2.26.09
A special THANK YOU to our local bank for giving us a great tour on Wednesday. The children enjoyed learning how money is saved and counted. They really thought the money counter was cool. The children took turns playing banker and customers. We may have a future bank teller or bank president in our class!

2.24.09
We have completed the math unit on money. To celebrate the children will visit the bank here in Wakefield Wednesday afternoon. The children will learn how money is saved and used at a bank. Our walk should be just gorgeous as the weather is to be in the high 60's. Learning how to count money is an ongoing forever life lesson. Anytime you have the opportunity to have your child count money and make change it will benefit them. Please don't miss out on those teachable moments. The next unit in math is all about place value, data and graphs. We began today using a grid and cubes to make numbers. The children are learning about tens and ones.

February 25 is our last Patriotic Wednesday. I hope the children will remember to wear their red, white and blue tomorrow. We have made messages to be mailed to our deployed dads. They touch your heart! We want Tim, Richard, and David to know that we miss you and think of you everyday. God Bless you and our country you work so hard to protect!

2.18.09
First Graders would like to salute our soliders home and away! We are celebrating Patriotic Month at our school. The children dress in their red, white and blue on Wednesdays to show our support for our military and families. Friday the rock band from Fort Riley will perform for our school. You are our HERO'S and we send our greetings out to all who work to keep us safe!

2.17.09
The children enjoyed sharing their banks for Show and Tell on Friday. Katie brought the most interesting cash register. It was very old and brought back memories of the days when things were not scanned. I worked at a grocery store in high school and this is the type of register I started out on. We are looking forward to sharing coin reports this week.

2.10.09
Congratulations to Alijah! He won third place in the Soil Conservation Poster Contest. He was recognized at a dinner last night and presented with a t-shirt and gift. We are proud of you!

2.9.09
The flu bug has made the way into our classroom. We have sick first graders. I'm encouraging the kids to use lots of soap when washing their hands. We were going to paint our valentines bags today, but with so many kids out decided to wait until tomorrow. The children may begin bringing their valentines anytime. Our party begins
Friday at 2:15.

In math this week we'll continue to work on counting coins. If you have a spare moment, dump out all your change and have your child count the money. The quarter was introduced today. On Tuesday we will practice counting a set of money which includes a quarter, dime, nickel and penny. Friday will be "Bring a Bank" show and tell. The children may share their special banks. Help your child try these websites for additional practice at home.
http://arcytech.org/java/money/money.html
http://sln.fi.edu/pieces/knox/online/whichcoin/whichcoin.html

2.5.09
The January Book-It winners were awarded Eskimo Pie Ice Cream bars for reading 20 books during the month of January. There were 16 winners! The ice cream was a very enjoyable treat. During the month of February the children are working on a book report. The reports will be presented during our book talk time. We also are keeping track of books we read on a reading log sheet this month. Each Friday the children will put a candy heart into our "Read Your Heart Out" jar for each book read during the week. I am very proud of our reading champions!

2.1.09
Another month has passed and we welcome in February! Hope your favorite Super Bowl Team won tonight. January Book-It papers are due. The children that read 20 books will be treated to an Eskimo Pie ice cream bar this week. I bought 24 ice cream bars in hope that we have many winners!

I'm looking forward to February as we will celebrate "Patriotic Month" at our school. We ask that everyone wear Red, White and Blue on Wednesdays. I'm working on posting the newsletter on the school website so look for more news this week!

A reminder that spring pictures will be taken on Wednesday, Feb. 4. We will take a class picture so please have your child dress nice. Individual pictures are taken, but you do not have to purchase the pictures. Pictures are sent home and then you may return what you do not wish to buy.

Monday, Feb. 2 the PTO will hold a meeting in the library at 6:30 p.m. They will finalize the plans for the Lip Sync on be held on Monday, Feb. 16. More notes are being sent home this week. A special thank you to our PTO for purchasing items for our 100 Day Celebration and Valentine's Day. We appreciate all you do for us!