Welcome to 2015/16 School Year!

I am very much looking forward to getting to know you and your children this school year!  We have an exciting year planned at Bear Creek!  Here are a few highlights coming soon:

No Excuses University

This year Bear Creek is piloting a national program called No Excuses University (NEU).  NEU is a program where schools develop the mindset in all students to have a PLAN for their success in life.  We know this is already happening at home and even at school, but NEU is structured in a way that this message is loud, clear and consistent in all corners of our campus. Every classroom has adopted a different college campus from across our country to connect with.  Our classroom has University of Colorado at Boulder (Go Buffs!) We will be connecting with an Outreach Program at CU and learning all about their exciting campus!  

GCISD Book Challenge (25 or 100 books)

Last year GCISD had a 25 Book Reading Challenge for Grades 3 and above.  This year they are adding grades K-2 to the Book Challenge.  Early readers are challenged to read 100 picture books this year, and books they read with me can be included!  If your child is already reading chapter books, the 25 Book Challenge would be a better fit for them!  You can ask the librarian, Kara Johnson, if you have any questions.  More information will be coming home soon!

International Dot Day - September 15th

This special day is all about encouragement, acceptance and bringing out the creativity in each of us!  It is centered around the book The Dot by Peter Reynolds and has become a fantastic way to start the school year and connect with others globally!  

Global Read Aloud

This is one of First Grade's favorite time of year when we get to be a part of the 6 week global event known as the Global Read Aloud.  It won't begin until early October, but we will keep you posted in the 1st Grade Newsletter!  

Well, that was just a few highlights of things that will be happening this fall! I will TRY and post tidbits here on this blog about my classroom!  When things get busy, I don't do so well with the blog, but I promise to try my best!  

Looking forward to a fantastic 2015-16 School Year!  GO BUFFS!

Moving thru March!

March 4th was "World Read Aloud Day"' a global day set aside to celebrate all things having to do with reading.  It is always in conjunction with the birthday of Dr. Seuss and it is a great Twitter and Skype event as well.  We celebrated by reading Dr. Seuss books and had an author visit us at our BCE library (Polly Holyoke).  First Graders also Skyped with author Erin Downing Soderberg.  The authors talked about how they do research to write nonfiction books and learned how daydreaming and downtime can be inspirations for fictional stories! Since we are working to improve not only our reading, but writing skills at this time of the year, hearing from real authors was great for the students to learn how both reading and writing are so interconnected!!

We also spent time (in between snow days!) learning how to research an animal from Texas -- the American Alligator. Students have many parts of our research to share with you at the rescheduled Parent Night/Open House on Thursday, March 26th. 

We also had fun doing a Reader's Theater on the Friday before Spring Break.  Here it is in a short iMovie! Have a fun Spring Break!

January & February 2015

January arrived and we were grateful for the wonderful winter break.  We also hoped and wished for a little snow as we studied the season of winter, changes in matter and other science topics.  (We are still hoping!)  But we did get to see snow via a video from our Skype friends in New Jersey.  We regularly Skype with Ms. Levine's 1st Graders and share and compare our learning.  We made a Texas winter video for them also, which I have included below for you to enjoy!

Also in January, we loved visiting and being a part of "Around the World at Bear Creek".  First Grade created a presentation about America for this yearly event!

...warms the heart on these (not so cold) winter days, doesn't it?  I love how the students are growing in their citizenship and understanding of our great country!

February arrived, we worked very hard on all areas, especially Math and Reading.   It got harder to concentrate as Valentine's Day loomed in the near future!   When it finally arrived, we  LOVED  our fantastic Valentine's Day party, all wonderfully planned by our Homeroom Mom, Stacey Yearian!  Thank you to her and all the parents who contributed to the fun day for our kiddos!

It has been a busy winter so far!  We are still hoping for a little show of snow!  Please mark your calendars for Thursday, March 5th.  This is Parent Night/Open House at Bear Creek!  Come by and visit our classroom and all the other places your child learns here at school!  Your child will love to give you a tour of their day!  Happy Winter!

November & December Learning and Fun!

November and December have been a whirlwind of learning, activities, programs, events and parties. I decided to put together a little iMovie to share a glimpse into these past 2 exciting months in 1st Grade. I hope you enjoy it and I hope you enjoy our holiday break! The kids have been working super hard and have earned it! Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday and Happy New Year! See you back at school on Tuesday, January 6th.

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

October - Part 3 & Welcome November!

I'm on a roll now that my technical problems are fixed with my blog.  (Thank you Ms. Gelles!)   Wanted to share a few more pictures from October.  Halloween was fun where students could dress up as a favorite book character.  Oh, and teachers did too!  First Grade Teachers loved our stories we read about scarecrows - so we all dressed up as scarecrows!  Our students looked fantastic!  It was a fun day!

We also picked the October BEAR BRAG WINNERS.  These students exemplify great qualities of a good citizen here at school.  They are friends to others, kind, helpful, responsible and always try to follow rules and expectations.  Congratulations to Maren and Connor.

And finally, as we moved into the month of November, we took time to learn a little about our country and the military and veterans who help protect us all.  Veterans Day was celebrated with a special program honoring student's family members who are serving or have served our country.  Students loved having the chance to write letters to a veteran, and they were really sweet.  Here are a few samples:

As you can tell, it has been very busy!  Welcome November and our Thanksgiving season!  Check back soon for more sneak peeks into our classroom!

