Baltimore Aquarium Field Trip Tomorrow

We are very excited about our field trip tomorrow to the Baltimore Aquarium!  Please make sure you are at school on time so that we can take attendance and leave promptly at 8:45 AM.  Please make sure that you have a bag lunch with your name written on it.  We are also asking that you pack an
extra snack to eat on our way to the aquarium because we will not be eating again until after the student's normal lunchtime.  The students may wear Imagine Andrew's Spirit wear with khaki bottoms or their full uniform.  Please let us know if you have any questions.

Class Christmas Party!

Our 1st grade class Polar Express Christmas party will be this Thursday, December 22nd. Mrs. Barnes has kindly set up a sign-up for anyone who would like to volunteer to donate snacks, or their time. Please see the link below to sign-up.
Thank you! :)
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0d4eaaa928a2f49-polar

Important Information from Mrs. Kirchner

Dear First Grade Parents,

As many of you already know, I will be taking a maternity leave of absence starting this month. My last scheduled day is Thursday, December 22, the day Winter Break begins.  I will be on maternity leave for twelve (12) weeks, until March 27.  While on maturity leave, the students will be in the very capable hands of Ms. Hayes when we return from break.   

Ms. Hayes will continue the class policies and procedures that been outlined since the beginning of the school year.  She is excited to step into the role of Reading/Writing/Social Studies teacher. Ms. Hayes began the year teaching first grade when she kindly stepped in to teach Math and Science until Mrs. Zimmer was hired.  She has been observing my class this past week in order to get reacquainted with our students and to learn the routine of our classroom.

Please do not hesitate to contact her with any questions you may have. While I am away, Ms. Hayes will be handling all communication with families.  She will be taking over Class Dojo, and will be responding to all Dojo messages until my return in March. You may also reach her by email at cyntera.hayes@pgcps.org.

I am greatly looking forward to spending this time with my precious new baby girl. I will miss each and every one of my students, and look forward to returning to see all that they have learned while I was gone. It has been a great pleasure getting to teach your children these past months and I am confident that they all will make a smooth transition in January.

I hope that you all have a wonderful break with your families.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to each of you!

Mrs. Kirchner

This week in Mrs. Zimmer's Class!

12/14 Holiday Music Program 8:45 AM

12/16 Field trip permission slip and money due

12/20 Field trip to the Baltimore Aquarium

*We are in need of at least 3 more chaperones and would love for you to join us!  Please let me know if you are willing to chaperone the field trip to the Baltimore Aquarium!

In Math, we still identifying tens and ones in 2 digit numbers, and adding with tens and ones.  We are illustrating our numbers using 10-sticks and ones, and working on expanded form.  We will also work on comparing two 2-digit numbers using the greater than, less than, or equal to symbols. We are solving story problems, using tens and ones, which you will see a few examples of on the homework.  Practicing these kinds of problems at home would be a great review! J

In Science, we have started to talk a lot about natural resources and how we use them.  Our focus is on water this week.  We will start talking about the ways to care for the Earth by reducing and reusing natural resources.  We will talk about what is recyclable or trash and students will create a sorting activity in their journals.  At the end of the week, students will be writing a promise to the Earth about a way they could improve the environment based on everything we discussed throughout the week. 

In Health, we will be talking about our emotions.  We will identify different ways of expressing feelings and emotions that contribute to getting along with others.  We will read the book Today I Feel Silly & Other Moods That Make My Day. We will complete an interactive journal activity for this lesson where students can describe how to express their emotions appropriately.

*We have been working very hard in our interactive Science/Health journals, so we are running very low on glue sticks.  If you could help our classroom by donating some more glue sticks for the class, I would appreciate it very much! :)