11/10-11/14

Your students packed in alot this week!  The first grade sang two songs in our Veteran’s Day Assembly on Tuesday morning with the Master Singers.  This week in CKLA your students moved on in their reader, “Fables” and worked on medial vowel sounds as well as tricky words. The spelling words this week were the -and and -ite word endings.  Students worked throughout the week on these words in the class and tested on Friday. The spelling words will increase in complexity from now until the end of the year so please feel free to study at home with your student if you feel that is needed.  In math this week, we worked on comparing groups of objects using the part/part/whole model.  We are close to finishing our Listening and Learning Unit on the Mayan, Aztec and Incan civilizations. We enjoyed a lesson connecting our Ancient civilizations to art implemented by two students from the SUU Arts Integration class. We will enjoy a similar lesson next week as well.  All students worked on their weekly I-Ready minutes on their ipads.  In addition to our learning times this week, your students traveled to Library, Art, Science, and PE. Your students also attended a fun Friday rotation for the last 30 minutes of the day. This is rotation that your student chooses and participates in each Friday. 

UPCOMING:

11/25: Class Thanksgiving Party (2-3PM)

11/26-11/30: Thanksgiving Break

11/3-11/7

This week in CKLA your students continued on in their “Fables” reader. We worked on the medial /oo/ sounds and practiced verbs and long vowel sounds. The spelling words this week were the -ell and -ock word endings.  Students worked throughout the week on these words in the class and tested on Friday. The spelling words will increase in complexity from now until the end of the year so please feel free to study at home with your student if you feel that is needed.  In math this week, we worked on using the strategies we have learned to add and subtract within 20 to solve story problems.  We practiced two songs for the Veteran’s Day Assembly next week.  All students worked towards their weekly I-Ready minutes on their ipads.  In addition to our learning times this week, your students traveled to Library, Art, Science, and PE.  We also started our first grade rotations on Friday afternoon where students chose to spend the last 30 minutes of the day in one of four stations: technology, science, creativity, or active time.  

UPCOMING:

11/11: First Grade student’s Veteran’s Day Assembly for the school (please send your student in red, white or blue this day if possible).

11/25: Class Thanksgiving Party from 2-3PM

11/26-11/30: Thanksgiving Break

10/27-10/31

We had a great time celebrating Red Ribbon Week this week at South Elementary.  We had a regular week of learning in CKLA, Math and Spelling. We learned and worked on writing a book report through the ideas of plan, draft, and edit. We did one book report as a whole group together on the rug and the second one was taught by Mrs. Lemley where students did their own writing.  Our reader for this unit is titled “Fables.” The students have already been introduced to the two different sounds the /oo/ can make in the middle of a word.  Our spelling words this week were the -ot and -ip word families.  Your students worked on these words throughout the week and tested on them in class on Friday.  In math, we are working on putting together and taking apart teen numbers to make a ten and then add or subtract further.  Your student also attended a math and reading group this week.  We moved on the Mayan civilization in Listening and Learning this week and will visit the Aztec and Incan civilizations in the coming weeks. We had a visit on Tuesday from our school resource officer to talk about street safety when Trick or Treating.  South Elementary had a visit from the K9 officers on Thursday to show us the amazing skills on these handlers and dogs. Friday was our South Elementary Halloween parade and classroom Halloween celebration.  

UPCOMING:

11/11: First Grade student’s Veteran’s Day Assembly for the school (Due to space constraints, this assembly is just for South Elementary students. Please dress your students in red, white or blue on this day!)

11/17: South Family Bingo Night Sponsored by the PTA

11/19: Utah Child Abuse Classroom Presentations (Please return green slip if you would like your student removed from the classroom during this time.)

11/25: Class Thanksgiving Party

11/26-11/30: Thanksgiving Break

10/20-10/24

I hope you all had a great fall break! It was a wonderful four day week in first grade with our field trip on Wednesday and reward day on Friday in addition to our learning.  We finished up Unit 2 in language arts and said goodbye to our Gran reader.  Your students brought home their Unit 2 workbooks on Friday.  We will begin Unit 3 on Monday and start a new reader titled “Fables.”  We will also have two writing projects that we will work on during this unit.  We finished up Lesson 10 in Math  recognizing and adding doubles and almost doubles.  Lesson 10 finished up the second unit in math and we will review and do a check for understanding on this unit next week.  Students also worked on their I-Ready personalized instruction on their Ipads this week. We finished up our Listening and Learning unit on Ancient Mesopotamia and have moved on to Ancient Egypt.  We will finish up Ancient Egypt next week and move on to Early World Civilizations the following week.  In addition to our learning this week, your students traveled to Art, Science, and PE.  Next week is spirit week at South Elementary with a Halloween Parade taking place on 10/31 at 1:00 on the upper field. You are welcome to come and watch the parade and take your student home afterwards.

