News of the Week for May 18th

How did it get to be the last week of first grade? I am very proud of each and every one of my students. They have all made tremendous growth this year. The last week/day of school is hard for everyone, and I am sure there will be lots of emotional times this week. Please try to keep things as normal as possible on the home front to help us make a smooth transition into the long awaited summer break.

IMPORTANT REMINDERS:

REPTILE SHOW:

On Monday, we will have a special presenter from Austin Reptile Shows provide an “in-school field trip” experience to help support our wonderful science learning this year. Thank you in advance to PTA for providing the funds necessary to make this possible!

SCHOOL SUPPLIES:

Our School Supply Sale is Now Open!

Save time and money by ordering your child’s school supplies through EPI! Supply kits will be delivered to your child’s classroom before our Back to School Fling!

School supply kits are $45 each. Make sure to order based on the grade your child will be in NEXT year. You will receive an email confirmation after you order, which ensures your order went through.

Order online at: https://www.educationalproducts.com/shoppacks/

Our School ID is CAN043

The deadline to order is May 19! After that date, pricing will go up and packs will be shipped to your home instead of to our school. Check school supplies for next year off your list by ordering today!

END OF THE YEAR PARTY:
On the last day of school, Thursday, May 21st from 8:30-9:30, we will celebrate our amazing year in first grade with a delicious brunch. We are looking forward to this event, please RVSP at this link to have your badge pre-printed. The RSVP link closes on May 15th. Please remember to sign in at the office to pick up your visitor's pass before coming to the classroom. As always, thank you for finding child care for all younger siblings. And thank you to Margaret and Manuela and all of the first grade room parents for organizing this fun event! If you would like to volunteer to help out at the party, please see this link for volunteer opportunities.

END OF YEAR CHROMEBOOKS:

Leaving Round Rock ISD?
You must turn in your Chromebook and charger: THURSDAY, MAY 21ST
Headed to another RRISD school?
You will take your Chromebook & charger with you.

CCE Summer Chromebook Request Form
This form is for CCES parents requesting to check out their student's Chromebook for targeted summer learning, classes, or enrichment. All other Chromebooks will be kept safe at school and ready when you return in the fall.

Please complete this signed agreement to the school administration before taking the Chromebook home for the summer break. It will be provided to the student by the last day of school. Any requests after that time will have to go through the front office and can not be guaranteed. Thank you for your cooperation in ensuring the safe and responsible use of school-issued technology and balanced/monitored screentime!

Those taking home Chromebooks should set up their GoGuardian Access. for full time at home monitoring (except for those on an RRISD campus for Summer School or enrichment where the teacher will have during-school control).

REPORT CARDS:
Report cards are coming home on the last day of school.

YEARBOOK INFO:

Yearbooks will be sent home on the last day of school.

END OF YEAR TRAVEL PLANS:

If you will be traveling before the end of the year and your child will not be here on the last day of school, please let us know so that we can say our goodbyes and send everything home with your child.

AMAZON WISH LIST
If you are interested in supporting our classroom needs, here is our Amazon wishlist. I truly appreciate your support!

THIS WEEK AT A GLANCE…

Monday: Desert Day!

Tuesday: Camp Learned a Lot Day!

Wednesday: Friendship Day!

Thursday: Vacation Day!

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

May 21: End of Year Brunch (8:30-9:30)

May 21: Last Day of School

Have a wonderful week and enjoy your summer!

Mrs. Barnard :-)

News of the Week for May 8th

Thank you so much for the thoughtful gifts, treats, and kind gestures during Teacher Appreciation Week. Your generosity and support made me feel truly appreciated and celebrated.

I am incredibly grateful not only for the gifts, but also for the encouragement, partnership, and care you show throughout the year. It is a privilege to work with such wonderful students and such a supportive school community.

Please know how much your thoughtfulness means to me. Thank you again for making Teacher Appreciation Week so special!

IMPORTANT REMINDERS:

RECYCLE BAGS NEEDED:

Parents, we need your help! By Friday, May 15, we need each student to bring a cloth grocery store bag to school that we can use to store some of the many things that will be going home on the last day of school. The reusable HEB bags would be perfect for our needs, but if you have a large department store bag with handles, that would also work. It will just need to be able to carry the weight of class supplies. Please make sure that your child’s name is on the bag. Thank you!!

END OF YEAR EMOTIONS:

This time of year brings out many different kinds of emotions in children. On the one hand, the students are very excited and are anticipating the upcoming break. They look forward to having more free time, play dates, sleeping later, and vacations. However, on the other hand, they are sad to leave first grade and the comforts of our classroom. Second grade brings about nerves and the knowledge of “starting over.” These emotions come to the surface in different ways: bugging friends, grumpy behavior, hands on others, overly silly, lots of talking, crying, etc.

To help your child with this upcoming transition, please try to get him/her to bed at a reasonable time at night. This will help him/her when working through emotions during the school day. A clear head is helpful when relational issues arise because your child will feel more equipped and able to utilize classroom strategies. I continue to discuss these things in the classroom and am handling any misunderstandings and/or tears. If a note comes home in the planner, please use that as a conversation starter to reinforce our continued expectations, as well as to address any stress your child may be feeling. Thanks for your continued efforts at home, as well! They are a precious bunch!

SCHOOL SUPPLIES

Our School Supply Sale is Now Open!

Save time and money by ordering your child’s school supplies through EPI! Supply kits will be delivered to your child’s classroom before our Back to School Fling!

School supply kits are $45 each. Make sure to order based on the grade your child will be in NEXT year. You will receive an email confirmation after you order, which ensures your order went through.

Order online at: https://www.educationalproducts.com/shoppacks/

Our School ID is CAN043

FIELD DAY INFORMATION:

Our field day is Friday, May 15th, 10:00-11:30. We are looking forward to a day full of fun and exciting activities! There are no water slides this year, so no swimwear or towels are needed. Sunscreen could still be beneficial, but please apply all sunscreen at home, as teachers are not responsible for this. Students can also bring their refillable water bottles to stay hydrated. Normal schoolwear with tennis shoes would be appreciated.

END OF THE YEAR PARTY:
On the last day of school, Thursday, May 21st from 8:30-9:30, we will celebrate our amazing year in first grade with a delicious brunch. We are looking forward to this event, please RVSP at this link to have your badge pre-printed. The RSVP link closes on May 16th. Please remember to sign in at the office to pick up your visitor's pass before coming to the classroom. As always, thank you for finding child care for all younger siblings. And thank you to Manuela and Margaret and all of the first grade room moms for organizing this fun event! If you would like to volunteer to help out at the party, please see this link for volunteer opportunities.

This Week's Curriculum:

Language Arts:

- Develop reading vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension

- Practice visualizing while reading

- Practice making connections when we read

- Learn new high-frequency words

- Participate in shared reading

- Build fluency

- Identify and record the important parts of a book or chapter

Writing:

- Respond through writing

- Continue drafting stories of interest

- Review story genres drafted this year

- Blend words with consonant -le syllables

- Review silent letters and suffixes

- Record memories from the year in a First Grade memory book

Math:

- Subtract two-digit numbers

- Review related facts (fact families)

- Review adding two-digit numbers

Science:

- Discuss uses of plants

- Learn about life in the desert and various plants and animals that live there

- Understand the difference between nocturnal vs. diurnal animals

- Learn where deserts are located and create a US desert map

- Discover different desert animal adaptations

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER AND TO ADD TO YOUR CALENDARS:

May 11: First Grade Showcase 7:20-7:40 a.m.

May 15: Field Day

May 15: Parent Reader (June’s Family)

May 21: End of Year Brunch (8:30-9:30)

May 21: Last Day of School

Have a great week!

Lauren

News of the Week for May 4th

We had the most wonderful Ocean Day thanks to our room parents, Margaret and Manuela! We created a tranquil, shimmery ocean in a bottle and mingled with an octopus friend. We sampled delicious seafood, looked closely at sand from around the world, and dove into a sweet blue ocean of jello. It was an amazing journey - free of itchy sand and sunburns! Be sure to check out our class photos!

Thank you to all of the volunteers who donated food items, supplies, and/or your time. It was perfect! Our ocean hallway was filled with beautiful decorations and lots of excited students swimming through!

IMPORTANT REMINDERS:

RECYCLE BAGS NEEDED:

FIRST GRADE SHOWCASE:

The first grade students and teachers are excited to invite you to come by your child's classroom on Monday morning, May 11, from 7:20 - 7:40 a.m. for our First Grade Showcase. Your favorite first grader will be ready to show you some of the great work that he/she has been doing this year! Please come to cheer your child's hard work and show your appreciation for all he/she has learned in First Grade. We look forward to seeing you here! RSVP here.

LIBRARY BOOKS - All CCE library books are due on Friday, May 8th.

Author Visit for K-2nd Grade next Friday, May 8

Canyon Creek father-daughter duo, John Walter and Victoria Morales (CCE alumna), are visiting K-2nd graders on Friday, May 8 to share their book, Iggy the Iceberg. Enjoy an informative tale of adventure and travel to 10 different countries around the southern seas! They will also be accompanied by special guest, Miss Susan Walter, who teachers piano to many of our students. Books can be purchased at this link on Amazon and brought on Friday to be signed (book sales are not a fundraiser for Canyon Creek).

SCHOOL SUPPLIES

Our School Supply Sale is Now Open!

Save time and money by ordering your child’s school supplies through EPI! Supply kits will be delivered to your child’s classroom before our Back to School Fling!

School supply kits are $45 each. Make sure to order based on the grade your child will be in NEXT year. You will receive an email confirmation after you order, which ensures your order went through.

Order online at: https://www.educationalproducts.com/shoppacks/

Our School ID is CAN043

END OF YEAR EMOTIONS:

To help your child with this upcoming transition, please try to get your child to bed at a reasonable time at night. This will help him/her when working through emotions during the school day. A clear head is helpful when relational issues arise because your child will feel more equipped and able to utilize classroom strategies. I continue to discuss these things in the classroom and am handling any misunderstandings and/or tears. If I reach out to you, please use that as a conversation starter to reinforce our continued expectations, as well as to address any stress your child may be feeling. Thanks for your continued efforts at home, as well! They are a precious bunch!

END OF YEAR CHROMEBOOKS:

Leaving Round Rock ISD?
You must turn in your Chromebook and charger: THURSDAY, MAY 21ST

Headed to another RRISD school?
You will take your Chromebook & charger with you.

AMAZON WISH LIST:

If you are interested in supporting our classroom needs, here is our Amazon wishlist. I truly appreciate your support! Speaking of wishlists, I received a package this week but with no note from who it was from so thank you so much to whoever that was!

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER AND TO ADD TO YOUR CALENDARS:

May 11: First Grade Open House 7:20-7:40 a.m.

May 15: Field Day

May 22: End of Year Brunch, 8:30-9:30am (More information to come)

THIS WEEK AT A GLANCE:

LANGUAGE ARTS:

- Develop reading vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension

- Practice visualizing while reading

- Practice making connections when we read

- Learn new high-frequency words

- Participate in shared reading

- Build fluency

WRITING:

- Respond through writing

- Record memories from the year in a First Grade memory book

MATH:

- Review efficient addition and subtraction strategies

- Build fact fluency

SCIENCE:

- Discuss the things plants need for survival

- Plant our very own seeds

- Discuss plant parts we eat

Have a fabulous week!

Lauren

News of the Week for April 27th

It has been another fun learning week in first grade! Thanks for sharing your precious children with me each day! I was so very proud of them at their performance this week! They did a fabulous job and my cheeks still hurt from smiling so much during their musical!

GOODBYES ARE NEVER EASY…

Thank you for joining us for our Chick Sip ‘N See!

Thursday was our last day with the chicks. We are sad to see them go, but are trying our best to understand their needs. We’ve talked about how quickly they have changed. They are bigger now and LOVE to practice flying across the brooder! Our heart wishes they could stay forever, but our mind knows that it is time for them to have more space. All 18 chicks and 3 brooders will have a great new home, with someone who is going to take such good care of them. We wish these cuties well on their next adventure and be sure to check out our class photos from our fun time with them!

OCEAN DAY:

Ocean Day will take place on Friday, May 1st from 1:00-2:50. This will be a memorable day as we celebrate all that we will have learned about the ocean and the animals that live there! This is not an event open to visitors and you may only attend if you've signed up to volunteer.

Here is the sign up for food donations!

Here is the sign up for volunteering to decorate or run a learning station!

We appreciate your help with this and know that it takes many people to make this event special for our kids!

