Scholastic Orders

Just a reminder that our Scholastic Book order is due Feb 28th!  

I sent out the March order forms on Wednesday.  If you haven't had a chance to look at the flyer (or possibly it has been misplaced, haha) you can always browse the books online as well as other grade level books.  

The link to the online store is www.scholastic.com/readingclub  and our online access code is GV2NG

When you order online, the books will be delivered to our classroom and I'll send them home with your child.  If you have any requests on book recommendations, please don't hesitate to holler...I'd be glad to help! 

A Visual Peek

I realize how little parents and family members get to actually be in our classroom and thought that it would be a great time to take pictures of our classroom so you can see where we "live" and do all this hard work each day!   I've taken random pictures of our work, our walls, us working, our spaces and of course US!

First off...our room!
We have 20 student desks, a working table, a Teacher table where we do reading groups, and several bookshelves for daily use.

Here is what our walls currently look like --- full of anchor charts that we've made together!  Can you tell we've been working on different chunks?  We also have become masters with adjectives, verbs and nouns!

We still have our map of the USA up.  As we continue to work with our Skype penpals and read Little House in the Big Woods...it's come in very handy!

And of course, our book boxes.  The kiddos each have their own box full of books they are interested in as well as books that they've received from their reading groups.

We have been documenting our year with calendars and photos too!  These visual reminders have helped the kiddos and myself reflect about what we've done.  Wow our calendars fill up fast! 

In the hallway we try to display the great things we're doing in our classroom.
After becoming masters at nouns, verbs and adjectives we created these snowman posters to show what we know. Students used adjectives to describe their snowmen.




We also read about Snowmen at Night and wrote about what we would do if we were a snowman/snowgirl.  This went well with all those snow days we had early on this year! (fingers crossed that those days are done for the year)

I hope this glimpse gave you some insight into the classroom to see where you kiddo works each and every day!

What part was your favorite or most interesting in our classroom? Leave a comment below and one of the kiddos will get to reply to you!

Our CCI Goals

CCI.  Goals.  Data Binders.   Have any of these words come up in your child's conversations?

Hopefully at some time this school year they've at least been mentioned!  If not, this post will be your brief summary.  If you have heard of these words then keep reading to hear how those words are key parts to our learning, still today!

CCI stands for Continuous Classroom Improvement. It revolves around the idea that we can always improve on something. We pick a goal, decide what we're going to do in order to be succesful with that goal, and then we track our progress.  At the end of the goal's cycle we check how we did and assess what strategies worked or what we might have done differently.  And then we choose a new goal or repeat an old goal that we need to continue to work on.  This whole process is student led; I get the opportunity to just be the one to write their ideas down and help them figure out strategies.

One goal we've been working on for about 3 weeks now is to remember to bring back our daily folders.  They realize the importance of these daily folders: help keep organized, help them to get papers to/from home, helps Mrs. E and myself do our jobs in getting families information, and helps them work on being responsible.  

They've come up with several strategies and several kiddos have become successful.   Notice one of their strategies is to ask for help...that's where the parent and teacher support come in!  Students were to ask parents for help in remembering to bring back their folder each day.   So as you help your child with daily homework, be sure to help them remember to get that folder back in the backpack.

We also have data binders that keep track of our successes throughout the year.  We focus on important areas that affect our learning. Every day we track our attendance (HUGE area when it comes to learning!).  Each quarter we track our reading and math scores on our quarterly test and set new goals for the upcoming quarter.  And whenever the kiddos request, they track their progress on our weekly CCI goal.

 Hopefully this post will give you a better glimpse and understanding of how we are tracking our progress and creating goals that will make a lifelong impact!

Opera and Sid the Science Kid

We had 2 special events recently - we got to watch the Springfield Regional Opera perform "The 3 Little Pigs" and we were able to take a field trip to see Sid the Science Kid live at Juanita K Hammons Hall. 

We also took a field trip with Ms Davis' and Mrs. Chastain's class to Juanita K Hammons Hall to watch the live performance of Sid the Science Kid.  Sid the Science Kid is a PBS tv production about Sid "who is an inquisitive youngster who uses comedy to tackle questions kids have about basic scientific principles and why things work the way they do.   For several students this was their first time at Juanita K and the first time to see a live professional performance.  The performance went along well with what we had been learning in science -- our FIVE SENSES!  I will admit that was a coincidence but what perfect timing. All of the students enjoyed the performance and it sparked a lot of great questions afterwards.  If you haven't already, be sure to ask your kiddo about it! 

