The Polar Express, 12/14/10

Its COLD!

Dear Parents,
There are parts of our building that are VERY cold! Please dress your child appropriately each day with a sweat shirt or sweater. Our classroom is quite chilly in the mornings and extra layers will be helpful.
Thanks!
Mrs. Hamblin

Thanksgiving Feast, November 2010

November 8-12

Hi Everyone,
We actually had a normal week last week! It was nice to be back in the classroom again with structure and learning!

This week we will be reading a book called “On Top Of Spaghetti”. It a book set to the actual words of the song…so expect to hear a lot of singing this week!
Our spelling words will be:
See
Was
That
Come
What
We had to repeat “that” and “what”. Almost everyone missed those words on the spelling test last week so we will try again this week.

Don’t forget that this Thursday is Veteran’s Day. We won’t be having school, but please go to the parade on main street to honor our Veterans. We will be talking quite a bit about our great men and women who serve our country this week. We will be sending a Christmas box to our soldier, so any contributions you would be willing to make would be greatly appreciated by him!

Study spelling words and read for homework. I love seeing the kids bring back their reading bags. Good job everyone!

Thanks again for all you do!

Have a great week,
Mrs. Hamblin

Willis Farms, 2010

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October 19-22

Hope you all had a wonderful Fall Break and spent good, quality time with your families!

This week we will be reading a book called “My River”.  We will start exploring different places we might live.  Our spelling words this week are: go, like, the, my, a.  Study hard, our test will be Friday. 

Our field trip to Willis Farms will be on Wednesday!!!  Don’t forget to send a lunch if you said you would, a water bottle, good shoes, and a jacket.  If you haven’t sent in your permission slip or money, you will have to call me at  home this evening to let me know.  If you child doesn’t want to go please keep them home, as we did not have enough students who were not going to merit a teacher staying behind in a classroom.

Our special person last week was Raul…good job buddy!  This week we will hear from Ethel!

I loved visiting with all of you during Parent Teacher Conferences.  Thank you for coming.  I love your children and consider it an honor to be teaching them!

Thanks for all you do!

October 11-14

Hi Everyone,

Columbus Day will be so much fun! It is fun to learn about our Country’s history and those who founded it. We will do lots of Columbus Day activities. Ask your child about it.

This week we will be reading a book called “Bugs”. The kids LOVE this book. Our spelling words this week will be: six, out, I, in, put. Continue reading nightly with your child, and help them study their spelling words. Monday is "Ready, Set, Relax" however, so no homework tomorrow night.

Please turn in your permission slips and $5 by this Wednesday for our field trip to Willis Farms. If I do not have your money and permission slip then your child will have to stay at the school that day as I do not have the money to personally pay for each child. Thanks for your help with this.

Book orders are due on Thursday, and if you have anything else you would like to send to our soldier please do so by Thursday and I will mail the package off to him. He is going to appreciate all you have sent already!

Don’t forget that Early Release is Thursday, and Fall Break starts that day. School will resume on Tuesday, October19th.

Have a great week!

Sept 27-Oct. 1

Hi Everyone!

I hope everyone is still exercising and recording their times!  There are GOOD prizes to win.

Last week we learned all about Mother Goose Rhymes.  Please continue reading and saying them with your child.  Once a child learns how to rhyme, their reading improves.  The pictures below are of our Jack Be Nimble day.  We made our own candlesticks and practiced jumping over them.  These kids are so creative.  They make me laugh everyday.

This week we will be reading “The Chick & the Duckling”.  Our spelling words will be: it, is, for, but, not.  We will also be learning about Cowboys and their contribution to our valley.  Special Person this week will be Malakia.  Thanks Javen for doing such a great job!

Friday we have a Fieldtrip to Greer.  If you haven’t done so, please return your permission slips to me by Wednesday so your child can go!  I need 3 more volunteers to help with kids if anyone would like to do so.

Wednesday we are having a night with parents, Reading Under The Stars.  This will be a school wide event that you can come and enjoy an evening with your child.

Next week I will be starting Parent Teacher conferences, so please check backpacks for your assigned time and date. 

We are still accepting donations for our soldier Eric.  We will be sending him a package on the 14^th of October.  Book orders are due that day also!

Thanks again for all you do.  I appreciate those of you who are always willing to help out!

