Life is Busy in 1st Grade!

We have had more fun learning facts about dinosaurs!  We learned from MSNBC that dinosaurs may have derived from birds.  We learned that dinosaurs lived 65 million years ago.  Jake wrote about that and put it on our Wonder Wall!  J.B. and the girls have been reading about dinosaurs and how fossils show that they may have eaten their own babies!  We learned what extinct meant and went on a virtual field trip of a dinosaur museum!  We love our dinosaur items in our Wonder Center.  The kids have had a blast playing with all of the dinosaur toys and reenacting dinosaur days!  We learned all of this during "fill in" time or at the end of the day when all of our work was complete! We learned that you could go to the table of contents and find WHAT you want to learn about!  ( The kids who wanted to look at books...learned that! )

Thanks for supporting our fun, fun, fun learning!

We had a great time discovering about patterns and creating them with our pattern blocks!  Some of our pattern homework is hanging on our bulletin board!  Nice work! 

Sheila Rae the Brave has been a great class read this week!  We pulled out important vocabulary, worked in groups, and shared what some of those important words meant!  The children did a great job on our class "Twitter Posters".

I have created the letter attached in Google Docs, but I am not crazy about the way it formats my writing.  I will keep working and trying.  In the meantime, PLEASE MAKE SURE ALL HOMEWORK IS COMPLETED.  Students begin with a 100 Homework Grade and every time they are without their homework, the grade drops 2 points.

A big thank you to our moms who sent, M&Ms, pretzels, goldfish, and chocolate chips for us to pattern with for  Friday Fun Day...and then eat our patterns!

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for the support!

What a wonderful first week of school!

Students came in sharing All About Me homework.  It was fun to learn about the interests of others!

We listened to a story about Rosie's Walk.  We laughed as the fox chased Rosie and couldn't catch her!  Then, we went on a school walk and learned about  all of the important school places. Students will be helpers and it is important that they know where to go and how to return!

We read a poem, drank some "jitter juice," and got rid of all of our worries! :)

Later in the week we read about The Giving Tree and learned how to care for others and how being kind and considering others and their needs is the right thing to do!

Thanks Jake for sending treats for the Animal Shelter. You can bring in old towels or blankets, food, treats, newspaper, cleaning supplies, etc...

Looking forward to a great year!

School Lunch

For those who purchase school lunch or eat at school, Chartwells Food Service has an app. you can download to get a more detailed menu!

Please find attached more information on the Digital Menus. The key to searching for the app in the app store is to search for Nutrislice and on the web search for Nutrislice.com. The Digital menus can also be found on the District 2 Web Page under ‘Resources”, just click on School Menus. The Digital Menus will also be posted in “Departments”-Food Service in the near future.

Welcome to First Grade

Welcome to the 2015-2016 School Year!  My name is Annette Hyder!  I am celebrating turning 50 this year!  (Not sure if you should know that... )  I am also married to my High School sweetheart of 25 years this September!  LOTS OF MILESTONES!  The good news...It's all good!  I have 2 daughters, Emily and Katie.  One is a Clemson Graduate living and working in Charlotte and the other is a Sophomore at Clemson this Fall.  I currently hold a Masters Degree in Education and I am certified in both Early Childhood and Elementary Education.  I am former recipient of Oakland's Teacher of the Year and News Channel 7's Golden Apple Award. I have worked on several committees throughout my career, the most recent being our District Math Curriculum Committee!  I work hard and  I love teaching.  I am very thankful to have a job I love to go to. I have worked in Summer Learning Academy for the past 3 years to help students who need a little more attention and assistance.  

I believe that the best approach for successful learning in the younger years is one where students interact.  I use a "Literacy/Math Centers Based Approach" to enhance learning. Including Lunch, Recess, Snack, Special Area and Centers, students are out of their seats for 1/2 of the day. Although students will be seated facing the front of the room, they are only seated during Morning Work or Silent Reading. Students also participate in a monthly project where we help those in our world around us entitled the "Providing Palm Tree".  We want to move students from a "me" base to an "others" based lifestyle where we are considerate of those around us. These things promote life skills and create a fun learning environment as well.  YES!  Learning can be fun! 

I look forward to a great year ahead!  Please make a note to join me for "Meet the Teacher" on Wednesday, August 12th!   

If at all possible, please bring supplies and especially 1 inch binder with a clear front pocket on this day!

If you want to send any extra items needed...Below is a list of extras only! (totally optional)

Clorox Wipes
Hand Sanitizer
Kleenex
Sandwich Baggies
Dollar Store Items for our Prize Box

I will explain all important information on August 12th!  Think about things you may want to sign up to help with...Room Helper, 100 Book Party Helper, Supplies Helper, Book Talk Guide, Mystery Reader, ( Mystery Reader is reading a seasonal book with our class and bringing a treat or craft to accompany it! No worries...I will be happy to help with all of it!!)  

What a great month to celebrate our very special moms!  They were so excited to make your gifts!  I hope you had a great week!  Thanks so much for making our week at Oakland so special.  I cannot put into words how much your support means. I had more gifts and flowers and I really felt appreciated so thanks so much! Thanks again for all you do! You send in food items and drinks whenever they are needed.  You have your children at school and ready to work.  You ensure homework is completed and books are read!  Kudos!  I appreciate all of you! 

Strawberry Hill was a much needed break from MAP Testing!  I believe the children are working very hard!

We had a 96% growth rate for Reading and we will get math scores next week after we test on Monday!  So proud of all of the hard work!   They certainly know more than they knew when they walked in...in August!  

Last test papers for the year are going out today so they will not be in a folder for you to sign!!  

We have so many fun things coming up as we close out the year!  Please take care of all fees owed so we can get those report cards out and on time and everyone can participate in the fun stuff! As we are reminded by Dr. Patterson and Mrs. Skinner, the fun stuff is a privilege!!  Have a great weekend

Just a few pictures of what we have been up to in April!  Several students passed their keyboarding exam...They have been working hard in Computer Lab on keyboarding!  Plants were sent home but we wanted to show the picture of our indoor garden!  We measured Perimeter and Area.  Students learned that perimeter is the  outer edge and area is the inside measurement!  Great to have a raised garden to show that with!  Our butterflies are in the cocoon stage so we hope to see some butterflies very soon!  :) 

Look over the newsletter to view our MAP Schedule and thanks for all you do!  Thanks for sending MAP Test snacks too! 

Ready for Spring Break!

We had another great week in 1st Grade! Our plants are really growing and we have been watching and graphing those results!  Today we started with a Wonderopolis video of  "Why Do Bunnies Hop".  We learned about fractional parts with a Jelly Bean Graph and we made 2D Shape flowers!  We ended with Art and an Easter Egg Hunt!  Special Thanks to John and Angela Snyder and Jennifer Bruce for their help with hiding eggs!  Thanks for everyone for the eggs and candy!  We had plenty!
I hope you enjoy these babies as much as I do!  Happy Easter!  See you in a week as we prepare for MAP Testing and begin plans for a  Field Trip to Strawberry Hill  for Thursday, May 14th!