Money, money, money, money...money!

      Brrrrrrrrrrrrr! Is anyone else freezing this weekend?  I cannot believe I heard the weather man say that it was 2 degrees in Big Bear earlier this morning... 2 degrees in California! Ridiculous! Just thought I'd start off on that cold note. (Yes, I am a born and raised Californian, so anything below 65 degrees is cold enough for me!)

    Speaking of cold- I am trying my very best to make your children wear warm clothes out to recess and lunch.  I realize from talking with many of you that you are having a hard time getting them to wear their sweatshirts and jackets (instead of shoving them inside their backpacks).  Thankfully, with the exception of a few eye-rolls, they are listening to their teachers and wearing their sweatshirts in this chilly January weather.  I have noticed that many children are showing up to school with wet hair, and I am especially encouraging them to wear sweatshirts!

     Now onto the money!  Our Firsties have been working diligently on their money counting skills.  Pretty soon they will be ready to work for Bank of America!  Money is not a new concept for them.  They practiced counting with money each morning in Kindergarten, and we have practiced it each morning in First Grade.  If you have noticed that your child is struggling with this concept, you may have luck with simply having them practice skip-counting by five's and by ten's- if this isn't mastered yet, it is crucial that they work on that skill at home as well as in our room.  They may need to recite this every morning in the car ride to school, or every evening while they are walking to their bedrooms for bed.  Just a thought! Here are some photos of the Firsties playing a money counting game called Fill the Piggy!

The children roll a die, placing that many pennies in the penny circle.  If there are five or more pennies in the penny circle, then they trade the five pennies for a nickle and place the nickle in the nickle circle.  When there are two nickles in the nickle circle, then they trade them for a dime and place the dime in the piggy! The student who places the most dimes in the piggy, wins.

     Most of the kids are really enjoying working with money.  We also played a round of money bingo, and we wrapped up our math week with a quiz on money.  Speaking of quizzes and tests, it has been a while since you have received the blue folder filled with your child's tests. I apologize for the delay, but there have been A LOT of absences lately, and I typically try not to return tests until all the children have had a chance to take the tests... this has been a huge challenge lately, what with the flu/cough/colds going around!  Please do not send your child to school until they have been 100% fever free for twenty-four hours.  If your child has a cough, please teach them to cough into their elbow.  Additionally, cough drops are recommended, but please note that Firsties need to bring in a note with the cough drops, and Mrs. Coulter or myself will hand your child a cough drop when needed.  In the meantime, we are constantly wiping down the desks, doorknobs, pencils, etc, and your children are continuing to use the hand wipes before eating snack and lunch.  

     How did the first week of spelling homework go? I didn't receive too many questions, so I'm guessing everything went well.  Please remember to keep the spelling booklet in your child's red folder.  Please also remember that the Firsties need to underline the spelling words in their spelling sentence, as well as write their name on the sentence paper.  I met with many of them during class time to remind them that a name at the top is your very first stop!  Some of you are writing AMAZING sentences! I am so proud of everyone for trying their hardest.  

     This week we will begin practicing our addition facts!  This means that your child will be receiving a set of addition flash cards each week.  You have 7 days to practice the facts (or, in this week's case, 8 days since we are off school next Monday).  Then, when we return to school the following week, I will give you a timed (one minute) addition quiz.  You may have heard these tests being referred to as a math minute, or mad minute.  The problems will progress in difficulty as the weeks go on, so please note that missing one week will affect the following weeks.  The problems will not be given in order on the test, so please make sure your child is memorizing them- I write the problems, your child is only responsible for writing the sums.  Test them each night, see how they are progressing, and by Sunday night, your child should be able to answer them all out of order in less than a minute (remember, answering them orally may be faster, but the test will be written).  The more you practice them with your child, the less nervous your child will be on test day.  Firsties tend to be nervous about this test since it is timed, so please practice with them using a timer.  If you have any questions, please feel free to email me! Thank you!

    One final note- we have a special new friend joining our Firsty Family!  Her name is Carolina, (she prefers to go by Kiki) and she is Lucas' cousin!  We are so happy to have her join our family, and I hope everyone can help us extend a warm welcome to her and her family.  

    Have a wonderful week!  Take care!

~Ms. Hudson

PS- I am on my way to help throw a friend's baby shower... I thought I'd share a photo or two of my second love besides teaching- cupcake baking! Here are my latest treats:

lemon blueberry mint cupcakes

vanilla bean cupcakes

 Now if only I can figure out a way to teach and bake cupcakes for a living... = )