Happy Holidays!

Thank you so much to everyone that helped make our holiday party a success!! We hope you have a great break!! Happy holidays!

Thank You!

Thank you so much to Marissa's and Cameron's families for wish list items!

PE Help

Would anyone be interested or available to help do PE with our class each week? We currently do it every Friday afternoon from 2-3, but we can be flexible with this time.  If you're interested and could help at all that would be great! We could start after winter break if you're available. :) Let us know if you're up for it or if you have any questions.

Gift Exchange

Just a friendly reminder that the gifts for the gift exchange are due to school by Tuesday.  If you need more time just let us know.  The gifts need to be two, new winter accessories (ie. mittens, gloves, scarves, hats) wrapped as one gift.  Girls will buy for girls and boys for boys.  Please put a tag on the wrapped gift saying who it's from only.  If you are not able to send in a gift please let us know as soon as possible.  Thank you!  Let us know if you have any questions.

Holiday Music Program and Class Party

The music program performance for the school will be on Monday the 16th at 2:00 and for parents it will on Tuesday the 17th at 2:00.  Both of these days students will need to wear white shirts or dresses and winter knit hats.  If you only have an outfit for one of these days I'd choose Tuesday which is the "real" performance day. :) A few second graders have a different costume that has already been arranged with the music teacher.

Our class holiday party will be the afternoon of Wednesday the 18th.  If you signed up to help with this party at Back to School Night you will receive an email soon from the parent in charge.  If you did not sign up or do not receive an email and you'd like to help by either coming to the party or bringing/sending in items that we will need please let us know.  Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

December Calendar

Here is the calendar for the busy month of December.  Please let us know if you have any questions.  More specific details about the gift exchange went home on Friday.  If you did not receive the blue flyer or will be unable to participate in this please contact us.  Details about the holiday party and the music program, including times, will be coming soon.  We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a nice, long weekend.

December Calendar by missdeane

Thank You!

Thank you very much to Marissa, Cameron, and Josh's families for wish list items!

Homework This Week

Homework this week is a little bit different due to the short week.  Each student is required to do the writing on Thanksgiving.  They may do the attached white worksheets for coupons, but they do not have to.  Homework is due tomorrow.  There will be no reading homework this week.

A Few Reminders...

That busy time of the year has begun! Here are a few reminders of important things coming up soon...

• There is no school next Wednesday, November 27th
• Book Orders are due next Tuesday the 26th
• Field trip money is due next Tuesday the 26th, we have already had to pay for our tickets so please make sure to send in the money for yours.  Let us know if you will need to pay later for special circumstances.
• Winter weather has officially arrived this week! We will continue to go outside for recess and dismiss to the outside even if it's cold so please make sure to send your children to school with coats and winter accessories.  The rule of thumb for it to be indoor recess is typically for the weather to be below freezing, extremely windy or raining/snowing heavily, otherwise we'd be inside every day. :)

Let us know if you have any questions.

Online Educational Games

Caughlin Ranch purchased a fun program called Zoner-Bloser this school year that allows us to have access to lots of great online educational games.  You can log-in at home to play!

Use the school id code: renonvd3
User name: first initial of first name + last name (bfredrickson)
Password: teacher name (drlik or fred not fredrickson :))

A letter with this information will go home soon.  Once you log-in you can save the information so you do not have to keep re-entering it!

What's the Matter?

In order to tie up our Science unit on matter that we've been working on, on Friday we did a few fun experiments.  One in particular had the kiddos pretty excited which was making bouncy balls out of a few simple ingredients.  We weren't able to make enough so that each kiddo got one, but at the end of the day we did a raffle to see who the lucky 7 would be.  Below is a link to instructions for making your own bouncy balls at home.

Making a Bouncy Ball

We've had a lot of fun learning all about matter the last few weeks.  Here are a couple songs that we've enjoyed in class.  As well as a fun song on the human body that the kids loved.