FIRST GRADE SHOWCASE:

The first grade students and teachers are excited to invite you to come by your child's classroom on Monday morning, May 11th, from 7:20 - 7:40 a.m. for our First Grade Showcase. As you drop off your child, it is the perfect time to stop by before heading out for your day. Your favorite first grader will be ready to show you some of the great work that he/she has been doing this year! We look forward to seeing you then!

VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION BREAKFAST:

Have you volunteered in the library/art room, chaperoned a school field trip, served as homeroom parent, served at a classroom party or special event, participated in Watch DOGS, worked a PTA event for the school, or served Friday Feast meals? Then, this invite is for you! The list is endless of ways you have served the staff and students of CCE! So, the staff of Canyon Creek would like to invite any parent or community member volunteers who served our campus this school year to an appreciation breakfast! Please join us on Wednesday, April 29th from 7:20am - 8:00am. as we celebrate an amazing year together and honor all of you who have given your time to make our school and community such a special place to be! Please RSVP here so that you can easily walk in with a preprinted badge!

END OF YEAR CHROMEBOOKS:

Leaving Round Rock ISD?
You must turn in your Chromebook and charger: THURSDAY, MAY 21ST

Headed to another RRISD school?
You will take your Chromebook & charger with you.

AMAZON WISH LIST:
If you are interested in supporting our classroom needs, here is our Amazon wishlist. I truly appreciate your support!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Mia on April 29th!

THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM:

Language Arts:

- Develop reading vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension

- Practice visualizing while reading

- Practice making connections when we read

- Learn new high-frequency words

- Participate in shared reading

- Build fluency

- Recognize characteristics of persuasive texts and state what the author is trying to persuade the reader to think or do

Writing:

- Respond through writing

- Dictate or compose informational texts, including procedural texts

Math:

- Review addition strategies with a focus on “Doubles Facts”

- Develop addition strategies with a focus on “Monkey in the Middle”

- Strengthen their understanding of number relationships and develop addition strategies with a focus on “10 to Teen”

- Strengthen their understanding of number relationships and develop addition strategies with a focus on “Bridge to 10”

- Apply strategies to problem solving situations

Science:

- Research their ocean animal’s parenting style

- Research facts about their ocean animals

- Learn about invertebrates

- Learn about waves

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

May 1: Ocean Day

May 8: Parent Reader (Felix's Family)

May 11: First Grade Showcase from 7:20-7:40am

May 15: Parent Reader (June's Family)

May 21: End of Year Brunch & Last Day of School (more information to come!)

Have a wonderful weekend!

News of the Week for April 20th

This week has been the week all first graders have been waiting for. We got to observe chicks hatching out of their eggs and now they are all cozy in their brooders.. We have loved all the little cheeping we have been hearing in our classrooms. We will have one more week with our chicks and can’t wait for you to see them!. They are getting so big already!

SAVE THE DATES FROM THE FIRST GRADE TEACHERS:

***PLEASE NOTE: We have a lot of fun activities happening between now and the end of the school year. Now is a great time to fill out the application so that it has time to process and be approved.

1. APRIL EVENTS:

CHICK “SIP & SEE”:

The students are working hard in teams to prepare for our upcoming Peeps and Pals (for the school body) and a "Sip and See" for all of you. We will host this event for you on Thursday, April 23rd from 3:00-3:30 in our classroom/First Grade hallway. You must be in attendance for your child to be able to attend. They will come to you like normal at dismissal. At 3:00, you may come through the front doors by the office for some cute chick viewing and light snacks! Siblings are welcome for this event! Due to space, we are not able to accommodate friends from other grade levels during the “Sip and See”, just families. As mentioned above, they will enjoy viewing the chicks during the school day. Thanks for your understanding.

2. MAY EVENTS:

OCEAN DAY: Ocean Day will take place on Friday, May 1 from 1:00-2:50 Our room moms will soon be in contact detailing how you can help with this big event. This will be a memorable day as we celebrate all that we will have learned about the ocean and the animals that live there!

FIRST GRADE SHOWCASE: The first grade students and teachers are excited to invite you to come by your child's classroom on Monday morning, May 11, from 7:20 - 7:40 a.m. for our First Grade Showcase. As you drop off your child it is the perfect time to stop by before heading out for your day. Your favorite first grader will be ready to show you some of the great work that he/she has been doing this year! We look forward to seeing you then!

APRIL BIRTHDAYS:

Happy Birthday to Emmarie on April 17th!

Happy Birthday to Mia on April 29th!

THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM:

Language Arts:

- Develop reading vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension

- Practice visualizing while reading

- Practice making connections when we read

- Learn new high-frequency words

- Participate in shared reading

- Build fluency

Writing:

- Respond through writing

- Continue drafting stories of interest

- Identify and spell words with vowel patterns of /oo/

- Blend, build, and spell words with suffix -ly

- Review diphthongs /ou/, /oi/

Math:

- Use expanded form to see the underlying value of digits

- Solidify the relationship between the numerals up to 120 and the concrete models that they represent

- Compare numbers to determine greater than, less than, and equal to

Science:

- Work in teams to prepare for our Chick Sip ‘n See

- Introduce our ocean animal research unit

Important Dates to Remember:

April 23: Chick Sip 'n See with our families 3:00-3:30

April 23: PTA meeting and 1st Grade Performance

April 24: Parent Reader (Kylee’s Family)

May 1: Ocean Day (more information to come!)

May 8: Parent Reader (Felix’s Family)

May 11: First Grade Showcase from 7:20-7:40 a.m.

Have a great weekend!

Lauren

News of the Week for April 13th

A huge THANK YOU to all of our volunteers (Felix's mom, Asmara's mom, Veer's dad, June's dad, and Kylee's dad) for helping us build our chicken brooder today! After our teams designed and built 3-D models of their brooders, we voted on the best design possible for our baby chicks. These volunteers helped our idea become a reality, with a little help from some first graders! They did an egg-cellent job! Now that we have a home built, we patiently wait for the arrival of our baby chicks on Wednesday . . . fingers crossed!

This brooder build day would not have been possible without all of the generous donations from our families! We can’t tell you how much we appreciate your help! Your donations made this an egg-stra special experience! Be sure to check out our class photos of a very fun brooder building day!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

CHICK LIVE STREAM

Wednesday is our much anticipated HATCHING DAY! Below, we are including the live streams for each class! If you have time, we encourage you to pop in and see what is happening!

1st Grade Live Stream

CHICK SIP ‘N’ SEE!

Please join us as we say goodbye to our chicks on Thursday, April 23rd. Our Sip ‘n’ See will be in each of our classrooms from 3:00-3:30. Come and have a snack and a sip and see our brooders we designed and our chicks before they go to their next happy home! The first grade program is scheduled for that same evening, so it’ll be a full day for our first graders!

1ST GRADE PERFORMANCE

Mark your calendars for the First Grade Program - Pajama Party! on Thursday, April 23th, immediately following the 5:00 p.m. PTA meeting. The lyric slides and recordings for all of the program songs can be found here. Please encourage your students to take a look at these slides and practice the songs!

VOLUNTEER APPLICATION

We have a lot of fun activities happening between now and the end of the school year. Now is a great time to fill out the application so that it has time to process and be approved.

APRIL BIRTHDAYS:

Happy Birthday to Emmarie on April 17th!

Happy Birthday to Mia on April 19th!

This Week's Curriculum:

Language Arts:

- Develop reading vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension

- Practice visualizing while reading

- Practice making connections when we read

- Build fluency

Writing:

- Respond through writing

- Writing a variety of poems

Math:

- Balancing Equations

- Finding missing numbers in an equation

Science:

- Record information about the life cycle of baby chicks

- Work in teams to prepare for our Chick Sip ‘n See

Important Dates to Remember:

April 17: Parent Reader (Veer's Family)

April 23: Chick Sip 'n See with our families 3:00-3:30

April 23: PTA Meeting and 1st grade performance 5:00

April 24: Parent Reader (Kylee's Family)

May 1: Ocean Day (more information to come!)

News of the Week for April 6th

What an "egg-citing" week we've had! We've been keeping track of what's been happening inside our chick eggs on our hatching calendar and are about 13 days away from hatching day! This week we spent some time in groups designing and building model brooders in our classroom that would make good homes for our chicks. Be sure to check out the "Class Photos" page for our team pictures with some awesome designs!

With that being said, First Grade will be having a "Build Day" on Friday, April 10th where we have a crew of parents who will take our winning chicken brooder that was designed and voted on by the children and turn it into a life-sized brooder for our baby chicks to live in. I was very impressed by how well each brooder building team worked together to create some great designs!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THE WEEK:

BROODER DONATIONS:

Thank you so much for all the brooder building supplies and monetary donations that came in this week! We received a very generous donation from Heartland Sprinklers as well, so thank you for sponsoring our first grade brooder building project! All these contributions play an important role in supporting our grade level projects and there are about 60 very excited first graders who can't wait to see the brooders come to life! We truly appreciate your kindness, generosity and support along this journey!

SAVE THE DATE:

Stay tuned for information coming from the first graders on a Chick "Sip and See" on Thursday, April 23rd from 3:00-3:30 in our classroom!

1ST GRADE PERFORMANCE:

PLANNERS:

At this point in the year, all first graders should be independently writing their reading homework into their planner each night. We have noticed that many parents are doing this task for their children, but we want this to be the child's responsibility. Titles should be written neatly on the handwriting lines, spelled correctly, and capitalized. Parents can add the total number of minutes and initials. Thank you for helping us to build responsibility in each of our students.

THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM:

Language Arts:

Develop reading vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension
Practice making connections when we read
Learn new high-frequency words
Participate in shared reading
Build fluency
Discuss rhyme, rhythm, repetition and alliteration in a variety of poems
Practice reading and writing contractions

Writing:

Respond through writing
Dictate or compose literary texts, including personal narratives and poetry

Math:

Compare and order 2 & 3 digit numbers to 120

Science:

Record information about the life cycle of baby chicks
Vote on a favorite class brooder
Create an invitation for our Chick Sip 'n See
Take a virtual field trip to a farm specifically to learn how to raise and care for baby chicks

APRIL BIRTHDAYS:

Happy Birthday to Emmarie on April 17th!

Happy Birthday to Mia on April 19th!

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

April 10: Parent Reader (Asmara's Family)

April 10: 1st Grade Brooder Build Day

April 17: Parent Reader (Veer's Family)

April 23: Chick Sip 'n See with our families 3:00-3:30

April 23: PTA Meeting and 1st grade performance 5:00

April 24: Parent Reader (Kylee's Family)

Have a wonderful week!

Mrs. Barnard

News of the Week for March 30th

We are bursting with excitement in First Grade! See below for all of the fun things happening!

“EGG-CITING” NEWS!

Did you hear? We have 10 chicken eggs in our classroom incubator that we are observing! To coincide with this fun life science unit, we traveled to Callahan’s General Store on Wednesday! Before we boarded the buses, we brainstormed a list of things that we needed to learn to be great chicken keepers. We learned so much about how to care for our baby chicks once they hatch – everything from providing a living space to meeting their needs. Check out all the pictures from our field trip in the "Class Photos" section of our website!

THANK YOU to Steven and Mitchell for their outstanding chaperone support during our field trip! What a special day for all involved!

Important information for this week:

1. LAST CALL - BROODER BUILDERS:

As we prepare for the arrival of our chicks, the students will be hard at work in the coming days designing a comfortable living space for our babies. We will then vote on a class design to build. We are looking for parent volunteers willing to help bring the winning design to life! If you are interested in helping with this project, please email me as soon as possible. Thank you to everyone who has volunteered to help!

Here are the details:

What: Volunteers will use tools to build a life-size replica of the winning class brooder.

When: Friday, April 10th from 8:00 a.m. until finished (usually about lunchtime)

Where: On the CCE porch outside of the first grade doors (Boulder side)

2. BROODER DONATIONS:

In addition to brooder builders, we could use some help! We have a sign up genius here, where you can find various small supplies needed to build our brooders. In years past, we have asked parents to purchase wood boards and large pieces of plywood and drop it off at school. We are trying to simplify this task for parents and are willing to make the wood purchases for each class. With an optional $5-10 cash donation from each student, we will be able to make our classroom brooders come to life without having large amounts of unused wood. Any money leftover will be used for another special day coming up, Ocean Day! We appreciate your help to make this memorable project a success for your kids!

3. SAVE THE DATE:

Stay tuned for information coming from the first graders on a Chick "Sip and See" on Thursday, April 23rd from 3:00-3:30 in our classroom!

