This Week

I. love. my. class. Seriously. This is such a sweet group of kids, and I am so impressed with their academic skills already. Here is a few things we did this week.


Here is one group using pattern blocks during math to make patterns and designs. We were exploring our math manipulatives.

Here is one student playing with our math dominoes during FREE TIME. When the class is being exceptionally amazing, I put up letters on the board to spell FREE TIME. When they get all of the letters, we have free time, and they earned it already! Some students played legos, others played with dolls or colored, and others played with hot wheels cars. (If you are ever going to give any good free time toys to the thrift store, consider donating them to our classroom instead.)

Two students making shapes on the geoboards.

The base 10 blocks are a definite favorite.

More geoboards.
Another student revealing her About Me Bag.

We also planted seeds this week as well as made terrariums. Our first unit in science is all about living organisms: life cycles, survival needs, classification, etc. This unit is a lot of fun. Please plan to come to our room to see more on October 7.

Our Walk to Read program is ready for volunteers. Some have already started and more will be starting next week, but if you are available to volunteer, please contact me. We would LOVE to have you read with kids. Also, if you are available in the next few weeks for some simple (although boring) administrative tasks in the next couple weeks, let me know. I have quite a few things that need to be filed, cut out, torn out, or stapled. We will also be hoping to have a few chaperones for our Sept. 28 trip to the Bozeman Ponds. Thank you!!!

Your kids are amazing!! Thank you for the privilege of working with them.

Walk to Read Homework Explanations

Hi! I am your child's Walk to Read teacher. Thank you so much for muddling through the first week of homework and procedures! I waited to send out a welcome letter because I knew there would be some switching around after the first week, so thank you for hanging in there with me!

I mentioned making bags for "tricky words" (also known ask high-frequency or sight words.) Here is what I mean by making two bags. This is an easy way to keep track of your word cards all year and even add more that you find as your child reads to you. The goal is for your child to know over 100 of these tricky words by the end of first grade, but I think this group will know more like 200!! These are words that cannot be sounded out (like "the") and must be memorized. They make up over 60% of written text in English, so you can see the importance of practicing nightly!!! Keep practice short: 5 minutes or less. The other 15 minutes of reading homework should be your child reading to you or you reading to your child or both.

When I send short books home like this one, please have your child read it THREE times out loud to you. If it is difficult, try alternating pages with him or her: you read one, your child reads one, etc. Most of these books we will have already read in class, so they should be fairly easy. I ask that your child reads them three times because rereading is the best way to build fluency (reading like you talk), and that is a major focus in our group!

Remember, the reading bags need to come back EVERY day with reading record filled out with what your child read the night before. Please always return the paper books as these come from my own classroom. Some nights I will not send books home. Please read a book at home with your child and still write it down on the reading record.

Thank you for all of your hard work. I look forward to all of the growth we will get to see this year!!!

Please contact me with any questions or concerns! I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Fall Festival

I hope you had as much fun as I did at the Fall Festival this year! It was so good to see so many of you there! We had a wonderful turnout. The weather was perfect! This is my absolute favorite dunk tank picture. Mr. Brian is our room's custodian, and he was graciously dunked many times. It never stopped being funny!


My nieces playing games. They are second graders this year at Hyalite.


She is ready to start throwing and dunking!!


Mrs. Persons and Mrs. O'Shea

More About Me Bags!

We still have not finished going through all of our About Me Bags, but we are still having so much fun! Here are some students from last week!

About Me Bags

Here are some of the kiddos sharing their "About Me Bags" on Friday. I was really impressed by how good they are already at speaking in front of a group and being a respectful audience. We still have over half of the class to go! We are having a lot of fun with this!

If you would like to see your child's picture, remember to return the paper I sent home and check "Yes, I would like to see my child's picture posted."

The first week is already over! I am very impressed with your children! We have a very, very sweet and enthusiastic group. I'm excited!

Please remember to let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

First day tomorrow!

Hello! Some of you may be new to Hyalite School and have questions about dropping off or picking up your child. I will be sending home a letter and handbook that will outline the procedures in more detail, but here is the plan for the first day. Please remind your child in the morning where they will go at the end of they day.

Drop off: You can drop your child off on the playground anytime after 8:00 a.m. The bell rings at 8:30. I will be outside to pick up my class the first few days. Next week, students will walk into our room by themselves. If you need to drop off supplies, please put them on the counter in our room. Thank you for doing this quickly so I have time to give our class my full attention.

Pick up: Bus students will be escorted to the bus. Bikers and walkers will walk out the gates or out the front of the school by themselves. After-school program students will be shown where to get in line for the after-school program. Students who will be picked up will be escorted out the southwest doors on the playground. Please park and walk to get your child as students will not be released until we see you.

Late pick up: If you arrive late, your student will be waiting in the office or at the after-school program.

If you have further questions, please contact me or the office. Thank you!

I am very excited for our first day! See you tomorrow!

Hi New Friends!

As we begin the new school year, we are all excited about many things. Sometimes, we are also nervous about starting a new grade. Here are a few questions for you to answer with your parents:

1. What are some things you are really looking forward to this year?
2. What are a few things that you are worried about?

I am excited to get to know you better! I recognize many names on my class list from last year. It is always fun to see friends at school and to get to know them better! A few of you might be new to Hyalite School. We welcome you! I know we will get to be friends right away. Sometimes meeting new friends might make you nervous. Sometimes meeting new friends makes me nervous, too. Remember, I care about you already and hope the best for you in every way.

Very soon I will see you, my new friends! I hope you are as excited as I am!