Cylinders, Trapezoids, and Triangles, OH MY!

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• Good Morning!  I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  I got so much accomplished this weekend that I was ready to come back to work just to get a little rest!  (We have family from the northeast descending on our house this week, so I had a lot to do.) 
• I am including this week's newsletter for you.  Please note the change in homework. 
• We have so much work to do this week and next.  I am so excited about the 1st grade musical Friday at 1:00.  I know you are too and I really hope to see many of you there to support the students.
• I have enjoyed conferencing with a lot of you and look forward to meeting with the rest of you soon.  If you have not scheduled a conference, please let me know a day of the week that fits best in your schedule and whether morning or afternoon is better for you.  You can send me a note in your child's folder or an email. 

Mrs. Bauer’s Newsletter

Joseph Martin Elementary                          1^st Grade                               December 10, 2012

Additional homework:

There are two additional assignments this week.  Please notice that the amount of homework is reduced because we will not be testing on spelling and sight words this week.  We will also not be reading a story in our Harcourt book for comprehension.  We will be writing a lot this week and practicing for our musical.  We will still be reading every day.    

Extra assignment #1: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. County-wide coloring contest 2013.  Students should color the coloring sheet provided.  Coloring should be neat with even strokes that go in one direction.  Coloring should be within the lines and the picture should be colored realistically.  Please write your child’s name, grade, school, and teacher’s name on the back of the sheet.  Prizes will be awarded before January 16.  Winning entries will be displayed at the youth program at Powerhouse of Deliverance.  First place is $20.  Second place is $15.  Third place is $10.  Please have these to me on Friday.  I cannot accept them after Wednesday, December 19.

Please go to http://bauerjme.blogspot.com often to see what we are doing in class.  

Extra Assignment #2:  The students have been learning about sound and specifically the sounds made by musical instruments.  We have investigated many types of instruments.  We have also been learning extensively about inventors.  This week your child needs to create a musical instrument.  They can use any materials they want, as long as they can make sound with it.  Don’t worry!  It can be a replica of an existing type of instrument – no need to recreate the wheel.  They also do not need to be able to make beautiful music with it, as long as it makes sound.  They should be able to tell the class on Friday how it is made and demonstrate the sounds they can make with it.

HOMEWORK

Math practice

Language practice

Read your library book every night and bring it to school each day

Practice reading decodable books

You can always email me bbauer@liberty.k12.ga.us with any questions, comments, or concerns

Newsletter and Homework for This Week

Mrs. Bauer’s Newsletter

Joseph Martin Elementary                          1^st Grade                               December 3, 2012

Additional homework:

Please have your child cut out and decorate the gingerbread man.   They can use any materials they like.  Please help to make him festive because I want to use these for a display.  Have your child write his or her name on the back before bringing him to school on Friday. 

Please read at home with your child every night and make sure he or she brings the library book to school each day.    

As we get closer and closer to winter break, the class behavior and attention to detail is not what it once was.  Please remind your child that these last few weeks before the break are very important and they need to give school their best effort. 

Please go to http://bauerjme.blogspot.com often to see what we are doing in class. 

HOMEWORK

Study spelling words each night. 

Study sight words each night.

Following Directions Activity

Math practice

Decodable books

Spelling Words

Middle                Wiggle                                Fiddle

Giggle                 Puddle                Cuddle

Fur        Bird      Were    Four

Challenge Words:  Why           How      Who

*The sight word cards came home with the students already.  The new words for this week are:  each, other, place, together, school, great, and talk)

You can always email me bbauer@liberty.k12.ga.us with any questions, comments, or concerns.

How to Make S'MORES!

The students worked so hard this week learning how to give directions.  They wrote the final copies of their directions for making S'mores this morning.  When they finished their writing, we heated their S'more and they ate it.  Some of them ate it so fast that I couldn't get a picture of them!  I think they had a great time.  I hope you enjoy the photos. 

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Welcome Back!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!  We hit the ground running this morning and the children have done a beautiful job getting back into the swing of things. 

We only have four more weeks before the winter holidays, but we have a lot to accomplish in that time.  Please help me by encouraging your child to continue to do his or her best in everything we do. 

Here is a copy of the newsletter that will come home today with the homework packet. 