The Springfield Regional Opera came to school and did a special assembly performance of The 3 Little Pigs. Prior to the performance we investigated what an opera was and how it would be different than the ballet, the Snoopy musical and any other performances we've seen. Hopefully your kiddo can tell you some key points about Opera (most all of the story is sung, "pretty" music, voices change pitch frequently, not a lot of group songs, they sing loud).   The kiddos loved the performance and were entranced by it!   Big thanks tot he Springfield Regional Opera for making this possible!    

Our New Student Teacher

We have the wonderful opportunity to have another University student in our classroom as one of her last stops to becoming a teacher.  Miss Trowbridge joins us from Evangel University, graduating this May!  We love having college students in our classroom as it gives us an opportunity to share how 1st and 2nd graders learn and we get the chance to show them a thing or 2 about being a teacher. :)

 Miss Trowbridge began with us the last week in January and has become familiar with our classroom community pretty quickly.  She has even begun teaching a few lessons already.  She will be with us through the month of April so she will have a lot of time to learn from us and help the kiddos prepare for their future as we help her with her own.

I thought it would be easiest to have Miss Trowbridge share a little about herself here on the blog so that you know a little more about who is with us in the classroom each day.  So without further rambling from me....here is Miss Trowbridge!

My name is Genelle Trowbridge, and I am a senior at Evangel University. This semester I get to be in the wonderful 1st and 2nd grade classroom as a student teacher. I am from Arkansas and have always loved working with children. My favorite color is purple, and ice cream and cheesecake are my weaknesses. I am super excited to get to work with Mrs. Cantrell and a wonderful group of kidsfor the next three months!

So next time your kiddo mentions Miss Trowbridge you'll have a better idea of who she is! 

McTeacher Night - AGAIN!

We are having a Fremont Fundraiser and guess who will be helping prepare and serve your food?!?!   Your fabulous Fremont teachers and staff!! 

February 24th, from 4-8pm, a percentage of all sales from the night will be donated to Fremont. What a great and easy way to help out our school! So don't worry about fixing dinner that Monday, come on out to McDonalds! 

Pass the word around too...the more the merrier!  If you come in to eat, you will definitely see a friendly Fremont face.  I'll be there at 5:30pm and I'd LOVE to see each of my families come by and support our fundraiser! *Last time I saw 3 of my kiddos...if there are more than 5 then we might have to have a celebration in the classroom* 

So tell all your friends and families -- FEBRUARY 24th-- north Glenstone McDonalds -- 4-8pm.   Can't wait to see you there!

We made headlines! !

Do you follow Springfield Public Schools on Facebook?  If you do, you might have noticed beautiful "heartwork" that they posted...from Fremont's fabulous first and second graders last week!!    Ask your kiddo if this is their heart or stop by the display in our hallway and take a peek for yourself.

And if you dont follow SPS,  check 'em out.  They give glimpses into the wonderful work happening in our district as well as updated information.  

Did I mention that Fremont has a Facebook page too?!?!  It's true!

So many ways to connect with what's going on in the classrooms!  What's your favorite source of information? 

Valentine's Day Recap

Whew what a day Friday was!  We had a lot of fun on Valentine's Day (although we never have fun....*wink wink*).
Our day started with our RIF party in the gym. The kids were all excited (and a little crazy) as we headed back to the classroom to Skype with our new penpals from Massachusettes.  In this post here, I mentioned how we used Skype to connect to another classroom of 1st graders in MA.  This connection began because Mrs. Hewitt had made a donation to our Chair Balls project on DonorsChoose.org.
Her classroom also uses the stability balls and she has been a great source of information for me as we ventured down this new journey.   We had used Skype in January to connect with her classroom and learn how they learn with the chair balls and get the kids' perspectives before we jumped onto them.   Mrs. Hewitt and I thought this connection would be a great opportunity to get our kiddos to connect in multiple ways. So for starters, we are going to become PenPals.  Remember "back in the day" when you would actually write someone, put it in the mail and wait days to hear back from them?  That's what we're doing! We are building relationships, learning about peers that live outside our community, learning how to write a letter and carry on a conversation over long periods of time, as well as figuring out how to share our learning with another classroom.  So after the RIF party we Skyped with our new buddies and they got to actually see their penpal now that we had them "paired" up.  We also made them cards and I have put them in the mail! Excited to receive our first letters!

We also got to create Valentine's boxes. Okay, they weren't boxes but they were great for our Valentines.  The kids seemed to really enjoy being able to personalize their plates in anticipation of them being overflowing with Valentines!

There was just enough time to hand out valentines so they would be ready and waiting for us when we got back from Counselor and Library.

