Dear Parents,

Just a quick little blog to share with you tonight!  Thank you so much for supplying all that we needed for the party.  The firsties certainly enjoyed all of the treats! It seemed as though they enjoyed the movie…though it is SO TEMPTING to talk to your friends during a movie when they are right next to you! ;)

Did your firstie tell you what their surprise was yesterday?  They were excited! Just a fun little thing to do to help make this shortened week a little more festive. 

If you make the playdough over the break, please take a picture and share it with me!  I would love to see it!

                            Ugly Christmas Sweater/Christmas Outfits… I LOVED them ALL! 

The firsties LOVED the Book Exchange!  Thank you for sending in a book for your firstie to participate.  :) 

Blessings on your Christmas celebrations, if I don't get to see you before the break.  

"Jesus in ALL Things"

Miss Gallagher

 

Dear Firstie Parents,

Happy Wednesday! Has your firstie been sharing with you what we are learning in Religion class?  It is almost unbelievable!  We learned about Elijah and Elisha, and how Elijah was taken into Heaven.  If you aren’t familiar with it, ask your firstie!  THEN we learned about a missionary named Jonah.  God asked him to go to a city called, Nineveh, and tell the people living there to repent of their sins.  Jonah didn’t want to go and so he tried to run and hide from God.  It didn’t work.  We can’t hide from God!  He is all-powerful and all-knowing and nothing escapes Him.  That is a little scary to think about, isn’t it?  He knows all of our secrets!  But GOOD NEWS!  Our God is a loving and forgiving God; we need only to repent of our sins.  Jonah was a missionary and he eventually did get to Nineveh to speak to the people.  He told them to repent of their sins and shared with them about how God is LOVE!  We don’t have to go Nineveh or Africa to share the Good News of what Jesus did for us!  We can do that RIGHT HERE!  I pray that God provides you with little opportunities to do just that.

I have SO MANY Christmas books and every year I can’t wait to share them with my firsties.  The book that we read on Monday, is one of my favorites.  The story “The Carpenter’s Gift” written by David Rubel and illustrated by Jim LaMarche, is a tale about the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.  While parts of the story are not true, it IS true that when Christmas is over, the tree is milled for it’s lumber and used to help build houses for the organization, Habitat for Humanity.  The lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center is TONIGHT!  I hope you are able to check it and if possible, your firstie too!

Keep working with your firstie on their Advent parts.  Remember, we are presenting in just ONE week.  The service begins at 5:30, but there is a hymn sing starting at 5:15.  We will be meeting in the church basement by no later than 5:15.  Thank you!  See you next week.

Blessings,

“Jesus in ALL things”

Miss Gallagher

Dear Firstie Parents,

It has been so great speaking to you about your firstie!  Thank you for your open and honest conversations and I hope that we can maintain that throughout the rest of the year.

I am sure that your firstie has told you by now, that we have FINALLY started using the technology that we have available to us!  I would like to incorporate it more moving forward and I am excited to do so.

 

Using our LeapPads for the first time! 

Read to Self and EPIC on our ipads! 

OLD school, "books on tape"

Yesterday was SUCH a beautiful Fall day….I thought we should take a few pictures!  I am so thankful for all of our property that we have here at Trinity, and for days like yesterday to go outside and enjoy God’s creation.

Buds!  

"Can we throw the leaves into the air, Miss Gallagher?" 
YES!!!

Fall FUN!  

As Tom the Turkey’s Protector, I am looking forward to the creative ways that you figure out how to hide him or camouflage him so that he WON’T get eaten.  Again, this isn’t something you MUST do, but is simply something for family fun time (Well…that is my intent anyways…)!  Please send in your completed Tom on Monday.  Thank you!

Blessings on your long weekend!

“Jesus in ALL things”

Miss Gallagher

 

Dear Firstie Parents,

I know that I have been a little neglectful with the blog as of late…but there is SO MUCH going on! I hope that you are well and are managing to stay healthy. 