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Mrs. Bauer’s Newsletter

Joseph Martin Elementary                          1^st Grade                               November 26, 2012

Additional homework:

This week and next week we will be doing writing activities where we practice giving directions.  This week, your child will have to write detailed directions for making S’mores.  At the end of the week, we will make and eat S’mores in the classroom. 

Please help me by reading directions with your child this week.  These could be directions in a recipe, the directions for how to play a board game, the directions on the back of a bottle of shampoo, or any other set of directions.  We read them every day and I need the children to see that directions are everywhere and it is important that they are written clearly and in the correct order. 

Please read at home with your child every night and make sure he or she brings the library book to school each day.    

Please go to http://bauerjme.blogspot.com often to see what we are doing in class. 

HOMEWORK

Study spelling words each night. 

Study sight words each night.

Language skills practice

Math practice

Decodable books

Spelling Words

Sir         Dirt       Bird      Burn    Fur        Her

Quit      When   Work   Grew

Challenge Words:  Important

Problem             Different            Around

(These words can be tricky because –ir,     -er, and –ur all make the same sound in these words.  Please make sure your child practices these at home this week.)

*The sight word cards came home with the students already.  The new words for this week are:  Find, Follow, Found, Four, Full, These, Way, Were

You can always email me bbauer@liberty.k12.ga.us with any questions, comments, or concerns.

November 12, 2012

I hope all of you are having a wonderful holiday.  I spent a great weekend with my family and now I am preparing for all of our   pre-Thanksgiving activities this week. 

I would like to take this opportunity to tell you that I am so thankful for you and your children.  I have the most extraordinary class and I know that is because they have such wonderful parents.  Your children brighten my days.  Thank you for sharing them with me this year.

Here are some of the things we will be doing this week:

• We will complete Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
• We will learn about biographies.
• We will begin a math unit on shapes and fractions.
• We will do some Thanksgiving activities.
• We will learn about Ben Franklin.
• We will continue to explore sound in science. 

I am posting the Homework Newsletter for this week at the bottom of this post.  I will still send it home with the homework packet tomorrow.

The disguised turkeys turned out so well!  Take a look at what an awesome job the students did.

Tiger Turkey and Zombie Turkey






Princess Turkey and Snowman Turkey






Peacock Turkey, Basketball Player Turkey, and Two Camouflage Turkeys






Chef Turkey and St. Bernard Turkey






Santa Claus Turkey and Sonic Turkey






Bunny Rabbit Turkey and Ninja Turkey






Mrs. Bauer’s Newsletter
Joseph Martin Elementary                          1^st Grade                               November 13, 2012




Additional homework:
As we finish reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, please assist your child in designing a wrapper for one of the candies we read about in the book.  You can choose from:
-The Everlasting Gobstopper
-Square Candies That Look Round
-Three Course Dinner Gum
-Rainbow Drops
-Luminous Lollies
-Ice Cream That Doesn’t Melt
-Color Changing Caramels
-Candy Balloons
Make it as colorful and eye-catching as possible.  It can be drawn by hand or printed.  It can be on a small piece of paper or on a poster board.   
Your child should write at least one sentence to tell why he or she chose that particular candy.
Please read at home with your child every night and make sure he or she brings the library book to school each day.    
HOMEWORK
Study spelling words each night. 
Study sight words each night.
Language skills practice
Math practice
Decodable books


Spelling Words
Quit      Quick   Quiz     Whiz    Which
When   Arm      Card     Who     There
(There are no challenge words because it is a short week.)


*The sight words were sent home last week.  The new words for this week are:  about, books, by, family, grew, read, word, writing


You can always email me bbauer@liberty.k12.ga.us with any questions, comments, or concerns.
Please go to http://bauerjme.blogspot.com often to see what we are doing in class. 

Box Tops for Education

We were winners in the Box Tops for Education contest!  Our class will be having a pizza party for being one of the two classes in the school to bring in the most Box Tops.  Please continue to save these for next time.  I will send home information as soon as I receive it. 

A special congratulations to our Maggie.  She won a prize for bringing in more Box Tops than anyone else in the whole school!


***On another note, thank you for understanding that I did not have time to send home progress reports Friday afternoon.  I sent them home today and I will send last week's papers home this Friday with this week's papers. 

This and That for 10-24-12

I can not wait to see and hear about the inventions the students create before next Friday.  I hope you are all putting a lot of thought into this at home.  We want this to be great fun for the children!  If the presentations are large, it should be fine for you to help your child bring it down to the room --- just check in at the office first. 