States of Matter Rap

2nd Grade Matter Song

Anatomically Correct Bone Song

Music Program

The first and second graders will be performing in our holiday music program on December 17th. We will post the times soon.  Mrs. Jackson, our music teacher, would love any help that parents are willing to give to help with preparations including the set or even costumes.  Please email us if you are willing to help with this and we will pass your name on to her.  Thank you!

Thank You!

Thank you so much to Colin and Marissa's families for bringing in wish list items!

Thank You!

Thank you to Evan's family for wish list items! :)

Coupon!!

You can earn a coupon if you bring in a  little note telling us how many of the following types of candy you get trick or treating tonight.  You will need to bring it in tomorrow (Friday) in order to earn the coupon and we will use it for a classroom activity.

M&M's

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

Kit Kats

Skittles

Nestle Crunch Bars

IXL Hints

Some things that we've been working on in class are...

• Number patterns (counting by 3's, etc.)
• Place Value/Base Ten (ones, tens, and hundreds)
• Telling Time

Thank you!

Thank you so much to Gracie's family for wishlist items. :)

Party Time!

Everyone is so excited for our party tomorrow!  Thank you so much to those of you who signed up to help and are making it fantastically fun. We have been discussing this in class, but students are allowed to wear their costumes tomorrow. 

Thank you!

Thank you to Nancy's family for wishlist items! :)

November Calendar

You can use the tools below to print, download or view the calendar in fullscreen.

November Calendar.pdf by missdeane

Math Games According to MAP Scores

Here is the link to a fantastic resource for free online Math games.  You can use the report on your child's MAP assessment that you will be given during your conference to find their exact RIT score range, but really any of these are great for extra practice.

MAP Math Games

Welcome Back

I hope you had a great break! Just a couple things out of ordinary that are coming up- because this week is a short week due to the Nevada Day holiday on Friday, homework is due and spelling tests will be given on Thursday this week.  Also, just a reminder that next week, October 28th- November 1st, is conference week and school will be dismissed at 12:50 all week.  If you do not know when your parent-teacher conference is please contact us as soon as possible.  Lastly, our Halloween party will be the  morning of Halloween day.  Mrs. McCaffery will be contacting those of you who signed up to help with this at Back to School Night.  Please let us know if you'd be willing to help and did not sign up.

Thank You!

Thank you to Abbey's family for wishlist items!

Thank You!

Thank you to Damian's family for wishlist items! :)

Thank You!

Thank you to Cameron's family for bringing in wishlist items! :)

Spectra Art Help

We are lucky enough to have a great mom who's volunteered to teach Spectra Art for us each month, but it'd be great to have some extra hands in the room during her lessons.  Please let us know if you'd be able to come in and help out during these once a month lessons.  The dates for upcoming lessons are Thursday October 24th, Thursday November 21st, and Thursday December 12th.  It would be from 12:30-1:45.  Thank you so  much!

Thank You!

Thank you so much for the sweet cards, flowers and condolences for me during this difficult time.  It is nice to have such a great support system in my Caughlin Ranch family!
Love,
Mrs. Fredrickson

Fall Fest

There is still a need for help running some of the games for the Fall Fest this Friday.  If you are able to help for any amount of time please let us know and we can pass on your info to those in charge.  Thank you!

Technical Difficulties

We are currently having some problems changing items in the sidebar of the blog (the wishlist and spelling words). For the time being we will not be able to post the spelling words and will just create a new "main post" for any items we will need soon in the classroom. Sorry for the inconvenience.

October Calendar

Here is the October calendar.  You may use the tools beneath the document to print, download or view full screen.  The book order that is due on the 11th will be going home in Friday folders this week in order to ensure arrival of the books before Halloween.

October Calendar by missdeane

Applesauce Recipe

Here is the recipe for the applesauce that we made in class.  We're so glad that the kiddos loved it so much.