The kids were very concerned about whether or not we would be having the party when they got back!   While they were in the library, we filled plates with the treats that were brought in.  By the time the kids came back in the room, their desks were flooded with pink and red and cards and treats and oh my!   I believe they had a great time!

RIF day!

We love RIF Days!  Friday was our RIF Celebration Day!  Hopefully your 1st or 2nd grader came home and shared with you their very own book that was picked out. 

"Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) is the largest children’s literacy nonprofit in the United States. We prepare and motivate children to read by delivering free books and literacy resources to those children and families who need them most. We inspire children to be lifelong readers through the power of choice. RIF provides new, free books for children to choose from and make their own. The seeds of inspiration in these books have motivated children to follow their dreams and achieve their potential. Yes, it seems incredible for a book to launch a life, but it happens every day as hungry, inquisitive young minds reach out and grab hold of the new people, places, and ideas that books bring them."   

You can read more about the wonderful organization here!

On Friday, Mrs Amanda had a fun Valentine's themed RIF party complete with drinks, juices, read aloud book, and story activity.  

RIF Coordinator, Mrs Amanda, reads aloud as the kiddos enjoy a snack

Each kiddo also got to pick out their very own book to keep.  It was interesting to see the different genres and topics the kids gravitated to; so many of them in my class chose a non-fiction book. I love it!  

Mrs. Englebrecht reads a new book 

So what book did your kiddo bring home last week?  Leave a comment below and your kiddo will get an extra "critter point" next week :)

If you would like to be involved with RIF or learn more about the program, I encourage you to check out their website www.RIF.org as it's a great place to donate and make an impact to kiddos everywhere!

Valentine's Day

This Friday is our class Valentine's party. In last week's newsletter I included names for each student.  If you are bringing valentines, please have one for each child.   Don't worry about a Valentines box, as we'll make something in the classroom that day!  Your child can also bring in treats for everyone that morning.

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to email or send in a note!

Moby Max

We are excited about MobyMax in our classroom!  MobyMax is an online curriculum based site that is tailored to your child's individual needs, and I think you will be very impressed by how fast your child will excel while using Moby.

Moby's features include:

• Placement tests that accurately identify where your child excels, and where his or her “missing skills” are
• Targeted instruction to “fill in” those missing skills
• Systematic review sessions that ensure that your child retains 100% of what he or she has learned

Best of all, your child can access Moby from your home computer at any time.  Just head over to here and your child can sign in using their specific username and password that we created in class.

Don't Forget - Tomorrow is Domino's Night

Don't forget! 

Tomorrow is Fremont's Domino's Night!  

When you call in and place your Domino's order, be sure to mention our classroom and Fremont Elementary.  A portion of the sale will go back to Fremont as well as if our class has the most orders we will earn a pizza party this month!  

So mark your calendars and get the word out!  

Tomorrow is Domino's !!! 

Remind 101

I have been introduced to a text reminder application that will allow me to send out classroom and school reminders via text message to help take the burden of remembering off of you! I'll be sending home a paper about this today, too! You could expect to get messages about upcoming dates, school or classroom events, homework reminders and so much more. 

To participate in receiving text message reminders, simply send a text to the number (573) 768-8914  with the message @Fremont127 (and no, that's not my personal phone number ;) ) You will receive a text, asking for your full name. Please be sure to use your full name as that is the only way I know who I am sending the messages to.

You can also choose to subscribe to the messages via email; just send a blank email to Fremont127@mail.remind101.com

Rest assured that you will not receive advertisement texts and your phone number will remain private.  You can also opt out at any time by messaging 'stop' to the above number.  Please note that this number does not receive messages, so to reach me, you'll need to email or call the school phone. 

It is my hope that with the newsletter, daily folders, classroom blog that this will help strengthen the home-school connection. The Remind101 text messages will also appear on the right side of the blog, underneath the upcoming dates! 

Thanks a bunch! 
I'd love some feedback on this app, let me know what you think! 

McTeacher Night Tonight!!

We are having a Fremont Fundraiser and guess who will be helping prepare and serve your food?!?!   Your fabulous Fremont teachers and staff!! 

TONIGHT, from 4-8pm, a percentage of all sales will be donated to Fremont so this will be a great time to swing by and pick up dinner for the family. Pass the word around too...the more the merrier!  If you come in to eat, you will definitely see a friendly Fremont face.  I'll be there at 5pm and I'd LOVE to see each of my families come by and support our fundraiser!  

So tell all your friends and families -- FEBRUARY 3rd -- north Glenstone McDonalds -- 4-8pm.   Can't wait to see you there!