It was so nice to meet all of you at our Open House. I hope that you enjoyed hearing about first grade and what your child's day will be like this year in my class. Thank you kindly for all the "Wish List" items that have been sent in for our class. We really appreciate your generosity as these are items we use daily.
Essie Rogers mom, Rose Catalafamo and Leah Schreiber-Romeo's mom, Lauren have graciously offered to be our Room Moms for the year. They will be in touch with details of the upcoming Halloween Party soon.
We had a terrific time at Indian Ladder Farms on our first grade field trip. The kids enjoyed seeing this working farm. They especially enjoyed seeing all the animals and learning about the apple growing process. I hope you enjoyed the delicious apples that were sent home in your child's back pack. We really enjoyed the cider doughnuts and apple cider!
How wonderful it was to have Brady's grandmother, Shirley Arnsberg, come in to do an activity with the class. The students loved making Goldilocks puppets and learning a new, fun song. We were also treated with delicious cookies as well!
We've already had several "What's Up at Westmere" assemblies. What's Up at Westmere is an all school assembly where the students come together in the large gymnasium once a month. Different activities take place during these assemblies. Often times we get a wonderful preview of the talented musicians we have at WES. We are very lucky to have such talented music teachers at WES who guide our students so beautifully.
We started October with our annual Schwest run/walk. What a great day for the whole school to come together to exercise simultaneously. For those of you that are new to WES.. Schwest is a combination of our two PE teachers names, Tom Schwan and Anne Reed-Best! It was a beautiful fall day and the students had a fun time cheering on the other students in our school. Big thanks go out to Tom and Anne for all their hard work.
Every other month throughout the school year we will have a Bus Evacuation Drill that we call Peaceful School Bus Drill. The students board the school buses at 9:00 am and listen to the drivers about bus safety. When the students evacuate the buses they go to an assigned classroom for a lesson with teacher leaders. There is a theme with each evacuation drill that the whole school works on at the same time. It's a super way to talk with the students to assist in problem solving strategies on the bus and safety. The drivers also attend the lessons with the teachers.
Last week the Kindergarten and First grade classes participated in Fire Prevention week activities with several of our local fire departments. Several trucks came to WES and we listened to a fire safety presentation, viewed several fire trucks, and even got to climb on one of the trucks.
Our Parent-Teacher conferences will begin this Thursday. Don't forget that it is a half day for your child. We will dismiss at 11:30. I will be meeting with the Rogers, Fanning, Hook, Manga, and Rizvanovic families on this conference day. Next Monday, October 27th I will meet with the Nelligan, Scully, Bailey, Allibert, O'Brien, Stryker, and Townsend families. Students will dismiss at 11:30 on Oct. 27th as well. On Tuesday, November 4th our students do not have school at all. I will be meeting with the Conboy, Boguslavskiy, Hayes, Provost, Yafayeva, and Stryker families. I look forward to meeting with all of you to discuss your child's progress in first grade.
The PTA Scholastic Book Fair will be held this whole week. Children will be able to purchase books during our regularly scheduled library time on Thursday afternoon. If you'd like your child to purchase books, please send the money in a marked envelope.
Our Halloween festivities will begin at 12:00 on Friday, October 31st. A flyer was sent home severe l weeks ago in your child's take home detailing the plans for the afternoon. If you need another flyer, please just send me an email and I'd be happy to share another copy with you. Thank you in advance for all your donations to help make our parties so successful.
My posts won't be this long all the time:) Just trying to catch you up on a few things that have been happening in first grade since September.
I hope you had a wonderful weekend with your families. Enjoy the week!
Stephanie
Learning a new math game called "Subtraction Slide" and working in partnerships.
Indian Ladder Farm Field Trip
Fire Prevention Week