4. 1ST GRADE PERFORMANCE:

5. PLANNERS:

This Week's Curriculum:

Language Arts:

- Develop reading vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension

- Discuss rhyme, rhythm, repetition, and alliteration in a variety of poems

- Practice making connections when we read

- Learn new high-frequency words

- Participate in shared reading

- Build fluency

Writing:

- Respond through writing

- Continue drafting stories of interest

- Dictate or compose literary texts, including personal narratives and poetry

Math:

- Show numbers using different forms: standard, expanded, model, and word form

- Review counting to 120 and putting numbers in order

Science:

- Record information about various animal groups

- Record information about the life cycle of baby chicks

- Take a virtual field trip to a farm to learn how to raise and care for baby chicks

- Design an idea for our chick brooder and build 3-D model

APRIL BIRTHDAYS:

Happy Birthday to Emmarie on April 17th!

Happy Birthday to Mia on April 19th!

STAR OF THE WEEK: Our star of the week for this week is Yooan! We look forward to learning more about our special classmate!

Important Dates to Remember:

April 3: Holiday, No school for students and staff

April 10: Parent Reader (Asmara’s Family)

April 10: 1st Grade Brooder Build Day (please email if interested in participating)

April 17: Parent Reader (Veer’s Family)

April 23: Chick Sip 'n See with our families 3:00-3:30

April 23: PTA Meeting and 1st grade performance 5:00

April 24: Parent Reader (Kylee’s’ Family)

Have a wonderful week!

Lauren

News of the Week for March 23rd

Happy Spring Break!! Everyone has worked so hard and I know we are all ready for a little break! I hope you all have a wonderful time together, and I can’t wait to hear about everyone’s adventures when we return! Please see below for important information when we return from Spring Break.

Important Information:

BOOK FAIR BOOKS

Thank you so much for supporting our school book fair. Many of you generously purchased books from my teacher wish list box, and I am so very thankful. You gave a book to not only our class but to many classes for years to come. Thank you for sharing the gift of reading with so many students.

READING LOGS FOR SPRING BREAK

Please read 3 times over the 9 day break! For those first graders that would like to read more, that is wonderful!

CALLAHANS GENERAL STORE

On Wednesday, March 25, we will venture away from Canyon Creek to visit Callahan’s General Store. This important learning experience will coincide with our Spring Project Based Learning (PBL) assignment. We look forward to beginning an exciting unit after Spring Break that requires the Callahan’s staff’s help in learning about chicks. On this day, students will need to bring a disposable water bottle and a sack lunch. We will need a few picnic blankets as well. If you have a blanket we can use, please let me know. If you are one of our parent volunteers and are able to transport those items from school to trailhead park, please let me know! Thank you!

PARENT HELP NEEDED

For this upcoming PBL assignment, we are in need of parent help. Once we launch the project, we will get more specific details out to you, but we need a few parents willing to help cut wood and assemble a brooder for our upcoming chick unit. Some of the wood cutting may need to happen before our build day at your house due to heaviness of tools. Please email me if you are available to help out on April 10. As of right now, we are excited and thankful to have Felix's mom, and Asmara's mom as our volunteers. Thanks so much!

STAR OF THE WEEK

Our next star of the week for the week of March 23rd will be Ethan! We can’t wait to learn about our special classmate.

THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM

Language Arts:

- Develop reading vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension

- Practice visualizing while reading

- Practice making connections when we read

- Learn new high-frequency words

- Participate in shared reading

- Build fluency

Writing:

- Respond through writing

- Identify and spell words with the r-controlled vowel /ore/, /oar/, and /or/

Math:

- Use concrete and pictorial models to compose and decompose numbers

- Group quantities into tens and ones

- Practice using place value to identify tens and ones in numbers

Science:

- Review characteristics of fish, amphibians, reptiles, insects, and birds

Important Dates to Remember

March 16-20: Spring Break, no school for students and staff

March 25: Field Trip to Callahan’s

March 26: STEAM Night

March 27: Parent Reader (Solomon's Family)

April 3: School Holiday

April 10: Parent Reader (Asmara's Family)

Have a wonderful Spring Break!

Lauren

News of the Week for March 9th

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THE WEEK:

IT'S BOOK FAIR TIME!

Come celebrate Myths Around the World with our Spring 2026 Book Fair, Monday, March 9 - Friday, March 13 - including late night shopping on Thursday, March 12TH. Find all the information you need about dates, times, payment methods, VOLUNTEERING, and more right here on our Book Fair Webpage!

PARENT HELP NEEDED

For our upcoming PBL project, we will be in need of parent help. Once we launch the project, we will get more specific details out to you, but we will need a few parents willing to help cut wood and assemble a piece of equipment for each class. Some of the wood cutting may need to happen before our build day due to heaviness of tools. Please be thinking ahead if you would be available to help. The tentative date is April 10th. This is a huge first grade tradition, but one that can only be pulled off with parent support. Please email me if you are interested in helping with this project. Our students and our baby chicks (hint, hint, hint!) are appreciative of any help you can give!

EDUCATION GO GET IT WEEK!

March 9-13, 2026 is Education Go Get It Week (EGGI Week) at Canyon Creek! EGGI Week is a week to focus on exploring and learning about the wide variety of post-secondary opportunities and career choices available in the future for our students. While of course our students don't need to have their future plans set in stone at this early age, it's never too early to start learning about the many, many options that are out there! Canyon Creek plans to celebrate EGGI Week with the following activities:

Monday, March 9th: Canyon Creek T-Shirt

Tuesday, March 10th: College/Military/Training Program T-Shirt Day

Wednesday, March 11th: Dress up in your fancy interview clothes

Thursday, March 12th: My Future Career Day

Friday, March 13th: Retirement Day

In the March 3rd Tuesday folder, students received a paper doll they can decorate with what they want to be when they grow up. If they’d like to see it displayed in the hallway, please send it back to school!

Also in the Tuesday folder, students will receive a “Parent Career Selfie” half sheet. If you’d like, please complete the activity by including a picture of yourself working at your job and writing your favorite part of your job. Please send this to school if you’d like Mrs. Hougham to add your Parent Career Selfie to a hallway display!

STAR OF THE WEEK: Our star of the week for this week is Otis! We look forward to learning more about our special classmate!

AMAZON WISH LIST
If you are interested in supporting our classroom needs, here is our Amazon wishlist. I truly appreciate your support!

HAPPY MARCH BIRTHDAY:

Happy Birthday to Hudson on March 7th!

Happy Birthday to Ethan on March 24th!

THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM:

Language Arts:

Develop reading vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension
Practice visualizing while reading
Practice making connections when we read
Learn new high-frequency words
Participate in shared reading
Build fluency
Make inferences and use evidence to support understanding

Writing:

Revise imaginative narrative drafts by adding details in pictures or words
Edit drafts using standard English conventions
Syntactic awareness
Publish and share imaginative narrative stories

Math:

Add or subtract ten from a number
Identify even and odd numbers

Social Studies:

Learn what interdependence means and identify things that are needed in the home and school environments
Show how animals depend on trees
Identify the needs of various animals and understand the idea of interdependence
Identify what a food chain is and how energy is transferred from one animal to another

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

March 13: Parent Reader (Jimena's Family)

March 16-20: Spring Break - No School; Student & Staff Holiday

March 25: Field trip to Callahan’s

March 26: STEAM Night 5:00-6:15

March 27: Parent Reader (Solomon's Family)

April 3: No School; Student & Staff Holiday

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs. Barnard :-)

News of the Week for March 2nd

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THIS WEEK:

LIBRARY CHANGE:

Due to the book fair the week of March 9-13, we’ll be going to the library to check in and check out new books on Tuesday, March 3rd. Please send books back on this day.

FIELD TRIP PERMISSION SLIP

Field Trip Permission slips for our trip to Callahan’s General Store on Wednesday, March 25th, came home in the Tuesday, February 24 folder. Please be sure to sign the permission slip on the back and send cash or check (payable to Canyon Creek Elementary) with your child. If you would like to volunteer as a parent chaperone, please indicate that on the back of the form. Parents will need to provide their own transportation. Money and permission slips are due on Tuesday, March 3rd.

PARENT HELP NEEDED

READ ACROSS AMERICA:

During the week of March 2-6, we will celebrate Read Across America Week. We will celebrate our love of reading all week long! Our days will include:

Monday: Bring a (small) blanket for a reading picnic (a blanket that could fit in a backpack or a small separate bag is fine)

Tuesday: Wear your favorite color

Wednesday: Wear a shirt with words

Thursday: Wear a hat today

Friday: Wear your pajamas

EDUCATION GO GET IT WEEK!

Monday: Canyon Creek T-Shirt

Tuesday: College/Military/Training Program T-Shirt Day

Wednesday: Dress up in your fancy interview clothes

Thursday: My Future Career Day

Friday: Retirement Day

In the March 3rd Tuesday folder, students will receive a paper doll they can decorate with what they want to be when they grow up. If they’d like to see it displayed in the hallway, please send it back to school!

STAR OF THE WEEK: Our star of the week for this week is Emmarie! We look forward to learning more about our special classmate!

HAPPY MARCH BIRTHDAY:

Happy Birthday to Hudson on March 7th!

Happy Birthday to Ethan on March 24th!

THIS WEEK'S CURRICULUM:

Language Arts:

- Develop reading vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension

- Practice visualizing while reading

- Practice making connections when we read

- Learn new high-frequency words

- Participate in shared reading

- Build fluency

- Identify story elements in fairy tales and fables

Writing:

- Respond through writing

- Draft a fictional story (make up pretend characters, give the characters a name, imagine adventures, problem and solution)

Math:

- Introduce unitizing

- Organize quantities for counting

- Practice unitizing through counting and representing large quantities

Social Studies:

- Finish learning about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln

- Record facts to share learning

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

March 6: Parent Reader (Hudson’s Family)

March 13: Parent Reader (Jimena’s Family)

March 16-20: Spring Break, no school for students and staff

March 25: Field trip to Callahan’s

March 27: Parent Reader (Solomon’s Family)

Have a wonderful weekend!

News of the Week for February 23rd

March is on the horizon which means that Spring Break is around the corner (March 16-20) If your family will be traveling before or after these dates and it will impact instructional time, please let me know. This allows me to move lessons and assessments around, if needed. I appreciate your communication!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THIS WEEK

READ ACROSS AMERICA

During the week of March 2-6, we will celebrate Read Across America Week. We will celebrate our love of reading all week long! The days will include:

Monday: Bring a small blanket for a reading picnic

Tuesday: Wear your favorite color

Wednesday: Wear a shirt with words

Thursday: Wear a hat today

Friday: Wear your pajamas

FIELD TRIP PERMISSION SLIP

Field Trip Permission slips for our trip to Callahan’s General Store on Wednesday, March 25th, will be coming home in the Tuesday, February 24 folder. Please be sure to sign the permission slip on the back and send cash or check (payable to Canyon Creek Elementary) with your child. If you would like to volunteer as a parent chaperone, please indicate that on the back of the form. Parents will need to provide their own transportation.

PARENT HELP NEEDED

STAR OF THE WEEK

Our star of the week for this week is Veer! We look forward to learning more about our special classmate!

AMAZON WISH LIST
If you are interested in supporting our classroom needs, here is our Amazon wishlist. I truly appreciate your support!

THIS WEEK'S CURRICULUM:

Language Arts:

- Develop reading vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension

- Practice visualizing while reading

- Practice making connections when we read

- Learn new high-frequency words

- Participate in shared reading

- Build fluency

- Identify story elements in fairy tales and fables

Writing:

- Respond through writing

- Begin drafting a fictional story (make up pretend characters, give the characters a name, imagine adventures, touch and tell, sketch and write)

Math:

- Introduce place value to 99

- Organize quantities for counting

- Practice unitizing through counting and representing large quantities

Social Studies:

- Begin learning about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln

- Record facts to share learning

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

February 27: Parent Reader (Veer's Family)

March 6: Parent Reader (Hudson's Family)

March 13: Parent Reader (Jimena's Family)

March 16-20: Spring Break, no school for students and staff

March 25: Field trip to Callahan's General Store

Have a wonderful weekend!

News of the Week for February 16th

We had a great time on our field trip to Zach Scott Theater and celebrating Valentine’s Day at our class party! Thank you to our first grade room parents and all first grade parents for making all of the fun possible. We’ve also had a great week highlighting acts of kindness in the classroom, at recess, and all around the school.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THE WEEK:

SPRING BREAK TRAVEL:

If your holiday schedule will involve travel before our Spring Break begins (March 16-20), would you please send me an email? This will allow me to work around your travel schedule and still gather the necessary academic data for this point in the year. Thanks for your assistance!

