First Few Weeks

Dear firstie parents,

 Hey there, Hi there, Ho there!

I can’t believe it has already been a month since school started!  How are things going at home? Routines can be hard to establish, but they are SO important for our firsties.  They NEED routine and consistency.  Thank you for all that you do at home to help with this!

We are learning lots!  We are practicing lots!  And we are getting to know each other…that is for sure!  

We started “Daily 5” this week!  Daily 5 is time for the firsties to practice their spelling words, or read with me, or work independently on the words with the sound that we are studying for the week, or just read to themselves.  We rotate throughout the week, so each firstie has a chance to do each activity.  This week, some got to go a little “old school” and listen to books on tape, books on a CD, or work with the LeapFrog system.  I have to admit, my old self, thought it was kinda fun to watch the kids use these different mediums to practice reading. 

Below are a few pictures from the last few weeks…enjoy!

Polling.  Firsties asked each other what their favorite food was (there were 4 choices).  

Learning about verbs! 

Reading in our groups! 

All smiles...

Old School! 

"Miss Gallagher, I liked doing this..."

Just a reminder that we are collecting items to put in our boxes for Operation Christmas Child.  We decided as a class, that we are going to pack at least two boxes; a box for girls and a box for boys. If you are able to, please consider sending in a donation.  Thank you!

Blessings on your weekend!

Miss Gallagher

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