In Religion we have been learning about Moses and the people of Israel.  We learned about how they were slaves in Egypt and were suffering.  God wanted them to be free from their slavery, so He sent Moses to ask the Pharaoh to “let His people go”.  Of course, Pharaoh didn’t want to lose all of that free labor, so he said NO… many times.  And each time he said no, God sent plagues to Egypt.  The final plague, was the worst one.  God told Moses to kill a perfect lamb, take the blood, and paint it on the door frames of each house of the people of Israel and when the angel that He sent, saw the blood, he would pass over that house.  All of the firstborn sons of the people of Egypt were killed and THAT is what finally persuaded Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go for good.  UNTIL, that is, he changed his mind one last time and Israelites were forced to cross the Red Sea (BUT they did so on DRY GROUND….which if you think about it, is AMAZING!).  Once they crossed, they started their search for the land that God promised them.  And while they were wandering around the wilderness they had the audacity to grumble and complain.  God heard their grumbling and still provided for them.  He sent them quail and manna to eat.  Every time I read this, I am reminded how much like an Israelite I am.  Do I complain with the many, MANY blessings I am given?  Yep.  I am convicted!  But thankfully, God knows me, loves me, and forgives me. Whew! 

We are getting so much better at practicing our sounds, making real words, and sometimes nonsense words.  Keep up the good reading at home!  The more practice, the better! 

"Working together is FUN!"

"We are working so hard!" 

The Harvest Dinner is this weekend!  If you have never been, it is so yummy!  Because of COVID, it will be mostly take-out meals, but there will be a small area to eat, if you can’t possibly wait to eat!  J  Did your firstie tell you what was cooked today?  Every time we went out into the hall I heard, “Miss Gallagher it smells so GOOD out here!”.  To which I replied, “Just wait until tomorrow...it gets even better!” 

Please keep Sunday, November 7^th, on your radar.  We are singing in church at the 8:30 service!  We have been working hard on this song and I am excited to share it in worship. 

Blessings,

“Jesus in ALL Things”

Miss Gallagher

 

Dear Parents,

Happy Thursday evening!  How ARE you?  I pray that you are all well and continue to stay healthy…especially as we start to enter “flu season”!  UGH! 

Has your firstie told you about our little friend who sometimes plays tricks on us in our classroom?  The other day he moved all of the words on our schedule, upside down AND THEN he moved!  He hasn’t moved this week, but we are certainly keeping our eyes on him. ;)

Upside down?!?!  Who did THAT???

We are trucking along with our spelling words and sounds.  We practice our spelling words in many different ways!  (word searches, illustrate the words, scrambled/mixed up words, spelling sentences, etc…) Keep up the good work of reviewing at home. 

We scrambled our spelling words today! 

"Rip"....
How great is THIS illustration? 

We learned about action verbs today!  Please ask your firstie about this…(and review nouns as well)!  Again, this is something that you can connect your firstie with “real world”, “everyday” things that are around them.  The more they see the connections around them, the more REAL these new concepts become to them (and hopefully, the more they will remember all of this new information! ). 

Did your firstie tell you about what we are learning about in Social Studies?  We watched this funny video about the 7 continents and I thought that you might like to see it too!  

How to Remember the Seven Continents! ...for Kids! - YouTube

Below are a few pictures I took throughout the week….enjoy! 

The clouds the other day were SO PRETTY!  Isn't God an amazing artist?

"Miss Gallagher...you HAVE to check out my shirt!"
Levi in LEVI'S...
LOL!!!!!

Blessings on your Friday and your weekend!

Miss Gallagher

 

Dear Parents,

Happy Wednesday and welcome to FALL!!!!  (It’s my FAVORITE!) It’s interesting to me that this is the coldest day we’ve had recently and all of the sudden, now it’s FALL.  I am not going to complain about it though…bring on the colder temperatures, the apples and pumpkins, Big Red football games, bonfires, the colored leaves…I am so glad to live in a place where we get to experience the Fall.  Make sure your firstie is prepared to go outside, weather permitting. 

