Another Successful Week for the Firsties!

Ok- How great were the Firsties at their big mass?!?!  I couldn't have been prouder of each and every one of them.  They each took their jobs seriously, and I am pretty sure almost every teacher, and definitely Mrs. Schulte, commented on a job well-done.  Way to go, Firsties!  While I couldn't take photos of every child doing their job, here are a few photos from our mass:

  And I did not leave out the wonderful Firsty Parents and their very important job at the end of the mass... taking photos of these great kiddos! 

In other news, the First Grade took a mini-field trip to the church hall, which had been transformed into the 4th Grade Museum of California Missions.  The Firsties seemed very excited to see these spectacular models of real missions.  Here are a few photos from the museum:

Speaking of field trips, we are tentatively planning on going on our Firsty Field Trip to the Santa Barbara Zoo on Wednesday March 27th.  I am waiting to hear back from the Zoo for a confirmation.  When I get the official go-ahead, I will send home field trip forms, which will include the price per child (which includes the price of the bus).  Parents, you may remember long ago, at Back to School Night, many of you filled out a field trip lottery form.  I have all of the forms, and I will use those forms to pick our 7 parent chaperones.  If you aren't sure whether or not you filled one out, just shoot me an email and I'll let you know.  Please note that siblings outside of our First Grade class are not permitted to join us, parents and students must ride on the bus with our class, and only 7 parents (with VIRTUS training) will be chosen.  The parents will be responsible for a group of 5 children, and the children will be there to complete a small Science project (which will receive a significant Science grade).  Since many of you have shown interest in being in the field trip lottery, I am graciously asking that any parents who have already joined us on a previous First Grade field trip to the zoo back out of the lottery.  There will be MANY field trips to come, and I am hoping to try to allow other parents the joy of attending this field trip.  Thank you for understanding! 


Has your son or daughter talked about our awesome new math game on the interactive white board?  Ever heard of Whack-a-mole? That wonderful game at Chuck E Cheese where you hit the moles with a soft hammer as they pop up out of their hole?  Well, Lakeshore Learning Center has a fantastic addition and subtraction fact game just like that!  Here are some photos of our Firsties playing this energetic game:

Love the pose!

I love the look on her face! It says it all!

And the look on her face, too!

    I am pretty sure any Firsty would be excited to own this game on their own computer at home, and for about $19.00, they can!  It really is a great tool to use at home to practice their addition and subtraction facts.  And, more importantly, it gets them excited to practice those facts!  Click here to either order it online, or to download it (for the same price) directly to your home computer WHACK A MOLE MATH  (No, I do not work for Lakeshore, nor do I own stock in their company- I just love their products!) 


    
     This week will be a Seussical Week in First Grade!  Saturday was officially Dr. Seuss' birthday, but Ms. Andrea and I decided that Monday would be a much better time to celebrate, especially since Friday was a half-day.  I will be extending all Seuss activities throughout the entire week, including having parent readers stop by Monday through Friday to read after morning recess.  I have two parents volunteering for Tuesday's reading of Green Eggs and Ham, but so far no parents volunteering for the rest of the week.  Hopefully everyone saw my red flier in the Green Folder, and if you have time to read around 10am, please contact me ASAP!  Thank you!  


    Finally, I'd like to extend a big congratulations to the Chalovich Family on their newest addition to the family: Brye Marin was born on Friday morning!  We cannot wait to meet her!  I am sure Quinn is a super proud big brother (again!)  

In honor of Dr. Seuss, I'd like to leave you with one of my favorite Dr. Seuss quotes, and funny enough, it did not come from one of his amazing books.  It actually came from an interview regarding how to be a writer.  The great author said, “You can get help from teachers, but you are going to have to learn a lot by yourself, sitting alone in a room.”
― Dr. Seuss
 
So True!

Take care everyone!
~Ms. Hudson