More October Fun - Part 2

Pumpkins were popular for a while in October.  We talked and read stories about pumpkins, used our senses to learn about the properties of pumpkins, carved a pumpkin, had a pumpkin contest, took a survey about jack-o-lanterns, made a graph about pumpkins and painted a pumpkin to decorate our classroom.  October and Pumpkins.  Nothing is better!

We also began to learn about blogging using Kidblog -- a wonderful app where each student is blogging about things we are learning in class.  We will soon have a lesson on writing "comments" on other people's blog and what appropriate and kind comments sound like.  Then students will begin to read and comment on classmate's blogs.  We would love for parents & relatives to eventually comment on your child's blog in Kidblog!  We want to practice writing blog posts a little while longer though.  I'll keep you posted when a good time to check out Kidblog gets closer!

And here is a class pic that we had Ms. Husby take for us!!!  It is hard to always have every one of us be in the room at the same time, so sometimes we just have to squeeze close and take a photo whenever we have the chance!

October Fun - Part 1

I was having major technical difficulties with my blog, but hopefully have them fixed and up and running again!  Here are a few highlights from October:

We have been practicing tons of concepts with numbers 1-50.  Skipcounting, number order, greater than/less than, etc.  Here are a few snapshots:

We love using these apps to help with math concepts:  Number Pieces Basic   and   Schookit Math.  Both are free apps!

We also spent the month being a part of the Global Read Aloud, where we were reading aloud the chapter book Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.  Students have loved learning and practicing many comprehension skills through this wonderful book.  We have learned how to make inferences, make mental images and to do a lot of predicting!  All great skills to help with our reading comprehension!  

More October updates coming soon!!

Snapshots from September

Learning library rules and expectations with our librarian Ms. Johnson and friends from Ms. Gelles' Class.

Observing wind patterns during our summer weather study.

Ms. Johnson helping us download apps to our iPads!

.

Learning graphing skills with popcorn.

 

International DOT Day is a global celebration about learning how to make your mark on the world. We had such a great celebration! We read Peter Reynolds' book "The Dot". We talked about learning how to make choices that will lead us to a successful life. We drew and shared what we want to be when we grow up and how what we learn and do TODAY helps us toward that goal. We Skyped with a FIrst Grade Class from New Jersey and sang a special song about making our mark! We are creating 2 special trees in the hall with all the other first graders that represents our future! We sorted and counted "dots". We Tweeted about DOT day with other classrooms from around the world! I hope your child shared some of their experiences with you. Here are some pictures :

 

 

Hope you enjoyed this September Snapshot of 1st Grade!

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Week One is All Done!

Welcome to Mrs. Simmons' classroom blog - "Footprints of First".   I hope to write a blog post every couple of weeks that will show highlights and share tips and treasures from our classroom. Enjoy and share this blog with family near and far, and leave a comment for us to read!  Here is my wonderful group of sillies wanting a funny picture to begin our year!

WELCOME to the 2014/15 School Year!

I was so glad to meet so many new parents and students last night at Meet the Teacher Night!  I hope your son or daughter is excited about entering First Grade!  I know it is going to be a fun and rewarding year!

School Starts -   Monday, August 25th @ 7:45 a.m.   It is a FULL DAY, please send lunch or lunch $.

School Ends - Dismissal is promptly at 2:45 p.m.  PLEASE DO NOT BE LATE PICKING YOUR CHILD UP FROM SCHOOL!   They can get very upset and stressed when they are not picked up and it is extra time spent for teachers and staff to locate a parent or guardian to come pick up a child.  If you are running late for any reason at dismissal, please call the school right away so we can let your child know you will be late.

Orange Sign (That has your last name on it) -- Use this sign to pick up your child when you are in the drive-through lane.  First Graders are picked up in the front of the school building.

The first week of school is exceptionally hectic at dismissal time, and I do ask that when you see our class walk outside, please do not pull your child from the line!  Let us sit in our designated spot first, so students can learn the after school expectations.  We want to keep all of our students safe during this busy time at school!

Thank you so much for all that you have done to help your child transition from Kinder to First Grade! I am looking forward to a great school year with your son or daughter!  Please e-mail me if you have any questions or concerns!  WELCOME TO FIRST GRADE!

Hello June! Hello Summer!

Goodbye to First Grade! Time flies and here we are on the brink of closing another school year. It has been a fun, learning year for me and the kiddos. So very proud of all of the students growth and accomplishments. I know every teacher says this, but please have your child read over the summer! Make visiting the local library a regular event. They need this one simple skill to be encouraged by every adult in their lives! Reading is the one singular thing that will make or break their school success! So help your child make a reading goal this summer. Read 20 books? 30? Kids can read books online too. Go to the BCE library page for links to on line catalogs like Tumblebooks. Thanks for a really great year! Here are some snapshots from our final weeks:

 

Future computer scientists. Exploring computer coding apps like Kodable, Daisy the Dinosaur.

ABC Countdown !

Career Day!

 

 

 

Garden Fun!

 

Trying a "Google Hangout! With multiple classes.

Thank you for a great year! Over and out!

 

Posted with Blogsy