing” 

Go my children with my blessing, never alone.

Waking, sleeping, I am with you, you are my own.

In my love’s baptismal river, I have made you mine forever .

Go my children with my blessing, you are my own.

 

In music class last Friday, we learned about a few stringed instruments….quiz your firstie….what do they remember?  (We learned about the viola, the cello, and the double bass)

Please start studying with your kiddo for our memory test on Friday.

Blessings!

Miss Gallagher

Dear Parents,

What a busy day!
Today began with Chapel and we got to sit with our Prayer Partners, it was fun!  Pastor talked about God’s promises and then we practiced our song that we are singing in church on Sunday.This Sunday, we are celebrating Education Sunday at Trinity and one of the ways we are showing how important our school is to the mission of the church, is we are singing praises to our God.  We would love to have you all here to celebrate and worship.  The kids are singing at the 10:30am service.  Hope to see you there!
In Spelling today, we worked on “Rainbow writing” (ask your firstie what that is all about-it’s also in their folders today!). We continue to practice our letters and make sure that they are being formed correctly.

 

In Math, for the last two days we have been working on addition (joining) sentences.  Today though, we played a math memory game where they had to find the addition sentence flip-flopped….4+3 and then l3+4, for example.  Then we stayed and worked with our different partners to complete our math assignment (This was done quite quietly….which was interesting to me…..it was a time that they COULD talk and share and figure things out together…. and it was quiet.  Fast forward 15 minutes, when they were supposed to be working alone and quiet, THEN it was loud…..GO FIGURE!  Ha ha ha!) We will continue to work in pairs and small groups throughout the year.

 

 

We also read a book by one of my absolute favorite authors, Patricia Polacco. The book we read today was called “Thank you Mr. Falker”.  Patricia actually lives in Union City, Michigan and I had the pleasure of meeting her a few years ago (And she even signed one of my books! I know, I know….I am kind  of a geek…. J) Many of her books are written from real life experiences, and are told in such rich and wonderful ways.  If you haven’t read any of her books yet, check them out!

***Don’t forget to practice with your firstie, for our memory test on Friday. 

Blessings,
Miss Gallagher

Dear Parents,

Happy Monday!  We have been busy over the last few school days and I wanted to share a few of our happenings!
September 11^th is always a difficult day and I just couldn’t put into words what I wanted to say.
We read a few children’s books that had to do with the day (ask your firstie about the fire boat that we learned about) and about NYC (which just happens to be one of my most favorite cities).  Isn’t it amazing that our firsties have no idea about how much of an impact that day, changed our entire world?  On one hand, they are still very innocent, but on the other hand, they live in a “post 9/11” world, so they don’t know any different. I am thankful that God promises He will be with us, even though there is sin in this world, even though WE sin, even though bad things happen….God promises us He is here with us, He loves us, and He is never going to leave us alone.  What a comforting and reassuring thought!

Last week we read a story about things we see, and the kids did a great job with reading!  Then we painted some dots on a piece of paper, folded the paper two times, and then opened it back up…and voilà!  I wish you could have heard what they said…  It was great! We let the pictures dry and then the next day asked each firstie what they saw in their picture.  I put them all together in a small book that will come home so you all can check out what each child said.  It is a traveling book, and the first of many.  When it comes home, read it through with your child, check your child’s name off, and then send it back in. J I am looking forward to sharing it with you!

 

In Social Studies we looked at a bird’s eye view of a map and then made our own of our classroom!  They did such a great job with this little project!

 

This the first week we will be having our Memory Test (on Friday).  Please help your child to study for this.  Practice, practice, practice will help!  Practice in the car, practice before bedtime, practice before breakfast…the more they say it, the better it will stick in their head and they will be ready for Friday’s test.

Again, there will be more homework this week, so please expect it.  September is a bit of a tough month, with a lot of transitioning going on.  Each child will handle it a little different, but hang on because it will get better! 

Blessings on the beginning of your week,

Miss Gallagher

Dear Parents,

We are on our way! Week two started well and continues on in this manner. We are slowly starting to get the hang of our schedule and different routines throughout the day.  Wahoo! 