ART ROOM NEEDS:

Mrs. Weir is needing toilet paper rolls for an upcoming art project. Please send them to school with your student. She will have a box outside of her room for collection. Thank you!

STAR OF THE WEEK: Due to the short week, we will celebrate our next Star of the Week, Veer, the week of February 23rd! We look forward to learning more about our special classmate!

Upcoming Birthdays:

Happy Birthday to Asmara on February 12th!

Happy Birthday to Lainey on February 21st!

THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM:

Language Arts:

Develop reading vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension
Practice making inferences
Practice making connections when we read
Learn new high-frequency words
Participate in shared reading
Build fluency
Demonstrate knowledge of distinguishing characteristics of well-known children's literature such as folktales, fables, fairy tales, and nursery rhymes

Writing:

Respond through writing
Revise and edit drafts by adding details in pictures or words

Math:

Collect and analyze data
Draw conclusions

Social Studies:

Learn about President's Day
Provide examples of service jobs
Identify ways people exchange goods and services

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

February 16-17: No school; Student Holiday

February 20: Parent Reader (Kylee's Family)

February 27: Parent Reader (Veer's Family)

March 6: Parent Reader (Hudson's Family)

March 13: Parent Reader (Jimena's Family)

March 16-20: Spring Break - No School; Student & Staff Holiday

March 27: Parent Reader (Solomon's Family)

Have a wonderful 4-day weekend!

Mrs. Barnard :-)

News of the Week for February 9th

What a great 100th Day of School celebration we had on Monday! We had some adorable 100 year old first graders show up for class that day. Be sure to check out our photos! Thank you for your part in making this a fun activity for your child and thank you to everyone who donated items for our 100th day snack!

CLASS NEWS:

VALENTINE’S NEWS FROM THE HOMEROOM PARENTS:

It is almost time for our 1st Grade Valentine's Day Party! All decorations and materials will be provided, volunteers just need to help the day of the party. Thank you to everyone who has volunteered!

Valentine's Day Party

Date: Friday, February 13th

Time: 2:00 - 2:55

If you would like to attend the party but are unable to volunteer, please RSVP at the link: Valentine's Day Party RSVP. Please RSVP by February 10th.

If you have any questions please feel free to reach our homeroom parent team.

FIELD TRIP:

We are so excited about our field trip on February 12th to Zach Scott Theater! On this day, your child will need a sack lunch and disposable water bottle. Please make sure both of these items are labeled with your child’s name. We are also needing 3-4 picnic blankets for each class as well. If you have a picnic blanket you can donate, please email your child’s teacher. Thank you!

ART ROOM NEEDS:

Mrs. Weir is needing toilet paper rolls for an upcoming art project. Please send them to school with your student. She will have a box outside of her room for collection. Thank you!

VALENTINE’S DAY INFORMATION:

Recently, the children made a list of their classmates to help students prepare Valentines and brought these lists home in their Tuesday folder. Your child is also welcome to just write his or her own name on the cards and leave the “to” spot empty for easy distribution. We are asking that completed cards be sent to school by February 10th. We will be making cute Valentine bags that will hold the cards that each child receives so they can easily be transported home after our party on February 13th.

STAR OF THE WEEK: Our Star of the Week this week is Solomon! We look forward to learning more about our special classmate!

Upcoming Birthdays:

Happy Birthday to Asmara on February 12th!

Happy Birthday to Lainey on February 21st!

This Week's Curriculum:

Language Arts:

- Develop reading vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension

- Practice making inferences

- Practice making connections when we read

- Learn new high-frequency words

- Participate in shared reading

- Build fluency

- Describe plot elements

Writing:

- Respond through writing

- edit drafts using conventions (capitals, punctuation, spacing)

Math:

-Show data using tally marks and graphs

-Analyze data

Social Studies:

- Discuss goods and services

- Discuss consumers and producers

- Discuss needs and wants

Important Dates to Remember:

Feb. 6: Parent Reader (Lainey’s Family)

Feb. 13: Valentine’s Day party

Feb. 16-17: Presidents’ Day, no school for students

Feb. 20: Parent Reader (Kylee’s Family)

Feb. 27: Parent Reader (Veer’s Family)

Have a wonderful week!

Mrs. Barnard

News of the Week for February 2nd

CLASS NEWS:

100TH DAY OF SCHOOL

We are excited to celebrate 100 days of school on Tuesday, February 3! We are so proud of all of our first graders and how much they have learned and grown these first 100 days! We can’t wait to see them look like 100 year old men and women. It’s one of our favorite days of the year! Thank you to all the parents who sent in items for our 100th day snack. We are excited for all of our 100th day fun on Tuesday! Stay tuned for pictures!

Please plan to meet us in front of the school after the morning announcements if you would like to see our 100-year olds on parade!

HEALTH/WELLNESS:

As "cold and flu" numbers rise in Austin and surrounding areas please take a moment to review RRISD's Health Guidelines on when to keep your student home. A sick child who is unable to participate at school in a meaningful way should be kept home to rest and recover until symptoms resolve.

A healthy school community requires parents and schools to partner with each other. To prevent/minimize local outbreaks of contagious disease, parents must keep children who have an illness that can be spread from person to person at home, and Round Rock ISD nurses will exclude students with symptoms of a communicable illness from school attendance.

Fever: A child must remain home with fever equal to or > 100.0° F and may only return to school after they have been fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medicine such as Tylenol or Motrin.
Diarrhea: A child with diarrheal illness must stay home until they are diarrhea-free without the use of diarrheal-suppressing medication for 24 hours.

If you take your child to a healthcare provider for an evaluation of illness or injury, please be sure to request a written letter stating when your child may return to school and any accommodations required upon his/her return.

VALENTINE’S DAY INFORMATION:

Recently, a list of classmates was sent home to help students prepare Valentine’s cards. Your child is also welcome to just write his or her own name on the cards and leave the “to” spot empty for easy distribution. We are asking that completed cards be sent to school between February 4th and 10th. We will be making Valentine bags that will hold the cards that each child receives so they can easily be transported home after our party on February 13th.

VALENTINE’S NEWS FROM THE HOMEROOM PARENTS

We are just a few weeks out from our 1st Grade Valentine's Day Party. The homeroom parents will be reaching out to call for volunteers to support the classroom parties. All decorations and materials will be provided, volunteers just need to help the day of the party. We will have various slots to fill and we greatly appreciate all your help!

Valentine's Day Party

Date: Friday, February 13th

Time: 2:00 - 2:55

If you plan to volunteer you must complete a Volunteer Application (if you have not already). A new application needs to be completed every school year. Volunteer applications can take several days to process. For more information on volunteering follow the link provided:

RRISD Volunteer Application

If you would like to attend the party but are unable to volunteer, please RSVP at the link below:

Valentine's Day Party RSVP

If you have any questions please feel free to reach our homeroom parent team.

NIGHTLY READING

Thanks for your continued efforts at home in creating a nightly reading routine. We know that, as parents, life is very busy, but your consistency and devotion to this routine will pay dividends in your child’s future. Reading is the access point to all learning, and they are working hard to gain proficiency. We had a much better week with remembering our planners, so thank you for helping with that!

STAR OF THE WEEK

Our Star of the Week this week is Felix! We look forward to learning more about our special classmate!

This Week's Curriculum:

Language Arts:

- Develop reading vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension in fiction texts

- Read for understanding (Charlotte’s Web)

- Practice making connections when we read

- Learn new high-frequency words

- Participate in shared reading

- Build fluency

Writing:

- Respond through writing

- Continue drafting friendly letters

Math:

- Tell time to the hour with analog and digital clocks

- Tell time to the half hour with analog and digital clocks

Science:

- Observe soil and identify properties of soil (texture, color)

- Write about soil samples that we examine

Important Dates to Remember:

February 3: 100th Day of School

February 6: Parent Reader (Lainey's Family)

February 12: Field Trip to Zachary Scott Theater

February 13: Valentine's Day Party

February 16-17: No school; Student Holiday

February 20: Parent Reader (Kylee's Family)

Have a fantastic week and stay warm!

News of the Week for January 26th

January sure did fly by and we are ready for all the fun that next week and February will hold! 100th Day, Groundhog’s Day, President’s Day and Valentine’s Day! We love learning about and celebrating all of these fun days!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THE WEEK:

100th DAY OF SCHOOL:

It is hard to believe that Friday is our one hundredth day of school! On January 30th we will celebrate by participating in many fun activities. The children should have some exciting stories to share with you at the end of the day! Now is the time to start thinking of what to wear and remember to be creative! Some ideas for this day include: eyeglasses, pearls, gray hair, gray mustache or beard, stockings, suspenders, tie, scarves, flannel shirts, etc. Please join us for a parade outside on the 100th day to see the cutest 100 year olds following morning annoucements at 7:35.

100th DAY SNACK:

Thank you to everyone who signed up to contribute to our fun snack for the 100th day! Most of what we requested has been sent in but we are still missing a few items. If you haven't sent your food item in yet, please do so on Monday.

SNACK:

Speaking of snacks, our daily morning snacks should not take more than about 5 minutes to eat. We are hoping for a snack that satisfies our students until lunch. I know snack time can be fun, but will you help us monitor what snack is being brought to school? A healthy snack would be best and one they can eat independently without lots of utensils to do so. Thank you for helping us maximize our learning time!

VALENTINE’S DAY INFORMATION:

In this week’s Tuesday folder, you will find a list of your child’s classmates for their Valentine’s cards. This will help your first grader add classmates' names to the cards, if they would like. Your child is also welcome to just write his or her own name on the cards and leave the “to” spot empty for easy distribution. We are asking that completed valentines be sent to school any time between February 4th-10th. We will be making Valentine bags in class that will hold the cards that each child receives so they can easily be transported home after our party.

NIGHTLY READING:

We are so close to filling our marble jar and getting to celebrate as a class. We appreciate your continued efforts at home in creating a nightly reading routine. We know that, as parents, life is very busy, but your consistency and devotion to this routine will pay dividends in your child’s future. Reading is the access point to all learning and they are working hard to gain proficiency.

STEAM Night:

Full STEAM Ahead! Grab your lab coats and your curiosity—STEAM Night is just around the corner!

Date: Tuesday, Jan 27 Time: 5:00 – 6:15 PM Location: CCE

We invite all our families to join us! Come explore interactive stations from every grade level and enjoy special presentations from our Westwood High School guest groups! From engineering challenges to artistic creations, there is something for everyone.

We can't wait to see our scientists, techies, engineers, artists, and mathematicians in action! You will be able to explore the various stations at your own pace but as a reminder that all students must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

STAR OF THE WEEK: We are excited to celebrate this week's Star of the Week, Jimena! We look forward to learning more about our special classmate!

AMAZON WISH LIST
If you are interested in supporting our classroom needs, here is our Amazon wishlist. I truly appreciate your support!

THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM:

Language Arts:

Develop reading vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension
Practice retelling events in a story
Practice making connections when we read
Learn new high-frequency words
Participate in shared reading
Build fluency
Manipulate phonemes to make new words
Recognize characteristics and structures of informational and fictional text

Writing:

Respond through writing
Compose a friendly letter

Math:

Review the parts of a clock and describe its role in telling time
Review time to the hour
Tell time to the half hour and discuss the meaning of "half past"

Science:

Review what we know about rocks and bodies of water
Discuss what we know about soil
Observe soil and identify properties of soil (texture, color)
Write about soil samples that we examine

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

January 27: STEAM Night (5:00-6:15pm)

January 30: Parent Reader (Khloe's Family)

January 30: 100th Day of School

February 6: Parent Reader (Lainey's Family)

February 12: Field Trip to Zachary Scott Theater

February 13: Valentine's Day Party

February 16-17: No school; Student Holiday

Have a fantastic week and stay warm!

Mrs. Barnard :-)

News of the Week for January 19th

We've enjoyed learning about Martin Luther King, Jr., and measuring each other & objects around the room with nonstandard units of measurement. Each day we enjoy learning together and sharing our knowledge with you!

Important information for this week:

ZACH SCOTT THEATER FIELD TRIP:

Our first field trip is quickly approaching! The permission slip was in the last Tuesday folder. Thank you to all who have turned in!

We will be viewing a production of Charlotte's Web at Zach Scott Theater on Thursday, February 12th.