I added some new links to the "Fun Stuff" section on the right of the screen.  The Meggie Moon book is one we have read in class together and I am sure your child would love to read it with you at home. 

Magic Magnets

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We have been learning a lot about magnets in science.  We have watched them attract and repel.  We have done all kinds of experiements with them.  Today we did magnet centers and did five different experiments with magnets in small groups.  I hope you will enjoy the slideshow of some of the students working with magnets.  We love science and we are having fun working with magnets!

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World

The class went to the computer lab yesterday to take an Accelerated Reader quiz on the book How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World which was read in class last week.  Please don't forget the homework assignment that goes with this book.  I can't wait to see the recipes that the students bring on Friday.  I really don't want to leave anyone out of the recipe collection, so make sure your child has his or hers. 

This and That

*Congratulations to Andrew!  Our class was so proud to see him recognized on JME News this morning for being one of the school winners of the Coca-Cola fundraiser.  :-)

*Don't forget the student council is collecting cans of dog food for homeless pets.  The Chow for Chihuahuas program is in full swing at JME.  The students receive a ticket to the Fall Festival events for every can they bring in and the class with the most cans gets a pizza party. 

*Join us for Math 101 tonight in the cafeteria at 6:00 followed by 1st Grade Parent Night.  We will have lots of information for you. 

*We need volunteers to man the Fall Festival games.  Please contact me about this opportunity as soon as possible.  Each volunteer will need to work a one hour shift at one of the 5 games for which the first grade is responsible.  We need lots of help and we are counting on you to help make this a fantastic event for the children.  The Fall Festival will be Friday, October 12, 2012. 

Solids, Liquids, Gas

We are learning about the states of matter (solid, liquid, gas) in science.  We did a really neat experiment today.  We combined baking soda and vinegar in an empty soda bottle.  It caused a chemical reaction that created bubbles.  All those bubbles bursting released a gas - Carbon Dioxide - into the air.  We captured this gas in the balloon that we put on top of the bottle.  We learned that gas takes up space, even when we can not see it.  It was fun!

Class Pets

I am sure that many of you have already heard about the latest additions to our class.  We have had our 4 Fire Bellied Toads (Yes, they are toads even though the whole class refers to them as frogs.) for about 2 weeks now.  They seem very happy in their tank.  My husband outdid himself designing a suitable habitat for them.  They have rocks, aquatic plants, plenty of water with a filter, and dry land.  They go through a box of crickets a week.  Their names are Keiko, Karma, Kelbo, and Kermit.  Here are a couple of pictures.

Thank you so much for your patience while I was absent this week.  I really appreciate it. 

I am sorry that papers did not go home today.  I had them bundled with progress reports and ready to go --- and then in typical Friday morning fashion, I forgot them on my dining room table!  I will send those home on Tuesday. 

We are doing some art projects for science and we need some magazines.  We will be cutting out pictures, so please don't send anything that you would want back.  Outdoor magazines would be great since our focus is on the seasons of the year.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Clouds

We made Cumulus Clouds today out of cotton balls.  We studied Cirrus Clouds and Stratus Clouds as well, but Cumulus Clouds are so much more fun to make! 

We are having so much fun learning about weather and geography in our science and social studies classes.  Next week we are going to do a study of storms, which should be really fun!

We are in need of extra old newspapers before Friday.  Please don't forget to send in an old shirt that your child can use as a smock when we get messy with paint and glue. 

I was really excited to see that the blog has been viewed so many times and I am so happy to get your emails with questions.  Involved parents make for happier students!  Thank you for all you do. 

Science Weather Unit

We started our weather unit in science today.  I am excited, because weather is one of my favorite things to teach.  There are so many activities and projects that go along with the topic.  One of the things I want to do is make rain gauges for the students to take home.  I can make them out of 2 Liter soda bottles.  The only problem is, we don't drink soda in my house and we certainly can't drink 17 of them by Friday.  If you would be willing to save your empty two Liter soda bottles and send them in with your child, that would really help me out for next week.  Thank you!

Welcome to First Grade!

I was so excited to meet all of you on August 1st at the Open House.   We are going to have a fantastic time this year in our first grade class.  Please check the blog often for information, photos, and other goodies from our class.  Please email me at bbauer@liberty.k12.ga.us if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.  I look forward to working with all of you this year.