Flat Stanley Project

Hello families!

As your students may have told you, were are beginning our annual Flat Stanley project, but with a few changes. First, this year's project is completely voluntary and will not be for a grade. The benefits of completing the project are amazing (connections with other cultures, curiosity about the world, understanding maps, etc.) but because of time constraints we will not be able to devote the necessary time in class to make the project as wonderful as it can be.

Part 1:
I will print and supply Flat Stanleys on Friday 12/5. Students can take them home and decorate them how they'd like, as long as they are flat and easily scannable. We are going to send our Stanleys by email due to some complications with having them returned last year.

Students will also need to complete our "About Me" Questionnaire to tell their Stanley pen pal about themselves. They may include one printed or drawn picture of themselves on the paper. This will be scanned as well. The Stanleys and questionnaires are due back by Friday 12/12. Once they are scanned I will return the Stanleys to you. Students have been warned that illegible questionnaires or sloppy Stanleys will not be sent! Some of the students that our Stanleys may visit are in classes where they are learning English as a second language.

Part 2:
After we send out our Stanleys, we will hopefully receive Stanleys in return. When they arrive, I will send them home with students who would like to host them. When a student asks to host a Stanley, they are agreeing to complete an "About My Visit" form and to take at least 3 pictures of the Stanley's adventures. These could be as simple as a picture of your family dinner, a picture of the Stanley with your pet dog, a picture of your student and Stanley doing their homework. They could be pictures of every day life or of special occasions and events, it's up to you! The pictures can be printed, emailed to me at grenierc@calvertnet.k12.md.us, or (preferably) posted to our Padlet pages, linked to the right.

What is PADLET???
Padlet is an interactive, online bulletin board, We have a padlet page for each continent, and you are welcome to upload your own Stanley pictures here simply by clicking and dragging them from your desktop onto the appropriate padlet page (most likely North America- unless your family is doing some exciting travel!) Other families will be able to see your pictures as soon as you upload them. I've asked students to be sure that any uploaded picture is captioned with ""Stanley name" posted by "student's first name" in "town or place"" so that I know who posted the picture. For example, "Stanley, posted by Casey in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland" or "Shelly, posted by Casey in Orlando, Florida." Create captions by clicking the pencil icon above your picture when you post.

Part 3: In the future, feel free to take your Stanley on vacations or visits with you and post your adventures on our padlets! Send them to your friends across the country or abroad for a visit. We'd love to see where you and your Stanleys go!

Red Ribbon Week & Fall Festival

Next week is Red Ribbon Week, when we celebrate staying drug free! The students and staff of Calvert Middle shared a fun video that they made about staying drug free:



Tues, 10/28: Wear your favorite color.
Weds, 10/29: Dress your Best & Look Ready for Success
Thurs, 10/30: Wear red.
Fri, 10/31: Wear your favorite college, university, or military t-shirt or sweatshirt.

On Friday, 10/31 we will be having our Fall Festival and Goblin Parade.
-Students are not to wear costumes to school.
-Costume prep time will start at 1:15 PM.
-The Goblin Parade will be from 2:00-2:45
-Classroom party will be from 2:45-3:15.
-Classroom cleanup will be from 3:15-3:30.
-Parents can sign their children out from the classrooms at 3:30.

Fishing Creek Chaperones

Hello families! If you signed our permission slip for the Fishing Creek trip that you would like to chaperone, good news! I just heard back from the office that all of the interested parents are on the approved list. You are welcome to join us at the entrance to the Fishing Creek trail, right behind the water park and community center, on Friday morning. We will bring your chaperone stickers and assign your groups on arrival. No need to pack a lunch, as we will return to school before lunch time. Thank you for volunteering to spend the morning on the creek with us!

Dreambox

Check out Dreambox for math practice! We will be using Dreambox at school for independent math learning and games. Our school site is https://play.dreambox.com/login/wk7x/beaches. Mrs. Englert's group will log in under Grenier AM and my group will log in under Grenier PM (Homeroom). Student ID codes and passwords are the same as their lunch/library numbers. Please let me know if you have any questions! Students will be restricted to learning activities during school hours. Students earn coins for completing activities and can use them to play games and fun activities during afterschool hours. Enjoy!

Are you ready?

It's that time again! The 2014-2015 school year is almost here! I hope you're happy to be joining me in 2nd grade this Tuesday...

Summer!

I hope you're all enjoying your summer!

Mrs. Grenier's 1st Grade Class 2013-2014

Check out our end of year video! I've had a fantastic time teaching these students this year. I hope you have a great summer and come back ready and refreshed for 2nd grade!





Mrs. Grenier's 1st Grade Class 2013-2014

Relay for Life

Our class raised $131.00 for Relay for Life! Awesome work!!!

Bayfront Park

This week is our walk to Bayfront Park! We will be making our walk to the park early on Wednesday, May 28th. Please make sure that your permission slip has been returned! I will send home second copies for anyone we haven't heard back from tomorrow.

If you would like to chaperone this trip, as long as you are approved in our Keeping Track system, you are welcome to do so! Remember to wear weather appropriate clothing and walking shoes! We will return to school by lunch time.

Spelling Lists

Over the next few short weeks we will be combining spelling lists. This will give students more time to study each spelling pattern. Please keep an eye on the study sheets coming home and the test dates noted with the flash cards. Thank you!

We are quickly approaching the end of the year- our first graders are almost second graders!

Sock Hop

Check out the pictures from our Relay for Life Sock Hop! Thank you for all of your generous support of our Relay for Life team.

Dreambox

Remember to practice our math skills by playing Dreambox at home! The Dreambox program will move students along as they meet standards through the math curriculum. 

https://play.dreambox.com/login/wk7x/beaches

If you would like to continue using Dreambox over the summer (and I hope you do!), please look into a parent subscription to use on our break.

Season Murals

Check out our season murals! Photos are posted in the 2013-2014 Photo Album page, click on the picture for a larger view!

In our weather study unit, we have discussed the similarities and differences between each of our seasons. Each group was assigned a season. The students brainstormed what their season looks like, sounds like, what people do, and what animals and plants do. The group worked together to write a describing paragraph about their season.

After the writing, each student drew a sketch idea of what they thought should be included on a mural about their season. The groups worked as teams to incorporate each person's ideas into a larger picture that represented the season. Next, the groups worked together to paint their murals for hallway display.

 

Online Measurement Games

Check out these online measurement games to help with our new math topic- measurement!

http://pbskids.org/games/measurement/
http://www.funbrain.com/measure/
http://www.aasd.k12.wi.us/staff/boldtkatherine/MathResources3-6/Math_Measurement.htm#LENGTH
http://jmathpage.com/JIMSMeasurementlength.html
http://jmathpage.com/JIMSMeasurementtemperature.html

Enjoy!