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

First BLOG of the new school year!

 Hello firstie parents!

It was so great to meet all of you last week and get to know you and your firstie a little bit better. And I thought that I would share a few things about me so that you can get to know ME a little bit better! 

This will be my 7th year at Trinity and my 20th year of teaching overall (I CAN'T POSSIBLY be that old!!).  Before I moved back to Bay City, I lived and worked in the metro Detroit area. My first teaching position was actually in Bay City, at Immanuel Lutheran.  I taught there for 4 years. 

I am not married and haven't been blessed with any children...however, I do have a dog, Stella, who is like my fur child.  Stella is an American Eskimo dog, who is almost all white, and is a VERY sweet girl. She is totally mama's girl, and LOVES to be around people.  She is 2 1/2 years old.  I have a younger brother who lives out in Arizona and my parents are both retired and still live in my hometown of Muskegon. 

A few of my favorite things are: 

Favorite color: yellow or blue

Favorite flower: tulips (but really I like ALL flowers!)

Favorite store: Target or Aldi or Marshalls

Favorite snack: veggies or pretzels and hummus

Favorite guilty pleasure snack: m+ms or milk chocolate toffee (I am not a fan of dark chocolate)

Favorite restaurant:  Uno's or Lucky's or Cracker Barrel 

Favorite Fast Food:  Culvers or Subway

Favorite Drink:  Snapple (Peach) Iced Tea, Hint Water, Coffee (with cream and sugar....I can't drink it black yet)

Favorite Bible Verse: Jeremiah 29:11

Favorite sports team:  I still follow my high school football team, the Muskegon Big Reds. 

I have many fox things because I had a dog that passed away a few years ago, that looked a lot like a fox.  I like foxy things! I LOVE to spend time at the beach in Muskegon when I am able and Lake Michigan is my fav! I also LOVE fall and can't wait for cooler temperatures.  

As our year unfolds, I ask that you please keep our class, our school, our teachers, and me in your prayers.  I will be doing the same!  Thank you for sending your firstie to be a part of our Trinity family and I will see you bright and early in the morning! 

Don't forget to send me a picture of the little activity that you do tonight with your kiddo. 

Blessings!

Miss Gallagher

 

Dear Parents,

We have been busy during our shortened week!  On Monday, (and I am sure that you have already seen the remnants of the little project that your firstie created), there were bags of items on your firstie’s desk and with candy corn, mini-marshmallows, and toothpicks.   Their task was to create a tower.  Below are some of the results!

Have you been doing GoNoodle at home?  I am sure that your firstie has you told about it!  We do it every day to get our wiggles out…and some days, we REALLY need it!  Ha!  We have also done it a few times to just take a minute to breath and chill….which I know that we ALL need. 

I have shared this before (in years past), but it STILL such a good reminder and set to some good Christian music.  This is from one of my favorite Christian bands, Rend Collective.  I pray that you continue to worship, pray, lean on our loving Lord and Savior who promises to NEVER leave us.  Please listen to the words carefully….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF84v-oOhp0

As we continue to learn about the Israelites and all of their struggles, we also learned about how they were set FREE from slavery…as are we!  When Jesus died on the cross, He set us FREE from the chains of sin…and to demonstrate that, each firstie made a small chain and then broke it (by karate-chopping it…which of course they LOVED). 

We LOVED our Pajama Day on Wednesday!  And one firstie wore FOX slippers that I was totally jealous of!  

(For those of you who don't know, I had a dog, Josie, who was a little Pomeranian, and she looked like a little fox.  I started liking fox things, and people started gifting me "foxy" things, and even though she passed away a year and a half ago, I still am partial to fox things. Ha!)

Finally, on Wednesday, we went outside and enjoyed the awesome fall weather that God gave to us, by picking leaves!  And THEN we turned those leaves into “Leaf Creatures”!  They had SUCH a good time doing this!  Each firstie also had to write about their “Leaf Creature” and we will finish our writing on Monday.  Below is a sneak peek!  Enjoy!

Blessings on your week!

“Sent to Serve”

Miss Gallagher

 

Dear Parents,

I know that is has been awhile since I updated the blog, and for that I am sorry!  The firsties have been learning lots and I wanted to share a few things that we have done. 

We have been working hard at learning some different grammar things; what a noun is, what a verb is, and what an adjective is.  Last week, each firstie created a pumpkin to match a specific adjective.  They did such a great job! (Ask your firstie which one they created...) Check them out below…

We also have been working hard at our spelling words and all of the different vowel sounds that we are learning/reviewing.  Along with different ways of reviewing our spelling words, one thing that we do is play the game, Tic-Tac-Word.  They LOVE it! So fun!

In Religion, we have been learning about Moses and Pharaoh and all of the plagues that God sent.  The last plague was the worst and God warned Moses about it.  He told Moses to have the people of Israel take a perfect lamb, sacrifice it, and paint their doorways with the blood.  Because they did this, the angel that God sent to kill the first born children, passed over the Israelites houses. They were saved!  We discussed how that is just like what Jesus did for us!  Jesus has man names and one of His names is the Lamb of God.  He sacrificed Himself, shed His blood, so that we are saved!  As a reminder of this, we “painted” our classroom doorframe too. 

