Attention parents,
As we mentioned on our Homework Calendar this week, we are hosting a Math Morning, in the classroom, next Wed. Dec. 9th, at 8:30 a.m. Please RSVP the pink invitation if you have not already done so. The Math morning will begin in the Janet Root Theatre at 8:30.
I hope to see you!

Human Body Voice Thread

We have completed our Human Body Unit. Please visit the Voice Thread project that we have completed. We will begin our study of the Solar System this week and will continue our work through the second trimester.

Thank-you to all of you for attending Poetry in the Park.
A special thank-you for celebrating my birthday this morning. What a surprise, and I am really to old to count!
Please pay close attention to the parent survey sent to everyone last Friday. It is important to gather as much information as possible. We appreciate your time in completing it.

Happy November! I sent home the poem for Poetry in the Park for the kids to practice. We are practicing at school as well. See you there!
I will not send home Book Order Club forms until January. We have our annual book fair next week at Shorecrest, and the children will have quite a selection to choose from. The book fair will be open Monday-Thursday in the student center from 7:30a.m.-5:00p.m.

October 28th, 2009

Dear Shorecrest parents,

H1N1 vaccine forms are being sent home today with students from Kindergarten to 12th grade. Early Childhood will receive theirs as soon as I receive them from the Pinellas Health Department. Please review all information carefully. If you would like to have your child vaccinated, you will need to fill out and sign both front (screening form) and back (consent) sides of the form and return it to school by Thursday November 5th, 2009.
The consented forms will be sent back to the Pinellas Health Department and vaccination date (s) will be set. Keep in mind that all students under 9 years of age will need to receive a second dose 30 days apart.
Meanwhile, continue to encourage the basic infection control measures such as proper hand washing with soap and water, the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water is not available, covering cough and sneeze, keeping hands away from face/mouth/nose and getting enough rest and sleep etc.
As always I will keep you updated on any new development. Until next time, remain healthy.

Sincerely,

Marie Confident, RN, BSN
Shorecrest school nurse
727-456-7523

I would like to call your attention to a Math Skill that was introduced recently, called Frames and Arrows. This is an extremely important skill that your child will continue to use over and over again each year. They must be able to read and understand the rule, and how to apply the skill to complete the sequence of numbers. This skill helps your child with their computation skills, as well as working on their number sense. Please read the additional information provided on the Home Links.
Thank-you!

Happy Wednesday! I would like to tell you that our spelling test will be on Thursday this week due to the four-day week for students. Please review the words that I sent home on Tuesday. The students are only going to be asked this week to identify the "th" sound. They will be required to identify whether they hear it at the beginning or the end of a word. I will help them fill in the rest of the letters. Thank-you for all your help with the Reading Folders last week, the students reading yesterday was awesome!

Well everything in first grade is moving right along.
First, I would like to Thank Dr. Carina Rodriguez for donating her time this morning, and doing a fabulous presentation about the functions of our heart.
Next, I want to remind everyone that has not seen our weather video yet, that it is available for you to preview on Ebytes. If you click on Ebytes, lower division, we are first on the page.
Lastly, I have started studying homophones and homonyms with the children. I have asked them to think about this at home, and write down any homophones that they hear, or come across in their reading with their families.
Hint: A homophone are two words that sound exactly the same, but are spelled differently, and mean different things. Example: flour, flower
A homonym is the same sound, spelling, but mean two different things. Example: bat, bat
We talk about these, but I am really looking for the two different spellings, and meanings in homophones.

Please take a look at our new class photo album taken throughout the day as we studied our apples. Our apple album is posted on my teacher page in the private community. Enjoy!

We had a lesson in the Computer Lab today with Mrs. Baralt. Ask your child about the different kinds of graphs, they learned about. Also ask them about which kind of graph they made.
Hint: Bar Graph, Line Graph, Picture Graph and Circle Graph.

I will be posting all photographs of the children from my class in the private community. Click on my personal teacher page and check out our photo albums. The Back to School photo album is posted. Look for a new one this week to go with our apple unit. Don't forget to send your childs' apple to school by Wednesday.

Have a great weekend!

I would like to invite everyone to our Town Meeting on Monday September 28th. The meeting will begin at 8:10 and last no longer than 8:30. My class will be presenting, and we have a special weather report to share. Our weather report will be videotaped and sent in to The Weather Channel. I am hoping my class will be chosen to air on National T.V. as part of the Weather Wannabees program. I am truly a weather wannabee! Please join us if you can......