UPCOMING:

SPIRIT WEEK NEXT WEEK:

Monday: wear black and orange

Tuesday: wear mismatched clothes

Wednesday: wear your favorite sports jersey

Thursday: wear backwards clothes

Friday: wear your Halloween costume (no masks or extensive face paint please)

10/13/25-10/16/25

This class moved forward and accomplished a lot during this short week!  We are half way through Unit 2 of Language Arts where we are reviewing/learning long vowel sounds made with a VCVe pattern.  We are continuing to hear about Gran’s travels in our reader as well.  Students attended skill level reading groups this week and those that meet with SUU Reading students did so on Thursday of this week due to SUU’s fall break.  The spelling words this week were the -op and -ug word families.  They were introduced on Monday and we tested them in class Thursday.  These tests came home with your students on Thursday afternoon. We worked on strategies to make a ten to add and make a ten to subtract in math this week. We will continue with this concept next week as well due to the short week.  We are working each week to accumulate 45 minutes of I-Ready IPAD time each week for math as well.  In addition to our regular classroom schedule, your students attended Art, Library, Science and PE.  

UPCOMING:

-No spelling words NEXT WEEK DUE TO THE SHORT WEEK AND FIELD TRIP!

-Field trip to Robinson’s Pumpkin Patch on Wednesday, 10/22 from 9:30-10:45 AM.  Parents, families and siblings are welcome to meet us there at 9:30.

-Class Halloween Party on Friday, 10/31 from 11:45-12:45 PM.  We have parent volunteers organizing this and I will let you know what additional items and help is needed for that day!

-South Elementary Halloween Parade on Friday, 10/31 from 1:00-end of the day on the upper playground.  You are welcome to come and watch and take your student afterwards.  We will bring our backpacks to the upper slab so students can be dismissed from the parade.  

-Spirit week dress up days (10/27-10/31): 

Monday: wear black and orange

Tuesday: wear mismatched clothes

Wednesday: wear your favorite sports jersey

Thursday: wear backwards clothes

Friday: wear your Halloween costume (no masks or extensive face paint please)

10/6/25-10/10/25

We are well into our second reader, “Gran” that follows a brother and sister, Josh and Jenn, along with their grandmother on some fun travels.  Grammatically, this unit will focus on long vowel sounds, punctuation, and nouns.  We will also continue to answer comprehension questions on the stories in our reader.  Math this week focused on using a ten frame and a number bond to make a ten and add on to make a teen number.  We also spent some math time on the I-Ready computer program.  Our spelling words this week were the -ay and -et word families which we worked on throughout the week and tested on Friday.  These tests came home with your student on Friday.  We are finishing up a Listening and Learning Unit this week that compares and contrasts three groups of three similar fairy tales from across the globe.  We will be starting a social studies unit on Ancient Egypt and Ancient Mesopotamia next week in Listening and Learning.  In addition to the academic portions of the week, the class traveled to Library, Art, Science, and PE.  Your students also attended an assembly this week that focused on bike safety.

UPCOMING:

-Fall Break for students is October 17th-20th.  There will be no school on these days.

-We will be taking a field trip to the pumpkin patch on Wednesday, October 22nd at 9:30.  Feel free to send your student’s permission slip back to school any time before 10/22.  Parents and families are welcome to meet us at the pumpkin patch. Please make sure your student has breakfast and arrives by 8:55 on this day!  We will return to South Elementary on the bus no later than 10:45 for lunch!

-There will be NO SPELLING the week of 10/21 due to fall break and the pumpkin patch.  Enjoy that week off of spelling!