Important notes:

Please return the permission slip by Tuesday, January 20th.
The permission slip is two-sided and must be signed on the back
The cost is $20 per child
Payment may be made by cash or check
- Checks should be made payable to Canyon Creek
Parent volunteers will not be needed for this field trip due to space limitations

100th DAY OF SCHOOL:

Can you believe that Friday, January 30th will be the 100th day of school? We have some fun activities planned. One way we will celebrate 100 days of 1st grade learning is by dressing up like a 100 year old person. No need to buy special costumes or anything. This is a fun and silly way for us to celebrate all the hard work these kids have done so far. Be creative! Some ideas for this day include: eyeglasses, pearls, gray hair, gray mustache or beard, stockings, suspenders, tie, scarves, flannel shirts etc.

VALENTINE’S DAY INFORMATION:

We will be making a list of classmates to bring home in the January 27th Tuesday folder. This will help your first grader add classmates' names to the cards, if they would like. Your child is also welcome to just write his or her own name on the cards and leave the “to” spot empty for easy distribution. We are asking that completed valentines be sent to school any time between February 4th-10th. We will be making Valentine bags in class that will hold the cards that each child receives so they can easily be transported home after our party.

NIGHTLY READING:

STEAM Night:

Full STEAM Ahead! Grab your lab coats and your curiosity—STEAM Night is just around the corner!

Date: Tuesday, Jan 27 Time: 5:00 – 6:15 PM Location: CCE

STAR OF THE WEEK:

Due to the short week next week, our next Star of the Week is Jimena for the week of January 26th! We look forward to learning more about our special classmate!

This week's curriculum:

Reading:

- Develop reading vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension

- Practice retelling events in a story

- Practice making connections when we read

- Learn new high-frequency words

- Participate in shared reading

- Build fluency

- Use pictures and words in a story to understand and explain how a character is feeling

- Use character reactions to figure out the problem

- Infer character feelings

Writing:

- Respond through writing

- Learn the elements of a friendly letter

- Brainstorm ideas for future letters

- Review words with soft c and soft g sounds

- Review and discuss long vowel words with the silent e (-ine, -ife, -ide)

Math:

- Name the parts of a clock and describe its role in telling time

- Make individual clocks

- Practice drawing the hands on a clock

- Tell time to the hour

Science:

- Discuss items that are made from rock and soil

- Describe properties of water

- Identify sources of water

Important dates to remember:

Jan. 19: No school for students and staff for MLK Jr. Day

Jan. 23: Parent Reader - Mia’s Family

Jan. 27: STEAM Night - 5-6:15

Jan. 30: 100th day of school

Jan. 30: Parent Reader - Khloe’s Family

Have a wonderful week!

Mrs. Barnard :-)

News of the Week for January 12th

This past Tuesday, the report cards for the 2nd Grading period (mid-Oct. through mid-December) went home in your child's Tuesday folder. The paper copy of the report card is for you to keep. If you haven’t already done so, please sign and return the outer envelope. Envelopes are stored here to use for the next report card that is scheduled to come out after Spring Break. Thanks for your help with this!

NIGHTLY READING:

Thanks for your continued efforts at home in creating a nightly reading routine. We know that, as parents, life is very busy, but your consistency and devotion to this routine will pay dividends in your child’s future. Reading is the access point to all learning, and they are working hard to gain proficiency. All children are expected to read at least 10 minutes each night. The book title, number of minutes, and a parent initial should be included in the planner each night. Please work with your child to make this part of your nightly routine.

WEATHER:

It’s starting to feel cold outside, and it occasionally feels like Winter! Please send your child to school with the appropriate items for outdoor play, with mindfulness to the day’s temperature. Unless it is raining or below freezing temperatures, we plan to take the children to recess at 1:00pm. If the temperature is between 20-30 degrees, our time outside will be shortened, but it may still happen for a quick lap around the track or for a few minutes of fresh air. All items should be labeled with your child’s name so that they can be returned if lost.

As part of building independence and self-sufficiency, we are encouraging the children to practice putting on and zipping up their jackets. This is an important skill that not only helps with self-care but also boosts confidence.

We kindly ask for your support in practicing this skill at home. Repetition and patience will go a long way in helping them become more confident and proficient.

100th DAY SNACK:

First Grade will have a special "100 Things" snack on the 100th Day of School. If you are able, we are asking for donations for these snack items. There will be 10 different snacks, and the students will count 10 pieces of each kind of snack to equal 100 pieces. This will likely require the largest size available of the requested item. All 10 items are being requested in quantities of 3 since there are 3 first grade classes. If you would like to contribute, please sign up here.

STAR OF THE WEEK: We’re excited to celebrate Sophia as our next Star of the Week! We’re looking forward to learning about our special classmate.

Important dates to remember:

Jan. 16: Parent Reader (Emmarie's family)

Jan. 19: MLK Holiday, No School

Jan. 23: Parent Reader (Mia's family)

Jan. 27: STEAM Night (5:00-6:15pm)

Jan. 30: Parent Reader (Khloe's family)

Jan. 30: 100th Day of School

THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM:

Language Arts:

- Develop reading vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension

- Practice retelling

- Practice making connections when we read

- Learn new high-frequency words

- Participate in shared reading

- Build fluency

- Discuss putting words in alphabetical order

- Compare and contrast character traits

Writing:

- Respond through writing

- Brainstorm ideas for future stories

- Spell words with soft c and soft g sounds

- Review and discuss long vowel words with the silent e

Math:

- Use non-standard measuring tools to measure the length of objects

- Put objects in order based on length

Science:

- Discuss natural resources and how rocks and minerals have made these items

News of the Week for Januray 5th

Happy New Year to you and your family! I hope you had a wonderful winter break filled with a nice balance of fun and rest! I am excited to hear all about your child’s winter break adventures.

2026 wouldn’t be a new year without resolutions! We will begin this week by talking about resolutions, or goals, that we have for the second half of our first grade year. We will also review our classroom routines, behavior expectations, and get organized for a new semester!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THIS WEEK:

THANK YOU:

Thank you to our room parents, Margaret Lane and Manuela Levy, for working hard to make a fun Winter Party possible for our kids before the break! Everything was so well prepared & organized and the kids had a wonderful time making ornaments, snacking, and playing Winter themed games!

The class gift was such a kind and thoughtful surprise! I'm so appreciative of generous & supportive parents to partner with this year! I love your children and enjoy each moment of our journey together!

DONATIONS:

Our class is running low on Kleenex boxes and Clorox wipes. If you could send in either item, we would greatly appreciate your donation!

PARENT READER SCHEDULE:

For parents who expressed an interest in being a Friday Parent Reader, please see the updated schedule on the "Parent Reader" part of my website. We love having this special reading time with you! The schedule is posted on the Parent Reader tab of our website.

STAR OF THE WEEK:

We will resume our Star of the Week next week when we have a full five day week to celebrate our classmate! We look forward to learning more about Sophia on January 12th.

THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM:

Reading:

- Develop reading vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension

- Practice making connections when we read

- Learn new high-frequency words

- Participate in shared reading

- Build fluency

- Review classroom expectations & our social contract

- Set goals for the New Year

- Reestablish reading workshop systems

Writing:

- Respond through writing

- Brainstorm for future stories using a heart map

- Review 3 letter blends and consonant digraphs

- Review composing sentences

Math:

- Introduce measurement and telling time

- Reestablish math workshop systems

Social Studies:

- Learn about state and national patriotic symbols

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

Jan. 16: Friday Parent Reader times resume for the 2nd Semester

Jan.19: MLK Holiday, No School

Looking forward to a great New Year together as a class family!

News of the Week for December 15th

We've almost made it to the holiday break! Thank you for sharing your wonderful children with me each day—they bring so much joy and energy to our classroom. We hope your family enjoys a fun, cozy, and memory-filled holiday season.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THE WEEK:

HOLIDAY TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS:

Friday, December 12th is the last day to put your photos in directly for our Holiday Traditions and Customs Slideshow. This will be a great way for us to learn more about each other's customs and traditions from around the world!

MIDDLE OF THE YEAR ASSESSMENTS:

We are approaching the end of our 2nd grading period, and the teachers are finishing academic units and administering district assessments. If your holiday schedule will involve travel before our break begins on December 19th or continues into our January return to school, would you please send me an email? This will allow us to work around your travel schedule and plan ahead for your child’s absence. We appreciate your help!

WINTER BREAK READING:

Over the Winter Break, the first grade teachers are asking that the students read a total of 5 days between the dates of December 18th and January 5th. The titles can be recorded on the dates read and do not have to be on consecutive days. Reading over the break will help ensure that your child is ready to pick up where we left off. Just like after a break from exercise, it is much harder to pick it back up if they completely stop reading.

EARN A FREE SCHLITTERBAHN TICKET WITH WAVES OF PAGES:

The 2026 Waves of Pages reading log will go home this week in Tuesday folders. Students reading 10+ hours by Friday, February 20th will earn a free ticket and discounted family tickets. Exciting 2026 changes include: tickets are valid any day of the 2026 season at any of the 3 parks with no blackouts! Teachers need 8+ participating students to earn a teacher ticket, too. Ticket vouchers will be sent home in May. Contact the CCE librarian, Julianne_Bamford@roundrockisd.org, with any questions.

STAR OF THE WEEK: With the holidays here and shorter weeks, we will resume our Star of the Week on January 12th. We look forward to learning more about Sophia soon!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Solomon on January 11th!

THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM:

Language Arts:

Develop reading vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension
Practice retelling
Practice making connections when we read
Learn new high-frequency words
Participate in shared reading
Build fluency
Segment and blend phonemes
Add initial phonemes to create new words
Describe story elements (characters, setting, problem, setting)

Writing:

Respond through writing
Continue drafting informational writing
List making and creative writing

Math:

Review counting coins
Adopt an elf and spend an allowance to care for him/her

Social Studies:

Continue to “travel” around the world!
Learn about holiday traditions and customs in Germany, Italy and Sweden

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

December 18: Winter Party

December 19-January 5: Winter Break

January 6: Students return to school

January 19: MLK Holiday, No School

Have a wonderful holiday and I'll see you in the New Year, 2026!

Mrs. Barnard

News of the Week for December 8th

It's hard to believe that we are about halfway through our first grade year together! The children have worked so hard and have made tremendous academic progress since August! I just love watching their confidence blossom!

HOLIDAY TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS:

Please refer to the email sent earlier this week for the link to our slideshow, where you can put your photos directly and please have your pictures in place by Friday, December 12th. This will be a great way for us to learn more about each other and customs and traditions from around the world!

MIDDLE OF THE YEAR ASSESSMENTS:

We are approaching the end of our 2nd grading period and the teachers are finishing academic units and administering district assessments. If your holiday schedule will involve travel before our break begins on December 18th, would you please send an email? This will allow us to work around your travel schedule and still gather the necessary academic data for this point in the year. Thanks for your assistance.

CLASS PARTY:

Thank you so much for your donations to the class party fund earlier in the year. The room parents are working together to plan a super fun party for our 1st grade classes on December 18, and it’s been made possible thanks to your generosity. If you would like to attend the party but are unable to volunteer please RSVP at this link.

If you would like to help out with the party in any capacity, please see the link below to sign up. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C48AFAB2CA7FAC52-53708089-1stgrade

As always, please make sure you have completed the RRISD Background Check and make arrangements for younger siblings.

WINTER BREAK READING:

THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM:

Language Arts:

- Develop reading vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension

- Practice retelling

- Practice making connections when we read

- Learn new high-frequency words

- Participate in shared reading

- Build fluency

Writing:

- Respond through writing

- Continue drafting informational writing

- Spell words with 3-letter digraphs (scr, spl, spr, squ)

Math:

- Finish money unit and discuss financial literacy (money as income, ways to earn income, spending, and saving)

Social Studies:

- Continue to “travel” around the world!

- Learn about holiday traditions and customs in England, India, France, and Germany

JANUARY BIRTHDAYS:

Happy Birthday to Solomon on January 11th!

STAR OF THE WEEK:

We are excited to celebrate our next Star of the Week, Asmara! We look forward to learning more about our very special classmate!

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

December 12: Parent Reader (Felix’s Family)

December 18: Winter Party

December 18-January 5: Winter Break

Jan 6: Students return to school

Jan. 19: MLK Holiday, No School

Have a great week!

Lauren

News of the Week for December 1st

Week of December 1, 2025

Now that Thanksgiving break is here, we know that Winter Break is right around the corner. Although this time of year can be very busy, I thank all of you for your continued support at home with nightly reading minutes for these last few weeks.

HOLIDAY TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS:

As part of our Social Studies curriculum, we will be spending some time learning about various holiday traditions and customs celebrated all over the world. We will be "travelling" to different countries to learn more about how they celebrate various winter holidays.

