Good Morning First Grade!

I have your April reading calendars for you. They will look a little differently because the original copies are at school, and sadly I cannot go inside to get it. So, I made one for you to use! I have attached it below. If you ever have any questions please feel free to email me! Also, if your child would like to email their optional work (please pick one from each subject) and send it to me by Friday- I will send something back as words of encouragement, but not as a grade!

Thank you so much for your understanding through all of this and for helping your children at home!

Good Evening first grade families!

I had a few parents reach out to me that their child is missing their classmates and would like to be in contact. With that being said, if you would like your child to be able to communicate with other classmates while school is out of session, please send me which form of communication you would like me to send out. I will then make an excel sheet and send this information ONLY to those who have given permission for their information to be released.

You may email me (marykate.wells@pennmanor.net) if you wish to participate!

Thanks so much! Hope you all are doing well.

Penn Manor educators have developed continuity of education plans to help students continue learning from home while our schools are closed. 

Currently, schools are scheduled to reopen April 9, but that date may change depending on Governor Wolf’s orders.

We plan to roll out these learning activities, by grade level and subject, beginning at noon Monday, March 30. Please check back for a link to these resources.

These are optional, ungraded learning activities that students can complete from home. The resources have been developed to meet a variety of students’ needs and may not be the same across our school district. 

Beginning Monday, March 30, teachers will be accessible to students and parents and will respond to any questions about the learning activities in a timely manner.

Please check back on Monday. Thank you!

Hello Families!
We are looking forward to returning back to some sense of “normalcy” and offer some online resources.  To be honest, at this time we do not know what this will look like.  The district’s teachers will be receiving training the remainder of this week and we will be figuring all of this out.  
The one thing we need to know right now is whether or not you have internet access.  If you can email me (marykate.wells@pennmanor.net) with a yes or no it would be greatly appreciated.
Please know that this venture is new for all of us.  There are so many uncertainties.  We appreciate your grace and patience in advance!!
Sincerely, MaryKate

Good Morning first grade families!

As I am sure most of you know, Governor Wolf has closed the schools for the next two weeks. We are still waiting to hear from administration on what we are to do academic wise for our students. But, in the mean time I am going to share some websites your children can use to keep their brains active!

We use Xtramath, Splash math and raz kids in the classroom. Your students should know their log in information for these sites- if they do not, feel free to reach out to me (marykate.wells@pennmanor.net) and I can get that information to you!

I am going to miss each one of them terribly over the next few weeks, and was truly enjoying my time getting to know your children more every day! I look forward to seeing them soon- stay safe and healthy!

March 6: This Friday is a school-wide pajama day to celebrate Dr. Seuss and his birthday. They may bring comfy socks/ slippers to change into when they are at school. Please make sure they wear regular shoes to school. Students may bring their favorite book to read at school.

February Pictures

Report cards are coming home today! Please keep the report card and writing journals, but return the signed envelope and comment sheet as soon as possible. Please contact me with any questions! I am more than happy to sit down and meet with you to discuss your child’s progress in first grade and answer any questions you may have. Please feel free to call or e-mail me to schedule a time.

Spelling Test is on Wednesday! Spelling Words this week- quit, quick, quiz, whiz, which, when, arm, part, house, put

100^th Day of School is on Thursday! Students may bring in their collection of 100 items by Thursday.

Spelling:  We will get our new spelling words on Monday. We will have our spelling test next Friday. Starting with this test, students will be given a sentence to write. The sentence will have a few spelling words and sight words. The sentence will be worth 10 points (1 point for each word spelling correctly, 1 point for the capital, 1 point for the punctuation, and 1 point for spaces between words).

Reading: Students have been working hard during their reading groups to learn different strategies to figure out unknown words. Our goal for this time of year is for students to use those strategies independently. We are also focusing on reading in short phrases rather than word by word. One way to practice this at home is to have your child go back and reread the page if they get stuck on a word. This will help them remember the world and also hear themselves reading fluently. Please make sure your child is reading the books in their reading baggies and practicing their karate belts at home.

Mystery Readers:  Are you interested in being a mystery reader? Mystery readers come in and read a book to the class. I will give the students clues to try to guess the reader. Shhh- don’t tell your child when you are planning to come in and be our reader, they’ll love the surprise! You do NOT need to have your clearances in order to be a reader.

We are looking for mystery readers for the following dates:

If Fridays do not work for your schedule, please send me an e-mail and we can find a date that works! Please spread the word to grandparents, older siblings, aunts/uncles. We love having any family member come to read to the class!

Our class is very excited to start our Gingerbread Unit on Monday! We will be reading and comparing different versions of the story. Students will get to choose their parts for our Gingerbread Plays and will be bringing their script home. They do not need to memorize the words, but please practice their part with them at home. Please make sure the script stays in their home folders so we can continue to practice at school!

They are already getting excited to perform these plays for their families! We will be perforing the plays on Thursday, December 19th at 1:30. After the plays, all families are invited to help their child decorate a Gingerbread House. Please let me know if someone in your family is unable to make our event, so I can find an older buddy to help your child with their Gingerbead House.

We are looking for donations for all the supplies needed for our houses. If you are able to help, please use the link below to sign up for a donation. Thank you for your help!!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0A4AAAAC22A7FC1-gingerbread1

We had a great short week before Thanksgiving! We learned all about the first Thanksgiving and turkeys. We also enjoyed making pumpkin pie in a cup! We had our own feast together in our classroom.

Enjoy your 5 day weekend. School starts back up on Tuesday!