9/29/25-10/3/25

Thank you for taking the time to come to South Elementary to talk about your student’s academic progress.  We enjoyed the shorter days but it will be nice to be back in a regular routine next week.  We are through the first few stories in our new reader, “Gran,” following Josh and Jen’s grandma on some worldwide travels.  This unit will introduce long vowel patterns and review our “Silent E” as a way to make a long vowel sound.  We worked on adding three numbers together this week using two different strategies: grouping by ten and counting on and grouping by a double fact and counting on.  We will spend a little more time on this at the beginning of next week as we move on to putting together and breaking apart teen numbers. We also spent some math time on the I-Ready computer program this week.  Our spelling words this week were the -ap and -og word families which we worked on throughout the week and tested on Friday.  These tests came home with your student on Friday.  We took the week mostly off of Listening and Learning due to the shortened day.  In addition to the academic portions of the week, the class traveled to Library, Art, Science, and PE. 

UPCOMING: 

-Fall Break for students is October 17th-20th.  There will be no school on these days.

9/22/25-9/26/25

We finished Unit 1 and our Snap Shots reader on Friday.  Mrs. Lemley taught your students language arts on Friday morning to close out this unit.  We will begin Unit 2 next Monday and start a new reader next week.  Our spelling words this week were the -id and -ab word families.  Your students did an excellent job with these words this week!  We finished up Lesson 6 in Math this week that worked on putting together and taking apart teen numbers to make a 10 and "some more." Mrs. Lemley taught her first math lesson which was a review of this concept on Thursday.  Your students have worked on I-Ready this week during our IPAD time and some students spent some extra free time on Raz Kids.  A small group of students started attending a one on one tutoring session this week with a student from the Foundations of Reading class at SUU.  This is a partnership the first grade participates in each year that helps both our students and the SUU teacher’s education program.  In addition to our learning this week, your students traveled to Library, Art, Science, and PE this week.  We also attended our first PBIS Assembly this Friday where South Elementary recognized students exhibiting confidence.  We will have a character trait each month and an assembly at the end of each month to recognize students exhibiting this characteristic.  October’s character trait will be respect.

UPCOMING:

-October reading logs and show and tell calendars will come home next week.  Feel free to send your student’s September calendar back any time next week or the following week for a prize.

-Fall Break for students is October 17th-20th.  There will be no school on these days.

-Parents/teacher conferences are next week.  School will be dismissed M-Th at 2:30 and 1:30 on Friday.  If you have not already signed up for a time, please use the following link to sign up for a time to meet about your student’s progress.  SEP Meeting Times 

9/15/25-9/19/25

We are close to finishing our reader, “Snap Shots” and Unit 1 of our language arts. Mrs. Lemley, our SUU block student, has taught two language arts lessons and is enjoying your students!  We finished Lesson 5 in math this week which applies addition and subtraction strategies to word problems.  Your students tested on the ‘ed’ and ‘ag’ word families.  Your students are perfecting the process of this portion of the week and doing a fantastic job on the words.  Mrs. Arnell visited our class this week for social and emotional learning.  She comes every other Monday at the end of the day.  We worked on creating our first of many class books this week and moved on in our Listening and Learning portion of language arts talking about the human body and how to keep your body healthy.  Mrs. Rember and Mrs. Lemley were with the class on Friday.  In addition to our direct instruction time, your students spent time on their IPads this week doing some Raz Kids and I-Ready as well as traveled to Library, Art, Science, and PE.

UPCOMING:

-Parent/Teacher conferences are next week.  School will dismiss at 2:30 M-Th and the regular time of 1:30 on Friday.  Please sign up here if you would like to meet: SEP Meeting Times

9/8/25-9/12/25

We started a project this week that we will work in conjunction with the sewing classes at Cedar High School to complete.  Your students chose a shape to start with and created a monster with as much color and detail as they would like.  These sketches are being passed on to the students in Mrs. Smith’s sewing class at Cedar High.  These students will work to bring the monsters to life as a stuffed animal and will bring their final project to your student in October.  

Your students are well into their first reader, “Snap Shots” in language arts along with reviewing the digraphs /ng/, /qu/, /th/, /ch/, and /sh/.  We also started learning TTQA (Turn the Question Around) to answer comprehension questions in complete sentences.  We used number lines in math this week as a strategy to add and subtract.  We will continue to use and reinforce number lines, number bonds, and ten frames as strategies to add and subtract.  Our spelling words this week were the -ad and -ig word families.  We tested on these words on Friday and your student’s test came home on Friday as well.  We attended a patriotic assembly hosted by our second grade students on 9/11 where they shared with us what the United States, the flag, and freedom means to them.  The class also attended an exciting Yo-Yo assembly on Friday to learn the importance of listening, following the rules, and learning through the art of using a Yo-Yo.  The class also took some time to water color paint on Friday.  Most students came home this week with their “Brown Bear, Brown Bear” books.  A few students finished these up on Friday and they will come home next week.  In addition to our learning in the classroom, your students attended library with Mrs. Stucki, art with Mr. Rahm, science with Mrs. Coats, and PE with Mrs. Green.  

