Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Book Order Due Friday

Just a friendly reminder that the book orders are due on Friday, September 3rd if you want to order anything.

EARLY DISMISSAL TODAY

In case you haven't heard...we will be dismissing early today, due to heat. 1:10 shuttle and 1:30 route buses. Buses will arrive in Manson at 1:30 and the starlite bus will arrive there at 1:45.

With a Quack Quack here, and a Quack Quack there......


I will apologize now for any unusual farm animal noises you are hearing from your first grader. :) We have been learning about farm animals this week and have enjoyed every minute of it. We have each designed and shared a farm. Some of us had some interesting animals at our farms including: elk, alligators, turtles, and the normal farm animals. One of us even had a TRAIN at our farm. We watched/read a fiction book flick on the Smart board called Click, Clack, Moo and watched/read a non-fiction book about pigs. We have also solved and made farm riddles, sang Old McDonald, and colored muddy pigs.

We still have a lot of fun things to do!! Tomorrow and Wednesday we are going to do an activity with The Three Little Pigs, read One Red Rooster, and listen to Funny Farm. I encourage you to have a conversation with your child about farm animals. It sure is fun to listen to what they know!

Friday, August 27, 2010

Our First Skype Experience


We just got the webcam up and running. We are going to Skype with Mrs. Carlson's cousin (Emma) who is a 7th grader at Spirit Lake Middle School and Mrs. Carlson's grandma and grandpa. Emma's school just started the 1:1 laptop inicitive just like MNW did. They do not start school until Monday, so she is able to talk with us today. Also, Mrs. Carlson's grandparent's health will not allow them to travel to school to visit. Skype will let them meet us and see our classroom.


We are hoping to meet with other family members via Skype. If any of you would be interested in Skyping with us at school, please let us know. You could read us a story, meet our class, or help us with a class project. More details to come...
Watch the short video clip...We have a question for you!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Monster Squeeze


Playing "Monster Squeeze" on the Smart Board. The students think of a number between one and thirteen. They call on other students to guess what number they are thinking of. They then give them a hint and tell them if they need to guess a higher or lower number.

Book Order

Parents/Guardians,

I will be sending a Scholastic book order home monthly. This month's book order will be due September 3rd. You may order online, or send the order form to school with your child. Please note... this is for fun, you do NOT have to order. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Thanks,

Mrs. Carlson

Scholastic Book Order

Order Due Date: September 3

Online Ordering Information
Web address: scholastic.com/bookclubs
Class Activation Code: GM33L

Dear Parent/Guardian,

Now it's easier than ever to find the right books for your child — and help us earn FREE books for our classroom library at the same time! With new online ordering from Scholastic Book Clubs, you can choose from a much wider selection of books than in the printed flyer. Plus, you can send your orders directly to me online and use your credit card. Best of all, our class earns a FREE book every time a parent places their order online.

It's so simple! Here's how it works:

1. SIGN UP at www.Scholastic.com/bookclubs. On the parent page, click the "Don't have a User Name and Password?" link, and then register for your own username and password. When prompted, enter the one-time Class Activation Code shown above. This code ensures that your order is sent to me.

2. SELECT the books you'd like to order from over 500 titles available online...and take advantage of online-only specials and discounts.

3. SEND your order to me online by the due date. Books will be delivered directly to our classroom, as always.

Of course, you can still order using the form from the printed flyer. But why not experience for yourself how convenient it is to order online?

Ordering online is fast, easy, and secure. Plus our whole class benefits thanks to the FREE books we'll earn with every parent online order.

Go to www.Scholastic.com/bookclubs now to get started.

Thank you,
Mrs. Carlson

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Our First Virtual Feild Trip


Today we used our imaginations to fly from our school to the San Diego Zoo. When we got there we saw pandas, elephants, polar bears, and apes. Your child may ask you to take them there and below are the directions to do so:

1.) Go to http://www.sandiegozoo.org/pandacam/
2.) Click on the "live cams and videos" to view the other animals
3.) Have a great time!

Mrs. Carlson

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

"Making Faces"

Today we "made faces"... literally, not at each other. haha! It was a lot of fun to see the different faces and all the creativity that took place. This activity reminded us that no two people are the same, and that it is important to treat people with differences with kindness and respect.



Paige looks just like the face she made!


Teage's face has a BIG smile!! :)

Brayden, Cael, and Drayden are proud of their twins.


Amber does a nice job cutting.



Chris and Isaac are having fun "making faces".



Paige is hard at work!





Day 2


Today we made our faces to put around our classroom contract. I had to change one rule that the kids came up with. "No Wrestling". I put in parenthases (during school). For those of you who do not know, I am a huge wrestling fan! I was a wrestling cheerleader in highschool and both of my brothers were wrestlers. Along with me being a wrestling fanatic, I had one of the wrestling coaches contact me about the rule..haha!!

Friday, August 20, 2010

OPEN HOUSE

* THANK YOU * ThAnK yOu * THANK YOU *

Wow! Talk about an awesome Open house! The turnout was amazing! As tired as I was last night, I found my self laying in bed thinking about things I needed to do at school and how awesome it is to teach at MNW. I am so lucky to live in such a great community. Every parent that came to open house was so friendly and the kids were sooo CUTE! I am really looking forward to working with all of you this year. I just know it is going to be a wonderful year!

I want to apologize if I did not get much time to talk to you last night. There was a lot going on and a lot of people in the classroom. Everyone came by 6:00. haha! Everyone must have had the same idea. So from 6-7, I spent some time putting things away and eating the Pep Club dinner. If you did not get a chance to ask me a question or tell me something, please feel free to contact me anytime!

If you came yesterday and noticed that you forgot supplies, go ahead and send them with your child on the first day. Also, sorry about the misunderstanding with the magazine boxes, we did get the ones they used in Kindergarten from the Kindergarten teachers. Hopefully you can return the new ones you bought, or save them for a future year.

I want to give a special thanks to Teage Bruns for sticking around and helping me! What a nice boy he is!


* THANK YOU * ThAnK yOu * THANK YOU *

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Please share this blog!!!

If you are reading this please help me out and share the link with your family and other first grade parents. I am going to be updating this blog weekly and sometimes daily throughout the school year. I will be posting pictures and videos of the kids and updates on what’s going on in the classroom. I got this idea because I have heard parents ask their kids “What did you do at school today?” and a common answer from the child is “NOTHING”. Really? Nothing? We are soooo busy having fun learning in first grade that it only seems fair to share our excitement with our parents and family! It should be an easy way to keep you all in the loop. Also, I encourage comments. It will be fun to show the kids the comments from parents and family on the SMART board.

11 days and counting. I am getting soooo excited and can’t wait to meet the little ones!

HELP!!! help!!! Help!!!

Does anyone have an old "walkman" that they have replaced with an MP3 player or IPod? I really would like to have a few. They could either be a cassette tape or a CD player with headphones. I have been collecting books on tape and CD for a few years now, and would LOVE love LOVE to have a listening center for Guided Reading.

If you have one and would like to get rid of, you can drop it off at school or let me know where I could pick it up.

Thanks!!!!!!

Our Class Contract

Our Class Contract
Today, the first grade worked together to think of all the rules that will help our classroom run smoothly! They thought of way more than I ever could! Way to go First Grade!!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.