Sept. 20-24

Hi Everyone,

Last week we had such a good time learning all about our senses.  We were mini scientists and looked at items under microscopes, a magnifying glass, we used our sense of smell to determine what scent was in different “smelly” bags, etc.  It was so much fun!

This week we are reading a book called “What’s In This Box”.  If you have the book “My Five Senses” at your house still could you please send it back so I will have enough for next year? Thanks.  We will also be studying some of the great “Mother Goose Rhymes”.  Rhyming is a big part of reading.

We will continue with our same spelling words:  one, two, three, four, five.  These words were difficult and we need another week of practice.  If your child earned 100% on last weeks spelling test then they don’t have to take the test this week.

Our special person last week was Dallon, and he did a great job!  This week we are excited to hear from Javen.

We have adopted Eric McCoy as a soldier.  Eric is from Round Valley and is now in Afghanistan serving in the Marine Corps.  Thank you for your donations for those of you who sent items in.  We look forward to any more!

Have a great week,

Mrs. Hamblin

Sept. 13-17

Hi Everyone,

We had a great week last week learning all about farm animals, number words and heroes.

This week we will be learning all about our 5 senses. We will really be testing those senses this week by painting with Kool-Aid, guessing different sounds, playing blindfold games, smelling the good and bad…etc. It’s going to be a great week!

Our new spelling words are: one, two, three, four, five. These words will be a challenge, so please study nightly!

We enjoyed listening to Murphy as our Special Person last week and look forward to hearing from Dallon this week.

Last week we wrote to Eric McCoy, a Marine from our town who has been deployed to Afghanistan. We are going to continue writing to him and occasionally will send him care packages. Please donate non-perishable items (wrapped candy, bathing items, jerky, etc.) if you would like to assist in this. He would sure appreciate it! There are several others serving from our area that would benefit from care packages, if everyone would like to we could adopt a few more soldiers. Hope to hear you comments on this.

Please keep exercising for our competition! I know we can win this one. Remember the prizes are awesome. The Wellness Coalition has gone all out!

We could also use snacks…we are running low. Thanks for all you do, you are awesome parents!

September 7-10

Hi Everyone,

Hope you all had a wonderful extra long weekend!

This week we will be reading a fun counting book called “One Red Rooster”. Our new spelling words will be: like, the, and, is, can. I know we are repeating spelling words, but we need the practice!

This week we will be learning about heroes since Saturday is September 11th. If anyone has any Hero stories that are kid appropriate that they would like to share, please do.

Thank you to Tucker and Derek’s mom’s for helping us with our centers last Friday. We had fun making applesauce and apple stamping. I appreciate all of you and the help you so willingly give.

Please continue to read nightly with your child and study those spelling words!



Have a great week,
Mrs. Hamblin

New Spelling Words

Our new spelling these words this week are:

and
big
can
dog
she

Please study these nightly with your child...it really helps on Friday's!

August 30- Sept 3

Hello Everyone,
Sorry I didn't get a post out last week. But this is a new week and we are looking forward to lots of new things to learn. Thanks to Kinnly who was our Special Person last week, and we can't wait to hear from Joel this week.

We are starting to read and bring home books so please check backpacks nightly to see if your child has been assigned to read.

We did really well on our spelling test last week, most of the kids got 100%, so please continue to help them study. I forgot to bring home a list of spelling words Friday, but I will post those tomorrow night so you can help your child. It sure makes a difference when they study at home. Also, continue reading with your child nightly, even if I didn't send a book home with them. Find one from your home library and enjoy 20 minutes with your child.

Here are some pretty cute pictures of our class playing out on the playground. You have amazing kids. Thanks for letting me enjoy them this year!

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Week 2, August 16-20

Hi Everyone,
Sorry I don't have any pictures posted...I lost my camera! I have torn my house apart looking for it. As soon as I find it there will be plenty of cute pictures to come.

This week we will introduce lots of new things. We will be learning how to use our computers, work independently, work in reading groups, etc., etc., etc... On Friday mornings, at 9:00 we will always do centers. I could use a parent to volunteer each Friday to help with these centers. If I can get some help we can do really fun centers.

Please come to our Parent University this Tuesday at 6:00. I will be going over our classroom rules, expectations and I will be happy to answer any questions you have about our class. The children have also been working on a book for you to see that night.