Yesterday we started with computer class and from there we had Spelling and Religion.  In Spelling class we are reviewing words that begin with M (ask your firstie to make the sound that M makes (hopefully they rub their bellies when they make the sound, like we do in class J!) and words that begin with D.  In Religion we learned about Cain and Abel and we discussed what jealousy is and can do.

During our snack time yesterday, we tuned into a live cam aquarium on the Discovery Channel’s website….the kiddos loved it!

 In Math, for the last two days, we have been creating and discovering different ways to show the numbers 6, 7, and 8.

We also discovered Brain Breaks…which was quite fun to watch how some of the students reacted at first to the dancing around…but once  they decided that it was kinda, sorta, fun, each student was ALL IN.  LOL!  Brain Breaks are short videos that have kids moving; dancing, stretching, singing, counting, bouncing, etc… they are awesome! They help to get out the wiggles and get us back to focusing.

Today we met our Prayer Partners! The whole school met in the gym and practiced the song we will be singing in church on Sunday, September 20 (for Education Sunday).  And then all the kids got together with their partners, chose a book, and found a spot to read.  Everyone seemed to enjoy this time spent together and I am looking forward to our next Prayer Partner activity. 

 

Don’t forget to have your firstie wear red, white, and blue on Friday!

Love,

Miss Gallagher

Dear Parents,

A week under our belts! And though it wasn’t a full week, it certainly counts! How are you feeling about your firstie’s first week of FIRST grade? How is your child feeling? I imagine there is still some uncertainty about a new teacher, a new grade, a new classroom, and lots of new things to learn.  Please know, I am going to work really hard to make this a great year for us all!!

 

Did your child tell you we had a GUEST reader in our classroom yesterday?  My dad stopped by (he is a retired 1^st & 2^nd teacher) and read them a silly book, “Belly Button Boy”.  Hopefully each firstie remembers to wash out their navel, so they don’t  end up like the boy in the story!

Today, we started our day drawing pictures about creation and the kiddos did such a great job!  But then we talked about how God created the world perfectly and sin entered the world and messed everything up.  (So, they scribbled all over their pictures….(which they honestly hesitated at first….)) Then we talked about how Jesus saved us from our sins and how He did that by dying on the cross and rising again, so we drew a cross with a heart in the middle of our pictures. 

 

We worked more on ABC order today and reviewed our alphabet.  We also started practicing reading alone and working at our seats by ourselves.   

We practiced our drills (though not the fire drill because of the rain) and learned where to go and what to do in case of an emergency in our school. 

The storms prevented us from going outside for recess but they were completely content playing inside today.  And I must say, that the firsties were pretty brave with all of the thunder and “scary skies” outside.  No tears! Yea!  

I am looking forward to a full week, next week!

Have a very blessed weekend!

Love,

Miss Gallagher

First Full Day of School!

Dear Parents,

We made it…first full day DONE!

We began with reviewing some letters and sounds, and in Spelling class, we concentrated on the letters B (b) and R (r).  We talked about creation in Religion class, and each child shared what is their favorite thing that God created.  ***Ask your child what they shared! ***

In Math we practiced writing our numbers 1-9 and we did a little work with comparing numbers.  The firsties presented their “5 favorite thing bags” in front of the class and all that they shared was interesting!  We gave each presenter a “round of applause” (ask your child to demonstrate for you!) and each student was a good listener for their fellow classmates.  Thank you for helping them with this project!

We had a tasty lunch and were able to spend some time outside for recess! (Whew….it was HOT!)
 

For story time, I read two stories “The Awful Aardvarks Go to School” AND “Press Here” (which they LOVED!  And truth be told, it is one of my favorite’s too!)

We reviewed our different drills (fire, tornado, and lockdown) and will practice them tomorrow and Thursday. 

Ask your child to show you our “Karate Alphabet”…they got a kick out of it (literally!). 

All in all, we had a great day!
Love,
Miss Gallagher