Did your firstie tell you what game we played yesterday to review our spelling words?  Well, if not, we played Tic-Tac-Word.  They were paired up (at random) and used their spelling words instead of an X or an O on the “board”.  While we didn’t have A LOT of time to play, each pair was able to get in a few games. 

When we have to have “inside recess” (when the weather is bad or when the gym is being occupied), there are plenty of things for the firsties to do in our classroom. Games, puzzles, blocks, dominos, etc… are all available to play with when we have to have recess inside.  (We also may do a GoNoodle or two so we get our wiggles out…) 

"Miss Gallagher, I finished this puzzle and it's bigger than me! Will you take my picture?"

How is the reading at home going?  Remember, your firstie should be reading to YOU.  Our Take Home Story Bag stories, are meant to be read a few times throughout the week by your firstie.  We talked yesterday about how important practicing is and that the more they practice reading, the easier it will be!  Keep it up!

Speaking of practicing, some firsties still need help tying their shoes and while I am happy to help for now, this is something that your firstie needs to eventually be able to do on their own.  Please start practicing this at home. 

Thank you for all that you do on the home front!

“Jesus in ALL Things”

Miss Gallagher

 

Dear Parents,

Happy Thursday!  How are things going at home, with homework and with the reading?  It may be painful for a few weeks, but once we get into a routine, it should get easier.  Please make sure that your firstie is practicing reading out loud! 

***Remember that the take home stories and bags are due TOMORROW (Friday). 

We also have a memory test AND spelling test.  Thank you for helping your firstie practice at home. 

In Religion today, we talked about Abraham and Sarah’s son, Issac, and how he got his name.  I told the firsties to ask YOU how you came up with their name or the reason why you named them that.   Please tell them and I am going to ask tomorrow!  I am excited to hear the stories (because, if you didn’t already know this….firsties LOVE to tell stories…!).

Yesterday, we learned about what a noun is….ask you firstie about this!  We are going to continue to practice what nouns are in the coming weeks, but you can certainly help with this at home.  Point out nouns at home, or outside, or at the ball field, or dance class, or the arena!  It is great to have your firstie connect what we are learning at school with the real world or “their world”. 

We continue to practice our handwriting and forming letters.  I MAY be annoying about this, but I will not apologize for it.  If you see your firstie writing at home and they start at the bottom of the line….please, please, please correct them and remind them that we NEVER start at the bottom.  Thank you!

Just a reminder that we are singing in church THIS SUNDAY (the 19^th) at the 10:30am service.  Students will need to be here at 10:15 and we are meeting in the basement. After we done singing, students will be dismissed to come and sit you with!  See you on Sunday!

Blessings on the rest of your week and the upcoming weekend.

“Jesus in ALL Things”
Miss Gallagher

 

Dear Parents,

Whelp….I didn’t get to it on Friday….so below is my delinquent blog!  ;)

Friday, we celebrated Patriot Day, in honor of the 20^th anniversary of 9-11.  The students were asked to wear red, white, and blue.  We read a few books and I shared some pictures with the kids of when I went to NYC.  I have a friend that lives there and I visited her the summer after, September 11^th, when Ground Zero was still very much a construction site.  That was a very powerful visit and one that I will never forget. 

We formed a flag!  Can you see it?  Squint your eyes a little bit to help...LOL. 

"Miss Gallagher, we wore the EXACT same shirt and we aren't even in the same grade!"

Can't seem to flip this....but anyways...this is a TRUE story of a fireboat that helped to put out the fires at Ground Zero.  When the towers collapsed, the hydrants weren't able to be used.  The fireboats helped! 

Another true story about a man that walked between the Twin Towers before they were finished being built.  

This cross was formed when the towers fell and it was kept up at Ground Zero for many, many months.  (I had to take the picture through the fence, but still very powerful to see it there!)