I would love to give an opportunity for your child to share about special customs or traditions you celebrate in your home. Please be on the lookout for an email with a link to our class slideshow and 3 slides for each student in our class. If you would like to participate, find the slide with your child's name (and the two slides following it) and then add photos or videos that show traditions you share, foods you eat, songs or dances, etc. An example has been provided.

Before our Winter Break, we'll have a chance to share the slideshow with everyone. If you choose to participate, please have your pictures in the slideshow by December 12th.

Hanukkah Sameach! Merry Christmas! Joyeux Noël! Frohe Weihnachten! Joyous Kwanzaa! Gong hei fat choy!

Looking forward to learning more about your family and your traditions!

HOLLY JOLLY DAYS

Attached to today’s newsletter email was a graphic about the Holly Jolly Days at Canyon Creek. If your child would like to join the staff in dressing up with different themes in December, they are invited to join us. Festivities begin on Wednesday, December 3rd with “Tis the Season to be Grinchy” where everyone is encouraged to wear green!

MIDDLE OF THE YEAR ASSESSMENTS:

WINTER BREAK READING:

Something to keep in mind as you plan for the Winter Break is reading minutes. Over the Winter Break, the first grade teachers will be asking that the students read a total of 5 days between the dates of December 19th and January 6th. The titles can be recorded on the dates read and do not have to be on consecutive days. Reading over the break will help ensure that your child is ready to pick up where we left off. Just like after a break from exercise, it is much harder to pick it back up if they completely stop reading.

CLASS PARTY:

Thank you so much for your donations to the class party fund earlier in the year. The room parents are working together to plan a super fun party for our 1st grade classes on December 18th, and it’s been made possible thanks to your generosity. Be on the lookout for opportunities to volunteer and/or attend. We will be asking for you to “sign up” to attend so that your badge is printed and ready for you. As always, please make sure you have completed the RRISD Background Check and make arrangements for younger siblings.

TAG TESTING:

Do you want to have your child tested for TAG in RRISD?

Please visit the RRISD TAG website to find more information as well as the link for testing referral, which is available as of Monday, November 10th at 8:00 a.m.

The referral window opened Monday, November 10th, at 8:00 AM and closes Friday, December 12th, at 4:30 PM. Late submissions will not be accepted. After submitting your referral, you will receive an email confirmation. Please keep this for your records.

Please contact Jamie Gauck or Melissa Hamilton, CCE TAG specialists, with questions.

Thank you!

jamie_gauck@roundrockisd.org

melissa_hamilton@roundrockisd.org

SUPER STAR:

We are excited to celebrate our next Star of the Week, Khloe! We look forward to learning more about our very special classmate!

This Week's Curriculum:

Language Arts:

- Develop reading vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension

- Practice retelling

- Practice making connections when we read

- Learn new high-frequency words

- Participate in shared reading

- Build fluency

- Identify purposes for reading

Writing:

- Respond through writing

- Practice sentence structure: capitalization, punctuation, adjectives

- Continue drafting a nonfiction, informational writing piece

- Identify short and long vowel sounds

- Spell words with r-controlled vowels (-er, -ir, and -ar)

Math:

- Identify US coins and describe the values of each coin

- Count a collection of pennies, nickels and dimes

- Learn about money as income and ways to earn income

- Distinguish between spending and saving, and financial literacy

Social Studies:

- Prepare to “travel” around the world!

- Learn about holiday traditions and customs in Mexico, China, Israel

- Learn about the celebration of Kwanzaa

Important Dates to Remember:

November 24-28: Thanksgiving Break; School Holiday

December 5: Parent Reader (Jimena's Family)

December 5 - Fun Run

December 12: Parent Reader (Felix's Family)

December 18: Winter Party

December 19-January 5: Winter Break

Have a great Thanksgiving break! I look forward to seeing your children back in December!

News of the Week for November 17th

It definitely has started to feel like fall these days! We certainly welcome the cooler weather and want to make sure that our first graders are dressed appropriately. We go to recess during the fall and winter months, unless it is raining, so please make sure that your child has a jacket on days when it is chilly. Please label your child’s coats, jackets, and sweaters with names. (Also label lunch boxes and water bottles, too!) This will prevent our lost and found from filling up. Thank you!

As we head into the holiday season, please let me know of any travel dates that coincide with school days. I will be sure to pass the information on to the office as well.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THE WEEK:

HOMEWORK FOR THE THANKSGIVING BREAK:

Please have your child read and record in their planner 3 times over the 9 day break! For those first graders that would like to read more, that is wonderful!

TAG TESTING:

Do you want to have your child tested for TAG in RRISD?

Please visit the RRISD TAG website to find more information as well as the link for testing referral, which is available as of Monday, November 10th at 8:00 a.m.

The referral window opens Monday, November 10th, at 8:00 AM and closes Friday, December 12th, at 4:30 PM. Late submissions will not be accepted. After submitting your referral, you will receive an email confirmation. Please keep this for your records.

Please contact Jamie Gauck or Melissa Hamilton, CCE TAG specialists, with questions.

Thank you!

jamie_gauck@roundrockisd.org

melissa_hamilton@roundrockisd.org

STAR OF THE WEEK: We are excited to celebrate our next Star of the Week, Augie, during the week of November 17th! We look forward to learning more about our very special classmate!

AMAZON WISH LIST
If you are interested in supporting our classroom needs, here is our Amazon wishlist. I truly appreciate your support!

THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM:

Language Arts:

Build fluency
Learn new high-frequency words
Read accountable text
Participate in shared reading
Respond through writing
Read words and produce words with /er/ sound at the beginning, middle and end
Identify the characteristics of folktales, fables, fairy tales and nursery rhymes
Determine the central idea and supporting evidence
Compose information text
Read words and produce words with /ar/ sound at the beginning, middle and end
Review nouns and verbs
Identify characters, setting, problem and solution

Math:

Identify fractions as part of a set
Read and understand fractions representing halves, quarters and thirds
Use math skills to problem solve

Social Studies:

Learn facts about the first Thanksgiving
Learn about Pilgrim life during the first Thanksgiving
Learn factual information about Native Americans during the first Thanksgiving
Retell events of the first Thanksgiving

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

November 19: Thanksgiving Feast at 11:35

November 21: Parent Reader (Solmon's Family)

November 24-28: Thanksgiving Break; School Holiday

December 5: Parent Reader (Jimena's Family)

Have a fantastic weekend!

Lauren

News of the Week for November 10th

CCE THANKSGIVING FEAST

We hope to see you on Wednesday, November 19th for our Thanksgiving Feast! Students will eat during their regular lunch time (11:35am). If you plan to eat, please be sure to bring cash to pay for your meal. The meal price is $5.00 for adult visitors. Exact dollar amount is greatly appreciated. Also, don’t forget to bring your photo ID to assist in signing in at the office. If you have visited campus prior to this day and RSVP’d on the campus sign up form, we will have your badge pre-printed. The RSVP form will close on November 7th at 12pm.

GIVING OPPORTUNITIES:

Operation Turkey

We’re collecting donations to help provide Thanksgiving meals for local families in need. Monetary donations are welcome and will go directly toward purchasing food items. There is a flyer in today's Tuesday folder with more information about how to donate. The class with the largest amount of donations will win an ice cream party -- but more than that, more families will be helped!

Annual Food Drive

We’re also collecting non-perishable food items for our community food pantry. Items such as canned vegetables, soups, pasta, and rice are always appreciated. The barrel for collecting food is located at the front office. Before looking in your pantry, they have been instructed to ask for permission! No one needs to be taking an ingredient that you were planning to use for dinner.

If you’re able, please consider contributing to one or both of these efforts. Every little bit helps and makes a big difference!

To the Book Fair and Beyond!

It's almost time for the book fair, and we can always use volunteers for setting up, running cash registers, and tearing down. If you would like to help out or just get general information about the book fair, check out the

CCE BOOK FAIR WEBSITE

PLANNERS:

I know this is a very busy time of year, but I wanted to gently remind everyone to keep up with our daily reading homework. Just a few minutes of reading each day makes a big difference in helping students build fluency, confidence, and a love for books!

Please encourage your child to read at least 10 minutes each night and record it in their planner. Consistency really pays off — even during this hectic season.

Thank you so much for your continued support and for making reading a regular part of your child’s routine!

STAR OF THE WEEK:

We are excited to celebrate our next Star of the Week, Hudson, during the week of November 10th! We look forward to learning more about our very special classmate!

NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS:

Happy Birthday to Veer on November 8th!

THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM:

Language Arts:

- Review words with /o/ and /aw/ vowel sounds

- Build fluency

- Learn new high-frequency words

- Read accountable text

- Participate in shared reading

- Respond through writing

- Make text to self and text to world connections

- Make text to text connections

- Retell a story with beginning, middle and end

- Generate questions before, during and after reading

- Handwriting and letter formation

- Generate ideas for informational writing

Math:

-Identify 3D solids and describe their attributes using formal geometric language.

- Identify equal shares

- Understand fourths and halves

Science:

-Identify the way objects move

- Show what I know about patterns of movement

Important dates to remember:

November 10-14th: Library Fall Book Fair

November 14th: Parent Reader (Khloe’s Family)

November 21st: Parent Reader (Solmon’s Family)

November 24th-28th: Thanksgiving Break; School holiday

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

News of the Week for November 3rd

Happy First Week of November! This time of year, as I am sure you do, I tend to reflect more on all that I am grateful for. Your children are something that I am grateful for every day!

HALLOWEEN PICTURES

I would love to see pictures of your children in their Halloween costumes. These will be fun to share as a class on the Monday after Halloween. If you could email me a picture by Sunday afternoon, I will compile them together to share on Monday morning.

CCE THANKSGIVING FEAST

To the Book Fair and Beyond!

CCE BOOK FAIR WEBSITE

STAR OF THE WEEK:

We will not have a Star of the Week this week due to the shortened week. However, we are excited to celebrate Hudson as our next Star of the Week on the week of November 10! We look forward to learning more about our very special classmate!

NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS:

Happy Birthday to Veer on November 8th!

THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM:

Language Arts:

- Segment words of three to five phonemes

- Produce single-syllable words with the /oi/ sound

- Learn new high-frequency words

- Read accountable text

- Participate in shared reading

- Respond through writing

- Make text to self and text to world connections

- Make text to text connections

- Learn about what it means to be charitable

- Handwriting and letter formation

- Compose informational texts

Math:

-Identify 3D solids and describe their attributes using formal geometric language.

Science:

-Describe how a magnet can be used to push or pull an object

-Test out objects to determine if they are magnetic or nonmagnetic

-Show what you know about magnets and the things they can attract

Important dates to remember:

November 2nd: Daylight Savings time ends (fall back 1 hour)

November 9-14: Book Fair

November 11: Picture Retakes

November 14: Parent Reader (Khloe's Family)

November 19: Thanksgiving Feast (11:35am)

Don’t forget to set your clocks back one hour this weekend!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

News of the Week for October 27th

We are looking forward to another SPOOK-tacular week in first grade!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THE WEEK:

REPORT CARDS:

Last week report cards for the first quarter went home. The contents were yours to keep at home. Thank you to those families who have already signed and returned the envelope for us to use for future reporting periods.

ROOM PARENT FUNDS:

Please be on the lookout for communication from our room parents about donating to our class funds. We have many fun events planned this year and need your help with donations. Room parents use these funds to purchase party supplies, snacks, paper products, and items needed for Ocean Day. You will receive a letter from our room parents with more information and how to donate funds. Thank you in advance for your donations!

TAG INFORMATION

Are you interested in referring your student for the TAG (Talented and Gifted) program at CCE?

Please attend the virtual TAG informational meeting on

Tuesday 10/28 at 5:30 PM!

Before attending the meeting, watch this 12 minute video to learn about characteristics of giftedness,the referral process, and TAG services in RRISD.
Make plans to attend the virtual meeting to ask questions and meet the CCE TAG specialists, Jamie Gauck and Melissa Hamilton

Tuesday, October 28, 2025

5:30 PM

Join Google Meet here

STAR OF THE WEEK: Our Star of the Week for this week is Kylee! We can’t wait to learn more about our special classmate!

AMAZON WISH LIST
If you are interested in supporting our classroom needs, here is our Amazon wishlist. I truly appreciate your support!

THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM:

Language Arts:

Build fluency
Segment and blend phonemes
Learn new high-frequency words
Read accountable text
Participate in shared reading
Respond through writing
Publish and share our "small moment" stories
Retell texts in ways that maintain meaning

Math:

Compose two dimensional shapes by joining two, three, or four figures to produce a target shape in more than one way
Distinguish between attributes that define a 2D figure
Classify 2D shapes based on attributes

Science:

Review heat, light, and sound energy in everyday life
Describe how objects produce some or all of these forms of energy

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

October 31: Parent Reader (Mia's Family)

November 7: Student Holiday

November 9-14: Book Fair

Novembern 11: Picture Retakes

November 19: Thanksgiving Lunch

November 24-28: Thanksgiving Break

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs. Barnard :-)

News of the Week for October 13th

If this week were a book, it’d be a page-turner — full of growth, grit, and those lightbulb moments that make first grade so magical. Our students have been the authors of their own success stories, filling the classroom with focus, curiosity, and confidence.

We’re not just proud — we’re first grade proud (which, as you know, is the very best kind).

GLOW DAY:

In Science, we are learning about forms of energy. During this unit, we’ll discuss sources of light, heat, and sound energy. To celebrate the end of the unit and explore all of our learning about light energy we will have a GLOW DAY! Glow day will be on Friday, October 17th. We will experiment and explore the effects of light. On this day, we’re asking your child to wear white or neon colors and bring flashlights, glow sticks, something that glows in the dark, highlighters etc. There are many class sets of items available on Amazon, if you’re interested in donating something to the class. We’re looking forward to a very fun day exploring light energy!

PTA REFLECTIONS PROGRAM:

The PTA Reflections Program is underway and we are excited to see what your students create this year with the theme "I Belong!" Entries are due by October 31st! For rules and guidelines, click here! Please submit all entries and questions to marissakashani@gmail.com

TAG INFORMATION

Are you interested in referring your student for the TAG (Talented and Gifted) program at CCE?

Please attend the virtual TAG informational meeting on

Tuesday 10/28 at 5:30 PM!

Before attending the meeting, watch this 12 minute video to learn about characteristics of giftedness,the referral process, and TAG services in RRISD.
Make plans to attend the virtual meeting to ask questions and meet the CCE TAG specialists, Jamie Gauck and Melissa Hamilton

Tuesday, October 28, 2025

5:30 PM

Join Google Meet here

AMAZON WISH LIST

If you are interested in supporting our classroom needs, here is our Amazon wishlist. I truly appreciate your support!

STAR OF THE WEEK:

Due to the two upcoming shortened weeks, we will not have a Star of the Week until October 27th. On this date, our Star of the Week will be Kylee.

THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM

Language Arts:

- Blend and spell words with short vowels

- Build fluency

- Learn new high-frequency words

- Manipulate phonemes within words

- Read accountable text

- Participate in shared reading

- Respond through writing

- generate questions about text before, during, and after reading information

- Continue working on "small moment" stories (drafting personal narratives)

- Record story elements of a fiction story

- Record facts about pumpkins

- Handwriting and letter formation

Math:

- Apply problem solving strategies to subtraction

- Learn about fact families

- Practice fact families

- Assess prior knowledge of geometry and measurement

Social Studies:

- Identify historical figures and their inventions

Important Dates to Remember:

October 17: Parent Reader (Lainey's Family)

October 17: GLOW Day!

October 20: Student/Staff Holiday

October 24: Parent Reader (Augie's Family)

October 31: Parent Reader (Mia's Family)

Have a wonderful 3-day weekend!

Lauren

News of the Week for October 6th

Fall is here and we are having so much fun with all of our learning in the classroom!

Thank you to the parents that I've already conferenced with regarding your child's strengths and yearly goals. It feels great to connect with you and partner with you as we journey through this school year together! I appreciate this time set aside to visit with each of you!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THE WEEK:

PICTURE DAY:

Picture Day is on Tuesday, October 7th. Order forms went home in last week's Tuesday folders! Here is the link to purchase online.

https://vando.imagequix.com/g1001300265

GLOW DAY:

In Science, we will soon start learning about forms of energy. During this unit, we’ll discuss sources of light, heat, and sound energy. To celebrate the end of the unit and explore all of our learning about light energy we will have a GLOW DAY! Glow day will be on Friday, October 17th. We will experiment and explore the effects of light. On this day, we’re asking your child to wear white or neon colors and bring flashlights, glow sticks, something that glows in the dark, highlighters etc. It will be a very fun day exploring light energy!

PTA REFLECTIONS PROGRAM:

STAR OF THE WEEK: Our Star of the Week for this week is Lainey! We can’t wait to learn more about our special classmate!

THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM:

Language Arts:

Blend and spell words with short and long vowels - short /u/ & long /u_e/ vowel patterns
Build fluency
Learn new high-frequency words
Participate in shared reading
Respond through writing
Continue working on revising "small moment" stories (personal narratives)
Review drafts by adding details in pictures or words
Manipulate phonemes (sounds) within words
Review all long vowel spelling patterns learned so far
Make connections with nonfiction text
Brainstorm what we love about fall and write about it

Math:

Connecting addition to subtraction
Review "Friends of 10"
Review "Doubles"
Use fact families as an addition and subtraction strategy

Social Studies:

Create a classroom map
Review cardinal directions and locate places on a map using these words
Review spatial directions and how to read a map using these words
Assess cardinal & spatial directions

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

October 7 - Fall Picture Day

October 10 - Parent Reader (Kylee's Family)

October 13: Student Holiday/Parent Conference Day

October 17 - Parent Reader (Lainey's Family)

October 20 - Student/Staff holiday

October 24 - Parent Reader (Augie's Family)

October 31 - Parent Reader (Mia's Family)

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Barnard :-)

News of the Week for September 29th

CLASS NEWS:

We are hoping it will soon begin to feel more like fall outside of our classroom window! Inside our room, procedures and routines are humming along. We feel connected as a classroom family and friendships are blooming. It is a favorite time of year for me as we finally settle in!

FALL CONFERENCES:

Thank you for taking time to sign up for a fall conference. At this meeting, we will discuss your child’s strengths and create goals for the school year. This particular conference is a parent and teacher conversation; however, your child will have the opportunity to provide input before we meet.

Please check the schedule to make sure that you remember our meeting time. Many of my meetings are back-to-back or are touching instructional time. For this reason, I will need to stick tight to our timeframe. Thanks for your understanding. I look forward to visiting with you soon!

PICTURE DAY:

Picture Day is October 7th. Order forms will go out in next Tuesday folders! Here is the link to purchase online.

https://vando.imagequix.com/g1001300265

GLOW DAY:

In Science, we will soon start learning about forms of energy. During this unit, we’ll discuss sources of light, heat, and sound energy. To celebrate the end of the unit and explore all of our learning about light energy we will have a GLOW DAY! Glow day will be on Friday, October 17th. We will experiment and explore the effects of light. On this day, we’re asking your child to wear white or neon colors, they may also bring flashlights, glow sticks, something that glows in the dark,highlighters etc. It will be a very fun day exploring light energy!

STAR OF THE WEEK: Our Star of the Week for this week is June! We can’t wait to learn more about our special classmate!

THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM:

Language Arts:

- Blend and spell words with short and long vowels

- Build fluency

- Learn new high-frequency words

- Participate in shared reading

- Respond through writing

- Continue working on "small moment" stories (drafting personal narratives)

- Write information learned about spiders

- Use the nonfiction text features to learn more about spiders

Math:

- Use objects and pictorial models to solve subtraction problems

- Learn steps to problem solving strategies

- Discuss and use subtraction strategies

Social Studies:

- Learn the importance of maps

- Use maps to identify continents, country, states, and our city

- Create a classroom map

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

October 1: Walk or Bike to School Day

October 3: Parent Reader (Hudson’s Family)

October 7: Fall Picture Day

October 10: Parent Reader (Kylee’s Family)

October 13: Student Holiday/Parent Conference Day

October 17: Parent Reader (Lainey’s Family)

October 20: Student/Staff Holiday

October 24: Parent Reader (Augie’s Family)

October 31: Parent Reader (Mia’s Family)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Lauren Barnard

News of the Week for September 22nd

Thank you so much for all that you have done to support our classroom since the start of the school year. Now that nightly reading homework has been added into our daily routine, we know that is one more thing for you as a parent to help with. Thank you for reading with your child, helping them to record the title, and adding the number of minutes along with a parent signature. Each child should be reading for a minimum of 10 minutes each school day. We will check for the “Friday minutes” on Monday mornings.

Important Information for this week:

SNACKS:

Students are given approximately 5 minutes to snack during our morning classroom activities. Please be mindful of this short amount of time and pack an item that your child can eat quickly. We ask that each child bring only one snack item and not an entire meal. Candy, cookies, and wet foods (like yogurt) should be saved for lunch or home. We appreciate your help with these guidelines.

FALL CONFERENCES:

Thank you for signing up for a fall conference! This will be a great time to celebrate all progress thus far and learn more about how to help your child with reading, writing, spelling, and math. Please remember that all fall conferences are 20 minutes in length. If more time is needed, we can certainly schedule another time to visit.

PTA REFLECTIONS PROGRAM

SAFETY NEWS:

Please use the properly identified crosswalks to safely cross the streets surrounding Canyon Creek Elementary. While it can be convenient to simply cross the street wherever you are, we need to make sure that we are doing so where you and your students can be protected.

Also, please be mindful of handicap parking and do not park or stop in these spots without a permit.

VOLUNTEER APPLICATION:

If you plan to be a volunteer on campus, go on a field trip, help in the classroom, or work with students, it is required that you first complete this volunteer application AND receive approval. Please go ahead and complete it now. Generally it takes about 3 days to process, but during busy times it can take up to a week. If you completed an application last year, you will still need to complete a new one for the current school year.

STAR OF THE WEEK: Our Star of the Week is June on the week of September 29! We will not have a Star of the Week during the 3-day week. We look forward to learning more about our special classmate!

This week's curriculum:

Language Arts:

Distinguish between short and long vowel sounds
Build fluency
Learn new high-frequency words
Practice ABC order
Participate in shared reading
Respond through writing
Draft personal narratives
Read informational texts to find information
Practice our penmanship
Produce various sounds at the beginning, middle and end of words
Decode words with the a_e pattern

Math:

Practice systems and procedures for Math Workshop
Discuss the doubling addition strategy
Explore missing addends
Practice skip counting by 2, 5, and 10

Science:

Identify how heating and cooling changes materials
Conduct an investigation of how heat changes chocolate into a liquid and cooling chocolate changes it back into a solid

Important dates to remember:

September 22-23: No School for Students

September 26: Parent Reader (Veer's Family)

October 1 - Walk or Bike to School Day

October 3 - Cody Fisher Magic & Comedy Show

October 7 - First Running Club Meeting

October 15 - Watch D.O.G.S. Kickoff

October 19 - PTA Kalahari Friends & Family Night

October 20 - Student/Staff holiday

Have a great weekend!

News of the Week for September 15th

September 15, 2025

I am very pleased with the positive start to our nightly reading homework! It is so much fun to see the books the students are choosing to read. Thank you for expecting your first graders to be responsible for writing their own titles inside of the planners. I also appreciate that you are initialing their planners each night. They have done a wonderful job so far of bringing them back each day and enjoy the fact that they are earning table marbles at the same time. Happy Reading!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THE WEEK:

1. FALL CONFERENCES: Thank you for signing up for a fall conference! This will be a great time to celebrate all progress thus far and learn more about how to help your child with reading, writing, spelling, and math. Please remember that all fall conferences are 20 minutes in length. If more time is needed, we can schedule another time to visit. If you haven't signed up for a time, please do so here.

2. Please continue to check your child’s backpack on Tuesdays for work from the previous week or important notes from the office. This is an excellent way to spend quality time with your child, and gain an insight into what she/he is doing at school.

3. SNACKS IN THE CAFETERIA: The lunch monitors have let us know they are having a number of students buying snacks and/or ice cream at lunch. They are wanting to make sure children have permission to do so, using the money in their lunch account. We are asking parents to email our cafeteria manager to let her know your preferences. Her email is CanyonCreek_Cafeteria@roundrockisd.org.

4. VOLUNTEER APPLICATION: If you plan to be a volunteer on campus, go on a field trip, help in the classroom, or work with students, it is required that you first complete this volunteer application AND receive approval. Please go ahead and complete it now. Generally it takes about 3 days to process, but during busy times it can take up to a week. If you completed an application last year, you will still need to complete a new one for the current school year.

STAR OF THE WEEK: Our Star of the Week this week is Mia! We can't wait to learn more about our special classmate!

THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM:

Language Arts:

Segment and blend phonemes
Build fluency
Learn new high-frequency words
Practice ABC order
Respond through writing
Continue writing stories while understanding the writing process
Generate ideas for a story by drawing and brainstorming
Practice handwriting
Describe the setting of a story and how it changes
Identify the sound of long /e/ in words
Identify nouns in a story

Math:

Practice systems and procedures for Math Workshop
Learn addition strategy called “Friends of 10”
Explore with missing addends
Practice skip counting by 2s
Learn how to add doubles

Science:

Identify how whole objects are made up of parts

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

September 19: Parent Reader (Emmarie's Family)

September 22-23: Student holiday

September 26: Parent Reader (Veer's Family)

Have a wonderful weekend!

News of the Week for September 8th

September 8, 2025

The students are really starting to get into the groove of first grade! Thank you for sharing them with me each day! They are so much fun!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THIS WEEK:

Star of the Week begins the week of September 8th! Be sure to check the Star of the Week section on this website to see when it's your child's turn!

Student planners will be coming home on Monday, September, 8th. Students should be reading 10 minutes each night and recording the titles in their planner. Please write the number of minutes that were read and initial. We will check these each day.

For your reference or if you were not able to make it here are the slides I shared at Open House last night.

Please continue to check your child’s backpack on Tuesdays for work from the previous week or important notes from the office. This is an excellent way to spend quality time with your child, and gain an insight into what she/he is doing at school.

SNACKS IN THE CAFETERIA: The lunch monitors have let us know they are having a number of students buying snacks and/or ice cream at lunch. They are wanting to make sure children have permission to do so, using the money in their lunch account. We are asking parents to email our cafeteria manager to let her know your preferences. Her email is CanyonCreek_Cafeteria@roundrockisd.org.

VOLUNTEER APPLICATION: If you plan to be a volunteer on campus, go on a field trip, help in the classroom, or work with students, it is required that you first complete this volunteer application AND receive approval. Please go ahead and complete it now. Generally it takes about 3 days to process, but during busy times it can take up to a week. If you completed an application last year, you will still need to complete a new one for the current school year.

STAR OF THE WEEK: Our Star of the Week this week is Lily! We can't wait to learn more about our special classmate!

THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM:

Language Arts:

- Distinguish between short and long vowel sounds

- Build fluency

- Learn new high-frequency words

- Practice ABC order

- Participate in shared reading

- Respond through writing

- Orally plan a story from our life

- Draft personal narratives

- Learn a strategy for increasing our reading stamina

- Discuss the story elements of fiction

- Practice systems and procedures for Reading and Writing Workshop

Math:

- Practice systems and procedures for Math Workshop

- Discuss math vocabulary for addition

- Solve story problems by acting it out

- Discuss the “Plus 1” and “Plus 0” addition strategies

- Discuss the “Count on” addition strategy

Science:

- Discuss objects around us and identify their properties

- Sort objects by texture

- Predict how when magnets push or pull objects

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

September 8: Student Planners come home

September 12: Parent Reader (Felix's Family)

September 19: Parent Reader (Emmarie's Family)

September 22-23: Student holiday

September 26: Parent Reader (Veer's Family)

Have a great weekend!

Lauren

News of the Week for September 1st

It was another great week in first grade!! Thank you for your continued partnership!

We are still continuing to establish our routines and procedures in first grade! This takes time and is the backbone of our day, and we are really getting into a groove. Our “classroom family” friendships are strengthening each day as we get to know each other through community building activities. It is fun to see a classroom community come together and see new friendships being made.

Important information for this week:

SNACKS IN THE CAFETERIA: The lunch monitors have let us know they are having a number of students buying snacks and/or ice cream at lunch. They are wanting to make sure children have permission to do so, using the money in their lunch account. We are asking parents to let the cafeteria know if your child has permission to get snacks or ice cream. You may email our Canyon Creek cafeteria manager to let her know your preferences. Her email is CanyonCreek_Cafeteria@roundrockisd.org. She can update your child’s specific cafeteria account with your preferences.

PARENT NIGHT: Our Parent Information Night is coming up on Thursday, September 4th. The first grade classes will meet from 5:30-6:00, and the PTA meeting will be held from 6:00-6:30. This is an opportunity for you to learn more about first grade in general and ask any questions that you may have.

STUFFED ANIMAL: Your child will need to bring a stuffed animal to school on Wednesday, September 3rd for a science activity. Their stuffed animal must be able to fit in their backpack and will come back home that same day.

VOLUNTEER APPLICATION: If you plan to be a volunteer on campus, go on a field trip, help in the classroom, or work with students, it is required that you first complete this volunteer application AND receive approval. Please go ahead and complete it now. Generally it takes about 72 hours to process, but during busy times it can take up to a week. If you completed an application last year, you will still need to complete a new one for the current school year.

FINE MOTOR SKILLS: As we get back into the swing of things, it is important for students to continue to develop their fine motor skills. Please practice with your child so they can tie their own shoe laces and drawstring pants and shorts. Please practice at home if needed. Also, allow your child to practice opening tight water bottles and food packages like crackers, granola bars, and popcorn.

ROOM PARENT:

Thank you for all of the ways that you have signed up to help in our classroom this year. Our Co-Room Parents will be Manuela Levy (Mia's mom) and Margaret Lane (Khloe's mom). Please thank them for the work they will do this year for our kids! We will be meeting in the near future to discuss events for the year and you will be hearing from them soon!

This week's curriculum:

Language Arts:

Build reading stamina
Identify beginning and ending sounds
Practice alliteration and review letter sounds
Practice orally blending sounds together
Work on comprehension skills while reading by making text-to-self connections to our stories
Introduce strategies to help with tricky words during reading
Respond to stories
Develop strategies for spelling unknown words
Learn a strategy for refocusing while reading
Build writing stamina
Create lists of ideas for future stories

Math:

Build math workshop routines
Recognize quantities and develop their ability to express strategies
Practice tallying information and surveying classmates
Practice with 10-frames to develop a better understanding of numbers
Share background knowledge about addition and subtraction

Science:

Describe properties of stuffed animals
Observe properties to classify materials

Important dates to remember:

September 1st: Holiday; No School

September 3rd: Bring stuffed animal to school

September 4th: Parent Information Night 5:30-6:00, PTA Meeting 6:00

Have a great 3 day weekend!

News of the Week for August 25th

We had a great first few weeks in first grade! We are busy setting up routines and an amazing classroom community. I love seeing old friendships continue while seeing new friendships form. This time of year is so important in our classroom. It is the time that we set up expectations and routines which allows for the remainder of our year to be as productive and successful as possible.

Please know that we are working hard at school; however, most of the work that we’ve been doing is collected as “show what you know” papers, kept in notebooks or spirals at school, or activities discussed as a class. This means that currently there are minimal papers coming home in your child’s Tuesday folder. I realize you might be curious as to what your child is doing all day and I thank you in advance for giving us grace and allowing us to set up our classroom community with routines and procedures in place. At the bottom of this newsletter, I encourage you to check out our learning targets for this week, as your child can probably tell you all about what they are learning.

I am really enjoying getting to know your kiddos and finding out their interests and personalities as well as their strengths and areas to focus on this year. I can tell that it will be a fun and exciting year with this cute bunch!

This week we visited the library and found out how Mrs. Bamford runs the library. We checked out three books to start off with, but in time we will be allowed to check out 5 books per person. We will enjoy those books for the week and return them the following Thursday (our library day) with the excitement of checking out more!

Important information for this week:

Please return the “We Are Authors” assignment that asks for a handful of photographs, stickers, pictures of favorite things, etc. on Monday, August 25th. Thank you to the families who have already returned this information!
Our Parent Information Night is coming up on Thursday, September 4th from 5:30-6:00 with the PTA Meeting taking place right after from 6:00-6:30 so you can learn more about both first grade and our school in general while asking any questions that you may have.
Here is a digital version of our class contact sheet so your family can reach out to other first grade families for playdates, birthday parties, etc. You will also find a paper version in your child’s Tuesday folder this week.
Your child will need to bring a stuffed animal to school on Wednesday, September 3rd for a science activity. Their stuffed animal must be able to fit in their backpack and will come back home that same day.
We are still collecting headphones to be used with our chromebooks…thank you to the many families who have already sent some in with their child!
Please only use this form to give Round Rock ISD employees permission to refer to your CANYON CREEK ES student by a nickname. If your student goes by anything other than their legal first name, completion of this form is required. Please ensure you are logged into the parent/guardian email address on file with the school.

THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM:

Language Arts:

Build reading stamina
Orally segment and blend sounds together
Listen actively and make text-to-self connections to stories
Practice print awareness and identify the parts of a book
Identify and read high frequency words
Develop strategies for spelling unknown words
Create lists to help with idea development of future stories

Math:

Build math workshop routines
Recognize quantities and develop their ability to express strategies
Practice tallying information and surveying classmates
Practice with ten frames to develop an understanding of numbers

Social Studies:

Explore reasons for rules and laws in our communities
Understand the role of authority figures and public officials & who enforces the rules and laws
Identify and describe the role of a good citizen
Explain and practice voting as a way of making choices and decisions

SEPTEMBER BIRTHDAYS:

Happy Birthday to Felix on September 5th!

Happy Birthday to Kylee on September 7th!

Important dates to remember:

September 1st: Holiday; No School

September 3rd: Bring stuffed animal to school

September 4th: 5:30pm - Parent Information Night, 6:00pm - PTA Meeting

Have a great week!

News of the Week for August 18th

Welcome to First Grade!

Thank you for a great first week of school! We have loved getting to know our students and building a classroom community.

We appreciate your patience as we begin our new school year. Getting to know our students, making them feel comfortable, and helping them establish new friendships are our top priorities! Building classroom expectations and routines take time and help ensure a smooth, successful year.

COMMUNICATION

Communication is very important. We are committed to keeping you informed about what the students are doing in the classroom. If you need to be in touch with us, you may send a note to school with your child, call, or write an email. However, if you need to change your child’s after school transportation plans for that school day, please contact the main office (428-2800) before 2:00. Teachers may not always have the chance to check email and voicemail before dismissal.

Lauren Barnard 428-2839 lauren_barnard@roundrockisd.org

Karen Ogle 428-2840 karen_ogle@roundrockisd.org

Casey Dobbins 428-2841 casey_dobbins@roundrockisd.org

Each week you will find our newsletter posted on our web pages. In order to make our communication easy to access, all school newsletters can be accessed through the CCE webpage. Please be sure to visit each page on the website as you become familiar with first grade, and then read the newsletter page weekly. It is essential that you utilize this valuable resource for important classroom information. If you have any questions, please ask your child’s teacher. This will be our valuable means of communication with you throughout the year.

Important information for this week:

Please complete these 2 First Grade items located in the weekly folder and return them to school by Tuesday, August 19th:

● The parent survey asking for information about your child (please complete both sides)

● The volunteer information sheet titled Helping Hands

Homework: In the Tuesday folder, you will find your child’s first homework assignment for first grade, a fun little activity! Look for a page called “We Are Authors”, which will help us learn more about your child. It is due on Monday, August 25th. If your child completes the project early, please feel free to send it to school with your child before the due date.

Recess Information: We welcome students to bring a labeled water bottle (first and last names) to school. On days when we have inclement weather or the heat index is too high, we will have a break in our day for indoor recess. The safety of our children is foremost in our minds.

Dismissal Information: At 2:55, each first grade teacher will be dismissing students from the classroom when their family dismissal number appears on the screen to meet up with families that are walking or in the car line. If your child goes to the YMCA, ACES, or another after school means of transportation, we will ensure they get there safely. Thank you in advance for all your help as we work together as partners in keeping all students safe!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Please send headphones with your child to use with their school issued Chromebook. Headphones need to be labeled with your child's name.

AMAZON WISH LIST

If you are interested in supporting our classroom needs, here is our Amazon wishlist. I appreciate your support!

THIS WEEK’S CURRICULUM:

Language Arts:

- Write about summer experiences

- Read stories about the beginning of school

- Respond to stories

- Introduce Reading Workshop

- Introduce Writer’s Workshop

Math:

- Discuss value of numbers

- Learn how to care for math materials

- Number writing

Social Studies:

- Meet and learn about our new first grade classmates and friends

- Tour the school

- Learn classroom procedures, rules and expectations; create a classroom social contract

- Learn cafeteria procedures, rules, and expectations

- Learn recess rules and expectations

- Compare the differences between Kindergarten and First Grade

- Learn how to share information with partners

- Discuss importance of making good choices

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

September 1: Holiday; No School

September 4: 5:30pm - Parent Information Night, 6:00pm - PTA Meeting

We hope you have a wonderful week! We look forward to a fantastic year!

The First Grade Team

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