• 8-12 apples (enough to fill the crockpot) that have been peeled, cored and chopped
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
• a strip of lemon rind
• 1 3-inch cinnamon stick
• throw it all in the crockpot and cook on low for about 6 hours
• then we used an immersion blender to smooth it out, you could just whisk it if you're okay with it being chunky.

Applesauce Success!
Our class applesauce was a success! Thank you so much for helping with bringing in the crockpots and the ingredients! All the crockpots are cleaned and ready to go home!

Apples

We have been learning all about apples in class.  Here is a fun video we've been singing :)

 

Calling All Crockpots!
Could we please borrow three crockpots? If you can bring them into class sometime this week that would be great and we will get them back to you next Tuesday.  Thank you so much!

Thank you!
Thank you so much to Kate's and Lana's families for wish list items!

Fall Fest Help
Mrs. Thoroughman needs volunteers to help with Fall Fest which is October 4th this year.  We need at least four parents that could help with anything from set-up to clean -up to helping with stations in between.  If you are a dad or have a helper that would be willing to be in the dunk tank please let us know that as well! :)  Thank you!

Thank you!
Thank you to Eddie's and Will's families for wish list items!

Reminder
Just a friendly reminder that students' snacks need to be healthy and may not include chips, cookies or candy.  They are allowed to have plain 'ole water on their desks. :)

IXL Ideas
Some areas that would be helpful to practice on IXL and that we've been working on in are class are

• Hundreds Charts and adding and subtracting 10's
• Basic Addition
• Comparing numbers using greater than, less than and equal to
• Bar Graphs

Online Spelling Games
Below are a couple links to a few free online games to practice spelling.

Forest Phonics

Spelling Songs and Games

 

Jog-a-Thon
Last Friday was our Jog-a-Thon and thanks to you it was a big success! We raised over $40,000 to help with Science Kits, non-fiction books and technology for our school.  Here are some highlights of the big event!

On our way to the warm-up area

Warming Up

And they're off!

Here they start to come over the finish line!

Wiped out!

Time for Otter pops

Some of the boys after the jog

Apples, Apples, Apples
Throughout this month we will be learning about and doing many activities with apples.  We will need every student to bring in a medium sized apple in order to do an upcoming activity.  Please send one in as soon as possible.  An extra would be great in case others can't do it. :)  Thank you!

Thank you!
Big thanks to Bhavi's family for wishlist items and books off our "Wish List Book Shelf".

Picnic Lunch
Don't forget to bring a sack lunch tomorrow for the picnic after the Jog-a-Thon. A towel or blanket and a water bottle would also be a great idea! Please make sure to put sunscreen on your children before they arrive at school. Times for jogging will be sent home in the book bags tonight. Please note that all first graders will jog with our second graders at 10:00am.  This is a tentative time and things can change at the last minute so please arrive a little early and wait on the track if you'd like to watch your kiddo jog.

Reading Homework
Reading homework begins tonight. The children will need to read each night, fill out the summary log, have a parent sign in, and return it the next day.

The books that are going home this first time may be a little easy to some. The students know that if they read this book and do well on the AR quiz they will be bumped up to a harder book. On the other hand, if they do poorly on the quiz then we will continue to work together to find a book that is at the appropriate level.

Please keep any sticky notes that may be in the books so that we can re-use them. And you are always allowed to read ahead or read more if you'd like. :)

Let us know if you have any questions.

100's Chart
Here is a 100's chart that you can print to use at home for help with math if you'd like.  The method that we use at school is to count up which means if the problem is 6+8, the child should start on the biggest number (8) and count up 6.  During subtraction it's the same technique only they'll "hop" backwards.  We also encourage using the patterns of a 100's chart and the fact that if you go up or down from a number it is + or - 10.  Students may choose to use this shortcut.  For example if the problem is 22 +12, they would begin on 22 and then instead of "hopping" 12 times they would go down one (+10) and then over 2 in order to make 12.

As we move forward in math over the course of this year and do two-digit subtraction and addition these techniques and familiarity of the 100's chart will be helpful.