Even though this is a little late, Carter’s mom got water bottle holders for all of the firstie’s desks.  They are a game changer! Now we don’t have to worry about wet desks!  Yay!  Thank you so much Mrs. Burr! 

Today was a beautiful day to take a few Fall pictures….isn’t it pretty and aren’t they so cute?!?!

Blessings on the rest of your week!

Miss Gallagher

 

Dear Firstie Parents!
Well…we made it through our FIRST FULL WEEK OF SCHOOL!  (What are you doing to celebrate?  Perhaps spending time with family? Or with your spouse?  Or having an adult beverage??? ;) ) I have to say, that I am impressed at what the firsties have accomplished so far this year!  Thank you for continuing to work at home with them and for all that you do!  Please also continue to keep our class (and me!) in your prayers.

This week in Religion, we learned about a man named Abram (who later changed his name is Abraham) and all of the promises that God made to him.  Next week we are going to learn about how God kept His promises to him.  Are any of YOU struggling with this?  Knowing that God keeps His promises and knowing that He loves us, but struggling to see HOW?  I know that I am struggling with that, from time to time.  With all that is going on, it may be a little hard to remember that God DOES love us, He is there for us, and will NEVER leave us.  I pray that in your daily prayers, God can remind you of that.

The firsties have been practicing putting words together with the sounds we are learning, with our handy dandy blending board.  It’s been fun to see their expressions when they sound out a word, and recognize it…LOL. But then it’s also kind of fun to watch them figure out if the word is an actual real word. HA! 

When your firstie is writing their words at home, please, please, please make sure that they are writing their letters correctly…mainly make sure they aren’t starting their words from the bottom of the paper.  If they do, please give a reminder that we NEVER start our words from the bottom. 

We also began a new math program today!  Ask your firstie about this!  

We have had lots of time outside this week because of all of the beautiful Fall-like weather…(fall is my absolute favorite…football games (All these years later, I am still cheering on my high school football team (the Muskegon Big Reds), because they are just so fun to watch and so GOOD!), crisp air, changing leaves, bonfires, sweaters, apple cider, etc…it’s all wonderful.  I took this picture, because it was funny to me…the juxtaposition of the kiddos running around and playing, and the farmer working on the field. (Also, as I was taking the picture, I hear behind me a little voice say, “Look at that combine working!”  I am not sure why, but it still surprises me how many of the kids here know about farming and farming equipment.)

If you didn’t send in play-dough with your firstie, please do so on Monday.  Thank you!

Blessings on your weekend!

“Sent to Serve”

Miss Gallagher

 Hello firstie parents!

How are things going at home?  I pray that as each week passes, things get easier!  We are actually starting to get into the routine here, which is so very awesome!

We are getting a new student tomorrow!  Her name is Zoey, though I heard that she went to Preschool at Trinity, so I guess that she is not new, new.  We are happy that she is back and will be joining our little firstie family.  

Yesterday in Chapel, we had a guest speaker from Valley Lutheran High School.  His name is Mr. Vincent and he also teaches Science at Valley.  He did a little Science experiment involving a few balloons....did your firstie tell you about it?  He compared US to the balloons and then he took a skewer and said that was SIN.  

The first balloon he showed us, he poked with the skewer and just as predicted, it POPPED! Then he covered the skewer in oil and spoke about what oil was used for back in Biblical times (one of the ways that it was used was to anoint).  He tried again and this time, with the skewer covered with oil, he stabbed the balloon, but it DIDN'T pop! 

Finally he took some duct tape and covered one side of the balloon with the tape.  And he spoke about how Jesus covers us and saves us from our sin.  So Mr. Vincent poked the balloon, through the duct tape, and again, the balloon didn't pop.  (The kids' reactions to this was great....ooos and ahhs....ha!).  What a great visual reminder of what God does for us!  He anoints us with the Holy Spirit, sent His Son to cover our sins, and LOVES us like crazy.  

Thank you for sending in your kiddo's favorite things!  We certainly learned a lot about each student...what fun! 

Tomorrow, is Patriot Day!  In remembrance of September 11th, we are asking that all students wear red, white, and blue.  Today we read the book "Fireboat", which is a true story about one of the fireboats of New York City, that provided water to help douse the fires at Ground Zero.  We spoke a little about what happened on that day, 19 (I can't believe it's already been 19 years....do YOU remember where you were?) years ago, though I didn't go into much detail.  New York is one of my absolute favorite cities and I have visited it a few times.  I actually went to Ground Zero the summer after September 11th, and what a sobering experience that was.  When the towers fell, two of the beams fused together and formed a cross.  That cross was displayed in the middle of the rubble and a beautiful reminder of God's love.  

Blessings on the end of your week!

"Sent to Serve"

Miss Gallagher