UPCOMING:

- The Color Run will be held on Tuesday, September 16th from 2:30-3:30 PM.

-Goodies with Grandparents breakfast will be held on Friday, September 26th at 8:00 AM.

-SEP (Parent/Teacher Conferences) Week will be held September 29th-October 3rd.  School will be dismissed at 2:30 M-Th and the regular 1:30 on Friday.

9/2/25-9/5/25

Although it was a short week, we had a full week of learning as we moved on in spelling with the -am and -en word families.  These words came home on Tuesday and we tested on them in class Friday.  We are nearing the end of our language arts review and started our Unit 1 reader this week.  As your students learn to answer comprehension questions on their reading, we will talk alot about the TTQA (Turn The Question Around).  The goal of the TTQA strategy is to guide students in constructing oral responses using the language from the question.  It also helps students learn to use complete sentences in their writing.  Your students did great with this concept on Friday.  Half of the class began attending reading groups this week and the rest of the class will begin in the coming weeks.  Students are divided into groups based on the target skill they are working to acquire.  These groups can and will change throughout the year.  We started lesson 3 in math this week where students will improve their skill of using a number line to add and subtract. We talked about the importance of learning a number line as students progress in this skill to an open number in later grades.  Students also worked on their I-Ready minutes on their computer this week.  We had a school wide assembly on Friday afternoon talking about self confidence. We will have these character building assemblies throughout the year.  In addition to our classroom learning, your students traveled to Art, Science, and PE this week. 

UPCOMING:

- The Color Run will be held on Tuesday, September 16th from 2:30-3:30 PM

-Goodies with Grandparents breakfast will be held on Friday, September 26th at 8:00 AM

-SEP (Parent/Teacher Conferences) Week will be held September 29th-October 3rd.  School will be dismissed at 2:30 M-Th and the regular 1:30 on Friday. I will be sending a link via email and Remind in the coming weeks for you to sign up for a time that is convenient for you.

8/25/25-8/29/25

We had a great, full week of school celebrating our 10th day of school!  We will begin reading groups next week for most students which will bring a shift to our morning schedule with reading groups M-Th from 10:00-10:35.  These groups will continue throughout the entire school year.  We completed our second week of spelling and students are becoming more familiar with the procedure and routine of testing and doing a great job with the words!  We are nearing the end of our beginning of the year review in language arts and will start our new reader next week.  We completed the second lesson in math which is a review of the principles of addition and subtraction within 10.  We will continue to talk about addition and subtraction as opposites as we apply the reflexive property.  We also spent some time this week working on the I-Ready math program on our ipads.  Your student has a QR code on the inside of their folder that you can use to login at clever.com if you would like to use this program at home. Students have almost completed their personal versions of “Brown Bear, Brown Bear” that we have been working on since the second day of school.  We will finish these next week and they will be coming home soon.  In addition to our academic time this week your students traveled to library, art, science, and physical education.

UPCOMING:

-School Pictures will be on Wednesday, September 3rd.

8/18/25-8/22/25

We enjoyed starting our special rotations this week on Monday with Library (Mrs. Stucki), Tuesday with Art (Mr. Raham), Wednesday with Science (Mrs. Coates), and Thursday with PE (Mrs. Green).  We also had our first set of spelling words and a spelling test on Friday.  These tests will come home with your student on Monday.  We will move on to our second set of spelling words next week.  We also took our beginning of the year math and reading assessments this week which you can review at parent/teacher conferences in October.  We are through our first full lesson in math making number partners to 10.  Our first unit in language is a review of the letters and sounds taught in kindergarten.  We had a visit from Mrs. Arnell, our school counselor, this week.  She will visit our class monthly to teach social and emotional wellness lessons.  We have been working on creating a “Brown Bear, Brown Bear” book throughout this week and will continue working on it next week.  Your students have shown kindness and patience in so many ways this week; they have worked hard to support each other as they learn the routines and schedules of a new school year.    

Upcoming:

-There is no school on Monday, September 1st in observance of Labor Day.