Every year, one (or more) child asks me…why.  That’s a great question!  WHY.  Many lives were lost that day and SO many were affected for the rest of their life.  It’s still very hard to understand the why.  However, even if we have so many questions and not enough answers, we can know that God was in the midst of it all.  He is also in the midst of our lives!  He wants us to never forget that He loves us like crazy, that He will never leave us, and that He will always be there for us.  We can trust that.

We are starting to practice writing our letters!  Each student has a “Space Man”, that helps us with our spacing.  We are reminding ourselves (and others!) that letters are NEVER formed from the bottom up.  I think that some students have it in their brains to form letters that way, so if you see that at home, please help to remind your firstie! Thank you!

Look for another Blog on Wednesday!  J

 

Dear Parents,

We started out “Moring Tubs” today!  The firsties seemed to really enjoy them and it is so fun to see them be creative.  Sometimes, with our morning tubs, or morning work, the firsties will get to create something.  Sometimes, they will practice letters or numbers, or write words!  Morning work is just a small way for us to ease into our day (and still make it educational). 

Just a reminder of what our dress code is….shoes without backs and shirts or dresses without sleeves are not permitted.  Thank you for helping to adhere to our dress code. 

We started reviewing our alphabet sounds.  A worksheet is coming home that needs to be completed and brought back to school tomorrow.  They will have to turn in their homework to their mailbox for the first time! (This is a little bit of a test...lol!)

Is your firstie coming home exhausted? These first few weeks can be tiring as we get back into a more set routine.  Grace is the name of the game.  I am so thankful that we can ease into things over the next few weeks. Speaking of grace, we have been learning about Creation. Ask your kiddo what God created on each of the days (and they can use their little booklets that came home today if they forget!).    Remember it only took God 6 days because on the 7^th day….He RESTED.  Rest is so important!  Rest for our bodies, rest for our minds, and rest for our souls.  God wants us to rest in Him.  He calls us to do so.  I pray that over our long weekend coming up, you are able to spend some time in rest; spend some time with friends and family, and spend time in worship with our Lord.  Praying for you all!

Blessings!

“Jesus in ALL things”

Miss Gallagher

 

Dear parents,

We made it!  You AND your firstie survived the first day of school!  Did your firstie tell you about a “package” that was delivered to our classroom this morning?!?

Along with our “Jitter Glitter”, (thanks for the pictures!)

I slept with some "Jitter Glitter" too! 

Laykin! 

Kaiden! 

Alex! 

Caleb! 

Maddy! 

Emma! 

Arlo! 

Alaina! 

Chandler!

we also drank a little “Jitter Juice” to help calm our nerves. 

"Scared Spritz" and "Joyous Juice" 

We read a story “First Day Jitters” about Sara who was REALLY nervous about her first day of school…..the ending was a bit of a surprise. Make sure to ask your firstie about who Sara REALLY was!  :)

Just a few quick pieces of information.

-I sent home the class list and our schedule, just so you are aware of what is going on throughout our day. 

-There were a few that sent in some folders that didn’t have the three holes go all the way through the folder.  The folders have to be able to fit into the three ring binder please.  If you can’t get any folders like that, let me know.  Thanks! 

-Behavior charts have already begun!  Please make sure to check out your firstie’s folder every day and talk to them about how their day went.  The charts should just stay in their folder, in order that it can go back and forth every day.  Behavior charts are just another way for us to communicate and all be on the same page. Below is how the charts will work.

Every day all firsties will begin their day with three blocks in their tower (that stays in the cup on their desk).  If they do something outstanding or super kind or helpful to someone else, then I will add a block to their tower.  However, for the reverse, if I had to do lots of reminders about the rules, I will take a block away.  At the end of the day, each firstie will color the number of blocks they have in their tower, on the corresponding day, on their chart. 

-Please send me a Fast Direct message if you were planning on having your firstie (and/or other kids) ride the bus.  We still aren’t certain what is going on with bussing, but if you wouldn’t mind giving me a heads up if you were planning on it, I would appreciate it!  Thank you! 

I am looking forward to our first FULL DAY tomorrow!  Blessings on your night!

“Jesus in ALL things”

Miss Gallagher