Items needed for our video:
4 childrens' umbrellas
4 pairs of colorful rubber boots
4 childrens' colorful raincoats
4 pairs of funny, sunny sunglasses
4 sunny, funny hats

Thank-you and please come and enjoy your weather champions!

On Tuesday, I sent home a Family Letter introducing Unit 2 in math. Please review and complete the Do-Anytime Activities provided. You do not need to send any of the work back to school. However, this will give you an overall view of the skills we will be covering in the next few weeks. The Penny Plate game will especially help your child, to begin to automatically know their math facts. I encourage you to challenge them with higher amounts of pennies, if they are able. Also, on the back page are the answers and help you can give your child, as they are completing their Home Links.

Do not forget to send Math Journals back to school on Friday.

Good Morning,
I have two quick announcements. Remember Friday is our spelling test day. Please review your words from the word list that I sent home on Wednesday. The after school club, offering baseball to K-1 students, on Tuesday afternoons, is still looking for more participants. Please see, call or e-mail Jeff Diedrich.
Reminder: All students need to bring a snack to school everyday, even if they are buying school lunch.
Below is a copy of our Parent Games schedule. I will send home a hard copy to only those parents volunteering. Thank-you!

Parent Games Schedule
2009-2010 Tuesdays 9:30-10:30a.m.
If for some reason you are unable to come in on your designated time, please attempt to find a replacement as the children look forward to your visit!
Sept. 1- Christine Price
8- Sonia King
15- Nathalie Carlier
22- Michelle Clopet
29- Stephanie Counsman

Oct. 6- Christine Price
13-Amy Webber
20-Sonia King
27-Nathalie Carlier

Nov. 3-Michelle Clopet
10-Stephanie Counsman
17-Amy Webber

Dec. 1- Christine Price
8-Sonia King
15-Nathalie Carlier

Jan. 12- Christine Price
19-Michelle Clopet
26-Stephanie Counsman



Feb. 9-Amy Webber
16- Sonia King
23- Nathalie Carlier


Mar. 2- Christine Price
9- Michelle Clopet
23- Stephanie Counsman
30- Amy Webber

Apr. 6- Christine Price
13- Sonia King
20- Nathalie Carlier
27- Michelle Clopet

May- 4- Stephanie Counsman
11- Amy Webber
18- 1st grade program rehearsal
25- Sonia King

This afternoon your child will be bringing home their first Homework Calendar. They will also bring home a baggie of spelling words and a ring of sight word cards. After the first few weeks, the word sort cards in the baggie, will be attached to the calendar. These words, as well as the word card ring should be used for additional sorting activities such as:
Sort by # of letters
Beginning sounds
Vowel sounds
Ending sounds
Rhyming
Similar meanings or connections in meanings(i.e. bat, ball)
Alphabetical order

Every Friday your child will have a spelling test on ten words using the same sounds as the word card sort, but not necessarily the same words. For example,"can" is on the list of words. However "than" maybe on the spelling test. I will send home a list of possibilities on Wed. night. Please do not have your child memorize all of the words. Remember we are working on the spelling rule. Please email me if you have any questions or blog me back.
I explained this on Back To School Night but this may take a few weeks to get used to the routine.

Thank-you for coming last night. I always enjoy talking and meeting the parents of my wonderful students. A few reminders, please send library books back to school on Monday, and the weekly Homework Calendar will begin on Monday. Please do not send in the papers ahead of time since the lesson may not have been taught yet, especially in Math. I will send home ideas and suggestions to help with the word card rings. Thank-you again.

Back to School Night

Welcome to Mrs. Whitecage's blog....
This is great fun to be able to communicate frequently with all of you. Please check out my teacher page from the community website to preview our class photo album. I have put our Conference Day sign up sheet, and other volunteer opportunity sheets out for sign-up. Please ask me any questions you may have. The room parents will also have sign-up sheets as well. I encourage all of you to attend class activities on the designated dates. All of you, are always welcome whether or not you have signed up previously. Please get in the habit of checking my blog. I will write often and try to answer your first grade questions.

Welcome to 1-3

Hi everyone! I am so excited, school is beginning. This truly is, the most wonderful time of the year. Please do not forget to use your name cards in the dashboards during afternoon pick-up.
If you have any questions regarding your supplies, please ask me for clarification.