For homework this week please read to your child for 20 minutes each night. This is the greatest thing you can do to help your childs reading.

Have a great week,
Mrs. Hamblin

Welcome To School!

Welcome to a new school year! This will be a great year and I a so looking forward to meeting with you and your children on Wednesday so we can get to know each other.

We will be learning about all sorts of things this year, like apples, dinosaurs, the ocean...lots of cool stuff!

Please help your child learn to tie their shoes before they get here, it seems I spend much of my day tying shoes and it be a huge help if they can already do it.

Please feel free to call me either in my classroom or at home if you have any questions about our upcoming year.

Mrs. Hamblin

The Last Week of School

Our last week of school was great! We didn't learn much, but we had fun. We went to the park on Tuesday, had award day on Wednesday, played on the playground and played with bubbles on Thursday and cleaned up Friday and went home early.

This year was fantastic and I loved spending time with and getting to know everyone so well. Thank you again for allowing me to share this year with your children. They were all sweet and I will miss each of them.

Have a wonderful summer! See you next year!

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Last Week of School!

This is it! Our last week! Thank you for sharing your children with me this year. I have loved every minute with them and have full confidence that they will be fantastic First Graders!

We will wrap it all up this week and send report cards home on Thursday.

Please don’t forget to send your permission slips back for our Park Day tomorrow if you haven’t already done so, and there are still a few permissions I need for our George of the Jungle movie.

Don’t forget to pack a lunch for your child on Tuesday and please have them wear appropriate clothing. Remember if the weather is bad we will be staying here at the school.

Please send your child with an old t shirt on Thursday so they can have an “Autograph My T-Shirt” day.

Check out our fun pictures from Dome Day your kids are adorable! You might check back here a few more times. I will be posting more pictures from our last week of school when I get them ready.

I will really miss your children next year. This has been a great class! Again, thank you for all you have done!

Have a GREAT summer!

Dome Day 2010

We had the most fun at Dome Day...hope you enjoy the pictures. They are pretty great. Thanks for sharing your awesome kids with me this year!

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May 10-14

THERE IS ONLY 2 WEEKS OF SCHOOL LEFT! What happened to this year?
This week is going to be quite busy. Monday and Tuesday will be normal days, Wednesday is Early Release, Thursday is Dome Day (Please send in your permission slips), and Friday will be a normal day.
We will continue learning about monkeys and will end the week by watching Disney’s “The Jungle Book”.

We didn’t do very well on our spelling words last week so we will be repeating them again this week. So our spelling words will be:
Names
Days
Seats
Cans
Steps
Kites
Hands & stores
Please help your child study these words. They are hard and I hope they will do well and feel success on Friday as they get 100% on their spelling test.

I will really miss your children next year. This has been a great class!

Have a great week!

May 3-7

Only 3 weeks left, and May will be full of fun things for our class!
Don’t forget Tuesday is Early Release, and there is another one on the 12th. The last day of School is the 21st and the students will be going home at 10:00.
Friday the Kindergarten will have their program.

This week we will be reading a story about 3 sisters and the part they play in their family.
Our spelling words will be:
Names
Days
Seats
Cans
Steps
Kites
Hands & stores

Congratulations to all of you who completed the Exercise Challenge. Our class logged some serious exercise hours! Good Job everyone!!!!!

I will really miss your children next year. This has been a great class!

Have a great week!

April 19-23

Only 5 weeks of school left! Can you believe we are this close to summer? Your kids have all done so well this year and have grown so much. It is always so sad for me to move them on…but that’s the way it is. I have loved being your child’s teacher this year. Thank you for letting them be part of our class!
This week we will be reading the book “A Mother for Choco”, it is about a lonely little bird who goes in search of his mother.
Our spelling words will be:
Sky
My
Cry
By
Try
Fly
They should do really well on their spelling test on Friday.

I will not be here on Friday, but we will have our spelling test that day, so please help your child study. Also don’t forget to read with them. I have included some words that your child needs to be reading well in preparation for First Grade on the back. Please help them daily with these words.

Keep Exercising! Our challenge is coming to an end on April 30th. I think a couple of kids in our class have a great chance of winning the whole thing! Let’s hope! I’m proud of you for getting out and exercising, that is as important as exercising our minds!