100s Chart

Thank you!
Thank you so much to Lana's family for wish list items! 

Book Order Wishlist
The first book order is up and ready online and the pamphlets will be going home tomorrow if you prefer to browse those.  We have created a book wishlist on the Scholastic site that includes many great books we'd love for the classroom.  Scholastic has great prices and in the catalogs this month there are a ton of fantastic books that match many of the themes we will be implementing this year that we shared with you at Back to School Night.  There are also many non-fiction books that are perfect for helping with the Language Arts shift to the new Common Core Standards.  

Thank You!
Thank you so much to Colin's family for wish list items and lots of "banking" goodies.

September Calendar
Here is the calendar for September.  You may use the tools on the bottom to view it fullscreen, download or print it.

September Calendar by missdeane

Thank you!
Thank you so much to Lana's family for items off the wishlist!

Thank you!
Thank you so much to Holly's family for the Frogs book off of our wishlist.  We really appreciate it!

Homework Folders
Last Monday everyone's homework went home in a folder.  Please make sure these get returned every Friday (when homework gets turned in) so we can send home the new homework in that folder on Mondays. Thank you!

IXL Usernames and Passwords
The IXL usernames for 1st-4th grades have been changed in an effort to make things more simple. All usernames are now the same as the AR usernames with the letters IXL added to the end. The passwords are the same (which were already matching AR passwords).

For example if your AR username was bfred, your IXL username is bfredixl. All usernames are the first letter of the first name and the first 4 letters of the last name plus ixl. If your child has a 1 at the end of their AR username they will still use it for IXL. (twill1ixl)

Please let us know if you have any questions, or if IXL is not working for you at home and you'd like username and password verification :)

Spectra Art
Spectra Art is a program that our school owns and by following the simple steps and lessons can create amazing art work with our students.  The PTA is generous enough to fund this program along with all the art materials that go with it.  Is there anyone that would like to be our Spectra Art volunteer (or even a couple of you to work together)?  We would ideally love to do one Spectra Art lesson per month.  Please let us know if this is a commitment that sounds fun to you.

Thank you!
Thank you to Carson's family for wishlist items!

Important Dates
Here are some upcoming important dates:

• Tuesday, August 27th 6:00- Back to School Night
• Monday, September 2nd- Reading Homework will begin
• Friday, September 6th- Jog-a-Thon

Beginning in September we will post a printable/downloadable calendar but we wanted to give you a heads up.  As always, every Wednesday will be 2:15 early release.

Thank you!
Thank you so much Marissa, Will, and Matilda's families for wishlist items today.  We really appreciate it!

Music Program Help
We will be doing the holiday music program this year and Mrs. Jackson, our music teacher, has asked if there are any parents that would be willing to help with the scenery and/or props and costumes.  Please email us if you'd be able to help and we will pass your names on to Mrs. Jackson.  We do not know any details about the program at this time, including the exact date and time or what the projects that need will be helped with.  All we know is that Mrs. Jackson needs some help. :)

Thank you!
A big thank you to Marissa's and Harley's families for bringing in wishlist items!

Fun
We've been having a great time the past two days getting to know each other and doing fun class projects! You can click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Homework this Week
This week students' only homework is to fill a ziploc with about 5 things that tell us about themselves.  Parents will have a packet of homework this week though. :)  Today a packet of forms is being sent home and we will need the following back from you:

• Information Card
• Volunteer Forms
• Student Questionaire (front and back form)
• Going Home Plan
• Last page of Back to School Packet (green pack)
• Special class supplies: flashlight (labeled with name) & 2 black and white composition notebooks
• $50 Supply Fee
• "Getting to Know You" ziploc

Welcome!
We are so excited to be teaching your children this year for first and second grade! We will use this blog throughout the year to post important information and share what we've been doing in class.  Please make sure to check it on a regular basis.

We look forward to getting to know you and your children and families this year.  Below are some fun facts about us!