Was that ten boy name two red one in

is it my I for come brown what three he

said as with his purple little green the

see we mom hot odd got orange here be

gray four can are yellow white pink no

look six this they five blue and yes silver

on me like go from do black a girl dad

Have a great week!

April 5-9

Hope you all had a great Easter weekend. It was wonderful.
This week we have a nice full week of learning for a change! We are reading a fun book called “George Shrinks”, it is about a small boy who dreams he is very small.
Our spelling words will be:
Each
Out
Mean
Read
Seat
And challenge words are: clean & please

There aren’t any big events this week so please help your child study their spelling words so they will do well on their test on Friday. Also, continue reading at least 20 minutes a night with your child. Even though they don’t bring a book home, read anything you have at home with them. Their reading will improve drastically if you do so.

Thanks to all of you who showed up at the dome last week to help with our Easter Egg Hunt. It was crazy, but the kids loved it, and I loved your help!


Keep Exercising! Our challenge will end April 30th.

Have a great week!
Mrs. Hamblin

February & March

Hope you've all been enjoying Spring Break!

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March 15-19

This is a big week! Don’t forget our First Grade Music Program, Thursday at 1:30! If you can’t make that performance we are practicing for the whole school at 9:00 Wednesday morning.
This is also our Spring Fling Week. We are dressing up this week. Wednesday is “Wear All Green Day”; Thursday is supposed to be “PJ and Wacky Hair Day” but we are asking all first graders to not dress up this day due to our program, sorry! Friday is “Backwards Day”. Should be a fun week.
Friday is early release, which begins our Spring Break.
We will be reading the book, “If You Give A Moose A Muffin”, and our spelling words will be:
Go
So
Home
No
Bone
Joke
Close
Those

Don’t forget to read for 20 minutes with your child every night and help them study their spelling words.
We will also continue learning about our amazing bodies this week. We have learned a lot about staying healthy!
The NCAA Basketball tournament starts this week! It’s the best time of year!
Keep Exercising! Our challenge will end April 30th.

2 hour Delay!

Okay everyone, another 2 hour delay has been called already for tomorrow. School starts at 10:20.
See you all then!

March 8-12

It was a crazy week last week with all of our early releases, but we are going to get back to business this week and work hard.
We will continue learning about our bodies, and especially our hearts and how important it is to keep them healthy.
We will be reading the book “There’s An Alligator Under My Bed”. We will be working on the same spelling words this week as we had a hard time passing our test last Friday.

Cake
Make
Take
Late
Name
Came
And we will have the challenge words Place and Chase.

Don’t forget to read for 20 minutes with your child every night and help them study their spelling words.

Keep Exercising! Our challenge will end April 30th.

March 1-5

This week is parent teacher conferences. Don’t forget there are Early Releases Wednesday and Friday. I have scheduled these for Wednesday. If I have not scheduled a conference with you and you would like to meet with me, please let me know and we will arrange a time.
Tuesday is Dr. Seuss’ Birthday, so we will be doing everything Seuss! It will be a great day!
We are finished with our Ocean unit and are moving on to the Human Body. We will be learning all about our wonderful bodies this month and how they move and work!
We will also be reading the book “Eek! There’s A Mouse In my House!” Our spelling words will be:
Cake
Make
Take
Late
Name
Came
And we will have the challenge words Place and Chase.

Don’t forget to read for 20 minutes with your child every night and help them study their spelling words.

Keep Exercising! Our challenge will end April 30th.

Early Release

EARLY RELEASE!!!!!!!

This Friday...Our boys are in the State Finals for Basketball.

GO ELKS!!!!

February 22-26

We will be having Parent Teacher Conferences the 3rd and 4th of March so look for an appointment sheet coming home this week.
Sonic Night is this Monday night, Sonic donates a percentage of everything they make tonight to our school! That really helps!
This Friday I will be leaving early, (at lunch) so we will have a substitute to finish out the day.
We will be reading a book about a little boy and his big brother this week and we will be reviewing spelling words, which are:
For
Sit
Six
Did
Cup
They
Homework each night continues to be reading for 20 minutes and studying our spelling words. Also, get out and exercise (don’t forget to record your time!). We are going to win this competition, plus it burns energy and helps your child sleep better!

Thank you for your great support during our Valentines Party! We had a great time. Special thanks to Mrs. Broadbent, Mr. Barreras, and Mr. & Mrs. Watkins who helped with our party.
Hope you all enjoyed your extra day off yesterday. It is always nice to relax.
This week we will continue to learn about the ocean, and especially about Sharks!
We will also be learning about some of our great Presidents that were so influential in shaping our country.
We will be reading the book “A Color of His Own”, about a chameleon who changes color depending on his mood. Our spelling words will be:
Tell
Off
Egg
Miss
Still
Will
I hope everyone is exercising and recording their times. We can win this challenge if we all work together! Everyone counts, not just the students in our class. Lets get moving; and Wii games that get you moving count too!

February 8-12

Dear Parents,
Last week we had fun starting our Ocean Unit. We learned a little about the Ocean and the creatures that live there. We learned about different Whales. This week we will continue learning all about our great oceans.
We learned about Groundhog Day, and it looks like we are in for 6 more weeks of winter.
This week we will be reading “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”, this book teaches us about the life cycle of a caterpillar, and we will learn the days of the week.
Our spelling words this week will be:
Sun
Up
But
Cup
Bug
Fun
Everyone did so well on our test last week. Good job everyone!
Remember that homework EVERY night is spelling words and reading for 20 minutes. This is the most important thing you can do to help your child be successful in school. Also review nursery rhymes.
We will have our Valentines Party on Friday at 1:30 so if you would like to send small, wrapped candy that would be great!

*Don't forget to check elks.net or the radio stations in the mornings to make sure we aren't on a 2 hour delay.

Have a great week!
Mrs. Hamblin

February 1-5

We learned a lot about Dinosaurs in the month of January, and now in February we are going to learn all about the ocean! This is a fun month and one of my very favorites. The ocean is amazing. We will also learn about Groundhog Day, Valentines and President’s Day’s.
Our Special Person this week is Kale. We are so glad to have him back in our class and look forward to hearing from him. Thanks Heavenly for sharing with us last week
We will be reading the “Itsy Bitsy Spider” this week and our spelling words will be:
It
Did
In
Sit
Big
Six
Keep reading with your child each night. It is making a big difference!
Thanks for everything!
Mrs. Hamblin

Happy 100th Day!

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January 19-22

We had a great week last week learning all about dinosaurs and their different unique qualities. We will continue learning about them again this week.
We will also be reading the book “The Little Red Hen”, and will make bread to taste on Friday, mmmmm. Our spelling words this week will be:
Red
Get
Ten
Went
Hen
Yes
Please help your child study these words again, like always; and continue to read with them nightly. Our reading is improving greatly. It is fun to see all the progress these children are making. They are great students.
We will learn all about Dr. Martin Luther King Tuesday. Thursday will be our 100th day of school, so we will celebrate with MANY counting activities. It is always a fun day!
Thanks to Jesus for being our Special Person last week, Afton has the floor this week.
Hope you all enjoyed your extra long weekend!

Mrs. Hamblin

January 11-15

Well, school is back in full swing. We had forgotten a few things over the break, but it didn't take long to remember and get back to it.
This week we will be reading a book called, "The Doorbell Rang". This is a great book about cookies, grandma and sharing with our friends. The kids should really enjoy it.
Our spelling test last week went really well! Thanks for helping your child study.
Our new words will be:
can
an
had
bag
cat
bad
They all have the short a vowel. Help your child use these words in sentences and practice writing them each night. Also, don't forget to read with and/or to your child 20 minutes every night. Pick fun, exciting books and you will see great success in their reading.
Our Special Person this week will be Jesus. We will love learning all about him.
Mrs. Hamblin

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you all. Hope your break was fun and relaxing and you all enjoyed a nice time with family and friends.
Are you all ready to get back into school and learn some cool new stuff? So am I!
The whole month of January we will be learning all about Dinosaurs! We have all sorts of activities that will help us learn all sorts of new things about these amazing creatures.
This week we will be reading a book about an Alligator Purse. It is a funny book and I hope you all enjoy reading it together with your families.
Our spelling words this week will be:
she
has
had
her
his
Lots of h's!
We won't be having a special person this week, but look forward to hearing from Jesus next week.
Looking forward to seeing you all Monday Morning! I have sure missed you!!
Mrs. Hamblin